#im excited to see what my girlfriend think about the following episodes

[silhouettecrow]

365 Days of Writing Prompts: Day 331

Adjective: Old-Fashioned

Noun: Posy

Definitions for those who need/want them:

Old-Fashioned: in or according to styles or types no longer current or common, or not modern; (of a person or their views) favoring traditional and usually restrictive styles, ideas, or customs

Posy: a small bunch of flowers; (archaic) a short motto or line of verse inscribed inside a ring

[stevie-petey]

episode one: suzie, do you copy?

Steve sighs. “Those kids are manipulating your power over me to get what they want.” “You call it manipulation, I call it bonding.”  Another sigh escapes Steve. “You’re going to be the death of me.” “And yet you stay.” You tease. “And yet I stay.”

Summary: you help nancy sneak through jonathans window, the party uses you for your "in" with steve, and you sorta become the reason dustin almost blinds lucas. meanwhile, steve tries, and fails, to make you his girlfriend (this will happen all summer), but have no fear ! dustin intercepts a russian code and makes everything even harder for everyone. what a sweet brother <3

Rating: general, swearing

Warnings: allusions to violence, swearing, fem!reader, use of y/n

Words: 9.6k

Before you swing in: shes here !!! season 3 of come home <333 im so excited for yall to read what i have planned, and thank you so much for being so patient as i planned the season out and started the chapters :) season 3 is pure chaos and i hope yall love what ive created, im proud of the changes i made <3333 we get some more insight into bug this season, which i also hope yall love !

-

June 27th, 1985.

A summer breeze gently creeps into Jonathan’s room, bringing the scent of dandelions and your childhood with it. It’s early evening and Jonathan hums to himself quietly, laying in his bed as he lazily skims through a comic he stole from you last week. You’re next to him as you carefully cut pieces of construction paper to glue onto the posterboard. Dustin comes home from camp in a few days and you want his welcome home banner to be perfect.

In the other room you hear the floorboards creak, followed by the sound of Joyce and Will laughing at whatever movie they’ve put on in the living room. Hearing their laughs makes you smile; it’s been so long since you’ve heard them laugh.

The tune that Jonathan hums now becomes a familiar one, and absent mindedly you begin to hum along with him. The cool summer night’s air encases the two of you, as if it senses that you want to freeze this moment forever. You’re in the Byers home, pressed against Jonathan’s side as you hum together an old song from when you were both fourteen and thought you had the world all figured out,

It’s nice, having this moment all to yourself with him. Moments alone with him have become few and far between, and it saddens you to think about.

There’s a new mall in town, Starcourt, and within a few months of it opening, Bookstrordinary has slowly been edging out of business. The entire town of Hawkins quickly fell in love with the mall, but with this love came the abandonment of downtown Hawkins.

Mrs. Waters can barely afford to have you work more than a few hours a day, so you’ve been spending your days visiting Nancy and Jonathan at their internship at the Hawkins Post or hanging at Scoops Ahoy to see Steve and Robin. While your friends have been lovely, you can’t swallow down the fear that you’ll lose your job by the end of summer.

As if somehow reading your thoughts, Jonathan puts down his comic and pokes your cheek. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask if you and Nance thought of anything else to try and save Bookstrordinary.”

You glue down a letter and try to distract yourself with the miniscule task. Nancy has been brainstorming a million ideas to try and help Mrs. Water, and while you appreciate her effort, it’s no use. Swallowing down even more dread, you shake your head at Jonathan. “No, nothing. Nancy offered to help organize a book drive to get more customers, but…”

“It wouldn’t be enough.” Jonathan finishes for you.

“Not nearly enough,” you sigh, desperately wanting to change the topic now. “But besides me possibly losing my job soon, how has yours been at the Hawkins Post?”

Now it’s Jonathan’s turn to sigh. “It’s… okay? I guess. I–I mean, definitely not what I expected it to be. The hours suck and the men are awful, but…” he shifts uncomfortably and looks away from you, embarrassed. “A job is a job.”

You rub his arm, understanding what he means. The Byers have always struggled with money, but ever since Will went missing two years ago and Jonathan lost his last job at the Hawk movie theater, it’s only gotten worse. They’ve tried hiding it, but last week you sneakily paid for Will’s ice cream at Scoops Ahoy while no one else was looking.

“I get it, bee.” You reassure him, hating that he even feels embarrassed in the first place.

Jonathan smiles and leans into your touch, appreciative of the fact that you know his family well enough by now to understand all he’s too ashamed to say. The two of you sit quietly for a few moments before he tries to lighten the mood with something else. “You excited for your birthday, bug?”

“Ugh,” you shake your head in disgust, which Jonathan laughs at. He knows you’ve never really liked your birthday. “Don’t remind me.”

