#if you clicked on here thinking this would be about the game series I’m sorry dude ☠️

[whobeheadedaster]

Here’s my persona if u care btw!!1!

his name is aster, more info is beloww

He’s trans (if ya couldn’t see those flags down there he’s also t4t)

HES GAY (he has my sexuality and gender omg <3)

I made him

his scars aren’t optional. so yes you have to draw him with burn scars

Likes: Men (/j), Chilli, the warm smell of books, librarys, fruit, really carbonated sodas, ramen, etc.

dislike: stinky people! (transphobes.) vegetables, homophobic people, etc.

and now here’s my persona as a furry:

[evdarlin]

School Kid Crush

*A/N okay so this is the first thing I've wrote since I was like 18 writing about one direction so I'm sorry if its complete dog shit. I tried and kinda want to make it a series maybe if people actually like it but yeah be easy on me pls*

From the moment that I met Spencer Agnew on my very first day at Smosh as the new Games PA, we instantly clicked. We would spend every lunch together quoting obscure movies or Family Guy. We hung out at each other’s apartments many weekends, me just watching him play video games or forcing him to watch Bridgerton with me. There was something there and I think we all could feel it. Spencer was always the one I could go to geek out about the things I always thought I was being annoying talking about. It was almost like I had met my other half which could only be explained as the most terrifying but best feeling in the world. The whole office knew that there was something there but I might be speaking for myself but I did not want to act on it solely from my own relationship problems and that we were coworkers and did not want to make things so complicated. So for now, we are just good good friends who might just be completely infatuated with each other.

Walking into the Smosh office on Friday morning felt like every other morning on the last day of the week. I didn’t get enough sleep and would rather have been curled up back in my bed asleep but someone has to pay rent. Once I arrived at my desk directly across from Courtney’s, I could see that some sweet angel had placed my dear alani drink right in front of my computer. There was only one person who could have brought that for me and I knew it was Spencer so I took off to the Games pod to thank him dearly. 

“Have I ever told you that you are a godsend and have saved my life on multiple occasions?” I say while walking up to Spencer’s desk.

“Well yes but have I ever told you that you are severely overdramatic with your words?” He said as he swiveled around in his chair.

“Alright that’s rude but I’ll let it slide since you brought me a drink sir.” I rolled my eyes and took a seat on the little couch in the small space. The office was pretty quiet this morning which is unusual but I welcomed it. “How long do you think it’s going to take before someone is yelling in here?”

“I say give it about ten minutes when Angela comes in and sees that she has to take care of that baby today” Spencer laughed and almost on cue heard Chanse cackling at Angela.

“Are you going to Courtney and Shayne’s combined bachelor party tonight?” Spencer suddenly looked nervous asking this question which is new for him around me that is.

“Yeah, I was going to head home after work to change then head over to the place, are you going?” I asked, praying and hoping he was going not wanting to miss a chance to hang out with him outside of these four walls of the Smosh office. 

“Well seeing as you just said you were going then absolutely I am. Um, can I pick you up and drive you to the party maybe?” There it was again, the nervous look on his face. 

“Of course!” I said maybe a little too fast and too enthusiastic, “I mean yeah that would be okay, that way I could have at least one or two drinks while I’m there.” I did not recover from that at all but maybe he won’t notice but seeing that smirk on his face, I am wrong.

“Then I will be there to pick you up at 7:30ish, does that sound okay?” Spencer asked, seeming to be a lot more relaxed now that I said yes.

“Sure! That gives me plenty of time, see you later Spen!” I gave him a small wave and walked back to my desk to get started on my small list of tasks I mentally gave myself to get done before filming started and I had zero free time until 5 p.m. As I walked back to my desk I was brought back to how nervous Spencer was asking me if he could drive me to the party. I mean we carpool sometimes to work and even ride together to function outside of the workplace so this shouldn’t be any different right? Oh god, is this a date? Does he know it’s a date? It can’t be a date when it’s Courtney and Shayne’s day right? I’m spiraling and don’t even notice that I ran right into Tommy.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry I wasn’t paying attention at all!” I stopped to make sure I didn’t cause some huge mess by running into him.

“It’s okay Y/N! You were really deep into thought there love, you doing okay?” Tommy asked with concern written all over his face, I suppose you can tell I was going through it up in my head.

“Uh well not really but I’ll be okay.” We both started walking towards our desks, I hoped to change the subject so I no longer had to think about what’s going on inside my head but Tommy had other ideas.

“Is it Spencer? I can totally fight him if you need me to or I can hide his Kickstarters until he apologizes to you.” Tommy giggled but stopped as soon as he saw how deep red my face had become.

“Wha- How did you know?” You mean to tell me the rest of the office knew how I truly felt about Spencer, shit.

“Oh honey, the man is completely infatuated with you and I also know you’re infatuated with him. I truly thought you guys were already together and just keeping it a secret for personal reasons. You know it’s okay to like him right? I know about the whole relationship problems you’ve had in the past but I don’t think Spencer is like that actually I know he’s not.” Tommy stopped walking to put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.

“Nope, nope, nope. You’re wrong, I know of no such infatuation you speak of Tommy Bowe.” I avoided eye contact the entire time but eventually sighed, “Is it that obvious?”

“Eh, kind of but hey it’s okay to like someone even if you guys work together. You guys have been attached at the hip ever since you started here and I think you might be the same person. I do not think he’s going to ghost you like every other piece of shit man who has entered your life.” Tommy knew more than maybe anyone about how much self doubt I have put on myself from constantly just men stopping talking to me out of nowhere. It didn’t matter if he said he was different, none of them were. They all were the same.

“I know he is a good person Tommy but I’m not sure I could deal with losing him as a friend and even worse I would have to see him every single day at work. I promise I’m just in my head a little bit, I’ll be okay.” I gave my most convincing smile and headed to my computer to start on my work for the day.

The work day honestly flew by without any more emotional spirals even at lunch when I could see Tommy giving me those knowing looks from across the table anytime Spencer did anything remotely nice for me. I left the office the minute it hit 5 p.m. just wanting to get out of there, I didn’t even wait for Spencer to walk with him in the parking lot. I needed to get to the comfort of my apartment and be alone before I had a full blown panic attack, not to mention I needed to get ready for this party. I made it home in record time with just enough time to get ready and sit in silence and think about what I should do. I decided to say screw it and just bring up my conversation with Tommy and see what happens. Do I know what’s going to happen? Not at all but you know what I need to do something to stop this spiral. I grabbed my bag and headed out the door was I saw that Spencer said he was outside. Spencer was waiting outside his car for me and even opened the door for me, what a gentleman. 

“You were nowhere to be found after work dude, where the hell did you go?” Spencer asked, closing the door as I settled into the front seat.

“Sorry, I started feeling bad so I had to get out of there. Hope you didn’t get attacked in the parking lot without your guard dog.” I laughed as he started his car and headed towards the place where the party was being held.

“You are literally shorter than me which is saying a lot but I was a damsel in distress and you just left me alone to die.” Spencer pretended to wipe a fake tear and looked over at me giggling. “But were you okay? Like nothing happened right?”

“Yeah I was fine, Tommy just got me thinking and I just got a little overwhelmed but promise I am perfectly fine now!” I smiled and let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding in. “It um actually was about you if I’m being honest?” 

“Me? I swear whatever it was I didn’t do it.” Spencer threw his hands up but I grabbed the wheel and gave him a glare.

“He did say that if you hurt my feelings he was going to hide your drinks until you apologize to me,” I looked over at him preparing myself for what I was going to say next, “He also said he thought we were together and were pulling a Courtney and Shayne”. 

“Hm, Tommy thinks we’re famous enough to hide our relationship like that? Wow, I am flattered.” Spencer laughed looking over at me then stopped because he realized this might be a serious conversation. “Wait, being in a relationship with me sounds so terrifying to you that you had to book it out of the office?” I looked over and saw that we had already arrived at the place but I knew our conversation was not going to end just because we were here.

“No! I just got in my head and was so scared that if you knew that I had this massive ass school kid crush on you, it would ruin this friendship we have built. I have no clue what I would do if you were not in my life, Spencer, honestly.” I realized I have just told him about this crush I have on him with my word vomit so there was no turning back now. “I like you alright, I like you a lot and it’s so damn scary because I’m terrified to lose you in any sense of my life.”

“A massive crush you say?” Spencer started giggling and all I could do was glare at him ready to smack that smirk off his face. “I like you too dummy, I thought you knew already and just saw me as your dorky coworker who also is your best friend. I promise you’re not losing me anytime soon. You’re stuck with me now babe.” He smiled and leaned over to give me a soft kiss. A kiss that I think I have been waiting for what felt like years, a kiss that seemed to let go over all of my insecurities and finally felt safe and confident in a relationship. “Now, let’s go into this party and steal Courtney and Shayne’s thunder.”

We started to walk to the door of the place, hand in hand, and ready to face all of our coworkers. The only thing you can hear as soon as we walked into the room was a far away “FUCK YEAH” which I can only place as Angela screaming.

[patrophthia]

Tom Riddle x reader with this?

“I think I might need to be hospitalised for possible heart abnormalities, or possibly cardiac arrest.” “What, why? Are you okay? You look okay—” “No, because my heart keeps beating the fuck out of my chest when I’m around you and I don’t know what kind of disease I’ve come down with and frankly, I’m really scared.” 

It seems like something he would say😭

omg it so would!!! i actually had so much fun writing this and it was such a breeze to write hehe

new jeans, do you see? | tom riddle

pairing: tom riddle x reader

genre: fluff, OOC!tom (sorry not sorry), tom’s a big softie here, tom isn’t a maniac here he’s just a normal dude, writing powered by me listening to new jeans by new jeans for 15 mins straight

is a small bonus chapter for a series of mine

There's something off about you, Tom didn't notice it at first but he does now. Something about you is different and it's irritating him in every way, like an itch you know you can't scratch. 

He hates it, he notes. He seems to be noting a lot of things down lately. Like for one, he's noted down how you've been more radiant, more attentive towards him than to others, more beautiful, more —what's the word? enchanting? Yeah, that's the word. 

And for two, he's noted down that whenever he sees you, hears your voice, (he's going to sound weird here) smells your scent, he feels his heart picking up a few too many paces and it truly was concerning if he thought about it. 

It started two weeks ago, he thinks —he seems to be thinking a lot too lately. You've gotten back from Hogsmeade with a new hair do, new crisp jeans and tee shirt; and had asked him if he liked it. “It's a snake," you tell him, pointing at a small green embroidery on your t-shirt, "do you see?"

Tom nods, looking more than uninterested in this conversation as he tries —in every way, to go back to his book. But you add, "it reminded me of you. 'S why I bought it." 

His stomach does an uncomfortable flip. You bought something because it reminded you of him? He wants to say something but someone else speaks up before he gets the chance to. 

"Did you really turn Rosier down?" Your friend, someone who's name he can't recall, asks. 

You whip your head towards them. "Where'd you hear that?" 

Your friend gasps dramatically. "So you did turn him down," they say, "are you crazy? Rosier's hot as hell why would you turn him down?" 

Your eyes unconsciously drift to Tom then back to his friend. He doesn't overthink why you'd look in his direction before saying: "Because, I have my eyes on someone else." 

There were a few more instances since then, he doesn't know why he remembers every single one of them like the back of his hand but he doesn't let it get to him. This weird feeling of —knowing, and yet so confused all the same on why you've been so different, frustrated Tom to no extent. 

It almost feels like a game now, to go on and on again for something so strange yet familiar. 

When you take your seat next to him —like you would every other time you two shared a class, Tom decides that he has had enough. He feels— no, hears, the soft pitter patter of his heart when you greet him good morning with a soft smile and he hates it.

Something was shining you in a different light and he's more than sure that someone must've slipped a potion or two into his breakfast (as if this hasn't been happening for the past week). 

He says your name first, tone stern. And when you turn to him. "Yes Tom?" You ask, face full of concern; he can feel his heart swelling. "I think I might need to be hospitalised for possible heart abnormalities, or possibly cardiac arrest." 

It takes you a second to process his words. Blinking at him, before you it clicks in you that Tom might be sick. "What, why? Are you okay? You look okay—"

"Heart palpitations aren't diagnosable from mere looks," he says sharply, and you frown at him. "Something must be really wrong with me because my heart keeps beating the fuck out of my chest when l'm around you and I don't know what kind of disease I've come down with and frankly, I'm really scared."

You look at him, really look at him, and try not to smack his stupid stupid face. "Tom," you sigh softly, "Tom darling, do you hear yourself?" 

You use the pet name in a patronising way, that's another thing he notes. "Yes." He says. 

"And you do realise that people's heartbeats quicken when they're nervous, right?" 

Tom nods first. Then he adds, "are you suggesting that I'm nervous when I'm around you?" 

"Not really." You eye him carefully. "I'm suggesting that you get nervous around people you like—" and when Tom's brows furrow at the word, you specify. "—fancy, around people you fancy." 

"You think I fancy you?" Tom's response is so bafflingly loud that he startles himself upon hearing it. 

"I don't know," you shrug slyly. "I fancy you and my heart beats the fuck out of my chest whenever I see you too." 

Tom considers you for a second and doesn't let his eyes wander to your lips, he doesn't let himself think about it, not even a bit. Basorexia isn't going to get him today. "Was I the one you . . . ?" 

"Had eyes on?" You finish for him. Tom nods. "How could I have my eyes on someone else when I was looking at you, genius?" 

You're smiling at him, eyes adoring as you look at him. He knows what's off about you now: two weeks ago, your hair was different, your jeans were different, your shirt was different, and Tom was different. He didn't realise just how into you he was then. 

But he does now, and since he figured it out, he thinks he deserves a reward for it. And if basorexia did win, so what? At least he gets to kiss you, that's a win in his book, he notes.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

One Side of the Story

Series Masterlist

Warnings: dark elements but nothing too graphic in this one.

Please leave me some feedback either in a reblog or an ask! Likes are always appreciated as well. You know I love yall and hell yeah, you love Professor Steve.

You shake as you put your phone to your ear. There’s no answer. You try again, gripping tight the strap of your bag as you clench your jaw. You’ve never been so angry in your life. Or stunned.

Why would Steve do that? What gives him the right? Is he so obsessed with his work that he believes you need to be just as zealous? Being a TA was supposed to be a minimal commitment, now you’re not too sure about it.

On the third attempt, Jensen picks up. You can hear his television in the background, some video game with mournful stringy music. One of those fantasy adventures he loves so much.

“Hey, what’s up? How’s the super serious schoolwork?”

“Jake,” you snap, the only word you can muster in your fury.

You hear the click of a button and the noise of swords clashing stops. He lets out a breath as you stop yourself from walking down the wrong path. Where the fuck are you? You let your anger get the best of you and your feet carried you off without direction.

“What’s going on?” His tone grows heavy, “everything okay?”

“No. It’s not.”

“I thought you were working on your lesson– you just messaged–”

“I can’t even– I–” you sputter and put your hand to your forehead, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“What?” Confusion laces his voice as you hear shuffling, “where are you? I’ll come meet you.”

“I’m sorry,” you drop your hand as you turn back the way you came, “I… I shouldn’t have bothered–”

“You’re not bothering me,” he insists, “tell me where you are and I’ll be there.”

“I…” you look around. “I’m not sure, one sec– I’m by the engineering building. Besides that big orange pole.”

“Wait for me there. I’m coming. Do you want me to stay on the phone?”

“Umm,” you look up as you hear another set of footsteps. You back up behind the square pole as you see Professor Steve march down the path. No jacket, no bag, but he’s searching for something. For you. You hide as best you can and whisper, “please.”

“On my way,” he assures you as you peek around the pole. “You saved me from fighting this dragon anyway. I really didn’t feel like it.” He continues as his keys jangle noisily, “I’d rather get my ass kicked at Mario Kart.”

You’re silent as you watch Steve. He turns, eyes scanning the campus. You pull back before he can see you and hold your breath. You wait as his sole scuffs the pavement noisily. He lets out a long breath and a grumbled, ‘shit’.

Finally, he retreats. You only peek out again as you see his shoulder disappear beyond the corner of the building. Your chest is aching as you keep air trapped inside. You blow out and quickly scurry away.

“Hey, you still there?” Jensen asks.

“Yeah,” your voice quavers, “I’m here.” You gulp and hurry on, “I’m heading towards you right now.”

You struggle to keep your phone against your ear as you tremble. The fact that Steve followed you down has you uneasy. What was he going to say? Worse, was he going to do something? 

You don’t know, you're frazzled and not thinking straight. It’s not that serious, right? He’s an overbearing professor, you’ll be done with him eventually. You might just have to settle for a C.

📚

“You’re dropping out of the TA position?” Jensen wonders as he walks beside you, your bag slung on his shoulder. That little argument was easily won on his side. “Huh,” he fixes his glasses thoughtfully, “but… that’s a sudden decision. You seemed so into it like an hour ago.”

“Yeah, well,” you throw a hand out as you walk along the campus path, “I just realised it’s going to be way too much work.”

You pick your nail. When you finally caught up to Jensen, you thought of telling him the truth. You couldn’t find the words that didn’t sound ridiculous. Your professor took your phone and catfished your boyfriend over a study date? You can still barely accept it.

After the initial flurry of anger, you’ve calmed down and formed a plan. You’ll nip it in the bud and never think of it again.

“I’m going to meet with Professor Barnes and let him know. Means I’ll have to give up my dreams of that extra side hustle. Back to being a peasant for me.”

He scoffs and shakes his head, “join the club. My lab position barely pays enough to justify the hours.”

“At least you have that,” you mutter.

“If this is… I hate to make it about me but if you’re worried about, er, us, you know I don’t mind the extra hours–”

“No, no,” you wave him off, “no, it’s not that. It’s just… St– Professor Rogers, I don’t think I’m a good fit. He’s very… particular and I just don’t think it’s a good idea. Maybe next year.”

You mull over your decision. It’s your only choice but it doesn’t cancel out the whole reason you signed up for the extra workload. You need money. Bad. Even with your entry scholarship and the extra grants, you’re struggling. That’s not his problem. He’s probably dealing with the same crunch.

“That’s too bad but I got that feeling. He seems like a tight ass.”

“Yeah…”

“Kinda felt bad at that movie, you know? Him there alone?”

“Er,” you hesitate, you don’t really want to think about Steve, “yeah, I guess he was a part of the organization.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Jensen snaps reactively.

“Hmm, what do you mean?”

“My buddies are part of the film club. Shit’s student-run.”

“Really?” You frown, “oh, I thought…”

“Maybe he gave some money at the fundraiser but I know the film crew, a bunch a witches and role players. Good people for a D and D game but not exactly the best students.”

“Huh,” you chew the inside of your lip. 

Why would Steve lie about that? What else did he lie about?

📚

The door opens almost as soon as you knock. Professor Barnes greets you from the other side, his foot behind the door to keep it only a foot away from the frame. You can’t see past him or the frosted glass.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” you say, “I got turned around on the east wing.”

“That’s fine. These old buildings are mazes,” he smirks, “besides, you’re right on time.”

He pulls his foot back and the door falls inward. He waves you inside as you see another figure awaiting you. You furrow your brow as you recognize Steve’s tense posture and blond hair, even as he refuses to look back at you.

“I figure it’s best we all deal with this,” Barnes beckons you in with his singular hand.

“Um,” you murmur, “sir, I can come back lat–”

“No, please, come in, sit,” he struts away and gestures to the empty chair, “I need this sorted out and I’m sure you have exams you need to study for.”

You reluctantly acquiesce. As you cross the threshold, Barnes asks you to close the door. You drag your feet to the chair next to Steve’s and sit. You keep your head forward as he does the same.

“So, I understand there has been some… unprofessional behaviour,” Barnes begins, “these situations are delicate and must be handled appropriately. Thank you, Professor Rogers, for bringing this to my attention and you, miss, for facing up to it.”

“Facing up– what do you mean?”

“It’s not the first time that a student has… behaved this way but I can understand how youth can sometimes lead to bad decisions.”

