#i went into the play store thinking maybe i just needed to update it

[wimsiecal]

Erm what the scallop

[m0nsterqzzz]

word count: 3k

- Liar Liar - 

Wanda Maximoff x reader

summary - in which, you stumble upon the most beautiful woman you've ever seen while in search of a job you can put your piano skills to use at. The only thing? She's a teacher who thinks you're in search of lessons. All's far in love and music right?

a/n - wanda + music = me fucking dying. lol. haven't updated in a while that's my bad. i love you guuuuyyyyyysss.

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You hadn’t meant to lie.

You’d went into the slightly shady neighborhood in search of a job, preferably one that let you play piano- your passion- and still had a decent amount of pay so you would be able to afford that apartment you got recently.

It’s a small town though, and no one really has any need for music as they own record players and other forms of listening devices. No one cares about classical music anymore.

Maybe you should have listened when your father told you music would never be a good career.

So you gave up hope, walking downtown to the store to get a simple and cheap frozen dinner that you could watch while sulking in front of the tv. Being an adult is hard, and you often find yourself wondering what you would do if you had just been given one chance to go back in time and not rush growing up.

You heard the familiar and peaceful sound of piano, and just like anytime you hear it, you freeze in the middle of the sidewalk to simply listen. There’s a small store next to all the tall and beautiful ones, one that probably gets lost a lot in the sight of all the other, more important buildings. A young woman is sitting inside near the front, visible through the big glass window that you silently watch her through. Her skilled fingers dance across the keyboard, creating an aura in the world that has you stuck in a magical trance.

The song slowly goes quieter, and you watch her take a deep sigh before turning her head to look out the window- as if knowing you were there. You panic, blushing in embarrassment before you pretend to read the signs taped to the door.

A bright smile graces your face as you actually begin to read them. A few of them just talk about upcoming concerts in town square, but one big one smack dab in the middle catches your eye;

Hiring!

Tutors, managers, cleaners

$16.45 a hour

It’s not a lot of money, but it’s enough and you’d get to do what you love while seemingly getting to hang out with a pretty girl. It’s a win, win, win. For you.

“Sorry. That sign is old. My friend was supposed to take it down.” Someone quietly speaks beside you, and you almost jump in fear when you see that the woman you had previously been looking at through the window is now standing right next to you, staring blankly before she tears the sign off the door. She’s even more pretty in person, from her long auburn hair to her piercing greens eyes that most people would fear as she stares at you silently though all you feel is nervous and giddy.

“Right…well….do you still have any openings?” You ask, placing your hands in your pockets as you rock back and forth on your heels. She watches with curious eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

She answers quietly, a stark contrast to your happy mood, though she doesn't exactly seem upset. More like calm. “Yes. Lessons are 10 dollars for an hour and a half.”

You frown in confusion. Does she think you’re looking for a teacher? You go to tell her you’re looking to be a teacher, but your eyes fall on the little picture on the door that has a photo of her next to a few others of other people. Under her’s is the title; “owner and teacher”

“Would you be my teacher?” The words fall out of your mouth before you can stop them, so you purse your lips to stop yourself from saying anything else.

The girl’s lips turn upwards in the beginning of a smile. “Yes. I would.”

You practically grin, and it’s like you don’t even remember the several years of college you went through to get a career in music as you say, “Then I’d like to take lessons from you. I like piano. I want to learn how to play.”

She does smile now, nodding as she opens the door which makes the bell above it ring. “That’s great. Follow me and we’ll get you signed up.” You do follow her inside, taking in the beauty of the hidden shop. There are pianos and other instruments everywhere, ones that look worn out yet still pretty. Open songbook’s litter every open space and she gets to the front desk before digging through a pile of them for the forms you need to sign.

After signing way to many forms and paying a small fee, you shake her hand with the one that isn’t cramping.

“Thank you for choosing Scarlett's Melodies. I’m Wanda Maximoff. I own the shop and tutor most of the students.” You smile, squeezing her hand before you awkwardly place your hand in your pocket and introduce yourself.

Wanda. A pretty name for a pretty girl.

You obviously don’t say that though. Anxiety exists yall.

Instead you leave with a new found pep in your step.

That is until you remember that you just spent a ton of money and don’t even have a job. Wow. What the fuck is Wanda Maximoff doing to you?

— – — – — – — – —

After that, you have to get a job, so you get one at the nice restaurant in town that your friend works at. You spend most of your day serving customers, taking orders, and cleaning, and the only reason you continue to do it is that every other day, you just have to think about the fact that once work is over, you get to go see the beautiful piano teacher.

It’s not hard to play down your skill, but it is a little bit funny every time you slip up and tell her you already know something and then have to make the excuse that you’re doing some studying on your own time as well.

Wanda has a sweet personality, though she is a bit cold and standoffish sometimes. You learn a lot about her over the past few weeks though, like her late brother Pietro, her friends Natasha and Clint who are also workers at the store, and how she came to love music so much as to start up her own store for it.

“You’re late.” She says when you run in six minutes past the time you’re supposed to be there, but her tone is light and teasing as she scans through some notes on her sheet music. She lets you take them home sometimes to study them, but you mostly just study her pretty handwriting and the little doodles she leaves for you to find.

You chuckle, taking off your coat and hanging it up next to her leather jacket near the door. The place is cozy and if not for the workers constantly running in and out, you’d say it feels more like a home than a store.

“Sorry. I was at work.” She nods as you speak, handing you a book she made more notes in before pointing over to a piano set up against a wall. It’s nicely toned and made of a beautiful wood, and once she learned it was probably your favorite, she “teaches” you at that one every single lesson.

You sit on the bench, trying your hardest not to blush when she rubs her hand on your back before sitting closely next to you. It’s one of your favorite parts of the lessons- when she sits close enough that you can smell her perfume. Vanilla with a hint of sage, and it’s quickly become one of your favorite scents.

“We’re gonna work on something a bit harder today alright? I think you can do it, but the notes are in a slightly weird pattern and may be hard to remember.” Wanda says, flipping to a page in the book before setting it up on the music rack. 

It’s one of your favorites and quite easy to play after years of practicing, but you don’t tell her that.

By the end of the almost two hour lesson, you have pretended to learn the first part of the song, purposefully messing it up every once in a while so you don’t expose yourself.

You’re starting to feel a bit guilty about the lying, but then she smiles proudly and showers you in compliments and you forget all about it.

Wanda walks you to the door, leaning on the wall as you put on your coat and grab your stuff. You’re tired, but that feeling doesn’t even begin to compare to the one that comes when she holds your hand and smiles towards you.

“There’s a small event in town this weekend.” She starts, pointing towards the sign up on her big bulletin board. “A few people playing pieces, some nice food. I think you should join. You’re one of my most advanced students.”

You grin, hesitantly nodding. “I’d love to. That sounds like so much fun.”

The redhead nods as well, smiling slightly as she writes your name down on the sign up sheet. You’ll play after a few other students and teachers, and you must tell her what piece you want to play by tomorrow so you can spend the next few lessons practicing it.

With that you say your goodbyes, lingering in a hug with the Maximoff girl before you finally leave, walking home with a love sick smile on your face. Little did you know, the same one is gracing Wanda’s face as she closes up the shop and makes her way home.

— – — – — – — – —

When the day of the concert comes around, you’re nervous.

You don’t know why. You could play this piece in your sleep, but for some reason, the same nerves that were with you during your first performance as a child are now fluttering around in your stomach as you sit on a piano bench in the town square.

Wanda is talking with some of the other students, and you try and distract yourself by looking at her with adoration in your eyes, but it all comes back at a higher level when she notices you and winks your way.

She’s so pretty, and you fight the urge to slam your head on the instrument as she finishes up her conversation and begins walking towards you.

“Hey hon. How you feeling?” Wanda stands behind you, rubbing your shoulders reassuringly as she reads over the notes on your sheet music. You shrug, blushing brightly at her touch as you pretend to be focusing on smoothing out your shirt of non-existent wrinkles.

“I’m okay. Kinda nervous.” You say, and the blush only deepens when she hums in understanding and places a kiss on the top of your head.

“Don’t be. You’re going to be great.” Her words make you grin, and you lean your head back to rest on her stomach as she gently runs her fingers through your hair. Someone calls her name, so she gently caresses your face before patting your back and walking away.

Oh the things that Wanda Maximoff does to you.

While you’re waiting for your turn on stage, you get bored, so you sit back on the bench and begin to quickly play through one of the hardest songs you know. It took forever to learn and you still mess up every once and a while, but it still would sound beautiful to anyone and by the end of it, you do hear someone slightly chuckle in shock.

It isn't a happy laugh or happy shock though. That much you can tell.

“I didn’t teach you that.” A slightly bitter tone speaks, and you slowly turn around to come face to face with Wanda, fists clenched at her sides and a curious but slightly annoyed expression on her face.

You want to continue to lie, to tell her you’ve been working hard and her lessons are paying off, but no one who’s only been playing for a few months would be able to play that and she obviously knows the truth now.

“You wasted my time.” She says coldly, crossing her arms over her chest. She’s no longer the bubbly girl you’ve come to have the pleasure of knowing, instead going back to the closed off woman you first met. It’s all your fault.

You look down in shame, letting the bouquet rest by your side. “I’m so sorry Wanda.”

Wanda scoffs, glaring at you before she storms out of the room. She’s pissed, but a warm feeling settles in her chest at the knowledge you went through all of this to hang out with her, even with the thought that you don’t have a chance with her. You still wasted her time though, and you lied to her for weeks, almost months. How can she trust that you truly aren’t just some psycho?

You stay in the middle of town square, tears forming in your eyes as more and more people gather to listen to the other pianists. You’re falling in love with Wanda Maximoff, and up until this point, it’s only ever been clear and sunny skies. What are you supposed to do now that your first cloud has appeared?

— – — – — – — – —

After that, you stop going to your lessons.

Wanda finds herself missing you every time 6 o’clock comes around and you don’t come sprinting into the shop with your work uniform still on, rambling about something a stupid customer did like you’ve known Wanda forever. It feels like that, that’s for sure.

You spend every day in an endless cycle. Get up, go to work, walk the long way so you don’t risk running into Wanda outside of her music store, work a nine hour shift, and return to your quiet apartment where you sit in silence and mourn for someone that still lives. 

Maybe you should adopt a dog.

One especially rough day, you wake up late, your alarm clock having turned off during a storm last night and reset itself all while you were asleep. Because of this, you wake up with five minutes to get ready and even less time to sprint to work, so you can’t take the long way like you usually do.

It’s lightly sprinkinly outside, so you don’t bother taking a jacket in the midst of chaos. That was clearly the wrong decision, as only a few minutes into your walk there, it starts absolutely pouring, and just like that, your uniform is soaked and you’re shivering. You don’t have any time to go back though, so you fight on, staying right next to the buildings for a bit of protection and you don’t even notice the person carefully watching you as you fastly walk down the sidewalk.

“Hey!” Someone calls out, grabbing your wrist and pulling you into a familiar building. It’s calm and quiet music is playing somewhere, but all you can focus on is that Wanda is standing in front of you, holding out a dry towel for you to grab.

You hesitate, grabbing it and holding it closely around your body in hopes of stopping the cold feeling in your bones. It’s much warmer in here and the only rain is tapping against the window from outside, but Wanda is here and she looks at you with a type of distaste you’ve never seen before.

“I need to get to work. I’m late.” You mumble eventually after a few minutes of silence, but she just puts her hands on your shoulders and rubs them to bring you more warmth as she replies calmly, “No. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

You go to argue, but she simply shakes her head and sits down at your piano on the other end of the room. She begins to play a simple but calm song, and she watches in the corner of her eye as you sink down on the couch next to the fireplace and slowly close your eyes. You’re still awake though, that much she can tell by the way your fingers tap along to the pattern of the music.

Finally she slowly stops the song, letting her hands fall to rest on her thighs as she stares at the keyboard with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Why would you lie to me?”

You open your eyes, watching with a guilty but sincere look as she chews on her lower lip and gently presses a few of the keys. “I’m truly sorry Wanda. I figured if we spent that time together, I would be able to learn more about you…in hopes of eventually asking you out. It was stupid, and wrong, and I’m sorry.”

She sighs, closing the keyboard cover and turning to face you. “If you had asked, I would have said yes.”

Your eyes widen in shock. Is she messing with you?

Wanda continues, “If you had just told me all of that when we first met, we could have gone out and gotten dinner or- or lunch or on a picnic like normal people.” You nod along, silently fidgeting with the bottom of your shirt. “So go ahead.”

You’re silent for a second, looking around as if wondering if she’s talking to you to which she giggles and nods. That laugh could fix all your issues.

“Wanda Maximoff, I’d really like to get to know you. The right way this time. Will you go out with me?” You ask nervously after clearing your throat and sitting up in your seat.

Wanda smirks, rubbing her chin as if in deep thought. “I don’t know…”

You laugh a bit when she does, though you’re too busy smiling brightly as she nods. “I’d love to go out with you. No lying to me this time though. And you have to teach me that song you were playing at the recital.”

“No way. A magician never reveals their secrets.” You tease, sitting next to her on the bench as she laces your hands together and says with her own smile, “Oh really? So I just agreed to a date for nothing? You’re mean.”

 All is fair in love and music though.

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[therealcocoshady]

Love Game

Author’s Note : shoutout to @shady-577 for texting me the idea for this 👀. Y’all think I’m the Angst queen ? You haven’t met this amazing human being 😂.

TW : ANGST

Marshall raised an eyebrow when he walked in Denaun’s place and noticed shopping bags everywhere. He knew his friends liked clothing but the quantity was over the top. The whole living room was filled with tons of new clothes, with items from various designers’ most recent collections.

- New wardrobe ? He asked.

- Yeah, I figured I could use an update, his friend shrugged. Apparently, I should try wearing things that are more fitted.

- Who said that ? He chuckled. Did you hire a stylist too ?

- I’m just trying to keep up, man, Denaun said evasively. Not everyone wears the same sweatpants and Lions apparel, you know. Maybe it wouldn’t kill you to make an effort either…

- I’m fine, thanks, he chortled. Seriously, though, what’s that for ?

He started looking at the items his friend had bought and noticed it wasn’t only clothes. He spotted bags from various stores, containing expensive candles and even skincare. That’s the it hit him : there was a lady. And like the asshole he very much was, he was not about to lose an opportunity to make fun of his best friend.

- I know your fifties are just around the corner but… skincare ? He asked with a smirk.

- I need to moisturize, Denaun replied. My skin’s a little dry.

- And the candles ? He asked with a raised eyebrow. Just admit it ! You’re seeing someone !

His friend gave him an annoyed look and sighed, not denying anything. It made sense. As refined as Denaun could be, he was not the type to invest in $90 candles that smelled like peonies. His friend had not really been in luck with the ladies, in the past years, and he was happy he finally found someone. He was a great guy and he deserved some happiness.

- What’s her name ? He asked.

- Shut up, Denaun replied in embarrassment.

- She hot ? He asked with a smirk. Slutty ?

- Man, don’t talk about her like that ! His friend snapped.

- I was just asking, he said in his own defense.

Damn. If he was getting defensive, it must mean he really liked that girl. Whoever she was, he just hoped she was worth it. Denaun was a sweet guy but he had a knack for only attracting the wrong girls, the ones who ended up playing him. He also knew he was to blame, in a way : he couldn’t count the times when women dates his friends in hope to get closer to him. He had always tried to make his friends benefit from his status but, when it came to the ladies, it wasn’t too easy and a lot of them were only interested because of the money or the fact that they could meet Eminem, without really caring about the guys they were dating. Before he could say anything more, they heard the doorbell and, minutes later, you were walking in, carrying bags of freshly baked cupcakes, both sweet and salty.

- Hi boys, you said before giving both of them a peck on the cheek. Where are the others ?

- Running late, Denaun said. Let me help you with that.

He grabbed the bags of cupcakes and went to put them in the kitchen, while you babbled to him about the flavors. You were so cute, thinking about everyone and what they liked. You had memorized everyone’s favorites so that you could make them. You had walked into their life a couple of months ago and the whole group agreed that you were the sweetest thing on earth. With your fluttery eyelashes and warm smile, you managed to turn these Detroit rappers into gentlemen and, whether it was Bizarre, Swift, Kuniva, Denaun or Marshall, they were at your beck and call. You had them wrapped around your finger, especially when you wore your flowy sundresses. Marshall was partial to your white one. The last time he had seen it, it was in a ball, on the floor of your bedroom, while he was fucking you senseless. Ironically, it was the night you wore this innocent little number that he had discovered what a freak you could be, happy that he had finally given in on the attraction. Your chemistry was off the charts and, looking back, he was surprised either of you had waited that long before sealing the deal. He kept on looking at you while you were talking to Denaun, remembering the view he had when he fucked you from behind and you were begging him to go harder. The memory almost gave him a boner and he wondered if you wearing the white dress was intentional, debating whether or not it should happen again. On the one hand, the sex had been so great only a fool would turn down the opportunity for more but, on the other, he didn’t want to make things complicated. The two of you were friends and you fit right within the group. If he slept with you again, you might get the wrong idea, catch feelings, and it would ruin the whole thing. The others wouldn’t forgive him either : they were all protective of you and they loved having you around, enjoying your sarcastic comments, terrific cooking skills and encouragements. He didn’t want to hurt you. Even though you weren’t nearly as innocent as the others imagined you were, you were a sweet little thing.

- I need to go and put these away, Denaun said as he gestured to the bags.

- You went shopping ? You asked.

- I think he’s got someone to impress, Marshall couldn’t help but grin.

