#i wanted to watch it anyway bc it seemed right up my alley the problem is to actually start it. now here i am

[resssistance]

I have been dash pressured into watching Business Proposal.

[costellos]

Important steps for Fugo ? Hi toya ! May I request some headcanons of the important first steps in a relationship for Fugo ? Whether on the practical side (displays of affection,...)or on the more psychological side (opening up, showing different sides of himself,...). Basically how does he become more comfortable in a relationship ? I suppose this one’s a bit complicated though so feel free to disregard it. Anyway, congrats on the milestone, and best of luck on your new job !

a/n: nonnie, I just wanted to personally thank you for this prompt bc this is RIGHT UP MY ALLEY. I looooove breaking down characters like this. I purposely saved this prompt for a slow day because. wow. this is some GOOD STUFF. so without further ado, here’s how to woo Fugo!

tw: mentions of Fugo’s backstory

❥ ┋ ❝ important first steps for a relationship with fugo!

to start out with, Fugo would need to trust you immensely before he hopped into a relationship with you. being friends would be a prerequisite to dating him. he’s not the type to court anyone, so you’d have to exhibit specific traits for him to know that dating you is safe.

before I talk about that, however, I want to mention that Fugo’s probably the hardest out of Gang to court. not so much emotionally since everyone has their own problems; he’s just picky about who he dates. and it’s not because he’s an asshole either, he’s just cautious of his partner’s safety. he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he or Purple Haze hurt them.

that said, you would have to be patient with him. you’d have to be able to deal with his outbursts and help him calm down (he doesn’t expect you to do the latter, but it would certainly help). your having a tranquil vibe would help. it would also be beneficial if you have thick skin, because aside from yelling, Fugo’s also a really snarky guy.

despite that, he’s stiff at the beginning of your relationship. he stumbles over his words and he can’t seem to maintain eye contact. he’s already being vulnerable just by being your boyfriend, so a lot of this is uncomfortable for him.

don’t hug him unless he says it’s okay (or until he becomes more acquainted with the relationship). he’s not big on physical affection after his incident with his professor.

the best way to get closer to Fugo is to spend time with him or praise him. he loves coffee dates and reading books together at the library. likewise, his heart will soar if you tell him that he looks particularly handsome today (even if he’s blushing and telling you to quit it). ↳ “y-you’re just saying that! don’t say things you don’t mean!!”

you know that you’ve gotten through to him when he starts opening up more about his family. you’re aware that they’re rich and that Fugo doesn’t have a favorable opinion of them. but when he describes the happier parts of his childhood, like how they used to spend the last week of every August in the Italian countryside where the grapes were too sweet for his tongue, you can’t help but smile.

another huge milestone is when he pulls you close to him. it would’ve happened during an otherwise mundane moment, like when riding a crowded train, and he pulls you closer to him by your waist. ↳ “here, come closer to me. I don’t want you falling over.”

after that, you notice that Fugo seems much more relaxed. almost like when you were friends. his shoulders don’t jolt when you call him, nor does he turn away when you stare at his face for too long.

though the biggest milestone for Fugo would be your first kiss. it’s his way of relinquishing control, something that until now, he’s been terrified to do. nevertheless, you’ve more than proven that you’re someone that he can trust and do so willingly. he won’t say that he loves you yet, but it’s a thought that crosses his mind as you kiss him.

it happens in his bed. it’s 11:47 PM and the whole Gang is going on an early-morning mission the next day. since he lives close to Libeccio, it would make sense that you’d sleep over. dim streetlamps cast a warm glow in his room, with the occasional passing car adding the faintest, briefest passing light. you’re laying on his bed beside him, having just finished a rant about some dumb movie you watched recently when Fugo pops the question: ↳ “can I kiss you?”

the question catches you by surprise, honestly. yet if you’d turned to him while you were talking, you would’ve seen Fugo staring at you, lazy grin on his lips and eyes glowing. 

however, he quickly realizes that he asked the question without thinking. oh god. oh no. this is embarrassing. he tries to take back the question as quickly as he can because jesus christ, this is something Mista would do, not Pannacotta Fugo. not rational, logical, strategist Pannacotta—

Fugo’s thoughts are cut off when he feels your lips against his. they’re so soft, he thinks to himself. soft [Name]. beautiful [Name]. the [Name] that he’s realizing in this moment that he might be in love with.

but he pushes that thought away. at least for now. in this moment, he just wants to focus on you.

all in all, romancing Fugo would indeed be difficult, though it’d be incredibly rewarding.

[hiddennerdworld]

Homesick (pt 2) with Koji Koda

Note: hello! I got a comment about doing this with Koda so here we go! This is going to be more platonic tho bc Idk a lot about them and being a best friend type seems more up their alley. Sorry if this isn’t what you expected. I still hope you like it :) (also trying to use they/them pronouns for Koda)

It was finally the weekend! After a rigorous week of classes and training you finally get a break. Everyone was kind of doing their own thing. Some were still training, some slept all day, some went out (with permission ofc). Koda had worked out early that morning wanting to keep on improving their quirk. Now it was late afternoon and they were reading in their room while looking out their window at the beautiful golden sky. It was rare to have moments like this where the dorms were quiet, so they were enjoying every second of it. Suddenly they heard a weird sound. They turn around to find their pet bunny scratching at the door.

“Whoa, hey! What are you doing buddy?” They whispered to the rabbit. It made a little squeak and Koda listened. “Okay we can go check I guess since you think something is wrong and there’s not a lot of people here. I’ll follow you.” They said as they opened the door. As soon as it could manage to get out, the rabbit took off. “W-Wait for me!” Koda still struggled to yell but has definitely gotten better with their training.

They quickly caught up to the lil fluff ball who was perking their ears up. Then it just went down the hall again every so often stopping to listen more. Eventually they both ended up in the common area where they found you on the couch silently crying. The bunny just ran up to you and jumped in your lap.

“No- wait - you can’t just jump on people!” Koda panics.

You giggle and pet the fluffy bunny, “It’s okay, Koda. I love animals, especially this cutie.” You just look down and continue pay attention to the rabbit, not wanting to make eye contact with its owner.

“Oh okay Y/N. Then you can cuddle them if you want. They love attention.”

“Thanks Koda.” You look up for a quick second and give them a forced smile.

“No problem! Well umm actually they came to you specifically.” They are also trying to avoid eye contact now, not wanting to push you with bringing up the elephant in the room.

“Really?” You raise your eyebrows and give a genuine small smile to the bunny in your lap.

“Ummm yea. Funny story really. T-they told me there was someone in trouble and we had to find them, which is why he ran to you right away. He could sense you were stressed.” They slowly stopped talking shakily and looked at you to say “Y/N if there’s anything you want to talk about I’m here.” They were being entirely genuine.

You were starting to sniffle again. “Thank you so much Koda. I really appreciate it but it’s stupid anyway.”

“No way! If something is making you feel upset, it’s not stupid. I promise I won’t judge you.” They were now sitting next to you on the couch making sure to let you know they were listening.

“O-okay.” You said shakily, trying to hold back the tears that were burning in your eyes. “I just really miss home. I know we’ve only been here for 2 weeks but I was hoping this weekend I’d get to visit my family. B-but the teachers said it was too soon. I’m not sure when I’ll get to go back.”

They placed a hand on your shoulder. Something you’d never expect from Koda, but you didn’t really expect any of this from them.“Hey. That’s not stupid at all. I know exactly how you feel. My mom was my main motivation for coming to UA and now I barely get to talk to her during the day. I miss her so much too.” You looked up and could see their eyes getting watery.

“Oh no I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you.” You jumped up scaring the resting rabbit.

They chuckled. “No, no it’s okay. Sometimes you just need to really feel these things in order to get through them.”

You were so surprised on how good Koda was at advice. They’ve gotten so much better at speaking their mind since the beginning of the year. It was inspiring really. All you could do was give a nod.

“It may not seem like it Y/N, but Class 1A is kind of like a family. It’s not the same as our actual families but we’ve all gotten closer than we ever expected after all the things we went through. When you feel like that piece of you is missing we’ll all be here.” They were speaking confidently while still fidgeting with their fingers.

You wiped the leftover tears from your eyes and looked towards Koda, making actual eye contact for the first time in this conversation. You both had slightly puffy red eyes but tiny smiles on your faces.

You leaned over and gave them a hug. Koda hesitated for a second but then reciprocated the hug. They wanted to be as supportive as possible. It was their goal to help people after all.

“Thank you so much Koda.” You whispered, still having some raspy ness to your voice. A weight was lifted off your shoulders and it was apparent.

“Anytime.”

. . . . . . .

The sun set and you cleaned yourself up after talking to Koda, getting ready for bed. Then suddenly you heard a knock at your door. You hear a muffled Mina on the other side “Y/N! Movie night in the common room in 10! Bring all the pillows and blankets you want!”

You squealed! Yay! You were going to get to have some quality time with friends away from your dorm. You grabbed your things after changing into PJs and headed downstairs. Once down there you found mostly everyone in front of the TV getting themselves situated and bickering over what you all were going to watch. Not even after being there for like 5 minutes you see Bakugou kick Kaminari off the couch earning a bunch of giggles from the others and complaining from Pikachu. You were trying to hide one yourself. Looking around the room trying to find a spot you see Koda. They gave you a smile and a thumbs up. You had no idea they were in on this, but now it makes so much sense. Koda really is the sweetest, you thought to yourself. You smiled back and mouthed “Thank you.” Just seeing you so content was enough for Koda to know they did something really good that day. They were even able to make a friend.

[seduceme-lovestruck-thearcana]

@catlovingwitch asked me why Diego was my favorite character and I decided to make a post about it :)). And @megatraven LOOK!! I was able to be like you and made a whole post about why I love Diego and this isn’t even all of it either. And if anyone wanna asks me why I love my favorites, then ask me again and I’ll say why! Even if it’s Diego bc I have more to say!!

WELL!! It’s hard to explain why. I haven’t played him in awhile bUTTT IDK WHY FNWBE. I just love him so much. It’s the way that even when he and MC are strangers, he cares for her. Ik he’s a doctor and he’s supposed to care but he wasn’t on duty and didn’t have to care. He doesn’t pry, even if MC does sometimes, AND he feels remorse PLUS he actually does enjoy being a doctor. Not just to do good but also because he enjoys helping people!

The way he puts his doctors coat on MC when she’s sleeping in the bowling alley. He didn’t have to do that, but he did. He put it in her so she would be comfortable while sleeping. He let her sleep in his bed and he may have been a little rude with his responses about “does this look like a bed and breakfast?” But he still offered her comfort and ordered her food and didn’t really judge her for it bc it was a pizza. He worried for her before they became a couple. He’s strong and doesn’t like to show it often because he doesn’t want to hurt people and that’s so sweet. He doesnt take blood from people themselves because he sees it as wrong. He takes her when she wanted to see Victor and when she broke down about Grace, he didn’t judge her. He just held her softly and said “it’s okay. You have to get it out.” And he just held her gently and let her cry because he knows she needs it and because he cares about her.

When he kissed her and noticed his fangs were coming out, he noticed it immediately and stopped because he can’t hurt her. He wouldn’t forgive himself. I bet it was tempting but he couldn’t do it. And when he found out that Victor found her, HE LOST IT ON HIM!! The kind and patient man lost his control on Victor because someone he began to love is in danger and he can’t let her get hurt because of him. I haven’t played him in awhile but I believe he kinda pushes her away at times, but it’s not because he’s angry but it’s because he doesn’t know what to do.

He’s new to this. He hasn’t loved someone romantically in a LONG time so it’s hard to know what to do. PLUS, he doesn’t want to turn her into a vampire because he’d worried about her and doesn’t want her to regret anything. He just wants her happy and tries to teach her about EVERYTHING. Whenever Dracula is coming for him and her, he protects her and is literally like “she is my lover and you WILL treat her with respect.” He was a little afraid of Dracula but he wasn’t afraid to say that he loves MC and will make her be respected.

And when Antonio is like “leave her” Diego is just saying “NO.” The game made it seem like he would, but he couldn’t. He loves her so much and asks her to go with him because he wants to protect her. He doesn’t do the thing where they break up and he disappeares. He took her with him and swore to protect her and it’s just so sweet to me. He loves her and can’t leave her alone. And when he sees Eva again, he notices MCs problem and he’s like “oh, sweetie,” and doesn’t call her ridiculous for her jealousy and worry but comforts her and is saying “I love you and no one can take that love away from me.” AND OH GOD,,

When she was thrown off the roof made me love him more. One of the wives had MC by her neck and Diego is PANICKING. He loves her. He can’t lose her. “Please let her go,” he says trying to make a deal, willing to lose himself, but she drops and he screams. He screams like he is dying because he most likely is. He tells her, “I don’t know what I would do in a life without you in it,” OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES. HE CANT LOSE HER BUT NEVER FORCES HIS DESIRES ON HER. And when they’re fighting the wife, you can tell Diego is going at it. She just DARED to hurt his lover and he’s not letting her get away with it. He only lets her go bc MC is sick and needs care. AND THATS WHEN HE TELLS HER HE CANT BE WITHOUT HER IN THE HOTEL. HE LOVES HER SO MUCH!!

And when she got stabbed by Dracula, Diego saw it and witness it happen. He saw the claws go through her back and heard as she screamed. She was dying but he ran with her. He ran for somewhere safe for her. Somewhere where he could hold her. And he realizes he has to turn her. He’s worried for her. His desires of wanting her to live by his side is still pushed aside because he can’t force this on her and is like “Don’t ruin your life for someone else’s happiness” telling her that she doesn’t have to do this!! He will be so sad, probably depressed for eternity, but he can’t force her to do anything because he loves her. And when he turns her he helps her with everything!! Teaches her, comforts her, tells her it’s okay, and even when he pushes her away you know he misses her.