“I don’t understand? What–”

Barnes reaches across the desk and curls his fingers in a gesture to Steve. Steve hands over his phone, the screen already lit up. The dark-haired professor turns it and reads aloud.

‘I can’t wait to see you. Should I wear that cute little skirt you like?’

You wince and curl your lip. What the hell is that?

“I don’t think I should read any of the others as I’m sure you recall what you sent,” Barnes accuses.

“I didn’t– what?”

“This is your number correct…” he reads out your phone number digit for digit. 

“I… I didn’t…” you take out your cell and unlock it.

You open your messages and flip back to the list of conversations. In your frantic escape, you hadn’t looked beyond Jensen’s. It’s right there. Messages forged just before he sent the last to Jensen. Some of them make your skin crawl, you wouldn't even send those things to your boyfriend.

“No, this wasn’t–”

“Now, there are two options,” Barnes intercedes, “we can end this here and agree to dissolve this arrangement entirely. Or I can report this to the dean which would mean an investigation. These sorts of matters are taken rather seriously and could lead to expulsion–”

“What, but–”

You glance over at Steve as he stares ahead, stone-faced. He did this. He set you up! And you have no evidence to dispute his own.

Well, you were going to quit anyway. So what does it matter? Take the shame and walk away.

You can only hope that you never have to encounter Professor Rogers again. At least, not beyond your final exam.

[munson-blurbs]

Chapter 3: All This Time Goes By, Still No Reason Why

Collaboration with my Eddie Munson sister wife, @corroded-hellfire 💚

Series Summary: Based on the Jonas Brothers song of the same name. You and Eddie share a hospital room in the wake of Hawkins' turmoil, striking up an unlikely friendship that could lead to much more.

Chapter Summary: With the help of Robin and Nancy, you and Eddie realize how much you mean to each other, but a medical emergency may prevent either of you from admitting your true feelings.

Warnings: eventual smut (18+ only, minors DNI!), Eddie survives the Upside Down, hospital, mentions of surgery, description of Eddie's scars, controlled use of pain medication, angst

WC: 5.2k

Divider credit to @firefly-graphics

“It’s time to play the Family Feud!”

Click.

“Today on Sally–”

Click.

“There’s nothing good on,” you bemoan, flicking through the channels absentmindedly. Just as you’re about to give up on finding something to watch, a familiar dramatic voice rings out from the tinny TV speaker.

“It’s twins, and the two of you are the father of one each.”

Your fingers falter on the remote as you hear the events play out. Shelby’s sitting in a hospital bed, not unlike your own, one baby in each arm. The plot is so ridiculous, yet you can’t help but be drawn in. The only thing missing is a bucket of popcorn for you to chow down on.

And Eddie, you think miserably, swallowing the thought like it’s a dry pill. He would sit slack-jawed as the two lovers argued over which baby belonged to which man, making comments like, “did you see that?!” when he knows good and well that you’re sitting two feet from him and did, in fact, see it.

Dr. Drake Ramoray is about to announce the paternity test results when there’s a soft knock on your door.

“Can, um, can we come in?” You turn your head to see Mandy standing in the doorway, pushing a redheaded girl in a wheelchair. “This is Maxine. She’ll be your new roommate,” she explains.

“Yup, finally busted out of intensive care,” the girl deadpans, tilting her head to better hear the TV. “Is that Days of Our Lives?”

You give an embarrassed giggle, muting the show. “Yeah, sorry. Guilty pleasure.”

Maxine shakes her head. “No, put it back on! I love that shit. I didn’t have a TV in ICU, so I had to listen to my boyfriend read to me.” A blush creeps across her cheeks at the mention of her boyfriend, and she leans on Mandy as the nurse helps her into the bed. “He has a nice voice, though. So it wasn’t all bad. Better than listening to him argue with his friends about D&D.” Mandy laughs at that before excusing herself from the room.

The mention of the fantasy game is like a knife slice through your heart, but you shake off the thought. “That’s sweet of him.”

“Yeah,” Maxine nods. “Read all my favorites. Guess that’s how it’ll be for a while, until I learn Braille.” That’s when you notice that her eyes are cloudy, the blue irises not focusing in a particular direction. 

You’re rendered speechless for a moment, unsure how to respond to what she’s said. “I’m sorry,” you finally manage to choke out, wincing at how dumb you sound.

Maxine doesn’t seem to care or pick up on your embarrassment. “It sucks,��� she says, “but I’ve got a good support system, y’know? And with the way everything in this town’s gone to shit, being blind doesn’t seem like too big of a deal.”

You assume she’s talking about the earthquake essentially splitting Hawkins into quadrants, destroying homes, businesses, and leaving far too many people injured or dead. You start to nod before remembering that she can’t see you. “I get it, but it doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal to you.”

She pauses before responding, contemplating what you’ve just said. “Guess so,” she mumbles. “I just feel guilty worrying about myself when other people are suffering even worse.”

“I’ll drink to that.” You raise your glass of water to your lips, feeling the lukewarm liquid slip down your throat. “Have they told you how much time you'll be stuck here?” 

She chuckles tersely. “Nope. They all keep saying, ‘a little bit longer, and you’ll be back home.’ But I don’t even know if I’ll have a home to go back to.”

“Where do you–did you live?” You shake your head. “That might be too personal, sorry. I’m just excited to have someone to talk to.” And it’s true. Ever since Eddie left a few days ago, you’d been alone with your thoughts. Never a good thing, especially when you’re feeling this sad and helpless, and the mundaneness of the hospital certainly doesn’t help.

“It’s cool. I lived over on Porter Street for a year or so before my mom and I moved into Forest Hills Trailer Park.” She gnaws on her lower lip as though waiting for your judgment. “But before we came to Hawkins, I lived in California.”

“Oh.” California. Where you and Eddie had made plans to run away to–though the sincerity of those plans were apparently up for debate. You want to ask her about it; if she’s ever been to Los Angeles, if she wants to go back, but the knot in your stomach urges you to shift the topic. “Your trailer–was it destroyed in the earthquake?”

“Not sure,” she answers honestly. “No one’s said anything to me, but that could just be to keep me from getting upset. But my boyfriend’s idiot friend–one of them, anyway–let it slip that my neighbor’s trailer got, like, split in half.”

“Oh, shit,” you breathe out. “Is your neighbor okay?”

“Uh, I think so,” Maxine says. “I haven’t talked to him but my boyfriend said he was released from the hospital.”

“That’s good,” you say. “I mean, not that he was in here, but that he was okay to leave.”

“Eddie—that’s my neighbor—is staying with some friends, I think. Or friends of his uncle or something.”

The way your head snaps so quickly in the redhead’s direction makes such a loud crack that even she hears it, wincing at the pop. “Eddie” is a common enough name, but you can’t think of another Eddie other than your Eddie—or, Eddie Munson, that is—in all of Hawkins.

“Wait. Is your neighbor Eddie Munson?” you ask, voice quivering despite your attempt to sound casual.

Her eyebrows pinch together and her head tilts in your direction. “How do you—oh shit! You’re Sunshine, aren’t you?”

Your face heats up at hearing Eddie’s nickname for you. How did Maxine know about that? She’s already said that she hasn’t talked to him. Which only means she heard it from someone else. But who? Between the days dragging into one another and the cocktail medley of medications you’ve been on, you’re not sure if Eddie called you that in front of his friends or not. But either way, somehow it was going around in his friend group that he’d met you and coined that nickname for you. 

“I, uh, yeah, I guess that’s me,” you say. 

“Dustin was telling me about you,” she answers your unasked question. “He said you’re pretty cool and you and Eddie got along really well.”

“Yeah,” you say, heaving a sigh. “I guess we did.”

“Did?” Maxine asks, picking up on your tone. “Something happen?”

“We had a fight,” you admit. “We both said some pretty nasty shit to one another. Then he left without saying goodbye, and I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Eddie’s never been known for his impulse control,” Max notes wryly, but anything else she’s about to add is cut off by the sound of more voices at the door.

“Max!” It’s Robin, and she has a girl by her side. “Hey, it’s me and Nancy. Sorry we’re late; no one told us that you moved rooms–oh, it’s Sunshine!”

You blush at the second mention of your nickname. “Hi, guys,’ you say, giving a little wave. “How’ve you been?”

“Can’t complain,” Robin puts her hands in her pockets. “But, really, we should be asking how you’re doing.” She glances over to her right side. “Oh, this is our friend, Nancy Wheeler.” Nancy gives you a soft smile, and you try to muster up one back.

“I’m okay.” you shrug. I had my first surgery yesterday, so I’m sore. Kinda nauseous from the pain meds. But other than that, I’m fine.” 

“She and Eddie got into a fight,” Maxine–Max–pipes up from the bed next to you. “He didn’t even say goodbye to her. Just…poof! Vanished.” She makes a little explosion gesture with her hands to emphasize her point.

Nancy presses her lips into a thin line. “Yeah, we heard,” she admits. “Eddie told us the other day. He, uh, he’s not very good at handling conflict.” 

“You can say that again,” you mumble, trying to hide your bitterness.

“He’s been different ever since he came home from the hospital,” Robin says. She pushes the curtain between the two beds as open as it would go and puts two chairs in between you and Max. She takes the chair closer to you and Nancy takes the one closer to Max. 

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“He’s been acting weird,” Robin says.

“How can you tell?” Max asks, a smirk on her lips as she gazes unseeingly at the ceiling. 

“Weird for him. He’s all broody and sulking. I mean, I get that the guy almost died, but he was in a much better mood when he was in here.”

All eyes—even Max’s—turn to you laying in your bed. It’s hard not to shrink under their gaze. You tuck your blanket up higher in an attempt to comfort yourself. 

“Do you want to talk to him?” Nancy asks, leaning forward to see you around Robin. 

“Yes,” you admit. “I thought we could clear the air before he left, but clearly that didn’t happen. Then I was hoping the phone would ring. Or maybe he’d just show up. Every time I was taken out of my room for tests or something, I’d always ask my nurse Mandy to watch in case he stopped by. This whole thing’s honestly just got me going crazy. I just want a chance to apologize and explain.”

“What happened?” Robin asks, but after a stern look from Nancy adds, “If you don’t mind talking about it, that is.”

You take a deep breath and nod your head. The pain meds are still circulating through your system so you find yourself more willing to spill your guts to these girls you hardly knew. 

“You know how he called me Sunshine? Well, that ended up being a shit load of pressure. I mean, he didn’t really put it on me—I-I guess I did. But if I brought happiness to his day then I didn’t want to bring him down by telling him the news on my leg wasn’t good. This can be a pretty shitty place to spend day after day so I didn’t want to make it worse on him. 

But it’s not like he ever gave me a chance to explain any of this. Just assumed I was lying to him for my own sick enjoyment. Kept going on and on about how I was just like everyone else who ever made fun of him. And that really fuckin’ hurt. Then he called me—among other things—a bitch and I was seething. I was seeing red, spitting mad. So, I…well, fuck, I said something I really didn’t mean. It went too far and I regretted it the moment it came out of my mouth. I tried…I tried to tell him that. But he wouldn’t listen. Not that I entirely blame him. So, I told myself, I’d talk to him in the morning before he left. Then everything would be-be good.” 

You didn’t expect to start crying while talking about this—about Eddie, but your cheeks are covered in the wet proof that you did. You’re so flustered that you don’t even register Robin taking your hand in hers. 

“Let it out,” she reassures you. “You never told Eddie about any of this?”

You shake your head. “Everyone kept saying how happy I made him. I didn’t wanna be the reason why he’s sad.”

“I don’t think he would’ve been sad,” Nancy tells you. “Concerned, yes. But, I also understand you wanting to shield him from that.” 

“He misses you. It’s plain as day,” Robin says, and her words make you start crying even harder. She scoots her chair closer to you so that she can rub your shoulder consolingly. “It’s going to be okay. And I’m not the type of person who is just going to say that to make you feel better. Actually, I tend to say the wrong thing when I’m trying to make someone feel better. But I genuinely believe this is just a misunderstanding you guys are gonna get through.”

“Yeah, if he ever talks to me again,” you say with a sniffle. 

“He will,” Nancy says and she sounds resolutely sure in her answer. 

Robin and Nancy stay for a little over an hour, talking about people that you don’t know and places that you haven’t been, but you somehow still feel part of the whole conversation with them. It might be the medicine coursing its way through your body, but you feel a little emotional being in a group of girls like this. You hadn’t made a solid group of girl friends away at college, so you’ve been missing this kind of connection. 

Once Robin and Nancy leave, they’re not out the door for thirty seconds before Max pounces.

“You love him.”

“What?” You’re so taken aback by her statement that you can’t come up with anything else to say. No point in asking who she’s talking about, since the only guy you knew in their whole conversation was Eddie—and Steve and Dustin a little. But you’d never even thought those words to yourself about Eddie before. Obviously, you found him attractive. Very attractive. And he’s so kind and funny. It’s addictive spending time with him; you always want more. Your stomach flip flops as you come to the realization. 

Holy shit. Max is right. 

“I know I’m right,” Max says.

Color draining from your face, you turn in her direction. “What?”

She chuckles and shrugs her shoulders. “Knew you were thinking about how right I am. I’m right about most things. Just ask my boyfriend.” 

A frantic knock on the door has Eddie hoisting himself up from where he’s slumped down on Gareth’s couch, which is now his makeshift bed. Since he’d been discharged from the hospital, he and Wayne have been crashing there. It’s a nice place; much fancier than the trailer, but it’s not his home. The steaming cup of cocoa that Gareth’s mom made for him reminds him of the shelf of mugs in his own home, now utterly destroyed. 

Bet Sunshine could make tonight better, he thinks glumly. She made everything better. The knocking gets louder, snapping him from his pity party. “Coming, coming!” Eddie grumbles, tossing aside the quilt and padding towards the door. 

He’s nearly bowled over by Robin and Nancy, who eagerly push their way into the living room. “Um, come on in, I guess?”

“Cool, thanks,” Robin says, plopping down in an armchair. “We need to talk to you, like, now.”

Nancy rolls her eyes. “Jesus, Robs. You make it sound like an emergency.”

“It is an emergency,” Robin protests. “A love emergency!”

“Lucy, Ethel!” Eddie interrupts. “Can you get to the point, please?”

Nancy grins as she delivers the news. “We saw Sunshine today,” she says, watching as Eddie’s eyes widen in surprise. “Max is her new roommate.”

“She misses you, and she is so, so sorry,” Robin jumps in. “She told us that she was going to talk to you the morning after your argument, but you’d already left.” She frowns. “Did you really leave without saying goodbye?”

Eddie buries his face in his hands. “I fucked up. Bad.” He stands up, pacing the room. “But so did she! She—she threw the murder charges in my face! Like it was nothing.”

“She knows,” Nancy says. “And she feels awful about it.”

“And she lied to me,” Eddie adds. “I mean, Buckley, you were there when Harrington said there was a spark. How could there be a spark if she’d just been lying to me?”

Robin breathes out, sharing a knowing look with Nancy. “Eddie,” she starts, “she felt a lot of pressure to keep up this happy, optimistic façade for you. She thought that if she told you what was going on, you’d worry about her.”

Eddie barks out an incredulous laugh. “Of course I’d worry about her! When the people you lo—care about are going through shit, you worry about them!”

“Well, did you tell her about the Upside Down?” Nancy presses, leaning her chin on her palm. 

“No.”

“And why not?”

“Because it’s crazy, and unbelievable, and pretty fuckin’ scary!”

“Yeah, well, the stuff she’s going through is pretty fuckin’ scary for her, too,” Robin explains. “And just like you wanted to protect her, she wanted to protect you.”

“Jesus.” Eddie breathes out a long sigh. “What can I—how can I fix this?” A misty film coats his eyes. “I never meant to make her feel like she couldn’t talk to me about her problems.”

Nancy puts a polished hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “I think you should be telling her this,” she says kindly. “Maybe bring her some flowers?”

Eddie perks up a bit at the thought. “Yeah! Yeah, I can do that. Maybe I can go next week, when I’m cleared for longer car rides.” The trip home from the hospital was painful enough; each bump in the road sent shockwaves through his scars. 

Robin smiles. “I think she’ll love that.”

“Never thought I’d be taking love life advice from Lady Wheeler and Video Girl,” he muses. 

Robin shrugs, clearly not offended. “Better than from Steve,” she says simply. 

It’s only been about two weeks since Eddie’s been in these halls, but being able to walk them of his own free will and knowing he can turn around and leave at any time he likes certainly makes it better. Making the familiar walk to his old room, Eddie wrinkles his nose at the scent of antiseptic and whatever disinfectant they use to clean the floors. How did he ever sleep in this place? Bells and alarms are going off every other minute. Eddie feels like he’s going crazy and he’s only been in the hospital for three minutes.

Small bouquet of Sunflowers in his hand, Eddie takes the elevator to the correct floor, then turns right down two hallways, and he’s finally at the room. Before raising his fist to knock, Eddie takes a deep breath to compose himself. He wasn’t sure how he’d be feeling seeing his Sunshine again after their fight, but the correct answer to that would be anxious. He gently knocks on the door frame and pokes his head into the room.

“Who is it?” Max asks, talking to you, Eddie presumes. Or maybe to him, wanting him to announce himself. 

“It’s, uh, me,” Eddie says, taking a step into the room. “Um, Eddie.” He glances over at your bed, hoping one quick look would steel his nerves to look at you head on. But he does a double take when you’re not in the bed. 

“Hey, Eddie,” Max says. She breaks him out of his confused haze and he steps around the curtain to see her. Considering all that the girl had gone through, she doesn’t look too bad. Casts are still covering the multiple bones that had been broken, but her unseeing eyes were by far the most unsettling. It caused a pit in Eddie’s stomach to know all that she had endured and all she had tried to shield her friends from had landed her here like this. 

“How’re you feeling, Red?” Eddie takes a seat next to her bed, your flowers still clutched in his grip.

“So bored,” she says with a sigh. “There’s shit to do around here. I have to listen to everything. Can’t watch anything, obviously. Can’t touch anything ‘cause of these damn broken arms. Only other senses I get to use are my sense of smell to inhale the lovely aroma of body odor and hospital chemicals, and my sense of taste when I have to literally be spoon fed because my body doesn’t work.”

“Jesus,” Eddie says. “I’m thinking I’m lucky now that all I have are some chunks of skin missing from my one man show for some fucked up demonic bats.”

“I’m sorry,” Max says with a sigh. “I didn’t mean to unload on you like that. Just been stuck in my head today.” 

“No, no, I get it. But, uh…couldn’t you have talked to… I mean, where is, um,” Eddie stutters out.

“Your Sunshine?” Max asks, a mocking cheesy smile on her face. “Came to see your girl?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says with a sigh. A faint blush comes to his cheeks at Max referring to you in that way. “Where is she?”

“Her second surgery is today,” Max tells him. “They came and took her early this morning and I’m not sure when she’ll be back because they’ll take her to recovery first.” 

Eddie’s grip tightens on the flowers in his hands and he makes a conscious effort to take it easy so the stems aren’t snapped off when you get to see them. There’s a queasiness in his stomach as he thinks about you being in surgery right now. Unconscious, doctors working on you, scalpels cutting open portions of your skin. It gives him a full body chill. 

“Her mom is here somewhere. In the surgery center’s waiting room, I’d guess,” Max tells him.

“Oh,” Eddie says, suddenly becoming fidgety in his seat. He wants to go out there and find your mom, who will hopefully have an update on you. But he doesn’t want to leave Max all alone again. 

“Go,” Max says, as if reading his mind. “Just make sure you switch the television to something else before you leave. If I hear the news cycle one more time I’m going to claw my way out of these casts just so I can turn the channel myself.”

Eddie stands and flips through the channels until he settles on Wheel of Fortune. “How’s that?”

“Kinda hard to play along without seeing the puzzle, but whatever, it’s better than the news. Oh, uh, Eddie? Before you go, can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” he says, slipping his free hand into the pocket of his jeans. 

“No one will give me a straight answer. Maybe they don’t know or just don’t want to tell me, but I know you’ll have seen it. Is my home okay? I know my mom’s still staying there, but I want to know she’s safe.”