“It’s in a few days, so you gotta suck it up.” Jonathan flicks your forehead and you swat your hand at him. “Besides, I bet $5 that Steve has some grand proposal planned for your birthday this year. He’s spent the entire summer drooling over you.”

His words make you blush furiously. “He has not–”

“He definitely has,” Jonathan tries to flick you again but you dodge, giggling. “I’m surprised he hasn’t publicly declared your love for you yet. I think there’s a betting pool going around the party.”

You gasp. “You’re lying!”

“Nope. Lucas and Max both lost last week, they bet mid June. Now it’s only me, Nancy, Will, and Dustin in the running.”

“What about Mike and El?”

“Mike didn’t want to encourage you dating Steve and the party agreed it felt unfair to have El gamble seeing as how she’s, ya know, still getting used to being in society.”

Despite yourself, you laugh. The idea is so bizarre and lovely, knowing how invested everyone is in your alleged love life, and it makes the worry you’ve been feeling fade away. “Can I join the pool? If I actually lose my job, I’ll need the money.”

Jonathan scoffs at you. “That goes against every gambling rule–”

“Please? I could be poor soon!”

“No, it’s not going to happen–”

“But–”

A knock on the window cuts you off. The two of you look up at the sound and find Nancy standing outside, waving and smiling. You hurry over to let her in, happy as always to see her. She’s been spending more and more nights at Jonathan’s, always sneaking in through the window.

It’s disgusting, and you couldn’t be happier for them.

Jonathan helps the girl climb through the window and greets her with a kiss to the forehead. “Hey, Nance.”

She smiles up at him with a shine in her eyes, and you know it’s time to leave. It’s getting late, anyways. You start to gather your banner supplies as you greet Nancy yourself. “Welcome back, Wheeler.”

“Hello to you too, Henderson.”

You wink at the girl and quickly ruffle Jonathan’s hair. “I’m going home, bee. My mom wants me to help prep Dustin’s room and I wanna have his banner done by tomorrow.”

“Bike home safe, please.” He says with a stern finger pointed at you.

Rolling your eyes, you give a mocking salute to Nancy and Jonathan. “Use protection, kids. I’m too young to be an aunt.”

Nancy gasps while Jonathan practically trips over his own two feet at your words, and you laugh. You leave them alone to compose themselves, closing the door to Jonathan shouting, “That wasn’t funny!”

You’re still giggling to yourself when you walk into the living room and see Joyce and Will sprawled on the couch. Their movie has just finished, the credits are rolling as you stand next to the TV and wave goodbye to them.

“You leaving so soon?” Joyce asks, surprised to even see you leave Jonathan’s room in the first place.

“Yeah, gotta finish up Dustin’s welcome home banner,” you hold up your supplies. Then, through the house’s thin walls, you all hear Nancy’s soft giggle. At the sound, you lean in close to Joyce and Will and dramatically whisper, “Plus, between the three of us, company came, so…”

Will’s eyes widen. “Yuck!”

Joyce chuckles, remembering how in love she was at Jonathan’s age back then. “Would I be a bad parent if I told Nancy she could just use the front door?”

“I don’t think so, but it’s fun watching them think they’re getting away with it.” You steal a piece of candy from the bowl Will had been eating out of, and he holds it up higher so that you can grab more. “Thanks, little bee.”

“You think it’s fun teasing Nancy and Jonathan now, Y/N, but when you’re the one sneaking in through a boy’s window one day…” Joyce shrugs, a twinkle in her eye. “You’ll understand.”

Will looks up at you with his own evil glint in his eyes, and before you can stop him, he turns to his mom and says, “I wonder how high Steve Harrington’s window is.”

You pretend to attack Will and he giggles as he flees his seat and runs to the other side of the living room. “Will Byers I will spit in your cookies–”

Joyce covers her mouth and gasps. “Y/N, are you hiding a boyfriend from me?”

Quickly you stop chasing after Will, terrified of the idea of the woman thinking you’d hide anything from her. “What? No! I’m not dating Steve–”

“Yet!” Will exclaims from across the room, but his retaliation is followed by a shriek as you chase after the kid again.

“If you keep this up, I’m telling Steve to stop letting y’all sneak into the movies!” You threaten as you chase the boy around the room.

Joyce watches in amusement, she’s never been able to take her eyes off of you when you’re with her boys. Will dodges a grab and you stumble, giving him just enough time to hide behind his mom’s armchair.

He pokes his head out at your threat, his eyes now uncertain. “You wouldn’t really tell Steve that, right?”

Catching your breath, you collapse onto the couch and shake your head at him. “No, little bee. I wouldn’t.”

You’d never do that to Will. He’s been so keen on spending as much time as possible with the party this summer, spending each and every moment planning DnD campaigns and biking all over Hawkins to spend mere seconds together. Will has spent all summer trying as hard as possible to be a kid again because so much of his childhood was stolen by Upside Down.