- You mentioned something about fits and neutral colors, Denaun said as he royally ignored Marshall.

- Glad to know you take my advice, you giggled. Wait… is that the Dyptique candle I mentioned ?

- Figured it wouldn’t hurt to try a new smell for the house, he shrugged nervously. You were right. Peonies is a nice scent.

You giggled and pecked him on the cheek, happy to notice he was taking your advice. Marshall quietly stared as you brushed Denaun’s shoulder, mentioning something about his biceps being bigger. You being all touchy-feely wasn’t surprising, you were like that with everyone, but his friend was looking all flustered. That’s when he realized what should have been obvious : you were the girl Denaun was doing all of this for. Of all people in the group, the two of them were the guys you were closest with but he had never interpreted your friendship with Denaun to be more than that. He wasn’t too sure of how he felt about it, though. Did you hook up with him too ? Did he mistake some slutty behavior for some off the charts chemistry ? He frowned and kept to himself the whole afternoon, even when the others joined. He didn’t talk and, instead, paid attention to your every move. You were the flirty type, for sure. Always had been. But it was painfully obvious that Denaun was under your spell, making sure to make room for you on the couch, fluffing the pillow on your side, making sure you always had a glass in your hand. The worst part was that you didn’t even seem to realize it. How could you though ? You were used to all of them giving you the princess treatment all the time. It was like some magic power you had : whenever you walked into a room, you managed to turn gangsters into southern gentlemen. You did it gracefully, effortlessly, pecking their cheek, giving them nicknames and batting your eyelashes. Even himself was guilty of giving you a special treatment, falling victim to your « Hi handsome », spoken in your sultry voice that could draw anyone in. He was always soft with you. Everyone was. They were all whipped. You had often joked about not needing a boyfriend or husband because your rapper friends kept you happy, but now that it was obvious that Denaun had feelings, it was sad. The worst part about it is that he was protective, urging the others to put some respect on your name whenever they made some joke. His friend was a great guy, who obviously only had the best intentions, unlike himself whose actions towards you were more so driven by lust and desire. When everyone went home, he decided to confront Denaun.

- So… Y/N, huh ? He asked as he scratched his throat.

- Is it that obvious ? Denaun asked with a worried look on his face.

- I don’t know, he shrugged. Have you guys fucked around ?

- No, no, his friend assured him. She’s not like that. She’s a lady.

If only he knew the lady he was mentioning had been on her knees, weeks ago, begging for him to choke her. It was almost painful, at this point. If he had known of his friend’s feelings, he never would have given in on the attraction.

- Does she know ? He questioned. That you like her ?

- No, his friend sighed. I wanted to ask her out but… when she mentioned she wasn’t looking for anyone, I didn’t dare. Plus, I wouldn’t want to ruin the friendship.

- You really care, huh ?

- Man, I don’t want to sound corny or whatever but… I think I’m in love with her, his hype man confessed.

- In love ?! With Y/N ?! He almost gasped.

- Man, have you seen her ? Denaun asked. She’s so beautiful. And so nice to us. And for once, there’s a woman who sees us, praises us as emcees. She’s always hyping me up, I can talk to her about my own projects. Finally, there’s a woman who doesn’t only sees me as your hype man. No offense, bro. Love the job but… you know. Most of the time, you’re Eminem and we’re chopped liver. Y/N, she’s not like that. She treats us all the same.

He hummed and looked away, hoping he would be able to have a neutral expression. The last thing he needed was to crush his friend’s heart and tell him that, though you did treat them all the same most of the time, he had painted your walls white, weeks ago, and made you cry tears of pleasure, abusing each and every one of your walls, doing some nasty shit to you.

- I’ll tell her, eventually, he shrugged.

- About your feelings, you mean ? He asked.

- Yeah. I want to treat her right, give her what she deserves, his friend said with a smile. I’ve never met a girl like her. She’s special.

- That, she is, he agreed.

Marshall liked you. He liked you a lot. You always brightened his day, laughing at his stupid jokes, keeping him fed and down to earth, with your cooking and humor. You also kept him humble. There was nothing not to like about you, lovely person that you were and, in hindsight, it wasn’t surprising that Denaun had fallen for you. And his friend was right : you did deserve the world, as well as a man who was willing to give it to you. Only he knew he couldn’t be that man. He didn’t want to, either. As great as you were, dating wasn’t in the cards and he knew it. He would have gladly enjoyed you as a friend with benefits but he couldn’t do that to Denaun. Not when his feelings were so sweet, so noble.

That night, for the first time, he didn’t reply right away when you texted him and he even found some lame excuse not to see you, when you asked if he wanted to come by your place. There was no way he could keep on fucking you and, with the chemistry the two of you shared, he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle himself if he was alone with you. There was something terribly intoxicating about your pheromones and, whenever he was in your presence, he couldn’t see straight, only being able to focus on you, anything you did and said. You tried reaching out to him regularly but ended up giving up. The two of you crossed paths a couple of weeks later, when Denaun invited you to listen to some beats he’d made in his hope studio. When you walked in, everyone greeted you with a hug, as usual, except for Marshall, who was rather cold. You were extremely hurt that he would give you the cold shoulder, this behavior being so unlike him. So far, he had always been extremely warm towards you but now, you could feel him take a step back and it broke your heart. He ignored you for most of the day, even though you regularly glanced at him. He was acting normal with the others and you were the only one he was different with. When he went to the kitchen to grab a drink in the fridge, you followed him.

- Marshall ? You asked nervously.

- Mmmh ? He asked without so much as looking at you.

- Ahem… can we talk ?

- I should go back to the others, he replied coldly.

- Marsh, it’s sort of important, you pressed him. Can we go outside ?

- What is it ? He sighed.

- We need to talk about… you know… us, you babbled. I mean, what happened…

- There’s no us, he said immediately. Nothing happened.

- Are you serious ? You asked in disbelief.

- Just because I fucked you doesn’t mean there’s anything between us, Y/N, he said coldly. You don’t mean anything, alright ?!

You bit your lip, visibly flushed with embarrassment and overcome with sadness. Marshall stared at you, an unreadable expression on his face. Your face was crumbling but his was steady, unmoved. His gaze was cold, devoid of emotion. You scoffed and mumbled an « ok then » before turning and meeting Denaun’s gaze. He looked visibly hurt.

- I was coming to get you guys but, obviously, you have your own stuff, he said in a sad voice.

- Shit, bro, it-its not-, Marshall began.

- I don’t want to talk to you, man, Denaun replied.

You were about to say something, at least try and mumble an apology but, before you could get any word out of your mouth, you started feeling dizzy and nauseous. You ran to the nearest bathroom, tears in your eyes, holding your nonexistent stomach. So much for telling Marshall you wet pregnant, you guessed.

[melodyanqel]

𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ── ✧ sh. (vi. celebrating you)

congratulations! you have been invited to the romance reality show 'We Got Married' where you will live with your co-star like a married couple. but what will you do when you find out you are marrying your favorite idol?

✿ pairing: idol!seonghwa x fem!idol!oc

✿ genre/tags: fluff, developing relationship, idol au, fake marriage, reality show

✿ word count: 2.9k words

✿ note: hello lovies! yes here is a brand new update! i was planning on updating at the end of july or the beginning of august but i got super busy. i saw ateez in concert which was a magical experience and many other fun events happened. but I'm super happy to update again and i hope you all enjoy this one! it's a much longer one too hehe

✿ melodyanqel taglist: @hwa-stars @forever-atiny @moonvol6 @10nantscompanion @chngbnwf @heheheeral @coldeforprez

-Off-screen-

❪ April 2, 2024 ❫

Bella is not an early bird nor is a morning person. It’s ironic because she is the most energetic member of the group. However, she is committing because she has something special to prepare for her husband’s birthday.

7:30 am

The young wife is the first one in the dorm to wake up while everyone sleeps in because it’s their day off. Bella makes a quick and easy breakfast that she would make when living in America. It’s a classic omelet with toast. 

“Good morning. Wow, it smells good.”

Bella heard Isa’s voice. Her best friend is still in her pajamas, with messy hair in a bun, and a bare face, but she still looks beautiful. Bella finished making her breakfast and sat at the dining table. Isa goes to the kitchen to treat herself with cereal. “You’re up early, which is a shocker.” She chuckles blithely. The younger friend by six months replies, “I have to run some errands to make for Seonghwa’s birthday.” 

Isa’s mouth gaped and says, “What? Are you for real? You do know it’s just a reality show.” She reminds Bella she doesn’t have to do it because she is doing it for entertainment and no strings attached. 

It’s just a reality show.

Those words ring in her head. 

Bella tells Isa, “I know it is, Chaeyoung, but I want to create a healthy relationship with my favorite group. I never considered having idol friends; maybe this could be great for me.” She shrugged her shoulders. 

Isa approaches with her bowl of cereal. Sitting across from Bella, she spoke, “Well, do your best and be careful. What do our fans call it? Delulu or something.” Isa tried pronouncing the well-known K-pop fan term. Bella lets out a snicker and laughs out loud. A confused expression plays on Isa’s face. “What? Did I say it wrong?” She is so clueless that Bella is in a fit of laughter. 

Not in a million years, she would hear her other half say, “Delulu.”

Bella compromises by taking deep breaths. “Yes, you said it right, and no I am not delusion.” She denies it, even if it was a joke. Isa snickered. “You have his group’s albums, photocards, and the solo photoshoot magazine. I think that’s all.” She is mindlessly listing off Bella’s collection of ATEEZ and Seonghwa. Her best friend is just taking it because she is not wrong. 

“Alright, I get it.” Bella semi-believes she is a hardcore fangirl. Isa knows her through and through and she enjoys the embarrassment. 

When breakfast ended, Bella went on an adventure to purchase what she needed. All thanks to her manager, they contacted ATEEZ’s manager to let her know what Seonghwa likes. Even though she is his fan and knows some facts about him, she hopes to make his present super stellar. 

Bella decides to arrange his favorite things in a cute gift basket. 

She found a crafts store to purchase a small one and went on to other places. Bella is a crafting enthusiast so, she’ll design the basket that reminds her of Seonghwa. 

Three hours later, Bella returns to the dorm with a handful of bags. Her members are chilling in the living room and they notice her. They have appalled faces. 

Sumin is the first one to go to her. “Why didn’t you ask for help?” She wonders in a bit of a concerning voice. Sumin grabs some and puts them on the dining room table. Bella sighs and does the same. “I didn’t think you all would be awake by then.” She indicates that the girls will sleep more during their days off. 

Seeun hops off the couch to check out what Bella has brought to the dorm. “Chaeyoung unnie wasn’t joking that you went all out.” She said. Bella looks at Isa, who innocently sips her drink. Isa told the girls about her shopping for her on-screen husband. Seeun’s eyes scanned the pile and one of the items caught her attention. “Aw~ you got a star plushie.” Seeun grabs it from the bag and hugs it. 

Bella nods her head “Yep. It relates to his name.” She stated. Her members all squealed in unison and she playfully rolled her eyes because they would not let her live in peace for the longest time. She clasps her hands together. “Well! I must get going now because I have less than twenty-four hours.” Bella can predict she’ll not get any sleep. 

Sumin chuckled. “Alright, don’t overwork yourself.” Like a gracious leader, she reminds the younger because she is sometimes stubborn to admit she is tired. Bella collects her materials and Seeun hands her the star plushie. “I’ll try to keep my promise.” She winks and walks into the room where she and Isa share. 

As soon as the door gets shut, J asks the leader, “Sumin unnie, do you think she is in love?” 

A genuine smile etches on Sumin’s face. “I’m not going to beat around the brush but it seems like it.” Which is true. All of the girls have never seen Bella so elated over someone. 

Yoon snickered. “I say it’s real. Unless you all want to bet on it.” She has a mischievous glint in her eyes. Sumin frowned. “No, we are not doing that.” She scolded the tallest member. 

Sieun pouts, “You’re no fun, unnie.” Sulking like an upset child. 

𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚

-On-screen-

❪ April 3, 2024 ❫

In the van, Bella is dressed in a beautiful dress with a lightweight knitted coat. Her ebony hair is in a high ponytail with a bow, creating a cute and pure appearance. She decorated Seonghwa’s gift and spent a long time spray painting the basket white with goodies. She also added some things that reminded her of him.

Bella tied silver ribbons into bows, glued a Miffy patch, and hand-painted gray stars on the handle. 

She is on her way to the party and thank goodness her manager contacted ATEEZ’s manager about the location. It still feels like a dream that she is meeting her favorite artists. Bella even tried to keep her calm before leaving the dorm. This will be a story to tell at a family dinner. 

As the PD crew is filming, Bella hops out of the vehicle with the gift basket. She then sees a gentleman standing in front of the building, standing by the entrance. She assumes it’s the ATEEZ manager. 

“Hello.” Bella greeted with politeness. The man is mindlessly looking around until he hears her soft voice. He sees Bella and brings a welcoming smile to his face. “Hello! Ready to see ATEEZ?” The man asked, who looked a bit young, to be a manager. 

Bella delivered a nod. “Yes, and thank you for navigating me here.” She appreciates the kindness. ATEEZ’s manager replies, “You’re very welcome. You know the group, especially Seonghwa, is excited for you.” He tells Bella and opens the door for her. 

She chuckled, “Really? I hope they’ll like me.” The butterflies are back in her stomach. The manager brings a genial smile to his face. “I’m sure they will. But I must admit they are a handful.” He let out the biggest sigh and Bella giggled blithely because she couldn’t imagine caring for ATEEZ 24/7.

They went up to the elevator and stopped at the second floor where all the living spaces are located. “Well, you have arrived at your destination.” The nice manager leads Bella to her husband’s home. She could feel her heart skipping beats. “Thank you so much.” She did a bow for respect and appreciation. The young man shook his head. “You’re welcome and I don’t need the formalities. I’m pretty much almost the same age as them.” He lets out a short laugh. Bella’s assumption was correct. But it does make her question how he can organize a chaotic group. 

The wife puts on a smile. “Okay.” She said. After the manager left, Bella rang the doorbell. She waits a little until a well-known, handsome face opens the door. 

“Oh, hi!” It’s none other than the captain of ATEEZ, Hongjoong. 

Bella does her best not to stutter. “Hello, sunbaenim! Seonghwa oppa invited me!” She reasoned as if he didn’t know about her invitation. Of course, Hongjoong knows because Seonghwa tells him everything. 

“Please, come in!” Hongjoong cordially has Bella enter the place. 

She spots six other members of ATEEZ in the living room doing their thing. They decorated the home very Seonghwa-esque: chrome silver, Animal Crossing, Star Wars, and bunnies. 

“Guys! We have a guest!” Hongjoong informed the members.

Wooyoung turns off his phone and is the first to notice Bella. “Hello! It’s so nice to meet you!” He hops off the couch to bow. His infectious smile plays on his stunning bare face. At once, the rest of them followed Wooyoung and greeted her. 

It now feels like heaven. 

“So nice to meet you all!” Bella bows to her favorite artists. She also sees them not wearing makeup and are in casual clothes. They still looked beautiful. 

Bella could sense the fangirl spirit in her was going crazy. 

To lighten up the mood and make her comfortable, Yunho approaches her with a loving smile. “I see you brought a gift for the birthday boy. And you’re probably wondering where he is at. He is doing a live-stream at the company’s building.” He explained about her husband's missing appearance. 

Hongjoong stands next to her and adds, “Seonghwa just texted me that he’ll be done soon after he opens our gifts.” 

San gives a kind gesture. “You can leave the gift on the kitchen counter. Do you like video games, Bella?” He questions as she puts down the gift basket.

Bella nodded, “Yes, I do! What games do you have?” It seems like a bonding is about to happen.

They sat together in the living room. Bella gets placed in the middle while Yeosang and Mingi are on each side of her. She chose Overcooked, a friendly yet complicated game. 

“Which team do you want to be with?” Jongho asked Bella. He is the biggest gaming enthusiast.

Blue Team: Yeosang, Mingi, and Jongho

Red Team: Hongjoong, Yunho, San, and Wooyung

The dancer replies, “Hmm, I��ll choose the blue team so it can be even.” She picks her avatar, which is a cute snowman. 

Yeosang on her right speaks, “Seonghwa hyung told us you’re a big Atiny.” He recalled the night the eldest expounded on his first date with Bella. She smiles timidly. “Yes. I’ve been following your journey since debut.” Her reply made them feel joyous. 

A bright smile plays on Hongjoong’s face. “That’s amazing. How did you discover us?” He is intrigued to know more about Bella. She then tells the group she discovered them through two music videos, Say My Name and Hala Hala. She had no clue at the time who they were nor her friends ever mentioned them. The girl was enthralled by their music and the members themselves. Bella has gone from a K-pop fan to a K-pop idol. 

Throughout the hour of their video gaming session, the dorm is filled with complaints, raging, and banters. Bella was laughing the entire time because they didn’t seem to care about their image. They have zero filter. Some of the guys did let out profanities when not serving the dishes. But she was having fun with her brother-in-laws. 

“Everyone, I’m home!”

The man of the hour is here. Bella hears her husband and she waves at him. “Hi, Seonghwa oppa!” She said in delight. He beams and a smile pasters onto his handsome face. “Bella you came!” Seonghwa giddies by his running his legs all cutely. He moves himself to the living room to see the bunch playing together. 

“It looks like everyone is in the zone.” Seonghwa detects their focused faces except for Bella. She is looking at him with a tender smile. The brother-in-laws aren’t sensing the tension, but the PD crew is watching the couple and perceives they have some type of emotion in their eyes. 

Flustered, Seonghwa clears his throat. “I’m glad to see you all are bonding. Which team is winning?” He wondered. 