Eddie frowns and takes a few steps forward to gently place his hand on your shoulder. “Your trailer looks fine. Or, well, I guess I should say it looks the same. None of the trailers in Forest Hills have ever looked ‘fine.’ But yeah, your mom is safe there. No damage or anything like that.”

“Thank you,” Max says, releasing a sigh that’s probably weighed heavily on her for a while. 

“Sure thing. Hey, I brought some flowers. I’m gonna put them on Sunshine’s bedside table, okay?” He takes one of the sunflowers out of the bunch and snaps off the branch so he can stick it into one of Max’s twin braids. “Now you look like a real flower child.”

“Can’t hold my fingers up in a peace sign, but okay. Yeah, I’ll tell her the flowers are from you if she comes back in here after you’ve left. Glad to know there’s actually flowers in here though, because I smelled them and thought it was some new cleaning product they were trying.” 

“Thanks, Red. I’ll see you soon, yeah?” Eddie asks as he sets your flowers down.

“Wish I could say the same,” Max says and Eddie winces at his phrasing. “I’m messing around. Go find your Sunshine, lover boy.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that,” Eddie whines.

“Fine. Romeo? Lovebug? Casanova?”

“Jesus, just call me Eddie,” he says with an eye roll. He shouts a goodbye over his shoulder as he heads out of the room. 

Eddie makes his way to the waiting room, rubber soles of his worn Keds squeaking on the linoleum floor. He recognizes your mom from their brief encounter the day before he left, and he gives her a tight grin. 

“Um, hi,” he says. She gives him a confused look, and he realizes how different he must look, freshly shaved and in his normal clothes. “I’m Eddie. Sunshine’s old roommate? And, uh, the one who called her Sunshine, I guess.” He ducks his head bashfully. 

Your mom’s expression softens as she recognizes the boy. “Of course! Sorry, it feels like my head is spinning, waiting for the doctor to come out with an update.”

“How long has it been?” Eddie asks, taking a seat next to her. 

“Too damn long,” She chuckles lightly as she glances at her wristwatch, letting out an exasperated sigh. “About four hours now. They said it shouldn’t take too much longer than that…”

As if on cue, Dr. Sanoj hurries into the waiting room, fingers clasped together. A knot forms in Eddie’s stomach; whatever’s going on can’t be good. 

“I have an update on your daughter,” he says to your mom. “We could speak somewhere private, if you’d like.” His gaze briefly shifts to Eddie, who shoves his hands in his pockets shyly. 

But your mom is firm when she shakes her head and says, “no, he can hear this.” 

“Okay,” the doctor begins. “The surgery was successful, and didn’t take too long at all. There are some complications, however; possibly due to having two procedures done so close together.”

“What’s going on?” Eddie interrupts. 

“We’re having some difficulty waking her from the anesthesia, and she’s spiked a small fever,” Dr. Sanoj admits. “There’s no real cause for concern yet. We’re just going to have the nurses continue to take her vitals.”

Eddie feels your mom’s fingernails dig into his wrist, but he doesn’t complain. It feels good, in a way, to know that he can be there for someone in their time of need. “Can we see her?” she asks the doctor. 

He nods. “Yes, of course. You can follow me into the recovery room.” They’re both right on his heels as they make their way down the white corridor. Neither of them say a word, but the fear is palpable. 

“You can go in first,” your mom offers. “I need to make some phone calls to relatives and friends. Just let me know if she wakes up, please.” Her tone is hopeful, but Eddie can still sense the anxiety beneath it. 

Seeing you in such a vulnerable state twists Eddie’s heart. He doesn’t even realize he’s crying until he feels the tears on his cheeks. Pulling up a chair to your bedside, he takes your hand and brings it to his lips, kissing it gently. 

“Sunshine, can you hear me? If you can hear me, please wake up.” He leans over, placing the back of his free hand on your forehead. “Shit, you’re burnin’ up. Small fever, my ass,” he grumbles. He’s always been suspicious of doctors, and he doesn’t trust that this isn’t more serious than the surgeon let on. 

“Listen, Sunshine,” he starts. He’s not sure if you can even hear him, but it’s worth a shot. “I’m really sorry that I made you feel like you had to pretend to be happy all the time. That’s never what I wanted. I guess…I guess I figured you’d tell me if something was wrong. Sounds kinda dumb now that I’m saying it out loud.” He gives a small laugh. “And when I found out that you’d been keeping your surgeries a secret, I thought it was just you pushin’ me away. But now I know it’s because you were just tryin’ to protect me.

“And, look, I get it if you don’t want anything to do with me anymore. I’m loud, and impulsive, and I couldn’t pass geometry if my life depended on it. I have no idea what I’m doing after high school, and I wish I could blame the earthquake for that, but it’s all me. Also, in the spirit of honesty or whatever, remind me to tell you the truth about that earthquake thing,” he adds, bringing his thumbnail to his mouth and chewing on it anxiously. 

“Sunshine, you’re, like, this beautiful ballerina with these big plans and a heart of fuckin’ gold. And if–when–you wake up, if you decide to never speak to me again, I’ll understand. I mean, I’ll be devastated because, y’know, you’re kinda my favorite person in the whole world, but I’ll get out of your way. But, please, please wake up. I can’t have you dying before you even get a chance to live out your dreams.”

Eddie stops, cocking his head slightly to watch your chest move up and down with each shallow breath. You start to sputter, and his heart lurches at the prospect of you hearing his words and waking up to them.

But the sputtering gets more violent, and one of the many machines connected to you starts to beep loudly. A swarm of nurses infiltrates the room, nudging Eddie out of the way.

“We need all visitors to leave,” one of them tells him, even though he’s clearly the only other person there.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Eddie calls out as he’s being guided out of the door. “Is something wrong?” He watches as they pull out a defibrillator, attaching the adhesives to your chest before starting it up. He wants to stay and be there for you, even if you aren’t aware of it, but the door is closed behind him.

“You can pull through, Sunshine,” he whispers. “You’ve gotta pull through.” Not many sounds reach him on the other side of the door, and Eddie isn’t sure how he feels about that as he paces back and forth. He’s hardly keeping together when he hears footsteps coming down the hall. 

“Eddie?”

He lifts his head to see your mom walking towards him, a confused frown pinched on her face as she approaches. It’s the sight of her that has the impending tears welling up in his eyes. 

“Eddie, what’s going on? Why’s the door closed?”

Wringing his hands in front of him, Eddie halts his pacing. His mouth opens but nothing comes out. The longer his silence drags on, the more concerned your mother looks. 

“I’m not sure, really,” Eddie says. “I was in there with her then machines started beeping and they kicked me out. They brought some other machine over to her but then I couldn’t see anymore because they closed the door.”

“W-What?” Your mom looks around, seeing if there are any doctors or nurses around that can explain what’s happening to you. She almost bangs on the door but she doesn’t want to interrupt whatever they’re doing in there to help you. “What’s happening to my baby girl?”

Eddie’s eyes were misting over before, but at the heartbreaking tone of your mom, tears start to trickle down his face. He doesn’t know what to do or say. What would you do in this situation? Taking a wild guess, Eddie opens his arms to your mom, who instantly takes him up on the hug. Her head rests on his shoulder and it’s not long before he can feel her tears soaking into his shirt.  “She’ll be okay,” Eddie says. “She has to be.”

--

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[skylar-325]

Hi.... If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/games/etc) and your top 10 favorite characters from any media ? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this questions....

Wow, that’s definitely challenging lol. I consume media like it’s a necessity for survival but I can try XD I don’t think I can rank them since each of them mean so much to me but I’ll list them here.

1. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (book): if you’ve read it then you probably know why and if you haven’t then I definitely recommend it. It was a life changing experience for me. As someone who uses reading as an escape from reality, it hit pretty hard T-T

2. Haikyuu : Big found family enthusiast so that’ll apply to most of my favourites. Haikyuu nearly made me cry on multiple occasions because of how well the characters are written. I see my self in them and somehow rooting for them makes me have hope for myself. Hopefully that makes sense. XD

3. Link Click (anime): Hurt. Very big hurt. Another doomed found family but I really enjoy the mystery and thrill of it. The characters are really well written. Not to mention each of them is also ridiculously hot.

4. Little mushroom (book): apocalypse setting sci fi story, a human inspector falls in love with a mushroom. It might sound strange, but it’s a beautiful book and perspective we get on life made me fall in love with it all over again. Also the mushroom takes the form of a human so like…it’s cool.

5. Bungou Stray Dogs (anime): only watched the anime so far but I do plan to read the manga soon. Adore all the characters and the storyline is really interesting. I’m a literature nerd so seeing edgar allen poe and nathaniel hawtharne interact with japanese and american authors is like a dream come true XD

6. Six of Crows (book): peak found family. laughed and cried reading this book and realised my bisexuality along the way. something about jesper being all be gay do crime really resonated with me. adore kanej and would commit crimes for the entire gang.

7. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book): my childhood really. i’ve read every single rick riordan book in existence but this was my start to being a book worm. love greek mythology. also inspired me to be a writer.

8. Qian Jin Jiu (book): political intrigue and mystery along with action and romance. super fun to read when im not trying to remember a gazillion names. love love loveee the main pair.

9. These Violent Delights (books): so so good. chinese retelling of romeo and juliet but juliet is a badass. super fun read and it’s the kind of writer i aspire to be.

10. Blue Lock (anime): so. watched the first season and i lost my mind. it was insanely good and i really liked the message behind it. which is funny given how found family core is my usual watch list is. s2 is kind of a disappointment so it’s def ranked lower on my list because of that. but i do plan to read the manga someday.

Special mention for Ouran High School Host Club. Just finished watching it but it’s easily top three anime for me.

ok now top ten characters. again not ranked other than no.1.

1. Kim Dokja (ORV): i don’t think i can explain why. something about being shown a damning mirror in a piece of media

2. Hinata (Haikyuu): his passion and dedication to improve and succeed despite his situation. also his personality. i adore him.

3. Lu Guang: again can’t explain it. just want to wrap him in a big blanket forever.

4. Annabeth Chase (PJO) : My OG girl boss. I spent my childhood trying to be her.

5. Inej Ghafa (SOC): an assassin who convinced a mob boss to buy her out of a brothel and became the most dangerous weapon on the street. her will and strength is awe inspiring.

6. Wei Wuxian (MDZS): he stuck to his principles no matter what and it’s something i really look up to.

7. Chigiri (BL): His story of being the best, only to hurt his knee and lose it all and to fight to get back to who he was is beautiful. Getting back up after life deals such a harsh blow isn’t something everyone can manage.

8. Oikawa (Haikyuu): his story hurts me and is constant reminder of the chances one has to make it in industries like sport or art. his dedication to his passion regardless is beautiful.

9. Osamu Dazai (BSD): He’s just super fun to watch. No deep explanation. Very relatable.

10. Tamaki (Ouran High School Host Club): really like his characterisation, the way they built him from the first episode. his love for his friends and club is everything to me. quickly became my fav character.

Special shout-out to yoo joonghyuk and han sooyoung, too much to explain but they make me cry.

[erwinsvow]

Omg you’re the absolute sweetest and made me blush!! I’m super into Ancient Greek plays particularly Sophocles 

I absolutely LOVE this time concept thing you have going?? It’s so creative!! Did you come up with it? The 2:31am one was so sweet I’m a whore for mean rafe who cares🙁 I’m just projecting personal preferences but I vote reader calls rafe dad more

The rafe thinking you spoil him because you love him and your attentive drabble?? My heart hurts he just needs love :( Ward Cameron when I get my hands on you…

Also this is the first time I checked out your page from my laptop and I accidentally clicked a few things caused I’m so unfamiliar Tumblr on a browser and I have to say WOW?!?! Your layout is SO amazing and cool and gorgeous and different and camp and kooky and I love it 

I’m sorry I can’t shut up but I’d like to believe you like reviews and I’m a fan so I’m here to provide bae <3 I’m just proactive like that! 

I absolutely adore the way you write rafe as slightly manipulative but so in love with reader I can so easily overlook it!! And the fact that we got an entire drabble from the movie screening scene?? I jumped from joy it’s my favourite everrr 

Btw I saw you reblogged a cam girl one shot and I’m reading this little series it’s cam girl x rafe (I love it and it’s updated every two days or so) lmk if you’re interested  

Thanks for reading my novel long asks lmk if they’re too much though and it’ll be sure to adjust accordingly!! Hope you had a great day! Love youuu <33

-💓

Ps are requests open for the time concept? I have an idea!

omg hi bae!! full stop because i love sophocles!!! antigone is my shittttt i wrote a whole term paper on her once!!! why are we so linked... what plays are your favorites? huge fan of medea too

also thank you so much babe! omg i have seen the concept in writing before but i just started thinking of placing a timestamp on moments almost like bottling it up... i would love to expand it into a series if people love it enough! youre soooooo sweet i could sob. the 230 one was so cute i really love the idea of after hours with rafe he gets soft the later it gets.. esp my rafe who just loves his girlfriend and no one else haha

STOPPPP CALLING RAFE DAD GIRLIES UNITEEEE. i know i got it from princessbrunette but seriously its such a god tier idea. shes so big brained

also stop?! why are you so sweet. i need to update it to match my video game theme on mobile (the desktop version is still in tune with my old scream 1996 theme!!) but ur such an angel.

your reviews and kind words mean soooo much to me. everyone is so nice but i know everyone just kind of likes the posts and keeps their thoughts to themselves but hearing this stuff makes me so beyond ecstatic. <333 ur the best. so proactive jus like dad <3

yesss hes so manipulative. i try to write him mean(er) sometimes but i physically cannnot because i know he is the whipped in love type. literally just looking for someone to pour his love on. <3

omg yes do send! love reading rafe series <3 and stopppppp i love your long asks i love talking to u sm!!!! i had an okay day but now im in bed about to work on your req so !!! <3 all better. love u bae hope you like it!

[alexhornefan]

Series 15 Contestants on Greg & Alex

*Click each contestants name for their full interview regarding series 15.

What do you make of Greg and Alex and their relationship?

Well, basically it’s a show about humility. So the framework is of the British Empire. That’s the artwork, right? So it’s Edwardian, late Victorian, music hall-type art. And this is the British condition, hubris. And also, the condition of comedians generally is narcissism and hubris.

So this is a game that is designed to create humility within those players. But then if you have a Taskmaster, then they’re not going to have humility, so Alex has Greg to humiliate him. And then Greg is the Taskmaster because Greg is a self-humiliating machine – all his jokes about himself, because he’s simply too large to have ever lived a normal life.

So it’s this agnostic reminder of humility all the way through the show. 

How have you got on with Alex: has he been useful, or just a huge hindrance?

By Scottish standards, Alex is a pretty helpful person.

-Frankie Boyle

Were you a fan of the show?

Yes, right back to the first series. And Alex, I’ve been such a fan of for so long, and obviously I like Greg as a stand-up. My parents love The Horne Section, so that’s the sort of thing I’d always try and take them to if they were ever coming to Edinburgh, like, ‘Here’s a nice, wholesome thing.’

The Horne Section gave me occasional guest spots at the Fringe years ago, so I felt like I had a little role in there. It’s a slightly eccentric universe.

-Ivo Graham *Be aware, Ivo does give a bit of a spoiler about one task.

How did you get on with Greg generally?

I recognise a very, very common streak of comedy in what Greg does and I adore the relationship he has with Alex. It really makes me laugh; I’ve become hysterical on occasion.

I once saw his live show called The Back Of My Mum’s Head, where I was almost incontinent with laughter. I went with my daughter, and it was in a small sweaty attic room in Edinburgh.

We were sitting next to a boy who had never seen stand-up before and afterwards, he said, ‘Is it always like this?’ and I had to say ‘no’. It was so special for him, he was wet with laughter. I had to say, ‘No, sometimes it’s shit. Come and see me tomorrow night.’

How do you describe the relationship between Greg and Alex?

Absolutely adorable. It’s a much more interesting Ant and Dec. And I love Ant and Dec. I’ve worked with them a lot and they’re great. But they’re not a patch on Greg and Alex, are they?

How do you describe your relationship with Alex during the tasks?

I felt sometimes that he felt very sorry for me but was trying not to show it.

He wasn’t as helpful as he could have been. He could have saved my bacon on a couple of occasions. He gave me the impression that I was allowed to do things that I actually wasn’t.

The thing is, in the studio, you know very well it’s not your show. It’s Alex and Greg that the audience have come to see. We are mere courtiers in the palace of.

So it is quite nerve-racking, being in the studio. There’s a tension amongst us all. We want to do well, we want to be supportive of each other, but we also want to be funny, and sometimes you feel a bit clumsy.

-Jenny Eclair

What was your tactic with Greg in the studio and trying to win a few extra points?

Greg was really annoying but I did try to convince him. Every now and then I was surprised by thinking that Greg was going to absolutely hate something, then he loved it, and vice versa, so I felt it was always worth having that conversation.

Sometimes it would be going in my favour and Alex would pipe up like, ‘Ah, but what about…’ Shut up, Alex, I’m chasing victory.

Was Alex helpful on the actual tasks?

He was at first, but then I felt he turned against me. He could be a master of destruction.

-Kiell Smith-Bynoe

The format is bulletproof so in a way it doesn’t matter who’s on it, it’s always amazing because Greg and Alex are brilliant.

Greg said I had poise, which was nice. I find Greg unbelievably magnetic. I don’t know what it is. I’ve met so many people in my life doing comedy, and I’ve never been more starstruck. For some reason, it’s like he’s the most famous man on earth in my heart.

I think I just fancy him. People warned me about that. They said, ‘You’re going to be shocked by how fanciable Greg is.’ And they weren’t lying. It’s because he’s so lovely. And it’s how quick they both are. And they’re so in tune with each other, it’s joyful. And so British.

Greg Davies and Alex Horne are both very observant, aren’t they?

They're good at cutting right to your core with an off-hand remark. I think we’re all probably low-level narcissists, so when someone really incisively sums you up – I mean, any attention is always attractive – you’re like, ‘You’ve really seen me.’ That’s very intoxicating. You’re like, ‘What else? Tell me more about me.’

Did you have a tactic when it came to dealing with Greg in the studio and trying to win him over?

I didn’t try as hard as Kiell or Ivo. I was happy to accept a loss. There were a few prize tasks where I got really shocked at the points given out, but it’s subjective, isn’t it?

I knew going into it that you had to defer to his personal taste, and I knew arguing wasn’t going to get me anywhere, but maybe I thought, ‘If I don’t push it, then maybe he’ll remember that he shafted me and he’ll pay me back. He’ll be more magnanimous.’ That never happened.

How useful or not did you find Alex on the tasks?

When he says, ‘All the information’s on the task,’ you want to chop his limbs off. Aside from that, I found him extremely charming.

As a North American, I felt like I was in a Roald Dahl book. It’s so quintessentially English that I was just automatically charmed by it.

Do you get competitive with each other over Charlotte (Ritche) though?

Over her attention? Sure. Alex asked her in front of us which of us was her favourite, and time froze. We all went silent. She said, ‘I can’t answer that.’ She was very diplomatic.

-Mae Martin

[everygame]

The Making of Karateka (Nintendo Switch)

Developed/Published by: Digital Eclipse Released: 29/08/2023 Completed: 04/10/2023 Completion: 100% of the museum, beat Karateka (Apple II) beat Karateka remake. Trophies / Achievements: n/a 

If you’ve been following my writing for a while, you’ll know I’ve been playing a ton of old games, and yet I never ever thought to make a point to play Karateka until this release (you can read my thoughts on it here.) Although it has pedigree–its creator Jordan Mechner would go on to make, I think most famously, Prince of Persia–it’s also an Apple II game from 1984, and I think a strange choice to launch a deluxe re-release line, Digital Eclipse’s new “Gold Series'' (outside of there just being a lot of historical material available to pull from.)

Using that material, The Making of Karateka is described by the company as an “interactive documentary” and while it is that, it’s also sort of a digital museum exhibit… and sort of like a Criterion edition of a classic movie if the blu-ray was designed in such a way that it directed you to watch Charlotte et son Jules and read Jean Luc Godard’s treatment before you actually got to watch Breathless.