Will slowly gets up from behind the armchair and sits next to you, relieved. “Okay, good. We wanna see a movie tomorrow night and I already promised everyone you’d get Steve to let us in. That would’ve sucked.”

You and Joyce laugh at the boy’s response, and it feels so good to have this moment with the two of them. You allow it to wash over you for a second, the Byers home has always had such a comforting effect on you, before getting up and gathering your things once more. “I really should go, though. My mom is waiting.”

Joyce and Will say goodbye and tell you to be safe on your way home, and it warms something within you. As you bike down their driveway home, you inhale the summer night’s air and wonder, days before you turn seventeen, how much longer you have left of just this: being a little kid going home after a long day.

–

When you get home, Tews greets you with an angry meow.

The cat had been a Christmas gift for your mom from you and Dustin, seeing as how you accidentally killed Mews. Your mom had cried seeing the little kitten, and had cried even harder when your brother suggested the stupid name “Tews.”

But it stuck, and now Tews glares at you as you take your time feeding her.

In Dustin’s room you can hear your mom rustling around, frantically cleaning the place as if it currently isn’t the cleanest it’s ever been since the kid has been gone all month. After you feed Tews, you make your way over to your brother’s room to help with cleaning.

A few hours later, you’re laying in bed, exhausted from your long day. Dustin’s banner sits on your desk, right next to the phone that resides in the corner. Yawning, you glance at the clock, but when you see the time, you smile.

The phone rings.

“Right on time, honey.”

“Aren’t I always, angel?” Steve’s voice soothes your aching bones, his words like honey, the very thing you’ve come to associate with him.

Phone calls have become more and more common between you and Steve. You’re not sure when this tradition formed, but when you aren’t at Scoops and he isn’t at your house infiltrating your family, you’re on the phone with one another.

Hearing Steve’s voice puts you at ease, and it wasn’t long before you started calling each other before bed every night.

“How was your day?” You ask him, spinning the phone’s cable around your finger as you lay in bed.

Steve lets out a dramatic groan. “I swear, after you left today, Robin intentionally amped up her taunts. It’s like you’re her buffer or something. The second you leave,” you hear him snap his fingers, “she turns against me!”

“Robin would never do that.” Your voice is monotone as you say this, which only makes Steve groan dramatically once more. Robin would most definitely do that; you both know this.

“You two are the worst together.”

“Yeah, well,” you pull your blankets up to your chin and readjust into a comfier position. Your eyes feel heavy and Steve’s voice settles over your body. “Prepare for more pain tomorrow night. Will and the party have grand plans to sneak into yet another movie.”

Steve sighs. “Those kids are manipulating your power over me to get what they want.”

“You call it manipulation, I call it bonding.”

Another sigh escapes Steve. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“And yet you stay.” You tease.

“And yet I stay.”

You bite back a smile; you can almost perfectly envision Steve laying in his own bed, phone pressed to his ear with his hair messy and eyes half lidded as he talks to you. You wish, more than anything, that you could be there with him right now; instead, you fall asleep to the sound of Steve’s voice, slightly raspy from his own exhaustion.

–

The next day you wake up to an empty house. Your mom has been spending her summer at Hawkins' pool, like all the moms in town now do, to admire Billy at his new job.

It grosses you out to no end, and when your mom comes home some days swearing that Billy winked at her, you have to swallow down the phantom pain of his fingers wrapping around your windpipe.

By the time you get to work, Downtown Hawkins, as always, is a ghost town.

It’s been this way ever since Starcourt opened, and as you park your bike and lock it up, you can’t help but be unnerved by how quiet everything is. It was only a few years ago that you had to scream at a crowd of onlookers when Jonathan and Joyce had had that fight when they had found Will’s body in the quarry.

Now, walking slowly towards the front doors of Bookstrordinary, all you hear is silence in the once lively area. There are posters scattered throughout the old town, but they’re worn from the sunlight and torn from the weather. It’s a depressing sight.

Mrs. Waters greets you kindly when you walk in. “Hello, dear.”

“Hi, Mrs. Waters.” You give her a quick peck on the cheek as you quickly swipe your card to clock in. The bookstore is empty. “Any new shipments today?”

The old woman shakes her head forelonly. “Afraid not. We still haven’t sold last month’s shipment.”

You duck your head down and curse. This is the second shipment you weren’t able to sell. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Waters.”

“Oh, don’t be!” She walks over to you, her wrist shakes as she uses her cane. She has aged so much these last few years. “I’ve owned this store for thirty years, dear. I’m just happy that I can give you and Alex a job before you kids go off to college. Besides, it’s given me something to do these last few years without my husband…”

The woman’s eyes glaze over, something that has started to happen more and more now, and you grab her arm gently and give her a little shake. “Hey, Mrs. Waters. You still with me?”