He loves her so much and is so in love that he doesn’t think about himself sometimes. He thinks of her and tries to make sure he isn’t forcing her to do something. He just loves her,,,so much,,and he cares for her and when he’s controlled by Dracula, the most powerful vampire, MC snaps him out of it and he realizes and he loves her so much that he snapped out of it for a moment. His pupils become so wide because Diego is telling himself to STOP. He’s looking at the love of his life and he CANT DO THIS. HE CANT HURT HER. HE WONT HURT HER!!

And away from MC, he cares for everyone! Even JD!! They don’t always get along but he cares and makes sure JD is happy too. Like when JD is missing because of their father, Diego comforts MC and is saying that it’s okay and does his hardest to help everyone!

And my favorite moment of Diego out of his own route, is in Razis route when Baba Yaga (is that her name?? I forgot) has Razis bottle and MC is having nightmares from the laylines, and Diego watches over her. It’s his turn because everyone have shifts, yet he doesn’t stay in the hallway when she wakes up. He comes in, eyes filled with concern and scaring her for a moment, but he apologizes and calms her down and he sits in front of her and says he’ll stay until she goes to sleep. He tucks her back into bed (which is so wholesome of Diego...), and stays for a moment, and MC breaks down. She’s crying and is scared to show it because she doesn’t like to, but once again, Diego doesn’t judge her. He leans in and hugs her to his side. He wanted to make sure she knows she’s loved. That it’s okay to feel sad and show it and say how much he cares for Razi. And he’s like “I’m Razi’s friend and I’m yours as well, you know that, right?” Stating that he cares for her and MAKING SURE SHE KNOWS!! He just cares for her and Razi so much and will make sure she’s safe. And whenever she goes to bed and they wake up in the morning, Diego doesn’t say a word about her red eyes. He keeps it between him and her and I feel like he would comfort her more if she needed it,,,

Mackenzie and Razi are his best friends and he WILL make sure they’re okay. When Mackenzie is hurt in her route he rushes over and is like “don’t you die on me Mackenzie!” And when Razi is hurt in his route, he reacts immediately and helps him as best as he can. He goes to New York in an AFK special to help someone, in Dukes route it’s stated that he loves his wife (who is MC) and watches movies with her every Friday even if he finds them a little ridiculous!!

He wanted to give her The wedding SHE desired, he offered to help Antonio and he cared about him even when Antonio was being basically a little BIH. He cares for everyone and how can’t I love someone like that? And in JDs route when they’re in hell and he’s being controlled, he almost bites MC but gets it under control and he apologizes to her after it and feels truly guilty. He cares and he spreads that love to everyone he knows (and everyone he doesn’t) and how can’t I love him?

How can I not fall for this vampire who cares for his wife, his friends, Antonio who is almost like his brother because they want to kill each other, AND THE WORLD!! HE LOVES ALMOST EVERYONE!! Anyways, that’s a little as to why I love Diego and there’s so much more,,,I said what he did because it’s why I love him. His actions are why I love him and I hope I said it all correctly here in this Chili’s tonight. And Meg I wanted you to see this too bc I’m becoming like you but instead of Alex it’s Diego (I still love the posts of why you love Alex. They’re adorable and wholesome,,,).

If y’all want more reasons tell me bc I hAVE A TON!! AND FOR OTHER CHARACTERS!! IM UP FOR QUESTIONS FOR EVERYONE I LOVE!! ASK ME ANYONE THATS ON MY WHO I WRITE FOR!! I’m always up for talking about my babes😌.

Some proofreading but I may have gotten stuff wrong bc I got homework to do,,,

[mieczyhale]

mace im sorry i don't have coherent thoughts but i'm so just like,,, what was klaus this season. what was ben. the cult was pointless to klaus' character. the things that matter to klaus' character were ignored. the dave stuff was a lot of nothing. i felt like the possession thing shouldve been huge for ben and klaus' relationship but we're supposed to think klaus feeling violated is funny and inconsequential? ben going to the light was just shoved in at the end? i just---what???? who??

i’m on the same page as you, anony, especially in coherency lmfao

klaus this season was.. not totally bad, but i think most of that can be put on robert for his acting and how well he knows his own character bc the writers clearly didn’t know what was up (or maybe they did and playing him off this season as comedic relief, having him tossed to the side and mistreated, is going to play into s3 somehow. idk. i’m not writing off any possibility because overall the writers have done really really well with everything else so in my soul i feel like there has to be a reason they did what they did to him this season yknow??) for all the jokes they had him making and stuff, i think robert definitely played klaus the way we as fans know him - suffering constantly but unwilling to let anyone actually see that and if they do he’s gonna make it sound like a joke. he’s not gonna act serious because that leads to pain and he’s had more than enough of that. HOWEVER. i am genuinely so so pissed that he didn’t get to fight or really use his powers this season. and the part before ben sacrifices himself where klaus finally got up the courage to try and help, the fact that he didn’t succeed - that it wasn’t klaus who saved the day - is just... sldflksd GOD I HATE IT. oh and the scene towards the end where everyone gets shot and the one remaining swede kills the handler?? THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN KLAUS. he should have come back to life as he does, as is PART OF HIS POWERS, grabbed a gun that he knows how to use well - thank you vietnam - and he should have shot the bitch. but no. we didn’t even get that. vanya got klaus’s levitation and diego got klaus’s telekinesis and klaus got ??? a cowboy hat. which i mean looks good on him and he deserves it but it doesnt make up for *gestures at everything* and tbh even that was tainted because one of the siblings says “50$ if we leave him here” when klaus runs to grab the hat. seriously??!! SERIOUSLY??! it’s not funny, it’s just more of people not caring about klaus and thinking abandoning him is a fun joke to make ANYWAY. onto things you actually mentioned sdlkdsjf;ls i think the cult wasn’t pointless to his character necessarily, i think it did provide something, but it wasn’t used to its fullest extent. we got little things like klaus talking about it making him claustrophobic and making him feel like his skin is on fire, and his followers become something he cant escape even though he desperately wants too - it’s like having the ghosts all over again except he’s sober and these are live people who can touch him. but the show never actually out loud makes that comparison when they should have. i think it would have helped the cult thing seem less random. as for the dave thing.. i don’t think it was a lot of ‘nothing’ but again i think they could have definitely done more with it. it lets klaus see dave again, in a way, and it shows us more about both of them and the relationship they had. we learn more about dave, who he is, the kind of people he had around him and the environment he grew up in. it shows us that klaus and dave talked about all kinds of things, nothing was too mundane or unimportant. it shows us that three years after dave’s death klaus is still grieving and is still 100% in love. and it shows us that klaus isn’t always as selfish as people assume right alongside another hit to the face (oof unintentional wording) of just how much he loved dave. he wanted to save dave’s life so badly he made a fool of himself, put up with homophobia, took a hit to the face, and still kept trying to stop him from enlisting even though, per the last timeline, it would mean they’d never meet. klaus is willing to have dave never know him, is willing to handle that pain and heartbreak pretty much forever, as long as dave lives. my heart literally cannot handle it the possession thing. i haven’t stopped being angry and uncomfortable and disgusted by it since i saw it like 2 days ago now. that plot the writers really fucked up on it was a big thing for their relationship but not in any way that lead to growth or understanding or power control or ANYTHING. i love ben but i have so many fucking problems with him after watching s2 that i almost wanna take my love back tbh. the writers tried to make it seem like what ben was doing was okay - because he was angry and frustrated with klaus, because klaus wasn’t doing what he wanted, because klaus couldn’t stay sober, etc. like any of that makes possessing someone without their consent okay... or threatening to possess someone the moment their guard is down (leaving klaus paranoid and afraid to sleep).. or getting permission to possess someone and then refusing to leave (and its double garbage when diego encourages ben to continue possessing klaus. diego’s reason was gross and even if he hadnt given a reason he was still encouraging ben to not give klaus’s body back to him. which like.. im sure klaus can see and hear what’s going on. so he now is aware that his brother would rather have ben-wearing-klaus than actual klaus. the amount that would fucking hurt. a nyway) klaus never really got to talk about how it made him feel, not in any situation where anyone was listening. he never got to go off on ben for what he did, and what he was about to do, even though he had every right to. ben kind of knew how klaus felt about it but he showed very clearly that he didnt care. ben just did not fucking care about klaus this season. and it wasnt a ‘tough love’ thing like they tried to do in s1. it was just horrible and it hurt to watch. and i feel like s2 ben wouldnt have apologized to klaus even if he had been seriously confronted. we now know that klaus has this power. and we know that it can easily be abused by someone else. and i feel like that could tie into his ability to make the ghosts corporeal and such. it could definitely work as an interesting lead into exploring more of his many powers. and it could have worked as a way to bring ben and klaus closer without anyone getting hurt or violated. but.. for s2.. it wasnt used that way. it was used as a way to degrade and humiliate klaus. and they clearly wanted us to find it funny. it was one of the least funny things to happen all season. actually probably THE least funny thing. right along with nobody giving a shit when they thought klaus was having a seizure or OD-ing (both during their meeting with reginald and in the alley when they were supposed to meet up to use the briefcase five got from the handler), AND OF COURSE  nobody taking klaus seriously, paying attention to him, or caring about him (except for allison at some points) and ben finally going into the light at the end..  was kind of shoved in?? but i think what made it feel that way, for me at least, wasn’t so much the placement or timing of it but that it wasn’t really acknowledged afterwards?? it just.. happened, and we were all heartbroken, and on screen... nothing. it felt like a very sudden end to his storyline and yeah they could have done a little more to make it feel like a natural end for him thanks for the ask and sharing your thoughts on s2 with me~!! <3

[luna-memoria]

Night

Taking a break from my Secret Santa project to write some silent cat dialogue fic an attempt to write it anyway bc idk how to romance. anyways the Quantics are having a sleepover at Bri's place,, enjoy your read ヽ(^。^)ノ

..

"What are you doing?"

"That should be my question, dude. Didn't know you were a night owl."

"Ha ha. Right. So what are you doing? Should I be concerned over the fact that you're digging around in the kitchen at this hour?"

"I'm hungry."

"Really."

"It happens. Don't tell me it hasn't happened to you before."

"It hasn't."

"Okay, fine. I'm just gonna ignore you and go back to snack hunting."

"Why don't you turn the lights on? I don't really see how you can find anything in this dark. At least get your phone or something."

"Nah. It hurts my eyes."

"There aren't any snacks in there. They're over here."

"You really know your way around, huh."

"Of course."

"No, I mean- what?"

"Oh. Yeah. I have been here plenty of times, I suppose. Before- the Quantic team. It was just me and her."

"Yeah?"

"She didn't trust me that much at first. But then one time we got into a really bad situation which left us heavily injured, and she managed to get us here before we detransformed."

"And you just revealed yourself? Doesn't really sound like a you thing to do, alley cat."

"She had revealed herself by bringing me here. It just didn't seem fair to not do the same. Besides, I had planned on doing so for some time. So… yeah."

"Did you-"

"What?"

"Nah, forget it. You don't want to answer that."

"Now you're making me awfully curious. What is it?"

"Did you- have a crush on her? Ladybug?"

"What?"

"Um-"

"Nothing, I just thought- it was pretty obvious, was it not?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, well - I guess, at the time. I don't know if it was considered a crush or something like that, just that I liked her more than other people."

"Huh."

"I mean, she's pretty amazing. She's- everything I wanted to be, everything I wasn't. Still am not. Brave, determined, kind and things like that. Why am I telling you this again?"

"Because you adore me and wish to open up to me about your tragic backstory. Now go on, I wanna hear more."

"Tragic back- Okay. What else do you want to hear?"

"That can't be just it. You like her. What's next? You didn't do anything?"

"Do you know me to be the kind of person who acts on their feelings?"

"I wouldn't know that, but I do know that you have no problem using bad luck to avoid social situations-"

"That has literally nothing to do with what we're talking about right now. Back to the subject-"

"Sure, teach."

"-As I was saying. I liked her. We learned each other's identities and started working closer, being able to get in contact way easier than before. I guess somewhere along the way we became friends and started hanging out for fun. Then we met you guys and our team expanded to- well. What we have now. End of story."

"You would think a writer would be a better storyteller than that."

"Sure, I'd love to see you try and tell your life story to a friend while you're both stuffing your faces with snacks in the kitchen at midnight. Or, well, I don't know the time-"

"Friend?"

"I'm not mean or childish enough to call us anything other than that."

"I always thought you were embarrassed at the thought of being friends with us, y'know."

"I was, actually. Not at the thought of being friends with you guys. Just… general embarrassment from the stuff you guys like to pull off sometimes. You are a pretty lively bunch, and I- well, am myself. I get embarrassed easily. I am an anxious person. But you- you guys are nice."

"That's good to hear."

"Do you have any more questions?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

"You still like Bridgette?

"Of course I still- like her. She's taught me so much. I don't think- Whatever. But it's not like that anymore. She's not- we're not- meant to be. In this lifetime."

"That's- you don't know about that."

"No one does. And that's okay. I like where we are now."

"Never thought I'd hear something like that coming from you."

"Never foresaw the day both of us would be here doing this."

"Never foresaw the day you'd willingly tell me a story of your own."

"Willingly, huh."

"Come on! I didn't force you- you could have easily refused to elaborate and I would have let you."

"Why don't you share a story of yours back, then? To be fair."