So it’s kind of an odd sell, really, and the contradictory thing I have to say about it is that I think The Making of Karateka is absolutely brilliant, but I also don’t think it makes a ton of sense as a product (although I do think you should run about and buy it immediately so they make more.) The question that lingers, you see, is what actually makes someone who isn’t retro game-pilled like me pick this up? It’s “The Making Of” to express that there’s something more here than just a re-release of Karateka, but hang on, if you don’t care about Karateka, why do you care about the making of it?

I don’t think it’s something that Digital Eclipse manages to answer, exactly, although what they have produced is beautiful anyway. Clearly using the same front-end as Atari 50 (which could have done with being made a bit more fitting for Karateka? I mean the music sounds exactly the same? ["Though it's not the exact same piece of music"--Pedant Ed.] they’ve created a tour through Jordan Mechner’s life as he started developing video games, from the aborted project Deathbounce, through the release of Karateka and its sequels, and then with some postscript concerning a possible sequel that hints towards what eventually became Prince of Persia.

It is heavily curated (I sort of wanted to read more of Jordan Mechner's diaries than I got to...) and definitely some irrelevancies (sorry, I hate famous talking heads telling me why they like something. It’s not as insightful as you imagine!) and some bits feel a bit… ad-hoc. It also (and I noticed this about Atari 50, too) keeps quite a narrow focus and doesn’t widen context to deepen your understanding. Everything about Spartan X and the path from Prince of Persia to Tomb Raider and beyond that I wrote of in my Karateka write-up is my own, er, research [“*cough* Wikipedia *cough*”--Ed.] and I think that’s a line that’s missing and (honestly) needed to make players understand Karateka’s place in history.

That said, what’s there is still fascinating. It’s simply a matter of curatorial choice. It’s obviously challenging to try and make an Apple II game chime with audiences in 2023, and the choice here was made to not just release Karateka with a “museum” glued on and I’d agree it’s more likely than not in that situation new players don’t go into the game with the right mindset. But I’m not sure that going for the “museum” first angle is correct either. While, yes, you can absolutely click through to a menu and just play Karateka straight away, the experience is absolutely not framed like that, and if you play through the “interactive documentary” in order, you spend a long time playing prototypes of Deathbounce, a game that Jordan Mechner never actually manages to make any good!

It’s a strange priority, and I think it comes from locking the interactive documentary into a strictly chronological format. No one is asking for my advice, but I think there’s a middle-ground here, and I think it’s the Turner Classic Movies system. You know how you used to turn on TCM and then like, Robert Osborne would be there, and he’d explain how this random Humphrey Bogart movie was actually very interesting, and then suddenly you’re watching Sahara and really enjoying it?

I think that’s what I’m imagining. You load this up, you get a nice intro, an explainer, and then you’re playing Karateka. Then once you stop playing it (you don’t have to finish it or anything) it goes straight into the documentary, armed with knowledge of Karateka. Deathbounce makes more sense once you’ve played Karateka. You can actually see the evolution because you know how far he was able to go!

So, yes, my main complaint with The Making of Karateka is simply one of pacing and structure and awkward priorities, the last of which is most exemplified by another example: the inclusion of modern remakes of both Deathbounce and Karateka. Structured as it is, I have to question whether they were worth the time and expense?

(An immediate aside as I discuss this. Retro re-releases are getting wildly disparate in pricing now. Arcade Archives are putting out excellent stand-alone titles for $8, but you also have ININ putting out a bare-bones version of Cannon Dancer for an absurd $30, so it’s actually a bit hard to declare the correct value of a re-release, and how much extra value remakes or improvements offer in terms of how much you can charge versus how much it costs to produce…)

The Deathbounce remake doesn’t feel simply unnecessary, it feels counter-intuitive to the thrust of the documentary. It doesn’t succeed in making Deathbounds good, and the lesson I read from this section is that Mechner spends far too long trying to make a simple arcade game into something more rather than just releasing his first version quickly (which is probably the most fun version!) and just ends up with something that’s kind of a bloated mess, and seemingly far from his goals. The “what if” here is “what if a mess, but it’s 2023.”

The Karateka remake, however, is fantastic… it’s just that it is basically at the end of the entire museum and it wasn’t until I got there that I even knew it existed! Developer Mike Mika has done exactly what he set out to do, which is to make a hyper-smooth version of Karateka that feels like it was developed for an ideal VGA PC in the early 90s, and it includes a brilliant director’s commentary system (there’s an entire director’s commentary for the Apple II Karateka too, but it’s not particularly highlighted, which is a bit of a shame–although you just watch a playthrough for that one). 

It makes the game really accessible (perhaps too easy to play, even) but by the time I got to it it felt completely redundant! Sure it’s slow, but Apple II Karateka is perfectly playable, and the director’s commentary in the remake even just recounts a bunch of stuff you’ve already learned. So the whole thing feels like it’s working at cross purposes to the rest of the release–like they could have simply released a remake, but something changed their minds about doing that, and it ended up here as essentially bonus content.

If it really comes down to it, though, this is all just my classic “well, this isn’t exactly how I want it” complaints, and I sincerely hope the “Gold Series” can be sustainable enough to continue–perhaps this is as much a proof of concept as anything. I’m just not sure they actually need to put in this much effort, as counter-intuitive as that sounds. 

Will I ever play it again? From an educational standpoint, I sort of wish there was just a folder with all the materials in it to refer to rather than having to walk the halls of the digital museum each time, but there’s stuff here that I’ll return to, absolutely.

Final Thought: Actually, a (much needed!) re-release of MULE, for example, could benefit from an expansive museum and including a remake (which should be front and center if they do, the original is a much harder sell than even Karateka) but for many games–and I think in the end Karateka felt like this for me–a Turner Classic Movies-style release would be enough. Either way, I’m still going to show up every time.

Support Every Game I’ve Finished on ko-fi! You can pick up a digital copy of exp. 2600, a zine featuring all-exclusive writing at my shop, or join as a supporter at just $1 a month and get articles like this a week early.

[callipraxia]

wouldn’t the doc have an edit history? if the computer just suddenly Stopped Working and there were no past issues, it might have auto saved! …but if you’ve already checked, then I’m sorry for the repetition. I hope you can recover it, or get the motive to write again soon ❤️

That was my hope/expectation...however, it seems that LibreOffice Writer doesn’t come with that functionality/at least didn’t use it in this case – I clicked everything that looked even vaguely promising, searched around for tips, and, alas, found nothing. Therein, I suppose, lies the crux of the dilemma I faced when choosing a word processor for the new computer: I needed something that would function offline (since Internet connectivity at my house after about 7pm is so bad that Google Docs and similar become virtually unusable, and it’s not that great during the day, either), but the options there are/seem, based on my Googling, to be limited, and the inexpensive ones even more so :(

However! This is far from the worst pickle I’ve ever been dropped in while writing. Heck, it’s not even the worst situation I’ve been in since I started writing GF fanfic, only three years ago. That situation was the time when I was working on three stories at once (early drafts of “The Earth Never Tires” and “The Player of Games” along with a third, still unpublished story, “Our Beginnings Never Know Our Ends,” which I still haven’t given up on finishing despite how it appears to be cursed in some way) and lost...everything.

All of it.

All at once.

Unusually for me, I hadn’t even written down anything on paper for the almost half-finished “Earth” at that stage, and had only ever scribbled down about half a scene for “Player,” so I had to reconstruct almost everything in them from scratch/memory. And my memory is...eh. I didn’t have the heart to even start trying for several months.* As for “Beginnings,” I did have a good bit of it written down on various scraps of paper...but then I lost those scraps of paper. Which is why I think that story may be cursed, despite my refusal to give up on it completely, even though it's now about eleven months since I finished “Earth” and about six months since I finished “Player.”

As for the story mentioned yesterday – I’m a bit put out about losing the version I had going of the first scene, which included some wordplay and allusions that I felt very clever about, but its skeleton is still written down on a paper and most of the second and third scenes were even pencilled down in some detail. So, it's not nearly as bad as what happened with the original three poem-tales, and will be much easier to recover from now that I’ve had a sleep and gotten over my headache and etc. Still appreciate the well-wishes, though! ❤️

Moral of the story is: o you who click the keys and feel your tale is close to completion/Consider Calli, who’s repeatedly been as close to finished as you. Or, in simpler terms: save after every paragraph at least. I do not care if it’s been a year since the last time you had something like this happen; the computer gremlins are always watching, and the moment that you relax and let your guard back down, they will attack again. Here’s hoping I can recall this moral myself, going forward...at least for another year.

*Admittedly, I might have gotten back in the saddle faster if I hadn’t also had the series going on at that time; “people want updates on this other thing!” was an excellent excuse for putting off making the effort to start over from nothing. I say I enjoy rewriting, but only, apparently, when there's the option of cutting and pasting bits that work from the original version; just starting back over at a blank page...not so much.

[khoicesbyk]

Revenge.

A/N: This AU is a mashup of chapters from the new…ish book First Comes Love

Book: First Comes Love

A/N 2: This book was cute until the LI got on my nerves. He's fine as all get out but oblivious as shit. So what happens when you decide to play his game? Read and find out!

A/N 3: In this series, you are the MC. So you get to experience all the emotional damage that comes along. Have fun!

Rated: Mature. | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual from me. 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: Blake Marshall (LI) and Reader (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and original characters created by me) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 3,600 words. (more or less. I stop counting after editing and re-editing. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

Tag List: @choicesficwriterscreations

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click ——> Here!

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or dm me and I will gladly add you! 😁😘

This series is rated Mature. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

Chapter 2.) The One For Me.

Alexa play SWV's “You're The One.”

Because that's how I feel about Y/N. I've known for years that she's been in love with me. It's literally written in her eyes. It's in that beautiful smile. And well…I’ve always felt the same way about her. How can I not? 

We've known each other since that day we met on the quad. She smiled at me and my knees could've damn near buckled. She was always active in everything she set her mind to. Starting the school’s only Majorette squad (I swear I wanted to die every time I watched her practice), running for and winning SGA President, getting the school to offer African American Studies, establishing our school’s Black Student Council, the list goes on and on. 

She's also always been there for me. Whenever I needed her she was there. Whether I needed a study partner, a sounding board, or someone to hold my hand as I pledged Kappa. I still have a picture of her sleeping in my jacket. 

Red and white looks good on her. Everything looks good on her. Especially me. I always loved it when she would fall asleep on my chest back in school. Even after we graduated it's always been us. She's always been there. She's my girl without actually being my girl, you know? 

So why is she trying me? Why is she with Stars…Moon…Sun, whatever his name is? Better yet why did I watch her fuck him? Why did I like watching her fuck him?

Fuck! How did I get here? 

She's always been mine. Always. Sure she's had her exes none worse than Derek but deep down, that's my girl. So why is she acting so weird? I don't understand. Why would she be about him when she's always been about me?

If she's mad about Becky being on the trip, I'm sorry. I know I should've told her about her. I tell her everything. Well, almost everything. I just didn't think it would be a problem. Until he showed up. Then it became a problem. I can't stand it. 

Watching him have his hands all over her. Touching her in ways I have only dreamed of. Kissing her, kissing on her. I've only kissed her once. It was only because some guy was harassing her at a bar we were at and she needed a way to get him off her ass. Her lips were soft, I didn't want to stop.

What the fuck does he have that I don’t have anyway?

He's 5’11, I'm 6’3.

He had some tone but I have muscle.

He had swag (very little), but I am a man.

I’m perfect for (Y/N) and the fact that she refuses to see it boils my fucking blood.

Sure, I’m dating Rebecca.  She’s nice and all…most of the time.

But (Y/N), she makes me happy.  I have wasted so much time being with the wrong person.

I don’t want Bad Girls Club, drama or a woman who doesn’t know herself.

I want Sunday dinners, trips to other places, and…everything with this special someone.

How do I get to that place? How?

Then there's the fact, Stars is not her fucking type. He's a gym bro who's a fire Marshal. So he rescues puppies and kittens from burning buildings. Big deal. And also, they have nothing in common. 

Whereas she and I have bared our souls to each other. I have cooked for her more times than I can count. The things she hates, I love. And the things I hate she loves. We're in sync. I've seen her at her worst. I was there to help her pick up the pieces of her broken heart. 

But ever since she got here it's been weird between us. And then he comes along and all of a sudden she acts like I don't exist in her life. Playing with her hair around him, biting her bottom lip, that small smile. That's all meant for me. Not him. 

Y/N is a catch. She's beautiful. Any man would be lucky to call her theirs. And by any man I mean me. I'm the only one for her. She knows this. And yet I have to watch her spend time with him. 

It's driving me fucking crazy! 

I know I can't stifle her, I mean I could but I want her to explore. Find out who she is on her own. Even though I already know who my girl is. 

Which is why I put up with her exes. Most of them were okay at best but they never really knew her. Not like I do. And let's also be clear, none of them were me. I'm the one she wants. Then there was Derek. Man, I wanted him dead. 

I knew Derek would be nothing but trouble from the moment they met but I didn't think it would be that bad. Not until he cheated on her and worse tried to put his hands on her. 

If Lino hadn't held me back, I'd probably be in jail for murder. He was no fucking good. Always trying to control her. Always telling her he didn't like her being around me or Lino. Said it made him uncomfortable. While he had lady friends galore. 

This fool even managed to piss Eve off. And trust me, it takes A LOT to piss her off. But my girl was in love. I couldn't say or do anything. Not yet. Not until he fucked up. And man did he fuck up. Spectacularly I might add.

She caught him in bed with a girl from his job and that was it. She went off on him, as she should have, and when he couldn't stand to see her stand up for herself, he raised his hand to her. I will never forget that phone call. Hearing the crack in her voice and that he tried to hit her, I was ready for war. 

I laid next to her as she cried herself to sleep. Then watched her pick herself up and put her heart back together. And she’s been on her guard ever since. Not that I blame her. 

Most men are gross and would not hesitate to hurt her. Not me though. I know exactly how to treat her. 

I'm getting too far into my head. She still loves me. I know it. I know her. He's convenient and temporary. I am forever to her. I have to be. We've been through too much. 

If it wasn't for that damn bonfire we wouldn't be having any issues. Which once again is his fault. He just had to invite her. He tried to get her to himself. Fuck that shit. Nobody gets Y/N alone but me. 

Thank God she had sense enough to include her wingman. We're a team, we do it all together. 

Seeing her show off in that yellow sundress literally tested my resolve. The way it hugged her curves…I could've done some VERY wicked things to her. She looked amazing and when she walked past me switching her hips making her ass bounce…if only God would have taken me. 

Becks…she tried. But what she didn't understand is that's not how Black Women dress or act or sound like for that matter. But at least she tried…ish.

The bonfire was nice actually. The drinks were great. The food was spectacular. The vibe was amazing. Or it would've been if Stars had kept his hands off of Y/N.

The way they danced together. The fact they were so close and so intimate. If I wasn't dancing with Becky I would've broken them up by now. Because this is going too far. As the night wound down Y/N and Stars disappeared. And I had to know where they were going. 

Thankfully Becks was drunk and when that happens, she's ready for bed. I was thankful for Lino and Eve. They would make sure she got back safe. I followed Stars and her to find out what they were up to. And what I saw…

I—

The way he fucked her…it got my dick hard.  

Y/N always starred in whatever she was in, and watching her with Great Value Captain America, with all his cheap ass stars, was the best porn I ever watched.

I thought about the way he held her down, the way he thrusted into her.  That should’ve been me. It should've been my name dripping from her lips. It should've been my lips on her. 

“Babyyyyyyy! Come to bed! I’m horny!”  Becks shouted.

God, she smelled like cheap ass Hennessey. How?  She doesn’t even drink Hennessy like that.

Becks was acting like a damn fool, tripping onto the bed. 

As I helped her get her lashes and jewelry off (God, this shit is tarnishing already), I got my own clothes off and settled into bed next to her.

She was exhausting, and I was fucking exhausted with with her.

Everything about her was tiring from her fake ass blaccent to that BBL that she made me go half in on (worst $900 I ever spent because who the fuck gets their ass done in Mexico?).

And what’s worse is that I still had a boner from thinking about Y/N.

The way she shook her ass on the dance floor with Mr. American Pie made my dick hard as a rock.

I turned the lights out and laid in bed, spreading my legs wide.

I imagined her fucking him, being under him…

I fished my underwear out of my box and started to touch myself.

I imagined my mouth instead of her fingertips.

I imagined her mouth instead of my palms.

I rubbed myself until I was fully ingratiated into my fantasy and when I came to, I nutted.

I sighed, and-

“ZZZZZZZ!”

I glared over at Becky as she let out the loudest snore I ever heard.

Shaking my head, I turned over and tried to rest.

My sleeping goal was unsuccessful that night.

___

The next morning dawned bright and early, and I was already feeling a lot better. That nut I busted did me a bit of good. I was ready for breakfast. 

When Becky and I got to the breakfast buffet, Y/N was already there. Looking fine as hell. Those sleep shorts showed off her ass and her thighs, and that tank top highlighted the curves of her breasts. 

There was plenty of maple syrup around, I could've easily had her for breakfast. 

Everything was going good until I found out that Stars was in her room and she was getting breakfast for HIM.

First of all, she's not a servant, and second, why is this fool in her room?!

I couldn't believe it. He's violating my space. He's in HER room AND HER bed? Nah! Not even about to play that. 

I need a plan. This has gone on long enough. He's getting too damn comfortable and close to my girl. How do I break up this little fling? Because that's what it is. This is a fling. 

All day she's been up under him. And it's starting to make me crack. I couldn't even enjoy the day because of this. I came inside and ran straight into Becky. 

Oh God…

“Baby, I got a headache,” she groans.

I knew her tired ass shouldn’t have drank all that, Hennessy…

“I need you,” she says, holding her arms out to me.

“You should lay back and relax,” I respond, pulling her to me and kissing her head. 

She uses too much fucking hair grease, and she doesn’t even have any edges.

“I want to sleep,” she says before running her hands over the front of my jeans batting here eyelashes, “But I also wanna fuck.”

Y/N was still on my mind so I didn’t want to.  But I imagined her under Mr. 4th of July Meets Telenovela and I got hard all over again.

“Lay back,” I ordered her.

Becks laid back on the bed and I crawled on top of her before pulling off her undies.

At least she smelled normal down there.  But she didn’t smell as good as Y/N.

I spread her thighs and went to work, using my tongue to take what little pleasure I could from this situation.  Her moans weren’t sultry at all. In fact, they were loud, sleazy, and obnoxious.

But if Y/N and America the Ugly are in the next room, I can use this to my advantage.

I lick deeper and deeper into Rebecca’s pussy, pulling out the loudest moans that she can provide.

The whole ship must be awake now.

“Ugh!  Yes, Blake!  Fuck, Daddy!”

I hated it when she called me Daddy.

“Ugh…fuck, Sky.  Yes…”

I tried to imagine Y/N under me; her body, the sounds she makes…

It made it bearable.

When Becks was ready, I quickly got out of my pants and undies and went inside her.

Fuck, she didn’t even feel like Y/N.

I imagined Y/N’s moans - whatever I needed to get my nut.

God, Becks needed lotion. She felt like a fucking lizard.  No! Focus, Blake. 

Becks was going to town and I was over it. I just wanted to bust this nut and move on. 

She rides like she has no idea how to ride. This girl was literally on the back of a horse but can't ride a dick to save her life. Someone kill me, please. 

This is weird and uncomfortable. I can't do this. 

“Why don't we switch positions?” I suggest. I want her off of me. Now!

She rolls off me 

She pouts for a moment but thankfully gets her ass off of me. Thank you to whatever spiritual deity is looking out for me. 

“Arch your back,” I tell her.

“Yes, Daddy. Anything for you.”

Stop calling me Daddy! The only woman I want calling me Daddy is my girl.

As I got ready to mount her, all I could think about was Y/N. I could hear her begging me for it. I could feel her desperate need for me to fuck her. As I slowly slid into Becky, all I could think of was Y/N.

Her reactions and the way she felt around my dick. All of that made fucking Becky a whole lot easier. 