Yeosang, Mingi, Jongho, and Bella speak in unison. “Blue team!” While earning some groans from the opposing team. Seonghwa claps his hands. “Hwaiting!” He chanted.

𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚

“Wow! Your room is so cool!”

“Thank you! It’s a lot smaller in person.”

Bella can tell because Seonghwa’s Lego collection, in a glass case, takes up the majority of his bedroom. She comments, “It’s cool though. It screams Seonghwa oppa.” She motions her hands in the air. Seonghwa chuckled because it was adorable. He also distinguishes how she looks today. Gorgeous, lovely, adorable, stunning, and so perfect. 

But he went with, “You look great today.” It sounded unconvincing and Seonghwa wanted to slap himself. Bella halts from examining his room and turns to him. She responded, “Thanks. You look great as well.” Who was she kidding? He looks exceptionally magnificent. Seonghwa wore a feminine yet elegant white top with a pretty tied knot on the front and his raven hair was permed. 

Seonghwa thanked her wholeheartedly. Bella then notices an open suitcase filled with unfolded clothes by the closet. Her husband follows where her eyes are on. “Yeah, I’m still in the process of packing for Coachella.” He rubs the back of his neck because seeing a little mess is embarrassing. Bella gasps, “Oh, I forgot that it’s coming up! Congratulations!” She is proud of her husband and her brother-in-laws. They’ll be the first K-pop male group at Coachella. 

“Very appreciated.” Seonghwa feels grateful for the opportunity.

Soon enough, the couple takes a seat by the desk. Seonghwa grabbed an extra for Bella, which was Mingi’s desk chair. “Aw~ you displayed our pictures.” Bella points at their photobooth strips on the pegboard, next to the computer monitor. Seonghwa grins at the memories from their first date. “I love putting up things that are special to me.” He reasoned.

Bella adores Seonghwa even more than ever. 

“Are you going to miss me while I’m in California?” He asked out of the blue and it had Bella taken back. Seonghwa seemed a bit upset about being gone for two weeks. Bella nods her head. “Yes, I will miss you! But we’ll see each other again.” She tries to assure him. 

Seonghwa likes that Bella will miss him while he is away. Maybe it’s because he never had a significant other who waits for him to return. 

His wife realizes what she told him and her cheeks blush rosy red. 

Seonghwa would show Bella which Lego set took him the longest to complete, and how doing live-streams in his room is comforting because Atinys are his safe place. In the middle of their conversation, Hongjoong knocks on the door from the outside. 

“Yeah!” Seonghwa responded loudly. 

“When do you want to blow your cake?” His best friend asked. 

Seonghwa checks his phone to see the time. It’s close to evening and the sun is going down. “Let’s do it now!” He answers to Hongjoong. The members begin to set up the table for him. 

Bella looks at Seonghwa with a quizzical look. “I’m curious. I know Hongjoong is your best friend and your group and Atinys likes the idea of the parent and children dynamic. Do you both still do it?” Her question is silly to her, but Seonghwa finds it interesting. 

He answers the question. “Sometimes. Like, most of them know how to care for themselves, especially in public. However, there will be times when the members need us. Not too long ago, Jongho was concerned about his vocals during the Coachella preparation. He went to me about feeling unconfident and anxious. I reminded him to take it easy and you will get it right.” Seonghwa did feel his heart ached when he saw the youngest’s pressured mentality. 

Bella grows more fond of their relationship. She knows they’re like a real family, but hearing it from her husband is profound. “You have a nice heart, oppa.” She comments on his good nature. Seonghwa etched a smile on his plump lips. He slowly leans his body to be close to Bella’s space. She has no clue what he is doing, but she is screaming on the inside.

“May I?” Seonghwa wants her consent in a gentle voice. 

Bella goes with it by delivering a small nod. She closed her eyes and felt his lips peck her forehead. 

Their second affection was a short and sweet kiss. 

Afterward, everyone gathered at the dining table to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ and send best wishes to their Seonghwa. Then comes Bella’s present opening. 

“Wait?! You decorated this?” Mingi points his finger at the customized gift basket. The guys were astonished too. Bella giggles with a nod. “I did it yesterday and put things that reminded me of Seonghwa oppa.” Five hours was worth it. 

The husband pouts and says, “You did all of this for me. Thank you so much!” He cutely thanked his wife. Bella pats his head. “You’re welcome!” She’ll only do it for him. The members watch their moment unravel and it’s amusing. 

Seonghwa looks inside of the basket and he can’t contain his happiness. 

An Animal Crossing Lego set, a silver bracelet with a star charm, a handmade pop-up card, the star plushie, and his favorite snacks. 

The card reads, 

Happy Birthday, Seonghwa oppa!

Wishing you the best of luck and all the happiness in the world. Remember to cherish every moment, and never lose sight of what's truly important.

Your wifey, Bella

series masterlist

[iqzo]

FOUR EYED

chapter one, armin x black reader. this is a book in which the reader is a bratty girl.

warnings: drugs, bullying, smut, sexual scenes, language.

001 ,

“Armin, don’t forget your lunch!” His mother shouted from her bedroom, armin sighs heavily. Glancing over at the navy blue bag that sat on of the marble countertop, “I won’t!” He shouted back as he stuffed the lunchbox in his bag, “Love you minnie!” She shouts, Armin chortles before turning the lock on the door he grasped the doorknob and opened it to a certain extent, “Love you too mom!” He leaves the house and locks the door behind him.

He steps down the porch steps, looking over by the house beside his own. Seeing that familiar brunette hair standing on the porch, a smile instant went on Armin’s face.

“Eren!” He shouts.

The brunette’s head snaps up with a confused glare, his bushy eyebrows furrowed as he stares at the blurry shadow figure by his front gates.

“Your glasses!” Armin shouts through a light chuckle, seeing his face relax, he digs in his bag and pulls out his glasses.

“Arminn” He smiled walking down the steps to hug his best friend, “Good morning,” Armin responds as they pulled away.

“Good morning,” Eren smiled, “What did mama Arlert give you today?” Eren questions as they began to walk along the sidewalk side by side. Armin shoulder shrugged.

“I think i got the lasagna she cooked last night.” Eren hums, “Did you see that update?” Eren asked which caused Armin’s face to screw, “Mortal Kombat or Fortnite?” “Fortnite.” He replied, “Oh yes, I haven’t gotten the chance to update it. But i’ll update it after school and we could play together.” Eren’s hands clapped from excitement of course.

“Oh crap, wait.” Eren groaned, “What happened?” Armin questioned as his eyebrow perks up. “That project from Mr. Simmins. I haven’t started on it and I need too.” Armin’s face scrunched up, he hasn’t seen anything about Mr. Simmins posting about a project. Maybe his class just hadn’t gotten there yet.

Since it’s filled with disrespectful students.

“Do you have a partner?” Armin inquired. “Yeah,” Eren blushed, “It’s Joyce.” He whispered with a full blown red face. “Isn’t she sisters with that brat?” Armin brusquely said, Eren’s shoulder shrugs softly.

“Yeah, but I think she’s the nice one.” Armin hummed.

Finally arriving early at the school, both students walked past the glass double doors. Stepping into the crowded hallways of Bridgetown HighSchool.

Armin walks over to his locker as Eren walks to his. Which was right beside Armin’s.

Armin placed in his combination, the locker opens with a snap. He stores his bag inside keeping his phone in his pants pockets. “Dude, i’m so mad i have math first period.” Eren soughed. “I thought you liked math?” Armin spoke softly as a chuckle emits from his mouth.

“Man I do but having it first period? I would rather have it in the middle of the day.” Armin chortles at his comment, “Oh no you would not. 5th period math class sucks, I’m with the brat and her hooligans.”

quick lil errr fit check.

armin’s fit

eren’s fit

y/n’s fit

joyce’s fit

anyway, back to the story.

Eren chuckled. “Damn, I feel bad for you. I just have one of her friends and they’re quiet.” Armin grins as he closes his locker causing it to lock, “Yeah cause they don’t have their freakin’ ring leader with them.” Armin scoffs as he held his english studies book between his armpits and his side.

“Hey, uhh armin right?” A girl with nice brunette lavish short hair said. Standing in front of Armin. “Yeah?” He answered eyeing the girl.

“I’m new to the school,” she chortles, “My name is Sasha.” She smiles as she placed out her hand for armin to shake.

He glanced over at Eren before returning the gaze back onto her hand, “Nice to meet you, Sasha.” He grins as he shook her hand.

“Nice to meet you too. Do you have any idea where the calculus class is?” She questions with her eyes squint. “Oh uhh.” Armin turned to Eren, “He’s going there now.” His emerald eyes panned over to the girl, “Oh, Uh, yes follow me.” He grinned as he began walking to his class as soon as the bell rang.

Armin sighs, sliding his hands into his pockets he trudges through the crowd of students who were trying to make it before that late bell rung. On his way to class, he saw you standing by his classroom door.

Looking all mad. Armin eyed you and than the outfit you had on.

The two piece juicy couture tracksuit. The fabric settling onto your body, framing it perfectly.

If it wasn’t for the way you acted, Armin would have most likely tried to take you out on a date. But you’re all bitchy because your father owns the school.

He walks pass you stepping into the classroom, your head perked up after your nose inhaled that familiar scent. Your eyebrows furrowed as you stepped inside the classroom, luckily this was your room or it would’ve been a different story.

browsing through the students trying to find that blond hair boy, seeing the tip of his hair peeking over a student you instantly made your way to the back.

Taking the empty seat beside him, you placed down your tote bag on the desk. Slightly slouched on the chair with one leg thrown over the next, “What do you want, Y/n.” Armin tiredly asked. “I wanna know why you didn’t do my chemistry homework,” Armin heavily exhaled leaning into his seat, “Bro, it’s your homework. Not mines, Y/n. You’ve could’ve done it yourself.” He jadedly said.

The tip of his pencil moved against his book, writing down every note Mr. Levi left on the board.

You sucked your teeth, completely ignoring his comment you pulled out the paper and slapped it onto his desk. “Do it.” You whispered.

Glancing away from him—Armin eyed you. That jet black lace front that framed your face and its beauty perfectly, the way your lips glimmered from the sun rays beaming through the large windows, your scent swallowed him whole. As if he couldn’t smell anything, but you.

And it made him mad. But he couldn’t do anything about it since your knuckle headed boyfriend who’s the caption of the football team is always not afraid to beat some geeks head in.

“F-Fine, whatever.” He stammered as he stores the paper into his folder, “I’ll do it after I do mines,” Your arms crossed on your stomach watching him from your peripheral vision, the way he was slouched forward writing down everything he saw on the white board, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. He takes his pointer to push it back up.

He than sits up to make sure he wasn’t missing anything, his messy blond hair framing his cubby face perfectly. As well as his black frames and his comely blue eyes.

He had a perfectly side profile, a nice snubby nose that was slightly red at the tip. His lips that were perfectly pushed outwards. His soft jawline and his adam apple that bobbed every time he’d swallowed. Olive skin that looked so soft if you were to touch it.

You swallowed dryly, looking away with an eye roll, beginning to realized that you were staring at him for too long.

part 2 soon. Hope you enjooyyyeddd, this was lowk rushed idk if u could tell it was but😭

[hairstevington]

i can't tune you out (part 1)

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Summary: Eddie Munson is an up-and-coming rock and roll artist living in LA. Steve Harrington (under the stage name HARVEST) has been taking the radio by storm lately. When the fans start shipping them together as a couple, Steve and Eddie consider it an opportunity to boost their upcoming albums. There's just one problem - they can't stand each other. (Link to Ao3)

Part 2 Part 3 - the rest on Ao3!

Word Count: 4.5K

Warnings: Rockstar!Eddie, Indie!Steve, modern day AU, enemies to lovers, slow burn, fake dating/PR relationship, they are both assholes lowkey but they'll get better later in the fic I promise, Drunk!Steve, Nancy is still a heartbreaker, oh look Robin and Chrissy are also here

A/N: Here you have it folks, the much awaited return of Rockstar!Eddie. I've had this story on the backburner for a while now and am so excited to dive into it! Don't worry - I will be updating Flowers and Ink soon, I just got inspired and wrote this first chapter as a little teaser for you all ;)

It all started with a t-shirt. 

Steve was playing his own show the night Robin went to a Corroded Coffin concert with a friend from work. He wasn’t upset or anything, because Robin had been to Steve’s shows countless times in the past. Besides, he didn’t like Corroded Coffin’s music anyway. 

Apparently, Robin liked the show enough to go to the merch table, where she bought a Corroded Coffin t-shirt, and the rest is history.

-

“Ridiculous,” Steve muttered to himself. His dryer was busted AGAIN, which meant he had to call the stupid landlord to have it fixed AGAIN. 

He’d been so busy with shows that he hadn’t had a lot of time to do laundry, and this was him finally catching up. Of course, the damn thing broke. Now he had no clothes. 

He sighed and went to the designated Robin drawer she insisted she have at Steve’s apartment. She was there a lot of nights anyway, so she always kept some pajamas and things just in case. Thank god for Robin’s love of oversized clothing. 

He grabbed the first shirt he saw, threw it on, and headed to the grocery store. 

Steve wasn’t even conscious of what the shirt said. Maybe he should have glanced in the mirror before he left, but he was tired and just needed to get food for the week. He’d been out of town on tour for a while now, so there was nothing at home. 

People were staring at him, but that wasn’t too unusual. His stage name was HARVEST, which was nice because he could separate himself from his music when he wanted to. His persona when he performed was vastly different to the guy wandering a grocery store in his best friend’s clothes, and he liked that. It was freeing. It gave him some semblance of privacy, because most fans of his music didn’t even know his real name. 

The more devoted fans, however…

People took his picture sometimes without asking first. That was common. It wasn’t great, but it was common. Steve was never that concerned with looking ugly on the internet, anyway. Although, if people went up to him and asked, he usually said yes if they were nice about it. 

It took about three hours for the notifications to pour in. Steve ignored them, at first. His publicist would handle whatever it was. But then, Robin called. 

“Steve!” she greeted when he answered. “You wore my shirt out?”

“Uh, yeah?” Steve responded. He looked down to see that it was a band t-shirt. Nothing too crazy about it. “That okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she assured him. “It’s just funny because somehow now people think you’re Corroded Coffin’s number one fan.”

“That’s…strange,” Steve said, confused. “All because I wore their shirt one time?”

“Yeah, well people looked into it and they found out you and Eddie Munson went to high school together -”

“Ah,” Steve acknowledged, starting to understand. 

“- and now people are shipping you with him and all that.”

“Wait, what?” Steve’s face fell. “They’re - Like, that’s insane. It’s only been a few hours and - I mean, I don’t even know the guy.”

“Yeah, but do you remember that TikTok you made last year?” she asked. “The one where you took the metal song and stripped it down, sang it in your style instead?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so.” 

Steve did that a few times with a variety of genres. He liked taking music to weird and unexpected places. So, sometimes when there was a viral song or sound, he’d put his own spin on it. 

“Okay, well that was a Corroded Coffin song,” Robin explained. 

“It…was?” Steve genuinely had no idea. He didn’t look into the artist before he’d made the video. 

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “You seriously didn’t know?”

“No,” Steve answered. “So, that combined with the t-shirt and now people think I’m having an affair with this guy or something?” He scoffed. He’d never understand why people were so hellbent on creating stories from nothing.

“It’s just the internet, Steve,” Robin replied. “People say all kinds of things.”

“Yeah, but -” Steve sighed, shutting his eyes tightly. It wasn’t just that he was being shipped with some random guy, it was that Steve wasn’t even out yet. It was kind of a whole thing he and his team had been working on. His new album was supposed to announce it, not some random pairing based on zero evidence.

“Yeah, I know,” Robin said. Steve knew she understood completely, even without him saying anything. She knew his sexuality before he did. “I promise it’s not a huge deal. Sorry the internet sucks.”

“Thanks,” Steve responded. He hung up, groaned, and collapsed onto his couch, where he fell into a deep sleep. 

-

“Eddie, we can use this.”

Eddie held back the groan he so desperately wanted to let out. He was on the phone with his manager, Carla, who had just told him that people online were pairing him with some other musician that Eddie had heard on the radio a few times and - yikes. It wasn’t his vibe. 

“Use it for…?” he asked, completely nonplussed. He picked up a rubber band ball on his desk and rolled it around in his hands. 

“You both have albums coming out soon,” she continued. “So, if you’re dating him then - I mean, think of the publicity.”

“Dating him?” Eddie echoed, confused. “Aren’t we jumping the gun, here? Do we even know if this dude likes other dudes in the first place?”

“No, but you should find out,” Carla insisted. “I mean, it’s HARVEST, Eddie. His music is everywhere right now.”

Eddie knew that much, at least. He didn’t listen to the music when he could help it, but people talked about it all the time. The mysterious HARVEST who wore disguises on stage and left cryptic posts on social media. Eddie couldn’t think of a single person he wanted to date less, and he didn’t even know the guy’s name or what he looked like. 

Eddie, on the other hand, had been busting his ass to maintain the little audience he’d accumulated over the last five years. Corroded Coffin started as a high school passion project, then devolved into a more serious band that played sporadic shows in his hometown, and then went through a series of changes and replacements until Eddie was the only original part of it that remained. Well, that and the name, of course. 

Eddie Munson. Corroded Coffin. They were pretty much synonymous at this point. The fans he had knew who he was and what he looked like. He rarely used social media, but when he interacted with fans he was blunt and to the point. No games. No mystery. This HARVEST guy kinda seemed like a tool. 