She blinks, looks around in a confused daze, before breaking into her old smile once more. “Of course I am! Now, sort some books while I ward off those debt collectors with this cane.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, you can’t help but laugh at Mrs. Waters as she waves her cane around madly and gives you a wink. She hobbles back to her office and leaves you alone with the books and the ghost of Downtown Hawkins.

Only two customers come in during your four hour shift, and by midday Mrs. Waters releases you so that she can give Alex a few hours of work as well. She’s trying her best to keep you both hired for as long as she can, so she splits your hours. What she doesn’t know is that Alex now has a job at Hawkins’ pool and only comes into work because he just can’t bear to quit, and neither can you.

You bike to the mall, sad and needing a pick me up. Jonathan’s teasing from last night echoes in your head. How could you possibly think about your birthday when your boss is slowly losing both her mind and her business?

At the mall, your feet unconsciously take you to Scoops as they always do. This has become your favorite part of your dreary days: going to Scoops after work. The smell of ice cream greets you as you walk into the shop.

Robin sees you first and waves excitedly from the register. “Y/N!”

“It’s me!” You run up to the counter and lean over it to squeeze the girl into a tight hug.

There’s a loud crash from the backroom and just as you’ve pulled away from Robin, Steve bursts through the doors and leaps over the counter to join in on the hug. “Thank God you’re here, Robin was about to make me clean the tables.”

You giggle while Robin scoffs, pulling away. “It’s your turn, dingus.”

Steve, still hugging you from behind, hums. He begins to rock you back and forth in his arms, which only makes you giggle more, while he pretends to think about what the girl has said. “Nope, don’t remember it being my turn.”

Robin gives you a pleading look to back her up, and you reluctantly slide your arms over Steve’s and release his grip. He groans in complaint at the loss of your touch, and you roll your eyes at him as you turn around to now face him. “C’mon, let’s go wipe the tables so dear Robin can man the register in peace.”

Steve groans even louder now as Robin cheers, and you snatch the rag from his pocket and begin to wipe down the tables. He follows eventually, moaning and groaning as he cleans next to you, and you hit your hip against his. “Hey, at least you’re getting paid for this.”

“I give you free ice cream!” He argues, pieces of his hair falling out of his adorably dorky sailor’s hat that he has to wear for this job. It’s incredibly endearing, and as he hunches over to scrub at a particularly dirty table, his thighs strain against his probably too short shorts and you can’t help but stare at them. As you admire this spectacular show, Steve catches you and flicks your nose. “Quit ogling me and get back to your free labor, angel.”

“I wasn’t ogling, I was simply admiring.”

Robin gags from behind the register. “I can hear you guys, you know!”

You and Steve both stick your tongues out at her before going back to work.

The hours pass by quickly after that. The midday rush of tweens and teens alike infiltrate Scoops, so Steve helps Robin fling ice cream while you get comfortable in your designated booth in the corner. You’ve hidden a supply of comics underneath one of the booth’s cushions and you spend your time catching up on the latest Spider-Man arc.

You’re so engrossed in what you’re reading that you don’t notice a body slide into the booth next to you until the person speaks.

“Spider-Man, huh? Heard he’s a pretty cool guy.”

Startled by the stranger’s voice, you almost drop your comic in alarm. When you see that it’s just Jason Carver sitting next to you, you place a hand to your chest and inhale quickly, trying to settle your rapid heartbeat. “Christ, you scared me.”

“Sorry!” He genuinely looks apologetic, so you wearily set down your comic and straighten up.

You’ve never spoken to Jason before, even though you’ve been in the same classes ever since eighth grade. He’s always ran with the popular crowd, being a jock and all, and you’ve always ran with Jonathan. However, despite being on the basketball team, Jason has never been mean to either of you, so you figure it’s safe to offer him your attention.

“Can I ask why you’re here?” You cock your head at him, feeling your hair fall over your shoulders.

Jason smiles at you, in a sort of cute and charming way. “Stopped by to get my little sister some ice cream,” he points to a little girl next to him, who waves at you, and you wave back. “Then I saw you sitting here all alone reading one of my favorite comics, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to say hi to such a pretty girl.”

You blush at his bold words. You’ve never received such attention from anyone before, at least not anyone normal thanks to Billy, and you’re not really sure why Jason seems to be paying attention to you now. He’s had years to do this.

Jason sees your sudden shyness and chuckles. He stands up and offers you his hand. “Why don’t I buy you some ice cream, maybe you could help me show my sister around the mall–” Steve’s shoulder collides roughly into the teen’s, causing him to stumble into his sister’s ice cream cone and get chocolate ice cream all over the front of his pants. Jason looks up at Steve and balls his fists in anger. “What the fuck, Harrington?”