"And what, make this conversation more personal than it already is? I think I'll pass, for now."

"You do realize it could be easily turned even more personal by discussing our, ahem, troubling family issues."

"Gasp! Shame on you, dude, no need to bring our villain dads into this. I can't believe you just took an angsty family issue and turned it into a joke."

"We can't always be upset over that."

"I know, yeah. I just wish it was easier. Learning terrible truths about someone you cared so much about."

"Do you still?"

"Wha- what even is that question? Of course I do, but that doesn't matter. He's- a villain."

"It's okay to still care."

"What? Why- yeah, really, I can't believe this is what we're talking about now. Do we really have to keep this up?"

"I think it's something that needs to be talked about sooner or later. It just so happens to be me who's sitting here right now. Of course, you don't have to, if you don't want to. I just thought it might be a good idea, you know. With our… shared- well."

"And you are dealing with this all easily?"

"You know I'm not. But I'm trying. Allegra told me the other day - there's no real way to- move on from all this. We can only continue on ahead. Move forward. It's not going to be something I could just forget about, but I don't want to let it weigh me down either. And I doubt my father would want that to happen as well."

"...I guess. Sorry for-"

"Yeah. Yeah, it's- okay."

"Yeah. Also this got personal way too quickly."

"Could be even more if-"

"Okay, stopping you right there. Not jumping into another one of those. Focus."

"You're not going to brush your teeth later, are you."

"I will. When everyone wakes up."

"I don't think they will be just yet. The girls will probably sleep in, at least."

"I doubt I'll go back to sleep."

"Huh."

"But it's all good! Might even get to watch the sunrise. That's something to look forward to."

"From here?"

"Yep. Nothing like watching daybreak from behind a dusty window, right?"

"...I suppose. There are stranger places to do that."

"And you?"

"I'm staying. Wouldn't want to wake them."

"Allan is a pretty light sleeper."

"Hmm. We're out of snacks."

"Yeah. Paprika flavor next?"

"Bridgette's going to hit you with a book if you open another packet."

"Heh, she would do that."

"You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You know what I mean."

"...I am, I think. I mean, not really, but like you said, I think I can live with it. Plus, it's nice, having someone who understands."

"I'm glad- Ow! Did you have to bump that hard on my shoulder?!"

"Yep. It's kind of strange, you know? Thinking back and seeing how we used to bicker over stupid stuff so much."

"We still do that."

"It's not the same. But it's nice, really. I hate the thought of us not being friends."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

"Me too."

[27emailsicantsend]

Ok so I read ur muffy second kiss fic thing and I got an idea but I suck at writing so I thought I’d ask you to write it lol but like the idea is that Marty is always trying to be the brave one bc that’s his way of showing Buffy that it’s ok to be emotional but one day Marty has a bad day and it’s Buffy’s turn to be the comforter (this idea might suck oop)

Marty’s Loss: A Muffy One Shot

“Yeah, ok, thanks for letting me know,” Marty said as he hung up the phone. He turned around to see all of his friends laughing and having a good time. They had decided to go bowling again, but it was starting to feel the bowling alley was jinxed. He watched as the rest of the world faded around him and his friends seemed to be in slow motion.

Andi was making jokes, smiling wide as she watched Cyrus roll the ball granny-style down the lane. TJ playfully smacked Andi’s arm with the back of his hand telling her to “cut it out”. Jonah was sitting opposite them, talking to Amber. They were having a light-hearted conversation. And then there was Buffy. She was so relaxed. Her black curls bouncing as she held herself laughing with Andi, TJ, Cyrus.

Buffy was so real and raw. Marty couldn’t believe they had already been dating almost a month. Ever since she admitted she liked him, she became more available emotionally. She was never really bad at this, however. She was honest when she rejected Marty (Marty shuddered as he pushed this thought away), bold when it came to standing up for her friends, straightforward with liking Marty, and he’d even seen her get teary eyed when she was afraid he rejected her.

All he did was joke with her or get serious, but never really spoke about what upset him. Even when he was rejected (shudder), he just pushed her away and moved on quickly to Rachel. Which he now acknowledged was an extremely bad idea.

Rachel was here last time and made the bowling alley an extremely uncomfortable place for him to visit due to the bad memories. He agreed to come though, in hopes that his bad memories would be replaced with new ones. They were new memories, just not new good ones, after this phone call.

He continued to watch from a distance when suddenly he saw Buffy smile at him and wave him over. He smiled and walked up to her. She placed her hand on his arm and quietly asked, “hey, everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. Whose turn is it?” Marty said quickly, faking a smile, hoping to brush past having to talk.

The kids understood he wanted a change in subject and Cyrus said, “yours!”

Marty looked up at the score board. He and Buffy were about tied (since it was obviously a competition), TJ was in second, and Amber was doing surprisingly really well. It’s not that he didn’t think Amber would be good at bowling... well, actually it was. She seemed a little preppy for his taste and Rachel was too. Rachel wasn’t good at bowling because “germs” and not the right color of bowling ball, so Marty was surprised Amber was taking to it so naturally and easily. He liked this side of her, she showed progress, unlike his ex.

Marty bowled a strike with no hesitation. He walked off the platform as Buffy walked on for her turn, saying competitively, “Weak. I’ll do better”.

Marty tried to be flirty, but he knew that his comeback had a layer of sadness in his voice. “Nice try, Driscoll”.

The gang continued to bowl a couple more turns for each person. Even in one game of bowling, with this many people playing it took forever. They should have split the amount of people into two teams to make it quicker, but they all wanted to be on the same game, so it took a lot longer. Because of the time, Marty started to get pretty hungry. He walked up to the food counter and ordered some taco tots, Buffy’s favorite.

While he waited for the food, he heard a voice next to him, “one order of taco tots, please”.

Buffy.

“Hey, Driscoll, couldn’t stand to see my score so you had to walk away?”

“Wasn’t that what you were doing?” Buffy said with a polite grin.

They stood in silence for a second and Buffy turned to look at him again. “Marty, are you sure you’re ok? You’ve been really quiet since that phone call. I can tell something is up”.

“Buffy, I promise, I’m fine. Let’s just enjoy this time with your friends, ok?”

Buffy bit her lip, contemplating. She nodded and said, “ok” quietly.

Both orders of taco tots were set on the counter and they both walked back together in an awkward silence.

Marty continued to watch and smile, trying not to seem too obvious he was sad. He noticed Buffy look over at him a few times and even thought he heard Andi and Cyrus discussing him and Buffy having relationship problems at one point. They hadn’t had any relationship problems so far and Marty didn’t consider this one at all. He was just sad and needed space and he wished his friends respected that a little more.

The game was finally starting to come to a close and so he thought everyone was going to be done. They all wanted to play another game, however.

Marty pretended to check his phone and said his mom needed him home, but that they should all stay. He walked outside and around the corner of the building where no one could see him. He slid to the ground, pulled his knees to his chest, holding them with his arm, and then buried his head into his knees. He began to cry. A lot.

He sobbed and sobbed. It was a quiet alley way, thankfully. The bowling alley was far from a lot of people and he was hidden behind a dumpster.

He couldn’t stop crying.

He didn’t really have thoughts except for how sad he was and wondering how this could happen to him.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. He panicked, thinking it might be an employee and that he wasn’t supposed to be there. He wiped the tears off of his face quickly with his sleeve and stood up. The moment he stood up he came face to face with Buffy.

She looked at him tenderly and then wrapped her arms behind his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and began to cry again. He sobbed into her shoulder. He didn’t feel embarrassed at all by this, surprisingly.

He was scared to be emotional in front of her because she already carried so much of that weight on her own. She dealt with so much. School, friends, Andi leaving, coaching... he just wanted to root her on and be a good boyfriend. He was afraid if he was too dramatic it might chase her away. That she couldn’t handle him being sad, because she already had too many emotions of her own and with her friends she had to deal with.

But this felt different. He felt a unique comfort in her embrace. One that said she wasn’t going anywhere- figuratively and literally. She continued to hold him until his crying slowed. When it started to slow down, he pulled away, their arms still locked in their same positions however.

Buffy gave him a small smile that seemed to say, “I’m here. I understand. You don’t have to talk, but if you want to. I’m here”.

Marty smiled at her and said, “thanks”.

She gave a polite chuckle and said, “anytime”.

Marty loved that about Buffy. She knew what to do and what to say. She knew her limits with him. He felt comfortable opening up to her. He had to at some point. He sat back down against the wall, extending his legs. He looked up at Buffy and patted the ground next to him, furthest from the dumpster.

Buffy slid down next to him, this time her knees to her chest, arms wrapped around them. She laid her head down on her knees, looking at him with sincerity.

Marty let out a small breath through his nose and looked ahead of him as he spoke. He knew that if he looked at Buffy, he wasn’t going to be able to keep his emotions in tact.

“My mom called. My grandma has been in the hospital the last two weeks. She finally passed”.

Buffy could have said something during the silence, but didn’t. Instead, she just kept listening.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without her, Buff. I mean, I knew it was getting close, but I spent almost every weekend growing up at her house. Since my dad isn’t around anymore, she helped my mom to raise my sister and me”. Marty giggled. “She used to have a cookie jar. It had the same cookies in it my whole life, but my sister and I would fight over them every time we got there. We would race into the house. I remember grammy saying, ‘if you wanted the cookies so bad, you should have gone to the store and gotten them yourself, instead of running like heathens through the house’. Sometimes it had more colorful language than that, but you get the gist”.

Marty’s face dropped again. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Buff. I am going to miss her so much. My grandpa is gone too, so now we have to clean the house, go through their belongings, my mom is going to have to do the work... on her.. own..” His voice began to trail as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Why did this have to happen?” He asked, rhetorically.

Buffy finally answered. She didn’t have to, but it helped. “I don’t know, Marty. I don’t know why these things happen,” she said as she scooted close to Marty, wrapping an arm around him. “But, what I do know, is that I’m here for you. We are all here for you. You don’t have to fight your battles alone. In fact, remember when we first started talking again?”

Marty began to chuckle, “yeah and I wouldn’t stop blowing up your phone? I had it so bad”. His face began to turn red.

Buffy laughed with him, “yes, you were pretty smitten, but I don’t blame you because I’m pretty awesome”. Marty rolled his eyes, grinning. “Anyway, that day I kept telling you I was busy because I was at Cyrus’ grandma’s Shivah. It’s a long celebration or ceremony they do in memory of someone who has died. It was a beautiful event and I think it really helped people to mourn the loss. What I learned the most from it, though, was that it was ok to talk about your feelings and to remember those people for who they were. It’s ok to be sad, but also don’t be afraid to remember her either. She would have wanted that from you, I know it. I also know she loves you very, very much and is so proud of who you are today. I couldn’t be more proud”.

Buffy learned over and kissed him on the cheek. Marty smiled at her, as a way to thank her.

“I appreciate you telling me that, really. I needed to hear it. I don’t think too many people will see this emotion out of me, though. That’s not really who I am and it’s why I kept so quiet today- sorry about that, by the way. Thanks for listening to me, Buffy”.

“You’re welcome. I can see how hard this must be for you and I appreciate you being vulnerable. Don’t worry, I’ll keep this between us until you’re ready. You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone”.

Marty knew that was true, and he knew she wasn’t going to run in and tell everyone what she just talked to him about. She was the only person who seemed to understand what it was like not to want to cry in front of everyone, because she didn’t do it often either. She was the only person who gets that.

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

i walk in 20 hours late sipping a starbucks hot cocoa

i don’t like coffee

promethea!!! 

awwwwww yis

tl;dr: uhh wow i talked a lot today, sorry. Mostly about whatever the fuck that thing Rhys is handing us is, how it ties into the dig site we see like maybe it’s a piece to activate it, maybe the dig site isn’t a Vault but instead a teleporter or something and needs multiple pieces to activate. so i guess kinda like a Vault but not that kind of Vault. Also if said dig site is actually on Promethea because that’s, like, DEFINITELY Elpis behind it. and like, okay, maybe we used the giant space gun to destroy the asteroid fields and make room for elpis and teleport elpis there, or maybe we teleported the dig site to pandora because it needs to be opened since Moon = Key and maybe Promethea’s moon was destroyed by the giant space gun (TM) and turned into asteroid belt, or maybe the dig site was always ON pandora and it’s not actually a Vault (because the Map would have pointed it out), but still. lots of possibilities here. oh and i go over the Battleborn easter egg and talk about Tannis is Not What She Seems (and pray she won’t end up being evil bc I love her) and I wanna believe the Eridians sent that message, not the cult ‘cause fuck those guys they probably can’t see the future they probably just adopted the name. also I ramble about how gorgeous this planet is for like... 30 minutes. but damn it really is pretty.

man this was a fun thing to wake up to and then have to wait like 8 hours to actually fully take a look at lmao

“Home to the Atlas corporation headquarters, Promethea is a metropolitan world covered in futuristic towers of chrome and glass. A recent siege by Maliwan has turned the urban environment into a warzone; their mechanized infantry patrol the streets, rodent/insect hybrids known as Ratches infest the sewers and back-alleys, and the Children of the Vault are seizing the opportunity to recruit displaced and disgruntled citizens. Atlas CEO Rhys Strongfork is getting desperate.“

“... Children of the Vault are seizing the opportunity to recruit displaced and disgruntled citizens”.

yeah that’s the most important part of this description for me. I really really like the idea of that, and it could tie into the whole Mayhem is Coming tagline for the game as, like many people have speculated, the Mayhem we hear about is the spreading of the cult/the psychos across the universe. A very interesting tie-in to the marketing campaign, as it’s clear we’re now the target of this cult propaganda, like the citizens of Promethea are (were? this is all past-tense since marcus is telling this story, isn’t it?)... like the citizens of Promethea were.