I close my eyes and instantly see my girl in my head. On all fours, face down with that sexy ass up in the air. 

God, she looks amazing. Moaning and whimpering for me. Begging me to fuck her harder.

“Ooh! Fuck! Yes, Blake!” Becky moans.

I tune her out and focus on my girl. 

My girl is giving me everything she has to give. Throwing it back like a pro and driving me crazy.

“That's it, baby. Throw it back! Give me that pussy.” 

Becky responded but I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't talking about her.

I needed this. I needed her. I needed to bust this damn nut. 

God, Becks takes forever to cum. I'm ready to end this. 

“Cum for me.”

“Just a little more Daddy! That's all I need.” 

Woman, I don't have all fucking day! Hurry up!

“Now girl!”

I help her along until I feel her walls contract and release against me. She was done but sadly I wasn't.

She collapsed on the bed and wrapped herself up in the covers. 

“Mmm! Thank you, Daddy! That was so much fun.” she purrs in my ear. I literally had to fight not to flinch. 

“Yeah. Look, I'm gonna hop in the shower.”

“You go ahead. I'm gonna lay here on cloud nine.

I couldn't run to the shower fast enough. I needed to get this nut off fast. I turned on the hot water, let it hit my body, closed my eyes, and rubbed it out. 

If this is my punishment for pissing off whichever God in the sky, I'm so sorry. I promise I will mend my wicked ways.

My mind grew angry at the idea of Y/N riding Star's mini-stripe.  Fucking arrogant, rich bastard.

I did my best to wash away Rebecca and put my true woman there. I imagined her in the shower with me, taking my dick into her hands as she sucked voraciously on my balls.

"Mmm," she moans, "Your balls are so big, Daddy."

"Baby, slow down," I respond, breath heavy, "You'll make Daddy nut on your pretty face."

"But daddy," she moans, looking up at me, holding my dick almost proudly, "Our kids are in here.  I gotta get you ready."

"Ready?"

"Yeah.  I want your babies.  You wanna get your babygirl pregnant?"

The look she gave me as she jacked my dick almost made me nut immediately.

"Ugh, fuck.  Yes, baby.  Go on ahead and make Daddy finish."

"Yes daddy…ugh…put it in my mouth," she whispered.

The heat of her breath made me see the Pearly Gates (or the Fiery Pits depending on your beliefs about adultery), and I stuck my dick into her mouth.

She was my little cum vacuum.  And I fucking loved it.

When I looked down at my hand I was thoroughly satisfied. My girl does it for me again.

—

She had been distant ever since she went swimming with Mr  All-American. I've tried everything to get her attention but so far nothing. She's been all about him. I caught her as she came walking down the hall. 

She had on this beautiful strapless burnt orange dress with a high slit up the right side. She put her hair up in a half-do. And those sexy white heels she had on. My dick grew three times its size in my jeans. 

“Where are you headed off to?” I ask her.

“Sky is taking me to a Salsa Club in town,” she tells me.

“Why are you going to a club for some dip?” 

She shook her head and smiled at me.

“Not the dip you idiot. The dance.”

It was good to see that smile. 

When Stars showed up I could've chucked his ass off a mountain. Smiling at my girl. Whispering in her ear. Wrapping his arms around her waist. 

Ugh! I hate it here!

I watched them walk out the door and just knew I had to go after them. Why? Because I don't fucking like or trust him. 

I convinced Becks to go with me to the club. Mainly because it would give me plausible deniability if my girl asked me why we were there. Also, I'm trying to see Y/N shake her ass. 

We got to the club maybe an hour after they did. It wasn't a bad looking place. It reminded me of a place in Miami that Y/N and I went to the SOBE Wine And Food Festival one year. When we walked inside there they were. Tearing up the dance floor. 

She was so in tune with the music and the atmosphere. I kinda appreciated the way he would spin her around. The way her hips moved as they danced had me in a trance. 

After a few drinks, I let Becks drag me out on the dancefloor to challenge them. We lost. In spectacular fashion. But we worked up a sweat. This was a great exercise. 

They finally got off the dancefloor and sat at a table across the room. And I wouldn't have cared all that much until he looked at me over her shoulder, nodded, winked, and smirked at me. 

It took everything in me not to walk over and punch him in his smug face. When he got up to go back to the dance floor and Becks went to the bathroom, I went to talk to her.

“Well if it isn't the dancing queen.”

She rolled her eyes at me and smirked.

“Why are you here Blake?”

“I can't take my girlfriend on a date?”

She gave me a sideways look.

“Uh huh. I know what you’re doing Marshall.”

“What am I doing?”

“Spying on me.”

I place a hand over my chest. 

“Me?! Sweet innocent me?! Spy on you?”

She rolled her eyes and smirked at me over her drink. The look in her eyes made my dick wiggle.

“Nice moves by the way. You have the dancing skills of a sumo wrestler.”

Ouch. That stings. 

“You wound me.” 

She shrugged innocently. 

“Not my fault your talents are best suited for the kitchen and not dancing.”

She's not wrong.

“Are you done being mad at me?”

“I'm not mad at you, Blake.”

“Sure feels that way.”

“I just want to have fun, that's all.”

Baby girl, you can have all the fun you want with me. You don't need him.

“Does it have to be with him?”

“Well it's certainly not gonna be the dad-to-be or Eve so Sky is my only viable option.”

I'm right here baby. Just say the word. 

“I just…”

She slipped her hands into mine.

“I get it. You’re looking out for me. But I need you to trust me. Can you do that for me? Please?” 

It took everything in me not to drag her out of there.

“Yeah. I can do that.” 

“Thank you, Marshall.”

That's when Stars called out to her.

“Gotta go. I'll see you back at the resort.”

I watched her walk off, her ass looking good in that dress. And was more convinced than ever that Stars had to go. He will NOT take my girl from me.

[geminiamethyst]

Skyline Gang: Conquering Fears

1shot stories list: click HERE

This is a request that was made by one of my Wattpad readers.

This is technically a sequel to Candi’s segment in the Fears mini series that I did a while back because there will be some references to that.

Candi watched enviously as she walked around the rides in the Skyline. Some of them she loves to go on, like the carousel and Waltzers (even if the latter did make her feel a little sick afterwards). She even went on the go karts occasionally, despite not liking going very fast. It was all good fun, and a lovely way to interact with young guests on occasion. She sometimes plays with the children in the Skypark that was newly built. On the roundabout or running around playing tag. However, there was just one problem. She loathed heights. She had done since she was very little. Whenever she sees guests and her friends going on rides like the Chair-O-Planes and helter skelter, she gets uncomfortable and a little envious. She would love to go on them and have fun of course, but this phobia of hers always held her back. Just the thought of being high up always made her feel queasy. Especially if she needs to go past the high ropes course, but that’s photographer that harassed her a couple of months ago was to blame for that. He tried to force her onto the course and refused to listen until Dude kicked him out of the Skyline for the assault. They had to countersue him too after he tried to sue them for him losing his job (with CCTV and eyewitness accounts, plus photographic evidence of a bruise on Candi’s arm from when she was grabbed, they easily won the case). All because he refused to look at a memo from his boss in concerns to her phobia. The consequences that he faced however did little to comfort Candi. It was very terrifying to think that people like that existed. For a few days after that incident, Candi refused to go near the course unless she was with someone like her friends or a Redcoat. She was scared that the photographer would come back, camera in hand, or someone much worse than him would try to force her to go on the course. Given what had happened, no one could blame her, even Misty felt sorry for her opposite.

On this particular day, Candi decided to oversee the rides and games with her guests. Sprout was there too but on the other side of the park. She cheered for the guests that won the games and laughed with them on the rides that she couldn’t go on. It was all good fun and it took her mind off of the heights for the time being. However, after she finished cheering for a little boy that won a Pokemon plushie, someone approached her. It was a girl a little older than her, maybe fifteen. She wore quite adventurous looking clothing, ready to take on the rides or anything else that required free movement.

“Hey, I heard that you don’t like heights. Is that true?” The girl suddenly asked without greeting Candi properly. It made Candi twitch a little but she didn’t show it too much. She and the others have met most people that won’t bother to greet them properly, especially Karens. They’ve gotten used to it, but it was still a bit of a bother.

“Y-yes…” Candi shuddered, thinking back to her fear again. She had just shaken off the thoughts about it. “I haven’t been a fan of heights when I fell off of something at a park when I was little.”

“Seriously?” The girl suddenly started snickering. It caused Candi to flinch much more visibly this time. “I’ve fallen off of stuff too, and I’ve never been scared of heights! You’re pathetic!”

“N-no I’m not!” Candi tried to protest. A part of her wanted to shout for Sprout to help, but even she knew that she can’t stand up for herself if she relies on others too much. “It’s a genuine fear that I have! I have no control over it!”

“Whatever, loser!” The girl laughed, before she turned around to go back to her friends. They all shared a small laugh while looking at Candi before heading to the next ride on their list. A couple of people were watching the exchange. One of the children asked Candi if she was okay. Candi just smiled and said that she was fine. However, that was a lie. She wasn’t fine. Far from it. She quickly excused herself, and left. She avoided making eye contact with anyone until she reached the staff only areas. She navigated through the mini maze and ended up outside again. Her feet carried her until she was at the Skypark.

She slowly sat down on a bench and watched the children playing. That envy crawled into her again. It all looked like good fun going up the towers and sliding down. And swinging so high that the children felt like they were flying. However, that uneasiness reared its ugly head again, and it caused Candi to feel a little sick. She had dealt with her fair share of not so nice guests before, but even they never taunted her over her fear of heights. Sure Misty made a couple of jabs before, but she never went that far with it and she even apologised in the end. But this was a complete stranger that didn’t know her at all. She just heard one rumour and decided to exploit Candi for it. In all honesty, that cut pretty deep. She didn’t want to admit it out loud, but it hurt more than when that photographer tried to force her up onto the high ropes course.

“Candi?”

Candi looked up as she heard her name called out. Sprout was walking over to her. He wasn’t grinning or smiling, not ready to crack a joke. He just had this concerned look on his face. Did he see what had happened? Or just noticed that she had left so suddenly without notice?

“I’m okay…” Candi muttered, adverting her gaze away from the joker.

“Are you sure?” Sprout asked, taking a seat next to Candi. He knew that something was wrong. He’s known everyone, especially Candi, long enough to know if they’re not okay. He pulled a smile as best he could. “If you get more sad, then all your pink will turn white. You’ll lose all of your colour. Or worse, you’ll turn into Misty.”

“I heard that!” Misty’s voice rang out. Sprout jumped out of his skin as he whipped around. Sure enough, Misty was storming up to him. Where did she come from? She must have ducked out of her duties again. Dude’s probably going to tell her off again. Candi however, didn’t react to the voice. She just slumped over a little, letting out a quiet sigh. Misty noticed and momentarily forgot what she was going to strike back at Sprout. “What’s wrong with you now?”

Candi wanted to say again that she was fine, but she knew that nothing was going to work. Even if she somehow pulled off a lie with Sprout, Misty would see through the deception as easily as glass. With another quiet sigh, she opened up about what happened. Shame washed over her as she laid out that small interaction. Reliving it, even if it was just a one minute talk, made her more vulnerable,e than she had ever felt before in her life. But after all was said, she felt like the weight of the world had been offed off of her shoulders. Sprout was half tempted to go find the girl and make her apologise but for all he knew, she could’ve left by now. It was probably for the best anyway as he would have caused a scene if he went searching.

“Candi, I hate to be the one to tell you this…but you really need to start to develop a backbone.” Misty rolled her eyes, ignoring the side stare that Sprout was giving her. “A proper one, not one that pops out occasionally when it suits you.”

“I know…but I can’t do that with heights…” Candi sighed hopelessly, her head in her hands. She knew that she wasn’t the toughest in the Gang but it didn’t need to be rubbed in her face. Especially not now. Misty bit her tongue, knowing that her words might have been a step too far. Sprout meanwhile watched the park. He watched as the children played on with their own games, oblivious to the observers. Then an idea came to him.

“Then, let’s start off small!” He declared as he grabbed Candi’s hand.

“Small?” Candi echoed as she was pulled to her feet.

“Come on!” Sprout ignored the question and began pulling Candi towards the Skypark. Misty watched them for a minute. What was Sprout planning now? Something stupid again no doubt. With a shrug, she started to slowly make her way over to the duo. She wanted to see Sprout’s plan crash and burn and prepared the barrel of laughter that was to come from it.

“Now, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.” Sprout grinned as he gently pushed Candi to sit down on a swing. Candi glanced around. Children were on the other swings. Some were pushed by their parents, while others were on their own. They went so high. Almost too high.

“But…but what if I fall off?” Candi stammered, the urge to run away filled her immensely. Her chest felt tight, her breath came out short. She can’t do this!

“You won’t. Just hold on tight.” Sprout smiled patiently, and gently guided Candi’s hands to clench onto the chains holding the swing. “I’ll start small. When you say the word, I’ll push you a little higher. If it gets too much, then I’ll stop the swing.” Candi wanted to jump off and say no. She wanted to tell Sprout to forget this plan of his. However, she watched the children on the swings again. They were still going up high but…maybe it’s not as high as it looks? It’s not like they’re reaching the height of the high ropes course or the tallest towers in the park.

“O…okay…just make sure that you don’t get hurt if you try to stop the swing.” Candi sighed with a shaky grin.

“Scout’s honour. Which is kind of ironic because I was never a scout in the first place.” Sprout grinned back. It earned a small laugh from Candi, the signal that he needed. He carefully walked to stand behind Candi, and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. “Ready?”

Candi took a deep breath. Then another. And another. Her shoulders became a little less tense, but she held a death grip on the swing. No doubt there will be indentations on her skin for a minute after she lets go. Sprout gently started pushing, causing her to tense up again. She closed her eyes, dreading how high she was starting to go. It wasn’t that high at all. Since Candi wasn’t swinging her legs, Sprout was working as much as he could to keep up the momentum of her going back and forth. In all honesty, he found her acrophobia slightly strange. She can be up on a stage with is only a little higher than the swings, but she can’t stand having her feet off the ground even at this height. Maybe it was just the thought of and feeling of having her feet off of solid ground that’s more triggering?

“Ready to go a little higher?” Sprout asked after a minute. So far so good.

“Just a little…please?” Candi stammered, her eyes still closed (not that Sprout could see it of course).

“Deep breaths. Here we go.” Sprout said encouragingly. Candi took a shaky deep breath. Sprout pushed a little harder, Candi was given more height. She let out a whimper, and became more tense. “You’re okay. I’m right behind you.”

Misty had been watching the whole thing. Candi was halfway to the highest point and aside from keeping her eyes closed, she’s been doing pretty well. Misty couldn’t deny that she was almost impressed. She would have been more impressed if this wasn’t so boring. Seriously though? The swings? And how long will it be until Candi was good enough to open up her eyes or even start swinging herself. This whole thing was going far too slow and babyish.

“Hey, Sprout? Maybe you shouldn’t baby her?” Misty hissed as she came up next to the green boy in question.

“When it comes to Candi and helping her with her fear, I have to.” Sprout whispered back, stepping away from Candi to make sure neither he nor Misty got hit by accident. “Bud said something about some people overcoming their fears with gentle…what was that word again? Exposure? Or something like that?”

“Since when do you listen to Bud’s scientific mumbo jumbo?” Misty raised an eyebrow.

“Good question. Maybe I accidentally paid attention or something that one time.” Sprout mused over. Now that he thought about it, the more he started to question how good his memory actually was. Strange how the mind works.

“So…can I introduce you to my spiders so you can get over your fear of them?” Misty asked with a smirk.

“Keep them away from me!” Sprout practically shrieked, as he got ready to start running.

“What’s going on back there?” Candi asked as she realised that the attention was off of her.

“Nothing!” Sprout and Misty responded in sync. They can settle this little thing later. They turned to look back at Candi. That’s when they were met with a surprise of their own. Since Sprout had been pushing Candi, they thought that once he stopped, she would gradually come to a steady halt. However, instead, she was still swinging. In fact, she had been swinging her legs back and forth, her body leaning in the opposite direction to keep up the momentum. Actually, she had made herself go higher.

“You did it! You’re at the highest point!” Sprout cheered. He stood back at his original spot in case Candi started to freak out and he needed to stop the swing. All he received was a little bit of laughter from Candi.

“This is actually fun!” She beamed, still swinging as high as she could. “I’ve been on swings before, but never…you know…had a swing. I just liked sitting on them.”

Misty bit her tongue to say a remark. She carefully skirted around to try to have a look at Candi’s face. She was smiling widely, despite her still being pale. She still had her eyes closed but that’s okay. This was a good start. Misty had to give Sprout some credit. His stupid “exposure” plan was actually working. All that Candi needed to do was open up her eyes once she was comfortable enough. After a couple more minutes, Candi’s legs starts to get tired. She stopped the momentum and slowly got her feet planted back on the ground. She finally opened her eyes and appeared to be less pale. If anything, she was glowing a little from the excitement of getting over the first hurdle.

“That’s the first step! Ready for the next one?” Misty suddenly pipped up. Why was Sprout getting a bad feeling about this?

“Okay…I think…” Candi stammered. She wanted to move up a step, but when Misty pointed to the blue tower, she bulked a little. Wasn’t this going a little too fast?

“Don’t worry. Just take your time.” Sprout said and rubbed Candi’s back. Candi took a big inhale and exhaled slowly. Sprout has a point. It wasn’t like she was going to be supported by a harness on a beam or anything like that. She should be relatively safe so long as she’s careful enough. And she shouldn’t feel rushed either. She’ll be okay, she just needs to take her time. So she steeled her nerves and, with Sprout and Misty being in front of her, began her ascent. Any children that wanted to go up, she let past due to her taking her time with the climb. Sprout and Misty were likewise, with Sprout cracking a joke to take Candi’s mind off of the climb a little.

However, Candi looked through the gaps in the tower. She hadn’t meant to, it just happened. That’s when she looked down. Her head reeled. Her blood ran cold. Her chest felt tight. She lost all feeling in her body and her vision started to blur. No, no, no! Why now? She was doing so well!

“S-Sprout! Misty!” Candi barely managed to shout as her body curled up into a ball.

“What’s wrong?” Sprout asked as he looked behind him.

“I-I-I can’t b-breathe!” Candi gasped, her form tightened even more.

“Misty! Stop!” Sprout called out as he immediately jumped down to where Candi was.

“What?” Misty groaned, as she turned to look back down. She felt it before she saw it. The rising fear that wasn’t her own. All it took was that sudden spike and one look behind her. “Oh no…”

Just like Sprout, Misty descended back down to help with damage control. While Sprout focused on calming down his sister, she scurried children away as they started to crowd as asked questions. A couple moved on, more concerned about playing. A few more needed some encouragement with Misty playfully threatening to chase them until they went up to the slide.

“Candi, look at me.” Sprout said gently, blocking Candi from seeing anything else. “You’re okay. Let’s get you back on the ground.” He offered a hand, and Candi clutched onto it like a lifeline. Seeing that Sprout had started to help Candi to her feet, Misty sped on ahead of them. She told children to stop climbing for just a minute, which gave the siblings a clear path. Some of them whined and complained, but once they saw how pale and unwell Candi appeared, they immediately went quiet. Once all three went out of the tower, Candi was taken to sit down on a bench to calm down.

“You know what superheroes need? A sidekick!” Sprout grinned sheepishly, rubbing Candi’s back. “That’s me! You’re my hero, Candi!”

“N-no I’m not! I’m pathetic!” Candi cried, shaking her head vigorously. Her breathing came up short as she struggled to breathe. Her vision started to blur as she had this feeling of being dragged under.

“Candi! Look at me!” Sprout spoke up, squeezing Candi’s shoulder. He wiped away her tears and looked at her with confidence. “You’re not pathetic. You’re brilliant. Just take deep breaths with me.” Sprout started to breathe in and out slowly, holding his breath as he did so. Candi watched the hand gestures that he was doing and started to breathe in sync with him. Misty watched, and felt that the sensation of rattled nerves slowly calmed down. Candi could feel her head was less dizzy. Her chest was no longer constricted and she could see much better now.