You quickly cover the little girl’s ears, though she giggles.

Steve shrugs as he looks at Jason. “Sorry, man. Didn’t see you there.” Then, he turns to you, and offers his own hand. “Anyways, I think it’s time for your daily free ice cream, angel.”

Jason’s eyes narrow as you accept Steve’s hand and spare him an apologetic glance. Before you leave, you dig some cash out of your overalls and hand them to him. “For your sister’s new ice cream cone.”

He sighs and accepts the money. Jason knows that Steve is still holding your hand as he stands behind you, but he has nothing else to lose at this point. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. “I didn’t stand a chance, did I?”

Steve twirls you with your interlocked hands, causing you to giggle, and guides you to the ice cream counter. As he leaves, shouts behind him, “Not at all, buddy!”

You know you should feel bad, but Steve twirls you again and all you can do is giggle breathlessly as Jason Carver walks out of Scoops with his sister in tow.

–

Later that night the mall is busier than ever, and as you’re gossiping with Robin about Steve ruining Jason’s pants, you’re interrupted by Mike’s grubby little hand repeatedly hitting the bell.

Seems it’s time for their movie.

You flick the kid’s head, which Lucas, Max, and Will snicker at. “Enough!”

“Ow, Y/N!”

“Thanks,” Robin sends you an appreciative smile before she calls towards the backroom, “Dingus, your children are here!”

Within seconds, Steve opens the sliding windows and sighs when he sees Mike and the party. “Again? Seriously?”

“I warned you.” You say, shrugging at his annoyance. “Let the kids have some fun.”

Mike rings the bell again. “Do what Y/N says.”

Steve sighs in defeat and motions for the kids to follow him behind the counter. “Fine, but only because I’m nice, not because Y/N said so.”

“Right.” Everyone says, not at all believing him, which Steve chooses to ignore.

You all follow him through the back entrance of the mall. Checking to make sure the coast is clear, Steve waves the kids inside. “I swear, if anybody hears about this–”

“We’re dead.” The kids all respond, voices monotone with annoyance after hearing this threat a million times.

However, before they all leave, Will gently tugs at your hand to get your attention. “Are you coming with?”

You want to say yes, but then you catch Steve’s eyes and he silently pleads with you to stay, and you know you can’t tell him no. Squeezing Will’s hand, you shake your head. “Sorry, little bee. I promise I will next time, though.”

Mike scoffs in disgust, disappointed in you. Your relationship with Steve has always confused him, and you’ve only gotten closer to the teen since Dustin left for camp. He pities what the boy will think when he comes back to his sister all lovey-dovey with an idiot like Steve Harrington.

Once the kids leave, you go back into Scoops with Steve and settle into your booth once more. Grabbing your comic, you flip to where you left off before looking up at the teen and saying, “you have me for another hour. I can’t be out late tonight, Dustin comes home tomorrow and I promised Mike I’d be up at like seven to let everyone in.”

Steve salutes you and hops back behind his counter to help Robin with some customers. You smile at his antics and go back to reading. A few minutes pass, Spider-Man has just kissed MJ, before the lights above you start to flicker and then go out completely.

Everyone in the mall gasps and murmurs in a slight panic as they’re thrown into darkness. The hair on your arms stands up; you no longer trust lights that flicker. Robin catches your eye and gives you an odd look when she sees the fear on your face.

“Scared of the dark, Y/N?” She teases, not understanding what you really fear: what lies below Hawkins.

“That’s weird,” Steve mumbles to himself as he goes over to the light switch. He starts to flip the switch repeatedly, and you roll your eyes at him. He’s an idiot sometimes.

“That isn’t gonna work, dingus.” Robin says, looking over at you once more as if to silently ask, why are you attracted to him?

You shake your head at her as Steve continues to flip the switch, now only quickening his movements. He stares Robin down as if to challenge her. “Oh, really?”

Nothing happens, because contrary to what Steve may believe, he can’t fix what is likely (and what you hope) is simply a blackout from the summer heat. He flicks the lightswitch a few more times before the generators kick back on and Scoops Ahoy is once again lit up.

Steve raises his eyebrows at Robin and smirks at her, pleased. “See? Let there be light.”

You drop your head to the table, now also questioning why you’re attracted to the guy.

However, when it’s time to head home and Steve walks with you to your bike outside, he kisses your cheek and wishes you a good night; you know that this is the reason you’ve fallen for him: his kindness. With his kiss lingering on your cheek, you bike home.

–

When Steve gets back from saying goodbye to you, he’s met with a nosey Robin.

She stands against the counter with her arms crossed. There aren’t any more customers in the shop, they closed about ten minutes ago, and Steve was really looking forward to driving home and taking off his stupid uniform.