And we know that Atlas is trying to protect the citizens in the tunnels, so it’d be really interesting to see the two get into a direct conflict over a group of citizens. Like Lorelei tells us it's a hostage situation or whatever and we run in and it’s more of a brainwashing situation. Worse if the citizens decided to switch over without any brainwashing. oof.

im also curious about the number of hexagons we see on Promethea. The shapes look identical to the ones on Pandora’s page, so I’m curious if this is an accurate representation of how many areas will be on each planet.

just sayin’.

We do know that Pandora has more than those 3 listed areas (from Supmatto’s new video! can’t believe i missed the stream. ah well.)

“Covenant Pass”. I wanna believe this is near the area where we go find Sanctuary-III, at the very least that one tunnel-y area?

you know the one

this one, it’s right next to Sanc-III afterall.

Also thinking it may not be the name of a huge area, but instead the name of one of the smaller areas within that area? like the ones where when you discover it you get experience points? yeah.

the name makes me think this is someway related to the CoV cause of the word ‘covenant’, an agreement. We also know this area is directly near this one bandit camp which I’ve theorized before is a sun smasher camp

(you can see the back of sanctuary-III near both areas) 

so it’s possible there was an agreement made and both could pass freely through that one tunnel, or the twins were able to build that wall close to this camp. idk, just spitballing ideas.

So then it is possible there’s only 3ish areas on Pandora, but I really hope not unless they are BIG areas. There are most likely more than 3.

oh but we’re here to discuss Promethea

sorry i forgot.

For Promethea we got the Titan Skyway, the Atlas Campus, and the Meridian Seaport.

Titan Skyway reads to me like that giant road we keep seeing in the trailers 

like this one, which is giving me huge Bloodshot Stronghold (Damtop) vibes. Which is one of my favorite levels to play as melee Zer0 with execute and many must fall so... please let this be what i think it is. i may end up running that map just for funsies at the end of the game. mm if it didn’t take running the actual bloodshot stronghold every time i wanted to play the damtop level, i’d be running it all the time. sigh.

Atlas Campus immediately made me think of the Meridian Metroplex, but that’s definitely not it. In the instagram trailer we see Rhys on the ‘Atlas HQ rooftop’ with Zer0, so I’m gonna imagine Rhys is somewhere in the Atlas Campus.

Now if this is like an actual college campus, which i don’t think gearbox would do due to the implications, that’d be wild. I heard they had a mall designed for somewhere in the meridian metroplex, but we’re probably not actually allowed inside. which makes me sad, but also it probably holds no significance on the story. but then again... neither did caustic caverns. hmmmmmmmmm

oh also rhys is holding

whatever the fuck this is

uhhhhhhh... huhhhhh...

tbh i legitimately thought this was their attempt at macgyvering a vault key at first lmao

i know it’s a mission object because it has those glitteries, but... it reminds me a bit of Gortys’s core but i really don’t think that’s it. maybe another Atlas project to try and open a Vault? It just doesn’t look Eridian to me.

then again

this appears to be at the eridian dig site so... maybe it actually is Eridian. Definitely new to me.

some way to get inside the Vault area maybe? I can’t imagine that’s the actual Vault Key, because the one we see in the We Are Mayhem trailer doesn’t match.

you know i’ve been thinking more about vault colors

this one appears pink which... alright. maybe something to do with seraphs/seraph crystals.

The bl1 Vault was blue, the bl2 Vault was purple, the Vault of the Sentinel was... purple? blue? pink? all of the above? ... bisexual? tbqh there was a LOT going on there lol. wasn’t the Vault of the traveler yellow? either way

the big question here is: does each Vault have its own color scheme?

I wonder what that means since the Vault Mey has turned red now... it’s probably leading us to the big boy. the Vault to end all Vaults. 

now wouldn’t that be fun

right back to Promethea sorry

final listed area we get is called the Meridian Seaport. Which, if you know me, has got me all like 👀👀👀👀👀👀

water area? why yes PLEASE

i was actually talking to someone on reddit about said ‘seaport’ and it got me wondering if maybe this area is where we’ll find that one car from the Mask of Mayhem trailer. 

i can’t imagine what else those wing-like things on the side would be for. but i am definitely not a car person, like the closest i get is being a fan of Transformers, so maybe someone can enlighten me.

I am wondering if this area is the one we see in the instagram trailer with Moze

here

also i know we see water near where we find Zer0 in the demo, but that’s not really a dock area, more just a viewpoint. this has me thinking it’s an actual dock because the buildings are all off in the distance. It reminds me a lot of NYC actually lol

and interestingly enough i write about an assassination mission at a port on Promethea in one of my fanfics, but tbh i wasn’t actually expecting anything like it to be in-game. That was kind of an assumption I made since the area with Zer0 had water and I can’t believe I’m going to have to go back and edit it to be canon-compliant, cause I legitimately didn’t...

anyway.

Should i go over the instagram stuff now? I feel like i should go over the instagram stuff now.

see here is my problem with this

no moon

you’ll understand why once i compile my evidence

no moon

no moon!!

no moon

i even watched both time lapses during the amd stream and there was no hint of the moon (i understand promethea is in a state of perpetual twilight, but i thought maybe it would show up somewhere. it doesn’t. in fact it only shows the sun and this asteroid belt).

where is my moon, randy?

well let me tell you what i’m thinking here so you’re not even more confused

let’s go through that instagram video showcasing Promethea again

you should recognize this!

this is from that one video i reblogged like 4 times because i kept debating whether or not it was on promethea or pandora. now we can assume it’s on promethea but let me ask u something

if promethea doesn’t have a moon...

what the everloving fuck is that?

in fact, let me ask something

what does elpis look like in bl3?

look familiar?

hell yeah it does

now...

is this actually promethea?

I can’t imagine gearbox would be using footage that ISN’T from the planet they’re showcasing in a video about said planet. because that’s naughty. Plus, Rhys is shown giving us something that looks very similar to the tech in that area, and I can’t imagine we’d go through all that trouble just to get that tech then immediately go back to Pandora with whatever it is. whatever happened to the Promethean Vault Key we see in the We Are Mayhem trailer?

so there’s 2 options here if we’re under the assumption that dig site is/was on Promethea.

This dig site was moved from Promethea to Pandora

OR

Elpis was moved from Pandora to Promethea

Now i went over ALL of this in an old post. (seriously, give this a read if you haven't already, i go into this in a lot more detail than i will here). but we kinda got some new information.

My first instinct is that this dig site is on (or moved to) Pandora. just, 100% Pandora. the moon, the spiky rocks in the background, what look like Rakk near the back, there’s no asteroid belt in the sky. etc. etc.

do the blue sparkles have anything to do with it? maybe!

Also again, im not 100% certain this is actually a Vault. It just... doesn’t feel right to me. If this was actually on Pandora the entire time, then we’d have known about it through the Vault Map. We would have gone to open the 3rd Vault on Pandora before bl3 even began. If this really has been on Pandora the whole time, I do believe this isn’t actually a Vault. I go over this in that previous post I’ve made and I’m still standing by it. I think this is just an Eridian ruin and the Vault shape is just a statue or whatever. I could be 100% wrong, but that’s my first instinct if we’re being lead to believe this is on Pandora. 

Now I’m curious why this dig site was never mentioned in bl2 if it WAS on Pandora this whole time. And, again, if it actually does end up being a Vault, there’d be a huge plot hole with the whole Vault Map thing if it was on Pandora all along.

So was it moved here? Yeah... probably. For what reason? I... have no idea. How? similar answer. Lily couldnt’ve done it, she doesn’t have her powers anymore. Maybe activating it with whatever Rhys gives us makes it teleport to Pandora. For... reasons.

If it is a Vault, maybe it requires Elpis to open it. for some reason. We know Moon equals Key, so it could play into that. It definitely looks like it’s positioned directly in line with elpis.

but why would a Vault built on Promethea need a moon from a totally different planet to open it?

Because Promethea’s moon was destroyed.

That asteroid belt? I don’t think that’s there just for funsies (okay maybe the artists had funsies but the actual writing? yeah). And that big gun looking thing we see in both concept art and in the trailer? i think that thing fucked up Promethea’s moon to the point it shattered. So they couldn’t open that Vault.

alright, we all cool on this version of the theory?

let’s flip it on its head.

let’s consider:

Elpis was moved from Pandora to Promethea

NOT possible i hear you say

but hear me out.

what’s our reasons for saying this is Pandora?

“the moon, the spiky rocks in the background, what look like Rakk near the back, there’s no asteroid belt in the sky. etc. etc.”

Elpis? teleported! bah!

Spiky rocks? Well! We hear typhon mention a quarry, don’t we? one with brittle rock. This very well could be the quazmarian quarry he talked about where he found that very first Vault (and Vault Key). After all, if he fell into a hole and found it, it makes sense that there would be a shitload of dig teams trying to clear it out for easy access.

Rakk? We see those on Athenas, too, during the Happy Together trailer. Plus, they’re super chubby on the bottoms compared to what we see of the Rakk in the Claptrap Presents Pandora video. Maybe they’re not even Rakk.

Finally. Ah. The asteroid belt.

Well, if you believe that that giant gun could’ve obliterated Promethea’s moon, then is it so hard to turn around and believe that it’s actually obliterated the asteroids surrounding Promethea?

in fact, if we really ARE moving Elpis to Promethea, wouldn’t it make sense that we can’t have asteroids hitting Elpis for fear of worsening the Crackening and breaking our own moon?

In FACT, do we even SEE any asteroids above Promethea in that trailer shot of the bigass gun?

I THINK NOT.

There’s more to this theory, though.

from claptrap presents pandora

from the we are mayhem trailer

yeah, they COULD be celebrating the destruction of Elpis (because i would not be surprised if those are both near the same area)

lets think of something new, though. Elpis being blown up was totally 2015, with Zarpedon. That’s SO last season, Calypsos.

Plus, why would the calypsos even want the moon destroyed? is that not the home of a Vault that would allow them to see the future? how fucking powerful would that be, being able to see the future??? Jack knew what he had to do to win the Pandora games (even if he uhhh didn’t get to see that last bit because of Lilith), so why wouldn’t the Calypsos want to see their own futures?

There is the argument that they’ve already gone to Elpis and didn’t like what the Vault showed them, but I kinda assumed that they’d have gotten the funky eye things like Zarpedon did if they really did see what the Vault showed them. Given that Jack’s was interrupted by Lilith, we don’t really know if that’s truly the case.

I’m 100% down to blow up the moon cause Good Riddance, but also it needs to make sense WHY the calypsos want it blown up other than like shits and giggles? which... fine, but the story..? Elpis has to be important somehow. They have to want it blown up for some reason. A show of power? awesome, maybe they got that giant space gun. Moon = Key, so maybe they think if we can’t get this Vault, nobody can? sure why not. Destroying Pandora? Sure, but why blow up elpis when u could just also blow up pandora? 

either way, if the game gives us an actual reason as to why the twins are blowing up the moon, we’re all fine and dandy. if they’re going it just because then yeah, im gonna get kinda testy. 

anyway my point IS

The effect around elpis here looks strikingly familiar to the effect that appears around Lilith (and the cultists) when they’re teleported.

so it would be much cooler if, instead of blowing up Elpis, they were actually celebrating its movement. 

And it would be very interesting then, if this tied into that Easter Egg we got.

You know the one:

Because yeah im still iffy on the implication that this is from the Calypso twins. Why wouldn’t they want the Vaults opened? isn’t that the grand plan?

maybe this could be from the Eridians or the Guardians on Elpis. If Elpis was teleported from Pandora to Elpis, maybe the translation from Eridian -> English is slightly off, or simplified for the message. (on vs orbiting for example)

Visit Promethea -> Where we are right now, or where we’re going to go. We need you there.

Children of the Vault -> Yes, it could be the CoV cult that’s being referenced, but the way this is broadcasted, through morse code, spoken like an actual cryptic message and not, you know, with that Calypso flair... me thinks the cult simply adopted the name “Children of the Vault”. I think this may either be referencing Sirens, or the Vault Hunters/Crimson Raiders. Maybe the twins picked up this broadcast and that’s why they immediately head to Promethea after they steal Lilith’s powers.

We are not on Pandora anymore -> shit dudes we got yeeted to Promethea, help us. Or... we’ve moved elsewhere. We’re not nearby, we escaped, we fled, come find us on Promethea. 

Tannis is not what she seems -> this one... I don’t believe the Calypsos actually know anything about Tannis. If they do, then she was possibly the one to rescue/experiment on them, turning them into artificial Sirens or whatever, but then... isn’t Tannis exactly what she seems? She’s crazy, she totally would experiment on the twins. That is EXACTLY what she seems like. 

The people who would know about Tannis not being what she seems... the people who can see the future? The Guardians of the Sentinel’s Vault (maybe just the Guardians/Eridians in general). The Watcher can speak (speak? she uses telepathy, doesn’t she? that’s why Brick asks Lilith what she says) eloquently, I imagine there has to be more than one Watcher-like Guardian. Or this is the Watcher herself sending the message. 