“Well done.” Sprout smiled encouragingly.

“I’m sorry…” Candi sighed, feeling immensely exhausted from the whole ordeal. She felt like everything had gone wrong. She felt like she had done fine on the swings because she had her eyes closed. Maybe she should have had her eyes closed too when going up the tower. Then again, that was more dangerous if she had tripped over and didn’t know where she was. This whole thing was a disaster.

“Don’t apologise.” Sprout smiled, squeezing Candi int a hug. He knew that going up the tower was a bad idea. He should’ve said no. He should’ve kept Candi on the swings and encourage her to keep her eyes open. This went too fast. Now they’ll have to start at square one. That is if Candi wanted to of course. “Let’s go inside.” With that, Sprout helped Candi to her feet and started to walk her to the house. A nice cup of tea and Candi smuggling herself in her comfort plushies should help her out a bit.

“Well…she got near enough halfway. It’s not a bad start.” Misty muttered under her breath. Sprout looked at her with raised eyebrows. Misty complementing Candi? That’s new. Misty suddenly realised her mistake and checked to see if her opposite had heard her. She hadn’t it seemed. Misty then subtly glared at Sprout. “You didn’t hear that from me. If you tell anyone, I’ll put a live spider in your bed.”

“Cross my heart…” Sprout stuttered, breaking into a small sweat.

———————————————————————————

Two days had passed since that incident; Candi hadn’t asked to try it out again. She tried again to sit on the swings. She managed it, she even had a small swing. But she couldn’t open her eyes at all. Sprout had tried to encourage her to try again, but she just refused. In the end, he gave up asking. He knew that if Candi wanted to try to do more than she already has done, she’ll need to do it in her own time.

It was on this day that Candi saw her again; the girl that had laughed at her for her fear. She was sitting at a bench table near the high ropes course. However, she didn’t have that aggressive energy that she demonstrated when Candi first met her. She was hunched over, head in her hands. Her skin was pale and she just looked like a picture of misery. She would glance up enviously at the people currently going around the high ropes course. Did something happen on the course? Candi felt the natural urge to approach her, but then she remembered what had happened a couple of days ago. She was about to get someone else but no one was around. No friends, no Redcoats; just her. Swallowing down her nerves, Candi gently approached the girl.

“Hey, are you okay?” She asked as her hands trembled a little.

“I’m fine!” The girl snapped, her arms crossed. However, Candi could tell that something was wrong. Emotions appeared to be high and this girl was lashing out.

“No you’re not.” Candi said gently. The girl flinched but still kept her walls up. “I’ll go get you some water.” Candi then rushed off to one of the vendors. The girl didn’t have a chance to argue back. Candi honestly didn’t know what she was doing. The girl had been so mean to her, mocking her for her fear of heights. She called her pathetic. She laughed about what she had done with her friends. Candi had every right to laugh back at this once lively girl. She had every right to feel better by clapping back like that. At least that’s what Misty would say right? Candi was tempted, very tempted. However, she can’t do that. She wouldn’t do that. That’s not who she is.

“What happened?” Candi asked, continuing to be gentle. She offered out the chilled water bottle. The girl hesitated, but accepted the drink in the end.

“I don’t know! I was on the high ropes course.” She sighed, seeing no other way out. She unscrewed the bottle cap almost aggressively and took a sip of the liquid. “However, I suddenly got very dizzy, like I was going to be sick. A member of staff had to come and help me. But I’m fine with heights! I’ve never had a problem with them before!”

Candi sat down a distance away from the girl and listened to every word. Each one felt more heavy than the last. She glanced up at the high ropes course. Those in front were flying through it easily, obviously having done the course of a very similar one before. Those in the middle were only half confident. The ones at the back took their time and looked a little pale too. Then Candi remembered something that the others once told her after their first time on the course.

“Is it your first time on the course?” Candi asked as kindly as she could.

“…yes…” the girl begrudgingly responded, cheeks flushing a deep red.

“Maybe it was a case of the jitters.” Candi concluded, keeping her tone as kindly and patient as she could. “I mean, a couple of my friends had told me that they got dizzy too for their first time. Even Sproutie.”

“Is that what it’s like when you’re high up?” The girl asked suddenly.

“It’s much worse than what you’ve experienced.” Candi explained, shuddering a little from the fresh memory of being in the Skypark. She didn’t dare speak about the photographer though, it wasn’t worth it. “I’ve actually had panic attacks on occasion. I’ve always had to rely on my friends to help me. In all honesty, while I am glad for it, I also hate it. But I’ve also learned that it’s okay to be scared. That’s what it means to be brave. You’re braver than I am. You’ve just had a wobbly start, that’s all.”

The girl pursed her lips, and Candi actually thought that she would say something to argue back. However, she then looked back up at the course and then the ground. Candi didn’t add anything else as the girl processed what she had heard. Both girls were silent, not disturbing the peace of shouting playfully children, screech of seagulls and normal chatter among families. Nothing felt right or wrong in those moments. Just a sense of being neutral. Then the girl looked up at the sky, watching a stray seagull as it went past.

“I saw you yesterday at the park with Sprout and Misty.” She confessed, finally sitting up a little straighter. She had seen everything? Was she going to back track and tease Candi again? “When I saw you on the swings, I thought that you were lying about your fear for attention. But when I saw your panic attack…I realised how terrified you really were. No one could fake it that well. I’m sorry for calling you pathetic.”

“What’s your name?” Candi asked smiling. She had gotten an apology. A genuine one. She didn’t need anything else from the girl at that moment. Just a small connection to make each other feel better.

“Andrea…” the girl muttered, wondering where this was going.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Candi smiled brightly, catching Andrea off guard. Why was she trying to make this a fresh start? Because there are people out there that deserve a second chance to be better; Andrea was a good example of that. Hopefully she has learned a valuable lesson in not bullying others. Candi’s phone suddenly pinged. She took a look at the text message and checked the time after reading it. Where did the time go? “I’ve got to go, but I can check on you later if you want.”

After receiving a small nod and a wave from her potential new friend, Candi ran off. She dashed to a backstage area of the pavilion. It was primarily where they stored the stilts that the Gang use, along with the outfits that they used and a changing area. The Gang had been using the stilts for a little while now. Each one (after a couple days of practicing) had managed to use them very well without much trouble. Almost everyday, two of them would go on the stilts for a time slot. They would rotate around every time, each doing a different day. For obvious reasons, only Candi hadn’t been on the stilts yet. Today was meant to be Pip and Sprout. However, upon arriving at the area, only Sprout was on the stilts. Candi expected Pip to come out of the changing room or being strapped into the stilts by now. Only the rock chick was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Mimi. Were they running late? Then Candi noticed that Dude and Bud were discussing something with Misty holding her hand up high in the air rather persistently. Rainbow was parked next to Bud, looking back and forth as the red and blue friends were talking.

“What’s happened?” Candi asked, making her presence known.

“Pip twisted her ankle.” Dude groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Mimi’s just taking her to be looked at.” So that’s why the two weren’t here. Poor Pip…

“We’re just deciding who’s going up instead.” Bud added.

“I’m volunteering here!” Misty declared, jumping up and down. It hadn’t been her turn all week, which she found rather unfair.

“Misty, the last time you went on the stilts, you tried to pour glitter and paint onto Rainbow.” Dude reprimanded, his arms crossed.

“It would’ve been funny.” Misty shrugged.

“Yuck!” Rainbow let out a loud grumble, shaking his head furiously.

“Not if YOU were the one giving him a bath, I’d imagine.” Bud added, his disapproving face matching Dude’s. Misty pulled a face behind his back and went deadpanned when Dude called her out on it. Candi looked up at Sprout, who was getting bored very fast. No doubt his legs were starting to stiffen up by now with all this standing around. Candi then looked at the stilts that were yet to be used. She then caught sight of her own unused outfit that was on the rail in a clothing bag. She looked back up at Sprout.

“I..I’ll do it.” She suddenly announced, unable to stop the words from leaving her mouth. What is she doing?!

“Are you sure, Candi?” Dude asked, looking just as surprised as everyone else in the room.

“I mean…how bad can it be?” Candi said shakily. “It’s just the same height as being on a swing. Right, Sproutie?”

“I guess so.” Sprout said, scratching the back of his neck. He honestly didn’t think about that before. He was glad that the impromptu exposure therapy sort of worked, but like with the tower, he feared that this was going too fast. However, it’s Candi’s choice. She just needs further gentle encouragement. “And I’ll be up here with her. So just pretend that we’re still on the ground.”

“And we’ll be ground level to help keep you steady.” Dude added, catching onto what Sprout was trying to do. “We’ll do a practice first, to make sure that you’re going to be okay.”

With that, Candi got dressed and was strapped into the stilts. She still had no idea what possessed her to do this. She had plenty of time to back out and give someone else the reins. She could stop this right now. However, she felt like if she didn’t try, she might never have another chance. Candi was snapped out of her thoughts as Dude suddenly rubbed her back. Seeing her conflicted face, he gripped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. His smile was small, but powerful. That was all Candi needed for this small start. After giving the word, she was gently pulled up to stand. She teetered a little, taking small steps to maintain her balance. She gasped at how high up she was and started to loose her breath.

“Just take your time Candi.” Dude advised, keeping his grip on her hand. Candi closed her eyes trying to think of other things as rapidly as she could. Sprout could see what was happening. Candi needed distracting. STAT!

“Misty, pass me those.” He pointed out the juggling batons. Misty hastily passed them up to him. “Candi, look!” Candi hesitantly opened her eyes. Sprout immediately started juggling, keeping a wide smile on his face. That seemed to break the ice. Candi started giggling and even clapped a little. It made her forget the height and her fear for a little bit. She teetered around the small area to get used to walking. She was still shaky, but it felt more manageable than ever before. Finally it was time. At the word, Candi stepped out, with Sprout ahead of her and Dude continuing to give her ground level support. Bud and Misty went ahead of the trope, clearing the path. Candi looked around, spotting the awed and surprised children that knew of her fear of heights. She spotted Andrea in the crowd, looking surprised herself. She then flashed a thumbs up, proud of Candi’s small victory. Candi smiled and waved back.

“Hey Candi? What’s small but conquering its biggest fear?” Sprout suddenly asked, stopping his strides to look back at his sister.

“I don’t know, Sprout.” Candi smiled back at him, getting an inkling as what Sprout was going to say.

“You!” Sprout beamed, holding out his hand. “And I’m proud of you right now.”

“Thanks Sprout.” Candi tearfully smiled back, holding onto Sprout’s hand. She wasn’t ready for the bigger heights just yet, maybe she won’t be for a very long time. However, this was her victory. She can revel in this for this one short day. Maybe one day she’ll get over her fear entirely. It just takes one step at a time. And she knows that she’ll have the Skyline Gang every step of the way in order to help her.

So this was inspired by a photo that I had seen of Sprout and Candi on stilts (I think it was the Bogner cast but I sadly can’t remember)

[percontaion-points]

Gate Crashers chapters 3 & 4

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Click here for the rest of the series!

Chapter 3

It wasn’t that different from your average junior prom, only their names had letters before or after them, usually ending in D. 

“Doctor” only starts with a D. Sorry not sorry for pointing this out. 

—“and we’re going to push until we find the edge.” 

Allison really put some Tabasco sauce on the last word…

When you’re an author, you can write literally anything. The fictional world is your oyster! SO WHY ARE YOU ACTIVELY CHOOSING TO WRITE GARBAGE LIKE THIS?!

Allison took the offered gift and read the title aloud: “First Contact for Dummies: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Most Important Moment in History.” Allison choked on a giggle and let out a little cough instead. 

[...]

 “It was my mum’s, ma’am. She was with SETI. She bought it as an antique and always kept it near her desk, just in case.”

I simply want the author to know that “For Dummies” books are already quickly reaching into the point of being considered antiques in 2024. 

Allison shook her head. “I thought I knew what was coming before my preflight physical. I was wrong then, too.”

Chapter 3 summary: Allison gives her crew a pep-talk about the weird alien thing. It’s described as being as large as a bus, with alien “runes” all over it. In what I’m quickly learning is this book’s signature move… It takes way too long to get to this singular point. 

As the crew breaks apart to go do other things, a woman named Jackie approaches Allison and gives her “First Contact for Dummies”. Except I’m not quite sure what a joke book from the early 00’s could possibly have to offer. But Allison is touched at the thought that Jackie would offer up a “family heirloom”. 

Then the book starts to talk about how much time that they’ve spent in the cryo-pods, to the point where their friends and family back on earth have lived their lives and died, meanwhile the crew themselves has only aged a few weeks since they left earth. 

Times laughed this chapter: zero

Total laughs this series: zero

Chapter 4

Directly ahead, and growing ominously in his field of vision, was the Unicycle, a circular particle accelerator five thousand kilometers in circumference. It was built in orbit at the L1 Lagrange point, one of the points in space where the game of tug-of-war between sun and Earth played to a draw. The sunward side was a ring of solar panels five kilometers across, powering the station and providing shade to keep the superconducting electromagnetic coils at a crisp and efficient three degrees above zero. Not the balmy zero on Earth, where thermometers are given a minus range so Northerners can puff out their chests about how tough the winters are. The real, absolute zero, which doesn’t have negatives because there’s nowhere else to go.

[Image description: Jack O’Neil from Stargate: SG1. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson, a middle-aged white man with greying hair. He is wearing a military uniform, and sitting behind a desk; there is an American flag on a pole behind him. There are three text messages over the image: “I ain’t reading all that”, “I’m happy for you though”, and “Or sorry that happened”. End description.]

“Penny for your thoughts?” Director Lemieux asked, taking position next to him. 

“I’m sorry. A what?” Felix could hardly be blamed for this naïveté. The penny had been dropped from U.S. currency more than two centuries ago. But they kept turning up. 

To be fair, think about how old the phrase “Two birds, one stone” is. It predates the invention of not only gunpowder, but also older projectiles like arrows. They are literally using a stone to kill birds in this phrase. 

The director hit Send, smiled to herself, and turned off the machine.

Chapter 4 summary: The narration introduces us to some dude named Felix. He is also travelling via a spaceship, in order to solve some problem or another. What problem, might you ask? I have no fucking idea. This chapter had nine pages in it, but most of this was incoherent “scifi babble”. That is to say that while a lot of things were said, that a lot of dialogue happened… I found most of it to be confusing. I ended up skipping the last two pages, since nothing of value was actually fucking happening. 

I’m fully expecting for all of these subplots to come together by the end, but who fucking knows. 

Times laughed this chapter: zero

Total laughs this series: zero

[freuleinanna]

Oh heyyy! I'm sorry for barging in, but I saw it today and I just couldn't unthink that! I hope you maybe like it <3 gif just for the vibes

Actors AU | Agatha and Rio are exes who have had a child together, lost a child together, and are now forced to work together again.

Word count: approx. 3000

Grief and trauma are a big theme, so is healing. Namedrops of the characters are irrelevant and are for fun. It's not a TV series meta, I just thought it would be hehe fonny. Social handle's made up too.

AO3 link

*********************************************

‘So, what can we expect in terms of, uh, in terms of the dynamics between the two of you?’

‘Ohhhhhhh, you know…’

‘I know, I do know! It’s too early in the stages and whatnot, but is there anything you can say? Are there any premises, any arcs for your characters already?’

A sly smile slithers across Rio’s lips. Agatha’s looking at her over her shoulder, unsure of what to say. The new project is all hushed up for now, of course.

‘I’m sensing some… hesitation here, ladies?’

Rio’s hand on her back, wrapping her hair around her finger in little curls. Eye contact, way too long. Fan-video-worth long. There’s a shitload of them all over the Internet, dubbed with the sappiest music and in-love-rose filter. Happy, happy.

‘Some insane shit, my guy,’ Rio finally chuckles.

‘Oh yeah?’

‘Oh, I mean, full on. It’s, like, plot-wise it’s demon hoards, and religion, and bloody sacrifices…’

‘What?!’

There she goes.

‘…but really it’s a commentary on acceptance, on the grief of living in this insane world, and like, unreal amount of trauma dumping. Yeah.’

Deadpan. No expression, just making shit up. Agatha’s nodding along.

‘Right, hon?’

‘Oh, yeah!’

Something clicks, and she’s game. Rio’s fingers in her hair, and the feeling is so light, so generous, it bursts out of her with laughter.

‘So much trauma! Uh-huh, ‘cause I’ll be playing the sacrificial lamb, and you’re…’

‘I’m gonna be the demonic priest. So, there you have it.’

‘A wild ride, for sure.’

The audience is riled up. Applause come. They laugh. Cameras are rolling, forever imprinting happiness onto the lenses, every last bit of it. It is one of the last bits, actually. It’s going to spill her guts on the floor when @agatharioreallove tags her on a clip a year later (before the news comes out), showing their happy, loving faces from exactly that interview.

And then, a billion of sad, my-heart-is-breaking-for-them tags.

FUCK, she’ll be hollering in the emptiness of the living room, FUCK! Can’t you leave us the hell alone?! Fucking…

For cunt’s sake.

Our child is dead.

Our child is dead.

Fuck.

******

1 year later.

‘Thank you so much for showing up. I know it’s…’

The journalist is trying mad hard to be respectful, but also to still get a chewy piece.

‘How do you… How does one even do something like that?’

‘There’s a thing called contract, sweet cheeks.’

‘I mean, sure, but I’m… Wow, that was a raw thing to say.’

‘Things are raw.’

Awkward silence. There’s a glance over at the security guy, an unnerved tug at the collar.

‘What, do you expect us to murder each other live?’

‘Ha-ha.’

Nothing fucking funny about that.

‘I mean, everyone expected the project to get dropped, and… here you are, preparing to shoot. How was that? How was that decision made?’

Agatha’s hair in a tight bun, and she’s stroking a loose lock away from her face. Rio’s eyes are daggers. Agatha doesn’t need to look to know it.

How was it made?

Through cursing and screaming, that’s how. Kicking chairs across rooms. Throwing lamps at her agent, God bless her. Lilia’s a fucking saint draped in Sicilian shawl.

‘Aight.’

Rio fidgets, Agatha can hear it. Here’s the part she winces at, uncontrollably. Be a doll and think for a second, because you’re only not charged the lost potential value fee if you deliver the film by those scripts. What’s not clicking? And she wanted to tell that story. They both did, a love letter from parents to children. Who could’ve thought.

How was it made?

Rio’s hand perches to her shoulder, staying there like an all-too-familiar ghost. Spine tingles with rage.

‘It was hard. You can imagine…’

‘Sure… ’

‘…if you’re not an asshole. Are you?’

‘Oh, I’m—I’m not! I-- really--’

‘Good, then.’

Agatha’s dry chuckle is Oscar-worthy. She had bid a fortune on the script rights to buy them out, so she’s bound. And Rio? Rio’s completely went off the rails. Her brain train doesn’t even remember there were rails once. She’s lashed out so much she’s become a liability to everyone who has the displeasure of working with her. A bare-foot beggar in the woods is what she is without this film. So is Agatha, unfortunately. Two beggars clapping their naked ass-cheeks on the wind.

Unless they go through fucking hell.

With everybody watching.

Twenty minutes and gallons of constant internal vomit later, the interviewer stops the cameras, says goodbye, and leaves. Rio’s hand disappears. Agatha leans back and closes her eyes, waiting for another press-junket-junkie, back as straight as she’s never been.

Phone’s keyboard is spitting out quick, audible taps. Why, why does she always need to keep the sound on?

‘Fuck you.’

Agatha knows well that her voice has cracks in it. A decent amount of disdain too, she hopes. Taps are avalanching even quicker.

‘Aw, your first words to me. You haven’t been developing functional communication mechanisms, have you?’

Tap-tap-tap.

‘Go stand in the corner and die, Rio.’

‘Fuck you too.’

It’s so cold, she might have gotten frostbites. From their voices alone.

*********************

Table-reading / Rehearsals.

‘Okay, don’t be mad, but?..’

‘You don’t have to say it.’

‘It sucks balls. I’m sorry, but you just suck balls.’

‘I do no such thing, ever.’