Robin, however, clearly has other plans.

“What did I do now?” He asks her, not daring to take any step closer.

“Why haven’t you asked Y/N out yet?” Steve’s eyes widen at the question and Robin knows she’s got him cornered. “I’ve spent hours with you guys, and it’s driving me insane that you haven’t manned up!”

“‘Manned up’?” Steve sputters out, completely offended.

Robin throws her arms out in front of her. “Yes! I mean, it’s so obvious that you’re in love with her and that she’s in love with you. Just… Just get it over with!”

Blushing, Steve slumps against the wall and closes his eyes. As much as it pains him to admit it, he knows that Robin is right. “It’s… complicated.”

“Well, go on.” The girl now hops on the counter and sits on it. “Explain it to me, then.”

“Y/N used to be in love with…” Steve stops, unsure if you’d want him to be telling Robin this. “Someone.”

She rolls her eyes. “Everyone knows she was in love with that Byers kid.”

“Right.” He clears his throat, uncomfortable with the reminder that at one point, everyone in Hawkins truly believed you were destined for Jonathan. “Well as I’m sure you know… He got with Nancy, who–uh, I had been with.”

“Okay, so what?”

“I–” Steve isn’t sure what Robin doesn’t understand. “I needed… time?”

Robin frowns. “After Nancy dumped you?”

“Technically I dumped her–”

“What does this have to do with Y/N?” Robin presses.

Steve groans and rubs at his eyes. He’s tired and wants to go home to call you and go to bed with your soft voice in his head. “Y/N understood that the breakup with Nancy hurt, and–well. She told me she’d wait for me. I guess. While I figured my shit out.”

Robin thinks this over for a minute. “Okay, I think I can understand that, but–wait, when did this all happen again?”

“... December.” He closes his eyes, bracing himself for the girl’s inevitable anger.

“Harrington!”

There it is.

“I know, okay?” Steve tugs at his hair in frustration. “I’m over Nancy, I’ve been over her since at least April, but… But what–what if Y/N has lost interest in me now? What if–maybe I made her wait too long, or–or what if she thinks she’s just Nancy’s replacement?”

Steve is rambling now, months of his anxious and insecure thoughts now spilling out. “I mean, it’d kill me if–if I ever made her feel second to anyone! She’s… She’s incredible and–God, I don’t even know why she likes me and I’ve spent this entire summer trying to–I don’t know… Figure out how to confess my feelings to her in a way that matters, ya know? Like, a grand proposal to show her that I’m crazy about her.”

Robin is silent for several minutes after Steve’s frantic spiel, he’s panting by the time he’s done. Then, finally, she says, “Dude… You’re way overthinking this.”

Steve winces. “I mean, her birthday is in a few days. I can… I can ask her to be my girlfriend then. That’s romantic, right?”

“You’re hopeless.”

–

“Dusty comes home today!” Your mom’s shrill voice wakes you up as she prances around the house getting ready. You roll over in bed and stretch, tired but excited to see your brother again after a month of being apart.

You get out of bed and press a kiss to your mother’s cheek before telling her to drive safe. Glancing at the clock, you see that you have just enough time to shower before the party arrives. The entire thing had been Mike’s plan and you were more than happy to help arrange everything.

After you’ve gotten ready, you hear three swift knocks on your front door and you answer it. “Right on time, Wheeler.”

Mike salutes you as he and the others walk in. El gives you a hug and Max high fives you as the boys start setting up the robots. The six of you get started on the plan: place all the robots in Dustin’s room, all hidden in various corners, and then use El’s powers to control them and guide him to the living room so that you all can surprise him.

It’s a brilliant plan, one only a Wheeler could think of.

It takes you, Lucas, Mike, and Will to successfully hang up Dustin’s banner that took you all week to make. There’s cursing, yelling, a few trips, and multiple snickers from El and Max while the four of you struggle to hang the thing, but eventually you manage to secure the banner into place in the living room.

Just as you’ve finished hanging it up, you hear your mom’s car pull into the driveway and you quickly shove the kids into a closet. “Quick! That’s my mom’s car, hide!”

Lucas yelps and Max punches his shoulder to shut him up, but thankfully you manage to close the closet door just in time before Dustin walks in. You hide behind the couch, quiet so as not to be seen by him, and carefully listen for his footsteps to retreat down the hall and into his room.

Once he’s gone, you scramble towards the closet and open the door. “Okay, he’s in his room, time for step two.”

“Did we all really have to hide in the closet?” Will asks, rubbing at his shoulder that had been shoved into a hanger.

“Yes, now shush and hide behind the wall so he doesn’t see you.” You order, and the kids all listen. Once you’re all pressed against the wall, you nod at El. “Ready?”