Either way, if, later on in the game, Tannis starts showing signs of not being what she seems, then... wouldn’t it make sense that the only characters who knew this were the ones who could see the future? And given the new info, it makes sense that the Guardians/Eridians/yougetthegist would know her by name, because she could be the one who turned herself into an artificial Siren.  Or figured out how to create artificial Sirens. Whichever (both?). Which is kinda big news in the Eridian world, I’m sure. Plus, the wording using ‘What’ instead of ‘Who’ is kinda a big pointer. I’m almost leaning towards the idea that Tannis tried to give herself Angel’s phaseshifting abilities. I can’t see Tannis with actual offensive abilities... It wouldn’t really fit her character. But I can 100% see her with mad computer hacking skills, to the point she could ruin anything with a flick of her wrist. Yeah, I can see that. 

And I really hope Tannis doesn’t end up being a villain. She could do so much good with her intelligence and newfound powers and tbh it’s really nice seeing a character with autism not treated like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory (the butt of every joke). She feels real to me (as someone with autism)- she’s got her obsession (Eridians/Sirens/the Vaults), her crazy intelligence, the social phobia/unawareness. I really like her as a character (going from betraying us in bl1 to realizing her mistake and immediately trying to help and assisting the Crimson Raiders) and I’d really hate for her to become the villain just for... idk a shock twist? The shock twist should be that she’s a Siren or whatever, not that she’s going to betray us. I like Tannis :( And all the message says is Tannis is Not What She Seems, not that we shouldn’t trust her or that she’s going to betray us.

Do Not Open the Vaults -> well this is the whole thing, isn’t it? this is why I think this message has some sort of Eridian origin, instead of the Calypsos cult. The Calypsos WANT the Vaults open. They want that ‘universe-destroying’ power. They want to absorb the powers of the Vault monsters. Shit, even we Vault Hunters want to open the Vaults for some of that sweet, sweet loot. But who doesn’t want the Vaults opened? The Eridians.

oh yeah we were talking about Promethea. how the fuck did i get here?

oh the moon

yeah it could have just been a shot in the Instagram trailer they used to show off the ‘Eridian alien technology’. that’s not fun to talk about tho lmfao. plus the thingie Rhys holds matches up so well with the cool technology we get

anyway

the instagram trailer. we’re not even like halfway done with this post btw. still gotta do those beautiful screenshots

oh

trailer

sorry it’s like 1am im starting to lose focus im shifting into sleepy mode

i just love the aesthetic of this city.

also. that one building with the 0 on it? you can’t convince me Rhys didn’t give Zer0 their own skyscraper.

oh, you want an entire building to store all your loot and trophy kills? OF COURSE ZER0 ANYTHING FOR YOU

yes....... Eridian log.

im really excited to see it glowing. especially since it’s glowing red, like the Vault Map/key/you know. I hope that has some significance. 

i did boost the brightness and noticed it was part of a wall, not just one slab found elsewhere. makes me think this is part of a Temple. maybe part of the dig site below? we know that one is connected to some sort of building. and if it glows red, that’d be a really neat tie in to why Atlas always has that glowing red aesthetic going on in their bases.

still not done talking about this shot. yeah the stuff on the right looks similar to the thing Rhys hands us. NOT why i brought it back up tho. The guardian statues in the back seem very ‘low poly’. VERY different to the guardian statues we have on Pandora. they’re also holding staffs which is new. 

compare

these ones also seem much buffer than the guardians we see. with shorter necks, as well.

Maybe these are statues of ACTUAL Eridians? not just Guardians or any other construct (further proof for my theory Pandora was a Guardian production planet lol) but like what Eridians actually look like.

shorter necks, thicker limbs (because why would the constructs NEED muscles?), actual bodies that aren’t thin as twigs. I think we found it boys

this is the ideal Eridian body

no cause, seriously, if they ARE guardians, why are they so BUFF?? i don’t GET IT

also weird  this atlas gun isn’t wrist mounted. Atlas sniper confirmarinoed? or just an Old Atlas gun. sure. that too.

Moze on a turret near what i assume is the Meridian Seaport. She has what i think is an Atlas pistol equipped. There’s a dead guy leaning up against some cinder blocks, all cozy-like. 

better shot of the area. We talked about this earlier, so moving on!

Okay... so is THIS the New Atlas sniper? it looks like nigel thornberry’s nose

smashing.

we saw this before, too. im actually really excited to look out over the Promethea skyline from the top of a skyscraper. also, idk, rhys’s hand looks like a yaoi hand to me. like his fingers are above the F in strongfork, right? look how far away his thumb is. YEESH.

it’s actually ONLY rhys lol

An Atlas soldier at work! I like that their gear has the crimson lance logo on it. And the new Atlas symbol. I feel like if we have to fight these guys, the crit spot is gonna be that backpack.

maliwan robo!!!

a big boy. one of the flying ones too iirc from the We Are Mayhem trailer. 

Atlassss in the back. it’s weird that the second A in Atlas is the logo, not the first one. the first one is a triangle. that’s weird is it supposed to be signalling something else? a triangle with a circle around it. i don’t even know what that might be a logo for. hm.

oh also police bots i guess, but we see these dudes a lot.

im more interested in this thingie in the back. wonder what happened to it/what it is

ratches. blegh.

i hate these things jfc. they’re so gross.

i like that maliwan is just claiming things by throwing their flag up on it. that’s not how this works! that’s not how any of this works!

anyway.

how are those screenshots lookin

pretty good.

im pretty sure i’ve mentioned this before, but i love that they named this part of the city Meridian and then kept the Eridian logo in the spelling. it’s so fuckin dorky to me.

also i know we’re supposed to hate these robos, but at least they’re getting some characterization as enemies. the loaderbots in bl2 do this but not to a degree that they get their own interactions (LB being the exception of course). I like this.

also i love that parts of the city are color coded. like red and blue parts are different areas. It’s such a neat way to help people not get lost (cough, me) and it fits great into the design of the city with the neon lights and bright colors. I noticed this in the gameplay demo as well, tho i don’t remember if it was followed. Also I’m pretty sure that symbol up there

is what the blue area is called. could be wrong. but i think i saw this during the demo as well.

i think this is going to be my favorite area to visit on Promethea, hands down. I love this little living area. It feels so unlike anywhere we’ve visited in previous games, like it feels like somewhere Gaige could be from. Actually, iirc Roland was from Promethea, wasn’t he? Be wild if we visited his house here. Anyway, I’m also excited about the trees. Fucking! Trees!

and cars!!! holy shit yeah on Pandora we only ever saw like light runners or bandit technicals and the occasional bus. all the cars were broken down and stripped for parts! It’s really cool to see actual full cars here.

wow i am excited over the most mundane shit lol

wait till you guys hear about the PARKING LOT

OHHHH YEAH

CROSSWALKS TOO

lol im actually- i just love this area. i love it so much. this is lovely. i love the giant glowing reactor in the background too, i 100% hope we get to interact with that (posssssibly blow it up. maybe just a little.) I can see this area being the area we have to run through to reach the entrance of that thing. I mean, it’s just RIGHT THERE.

Also would not be surprised if this KV fellow is waiting for us there. “Who wants to BANG a billionaire indeed”. He’s totally gonna be a boss fight. BANG i imagine means more shooty shooty than innuendo... innuendo...

it sounded better in my head.

the symbol for the red area possibly on that tower in the back?

I’m like, 60% sure this isn’t the area we explore with Lorelei, so maybe this is the Titan Skyway? also maybe the bridge Moze and Fl4k drop off of in the Happy Together trailer.

hate. i would quote AM here but im tired so just imagine the entire ‘Hate’ quote here because i HATE these things.

there’s also a big skelly in the back, i wonder just how big these fuckin things can grow. hopefully uhhh like a cow died here or smth. cuz fuck man.

this area is also super green and watery so i wonder if this is a sewer or smth. that’d be wild lol

Another shot of the city. It’s so fucking beautiful. I really love how they went all out for this. Opportunity was great, but it wasn’t nice to look at. Promethea is fucking STUNNING. I love this place way too much. Never even been here before.

also i love the fog coming up from the bottom. Maybe this shot is taken from the water? god if we get to go on the water and then it starts fogging up i might actually start crying lol.

this building is my favorite by far i think. I love the way the middle turns in. I have no idea how that’d work like... from an inside standpoint, cause the ground would just be slanted under you but im sure they made it work somehow.

anyway. im gonna go cry myself to sleep over how beautiful this game is. sorry i talked like... WAY too much during this one lol.

also i just thought of this while writing the tl;dr but maybe that item rhys gives us is after all the Promethea stuff is over, even the Vault(s), maybe we need it to activate something in that vault statue area on Pandora and that’s our way to like some important Vault or the Eridian homeworld or smth and we gotta collect all the pieces to activate it. like it’s a teleporter. Maybe Rhys had a piece because that’s what was in the Vault of the Traveller. I mean it would make sense because if you didn’t want someone to have something, you fuckin hide it in a box that’s teleporting across the galaxy at random intervals. That might be our way to the Eridian Homeworld. Now wouldn’t that be neato...

[crescentmoonrider]

some details from my recent comic (mostly environment)

also, stuff that hit the cutting room floor and isn’t present in the actual thing

[link to the comic, it’s 5 pages of kekkai sensen noir AU]

so, as some might have noticed (and as i said in the tags of the comic i think), i paid A Lot of attention to the details and environments in this comic. so i thought i’d explain some of the stuff i had in mind while drawing

surprisingly, i have nothing of importance to say about the brick wall (on page 1) i spent over 5 hours on - aside from it being bricks bc, well, new york, man

or, as the artistic director for the bbb anime Kimura Shinji said : “the most emblematic buildings in new york are from the time when art déco was “in”” and “the image of the 70s new york was the one that satisfied me most [in terms of mood]”

(ive got loads of interviews with the anime staff that came with the dvds i bought, though in french, but if anyone is interested i could translate some of them)

anyway that’s what i looked up for reference. 70s streets, emblematic new york architecture (meaning bricks and side stairs or whatever these things are called), some noir movies back alleys to fit the theme of the AU, and four new york taxi photos for a result that is

... yeah

details i do have loads to talk about though !

this poster (on page 2) is based on an actual ad for the city of new york, featuring the empire state building

so why did i choose to put this element in daniel’s office ? obviously, the setting is hellsalem’s lot right ? why keep an ad of a city that basically doesn’t exist anymore - plus, what kind of person keeps an ad of their own city ?

(also, side note, is- is the huge building that we see tumbling down at the start of the Collapse in the anime. is it the empire state ?? did the empire state get scraped from new york/hellsalem’s horizon right as Mr. Kimura said he based his backgrounds on this kind of architecture ?)

anyway, this poster was my way of slowly building up the... let’s say static state daniel is in, in this AU. page 3 mentions “The constant numbness that’s been following [him] for the past three years.” and that was my attempt at introducing this idea environmentally

this daniel refuses to move past the disappearance of marcus, refuses to accept it, and that form of denial kind of leads him to get. stuck in place - or maybe stuck in time, leading me to

this glass of water (page 2 still)

how long has this glass been sitting here ? who knows. a while, certainly, if the way it’s sweating is any indication

how long has daniel been standing looking at nothing through that window, stuck inside his thoughts, until reality calls him back whenever a client walks in ?

how many times has it happened ?

on the same desk, we have... quite a few pictures

(yes i put effort into this detail explanation, yes i redrew the pictures for this one)

(also i realize i put the pencil on the left side out of habit, so i guess daniel is now left-handed. ooops ?)

on the center of the desk, we can see... Leonardo Watch ? yup, that’s him, he has a file dedicated to him, and daniel apparently followed him around enough to get 4 pictures taken on various occasions, and one mugshot he got.... somewhere

daniel is, in fact, not working on a case relating to leo. officially. alright, so, i haven’t figured out the way everything fits together, but daniel’s search into his brother’s disappearance lead him places, among which research into Things You Can’t See, and as such, the eyes of the gods

pictures 1-3 are just leo in various situations (meeting up with nej, eating at diane’s dinner, waiting for his train)

picture 4 shows leo on a bench, obviously interacting with.... someone ? who cannot be seen. even though leo clearly has his arm over their. shoulder, probably. daniel annotated the picture by hand, circling the empty space at leo’s side, and adding the commentary “doesn’t appear on photos?”, indicating that whoever was there could, in fact, be seen by human eyes

(leo, what the fuck kind of friends are you making in this AU)

on the right side of the desk, literally put aside, is a file full of daniel’s official work. and a picture related to his most current case

not explicit, or even implicit, but probably a fun fact, this one file is just. a collection of investigations into one Zapp Renfro’s many affairs, each investigation related to a different case

i’m not saying zapp keeps daniel fed through his many infidelities, but i’m not not saying it either

if they ever actually meet, daniel is either going to shout at zapp forever for being a garbage person, or he will thank him for all the easy work. or he might do both

so how did daniel take these pictures ? did he use a portable camera, like any old-fashioned detective would ? or did he go the modern way, and simply used his phone ?

the answer is neither

welcome to “i couldn’t fit this in the comic so just take it”, featuring daniel’s left eye ! my headcanons for his canon self vary from day to day (and also whether we’re talking manga or anime, since his design slightly differs), but in this AU, we’re going with a huge scar and an artificial eye

the eye is a product of beyondian technology. pure tech, no magic involved. it works as a covert camera, but mainly serves as, you know, an eye

sometimes daniel sees people with his right eye that the left one seems blind to, and something tells him he should probably not ask about it if he can avoid it

next page !

those who saw me post my progress in real time already know this one, but i still can’t get over the fact that i put research into a single shot of a small part of a watch. but i did

anyway the watch is an actual existing one. it’s a Boucheron “Epure”, steel with a white quadrant, and a black gator bracelet. you can look it up

and now we get to the One thing i really, really wanted to put in the comic, but had to refrain myself out of a desire to keep things not too cliché. i mean, shady client comes in, detective thinks to himself “the moment i saw him, i knew he was trouble” while dragging on his cigarette...

look, steven is heavily femme fatale (homme fatal ?) coded already, and is trying to look decent and Not like he murdered someone/is planning on murdering someone, because that’s precisely the problem he needs daniel’s help with. murder accusations

anyway he can not decently show up in a fur coat looking like some mafia boss

but BOY do i wish he would

[cubedcoffeecake]

Dudley is Magical AU

* The Dursley’s would have refused to put Dudley in Hogwarts if they were any other family

* But they had Harry, so Hagrid chased them down, and couldn’t bear the thought of a magical child being denied the chance to go to Hogwarts

* So as Harry’s stomach dropped, Hagrid took both Harry and Dudley off to Diagon Alley.