“Yeah, I’ll pass,” Eddie said, snapping one of the rubber bands rhythmically. 

“Eddie,” Carla prodded. “If you do this, you’ll blow up. Think of what you could do with the money. Merch. A tour. A vacation. A new house. Whatever you wanted, you could get.”

Money sounded nice, but it’s not like Eddie was living in poverty or anything. Well, he was in a tiny apartment in a shitty area of town, but it was Los Angeles. Who could afford anything more than that? Besides, he’d lived in places that small and shitty his whole life. Then again, he’d never had any other choice. Money would give him the choice. 

The popularity aspect was also intriguing, because Eddie loved attention almost as much as he loved music. Sure, there were downsides to fame, but he adored the glimpses of it he’d had so far, and it’s not like being around HARVEST was going to turn him into Leo DiCaprio or something. 

“Okay, so if I agree to this, what does that mean? Do you want me to DM him or something?”

“Actually,” Carla said. The playfulness in her tone caused Eddie to drop the rubber-band ball, because she only talked like that when she had a creative idea that he tended not to like. “He’s going to be at this launch party tonight that I may or may not have gotten you an invite to…”

Yup. That sounds about right. 

“So you want me to crash the party and proposition this guy?” Eddie asked. 

“Of course not,” she replied. “You’re invited, so it’s not crashing.”

Eddie had to chuckle at that one. She was a sneaky one, sometimes, and damn good at her job. 

“Fine,” Eddie agreed. “Send me the details and I might go.”

“Will do!” Carla responded. He could hear how excited this made her, and he was glad at least one of them was into this whole thing. “You don’t have to do anything too wild, okay? Even if you’re just spotted with him, it will spread the narrative that something is going on. Deal?”

It felt a little gross to go somewhere just to track a random guy down and cling to him for popularity. It was kind of a dick move, really. Then again, Eddie was kind of a dick. 

“Deal,” he replied. 

-

“This will never not be the coolest thing to ever happen to me,” Robin said, as she always does when Steve takes her as his plus one to events.

“Yeah, well since Nancy dumped my ass, get used to it,” he teased. “You’ll be filling in for a while.” Steve nudged her shoulder, causing her to laugh. She was wearing this beautiful, brand new jumpsuit. It was pressed and ironed and cost almost a full paycheck. Lucky for her, she didn’t have to pay for it. Steve was doing pretty damn well for himself financially.

The Uber driver pulled up to the bar and dropped them off. Since it was the grand opening or something, the place was entirely closed off and only people on a list were allowed in. 

“Name?” the security guard said at the door. 

“Uh,” Steve stuttered. He never knew which name was on these stupid lists. “Steve Harrington, and my guest.” He gestured to Robin beside him, who blushed. 

The security guard nodded, crossed them off, then opened the door for them to go inside. 

“Holy shit!” Robin said as they walked in. The place was nice, even by Steve’s standards. They headed to the bar to order their first round of drinks. 

Steve went to these kinds of things pretty often - he’d go, have a few drinks, hang out with people, then do it all again a few weeks later. He enjoyed them, for the most part. 

Well, except for one thing. 

Steve choosing to do music under the stage name HARVEST was great in a lot of ways. It was kind of like the whole Miley Cyrus vs Hannah Montana thing, except Steve wasn’t gonna show up to these parties wearing sunglasses, a wig, and an ugly vest - his signature look when he performed. He showed up as Steve, who was a nobody, and that felt kind of lame. To everyone else at the party, he just looked like a normal guy. Even Robin stood out more than he did. 

Steve had this whole thing where HARVEST rarely posted anything or did interviews, and when he did he was in disguise and using a voice changer. It started as a joke and then just…stuck. HARVEST was a completely separate entity from Steve. HARVEST was all the parts of him that made him popular in high school, and Steve was whatever was left underneath. 

He and Robin enjoyed the night anyway. They were handing out some sponsored cocktail throughout the night until everyone was good and drunk. Whatever was in that thing was lethal. Steve had only had two and he was feeling pretty tipsy. Robin was already on the dance floor after one. She’d pulled him to the photo area while a slower song played, urging him to get a picture with her and commemorate the night before she got too sweaty from dancing. 

They held up their branded glasses and smiled. The light flashed so bright they both winced, then laughed at their dramatic reaction. When they began stumbling away from the camera, Robin paused. 

“What?” Steve asked, confused. 

“Eddie Munson is here,” she said. 

“Where?” Steve asked. She pointed vaguely in Eddie’s direction, trying to act like she was just playing with her hair. Steve searched the room until his eyes locked in on the curly-haired brunette that the world wanted him to be with, apparently. Eddie was at the bar, talking up some of the other guests. “What is he doing here?” Robin shrugged. 

Steve had never seen Eddie at one of these parties before. His band wasn’t really that popular. Their only claim to fame so far was a chorus of one of their songs going viral on TikTok. Then, like an idiot, Steve had done a cover of the damn song, and now he was in a whole mess of a situation. Eddie Munson was going to inadvertently reveal Steve’s bisexuality before his album even came out. 

It wasn’t Eddie’s fault, and Steve knew that. Fans were going to say what they were gonna say. But still, Eddie being at the party was a crazy coincidence, considering the circumstances. 

Steve took a sip from his third cocktail and decided not to think about it. 

-

Eddie had never in his life been invited to something like this before. He’d had to talk to a guard and get let in, like some bigshot celebrity. If being around this HARVEST guy gave Eddie more opportunities to go to shit like this, maybe it was worth it. 

Once he got inside, he went to the bar to get a drink. They were serving some cocktail that Eddie had no interest in drinking, so he ordered a whiskey on the rocks as he chatted with the people around him. They were all nice, although it was a bit too loud to have any actual conversation. Plus, most of the guests were well on their way to being drunk. 

All in all, it was Eddie’s exact kind of chaos. 

He scanned the room for a man that matched his only reference point of what HARVEST looked like. Eddie had seen a few pictures of him on stage, and his outfits were always a little out there. He had different hair every time, but his absurd style stayed consistent. 

Nobody at this goddamn party looked like that. 

“Hey,” Eddie said after nudging the person beside him. “You know where HARVEST is?”

He realized as soon as he asked that he probably could have just Googled him to see what he looked like. Whatever. 

“Uhh, you mean Steve?” the woman responded. “He’s here somewhere. His date is in this gorgeous glittery blue jumpsuit. Find her and you’ll find him. He follows her like a shadow.” She finished her description with a light chuckle. Eddie turned back to face the rest of the bar and continued searching the crowd.

Okay, first of all - Steve? The man, the myth, the legend known as HARVEST was actually just…a guy named Steve? Eddie almost burst out laughing. 

Secondly, he brought a date. Of course he brought a date. A woman, at that. Eddie wasn’t cool enough to have a plus one, but Steve on the other hand…

Wow. Eddie didn’t think he’d be able to find the glittery jumpsuit as fast as he did, but it really was a dead giveaway. It sparkled under the lights of the bar, and the girl next to Eddie was right - it was gorgeous. Steve’s date was gorgeous overall, actually. No wonder he was following her around. 

“Him?” Eddie asked, pointing to the guy dancing with the woman in the jumpsuit. 

“Yup,” the guest at the bar confirmed. She took the last sip of her cocktail and set the glass down on the counter. “So, do you wanna dance?”

Eddie froze. He wasn’t a huge fan of dancing in public, and he also wasn’t sure if this dance was just a dance or if it was something else. 

“Well, I, uhhhh -” he began. “I mean, I’m like - ya know - gay.” She laughed in response, her face red from the alcohol. 

“No shit,” she replied. “You obviously have heart eyes for Steve, and he’s dancing with someone else, so let’s go out there and you can make him jealous and I can dance until someone who likes women steals me away.”

Eddie grinned. This chick was dope. He held out his hand for her to take it, and then he walked her to the dance floor. He figured that he could strike up a conversation, get Steve to take a picture with him at the photo area, and then call it a night. 

“What’s your name, by the way?” he yelled over the music. 

“Chrissy!” she yelled back. 

“Eddie!” he responded. She smiled at him, and he couldn’t help but notice how drop-dead gorgeous she was, too. Everyone at this party was perfect-looking, actually, and it was intimidating and weird. Eddie was grateful he'd decided to wear his nicer clothes. 

And then they danced. Eddie did his best to jump to the music and twirl Chrissy around. Over the course of the first song she managed to glide them through the crowd and strategically place them right by Steve. 

Chrissy was a total boss. 

“STEVE!” she shouted, acting much drunker than she actually was. She threw her arms around Steve, who returned the hug with a warm smile. “How are you?”

Steve said something, but it was so loud on the dance floor that Eddie couldn’t hear it.

“I’M ROBIN,” blue jumpsuit woman said. She looked like she was having the time of her life. “NICE TO MEET YOU!”

“YOU TOO!” Chrissy replied. She turned to Eddie. “THIS IS MY FRIEND EDDIE!”

Oh, shit. Okay then. 

Robin and Steve just kinda looked at him and didn’t say anything for a moment. There was no equally loud greeting for Eddie Munson, no sir. He immediately felt judged, and almost bolted right out of there. He didn’t fit in with this crowd at all. 

“H-hi, Eddie!” Robin finally said. “I actually know you! I went to your show a few weeks ago!”

“Woah, really?” Eddie responded, shocked. Nobody had recognized him here, yet. Maybe he wasn’t so different from these people after all. 

“YOU’RE A MUSICIAN, TOO?” Chrissy asked, amazed. Eddie nodded. Suddenly, the most beautiful man Eddie had ever seen approached Chrissy and asked her to dance. He recognized the guy as this famous actor who’d been in a ton of movies. Score for Chrissy, although she was perfect, too, and barely fazed. Instead, she took the actor’s hand and smiled. “GOTTA GO, SEE YOU GUYS LATER!”

And then, she was off. What a crazy life these people led.

Steve spoke again, but only Robin could hear him properly. She nodded, then gestured for Eddie to follow them to a less loud part of the bar. 

“Much better,” Steve said once they could all hear themselves think again. The light in the bar was dim, so it was hard to make out all of Steve’s features, but Eddie could have sworn he looked familiar. “So, you’re the famous Eddie Munson?”

Eddie thought for sure he’d heard Steve wrong. Like, he must have, because no way in hell Eddie could be considered famous among this group of people. Unless Steve was being condescending, in which case…ugh. Sure, whatever. 

“I - I mean, yeah,” Eddie replied. He turned back to Robin, who he already liked more than Steve. “So, you’ve seen Corroded Coffin in concert?”

“Yeah!” she said, her face lighting up at the question. 

“Why?” Eddie asked before he could stop himself. Robin and Steve laughed. “I just mean, you’re not really my usual demographic -”

“I’m full of surprises, Eddie,” she teased. “Okay, so I only went because my friend had an extra ticket, but still.”

“Ouch,” Eddie responded with a laugh, clutching his heart as if he’d genuinely been distraught. 

“What the fuck is in these things?” Steve said, staring intently at the drink in his hand. 

“It’s basically a long island iced tea with all their cheapest liquor and a splash of sprite,” Eddie answered plainly.

“How did you know that?” Robin asked, amused. 

“I asked,” Eddie replied with a shrug. 

“The bartender?” Robin pressed. Eddie nodded. 

“Yeah. I have this thing where I never shut up, so I tend to talk to everyone,” Eddie joked. Well, it wasn’t really a joke. “Anyway, how many have you had?” Steve’s brow furrowed as he desperately tried to remember his drink tally.

“One more than he should have had, apparently,” Robin said, taking the glass from Steve and setting it down on a table. “I’ll go get him some water.” 

She disappeared with no further warning, leaving Eddie alone with Steve. Am I supposed to babysit this guy until she comes back or something?

“So, you and Robin,” Eddie said, shifting back and forth on his feet. He really could not for the life of him stop talking, especially with whiskey coursing through him. “Are you guys, like -?”

“Just friends,” Steve snapped back. He almost seemed pissed at the question. “She’s been my best friend for, god, I dunno, since college.”

“Cool,” Eddie replied. Steve was clearly very drunk, and Eddie wasn’t sure how much of that was contributing to his standoffishness. “Are you okay, man?”

“Why're you even here, dude?” Steve asked, his words slurred. “What made you come here?”

“Uhhh, I was invited?” Eddie answered. This guy’s a real trip.

“So it wasn’t because strangers online want us to be together, and if that happens you get more fame or whatever?”

Oh, damn. While that's exactly what was happening, Eddie sure as hell wasn't going to admit it. To save face, Eddie did what he did best - he defaulted to assholery.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he responded. “I’m here for the same reason you are.”

“So, it’s a total coincidence that I see you at one of these things for the first time the same day people started talking about us online?”

“Maybe I’ve been to a ton of these parties and you’ve just never noticed,” Eddie retorted. 

“I doubt it,” Steve shot back. 

“Why?”

“Because you’re hard to miss, Munson. Always have been,” Steve replied. 

“Always?” Eddie echoed, confused. Then, the lights hit Steve’s face and illuminated it entirely. Enough for Eddie to remember where he’d seen him before. 

“Got your water!” Robin announced as she returned. She handed Steve the new glass, and he took it without breaking eye contact with Eddie. 

“Ohhhh my god,” Eddie said, stunned. “You're Steve Harrington. HARVEST is Steve goddamn Harrington.”

“Sure is,” Steve replied, his voice even. 

“I missed something, didn’t I?” Robin asked. 

“I mean, kind of,” Eddie said, raising his voice. “Just a couple years of King Steve bullying the school Freak.” Robin turned to Steve, alarmed. 

“Wait, you bullied him?” 

“How did you not know it was me?” Steve asked, getting agitated now. “Did you seriously come here to try to mooch off me without even doing your research first?”

“I never said I came here for you,” Eddie replied. 

“You didn’t deny it either,” Steve reminded him. “You still aren’t, by the way.”

“Okay, fine!” Eddie relented. “You caught me. I came here to cash in on your fame, like some poor commoner in need of charity, and I didn’t even bother to look you up first because honestly? Your music kinda sucks.”

“Oh, I definitely missed something,” Robin muttered nervously. 

“You wanna talk about shitty music?” Steve said through gritted teeth. 

“Okay!” Robin interjected, inserting herself between them. “No more of this. It was nice meeting you, Eddie, but I think we should split.” 

“No need,” Eddie replied. “You stay, I’ll go. You’re the ones who belong here anyway.” He did a slight bow and walked away, leaving Robin and Steve behind. 

So much for fame. 

-

@lemondar93 i thought the whole #steddie thing was a reach but saw them together tonight and uhhhh 👀 idk there's something there

@izzierosieb wait omg at the Frolique grand opening? How tf did you get in??

@lemondar93 suuuuper lucky! Matty was supposed to go but he’s sick and I was backup!

@geegeedaheed tell us everything!!!!

@julijmonroe if steddie is real I will actually lose my mind wtf

@chasityseventeen no fr because we have so little and yet I’m already INVESTED

@belloca123 NOT THERE ALREADY BEING FANART OF THEM AHAHAHAHA

@camerohno Everyone just remember that these are real people and we shouldn’t be speculating about their lives even though they’re obviously secretly married

@lemondar93 LMAO

-

Steve woke up the next morning with the hangover from hell. After Eddie left, he and Robin stuck around for another song or two before heading out themselves. 

Steve never really liked Eddie that much in high school because he was a show-off. He loved making a scene in the cafeteria and he always acted like he was better than everyone else just because he refused to like anything that was popular. Sports, music, TV shows. They were never going to be friends, because Steve usually liked the stuff that other people liked. He used to follow the pack, so to speak, and do what the people around him expected him to do. Eddie tended to do the opposite. Eddie was abrasive and loud and obnoxious. 

Back in high school, anyway. Steve knew that people had the capability to change (after all, he sure did), but after reuniting with Eddie at the bar, he was skeptical any growth or development had actually occurred in the last six years. 

Eddie was still a dick, and Steve had no interest in ever seeing him again. 

He pulled out his phone to see that it was still blowing up. There was a new tag trending - #steddie. Yikes. He’d also gotten even more followers. Then, another update caught his eye. 

His new album had double the pre-orders it had the night before. 

He’d put his heart and soul into this album, and he wanted more than anything for it to be recognized. He was popular, yeah, but mostly for a couple singles that played on the radio all the time. This album was a piece of art from top to bottom that Steve had painstakingly planned and created from scratch. 

Maybe. Maybe this stupid ship with Eddie Munson could be worth something. But not enough to contact the guy. No way. 

Steve opened his Instagram and then felt his heart drop. 

@nancywheeler: Life hack - date a photographer so you get amazing candids on vacation 💕

It hadn’t even been that long since Nancy left Steve for Jonathan Byers. Well, maybe it had been long enough, but still. Cute couple’s posts already? 

Oh, no. Steve wanted Nancy to feel like he did, and he knew what would do the trick. She was always a bit of the jealous type.

God dammit.

(Part 2!)

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

@paintballkid711 @abraca-fxckyou @allbimyself26 @jellybabiesforall @allbymyselfexceptformycactus @justaloadofgarbage-blog @alliemunsonsstuff @undreamingscatworld @thefruityfours @hobbitnarwhal @calivanus @wreckmyplans-thatsmyman @antheia @goodolefashionedloverboi @lillemilly @missmagillicuddy @steviesbicrisis @gamerdano @menamesniall eyeslikewildflowers111 @callmesirkay @stringischeese @eds-trashmouth @mnl-enuh @redfreckledwolf @itsanarrum @soulsofstarsliveinyourveins @gregre369 @stevesbipanic @momotonescreaming @aryakanojiaa @wrenisflying @comicmadlover @lilacrobin @itch-my-b0nez @anonymousbandgirl @disastardly @dangdirtydemons @daisyellsong @val-from-lawrence @starryeyedpoet17 @taikawaiteatea @clumsiluni @hollysimone @swimmingbirdrunningrock @witchofhawkins @steddiegarbage @suddenlyinlove @ricekristytreaty @eddielives1986

[somejazzinthemorning]

tightrope. 03

Pairing: Carlos Sainz x Original Female Character Warnings: Language Word Count: 7.241 Previous chapter: 02.