Teen’s face wrinkles with worry. Billy, Bobby, Tommy, Toby? Whatever. He’s a teen, so, he’s Teen. A plucky assistant, and a huge pain in her moral ass.

‘Could you maybe… Cunty filter off, okay?’

‘Ugh, Teen.’

Still, Agatha’s looking this twig of a kid over, feeling worry build in the ruins of her insides.

‘What else are they saying?’ She smirks with venom. ‘Besides our chemistry being off?’

‘Basically, that it’s a Mariana Trench of flaming shit, but that it still has to be done.’

She nods, un-amused. Yeah, otherwise it’s another pile of fees, liabilities, script ownership debates, the whole petty army of Hollywood law-humpers on her back. Teen is slurping on his… blue-colored god-knows-what. Then stops, under her glare.

Rio’s afar, in the distance. Like she’s always been since… Well. Since Nicky.

‘I can’t,’ Agatha whispers before she can stop it, and clutches at her coat nervously, realizing she’s said it aloud. There’s something strangely calming in a way Teen avoids touching her, but remains just behind her shoulder, listening softly. ‘I can’t, I—I can’t.’

‘Can’t what?’

She shakes her head. Rio’s there. So is anger, so is hurt, so is everything scorching, manifesting in her oh-so-loved-once face. So is missing her fingers curling up her hair. But more, still anger.

‘I can’t say those things. The script. Not in a meaningful way. Not when--’

‘How else are you supposed to say it?’

‘Huh?’

Her comforting assistant steps from one foot to another, then lowers himself to the level of her chair. His voice crackles with nerves. His shadow supports hers. He’s saying things Agatha never wants to hear, because Nicky died, but the script brings her and Rio into a nightmare of a centuries-old witch and Death incarnate battle over a child’s soul.

‘You’ve lived them. How else are you supposed to say those things? You’ve lived them.’

Happy videos of their faces, laced fingers, loving gazes during the interview. Sad montages and thousands of close-ups of them visibly drawing away from each other at the hint of a touch. Hurting like the sun, spilling red while falling to the doom. Fuck.

‘Why don’t you go fuck yourself with a straw, huh?’

‘Sure. Okay.’

*******************************

Shooting: Day whatever, because at this point, everyone’s frustrated.

‘Oh, shit.’

‘Is she drunk?’

‘Fucking impossible— Somebody get Vidal in her trailer!’

‘Do we keep a setup?’

‘For fuck’s-- ’

‘That’s a PR nightmare.’

‘She’s not gonna sober up, is she?’

‘Not before she vomits half her stomach down the sewers, she’s not. Un-fucking-believable. Can somebody get Harkness?’

‘She’s gonna kill her.’

‘Maybe don’t tell her, smartass?’

‘She’s gonna know, and then she’s gonna kill her.’

‘What a mess.’

‘Leave it, just… everything, leave it. And get Alice to Jen for make-up. We’re gonna reschedule her scenes for today.’

‘What an A-list crap-pile on meth.’

****************

When Rio sobers up, it’s not entirely clear whether she’s dead or not, but she thinks, well. Either way there are hook-bladed daggers buried in her body, tugging in all directions at once. Hangover or hell, not much difference.

The hardest of daggers, the sharpest and most resilient one, turns out to be a scythe. And it’s in Agatha’s eyes.

‘Alive?’

A familiar voice makes the bells toll. Deep tonality of disappointment, the one which roots in hurt and blooms with blame, is a homesick sound.

‘Unfortunately so.’

‘Good. I need you alive for being skinned by the crew tomorrow.’

‘Gee,’ she croaks. ‘Sounds hot.’

Managing to pull herself into a sitting position, Rio wipes her mouth.

‘I kinda hoped I’ll just black out for the rest of the shooting. No luck, then.’

All signs are there: Agatha’s trembling hands, the way she keeps gesticulating with her whole palms in frustration. Her hateful stare, of course. There’s a storm coming. Hurricane Harkness, ready to pour molten steel. Rio sneers, taking it.

‘Come on, I know you have words.’

‘God, you’re a bitch.’ That, Agatha says with her whole chest without missing a beat, as though grateful for a convenient way of spitting some of the pain out. Those words unlock her frustrated lips. ‘Why. Seriously, why now? Neither of us wanted to do it. We’ve gone through a minefield, got fucked in the ass by every interviewer ever with a hot poker and a sympathy lube. Why not just… Do it and be gone, huh? Rio? Just one fucking movie. Why the fuck do you need to act up now?’

‘Because now, it hurts.’

And Agatha’s eyes dart away in a habit so shivery and familiar, it burns Rio’s chest worse than years of mutual blame. The woman who’s never been her wife, the woman who’s shared a son with her; now the woman who’s been so enraged, so devastated, so focused on her own irreplaceable loss that she couldn’t bring herself to look at Rio’s. Because, what if she recognizes the same pain?

People are fucking nutjobs.

‘It hurts, Agatha,’ Rio repeats quietly, with careful weight placed on each word. ‘Because I lost him too, and I didn’t get to live through my pain. I was handling yours.’

‘Oh, please.’

‘Guess it’s catching up on me.’

Hangovers don’t gently break your ribs, Rio knows. So it must be something else, like truth. Agatha’s disbelieving fury is war-like.

‘What, you got a different story?’ Rio teases, despite desperately wanting not to. Don’t tip the scale, thoughts echo, why are you like that? Why are you doing this? Why now?

Because. It. Hurts.

‘You left, Rio. When I needed you the most, you left.’

‘Needed me?’

‘And now you’re strutting back to, what exactly? Give your feelings a performance?’

‘You’ve shut me out.’

Heavy breathing. Some metallic croaking in the voice.

‘I’ve?--’

‘You’ve scolded me out. You’ve frozen me out, Agatha. You needed a space to grieve and you locked the fucking door beh--’

She stops abruptly. Draws air to say the only thing that mattered.

‘I was alone.’ I was grieving, and you couldn’t look at my face. I was grieving, and your own grief was just too big to notice mine. ‘Suppose I’d stayed. With all the time in the world, would you have hated me less?’

She sees locks of Agatha’s hair swing, heartbreakingly beautiful. Always the little things that destroy you.

‘I didn’t hate you.’

‘No?’ It’s cruel to smile. The alternative is weeping.

‘No.’

‘You sure hid it well, then.’

‘Rio, I--’

It’s a muscle memory, alright. Bodies remembering how to intertwine, how to save each other from loneliness. Hands reaching out. Breath aching to get mixed. It almost, almost happens. The warmth of it flees just before a newer, colder habit kicks in, which isn’t completely unlike cutting through arteries of hope drying in the air.

The woman Rio’s engraved into her lungs yanks them out with her need to blame someone, anyone, and walks away, still holding them.

‘I can’t, I—Don’t do that to me.’

‘I’m not doing anything.’

‘I can’t.’

‘I know.’

A beat of silence.

‘I’m done, Agatha.’ Rio smirks, broken. ‘You win. From now on, I’ll be on my best behavior.’

Agatha Harkness, an unbearable load-mouth and a genius pervert with cussing, bites her tongue and leaves. Rio feels like Death.

***************************************

Shooting: Pivotal day.

The day everyone remembers, but nobody talks about.

And then—Life.

Not at once, and not beautiful. Life isn’t a fragile flower blossoming out of nowhere. Life is actually someone’s gooey remains, definitely someone’s shit at some point, and there’s nothing fragile about it. It fights and claws, but given time, it overcomes people and buildings alike. It grows. It grows.

Given time, it stops running from the dirt whence it came, and starts reaching down with roots to accept the unthinkable.

Flowers fallen out of Agatha’s hair are white. Her hands are covered in fresh soil. Streaming down her face, tears bitter and gentle.

‘Please, my love!’

Death stops before a weeping mother. Cameras are rolling, Rio’s mind has completely switched off. Everything’s blank. Pulsating sounds in her ears are ringing with the remnants of please, my love – and Agatha’s horrifying expression. Something bruised and raw from familiarity, with which it comes.

Death – or Rio – shouldn’t rage against her helplessness. Death takes children, after all, it’s a known fact. Sometimes, it’s just… It’s just unfair. And sometimes, even Death – and Rio – can’t take being the reason for such heartbreak.

‘I can offer--’ she starts. Then, ‘No.’

Some muttering, well-earned, is heard from behind.

‘I can offer only time,’ someone whispers, reminding her of the line.

‘I know,’ she says. Then again, ‘No.’

Agatha’s face is shaded with concern.

‘What are you?--’

‘I can’t offer time.’

Taking up the skirts of her dress, Rio steps forward, toward her. Agatha draws back. Agatha the actor is wrecking her nails against stone, trying to fight Agatha… Rio’s Agatha.

‘Boys die.’

Rio nearly chokes on those words, and still it isn’t as bad as Agatha’s reaction. Invisible to anyone who’s not close enough, anger, bitterness, and grief birth real tears, instantly hot over the camera ones. But Rio is close, isn’t she? She is. For the first time in what feels like centuries of roaming wild, she’s actually there.

‘Boys die,’ she whispers, ‘and it’s never fair, but they do. And there isn’t time enough to heal that pain.’

‘Stop this.’

‘I can’t bring him back…’

‘I’m serious, Rio, stop this!’

‘…because I haven’t taken anything.’

She burns her fingers on Agatha’s face, yet it’s still worth touching it.

‘It’s not your fault, it’s not mine either.’

‘We loved him.’

Thousands of clips all over the Internet, of them showing off their happiness.

Aww, they’re the best parents <3

I NEED them to be my parents!!!

Sweet music.

Heart emojis.

Wait, are they actually raising a kid together???????

Talking about Nicky.

Talking, talking, unable to contain that joy.

And on that, Agatha breaks. Her lips twitch with a sob. Rio’s on the ground beside her, holding her face in a way that urges to listen. And her Agatha, not the character or the actor, is crying into her open palm.

‘I wanted more time. I just wanted more time, that’s all, I--’

‘We loved him so much that it… broke something, when he died.’

‘How can…’ From under closed eyes, more grief. Then a gaze so piercingly blue, it staggers Rio with ferocity of color. ‘How can I live with that? How can you live with that? How does everything not remind you of him, huh? How are you not – so – angry? Why – were you not – angry?’

Nobody could have possibly thought they’re ad-libbing. Yet nobody intervened, bless the fools. In the shadow of Rio’s face, Agatha’s darkened eyes glint almost purple.

‘I needed you to be angry, along with me. I needed you to be fucking furious about his death, and you just…’

‘Accepted it.’

Rio nods, and feels her own tears, warm and heavy like August rain. Some of them drop of Agatha’s hands. Their hands and their tears come together.

‘Because, Agatha,’ she’s barely resisting the sobbing herself. Perhaps, that’s how Death feels. Rio nods with heartbreak and compassion, and inevitability they bring. ‘Because, Agatha, boys die.’

I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that they do, and there’s nothing I could do about it, but I forgot that people die too, from suffering. We almost died, too, right next to each other.

Agatha’s chest is heaving with breath. She’s fighting against Rio’s hands, and then she’s holding them, and then her arms are pressing Rio closer with all their strength.

‘I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’ For not listening. For being angry with you, because you weren’t ready to accept. For not fully understanding. For lashing out. For leaving.

‘I didn’t—I—I’m sorry,’ for not acknowledging your loss. For needing my fury so much, I thought I’d stopped needing you. For blaming you.

And suddenly flowers bloom.

Not literally, of course, but they bloom in how Agatha’s fully sobbing into the crook of Rio’s neck. They also bloom in how Rio’s holding her: gently, stroking her back all the while. Wrapping little curls of hair around her fingers. Most of them bloom on their lips as they touch skin. Blessing, apologizing, healing.

Desperation and trauma are flowing up, up, toward grief and by it, up again, to the bright-red rage, around the gigantic ill-intentioned walls, over broken pieces of good memories thrown against it, toward air. Toward breathing.

Toward love,

and having spent years half-severed only to find that each deconstructed piece still fits perfectly as you hold each other tight,

and even toward kissing the salt.

Toward, it seems, life.

Because it’s always the cycle, isn’t it?

Out of death, life.

Actor au where they are exes who had a kid together but never got married but then the kid died(because i hate happy people) then they are forced to work with each other and drama ensue

[ponds-of-ink]

Aaaand here’s the last of the Magical Monster Girls concept lineup. Sorry about the spamming of these guys, but they’ve been spinning in my head for the past two days or so. At least this last girl’s a bit special (and the one that’s been spinning the most in my head)..

You see, this one works (um, well, used to work for) the mad scientist who I’m thinking would be the main antagonist of the series. He pretty much caught her one day during an unrelated escapade, figured she would be of good use for indirect research on the Main Four, and bargained with her about giving her a new form. To his surprise, she readily agreed to that last part.

So, a few Antagonist Of The Day stories later, a stranger called Specter arrives.

Ever melodramatic yet calculating, she uses her powers of invisibility and telekinesis to thwart the Main Four in her quest for attaining information. However, Bleeding Heart is suspicious about the taunts and nicknames Specter’s been giving them. “Habanero and/or Habanera” for Pump-Noggin (depends on the circumstances for that one, really)? “Brunhilda” for Howler? “Queen of the Night” for Crow? And, even weirder still, “My Dear Marquis” for herself when technically the whole queen thing sounded more accurate?? Why, if Bleed didn’t know better, it almost sounds like Specter was riffing off poor Adele from Choir Class and throwing all kinds of opera references at them for fun!

..Okay, aside from Habanero. Calling Pump-Noggin a spicy pepper is understandable, given her fiery powers and all.

Still, this bothers Bleed/Jade so much that pulls a multiple episode side investigation trying to figure out who this actually is. When she’s nearing the end of her options list, she pulls Adele aside one day and ask if Specter is haunting her house at all. Adele, being very confused, simply says “no” and advises a very tired Jade to go take a break from all this Monster Girl talk. Jade almost takes that advice, but one rehearsal song from Adele later and it all clicks. Shy ol’ Adele is the Specter.

(And, contrary to what you see here, Adele is genuinely heavier/chubbier in build than her Specter form. That’s at least part of the reason why it took so long for Jade to figure that out..)

Jade does tell the group and this does lead to a redemption arc type thing, but that’s another post for another time. All that you need to know is that this does lead to her joining the Main Four as a tweaked version of Specter (see below).

So, yeah, that’s all five done! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading all of these. Once again, big thanks to this dress up game for the help. Really couldn’t have made all of these concepts without this. However, next time you see these girls, I’ll actually have my own drawings of them lol.

[dreamwritesimagines]

Enamored [19] - Contradictions

A.N: Thank you so much for your amazing feedback my loves, you’re amazing!❤ I hope you’ll like this chapter as well, and please let me know what you think, thank you! ❤ And as always, thank you @theskytraveler​ for helping me with the chapter and the story!❤

Summary: Opposites attract.

Warnings: Regency era society and social rules, slow burn.

Word Count: 5300

Series Masterlist

The dinner was thankfully a success. Even though you kept feeling like someone could tell what you had been doing in the library, apparently you were less obvious than you thought.

Which was a shock, to be honest.

You were more than aware that you were following every single rule your mother had taught you about hosting a dinner party throughout the evening, almost mimicking everything you had seen her do back in the day she would host her parties, but that seemed to have worked in your favor, as bittersweet as it was. Each of the guests had so much fun that when it was time for them to leave, no one was aware of just how late in the evening it was.

But no matter how busy you had made yourself, the longing was there. From the pit of your stomach spreading through your whole body, a fire burning so strong whenever you dared lay your gaze on him.

A shiver went down your spine as the memory of his kiss on your lips shot through your mind, but you took a deep breath and followed the maid to Cecily’s room.

“Thank you,” you told her when you reached the door and Lucie looked at you.

“My lady, should I wait here?”

“Oh no need Lucie, you can spend time with your friends if you’d like. I’ll just send for you when it’s time to leave,” you said and the maid opened the door for you. You stepped inside and Cecily jumped on her feet.

“Y/N!”

“Oh I have so much to tell you!” you said, rushing to hug her and she wrapped her arms tight around you before pulling back.

“So do I,” she said. “But first, you must let me assure you what I heard Lady Miriam said is a complete lie. I would never, ever use you to get closer to anyone, or—”

“I never believed that,” you waved a hand in the air and followed her to bed to sit beside her before reaching out to clasp your hands with hers. “There’s nothing anyone can say to make me doubt your sincerity or your friendship.”

She let out a breath.

“Thank God,” she said. “I…I was worried.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Cece,” you said with a laugh. “I learned not to give any attention to gossip at a very young age, you know that.”

“I’ve read some of it from Whistledown and learned the rest from maids, you must tell me everything.”

You fixed your hair in an exaggerated manner, making her scoff a laugh.

“She was vile,” you said. “But I think you will be happy to hear that Elias no longer courts her because she insulted you.”

Cecily pulled back slightly. “I’m sorry, what?”

You nodded, grinning wide. “I told you that you hold his affections,” you insisted as she blinked a couple of times, a sad expression crossing her beautiful features. “Besides, Lady Miriam might just be the worst person I’ve ever met in the ton so far, calling you…” you trailed off and Cecily looked almost distracted for a moment.

“Calling me what?”

“You don’t need to hear it, it’s just a mean comment made by a very arrogant woman.”

“Y/N,” she insisted. “I must know, come on.”

You rolled your eyes. “Do you promise you will not get upset over it?”

“I do not care what Lady Miriam thinks of me,” she assured you and you clicked your tongue in annoyance.

“She called you a social climber and for that she was punished, by me and by Elias just the other day.”

Cecily shook her head. “I’m grateful that you stood up for me, but you didn’t have to. Half of the ton thinks that.”

“Half of the ton is wrong.”

“My family…” she trailed off and stole a look at you. “I should’ve told you this earlier but we’re quite new to the ton you see. My grandfather won the title in a very lucky card game and everyone knows that.”

You shrugged your shoulders. “It’s beyond me why people seem to care about these matters, honestly.”

She blinked a couple of times. “You do not care?”

“Well anyone who cares about that is a fool and seeing that I’m quite smart, no I do not,” you stated, and she let out a breath, then pulled you into a hug again, making you giggle.

“Oh Cece, forget about Lady Miriam, I must tell you about last night’s dinner!” you said, pulling back. “I think I made quite the host, -well, I was mimicking mother to be honest, but it worked! Guess what Lady Bridgerton said to me at the end of dinner, when we were in the drawing room?”

“You should marry my rake of a son even if you deserve better?”

A laughter climbed up your throat. “No!” you said. “She said there was a moment she looked at me during dinner and saw my mother. It’s the greatest compliment for me.”

Cecily awwed. “I mean we already knew she liked you. She put you on top of her oldest son and heir’s marriage list after all, and she was friends with your mother and… she must like you a lot.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you nibbled on your lip.

“Now that you brought it up,” you murmured. “About Anthony—”

You were cut off when someone knocked on the door and you heard Hugh’s voice. “Cece?”

“Come in Hugh!” Cecily called out and Hugh opened the door to step in.

“Oh I didn’t know we had a guest,” he smiled as you waved at him. “Have you come to further our courtship, Lady Y/N?”

You let out a laugh. “You see right through me, Lord Trenlove.”

Hugh’s grin widened before he turned to Cecily.

“I wanted to see how you were,” he said. “Have you made a decision yet?”

“What decision?” you asked, looking between them and Cecily took a deep breath, running a hand over her face.

“That’s why I said I had much to tell you,” she muttered. “An hour before you got here, Mr. Randolph came to visit me and…proposed.”

A gasp left you and you covered your mouth, shaking your head.

“No no, Cece—you turned him down, did you not?”

“I didn’t say anything,” she said. “I told him I would give my answer on Monday.”

“But surely you will reject?” you asked, nervousness churning your stomach and Cecily offered you a sad smile.

“I think considering everything, I will accept.”

You gawked at her, almost frozen. “But you can’t accept, you don’t love him!”

“I can’t ask for love in my situation, you know that,” she said. “He would make an adequate life partner and…I will try to be happy with that.”

You shook your head again and jumped on your feet.

“Adequate life partner?” you repeated. “That’s what you want for the rest of your life? Struggling for happiness?”