* But Harry was quiet where Dudley was involved, and Dudley extra loud where Harry was involved

* So right from the beginning, Harry was ignored in favor of Dudley, even though Hagrid meant his best

* Because the loudest kid gets the most attention

* Dudley was difficult, and Harry was easy. Dudley complained loudly and frequently, and Harry did whatever he was told, and picked things up quickly

* Most of Hagrid’s well meaning information and speeches were inadvertently turned toward Dudley, and Harry wasn’t paying quite as much adoring attention as he might’ve

* At Madam Malkin’s Draco didn’t make attempts to befriend Harry—Dudley attempted to monopolize Draco’s attention, but Draco was very unimpressed

* Instead of being turned off by Draco’s behavior Harry was quietly snickering with him

* Draco judged Harry as likely awful for being related to Dudley, but Harry wasn’t terribly offended—he would have made the same judgment about someone associated with Dudley

* Dudley wanted the owl Hagrid was picking out for Harry’s present, and Harry didn’t want any more of Uncle Vernon’s ire than he’d already earned

* So Harry insisted he wanted Dudley to have his gift—a cleverly worded excuse that it’d be a gift to see his cousin happy

* And Hagrid was so taken with the sweet, quiet little boy’s devotion to his cousin he didn’t question it.

* Harry didn’t learn he was rich

* Assuming that Uncle Vernon’s money was being taken for his stuff as well as Dudley’s, and Hagrid didn’t think to say anything to the contrary.

* So, Harry is a tag along when the Dursley’s take Dudley to Platform 9 and 3/4

* They’re not happy about all this magic nonsense, but they’re gonna support Dudley anyway

* And Harry’s dragging his own trunk, in horrible clothes, locking his jaw and keeping his eyes on the ground

* Dudley settles down in the first empty compartment he can find and shoves Harry in too

* Starts mocking him, that he’s a waste of space in the magical world too

* And Harry is growing more and more determined to find a place in this new world WITHOUT Dudley in it

* So Ron comes in, and Dudley immediately starts lavishing attention on him

* And lovely as Ron is, he’s always wanted a friend who just sees him

* Harry grits his teeth, knowing that Dudley sees him as a minion, not a person

* But Ron has already latched on to Dudley, and you’d bet Ron’d believe him if he denounces his delinquent cousin over there

* And Hermione comes in, and Dudley sneers, and Harry slips out

* And he finds Draco, who’s looking for Harry Potter, because Harry Potter’s the same age as him and Draco just knows he’ll be on the train

* And Harry asks what’s the big deal with Harry Potter

* And Draco launches into how he defeated the Dark Lord and brought an end to the greatest Wizarding War of history! and so much more because this kid has read everything there is to know about Harry Potter and remembers everything his father had ever told him (and he’s 11 too and hasn’t quite learned to keep some cards to himself yet) (especially when he has a rapt audience)

* Because Hagrid never realized exactly what it meant that Harry didn’t know about the Wizarding World

* And Draco finishes and Harry has hope because he’s not just a waste of space

* And he lifts up his hair and shows Draco his scar and Draco realizes that this kid from Madam Malkin’s is Harry Potter

* But before he can get angry, even if he would

* Harry thanks him for explaining, and quietly, a bit sharply comments that his cousin hadn’t asked about wizarding history when they were brought to Diagon Alley

* And Draco realizes invites his childhood idol to his compartment, and Harry happily joins him

* Slowly Draco begins to piece together that something is very wrong here and Harry really knows nothing about anything and that’s kinda weird?

* So he politely asks about Harry’s cousin this time, instead of judging him on his family connections

* And Harry doesn’t tell him much, but Draco was raised a Slytherin and he can read between the lines

* Harry does not hold to those muggles at all, and he dislikes his muggle cousin more than Draco ever could

* So Draco decides that he’s gonna be Harry’s friend

* And in this world, Harry doesn’t have a problem with that.

* Draco tells Harry everything he can about everything as they head up to the castle—the ceiling, the sorting hat, random facts he read in Hogwarts a History

* And Harry’s endeared, because Draco has made it his mission to make sure no one can rag on Harry because he had the disadvantage of growing up outside the Wizarding World

* The sorting begins

* D comes fast, and after a near hatstall Dudley gets GRYFFINDOR

* (he’s heard about it all train ride—it’s the best house, it’s the right house, everyone who isn’t in Gryffindor is a pushover or nerdy or evil)

* And M comes with an instant SLYTHERIN

* So P comes, and the hall goes silent, and Dudley is confused (later he’ll be fuming)

* And Harry is told he isn’t a waste of space—he can be great

* And the way to greatness holds his new friend (his only friend)

* Harry hasn’t heard any slander against Slytherin in favor of Gryffindor

* But he’s heard Draco talk and talk and talk on the train about all of the great people who’ve come out of Slytherin and all that they’ve done

* Great potion masters who changed the way healing was done, and headmasters who are still household names, and politicians who formed the modern Wizengamot

* And he doesn’t argue with the hat against SLYTHERIN

* The hall is a bit silent for a moment

* And Draco’s too smart to clap before the rest of his table

* But when the entirety of Slytherin does bring up a bit of applause, Draco is the only one whose applaud is more than golf claps.

* The rooms are in the dungeon

* Prefects explain what will be expected of them grade-wise

* But also all of the many tools Slytherin will offer them to meet those expectations

* Tutoring, and extra resources, and office hours w their head of house

* Who dramatically entrances to give them his own speech, more focused on Slytherin’s rich history and the wonders it boasts

* Harry barely holds back a smile when he realizes that this sounds so familiar bc Draco had been reciting from it

* So Harry goes to bed happy, maybe for the first time ever, really,

* Bc he has a home. A home. These people have rules he shouldn’t break for his safety and the house’s reputation (he’s watched Aunt Petunia’s managing the social ladder his whole life; he gets that part), these people will offer him help when he needs it, and hold him up, and maybe, just maybe, some people will enjoy his company, like the nerdy rich boy he seems to have become friends w, if Draco’s rants about “Obviously I should be bedding next to him! We’re friends, if you didn’t notice” are to be believed.

* Dudley has quickly become famous in Gryffindor, too

* By the time they go to bed, it’s common knowledge that Harry Potter really is a snake, has always been an attention seeking problem child, and Dudley’s not surprised he slayed a Dark Lord, he probably wants to be one!

* Snape believes his own speeches about unity far too much to be rude to the boy while giving the unity speech

* But he’s already planning out detentions, and he’ll be having a very serious conversation w that brat if he starts pulling his godson into any trouble.

* Harry wakes up, and gets to wear new robes and they fit

* And Draco claims the green matches his eyes wonderfully

* Draco also tells him all about what they should be learning in their classes that day, and shares w him the answers to all the questions he thinks they might be asked

* And Harry doesn’t remember a half of what Draco’s saying, but he listens attentively bc he’s so touched that Draco cares that he does well his first day in class

* (Not hand-dyed uniforms and being required to fail his classes)

* Breakfast brings jeers from the whole Gryffindor table

* And Harry tenses bc he can see Dudley’s behind it

* And Draco tenses bc how DARE they disrespect HIM, a Malfoy, and Harry?!

* So he sneers and tells Harry that Gryffindors will judge anyone based on nothing

* And don’t know Harry at all

* (A day is quite a lot of time to get to know me, apparently)

* They just want a new reason to vilify their ancient, noble house

* And Harry knows that Dudley doesn’t need a reason to chase you and hit you

* So it’s not a stretch that the rest of the Gryffindors are like that

* And Harry doesn’t sneer, but he’s long perfected an icy glare meant specially for Dudley that is now given to the whole red house

* Draco and Harry sit down and calmly ignore the idiots across the hall as they enjoy breakfast and chatter about how wonderful what they’ve seen of Hogwarts is

* But Draco... he’s a little lost with the food

* He’s always had perfect meals given to him, not a buffet

* So Harry happily steps on to point out what’ll go well together

* “Just wait for potions! If you know so much about food and putting ingredients together, you’ll love it!”

* Professor Snape watches, and plots a little less—a LITTLE—bc this boy will be a menace, but at least he might be a Slytherin of a menace, not a Gryffindor one

* PETUNIA’s son seems to have THAT covered.

* In classes, Harry picks up a bit of Draco’s excitement to learn and they both listen attentively and do pretty well

* Tho how much is natural talent and how much is keeping his cool and letting Draco boss him through the practical Harry doesn’t really know—doesn’t particularly care, either. As long as Draco quiets down when he asks, Harry is happy to let his new friend talk as much as he wants to

.

There is actually more! I’ll post it to my Ao3 (cubedcoffeecake) at some point—or here, if y’all really want it.

This was written back in May of this year, and then I totally forgot about it. But like... this is technically my first HP fanfiction? I was really surprised by how much I like this as I read back thru it. I hope you like it too!

[thelastspeecher]

Super hero au, baking, After discovering his ability to manipulate flames, Stanley decides to abuse this power by baking the cakes his mother used to make when he was younger. And as it turned out, criminals are less likely to mug people in dark alleys if they're given free food. So now Stan is fighting crime both with and without his mask!

🍰 - baking

In what has become a very obvious pattern, I didn’t completely follow your suggestion nor baking prompt.  Technically, it’s related, and inspired by both those things.  Also, I decided to set this in the Superhero AU where Angie’s a supervillain named Sirocco, bc that was what I got inspired for.  Anyways, hope you like it!

Send in an emoji and I’ll write a ficlet!

              Stan groaned silentlyto himself.

              I hate going to the bank.  Ialways get stuck behind some moldy oldie who insists on paying their bills orwhatever with pennies.  Currently, hehad been waiting for fifteen minutes, and was still at the back of theline.  Stan sighed and looked around thequiet, calm bank.  Man, what I wouldn’t give for a distraction.  Somethin’ to keep me from dying of boredom.

              Crash!  Stan instinctivelyducked at the sound of a glass breaking.

              What the hell happened?

              “All right,everybody on the ground, now!” a voice shouted. Stan’s eyes widened; the voice sounded familiar.  He turned around.  Standing proudly in front of the broken glassdoors was his archnemesis, the supervillainess named Sirocco.

              Fuck!  I don’t have my heroingduds on me.  And even if I did, I wouldn’tbe able to mask up without everyone here seeing.  Stan subtly pressed the “SOS” button on hissquad communicator, kept in his back pocket. Hopefully someone can show upbefore Sirocco takes all my dough.

              “Hey, you!” Siroccosaid, noticing him.

              “Uh, me?” Stanasked.

              “Yeah.  Why aren’t you on the floor?”

              “There’s kinda glasseverywhere,” Stan pointed out.  Siroccostormed over to him.  Stan stood stockstill as she stared directly into his face.

              Shit, shit, shit.  What if sherecognizes me?  Sure, she’s never seen mewithout my mask.  But Shermie recognizedme before I even had a chance to introduce myself as Flamethrower.  Sirocco frowned at him.  Something akin to recognition flashed in herblue eyes.  Stan swallowed nervously.  After a moment, Sirocco took a step back fromhim.

              “You seem familiar, stranger,”she said.  

              “I, uh, I hear thata lot.”

              “Hmm.”  Sirocco looked him up and down.  “Don’t know if I buy that, but whatever.”  She began to make her way to the teller.

              “Hey!” Stan blurtedout impulsively.  Sirocco spunaround.  A hot wind picked up in the banklobby.

              “Are you reallygoing to try my patience?  You know who Iam, right?” Sirocco demanded.

              “Yeah.  You’re one of the Twister Twins.”

              “That I am.  I’m a supervillain.  You don’t want to mess with me.”

              “Okay, yeah, yeah,”Stan said, his mind working furiously to come up with a solution that didn’tinvolve revealing his secret identity to everyone at his bank.  “But…maybe you could, I dunno, not…steal ourmoney?”  Sirocco cracked a half-smile.

              “Heh.”  She sounded genuinely amused.  “You’ve got guts.  But what could you offer me that’s betterthan a bunch of money?”  Stan looked at hisbag.  He didn’t really have anything onhim, except for…

              “Homemadesnickerdoodles,” Stan said.  Heimmediately squeezed his eyes shut.

              Fuck, shit, damn! That was a mistake!

              “Homemade…snickerdoodles?”Sirocco said.  Stan opened his eyes.  Sirocco was completely taken off guard.  She stared at him in confusion.  “What- why would ya offer somethin’ likethat?”

              Hold on, Sirocco has a southern accent? She must cover it up normally. Sirocco’s eyes widened as she realized that she had let her accentslip.  She cleared her throat loudly.

              “Those must be the bestcookies in the world,” she said.

              Aaaand the accent’s gone.

              “Nah, I mean, I made‘em.  I dunno if they’re the best in theworld.”

              “You made them?  You don’t look like the type.”

              “Yeah, but, I, uh, Iam.”  Stan opted to not tell her that thereason he was into baking was due to his heat and fire-related abilities.  Sirocco chuckled softly.