Drowning myself in work is my go-to coping mechanism for more than half of my problems.

I'll either resort to racing or tracing brand strategies in an attempt to avoid having to face whatever problem throws my way and, that night, being 11 pm on a Wednesday, my laptop and the small whiteboard on my desk became my saving grace.

Despite the burning eyes and my aching back, after hours sat at my desk, my mind was still racing, high on whatever feelings the brush of his lips had evoked in my body. I fell asleep to the memory of his eyes and the velvet lips.

There was no way to escape it. We were already falling.

I woke up late, the next day.

My phone had a full wall of notifications ready to present me. A single text in the middle of the dozens of work-related emails, most of them answers to the ones I’d written during the night and scheduled to be sent in the early hours of the work day. I only realised I was smiling, probably high on my own expectations, when I felt my smile drop, after seeing who sent the text. Amanda. Not him.

“those updates on the project at 3 am??? r u okay?”

“sorry! i remembered to schedule the emails, but forgot about the notes on the project.” "got some good work done, tho”

"need to take a moment to reread all of your incoherent notes” "all that rambling is… wow” "BUUUUUT come to the office” "the things from the berlin store just arrived, you will love them”

"can’t make it today” "send pics!”

"come tomorrow, then! ill get churros for breakfast”

My phone went back to the nightstand and I pulled up the comforter, wrapping it around myself in an attempt to find some security and calm of mind. I peered out from under the comforter, staring at the dark room, only lightened by some streaks of light created from a gap in the blinds. I was still tired from the night, and my mind scrambled from everything we had shared.

Eventually, I left the bed. My mom was downstairs, and a copy of Shadow of the Wind rested on the kitchen counter while she cooked lunch. Frank Sinatra played on the old record player in the living room and the music continued to stretch around the house as we ate together. Luckily, her birthday party was keeping her busy; busy enough that she didn't remember to ask me about the dinner from last night.

Truth be told: I'm a terrible liar. I would never be able to escape her questions.

At the end of the day, I met Rocco for a workout, in a nearby gym. He was waiting for me, leaning against the reception counter, teal Puma t-shirt paired with an amused smirk; I knew he was more than ready to put me through my paces. And I was right. It only took me a couple of exercises to lay on the floor, panting and sweating."Have you thought about what you're doing next season?" I looked up, in the direction of the voice. Rocco was standing in front of me, holding my water bottle.

I sat up straight and extended my hand to grab it. "Not yet," the water was cold and refreshing. Just what I needed. "Maybe a third year in the Challenge and," I paused to breathe. "You know, the reserve seat. Not ideal, but yeah."

He frowned, sitting down on one of the plyo boxes near me. "But yeah?"

"Yeah. Works." I answered, laying back down on the green turf. The small fake grass ticklish on my legs and arms. "Not much, but it's racing."

"I think I'll pretend you didn't say that."

"Why? It's just how it is."

He cleared his throat, the deep sound making me open my eyes and stare at him again. "Up," he commanded, refusing to help me get up. I brought the hand I'd just held up to the floor, to help me get up.

"I thought we were done," I said. He didn't even need to say anything to make me understand that we were, in fact, not done. "Are you mad?"

“Annoyed,” he turned back to me. “What the heck was that answer? Of course, a third year in the Challenge and a reserve seat in WEC are not ideal. I was hoping for a real answer, not some… whatever that was.”

“It’s the reality,” I shrugged. Instead of turning back and going back to do whatever he was about to do, he just kept looking at me. Not the conversation I was hoping for today.

“You had a plan. What happened?” He asked.

“Nothing happened. I had a plan. And it’s going as it’s possible.”

"Excuses, Eva," Rocco exclaimed. He stepped forward and looked me in the eye. "You have a plan. You know what you want. And you have the talent."

“Congrats, you just solved gender inequality.” I gave him an ironic thumbs up, my mind still scrambled from the efforts of the workout and the encounter from last night. This kind of conversation was not what I wanted.

“You’re more than capable of getting a decent seat next year.”

“As we know,” I wiggled my finger between both of us, “It’s a tough path. Being capable won’t get me a seat. ”

“Locking yourself in an office keeping track of TikTok trends will?” I sent him a look. He held up his hands in defence. “You’re making excuses. There are other drivers fighting for the same things as you are and they are not taking no for an answer.”

“Neither am I.”

"Come on," he chortled, eying me carefully. I could tell that he wanted the best for me, but I was not really in the mood to discuss this at the moment. "When was the last time you actually planned something for yourself, and not just some new fashion designer or boujie vegan chef?"

I felt a little bit of annoyance creeping its way up my spine. I had been pushing myself so hard for the last few months, and I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed with all the pressure.

“Can we focus on the races I have left to win?” I asked, my voice taking on an exasperated tone. “We can talk about this after I win this championship?”

“Sure.” He bent down to grab a 15 kg power bag from the floor and dropped it off at my feet. "This wasn't planned, but that self-pity is annoying me."

“A punishment?" I took my hands to my hips, a light chortle abandoning my lips. "Burpees and never-ending lounges? That's what you think I need right now?"

"No, no burpees," he said, his grin widening. "But maybe a few extra lounges wouldn't hurt." He was clearly enjoying this. I rolled my eyes and glanced down at the power bag in front of me.

“It was not—”

He cleared his throat, cutting me off, and I went silent. Then, looking at him, I saw that he was grinning at me once again, content. Yeah, it was self-pity. Yeah, the future is scary, especially when you’re a 25-year-old woman in motorsports and your career seems to be stuck.

I took a deep breath and bent over to pick up the bag, the cold weight of it dragging my body down to the ground. Rocco took a few steps back and then motioned me with his head to start.

"Andiamo," he said. “20 steps back and forth. Three series.”

So I did. I started lounging with the bag, back and forth across the green patch of turf on that side of the gym, trying to keep a steady pace. With each step, the pressure of the bag weighed me down. I kept going, pushing forward and gritting my teeth against the pain. When I finally reached the twentieth step, I dropped the bag and breathed out, my body aching from the effort.

By the end of the third series, I had pushed my body to its very limits and back. I sunk down onto the cool grass beneath me, feeling the relief of the softness beneath me—my muscles aching and my body dripping with sweat, my hair matted to my neck and temples.

Rocco sat near me, guiding me through a couple of moves, helping me to loosen my tight muscles and stretch out my body. Despite the big (and somewhat threatening) muscles he had a gentle touch.

“What’s on your mind?”

"Hm?" I frowned, my eyebrows furrowing together as I closed my eyes, feeling his hand pressing down on my thigh, pushing it firmly against the hard floor. I could feel the pain radiating through my body, but I tried to focus on the sensation of his grip.

“You always complain this hurts,” he said. I opened one eye. Now, I could feel the pressure from his grip. Probably something shifted on my face because he instantly asked, “Now it hurts?”

"It hurt before, I was just distracted." I shook my head, closing my eyes again and focusing on the sensation of his grip. “I’m free to feel like shit when things go badly." I let out.

“Things are not going badly,” he sighed, leaving my leg and switching to the other. “You’re simply letting yourself fall behind.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, my head falling back against the floor. I stayed there for a few moments, my heart pounding against my chest and my thoughts racing a million miles per hour. When I finally opened my eyes again, I looked up at Rocco, this time because I felt my thigh burning with discomfort, he was still looking at me, waiting for an answer.

"Too much." I glanced below while patting his arm. He raised an eyebrow, implying more pressure. "Ei!" I scrunched my nose. He just arched a brow. Sadistic fucker. “What? Are you going to hurt me until I hold someone at gunpoint and ask for a seat?”

“You talk like you don’t have good offers, Eva.”

“What is a good offer? Driving against 19-year-old boys in Formula 3? It’s humiliating.”

“W Series?” He suggested.

“I want to race with men and show people I can win against them.” I sat down. Rocco took his hands from my legs. My muscles tingled with the same intensity my thoughts did. “I like the Challenge because I’m showing them I can do it. But the team does not have a budget to race in other series. And I can’t be a reserve forever. So I can do another year and hope things change.”

“See? You’re choosing to fall behind.” He took a deep breath, understanding my frustration. "You can always look for sponsorship," he said, his eyes focused on the floor. "You have the talent, the connections—"

“I spent my teenage years sending letters and desperately trying to talk to people. You saw how that went.”

“You have results to show them, now. In two weeks you’ll have a championship.” I dragged my hands over my face. Instant regret. Both my hands and face were tingling with the same intensity my thoughts did. “W Series will give you exposure. Will give you points. You need points..”

“Why are you so interested now?” I arched an eyebrow, feeling a bit suspicious. “The year is long. Anything can happen. A lot can change.”

“I just don’t see you planning ahead.” He deadpanned, his expression unreadable. “What if you can’t do another season of the Challenge? Will you be content with just being a reserve in WEC?”

“Why so many ifs?” I asked, still feeling a bit apprehensive.

“Motorsports are unpredictable,” he replied, his voice steady and sure. “I’ve been around long enough to know that. And I’m your coach, not just a trainer. It’s kinda my responsibility to do this.”

“Nah, I’m not having it.” I paused, still not entirely convinced. “Do you know something I don’t?”

Rocco just shook his head. The dark strands of his hair moved in unison. “Eva—” He shrugged. I could see the wheels turning in his mind. Whatever he was about to say, it seemed like it wasn't completely true. "One," he continued; his tone shifting. "I don't want to be left without a job when you get bored of racing." I threw my towel at him, though I knew he was only joking. Unfortunately, he dodged it. "Two," he continued, "you're racing like a pro. You should race with the pros."

At least, in one thing he was right. I was racing like a pro.

On the other hand, I was not acting like one.

My team and my dad, the main sponsor, were the only support I had. Despite having other offers, none met our expectations. I had been a third, fourth, or fifth driver for too long. I had spent too much time in the garage, running simulations, and taking part in test sessions. Years of it. Each of these experiences had demoralized me.

Racing in the Challenge, learning with my team, taking time to understand the car and driving it to a podium made sense to me. Standing in the garage and hoping for someone to get food poisoning or COVID was not only morally wrong but also quite dull.

“Did you make this whole drama when Rio told you he wanted to stop racing and just go to college and become an engineer?” I asked, getting up from the floor and picking up my towel, still lying on the ground.

“It was worse actually,” my trainer said, following me. “I think I almost killed him when he told me.”

“We make quite the pair, don’t we?”

He smiled and nodded. “Yes, you do. Your poor father has his hands full with you two.” We stopped walking when we reached the locker room. “Go have a shower and get some rest.”

The second I reached my locker and opened the wooden door, I reached for my phone, looking for a message that hadn't arrived. Pathetic. A part of me considered taking the initiative and being the one to call or text him but, to be honest, what was left for me to say?

I had already told him everything by asking him not to kiss me and I might have told him even more by refusing to let go of him.

The office smelled of churros, so I knew Amanda was around. Either that or someone else had the same idea as her.

Familiar faces smiled back at me as I crossed the corridors and the work areas until I finally reached the common area and took one of the available seats. Since I had chosen to work remotely, and only visited the office casually for occasional meetings or when I needed a place where I could focus, I wasn't given an office.

The room was filled with the buzz of people chatting and the occasional laughter, making me feel a bit out of place. I knew most of them (read: I knew their names and which projects were under their purview), but rarely talked to any of them. Amanda, one of my friends from college, and the one who had introduced me to this agency was the only one I regularly talked with.

I sat down in my chair and pulled my laptop out of my bag. After talking with Rocco yesterday, I decided to take action on my career and spent last night looking at emails and reading my dad's notes on the sides of those he considered important enough to print. So, when I opened my laptop, my screen showed me my Notion board, which honestly felt like a showcase of my own failures. Not the first thing I wanted to see that morning.

A knock on the glass divider of the office made me lift my head up and find Amanda on the other side of it. A beautiful purple jumper highlighted her beautiful curves; her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. In her hands, a white box.

I waved at her.

“Vamos,” she motioned with her head. “Before anyone tries to steal these from me.”

I smiled and grabbed my laptop, zipping it up before getting up and walking towards her. “You know I have an important weekend ahead, right?”

She laughed, opening the box. “A churro won't weigh you down, don't worry.”

I took one of them and walked near her to the cafeteria. The morning light was soft, and the day was not too warm. Ideal to sit on the balcony and talk for a while. So, that's what we did. I grabbed coffee for both, while she walked outside.

The sunshine on my skin was just a slight warmth as I leaned on my chair, and the smooth breeze of the morning cooled off my skin. Traffic sounds in the background, the ruffle of chairs and the occasional bark of one of the dogs playing on the balcony of the start-up that shares the building with us.

While having a sip of her coffee, I noticed Amanda's eyes widening, and I could practically see the bell ringing in her mind. Instantly, my brows were drawn together. Brace yourself, Eva.

"So, I heard on Twitter dot com…" I rolled my eyes at the last part, and despite provoking a small chuckle from her, she didn't stop talking and her gaze still remained twinkling mischievously. "Carlos was in Mugello last weekend."

Oh, for fucks sake.

"If that's what Twitter says, it must be true."

"Yes. So," she paused. Her head tilted slightly, honestly looking like a pup who saw a threat in the distance. "Did you two talk?"

I shook my head; my fingers busy on the handle of my mug, desperately trying to seem unbothered by the question. "Nah, we didn't talk."

"You sure?" She asked, her eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"Yes, I'm sure," I said, my voice steady. "It's not like we're friends or anything."

"That's too bad," she murmured, a hint of disbelief in her voice. "It's not like Carlos and your brother are still like, the best of friends and maybe— maybe he went there to visit him and you end up talking?"

I sighed. "Stop it."“You're a terrible liar, Eva.” Amanda said bluntly, her gaze intense.

“Amanda,” I said, my voice stern and my eyes piercing. "Stop it."

“So, you talked.” Amanda gave me a knowing look. "I knew it. I saw those tweets and I realised we had barely talked this week, and that only happens when you're too busy overthinking. And then boom, I woke up to dozens of notes made at 2 am? You always go to bed early." She crossed her arms, her gaze still intense. "Come on, just tell me what happened. If it’s not him, it’s anything else. That worries me too. I'm here for you, no judgement."

I sighed. "Fine," I said, setting my mug down and leaning back on the chair. "We talked. A lot. We actually had dinner."

Amanda's gaze softened, but then she frowned again. “Dinner? The three of you?”

“The two of us.”

"Just the two of you?" Amanda's eyes widened in surprise, lips smiling brightly. I nodded to her question. "What did you talk about?"

A part of me wanted to end it there. The other part of me needed some guidance. And Amanda was a friend, she always had good advice. On the downside, she loved to gossip. But we were friends. Guidance. But gossip.

I shrugged. “Just normal things. Racing.”

“Okaaaay, that’s good.” At this point, her lips were curving up like she was the one having dinner with him. I couldn’t decide if her reaction annoyed me or made me happy. "So, what now? Are you going to keep in contact with him?"

I shook my head. "I don't think the dinner changed anything.” Liar.

“Eva,” she propped her elbows on the table. “You’re a terrible liar. Spit it out. What happened? If you don’t want to talk about it, tell me that. Just don’t lie.”

Talking about it would make a big deal. A bigger deal, actually. I dragged my hands over my face, tired and confused. Thinking about it was challenging enough and I truly didn't want to transform all my confusion and emotions into words. Amanda, on the other hand, couldn't hide the fact that she wanted the truth, her gaze so strong it almost made me melt over the iron (and obnoxiously red) chair I was sitting on.

So I told her. Every single detail. From the glorious vision of him under the bright lights of my garage, which for a second made me feel like I was living in an alternate world, through the call at dawn, to his gauze under the beautiful sunset glow. His warm, velvety lips brushing against mine. I told her about the “I think I might have loved you, too”, and the way that even in my dreams I couldn’t seem to forget his scent when he hugged me goodbye.

I felt so exposed, so vulnerable, as I spilled my heart out onto that small table, and when I finished all I could hear was the sound of her sigh. A ridiculous rom-com kind of sigh.

“I just feel like we messed it up because of pure desperation,” I said, crossing one leg over the other and looking around. “He messed it up. I think we just missed each other so much we… I don’t know. Got confused on the feelings?”

“He messed up?”

“I didn’t kiss him back. I just asked him to please, don’t.” It was more ridiculous saying it out loud now than when I recalled the moment in my mind.

“You’re even stupider than I thought,” was her answer. I arched my brow. “The guy cooked for you, at his place, told you he “thinks he loved you too” and tries to kiss you and now you’re mad because he didn’t text you?” She paused. “What the hell will he say? Of course, he won’t text you. What would you say to someone after being denied a kiss? Text him yourself.”

“No.”

“Why not?” Why not? I asked myself the same question. Because I can’t trust him to stay. Better, because I can’t trust him to not leave. “Don’t be stubborn, come on. Just by looking at you, I know you’re dying to get that kiss.”

“Can’t we go back inside and talk about work?”

“Oh, no, missy.” She shook her head. “Those AB tests can wait. I want to talk about you and how you’re so dumb you might lose the chance of your life.”

“You’re exaggerating. As always.”

“Eva.” She was stern, her eyes burning on me. “He was your best friend. At least try to mend that friendship. Even if you don’t want anything else. Whatever the reason.”