“Y/N, you are my dearest friend,” Cecily said. “But you have to understand that our situation couldn’t be more different from one another. I do not have the luxury to look for love.”

“But you love my brother.”

“Your brother is a future Duke,” she said, her voice cracking before she cleared her throat. “I do not live in a dream world, I know it would be naïve of me to hope for anything, no matter what I feel for him.”

You swallowed thickly before turning to Hugh. “And you’re alright with this?”

“It’s not like there are proposals raining down on this house, Lady Y/N,” he stated. “Besides, what I’m alright with does not matter. It’s completely Cecily’s choice, not mine.”

You pursed your lips, your thoughts like a storm in your head as you took a deep breath, then looked at Cecily.

“You said you would say yes on Monday?”

“That’s correct.”

“Don’t leave the house,” you said, walking to the door and Cecily stood up.

“Y/N, what are you doing?”

“I must hasten a plan,” you called out and stepped out of the room. “I will be damned before I let either of you marry anyone you’re not in love with—Lucie! We’re leaving!”

                                                 *

You already knew Elias was at the Bridgerton house so when the carriage stopped in front of the big house, you all but leaped out of it, Lucie following you in a haste. You figured that the etiquette required you to greet the lady of the house first so when the maid let you in and the butler announced you, you went straight to the drawing room.

“Y/N!” Lady Bridgerton smiled wide when she saw you and came to hug you, “What a wonderful surprise.”

“Thank you Lady Bridgerton, I hope you do not mind. I just, I knew Elias was there and you said I was welcomed anytime—”

“Of course you are!”

You waved at the Bridgerton siblings in the living room. Anthony was nowhere to be found, but Benedict, Colin, Daphne and Eloise were there. You got momentarily distracted and awwed at the baby playing with his toys right beside Daphne, and Eloise tilted her head, staring at you.

“Why do you look breathless?”

You tried to focus. “I more or less ran up here.”

“Oh dear, I’ll have the maid bring you some tea.”

“No thank you Lady Bridgerton,” you said. “I’m actually here on a mission you see.”

“What mission?”

“To kill my brother,” you said and looked around. “Is he here by any chance?”

Colin and Benedict exchanged glances and Eloise scoffed a laugh.

“The amount of murder mentions in this house by you two is very entertaining, must be a family thing.”

“Eloise!” Daphne whispered and she shrugged.

“What? Over two months ago Elias was talking about killing Anthony.”

“What happened?” Lady Bridgerton asked and you heaved a sigh.

“He’s ruining his life and his future happiness,” you said. “He is in love with Cecily but—”

“Wait what?” she asked. “He’s in love with Miss Cecily?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“I asked him before I made his list, he said it was just a rumor.”

“It’s not,” you and Eloise said at the same time and Lady Bridgerton heaved a sigh.

“That boy…” she murmured. “He is in love with Miss Cecily and yet he’s courting others?”

“Thanks to encouragement from Anthony,” Benedict pointed out and Colin huhed.

“Didn’t he change his mind the other day?”

“He changed his mind too late, I’d say.”

“And now Cecily might marry Mr. Randolph.”

“He proposed?!” Eloise asked and you nodded with a solemn expression.

“She says she will accept because she doesn’t believe Elias loves her.”

“Unbelievable.”

Lady Bridgerton heaved a sigh.

“Bring him here, I’d like to have a talk with him,” she said. “He’s with Anthony in his study. Second door, downstairs.”

Oh.

Oh right, they didn’t know you already knew very well where his study was.

“Thank you,” you said and rushed downstairs straight to the door of Anthony’s study before you opened it. You were so angry and in a hurry that you couldn’t even let yourself be distracted by Anthony, instead you went straight to Elias.

“Good afternoon Chérie, I didn’t know—hey!” Elias was cut off when you grabbed him by the arm to pull him out of the room. “What on earth is happening?”

“I’m going to kill you but Lady Bridgerton wants to talk to you first, so you get to live a bit longer,” you growled as Anthony frowned in confusion but followed you two upstairs. You all but shoved Elias inside and crossed your arms.

“Go on, explain yourself.”

“I would if I knew what I’ve done,” Elias said and Lady Bridgerton raised her brows.

“Why did you not tell me you were in love with Miss Cecily?”

Elias’s jaw dropped and he turned to you. “You tattled on me?”

“Not only that, I’m also going to kill you after you’re done with that conversation.”

“Elias.”

“Well, I—” he stammered. “Anthony said—”

“No, you’re not dragging me into this.” Anthony cut him off before he could even finish his sentence and you pursed your lips, glaring at Elias.

“After I got the list, it made me think about my responsibilities.” Elias said and Lady Bridgerton sighed.

“Elias love is bigger than any list,” she said. “You’ve found it and you’re willing to let it slip through your fingers because of the ton’s expectations?”

“Exactly, thank you!” you motioned at her. “I’ve been telling you the same thing for what, weeks now?”

Elias heaved a dramatic sigh. “You don’t understand the kind of pressure the ton can put someone under, Y/N.”

Your head shot up and Anthony looked between you, raising his brows while Daphne’s jaw dropped.

“Oh I’m sorry,” you said. “I don’t understand the kind of pressure they can put someone under, did I hear that right?”

“Alright, let’s just—”

“What else have they been doing to me ever since I arrived here?” you asked, “What kind of a fool are you, honestly? Did mother rock your cradle too close to the wall when you were a baby?”

Elias ignored Benedict’s silent laughter while Colin tried to keep a straight face.

“I know they also put you under a lot of—”

“No no, stop retreating that statement,” you said, taking a step towards him and he instantly stepped back, making Anthony scoff.

“Elias, she’s your sister and she reaches your shoulder on heels, what exactly do you think she is going to do to you?”

“I still have scratch marks from that one time I ate the last piece of strawberry cake when she was seven, she turns into a rabid cat when she’s angry,” Elias retorted. “She used my own arm as leverage to reach up to my hair to pull it—”

“Well first of all, you know how much I love strawberry cake so if anything, that was your fault,” you said, barely able to control your voice. “Second of all, I hope you’ve had your fun being a complete idiot and wasting time here and ruining your life, I hope that was worth it—”

All of a sudden, you noticed Anthony’s amused smile along with everyone else in the room watching you and you looked around.

“What?”

“Is that your real accent?” Eloise asked with a grin. “Why have I never heard it before?”

“It…it slips when I raise my voice I think.”

“Say ‘worth it’ again.”

“Eloise!”

“What, it sounds cute!”

“It’s not cute, it’s like the bell of a city before it goes up in flames,” Elias stated. “A warning sign if you will.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose. “I’m going to set you on fire, how about that?”

“Alright, no one is harming each other,” Lady Bridgerton said. “But you must tell Miss Cecily how you feel.”

“She would never forgive me. I wouldn’t.”

Benedict cleared his throat. “Yeah, she might not get the chance if you waste any more time.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

You shot him a look and crossed your arms. “It means that while you were wasting time here being a complete and utter fool, Cecily is planning on marrying Mr. Randolph.”

Elias’s head snapped up and he gawked at you, his mouth agape.

“…What?”

“Yes. He proposed today, she will say yes on Monday.”

Elias let out a breath, then walked to sit down on the sofa as if he couldn’t stand any longer. Digging the heels of his hands into his eyes, he just stayed slouched before Lady Bridgerton reached out to touch his arm.

“Nothing should stop you from pursuing her if she holds your affections, you know that.”

“They would tear her apart,” Elias murmured. “You know that. That kind of pressure—”

“Will not matter if you two love each other. So do you?”

“Of course I do,” Elias dropped his hands. “Beyond words.”

“I don’t know if it makes any difference seeing that you’re adamant in ignoring me, but she loves you too,” you said, making him turn to you with wide eyes.

“Did she say that?”

“Well while you were ignoring her for Lady Miriam—”

“May she rest in peace.”

Anthony pulled his brows together. “Lady Miriam is not dead Eloise.”

“Might as well be, socially speaking.”

“Cecily was crying her eyes out while you were ignoring her for Lady Miriam, Elias,” you insisted. “Surely there’s a reason behind that, which I’m guessing is love.”

“You didn’t hear this from me, but Cecily called you the most handsome gentleman in the ballroom for the same reason, love must be blind indeed.” Eloise stated and Daphne scoffed.

“Or are you blind by any chance? How did you not see how she looks at you?”

Elias took a deep breath as he shook his head, then jumped on his feet. “I—I can’t let her marry anyone else.”

You threw your hands up. “Dear God, finally!”

“I will ask her to marry me today, I will go to her house—wait, what if Trenlove is there?”

“It’s his house and you have to talk to him first anyway.” Anthony reminded him and you frowned.

“No he doesn’t, he needs to talk to Cecily first.”

“He needs to talk to her brother first.”

“But what if her brother says no?”

“He needs his approval, they can’t get married otherwise.”

“What?” you exclaimed. “No! No, that cannot be how it works.”

“That’s exactly how it works.”

“Well then it shouldn’t, viva la revolution—you know what you should do?” you turned to Elias. “You should go to Gretna Green.”

Anthony shook his head fervently. “Do not go to Gretna Green.”

“You should elope!”

“Do not elope.”

“Who cares what everyone else thinks?”

“You, Eli. You care what everyone else thinks.”

“You will be a duke in the future!”

“That is exactly the reason why you can’t get married in Gretna Green, don’t even entertain that idea.”

Elias’s gaze went between you like watching a tennis match while you glared up at Anthony.

“What are you doing?”

“I was about to ask you the same question, why are you trying to ruin his life?”

“Ruin his life?” you repeated, “I’m trying to save it!”

“By telling him to go to Gretna Green?”

You let out a furious breath.

“You know, you seem to have a lot of audacity and too many opinions about this situation considering this whole mess is completely your fault—”

He tilted his head. “It’s not my fault.”

“It is! You went behind my back, you sabotaged my carefully prepared plans,” you counted with your fingers. “And now if God forbid Cecily says no because of her broken heart—”

Elias held his breath. “Wait, do you think she will say no?”

“She won’t say no Elias, your sister has carefully prepared plans.” Anthony deadpanned and you narrowed your eyes.

“I did have plans and everything would have been so much easier if men with titles weren’t blind when it comes to love, present company included—”

“I can’t believe the ton thinks you two are courting,” Colin’s voice stopped your bickering, making you both turn to him. “Lady Whistledown must be blind.”

All of a sudden, you were way too aware of the whole room’s gaze on you two. Eloise only grinned with Benedict while Daphne kept her eyes on you with her brows raised. You didn’t even dare look at Lady Bridgerton and a fire spread over your face before Elias spoke, obviously too distracted to even notice what was going on.

“Jesus Christ, I don’t know what I’m going to say,” he said and you waved your hands around.

“You can practice with me! We can act it out, here; I’ll be Lord Trenlove.”

“Is this really happening?” Benedict mused and Daphne shushed him. Elias took a deep breath and threw his shoulders back.

“Fine. Lord Trenlove, I came to talk to you about—”

“My dear sister Cecily, the kindest and nicest lady in the ton.”

“…Yes, her.”

“I just have one question for you, young man.”

“Young man? Trenlove is my age in case it has escaped your notice, Y/N.”

“I imagine him as older and wiser in this act and shush, you’re distracting me. Tell me, are you in love with her?”

“Yes I am and—”

“Then voila! I approve completely.”

“That is not what he is going to say,” Anthony said with a chuckle he couldn’t seem to stop, making you shrug your shoulders.

“It’ll be something similar.”

“Not really. I think he might actually punch him.”

You gasped. “He will not punch him!”

“He might,” Benedict said. “He did look very angry at you back at that ball.”

“I’d look out for his hands if I were you Elias,” Colin added and you made a face.

“He’s not going to stand in the way of true love, no one could!”

“Alright, we’re doing this again,” Elias said. “Anthony, you can pretend to be Lord Trenlove this time.”

“I’m not doing that.” Anthony scoffed and you pulled your brows together, blinking up at him. Anthony’s gaze stopped on you for a moment, a fond light crossing his eyes and he heaved a sigh as if he couldn’t believe himself, then motioned at Elias.

“Fine, go ahead.”

Elias cleared his throat. “Lord Trenlove.”

Anthony nodded at him, his arms crossed. “Marquess Westcliff.”

“I came to talk to you about your sister Miss Cecily.”

“I see.”

“I want to ask for her hand in marriage.”

You made a face and looked between them while Eloise covered her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.

“Alright, I think we should first talk about the marriage settlement—”

“Wh— no!” you exclaimed, flailing your arms around in a ‘stop everything’ motion. “That’s not romantic at all.”

“And why would he try to be romantic with her brother, exactly?” Anthony asked you, making you huff out.

“They will tell all about this day to their children one day, that’s why!”

Elias took a step back upon the mention of their children, rubbing the back of his neck. “Dear God, this is happening.”

“Don’t listen to either of them, it will all be alright.” Lady Bridgerton said and Anthony rolled his eyes.

“Listen to me, you can do it,” he said. “Eli, you’re the future duke of Avon.”

“Yes,” Elias nodded fervently as if trying to encourage himself “Yes I am.”

“You will walk in there, talk to Trenlove, then you will go to Miss Cecily and ask her to marry you straight and to the point—”

This time, you weren’t even alone in your protest, both Eloise and Daphne had already joined you in a chorus of “No!”  

“What again?” Anthony asked, exasperated and you motioned at Daphne.

“Daphne, you are married and in love. Is straight and to the point romantic?”

“Not at all.” Daphne stated and you took a deep breath.

“Elias listen,” you said “You can do what Lord Bridgerton told you to do when talking to Lord Trenlove. I admit I haven’t seen how marriage settlements are prepared so he might know more than me in that regard.”

Anthony’s brows furrowed and turned to look at you better. “Might?”

You shushed him, waving a hand in the air. “But you're about to proclaim your undying love for Cece! You can't be straight and to the point.”

“A poem could help you maybe, she likes poems.” Eloise mused and Daphne thought for a moment.

“You should get flowers too on your way there.”

Elias nodded with an excited smile on his face. “I think I will get down on one knee, do you think she would like that?”

“You’re not getting down on one knee Elias, why on earth would you—” he was cut off when you reacted almost automatically, reaching up to cover his lips with your hand without even thinking about it while keeping your gaze on Elias.

“Flowers are a good idea, I’d love to get you a book on love poems but we cannot lose any more time in case Cecily changes her mind, and yes you should get down on one knee,” you said and stole a look at Anthony who was just watching you with his brows raised, so you instantly dropped your hand. Thankfully, Elias was lost in his own world so he didn’t even pay attention to that, but for some reason you were sure no one else in the drawing room would miss it.

And yet, Anthony didn’t even seem to mind that, if anything he looked almost entertained.

“I’m going to ask her to marry me,” Elias nodded to himself and took a deep breath. “I’m going to do it.”

“Yes you are.”

“And you will be so very happy!”

“I’m going to marry the love of my life,” Elias breathed out and swallowed thickly before snapping his fingers at you and Anthony. “You two are coming with me.”

Anthony frowned. “Why?”

“Moral support on the way there,” he said and fixed his clothes. “Come on, we’re leaving.”

He whirled on his heels and left the room with Anthony following him after a shake of his head, and you took a couple of steps to the door before the thought hit you and you turned around to rush to Lady Bridgerton.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Bridgerton,” you said, excitement laced in your tone, then hurried after Anthony and Elias to catch up, with Lucie following you.

                                                *

You could barely contain your excitement on your way to Cecily’s house. When the carriage stopped, Elias almost leaped out of it and Anthony helped you out of the carriage, his hand warming yours, making your heart skip a beat. You gazed up at him, no doubt the same memory flashing in his mind as well judging by the soft smile on his lips but you were snapped out of it when Elias cleared his throat, rolling his shoulders back.

“I can’t believe there was no florist on the way here.”

“You can send her flowers later on.”

“I will send multiple bouquets if she says yes,” he said and stole a look at you. “She wouldn’t—she wouldn’t be in love with Mr. Randolph, right Y/N? While I was…being an idiot, she wouldn’t have fallen for him?”

“No!” you said. “No of course not.”

“Anthony?”

“Hm?”

“If Trenlove challenges me to a duel, would you be my second?”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “He’s not going to do that, Eli.”

“But if he does, would you?”

“Without a second thought,” Anthony stated. “Now go in there, will you?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to be there?”

“It’s for you and Cecily,” you said. “We will wait here.”

Elias took a deep breath and knocked on the door, clenching and unclenching his fists as if he was trying to calm himself down. He waited a couple of seconds and then the butler opened the door.

“Marquess Westcliff,” Elias introduced himself and stepped inside before the butler closed the door behind him. You peeked at Lucie who winked at you, standing as far away from you as possible while chaperoning you two and Anthony stole a look at you, then at the house.

“Well I have to admit,” he said. “This is going to be a score for you, not me.”

You giggled and rocked back and forth on your feet. “I told you!” you almost chirped, making his eyes crinkle with an amused smile.

“You did.”

“And see, now they will get married!”

“Oh I see that. Congratulations on your victory darling.”

“Do you have it with you?” you asked him, your heart skipping a beat. “The paper?”

“I keep it in my drawer at my study, why?”

“I don’t exactly remember who’s ahead,” you grinned in triumph. “Who is it, do you remember?”

Anthony tilted his head. “Mmm, let me think…” he pondered. “You?”

“Me!” you said instantly, coaxing a chuckle out of him. “But I’m willing to share my score with you if you’d like.”

“How so?”

“Well you helped,” you said. “Even if you did sort of sabotage my carefully prepared plans and had that tragically ill-considered idea of him keeping his proposal straight and to the point without getting down on one knee, I don’t think he would have done it without your support. Back at dinner and today even.”

Anthony just watched you for a couple of seconds, fondness etched on his handsome features before he looked over his shoulder and moved his hand a little so that he could caress the back of your hand with a knuckle, the simple gesture sending a shiver down your spine.

“He will always have my support,” he said. “I promise you. Contrary to popular belief of—what was it, you said? Present company included in men being blind when it comes to love?”

“I was right though,” you said with your chin up, then scrunched up your nose as a giggle escaped from you. You turned your hand just a little so that you could drag your fingertips in his palm, making him close his eyes for a moment as if trying to control himself from curling his fingers to entwine them with yours, the ton be damned.

“How…” he breathed out as he opened his eyes again, “How do you do this to me with just one touch?”

You turned your head to capture his gaze in yours, and somehow it was enough to make everything else disappear. It was as if you two were the only ones on the street, in the whole city even, everything but you and him was a blur, too distant, too…

Insignificant.

No one else mattered. Nothing else mattered.

Nothing else could ever matter, not when he was looking at you like this.

You were snapped out of your thoughts and quickly pulled your hand back when the door opened and Cecily rushed outside to throw herself at you, hugging you tight. The cheerful voices coming from inside the house was even more proof that everyone inside was happy about the proposal and Elias stepped outside with a huge grin on his face. Cecily let out a teary giggle as she pulled back to look at you, wiping her eyes.

“Why didn’t you come in?”

You waved a hand in the air. “I figured you would need your privacy. It had to be romantic.”

“We’re all invited for tea,” Elias said as he pulled Anthony into a hug, then clapped him on the back. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Don’t mention it, congratulations,” Anthony said with a small smile, “To you too, Miss Cecily.”

“Thank you, Lord Bridgerton.” Cecily said, still wiping at her eyes and turned to you. “I still can’t believe this, is this…is this real?”

“Very much so,” you said as Elias and Anthony made their way inside and Cecily squeezed your arm.

“Y/N, I can’t thank you enough.”

“You have no reason to thank me—”

“No I do,” she cut you off. “You are the reason that all of this is happening, and without your support, I wouldn’t have known… I wouldn’t have known what real love is. This is the happiest I've ever been, so thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I’m very lucky to have the privilege of calling you my best friend.”

You blinked back the tears and hugged her tight, then pulled back.

“Do you wish to hear my ideas about your wedding gown?” you asked her. “I’ve been planning it ever since that dinner party, I think you will like them.”

“I’d love to hear them,” Cecily said with a huge smile and held your hand, then both of you climbed up the stairs to get inside the house, giggling.

Chapter 20