              “You’re aninteresting person, Mr…?”

              “I’d rather not say,”Stan said.  Sirocco raised an eyebrow athim.

              “Oh?”

              Was that the wrong thing to do? Sirocco stared at him for a moment. She nodded, marched back to him, and held her hand out.

              “You amused me, stranger,” she said, emphasizing thelast word.

              Oh, no.  That can’t be good.

              “Give me thosesnickerdoodles, and I’ll be on my way.”

              “Wait, really?”

              “Really.”  Sirocco smiled charmingly at him.

              She definitely knows something. Stan rummaged around in his bag and pulled out the plastic containerwith the snickerdoodles he had planned on bringing to Shermie.  I canalways make more.  He handed her thecookies.

              “Thanks,” Sirocco chirped.  She winked at him, then turned on her heeland exited the bank, stepping daintily through the broken glass doors.  Stan stared after her, dumbstruck.

              How the fuck did that work?

----- 

Six Months Later

              Stan landed at thebrawl just as it was ending.  He huffedand shut off his flames.

              Great, missed another fight. He looked around.  Most of themasks involved had dispersed already, but he caught a glimpse of one of theTwister Twins ducking into an alley.  He ranafter the supervillain.

              “Hey, Tsunami!” Stancalled.  The male Twister Twin froze.  “I know that’s your codename.”  Tsunami, the Twister Twin, spun around.

              “How do you know that?” Tsunami snarled,marching over to him.

              “Sirocco told me,”Stan answered.  Tsunami’s eyes widened.

              Huh.  Gray, notblue like Sirocco.

              “Wha- you know her codename too?  What’s going on with you and my sister, huh,Flamethrower?”  

              “It’s…complicated,”Stan managed.  Tsunami scowled.

              “That’s not goodenough.  Look, buddy, Sirocco might be mytwin, but she’s younger ‘n me.  So thatmeans she’s my baby sister.  I don’t likewhatever weird thing is goin’ on with her and some hero.”  Tsunami was getting upset to the point thathis accent was starting to slip.

              Pretty sure he’d kill me if I told him that we’vehooked up twice.  Masks on, yeah, butstill.  If he’s the older twin…

              “I don’t think you wannaknow the details,” Stan said quietly.  Tsunamifrowned at him, confused.

              “What does-”  Tsunami cut himself off and took a stepback.  “Oh.  Oh, no. No.”

              “Uh…surprise?” Stansaid.  Tsunami slammed a fist against oneof the brick walls of the alley.

              “Consarnit!  No wonder she told me to go easy on ya!”  Tsunami glared at Stan.

              If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under rightnow.  Damn.  This seems like an overreaction to finding outyour sister has an active sex life.

              “Whattaya want,Flamethrower?  Spit it out, so that I cango home and talk to my sister about this,” Tsunami spat.

              “I just- I made hersome cookies.”  Tsunami stared at him.

              “…What?”

              “I, uh, I haven’tseen her robbing banks for a while.  Ipoked around, heard that she’s on some kinda sick leave?”

              “You could call itthat,” Tsunami muttered.

              “And, uh, I mean- yeah,we’re archenemies or whatever, but…I like to think I’m getting through toher.  And even if we punch each other inthe face all the time, doesn’t mean I want her to be so sick that she’s gottatake months off.”

              “Yeah, that soundslike a ‘hero’ thing to do.  ‘Speciallysince ya have a…thing goin’ on.”  Tsunamirolled his eyes.  “Hand ‘em over, BoyScout.”

              “I’m not a Boy Scout,”Stan said, digging the small package of cookies he had stashed out of hispocket.  He gave the cookies toTsunami.  “Pretty damn far from it,actually.”

              “Hmph.”  Tsunami frowned at the cookies.  “These aren’t goin’ to poison An- Sirocco orsomethin’, are they?”

              Wait.  Did healmost slip up on his sister’s name?  Hemust be really putoff by all this.

              “No, they’re normalsnickerdoodles,” Stan said.  Tsunamisighed.

              “I’ll test ‘em justto make sure.”  Tsunami turnedaround.  “Thanks or whatever.”

              “Yeah, no- noproblem,” Stan said.  His heart wasracing.

              I knew I shouldn’t have hooked up with Sirocco.  I caught feelings for her, and she’s agoddamn supervillain.  Stan watchedTsunami walk away.  A sick supervillain.  Really sick.  For three months.  Stan frowned. Yeah, three months.  About a month after we did it the secondtime.  Eh, more like six weeks after thathookup.  Stan turned around and beganto walk away.  He froze, rememberingsomething.  Hang on, didn’t Shermie say something aboutsix weeks, when they had that “surprise” kid?  Ice suddenly filled Stan’s veins.  Itusually takes about six weeks for someone to realize…

              “Shit,” Stanwhispered.

              Tsunami was angry about more thanjust his sister hooking up with me.

[sweetlysilent]

Secrets Pt. 2

Requested By: @timmers18

I used some prompts from this prompt list linked here

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Description: Queens had been an active crime space for the past few months, Spider-Man was constantly fighting against a newbie of a villain that wouldn’t stop causing chaos, they both despised each other, or so they thought.

Warnings: Some swearing, also, if you get uncomfortable with alley scenes then skip the first half of the story, I know it can be triggering to some people :((

Word Count: 2,039

A/N: Hey guys, so it’s actually been a while since I’ve really written anything, so I hope this doesn’t suck that bad haha. Anyways, thanks for loving Secrets so much and wanting a part two, I love it a lot also. :))) Enjoy :)))

Tags: @thebrilliantbean @my-love-treasure @twenty-two-airplanes @rosaetum @maddy13245 @shayx5 [ if your user is crossed out tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you bc it’s annoying af sorry xx ]

Friendly PSA: Please do not steal my writing without my permission, or flat out steal it at all. It’s super disrespectful and 100% plagiarism. So, if you’re someone who does steal other peoples’ work, think about what you’re doing before you hit that copy button. Thank you!

Queens Latest News: Breaking News, an anonymous source has gotten word that the villain of Queens is a lot more dangerous than they let on. Recent sources have said that this villain is out for revenge, for blood. Nobody knows why this sick person is out to get everyone, but one thing is for sure, stay observant to your surroundings, keep a weapon of some sort to protect yourself at all costs, you never know when they could attack.

You finished scrolling down the article, rolling your eyes, this writer was out of their mind, they made you seem like a monster, which in a way you were, but all for good reason.

Nobody knew you were the villain of Queens, nobody also knew why you were the villain in general, it wasn’t something that was simple to talk about, exactly why you never did.

Even Ned and Peter didn’t know the story, that’s how deep and personal this situation was, it was traumatic, it was scarring, life changing, and it sure as hell changed you.

It happened about a year ago, you had just turned seventeen, your mother finally allowing you to walk alone by yourself, needless to say she was overprotective and paranoid, but for good reason.

You were walking home from dinner, you had gone to this cute little Thai restaurant a few blocks down, something you had done quite frequently, except this time it was different.

It all happened so fast, one minute you were walking down the street, the next thing you knew your body was being slammed against a brick wall, your head aching from the impact, your body shaking in fear.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing out so late?” The drunk man grinned, his breath reeking of alcohol as you flinched away.

“Lets have some fun shall we?” He smiled menacingly, as you screamed out for help, only to receive a hit to the face, making you cry out in pain.

It was this moment you knew what was going to happen, you couldn’t believe that nobody was coming to help you, that Spider-Man wasn’t going to save you.

You did your best to scream for help again, kicking and screaming all you could, your voice growing tired and sore.

“Shut up you little bitch!” The man would shout, hitting you again as you fell to the ground, shaking and crying.

You were going to die, this was it, this is how your life would end, and nobody would know.

The man had grabbed your arms, yanking you back up, slamming you back into the bricks, and then you weren’t sure what happened, but the man had flown back, hitting the brick wall in front of you.

“What the hell!” He shouted, as you stared at him in shock, but mainly confusion.

Did you just do that?

And then out of nowhere you felt it, this swarm of energy, power, overtake your body, and before you knew it, he was dead, your power growing stronger.

That was the night, the night that changed your life, you made it your goal to kill people that didn’t belong to live, that made it their goal in life to harm others for no good reason.

But mainly you were angry, full of hate and sadness, that nobody came to save you, that nobody cared, that Spider-Man himself, the hero of Queens didn’t come to save you at the time you needed him most.

So, that is why you became the villain, however, in your mind you weren’t a villain, you were a survivor, someone that decided to dedicate their life to protecting others from situations like that.

But that’s not how people saw it, they just saw you as a killer, someone that enjoyed causing pain and chaos, which in a way was true, since you were hurt, you were scarred, and when Spider-Man decided to show up after the incident to fight you, you snapped.

“Y/N, are you alright? You’ve been zoned out for the past fifteen minutes.” Ned waved his hand in front of your face, making you snap out of your thoughts.

You gave a sheepish smile to him and Peter, who both had concerned looks on their faces, making your eyebrows furrow in confusion, until you glanced down at your hand, seeing the food smashed in your hand.

“Oh, shit.” You muttered, cleaning up your hand, then throwing out your tray.

“You’ve been acting off since yesterday, are you sure everything is alright?” Peter questioned, searching your eyes to make sure you weren’t lying.

“I’m fine, just haven’t gotten much sleep is all.” You’d shrug, avoiding eye contact, which made Peter look at you suspiciously.

What were you hiding?

“Alright well, if you need anything let us know okay?” Peter smiled slightly, as you nodded in response.

If only they knew the real reason why you got no sleep.

The lunch bell soon rang, you were on your way to your locker, when a hand grabbed your arm, swinging you around.

You were met with those famous brown eyes, ones you loved.

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were really alright, last night I couldn’t help but notice you had a few bruises.” Peter looked at you concerned, making your eyes widen.

“Oh uhm, it’s no big deal, its just a few scratches.” You’d reply, shrugging as you continued to search through your locker.

“Y/N, seriously, what’s going on?” Peter sighed, pushing your locker door open so he could see you.

This made you annoyed, you let out a huff, turning to face him.

“Are you really one to talk Parker? I’m not the only one acting weird here, don’t think I didn’t notice how you stopped wearing glasses, or that you have become more confident, or that you too had bruises last night.” You fired at him, making him shift nervously, avoiding eye contact with you.

“That’s what I thought.” You’d mutter, slamming your locker shut, before walking away, leaving Peter stunned, his thoughts racing.

That night it was strange, you felt powerful, you were killing people left and right, yet you didn’t know why exactly, you hadn’t done that in a while, but tonight, tonight just felt right, you were filled with rage.

“Sorry to interrupt but you need to move your hands away from him before we have a problem.” You heard the all to familiar voice speak, as you glanced over at the masked hero.

You looked at the man, before looking at Spider-Man himself, your eyes darkening by the second.

“I want you to see, what I felt.” You growled out, and before you knew it, the man was dead, and Spider-Man had to watch in horror.

“You’re sick.” He choked out, but you on the other hand felt great, now he knew how you felt that night.

“Not a nice feeling is it.” You shot at him, making his eyes on his mask grow small in confusion.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but you’re going to stop, now.” Spider-Man shouted, webbing you and flying you up to a rooftop.

You groaned, standing up and facing the hero, who was sending you daggers through their mask.

“Do you think I like doing what I do? That I want to spend my time every night out here killing people?” You shouted, your voice slightly cracking, surprising Spider-Man.

“Then why do you do it!” He shouted, his hands waving in the air.

“Because! Because if anyone could have saved me, it would have been you, but you didn’t, the famous hero didn’t even come to save me when I needed him most.” You shouted, anger flowing through your veins, tears forming behind your own mask.

Spider-Man stared at you in shock, he never knew this, hell, he didn’t even know who you really were.

“I-I’m s-sorry..” He whispered, which only made you laugh bitterly, sending chills down his spine.

“You left me to die, so I did what I had to, to survive.” You growled, pacing back and forth.

“And then I made it my job to protect people, to keep them safe from horrible people like that.” You covered your face with your hands, a sob escaping your lips.

“Everyone has a breaking point, and that night, I hit mine.” You choked out, sitting on the ground as Spider-Man stood there watching you intently.

And then it was all slowly starting to sink it, so much of this villain reminded him of you and then it all started to make sense to him.

You had been acting so off lately, and then seeing the bruises on your face that you tried to cover up, or the way you’d disappear randomly and then show back up just like he would, always coming up with some random excuse, it was all making sense, it was all coming together, the villain of Queens.

It was you.

[quackson-klaxon]

sorry spider-man, a nerd stole my heart

→ masterlist

pairing: peter parker x reader

synopsis: the reader has a crush on peter but peter’s too shy, so he approaches them as Spider-Man. however, they reject him bc they Stay In Their Lane™ which gives peter the confidence boost he needs.

warnings: none

word count: 1.3 k

Bump.

“S-Sorry (Y/N)! I’ll help you with that.” Peter Parker, the boy you were infatuated with since freshman year, apologized profusely as he gathered up the papers that he caused you to drop.

“Thanks Pe-” you never got to finish your sentence since as soon as he handed you your papers, he scampered off. Sighing to yourself, you wonder what wrong you had committed to have him avoid you like the bubonic plague. The two of you shared numerous classes together yet you couldn’t seem to be able to have a decent conversation with the guy who caught your interest. Thus, it resulted in you watching him from afar and hopefully not coming across as some sort of creep or stalker.

“Well, at least he actually spoke to me today.” You grinned at your slight achievement before heading your way out of school. Before heading home you usually grabbed a quick snack from a small market since there wasn’t much at your place that was light enough to consider a snack. Today was no different.