“Ready.” She responds, closing her eyes. Static fills the air and you hear one of the robots turn on in Dustin’s room. Then the other one turns on, then the monkey, and soon all the toys have been activated by El’s powers.

Mike pokes his head around the corner. “Okay, now start leading the robots here.”

Blood slowly begins to drip from El’s nose and you feel bad that she’s doing this, but the kids all look excited, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little giddy yourself. The noise from the robots grows louder as El draws them out from the room and towards you guys.

You hear Dustin’s uncertain voice following behind them. “It’s just a dream… You’re dreaming.”

Then Mike whispers to El, “Now!”

The robots all die in the center of your living room and slowly everyone starts to creep out from behind the wall. Lucas is holding his own poster he made and you hand everyone party noisemakers. Dustin is investigating the robots and doesn’t hear you stalk up behind him. Max silently counts to three, and on her signal, you all blow your party noisemakers and surprise him.

Dustin screams and immediately holds up his Farrah Fawcett spray, blinding Lucas as he continuously sprays it. The poor boy screams as well and the rest of the kids back away, out of the line of fire. However, as soon as your momentary shock wears off, you manage to snatch the hairspray out of your brother’s hand and save Lucas.

“Why is Farrah Fawcett your weapon of choice?” You exclaim, shoving a still screaming Lucas towards your kitchen so that you flush the spray out of his eyes. Max joins, rubbing soothing circles into the boy’s back.

“Why would you scare me like that after the hell we went through this year?” Dustin shouts back at you, clutching at his chest.

Dustin’s words make you stop for a moment and think. Huh. He has a point. “Yeah, we should’ve thought about that, honestly.”

“A little help here?” Lucas brings the attention back to him and you apologize, helping him once more to flush his eyes out. As you and Max tend to him, Dustin tells the others to follow him to his room so he can show them what he built at camp.

Max splashes some more water in Lucas’ eyes. “Better?”

The boy stands up and wipes his face, though he’s careful not to touch his eyes. “Still stings.”

“I feel like I should call someone…” You mumble, Your first aid knowledge doesn’t include Farrah Fawcett in the eyes.

Lucas blinks a few times and looks around. He leans in closer to Max’s face and for a moment you’re scared he’ll kiss her, but instead he chooses to be an idiot. “Is that a new zit?”

You wince and Max’s eyes widen in disbelief. She looks at you and you both seem to come to the same agreement: grabbing the back of Lucas’ neck, the two of you shove his face back into the water. “What is wrong with you?”

Lucas screams again and you leave Max to deal with him, laughing to yourself as you go see whatever creation your brother has brought home. You love Lucas, you do, but you have no idea how Max puts up with his boyish antics.

Inside Dustin’s room, you find him and the others hunched over a collection of wires and metal pieces. You walk in and join them.

“I would like you to meet Cerebro.” Dustin presents his creation, but you honestly have no idea what it’s supposed to be.

You squint at it. “It’s… Pretty?”

“What exactly are we looking at here?” Mike asks, unimpressed.

“An unassembled, one-of-a-kind, battery powered radio tower!” Dustin explains with a proud smile on his face.

A beat of silence passes before Will carefully asks, “So… It’s a ham radio?”

Dustin’s excitement only grows. “The Cadillac of radios.”

“Still not understanding, buddy.” You now voice, usually always lost when it comes to the more AV stuff the party likes.

“This baby carries a crystal-clear connection over vast differences.” Your brother clarifies for you, and you nod along. “I’m talking North Pole to South. I can talk to my girlfriend whenever and wherever I choose.”

You, Mike, El, and Will all look at each other in shock at the word that has just left Dustin’s mouth. “Girlfriend?”

Your brother nods, looking all smug, and you immediately berate him with a million questions. “What’s her name, where is she from, how long have you been dating. Tell me everything, now!”

“Relax, dear sister. Her name is Suzie, and I’ll explain in a second. We can even talk to her if you guys help me set Cerebro up on Weathertop hill.”

You’re the first to start grabbing all the supplies, giddy and eager to hear more about your baby brother’s girlfriend. It’s almost too good to be true. Mike, Will, and El follow along and soon you’re all holding materials for Cerebro as you follow Dustin out of the house.

As you all leave, Mike starts asking questions again. “Wait, so her name is Suzie?”

Dustin nods. “Suzie, with a ‘z’. She’s from Utah.”

“People from Utah actually exist?” You ask, which the others laugh at.

“Girls go to science camp?” Will asks.

You give him a stern look. “Anyone can go to science camp, Will.”

“What Y/N said,” Dustin continues explaining his girlfriend. “And Suzie does, she’s a genius.”

“Is she cute?” Mike can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“Think Phoebe Cates, only better.”

You re-adjust one of the poles for Cerebro in your arms. “Can we focus on her being smart instead? I think she sounds lovely.”