I sighed, bowing my head in defeat. Amanda had a way of making me see sense, even when I didn't want to. "And if I can’t see him as a friend but still can’t give a step in the other direction?”

“Then, you give it time. Just don’t give it too much space.” She got up from her chair. Mug on one hand. The empty white box on the other. “Remember how that worked up last time.”

Fact one about Amanda: she was probably the most curious person I knew. Any arguments in the office, celebrity rumours or gossip of literally any kind she knew by heart, down to the last detail. And while that was remotely irritating, especially at exhausting times, like during Amber and Johnny’s trial, or when (especially when) the news broke about Pique and Shakira's divorce, it could also be a blessing. At least from my point of view. Perhaps all the stories contributed to her having a broader view of relationships and, as a result, being so good at giving advice. Fact two: there was no one more insistent than her, so, evidently, she couldn’t leave the office without reminding me to text him.

It was 5 pm, and I was utterly absorbed in the presentation for the new restaurant. I was head down, consumed by the details of culinary and marketing analytics, and, to tell the truth, my mind was so focused on this project that I couldn't really think of anything else.

Amanda was getting ready to leave. Jacquemus purse over her shoulder and a strong pink lipstick on the place where a less saturated one had been during the day.

“You stay?” She asked me.

“Aham,” I briefly made my eyes leave the screen to look at her. “I need to finish this. Next week I’ll be too busy.”

“You leaving for Italy on Monday?”

“Tuesday,” I corrected her, my eyes going back down to the laptop. “Don’t want to leave this to the last minute.”

“Okay. I’ll try to have a look at it before you leave. Also,” my eyes went up again. “Send the man a good luck text.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes at her. "He doesn't need my luck text.”

Amanda nodded, her eyes still twinkling mischievously. "Okay, send him a whatever text, then. An emoji. Like his Instagram story.”

“I’m afraid liking his story won’t work.” I leaned back on her office chair, which I had taken in the middle of the day when she needed to leave for a meeting and left me to use her small office.

“Text him, then. Anything. I wouldn’t let Carlos Sainz escape, but you do you, babes,” she shrugged, turning her back to me to walk to the door.“Enjoy the weekend. Besos!”

“Bye!”

I didn’t text him. Of course. In the same way, she was insistent, I was stubborn.

Actually, let me rephrase it.

I didn’t text him then.

Mid-afternoon, Rio had called inviting me to dinner, and when I asked about the kids, he told me he had booked a nanny, so they would stay home. It was either business or pleasure. I didn't need to ask; as soon as he mentioned my dad was invited, I knew we'd be discussing business. And after Rocco's worries last night, I knew it was partly my business, too.

My nerves were on edge as I prepared to leave the office. They only worsened as I neared the restaurant - a way too fancy place for a Friday dinner with the family.

Crossing the sidewalk, my heels clacking on the cement, my head spinning from the long hours in front of my laptop, and the anxiety building in my chest, I looked inside. My dad was seated at the end of the table, with an empty seat to his right - the seat I was supposed to take. Marjorie was already waving at me. Smiling politely to the man standing at the door, I said, "They're waiting for me." He nodded and let me enter.

My eyes drifted to their table, and I allowed myself a few seconds to study the mood. They were laughing, but my palms were still sweating as I settled in for what would surely be an uncomfortable conversation.

"Sorry, traffic," I said, punctuating my apology with a kiss on each of my parents' cheeks. "Am I too late?"

"No, no," my dad said, his voice warm and comforting. "Your brother was about to tell me something, but you just distracted him. Go ahead, Fabrizio."

I turned to him, curious.

"I'm sure we can wait a bit more. Just... after the food," he said.

"Why are you so nervous?" Marjorie asked, her violet fingernails softly laying over his arm in a gentle caress. "It's something good," she said to me. "Don't worry."

"Are you pregnant again?" my mom asked.

"No! No, no!" my sister-in-law responded quickly, her voice almost echoing in the room. Even Rio seemed surprised by her rapid response. "It's Rio's news. Not mine."

“After the food, then,” my father said.

“I hate it when I do that,” I muttered to my brother, grabbing the menu from the table and letting my eyes drift through the print. “You haven’t ordered yet, right?”

My dad shook his head. "We were waiting for you.”

I glanced at the menu one last time before setting it back down. My dad's hand called for a waiter and, after the young man left, the conversation resumed. As usual before any Grand Prix, the race weekend was the matter on the table and, that night specifically, Carlos' penalty was the urgent matter. Ferrari had the pace and Carlos had the skill, but as I sat there, hearing my brother and dad's input on how wise the choice had or hadn't been, my attention diverged to the DNF he had suffered in Austria, less than two weeks ago. Vivid images of the flames engulfing the car, the heartbreaking words on the radio, and the cheers that echoed through the crowd as his teammate stepped onto the top step filled my mind.

One feeling the glory, the other one consumed in ruin.

“Good luck out there this weekend.” "Don’t pull another Austria. That one was scary.”

Done. I’d texted him. For better or for worse, it was done. And I didn’t have time to put the phone back in the purse before it vibrated again in my hand.

“Thank you. I really need it.”

I checked the time.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“I’m resting." "Listening to my teammate rant about food, but resting.”

“Why? Did you tell him about the cheese-less pasta you tried to feed me?” “If I expect Leclerc to teach you something is how to cook pasta."

"He’s a terrible cooker.” “I’m better learning it from you.”

"I’ll be sure to give you a lesson someday."

"I'll hold you to that."

  "What are you smiling about?" Marjorie asked, my attention immediately being grabbed from my screen to the table.

"Nothing, sorry," I said quickly, tucking my phone back into my purse. "Amanda just texted me about the work I was finishing.”

"Ah, Eva, if you put that effort into racing…" he said, as the waiter came back with our food. I tried to ignore him, especially because there was no use fighting back his comment.

Even with the food on the table and the anticipation to find out about Rio’s news tugging on my chest, the conversation didn’t go further from Formula 1. My dad, a lifelong Italian Ferrari fan and a very biased Carlos supporter was ranting over the lack of professionalism he was sensing from the team and how the choices they repeatedly made ruined not only the drivers but the prestige of the team. Nothing new. Rio and I have been listening to the same tirade for a long couple of years and nothing seemed to change, even after the amazing start to the season the team had.

“I had my reservations at first, but you could be a nice fit for the team, actually”, my dad said, pointing at Rio, with the knife he was using to cut his steak. Rio looked confused at him, and then, at me. “Have they given you an answer?”

What?

For a moment, I felt like I’d fallen on a different table, a completely different conversation. My gaze shifted from one to the other, confused by my father’s question.

“Who’s they?” I asked. Marjorie was biting her lip; her violet fingertips on my brother’s arm, once again.

“Ferrari,” my father responded, clearly stepping over my brother’s feet. Rio seemed bothered; clenched jaw, restless fingers that Marjorie tried to calm by positioning hers over. “Are those the news?” He asked him.

Rio nodded, his jaw unclenching and his lips transforming to a slight grin. "Yep. They offered me a job." He looked around the table, his gaze caught mine for a second but quickly left again. “I need to let them know my decision until Monza.”

“You applied for a job at Ferrari?” I asked. Honestly, I was so confused I couldn’t piece all the things together. “We’re doing so good at the Challenge, you could have waited for just one m—”

“Eva.” My dad interrupted me. The strong stern voice pulled my attention. The authority value of his words over the sweet comforting voice of the beginning of the dinner. The mood had definitely shifted “Wait? You’re the one that’s always urging the team to aim for higher heights.”

"Exactly. The team won't do that without Rio."

"But your brother will. And so will you." I tried to interject but with no success. He continued before I even had the chance to talk. "You can't possibly think your brother would stay with the team knowing he could have this huge opportunity."

"I didn't know about any opportunity." I was replying to my father, but my eyes were directed to Rio. "What about the team? And the Challenge?" I inquired.

"In less than two weeks, the championship will be over. I have no doubts you will win it. You're just losing time there," my father's tone was bothering me, but the fact that he was still cutting his steak as he talked was really aggravating my temper.

Rio, on the other hand, didn't react. His expression didn't even shift. He remained silent, eyes shifting between mine and dad's face. In his silence, though, he was telling me much more than he thought.

"This is not a formality," I said to my father. "Can you please look at me while you talk about our future?"

Finally, he put down his cutlery and remained silent for a few seconds. Deep blue eyes looked up at me, cold and serious.

"There's no future for you if you're afraid to take a serious step," he said finally. "I won't let your brother get stuck in the Challenge when I know he can do so much more. I won't let you make him fall behind because of you."

"Because of me?"

"Why else would he stay at the Challenge?" I stayed silent, feeling my fake sense of confidence being stripped away with the weight of my dad's question. The answer that my conscience gave me was selfish and I refused to say it out loud. I was afraid of staying alone, rather, I was afraid to see Rio flying solo in the higher aims I ambitioned for me and not being able to carry along. Only if he waited, we could jump up together. "Why would he choose anything less than Formula One?"

"So, you have it decided, then?" I asked Rio. "How did that even happen?"

His tongue crept in between his lips, eyes wandering on my face, afraid to reach my eyes. It was making me nervous. Not just because he was about to leave me, but because he didn't tell me about it, prior. My dad knew about it. He even thought that I knew about it. And like a lightning bulb lighting up on my head: Rocco knew it, too.

"It was proposed to me. The job. At Silverstone, a few weeks ago." Even though Rio was stuttering, and his words barely constructed a sentence, piece by piece it all fell together. "Apparently, Carlos talked to someone about you. About the Challenge. And he mentioned me, my results..." he explained. "Carlos invited me there for the Grand Prix and surprised me with an interview."

Why didn't it surprise me? Carlos. The “right time”, of course.

"Your results? Why hide this from me?” I asked, looking around the table. “Clearly, everyone else knows.”

“I wanted to tell you, but didn’t get the chance to do it.”

“But what?” I asked, half defeated, half annoyed. Angry, even. There was so much going on inside me, I couldn’t think straight. “You just said you had the interview in Silverstone. Weeks ago. You had plenty of opportunities.”

“I knew you would snap and react like this,” Rio tried to justify himself.

“Snap? I’m not—” I paused and took a deep breath. At this point, I was seething with anger. “I’m asking questions. I’m not… snapping.”

“You should be happy for me,” I would if I didn’t feel betrayed. “I know you well enough to know that you would react… badly to the news. Especially if you knew Carlos was involved**.**”

Even though his name was blinking on my head, in bold red letters, I tried to set apart his involvement in this story. So, I carried on,

“And you’re just going to do it? Leave the team, the whole project and ditch us? Without even consulting me?”

He shrugged. “I’m consulting you now.”

“This is not a consultation, Rio. Please.” A pause. “This is you telling me what you’re going to do, without even considering my opinion or the team that’s behind your great results.”

“Go ahead.” He made a gesture with his hand. “What’s your opinion, then? You are the one that’s always telling me to aim higher. This is my dream. Always has been.”

“What? Formula One? I thought your dream was to drive in Formula One. Or was that before you noticed you’re a shitty driver? Enlighten me.”

“Eva, enough,” the deep voice cut me off.

I felt like I was going to burst. I wanted to scream, to cry, to express my anger somehow. But my dad's stern gaze kept me in my place. I felt completely helpless and unheard.

“You’re being ridiculous,” said Rio, cutting through the silence. “Childish, even. Ungrateful.”

“Ungrateful? I’m not the one leaving.”

“Why does leaving need to be bad?” The question settled in for a second. “Grow a bit, and maybe you’ll get some good opportunities too.”

“Sure, maybe then my friends will get me jobs, too. Is that what you mean?”

“Enough.” My dad's fist hit the table, loud enough to silence us, but not to the point of attracting too much attention.

My gaze lingered on his clenched fist on the table. I nodded, forcing myself not to say anything else. I placed my napkin on the table and got up, making sure my chair wouldn’t make any noise when pushed back. Before turning around, I paused briefly, my gaze now resting on my brother. “Good luck with your new job.”

  *

  It didn't surprise me when I saw Carlos fly through the track the next day, setting amazing times in the qualifying session, despite the penalty waiting for him for the race. He was dancing with the car, tracing beautiful lines within the colourful ones Paul Ricard was known for. Carlos would start P19 the next day, only ahead of Magnussen, who also had a back-of-the-grid penalty.

I traded the interviews for a dip in the pool and lingered there for the remainder of the afternoon. Perhaps because I was not the best person to have around that day, my parents had left just before lunch and didn't get back until after dinner. Alone, with music echoing throughout the house and the crippling anxiety the events that week had provoked, I felt myself get lost in the doubts and uncertainties.

My phone rang when I was already getting ready for bed. On my nightstand, the name Carlos appeared over an old photo of both of us. Like I couldn't control it, I walked to the phone and sat on the bed. I let it ring a few times before picking it up.

“Hi,” he said. I just looked through the window, to the dark backyard. “No good luck text today?”

“Guess not.”

“And why's that?”

“Did you know Rio had an interview to work at Ferrari?”

“Yes...?” He paused. “Is that a problem?”

“Did you know he got a job offer?”

We both fell into a moment of silence. A long sigh stretched through the line. I closed my eyes, not sure what to expect from the conversation. The next time his voice was heard, it was more serious.

"Can we stop asking questions instead of answering them?"

"The timing is funny," I said. "Just that."

"What do you mean?"

"You coming to Mugello? Was that a coincidence?"

"Eva, what?" Carlos was silent for a few seconds. "Don't make this into a drama," he said. "Rio is talented and if he got a job offer it's because he earned it. The things are not remotely related."

"I'm not complaining about him getting the job."

"Then what are you complaining about?" Carlos asked.

"That it took you years to finally come back and talk to me and it happened just when he got a job in your team. Did you really want to talk to me or did he make you do that?"

"I didn't do it for him," Carlos said. "I did it because I wanted to see you."

"I wish I could believe you."

"And why don't you?"

"It's been three years. Coincidences don't just happen."

I could hear him breathe. Silence weighed down my chest. He wasn't denying it. He wasn't telling me why he was there, that night. "Can I see you this week?" He asked me, before a long sigh.

"No."

"I'll be in Maranello for a few days." I bit my lip, shaking my head to the void. "You'll be in Imola, right? I can go there—"

"I don't want to see you." I talked over him and then paused for a brief second. "Don't show up there, please. It's an important week and I don't really need more distractions."

“Eva, por favor.”

“Good luck tomorrow.”

I put my phone away and let myself sink into the bed, feeling nothing but the warmth of the comforters on my skin and the instant sense of security that came over me. I allowed my eyes to close and my mind to drift away, and before I knew it, a prayer for Carlos came into my thoughts.

I prayed for strength for both him and me, for us. I knew that, whether we were on or off the track, we would need to find a way to get through whatever was to come.

Next Chapter: 04.

Thank you for your support in the previous chapter! Carlos will become a more present character in the future. Pinky promise. Don't abandon me until that happens, please! <3

[absolutebozo]

So. In light of Clown's recent Welcome Home Update. I'm going to post the story for an AU my friend and I came up with together. This was completed on June 5, 2023. This is technically just part 1 but I have not even thought of starting part 2.

Shadows in a Wonderful Little Home.

Chapter 1: Setting up

What if the puppets were based on real actors? What if something sinister was lurking on set? This AU is based on the puppet as actors who control the puppets and is inspired from a picture of Julie that Clown made. I don't remember if it's canon or not.

A little Author's Note. I do not own Welcome Home or any of the characters. The rights to them belong to Clown. Credit to my homie for helping me make this AU.

Narrator's POV:

The eight cast members: Wally Darling, Barnaby B. Beagle, Howdy Pillar, Sally Starlet,  Julie Joyful, Poppy Partridge, Eddie Dear, and Frank Dear, had all known each other and for quite a while. Some for longer than others. Like Barnaby and Wally having been friends since childhood, Frank and Julie also being child hood friends, and Frank and Eddie having been married for six years.

Since all eight of them were very good friends, they decided to make a show together. A show called "Welcome Home." Of course because of all their fame in Hollywood films, it wasn't hard to get their pitch approved by a producer. Before long, production of the show was well under way.

Of course, all eight had helped design the set and made prominent desicions   in how things would be set up. A lot of the desicions were based off of the actors real life interests and past. For example, Eddie being a mail man. Eddie had worked as a mailman in his home town when he met Frank and decided to give acting a try. Sally came from a famous family of film producers, hence her last name. She produced some of her own films and plays too. Howdy had helped run the family grocery store while working odd acting jobs and taking off in his career as an actor. The building was laid out in a way where the actors dressing rooms were along the edge of the building, and the two sets (the neighborhood and the forest surrounding Home) were in the middle so they could have adequate space when acting. There was, of course, the same sets, but smaller so that whenever the puppets were used instead of live action, everything would remain proportional.

"I never realized how much went into producing our own show," Julie sighed as she flopped dramatically onto one of the couches in the common are. "Why didn't you say anything Sally? You're the one with producing knowledge, maybe give your friends a heads-up next time?"