Except it was going to be.

Apparently, you were so caught up in your thoughts of that certain boy that you failed to acknowledge the person who trailed behind you as discreetly as possible- an easy feat considering the bustling streets and ever-present din of the city. Only when the wind was knocked out of you from being roughly pulled into a wall of an alley did you snap out of your elated stupor.

“Give me all of your money and you might walk away from this alive.” You felt the circumference of the gun’s barrel press against the side of your head as the stranger’s crazed gaze bore into your own (e/c) eyes, his entire being reeking of a low-end bar: alcohol, sweat, and maybe a touch of vomit. Had it not been for the firearm in such close proximity, you would have probably been able to do much more than stare helplessly at the wasted man before you, mind numb and muscles frozen in place. Was this how you met your end? Just by being distracted over a guy who probably deemed you an acquaintance at best?

“What about no?” A voice - that sounded vaguely familiar though you couldn’t exactly place it - broke in before a sticky substance attached itself onto the gun and yanked said item out of the man’s grasp. Before your assaulter could react, a blur or red and blue spandex swung in, kicking him to the ground where he didn’t even bother to get up. Spider-Man shot a few webs that bound the man’s legs together for good measure and turned to where you stood.

“Are you alright?” His swift work was definitely an astonishing sight to see; it was one thing seeing what he did in the news but was an entirely different experience in person.

“I’m alright because of you. Thanks, Spider-Man.” You offered a thankful beam in his direction. The boy behind the mask was never more grateful to have it on for at that moment a terrible blush had risen on his face.

“N-no problem ma'am. It’s all part of the job.” He mentally reprimanded himself for stuttering even as his alter ego. No matter what, you were always going to make him into a flustered mess because he thought you would never see him like he saw you. The masked hero’s stuttering reminded you of what got you into your current situation in the first place, causing you to let out a groan of embarrassment and press a hand over your forehead. Mistaking your groan for one of pain, a wave of panic flooded Peter as he stepped closer towards you with a worried look (although it was unnoticeable due to his mask).

“Are you alright? You didn’t get hurt or anything did you?”

You just shook your head with a sheepish smile. “No, don’t worry. I just feel embarrassed about how I got into this mess..”

“Then… want to have a taste of swinging through Queens with me to get your mind off of- well- this?” A burst of confidence shot through Peter as he gestured towards the bound man and the tantalizing idea of actually spending time with you. Being in the Spider-Man suit made him more outgoing than his norm and that was exactly what he needed to actually talk with his crush. In all honesty, the real reason he’d been able to rescue you so quickly was because he wanted to speak with you as Spider-Man instead of shy Peter Parker.

“No thanks, Spidey,” you apologized, “As tempting as that sounds, I’ve got a load of homework waiting for me while trying to deal with thoughts of darn Peter Parker.” Your confession slid out of you easily, figuring that Spider-Man couldn’t possibly know the nerd that stole your heart. On a side note, you bitterly decided to skip out on picking up some chips since you had lost your appetite.

“Peter Parker? How come he’d be in your thoughts?” Genuine curiosity and confusion shone in his voice as he furrowed his brown, trying to contemplate your words. Why in the world would he, of all people, occupy your thoughts? Sure, you shared classes together but he had always ran away from having a decent conversation with you.

“Because I’ve had the hugest crush on him since freshman year! From his voice to the way he gets super excited over something, it drives me crazy! Sometimes I just want to walk over and hug him because of his downright preciousness and other times I’m glad he doesn’t look in my direction because of the amount of staring I do when he wears those nerdy shirts of his. I’m sure that it’s pointless though since he obviously has a thing for Liz Allen and I’m not exactly on par with someone like her!” You threw your hands up in exasperation as you finished your ranting. A slight blush rested on your cheeks due to both frustration and embarrassment as you basically vented about your hopeless infatuation to the neighborhood hero. Peter was taken aback by your claims but felt a like he was on cloud 9, similar to the elation he felt when he first started swinging around the city, coming onto him. You liked him? He would have jumped and done a fist bump in the air had you not been right in front of him at the moment. This was just the push he needed to finally have the guts to ask you out.

“I wouldn’t worry about that, (Y/N),” he referred to your last statement, “I’m sure something will happen with you and that Parker guy soon.” He shot a web and swung out of the alley before you had a chance to question his certainty and the fact that he knew your name. Your cries of him coming back with an explanation died down in your mouth since he was out of your sight within seconds.

“First, I almost get robbed, and then Spider-Man tells me I might have a chance with the boy I’ve been pining after for about a year? How in the world does he know my name anyways… Gah! What’s the universe trying to tell me…” with your theatrics done, you finally decided to make your way home before any more mishaps occurred. Unknown to you, said boy was watching over you from the top of one of the lower buildings with a fond smile, planning how to exactly approach you tomorrow and hopefully take you out on a date.

Hopefully.

a/n: tbh I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this but make a part two? yay or nay?

[dathiccness2018]

Holidaze....

Continued from “Like a Boomerang”

Months pass and Christmas holidays approach and I was excited for a break. Everyone would be out of school and back in town- a lot of catching up to do. Autumn texted me a few days before Christmas to plan to go eat and hang out. A local night club decided to throw a party for college students home for the holidays, which was cool, especially for our little town. A lot of the kids that were gonna be home planned to go. Monica was going out of town, visiting family for the holidays. I planned to go anyway, my older brother and his friends would be there.. The little place was jumping! With people from my graduating class to college graduates, people were everywhere.. We found our way to the pool tables, where my brother and his friends were shooting pool and drinking- the more laid back area of the club. A group of guys walk in- a group of football players from different classes. In the midst, I see Shane. I’m excited to see him, being that we hadn’t see each other since graduation. I smile and throw my hand up to get his attention and speak.. He literally looks at me and looks away-like he didn’t see me. A few minutes later, they all come over to speak to my brother and his friends. He came over too and spoke to each of us and his demeanor was... off.. He spoke to me as if I was a stranger, like he didn’t wanna speak.. I was taken aback like “Damn, did he really just do that?” As the night went on, I felt like someone was watching me-even through all the rowdiness of the party.. I look up to catch him looking away.. I think to myself- “What is up with this guy? This is the same guy that left me a message just two months ago” I didn’t know what I felt about him,-a crush I didn’t want or need to acknowledge at the time.. He had a special hold on me that I couldn’t seem to shake. The next night, Autumn asked me to come with her to a bonfire at one of her friend’s house. I had nothing planned, so I agreed. We get there and it’s a small crowd of people there- mostly basketball players and cheerleaders, definitely not my scene.. Autumn runs into her ex and they go off together. I just chill in front of the fire, texting Monica and cruising Facebook. Never missing an invite, Shane walks up with a group of guys. Judging by our last interaction, we were strangers, so I pay him no attention. I sat around the fire and enjoyed the quiet time. It began to get late and people were leaving slowly. Being that I’d ridden with Autumn, I couldn’t go anywhere.. Autumn and Chris, her ex, finally come back. She says she was gonna take me home, then go back to Chris’s house. Chris, who is ready to get Autumn to his house, asks around for someone to take me home instead.. Being that he and Shane were friends, he asks him.. Shane hesitatingly agrees.. I say,”No.. I’ll call my brother.” Shane speaks up- “No, i can give you a ride. I don’t mind. Its on the way home.” I hug Autumn and whisper in her ear, “You better be lucky I love you!” She laughs and says, “Have a good night!”- kissing me on the cheek. We tell everybody bye and head towards his car. The first few minutes were awkwardly quiet. He finally broke the ice-

S- “So, What’s been up? How’s school been?”

Me-“Uhm, it’s been good. It’s different.. How about you? How’s Tia?”

S- “It’s been good, I guess.. I’m really not feeling the school thing. And me and Tia broke up, so it’s kinda weird”

Me-“ Oh... Sorry to hear that.. What about football? You were tryna go pro, right?”

S-“ Yeah.. but I don’t love it like I used to. I’m thinking about going into the army”

Me-“ Oh ok.. That’s what’s up.. I could see that..”

We cut off our conversation when “Can’t Be Friends” by Trey Songz comes on the radio.. We sang along and there’s a unexplainable “tension” in the air.. When the song goes off, we sit in silence.. I finally break the ice...

Me- “So, you remember leaving me a voicemail a while back? What was that about?”

S-“ Really? You sure? When? I must’ve been drunk. I don’t remember.”

Me- “I figured.. You were saying some off the wall stuff.. like you missed me..”

S- “Yeah... that’s crazy..”

Me- *cutting him off* “Its ok.. I kinda missed some of my old classmates too. Starting college, with new people, was a culture shock.”

S- *chuckles* “Yeah, it was.. I figured you would blend right in. Figured you’d forget about me..”

Me-“ Boy, stop it... of all our classmates, you’d be the last I forget.” I almost immediately regretted it..

S- *puzzled* “Huh.. Really? What you mean?”

Me- “ I mean.. We’ve been friends for a long time.. I honestly have had a light crush on you since we were younger. I don’t know.. I can’t explain it. When I got that voicemail, i was kinda excited.. So.. you would definitely forget me before I forget you..”

*In my head-Omg, what was I saying?? What did I just do? Did I have a stroke? *

After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke...

S- “Oh... Really??”

I thought, “Is that all you have to say?” I felt so stupid..

Me-“I’m sorry. I can’t explain it, but..”

S-“ No, it’s ok.. I’m not offended or anything.. I’m kinda surprised”

It was perfect timing, we were pulling up to my house. I was so relieved to get out of his car.. I was SO embarrassed.. I got out and thanked him for the ride.. He said no problem and I went into the house.. I fell onto my bed and turned on the radio, thinking why did I just do that?? I sat in my thoughts and finally my mind settled.. I felt, “Oh well, I got it off my chest.. It’ll be ok, we’ll probably never see each other again anyway.” I go into the kitchen for a snack and drink. When I get back, I have a message from Shane..

S-“ What you doin?”

Me-“Nothin... sup?”

S-“ We need to talk...”

Me-“ Ok... “

S-“Come outside”

I nervously walk out and he was sitting in his car, in my front yard.

S-“ Uhm, I’m sorry about earlier.. I just didn’t know what to say.. I missed you too man. I can’t explain it.. Ever since that time in eighth grade, I felt like things were different- like we were more than friends.. I just didn’t know how to handle it”

Hearing him say this made me so happy...and confused.. We both had girlfriends and he was this “macho straight” dude.. His behavior throughout the years was now making sense though.

Me-“ Well.. me either.. Things definitely changed after our first time.. It awakened something in me.. You kinda got a lil weird on me. It’s crazy but I don’t regret any of it”

S-*giving me the eye* “Oh.. I’m sure you don’t.. you’re a lil freak, for real...”

Me- *laughing* Boy shut up... If I can recall, you tricked me into giving you head... So....”

S-*gasped in shock* “What?! No.... Well.. I like getting my dick sucked.. And I saw how you would look at me.. So, I went for it..”

I figured he was getting horny bc he began to rub his dick thru his pants..

Me- “Well, like I said.. It is what it is. I can’t say I didn’t kinda want to anyway.. So.. call it even”

S-*grinning* “Well, you still feel like that?? Would you still want to??”

That sneaky/cute smile just could make you melt... it could almost make you do anything.

My heart beating fast, I reply. “ I don’t know.. Me and Monica...”

S- “She ain’t gotta know.. It’s just me and you..”

As he said that, he slipped his pants down, letting his dick print show... It was just what I needed.. The guilt I felt quickly dissipated..

Me-“Well, not here.. I know a better place”

We drove down the block, towards this dark alley. It was late and I knew no one would be walking through. We back in and turn off the lights.. He wasted no time, pulling his pants and boxers down.. I lean over to the drivers side, head down into his lap.. I immediately get a whiff of his pubes, putting me into a trance.. They smelled like Irish Springs soap, like he had just taken a shower.. I get snapped back into reality by his voice..

S-“What’s wrong?”

Me-“ Oh, nothing.. You just smell good..”

S-“ Oh.. ha ha.. I’m clean.. I took a shower before the party”

He lets his seat back as I lick the head.. As I’m sucking him, everything just felt... “right”.. He is talking noise as I’m giving him head.. I’m sucking like I’ve never before, not gagging or anything..

S-“Damn, you sucking that dick. Who else you been fucking with?”

Me-“ Nobody. I just like giving head and eating pussy..”

S-“ Oh really?”

He began to put his hands behind my head, thrusting his hips into the face.

After being in the car for so long, we get out and stand behind the car. He lets his pants drop to the ground and I resume sucking..

S-“Stand up, I wanna see what that booty feel like..” I stand to my feet and he slides his hands into my pants and grabs my ass.

S-“ Dang that booty fat! You gonna let me hit it?”

Me-“ Nah.. maybe next time..”

S-“Ah.. you lame..”

I get back to sucking and playing with his balls.. That must’ve been the sweet spot bc before I knew it..

S-“ I’m finna bust.. Ahh..Shit...”

He shot five or six times in my mouth and onto the ground..

Me-“Damn... You trying to kill me.. When the last time you cum?”

He laughed and replied,” a while, I told you me and Tia broke up.” We get back in the car after getting our stuff together and drive off.. On the way back to my house, we talked about future plans and how we were gonna see where our “relationship” could go.. I felt... good.. I felt like a weight had been lifted.. Everything was in the open.. I get back home, where I had left my phone, to see a message from Monica.... It hit me like a ton of bricks.. What had I just done? I felt guilty for cheating but it felt so good.. I was at a crossroads.. Here we go again....