"It's not my fault you didn't think it through Julie. You've been an actor in how many movies now?" Sally retorted back playfully. "Hmph," Julie let out while turning her head the other way. "Anyhow, everything seems to be going just fine. Isn't that right Poppy?" Howdy said, turning to the worry-wart of the group. "That's right Howdy. Everything is going jusy splendidly. We haven't run into many hiccups with production of what we want yet! I take that as a good sign." Poppy replied back. "Well, not yet at least. We all know how demanding Wally can be," Barnaby said jokingly, poking his best friend in the arm. "*gasp* I'll have you know, I'm not that demanding. Just meticulous in how I want things done. Like how much hairspray I need in the morning, where my apples are placed, how many apples I have every day-" Wally said, but was cut off by Barnaby plopping his big hand on Wally's face. "I know buddy. I was just joking around." The others giggled at the interaction between the two before heading back to their dressing rooms to start the days production. Every one was always so giddy to get the day started, especially recently since the building of the set was almost finished

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"What. What is that?" One of the set builders, Johnny, asked while looking at the floor. "That looks like. Like a pentagram." Macy, another set builder responded back. "S-so. The rumors are true? I thought that the boss said it WASN'T true!?" Johnny said, starting to freak out a little bit. "I mean, obviously this place was used as the base for a satanic cult and its rituals. How else do you explain the pentagram in the middle of the building?" Macy said back sarcastically. "Listen, we don't speak a word of this. To anyone. We'll just, cover it up. Paint over it and keep building. None of their rituals probably worked anyway" Macy said to Johnny, in hopes that this would calm him down a bit. "B-but. Why shouldn't we tell them? Isn't this, kind of important?" Johnny asked. He turned to Macy slowly. "It's not important if they don't know about it. Hand me the paint bucket." Macy said, starting to get a little exasperated with Johnny.

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

"YAY! The set is finally done!" Wally exclaimed happily. "I-m glad we were just able to fit everything in the building and still have Home as the center of the building. It adds something I can't explain, the fact that Home is in the middle." Frank replied back. The eight of them decided that the shows message was going to be inclusivity. With Wally's character and house being in the middle since he was autistic but still really popular as an actor. The seven other cast members unanimously decided to have Wally as the main character because of this, even going so far as to put Wally's house in the very middle. Of course, Wally wasn't the only autistic one, Frank was also autistic, but Wally is a young, up-and-coming star. Everyone decided it would be important to show that you can be young, successful, and neurodivergent. Not that Frank was old, he was only 27, and Wally was 21.

Was. 

| Next |

[shinovii]

Question: What do these...

have in common with...

these?

Initially this was gonna be a simple topic on my mind to ramble about, but I guess with the latest words from a soft gaming executive hitting the community in 2024 I now have more of a need to talk about this than ever. It's funny how gaming over the past couple decades went from something rather simple and expressive to complicated and, admittedly, dull in some areas. Wait did I say funny, I meant "completely baffling" and the worst of it, imo anyways, comes from this pretty egregious push towards a digital only future we're seeing, with no consideration for physical media, storage space, possible alternative formats to use, or even us gamers wanting to actually possess and own our games. Yeah we live in an age where media is offered to us in such convenient ways, but with gaming it is a whole other beast entirely and as such it requires a different way of thinking in regards to convenience. Thinking that needs to address some of the issues I have with what's presented to us nowadays, starting with...

Video games back then were pretty small in comparison to the massively large scale stuff we've seen these past couple generations, with every gen growing further and further to reach this point. However with that came this rapid race to pushing out not just the biggest of games, but the most visually stunning games as well...sort of. While there have been plenty of games that went for gorgeous stylized looks and graphical effects there have been way more games that aimed for graphics so realistic and lifelike, it resulted in detailed effects and textures that likely took up a ton of file space. Listen, I don't mind if a game looks great, but if the game's high resolution graphics and such are why it ends up with anywhere over 100GB of data to store then clearly we have a problem. I get it, 4K and 8K resolutions are indeed a thing, but to be honest it is not that much of a necessity in the grand scheme.

The overwhelming file size isn't just cause of graphics either, lack of optimization is just as prevalent and boy does it show. Okay sure, devs have to work under a deadline, gotta get as much of those release day sales as possible, but if optimizing a game to scale down the file size and keep it looking good and performing smoothly is a hassle, then maybe something has to give in order to make it easier to manage. Ya gotta know what's best to prioritize if you want the gaming experience feel fun for the player and save space for more, ya know?

Remember how simple storing game data was, where all you had to worry about was simply having a memory card was all you needed to keep your progress and you had the choice to buy or rent a game to pop in your system? That's what my question earlier was about, stuff like SD cards, flash drives, SSDs and HDDs all store data like the memory cards of old, however there is one difference: the latter mostly stored save data and occasionally DLC for some consoles, the former can fully store games.

After the 7th Generation there definitely was a push towards being able to play games digitally but imo it always felt sloppily done even to this day, unless you played on PC where everything had a designated file directory you could set up of course. For consoles sure you only had to buy an SD card or SSD for extra storage, but it didn’t practically feel like a requirement until games started taking up more and more space. Add onto that the save data, update patches and loads of DLC, and you're piling on more and more files to keep track of with every game you get. That hits even more when you realize that the you fill up more space buying digitally than physically, though nowadays that applies more to Nintendo Switch owners since Playstation and Xbox have treated physical copies like glorified installer discs since the 8th Generation.

Speaking of installer discs I should probably talk about the physical side of gaming, since now there's more of a prevalent discussion amongst the gaming community going on. I've always wondered why out of all the Big 3 in gaming, it was Nintendo that kept it mostly right on what format to use for games and how to store it, especially now. They had cartridges down to a science from the NES to the N64 (the handheld scene was well done too), their disc based systems were touch and go with the Wii being their best one, and when it came to the Switch they didn't follow the trend at all and went "cartridges are fine enough for what we're doing," kudos. I say all this because, for the most part anyway, all of the base game that gets released on Switch is in the cartridge, leaving you extra room for DLC and some digital games that may not take as much space in your storage. That's something I appreciated way more than one would think, as it let me pick and choose what games were worth buying physically and what won't eat up my SD card space, something I feel is greatly missing elsewhere to be honest.

Granted I know cartridges are probably more expensive to manufacture but it's clear the gaming industry wants to shy away from DVD/Blu-Rays as the years go by, however I do wish there was some consideration for not just cartridges, but other physical ways to store games and reduce all the clutter. SD cards are as abundant as can be and come in various capacities, I wouldn't think it'd be too hard to make great use of that and solely store games and DLC in em (shoot Sony themselves toyed with SD card-sized cartridges with the Vita before, they could've tried that format again without the Vita's failures weighing em down). A single SSD could potentially store those 100s of gigabytes that one game had and they're just as readily available to produce too, imagine a system that contained a slot for you to plug one in that had the game ready to boot anytime and could store any extra content.

The options are right there and they'd be great logical next steps in how to sell physical copies of video games, or any media for that matter, but man it's crazy how unnoticed they've gone. I just wish it were given some thought and considered at least.

I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would dare say that gamers need to feel comfortable not owning their games, that is perhaps the biggest slap in the face to anybody who picks up a controller old and new. For decades it was pretty much an unspoken agreement between the gaming industry and the gaming community that we buy their games and thus we owned em until we either traded it, gave it away or sold it simple as that, but nowadays (since this past decade even) the industry has gotten bold. Between scummy business practices, horrible business mindsets and finding any which way they can to screw people over, it's disrespecting to the very essence of why we play video games.

Now I'm not gonna trash the very notion of digital gaming as a whole, it's here to stay and has been for a long time, but I cannot and will not accept it being the only way we play games when having the options and balance of choosing between it and physical titles in a better format is a perfectly fine way to go whenever we wanna buy a game.

The more limitations and restrictions you place on gaming and the more shenanigans you cause the more likely people are to relent against the industry, and when people relent well...

Hey, a service issue is a service issue is all I'm saying, there are definitely people out there who won't mind the high seas if push comes to shove.

[wax-skeleton]

Strange things in animal crossing-

As you probably know Animal Crossing got popular again around the time of the pandemic so just like anyone else looking for a fun new game to try I decided to play it for myself. I used to play the older generations so it was nice to feel a sense of nostalgia. Although I should mention I got it from Gamestop, I saw it in the return bin. When I asked about why it was in return the guy working just said the person returned it saying it wasn't for them. I had figured he meant they didn't like the game, I was wrong. Upon opening the box there was a faint odor of battery acid, I didn't think much of it since the game cartridge itself seemed fine. I put it in my switch and it opened like normal. The familiar Animal Crossing music played as I set up my account. Everything was working as it was supposed to no problem.

I had been playing nonstop for about a month, building up my island with new decorations and even finding some pretty cool villagers such as Punchy, he's my favorite. After a while I got kinda burnt out and didn't play it for a while, a few months at most. When I think back to it there might have been a few glitches in the beginning as well. The game loaded up like normal playing the theme, as it panned over an area of my island I noticed I didn't see any villagers which wasn't super out of the ordinary since that specific part of my island was somewhat hard to access without a ladder. I was skipping through the morning announcements not really paying attention when Issable stopped talking. I thought she was done with announcements, she started at me with a blank stare almost like she was looking directly at me. She made a shocked expression and went back to talking. I remember thinking that was strange since I never remembered her doing that before although it had been a while since I had last played it. “Maybe it was an update” I thought to myself as I continued into the main game. Once it was loaded, my character stepped out of the house with long, rough hair and shook their head. I remember seeing it on a video so I knew it was a normal thing, kinda funny as well. I started running around looking for Punchy to give a gift I had meant to give to him earlier when I was playing. I didn't see him anywhere, in fact I hadn't seen any of the villagers. I was beginning to wonder what was going on, I made my way to the row of houses I lined up. Cookie,Pancetti,Diva,and punchy. I ran over to Punchy's house and knocked on the door. A note popped up “running around, see ya later nyaa - punchy”. Weird, I hadn't seen him. I went to the other houses and they all had a similar note about being out or running around. I eventually just ran around till I eventually found them. They were all in the plaza, I didn't think they could even go into the plaza. Is that a thing? Once I went in they all looked at me with blank stares slightly unnerving. I exited out of the plaza needing to get some things at the Nook store anyways. Timmy and Tommy greet me like normal. I go over to the tool kiosk and purchase an ocarina. Timmy and Tommy start coming towards my character but it was as if they were moving extremely slow like they were stuck or maybe clipping into the floor a bit. I successfully purchased the ocarina despite them making a strange expression at it, has anyone else experienced that before? This is all new to me- maybe its normal after all I know there were some updates. I kinda shrugged it off as them being the weird twins of the game. I ran around for a bit after that and closed out of the game. I’ll update you all when I play again. This is all really weird to me.

[toonpunk-game]

Road to 2nd Edition

Hey everybody. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted something here—because, simply put, there was no more that needed saying. Toonpunk went out the door, it was a very modest success, I posted some lore updates, and then I turned my attention towards other things. I’ve kept myself very busy the last few years in many ways, including a slew of game design projects—some of which already saw publication, and some of which are so ludicrously expensive that a modest success just isn’t gonna pay for em. I didn’t want to go back to kickstarter, so making money for those is most of what I’ve been doing.

Since the debut of the original toonpunk I made a few little content modules for my own use, in line with my original vision for a product line. And, starting about a year ago, I had a pretty shocking realization: as much as I loved it when it came out, the me of 2022, doesn’t like the game I made in 2017. There were a lot of little things that I felt were lacking, or insubstantial, or not very funny, or maybe a little clumsy mechanically. Plus, its politics stank with the naivite of a 21-year-old liberal who hadn’t yet discovered the golden path to Marxism. So, I started work on a simple project: integrate a lot of the modules I’d made for my own amusement, get some more art, rewrite the flavor text, and release the package as Toonpunk 2nd Edition. 2npunk, if you will.

I’ll be keeping a dev diary here to let you all know how it’s coming along. To fill you in on the new stuff. I’ll be posting the whole finished product here one day, and here’s the first piece of news: it’s going to be absolutely free at point of purchase, with a pay-what-you-want option if you just really feel like you gotta gimme some money. Maybe pessimistically—I say realistically—I’ve just given up on the idea that this game is ever gonna make a dime. But I think it can keep a lot of people entertained, so that’s what I’m gonna angle towards. More on that after the break.

So on that note I’d like to talk about one of the smaller changes I made, that’s also turned out to be one of the more expensive and creatively satisfying ones. In the original Toonpunk book, there’s a list of example player characters near the back. These include statlines and gear recommendations for people who want to play specific kinds of characters. It was—to put it generously—done with the resources I had at the time, and it shows.

Look at that. Very humdrum. There’s a fair bit of information there but it all kinds of blends together and it doesn’t really grab the imagination. One of the first things I learned, selling this book store-to-store across America, is that—simply put—people like pictures. For whatever reason I didn’t realize how important illustrations are to making an idea seem tangible in the reader’s imagination. So I knew, going into this,  I wanted to splurge a little bit and make the player character templates really sparkle. I wanted each one to have more space, more items, and most importantly more style. So, without further ado, here are 5 of the 9 that are included in the full game.

Each one is dripping with style and character. With almost all of these — notable exceptions being the field boss and the big guy  — I basically just handed the archetype description and a few notes (needs to be carrying this kind of weapon, needs to have this kind of build) to the artist and told them go apeshit. That’s why there’s all these diverse and exciting styles on display here. The only overriding artistic decision I came down really hard about is that I wanted them all to be in monochrome. I like grayscale art, a whole helluva lot; I think it lets a line artist’s work really shine. Plus, you can color it in however you want.

I’ll be back later to talk about some of the changes to character progression —which now involves managing your character’s growing reputation, to get a bunch of special perks. If you like what you’ve seen so far...stay tooned!

[cak31ssuperi04]

Do you have any general hcs of the 1bit/1beat cast? Anythings fine

Kind of rough but

-I've played around with the idea with Eruno being from an orphanage/foster home(the "because you've got a proper family" bit) but I go back and forth on this one.

-Nio and Sakuma are friends! He does shifts at Bitwave they hang out there. The poor boy needs someone to fend off the fangirls.

-Eruno and Akitaka accompany Haruya on deliveries sometimes. Pals.

-When Aira's mimetic muscles get installed she doesn't really quite get how to use them immediately. Her expressions start out real stiff(which she expresses dissatisfaction with, and gets help from the others) to real exaggerated and overplayed(think unbridled rage or pained anguish at things that just kind of annoy her).

-Also she has Kiri make her taller so she can grow alongside her friends!

-Also Also by 1beat she has at LEAST one sibling who's just, a really muscled out doll in frilly clothes.

-Meru listens to death metal. She'd hoped it'd help her stay up better but now she just kind of likes it.

-Outside of tending to the shrine, Hakuhi has embroidery as a hobby.

-Izuchi took piano lessons when he was younger(parents made him do it to try and play up the prodigy genius image). He quit.

-That potion thing he made in 1beat was ripped from Kirai's anime but in part he'd made it after Eruno came to him Demanding a way to make her dog live longer.

-He went to Blue sun college(less because he thought he needed to and more for the benefits a degree there would give him) and got into an apprenticeship with Kiri. He keeps the lab when Kiri moves to Coco Alley(easier to skirt by the law). Familiar with the Blue Sun Trio to some extent.

-He has a sweet tooth but doesn't really admit it because he deems it unhealthy.

-While he did have a hand in the creation of the master program, he doesn't stay on the team after it's finished. Does continue to get occasional updates about it from Hiyu and Nanase though.

-His room is all clean and organized on the surface(maybe a few seashell displays, a poster covering a hole in the wall) but he keeps all the goofy weird shit stored away in drawers and under his bed.*

-I've played around with the idea of there being a 3rd Nasuga sibling who's just too young to be relevant in the game(<-no canon basis i just thought it'd be fun) but I'm not sure if I'd keep that.

-Enri has a pet hamster! He's like the band's son.

-The gang Kirara used to be a part of was like a sparkly gyaru girl gang. She never really enjoyed fighting but took a lot of lessons growing up so she was really good at it. The gang is still going strong though and at least a few of her Gyaru Friends are members(and there's at least one member who's just a plain normal ass girl that hangs around them but that's getting into oc territory).

-Rocca ends up growing up to be like Really Fucking Tall. Momori models clothes on her and remarks that she could be a model if she didn't trip over herself so much(not that she'd want to be one anyways).

-Mary has 3 siblings, they've done a way better job at staying out of the public eye(and have grown somewhat distant from her as a result).

-On account of being friends with a lot of the townspeople and having a lot of relatives, Hitohito is just one of those guys with a lot of connections. In a "guy who knows a guy" way.

-Chino is Coco Alley's mom jkasdsa.

--She brings Sora(was familiar with his family and doesn't want him to get too lonely) cookies and flowers sometimes and while he's dismissive about it he does secretly appreciate it.

-Tobari is the heiress to a big tea emporium who dipped because she got bored and/or got into a disagreement with someone over there, but continues playing up her Elegant Fancy Lady image despite living paycheck to paycheck(which I mean, good for her I guess.)

-Although Sagara knows Asuto through Hitohito, they actually interact fairly regularly in anime forums.

-Hitohito, Izuchi, and Sagara were on friendly terms when they were kids but grew distant for reasons. Hitohito and Sagara had gotten back in touch and still hang out. Heat reached out to Izuchi but was promptly brushed off, still looks out for him. Izuchi and Sagara have a weird frenemy/rival thing going on.

-Sagara has no siblings she just kind of lives alone with her mom who may or may not hate her.(although it's less "hate" so much as disappointment)

-Sagara's chicken avatar is modeled after one of her childhood pets.

-Sagara definitely Naruto runs.

-She holds DnD(\Dnd adjacent. Just some ttrpg I'm not an expert) sessions at every couple of weeks. I'm not saying Izuchi willingly participates(those commoners are hopeless without his guidance), just that she didn't exactly have very many other people to invite(Hitohito and sometimes Meu and eventually Nanashi).

-She has a knack for trying to help townspeople as part of some sort of Magical Girl Code but isn't as good at it as she thinks she is.

-She has a compartment in her arm warmers that's full of bird feed, she's made an alliance with the pigeons.

-While she does cool it with the Organization stuff, she never drops the chuuni behavior. Eventually opens a small cake shop with some edgy chuuni-esque title(debated on whether it should be in the same place Little Berry was, like after little berry closes its doors).

-Nomiya and Hiyu butt heads a lot but they both get along fine with Azusa. Somebody needs to be nice to her god damn it.

-The Kujohs have a pet dog but it's actually Azusa's. Following with the rest of the family, it's a big intimidating dog that's actually just really chill. Enri has tried to look past it but he's always very leery about visiting them.

-Nomiya's riding an adrenaline high throughout most of the game but his more calm demeanor in his events is just him going in the opposite extreme as a result of coming down from it. He's usually fairly loud and confrontational, just not THAT loud and confrontational.

-He keeps in closest touch with Tobari after the hackers are disbanded. Somewhat on account of her being able to hold her own in Break Passage the best out of the other three. She views him as a weird little brother.

-The hackers hold gatherings in memory(or what little of that memory they even retained. It's mostly secondhand from Nanashi) of Mikado where they commit minor crimes. The gathering was Kotora's idea the crime was Nomiya's.

-Sagara has a journal that she calls the Abyss Tome that's just full of fanfiction and anime drawings of herself and her friends(/enemies). Has a bunch of spell names listed down in it.

-Saaya and Meu are friends! Saaya comes to her for divinations about her love life a lot and just ends up venting. Meu's happy to listen though and tries to comfort her the best she can.

-Speaking of therapy though, Saaya does get therapy sometime post-canon and distances herself from Nanase(while a lot of Nanashi's friendships that start off on the wrong foot have room for growth, the memory thing makes things kind of... weird with her). She's in a much better state by 1beat.

-Saaya writes a lot of poetry.

-Yoh and Sagara are related. Somehow(I did consider nephew at one point but that didn't really pan out).

-So are Hiyu and Arumu. They've got that green hair and funky eyebrows.

-Akuta and Kaori date briefly(well, she's a fan of his work, and he is rich, and while he can't speak multiple languages he is well-spoken, what could go wrong?) which just ends in them breaking up over a disagreement over a book's ending. That was more the final straw though, actually getting to know him put into perspective just how far from her expectations he actually is and she's not super pleased about it. They do stay friends but something something important lesson about your idols being people.

-I feel like I've said somewhere that Kotora leaves the cafe to Rocca when he retires but I need to clarify that Kotora keeps being the cafe guy well into old age and that Rocca would be a whole adult by then.

-Kaori was the youngest of her siblings and only one to stay with her mother, she sees her dad as a good for nothing deadbeat(it wasn't an amicable divorce) and the ordeal heavily influenced how she views romantic relationships as a whole. Grew up somewhat distant from Kotora and their sister but reconnected in adulthood.

-Her "ideal guy" is just the best traits of her favorite book leads cobbled together like some kind of frankenguy. (And she might be internalizing something... who knows)

-The world did enter a more 'cyberpunk dystopia'-esque futuristic state a long time ago and the return to more traditional old timey ways is sort of in response to that, but Yasune is the only one who'd actually lived through it. Although then again the 2nd oldest character in the game is only 36 so...

The post is starting to not process so I'm going to cut it off here.

[vannahmontannah]

I thought she liked me. Maybe I was wrong or I didn’t try hard enough. Either way…I’m fucked! There’s no way I have a chance but I’ll try. Maybe there’s a chance. I just wanna talk to her at least. We’ve been cool for a minute so it shouldn’t be that bad.

I walked up to the street to my house from the store. I was ready to go in since it was cold outside. It was around 50 degrees. I hurried into my apartment and sat my things down on the couch. I sat down and went back to Instagram to see if she had updated her posts. I clicked on her story and she posted some beautiful pictures oh herself. I hearted them, not really realizing if I was being thirsty or not. I call it showing appreciation in my book! I replied to her story, letting her know I liked them.

I can see us getting closer in the future and hopefully be together, but of course the future can change. When it comes to women, some of them are simple and don’t ask for much. As for her, she doesn’t want much, but I’d love to give her more than what she expects. I can tell she hasn’t gotten much affection in the past and she just needs some love.

She replied to my story reply by hearting it. She then said thank you with blue hearts. At least she has the decency to reply unlike others. I said she’s welcome and asked her how her day went.

“How’s your day going?”

“It’s going good. Yours?”

“It’s fine for the most part. Got any plans for Vday?”

“You know I don’t”

“Me neither. Imma be alone this year”

“Same here”

I sat and was trying to think of a clever way to ask her out, but my brain froze. Should I be straight forward or be cool and ease my way in?

“What would u like to do if u had a Valentines?”

“I don’t know. Probably go out to eat, go to the movies, have a picnic, get flowers, have rose petals waiting on the floor of a hotel room. Just a few ideas. Probably even play video games or watch mystery movies”

“Mystery movies on Valentine’s Day?”

“Problem?”

“Lol nah I was just not expecting that. All of those ideas seem cool. I use to give my girl flowers”

“Lucky her”

“If you’re not doing anything, maybe we can hang out”

The message say delivered for about 40 minutes. At this point I was getting nervous and didn’t wanna end up as a screenshot on her Instagram stories. My phone vibrated a few minutes later.

“And do what?”

What you mean? We can do the shit you just said.

“We can go out and have fun somewhere. You can pick a place”

“I mean you’re the one who planned it 😭”

She’s right. I guess I can choose from the list she gave me. I’m not going to pick the hotel one since that I would be pushing it.

“We can have a picnic. Would you like that?”

“Sure. When?”

Oh! She agreed! Okay, just relax. Just be cool.

“I was hoping on Valentine’s Day. If that day isn’t good for you, I understand. I just wanted to do something nice. We can do it as friends”

I sound so lonely, but I don’t care.

“Yeah, that sounds cool. I have an idea of what food to bring”

“Okay. Tell me what food you want and I’ll get it and bring it”

“Good!”

Maybe she does like me? I don’t know. Right now, I’m still in the friendzone. Maybe after the picnic and all goes well, I can try and ask.

[ericaportfolio]

Anemoiapolis Update Review

After a couple of delays, Anemoiapolis has finally come out. Anemoiapolis is a relaxing liminal space horror game made by Andrew Quist. In my honest opinion, so far, so good. If you're a fan of liminal spaces, this game is for you. I relate heavily to this game because while growing up, I watched one mall I went to as a kid turn into a dead mall right before my eyes due to store competition, a nearby outdoor mall, and the rise of online shopping. The main lobby in the game was the same creepy, uncanny, yet sad vibes I had when I went to do my graduation pictures where the local high schools set up shop to have student pictures done in one of the smaller abandoned shops seeing nothing in the mall left inside except for a kid's theatre, the only remaining opened anchor store, and the still opened movie theatre. Months later, the mall closed for good, except for the movie theatre and the last anchor store. Okay, the backstory is over! What to expect from the game from what I've seen so far? In Anemoiapolis, the character you play gets sent to investigate an undeveloped empty paper town in the middle of nowhere that was sucking power for years without anyone knowing. Suddenly, you fall into a trap that sends you to an underground maze of liminal spaces. Your mission, find a way back to the surface alive. I think the best part of the game is the dread you feel wherever you go thinking that someone is watching you while you are alone in the halls, swimming in the pools, playing on the golf maze, you name it. You can even interact with objects like faucets, showers, lockers, beach balls, etc. One original game level from the demo was changed to start at what was originally the end of that level. I thought to warn demo players and watchers just in case. If I was surprised by something was the ending. I won't spoil it, but now I'm interested to see who else we meet as allies or foes who are still alive down there. I was worried we would get treated to the elevator drop scare Bendy style, but nope, we get the credits paying behind us. LOL! If there where anything else to improve or add, it's some fun mini-games, game achievements like in the golf course, and maybe prizes or hidden notes that explore the lore of Anemoiapolis and how it came to be. If you have the patience to look through all the lockers, you can find some tickets. Maybe the creator, Andrew Quist, wants to add new stuff in the game that causes you to look in the lockers carefully for needed survival supplies. What about a flashlight update? There could be backup batteries to use if your flashlight dies just to have some objects to collect from the lockers. Another detail could be collecting non spoiling food to help your health bar if added. Even a ticket counter at the top corner of the screen that doesn't go away would be great. If you're low on something and have tickets to spare, vending machines of needed supplies could be an interesting addition. Trust me, if you collect almost all the tickets, you may want to spend some tickets on something. Maybe side mini-games like arcades and vending machines can end up punishing you to find more tickets if you are not careful. It's only the first chapter, so there's room for updates Andrew could do. But be ready when the game plays with your mind if you get lost or scared out of your mind. The Blue Backrooms did that to me! But before I end this review, the opening phone call of our character calling his wife to put the Curry in the fridge was cut. I'm going to say this now. BRING BACK THE CURRY!!!

One tweet later…

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Curry is coming BACK! 8.5/10 for Curry!!!

[davidmariottecomics]

Butter Sales

Hello! 

Today's update is kind of a journey, but it's all leading to a super important update, so just stick with me. No real better way to get into it than to get into it, so... let's! 

Butter Base

Okay, so you know my friend, Ricky, right? Ricky? He's like... yay tall? Face like a meerkat? Yeah, him. Rrrrricky. Rickeeee. That's my boy. 

If you somehow don't know my friend Ricky, here's what you need to know. He's always coming up with these crazy schemes. Like, one time, Ricky... put flowers in a pot. Not like he y'know, planted a plant and flowers grew out of some beautifully sculpted terracotta. Nah, my boy Ricky, he bought some flowers for his mom but forgot to give them to her, so they were just like wilting in his house, so he put them in his big pasta pot. It was wild, but maybe you had to be there. 

Oh, that's the other thing you need to know. He has this big pasta pot because his mom, the one he bought flowers for, she's really good at making pasta. So she bought him a big pot so he could be good at making pasta, but I've tasted both of their pastas and Ricky's mom's pasta is where it's at and Ricky's pasta isn't very good at all. I guess there's more to pasta than a big pot. 

Ricky's New Gig

Alright, so one time, Ricky went to the store and they had a lot of butter. Like, how he first told it, it sounded like the store only had butter. But I asked and he said they had other stuff too, so, don't imagine quite as much butter as I did. Anyway, so he's at the store and they've just got all this butter. Ricky said it was like 50 times as much butter as a store should have. Just shelves of the stuff. And Ricky, you know him, he sees something like that and he starts cooking up these wacky ideas. So Ricky bought some butter. 

Now my boy is a butter salesman. He just goes around selling butter. And it seems like he's making bank. I know because he showed me this fat wad of cash he was carrying. He said he had to carry it around because his bank's really lame and wouldn't trade him non-buttery bills for buttery ones. 

He told me a trade secret, that I'm going to pass on to you. The sweet spot is the third house. The first two, the butter's like nice and cool and firm in your pocket, but it means you gotta find a knife to cut a pat off so people can taste test. But some people treat you really weird when you come up to their door and say that you need to borrow their knife so that you can sell them butter. The third house though, the butter's started to soften up, so you can just sort of scoop some out and let them lick it off your finger. People really like that. But for houses four and more, that gets a little tricky because the butter starts picking up like lint or money or whatever else you have in your pocket. 

My New Gig 

Ricky offered to get me a job working as a butter salesman, like him, and I took it. That's my big announcement. I'm leaving comics to go sell butter. Sorry! 

Don't tell Ricky this, but I also think I figured out a way to make even more in butter sales. I'm going to keep my butter pocket, my lint pocket, and my cash pocket separate. Like, duh. 

So next time you see me, tell me where your house is so I can come sell you some butter. 

Much love, David Butter Salesman 

P.S. DON'T READ THIS UNTIL APRIL 2ND April Fool's!

What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Honkai Impact (Video game), Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (Anime), The Circle (Trash TV), When Harry Met Sally (Movie), Logan Lucky (Movie), my friend Chloe Brailsford gave me a sneak peek of something they've been working on and it's very good. Keep an eye out for more from her! I haven't played it yet, but I'm very excited for The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. You may've seen that Min Ho Kim, one of our artists over at IDW, worked on the character art! It's clearly a labor of love by everyone involved and that's really cool. WonderCon was nice. Glad I got to see some folks I haven't seen in a while. I did catch con crud (and tested and came back negative for Covid, it's just a head cold), so if I missed you or we only had a pretty quick, limited interaction, maybe it's for the best! Speaking of both friends giving me comics and WonderCon, Matthew Palacios gave me an ashcan of his book Metal Skin and it was a lot of fun! I've also been playing a bunch of pranks over on my Twitter (2 whole pranks)! So, no, I still haven't seen ALF and I did not expect other people to send me pictures of my cat. Those were goofs. Lastly, yesterday was Transgender Day of Visibility. I posted a couple times about a fundraising effort that was going for Point of Pride and saw they ultimately ended up making twice their initial goal, $2 Million, to help out thousands of trans folks with gender-affirming care. There are also a ton of cool people who were sharing themselves yesterday in a time when that's a very scary thing to do. 

New Releases this week (3/29/2023): Nothing from me, sorry! 

New Releases next week (4/5/2023):  Sonic the Hedgehog #1 5th Anniversary Edition (Editor--A new version of the first IDW Sonic comic, with a bunch of bonus content including a new comic short!)

Final Order Cutoff - Let your shops know to order these books by Monday (4/3/2023):  Sonic the Hedgehog #60 (Editor) Godzilla Rivals: Biollante vs. Destoroyah (Editor)

Announcements:

At the moment, I don't have any new appearances until San Diego Comic-Con! But, that's subject to change! And I may have other announcements coming to this space soon, so keep an eye out! 

Oh, just because, uhh... I know we're all convinced Twitter's just going to collapse any day now. I've tried various other social medias and a lot of them don't really work for me. The best ways to keep up are obviously my website, my Tumblr, my newsletter, or my Instagram. I am still on a few other things, but don't really use them. If you're on Tumblr or Insta, please do follow me there so I can follow you back and make sure we're staying in touch! 

I will plug in my usual Becca corner, their website's up and should all be working. There was a bug with shipping, but that should be fixed! Maybe buy yourself or someone in your life something nice! And I believe they're still on for streaming tonight at 7 PST on Twitch, assuming voices are still holding up as we get over the last of this con crud! 

Pic of the Week: Major shoutout to KEM Cosplay! We met at WaifuExpo at the beginning of last month (you can see a picture of her in a previous blog as Dr. Eggman) and ran into each other again at WonderCon over the weekend where she was wearing her BIG THE CAT COSPLAY! 

[skipwmeadventures]

Back

Well Well Well

If it isn't my old friend, the written word. Put on your best record, pour yourself a favorite libation, and get ready because we have literal years to catch up on.

Here are a few things my future self might want to look back on. A fill-in-the-gaps post, before we embark on a fresh start of weekly updates that only my mom will read.

In no particular order, because my brain can't possibly think that way:

I bought a house. My first house. And it's old (1920s) and needs so much love. Luckily, I love loving it. I call it Maude and sometimes I talk to it as if it's an old friend. I keep promising Maude I'll bring her back to her glory days, so lovingly, very lovingly, I toil and scrub and build and ... paint and repaint and ... well ... for the most part she doesn't object too much. Meaning, I haven't started any fires or floods yet. She only groans every now and then but that's mostly one support beam that needs just a little attention. I kid. It needs a lot of attention. Oh Maude, you are always on my list of blessings.

Pre Maude, I traveled a lot. Too many trips to name so here are the ones that stick to the tip of my brain and remind me that I am both alive and most alive when I am with people I love.

Alaska (dad and brother), that one sunset, that one restaurant that we went to three times, the fishing, the RV, the hiking, the bears, the helicopter, drinking from a glacier

San Diego (mom), her child hood home, the nuns house, Chuck, vintage stores, FOOD - so much good food, the beach, hills, airplanes, books

London (mom and brother), walking, Wicked, high tea, vintage stores, sewing patterns, changing of the guards, bus tour, escape rooms, art

Europe (dad and brother), driving, escape room, chocolate factory, food, old bars, new bars, red light district, flowers, huge markets, walks, museums

Aruba (dad and brother), sunrise, fishing, beach, swimming, alo farm, steak house, sand so much sand

Yellowstone (mom), hiking, snow, horses, mountain driving, Wild Bill Hickock, Grand Canyon, Moab, Dams, water, Zion ...

OK YEAH A LOT OF TRAVEL ... Hawaii, Georgia, Glacier National Park ... all absolutely amazing. Well ... Georgia was more scary because we were in a hurricane ... but the others were amazing.

I think one of the reasons that I've tried to spend as much time as possible with my parents and my brother is, and here's where you reach for a box of Kleenex. Deep breath, we'll get through this together. I lost both my grandparents. My mom's dad and my dad's mom. Both of these amazing people played huge roles in my life. I was on my way to my granddad when he passed. And honestly, that completely and totally wrecked my world. It doesn't matter how many years pass (has it even been years? it feels like yesterday). I feel like when I lost him, I also lost a huge part of myself. He was such a cheerleader for me and I looked up to him so much. I felt like when he passed I lost the person I was most trying to make proud. And then it hit again when my grandmother passed. I really had to search for a point to life ... anyway ... crying break.

Oh, I also do that a lot more, crying. Is that a getting old thing?

Ok time to disassociate and say happy things now. I also made a million and one new friends. Went through some rough breakups (I SAID HAPPY THINGS BRAIN), had to start over a few times and prayed countless prayers to be a better, smarter, wiser friend/daughter/partner. Maybe here and there more things will come back to me and I'll add those thoughts in for my future self to read and smile at. But for now, let's start fresh with a hi.