From the kitchen, Max sees the four of you open the front door as she helps Lucas with his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going to talk to Dustin’s girlfriend.” Will informs them.

Lucas whips his head up from the sink as he and Max exclaim, “Girlfriend?”

“I know, right?” You say, motioning them to follow.

–

“Alrighty, one scoop of chocolate. That’s a buck twenty-five.” Steve hands the ice cream cone to the girl he’s currently serving. She’s pretty enough, and when he notices her Purdue shirt, he can’t help but say something about it. “Ooh, Purdue! Fancy.”

The girl smiles and hands Steve her change. “Yeah, I’m excited.”

“Yeah, you know… I–I considered it. Purdue.” He types the code into the register and places the change inside. “But then I was like, you know what? I really think I need some real life experience, you know, before I hit college. See what it’s like.”

The girl and the friend she’s with exchange weird glances, and Steve knows he’s rambling like an idiot. “Uh, what I mean is… You’re girls, right? How would the two of you like to be asked out by a guy?”

“I’m sorry?” Purdue girl asks, looking at her friend, creeped out.

The cash register begins to beep at him and Steve hits it a few times to shut it up. “Sorry, uh… Anyways, say you’ve seen this guy every day for like, months, and feelings are shared, you know, as they are. Then time passes and the guy never makes the move because he’s, well, he’s an idiot–”

“Yeah, totally.” Purdue girl interrupts him and her friend giggles.

“Exactly, so… This was, like, so fun. This little chat. Anyways, what do you think? How would you want the guy to ask you out?” Steve puts on his most charming smile, hoping that the girls will say that maybe he isn’t crazy for waiting so long to ask you out. As he hands them their change, he drops part of it. “Oh, sorry about that. Uh…”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t wanna be asked out.” Purdue girl says as her friend snorts.

“Sure, but I mean, it’s complicated, you know? And–”

Purdue girl interrupts him once more. “No, I’m sorry, but it sounds like you missed your chance and you’re like, really weird.”

“But the guy isn’t me!” Steve shouts as the two girls leave, only embarrassing himself even more. He sighs, closes his eyes, and wonders how he got here.

“And another one bites the dust.” Robin announces from behind him. He turns around and watches as she marks another tally underneath the you suck column of her whiteboard. Next to it is the column you rule, which currently has zero marks. “You are oh-for-six, Popeye.”

Steve crosses his arms. “Yeah, I can count.”

“You know that means you suck and that Y/N isn’t the problem here, you are, right?”

“Yup, I can read, too.” Steve swallows down his annoyance, he knows he’s only done this to himself.

“Since when?”

“It’s this stupid hat,” Steve complains, as if this is the only appropriate answer. “I’m telling you, it’s making everyone think I’m some pathetic guy who can’t ask a girl out.”

Robin leans against the window. “Yeah, company policy is the reason that you’re an idiot for not asking out Y/N.” She thinks for a moment and tries to offer the teen some advice. “Ya know, it’s a crazy idea, but have you considered telling the truth?”

“What? That I’m hopelessly in love with her? Sure, I’m such a catch who couldn’t even get into Tech and whose douchebag dad is trying to teach a lesson, now making three bucks an hour with no future.” Steve laughs at himself. “A catch who, by the way, could’ve been hers back in December had he not been a complete moron? What a great truth.”

Robin frowns, now feeling bad for making him feel this way. While she doesn’t understand everything, she gets that Steve has had a difficult few months. Taking pity on him, she points out some girls approaching and tries to lighten his mood. “Hey, twelve o’clock! Maybe they’ll see your side of things.”

Steve turns around and sees the girls as well. “Shit, okay. Okay, I can do this! I’m going in.” He quickly snatches the sailor hat from his head and tosses it to Robin. “Screw company policy, I’m getting advice about Y/N one way or another.”

For a second, Robin has hope for him, but then he opens his Scoops Ahoy greeting way too loud and then immediately starts to ramble about you, and she sighs in defeat and marks another tally underneath the you suck column.

–

Hiking up a giant, grassy hill in ninety degree heat while hauling heavy equipment for a giant radio that your brother built to talk to his alleged long distance girlfriend definitely wasn’t what you had in mind today. In fact, you mourn the fact that you aren’t working today.

You’re only here to hear about Dustin’s girlfriend, honestly.

“Aren’t we high enough?” Lucas pants, voicing what everyone else is thinking.

Dustin shakes his head. “Cerebro works best at a hundred meters.”

“You know, I’m pretty sure people in Utah have telephones.” Max quips.

You wipe sweat from your brow and cringe, you feel disgusting. “Max, you’ve always been so wise.”

“Suzie’s Mormon.” Says Dustin, and you almost trip over a rock.

“You’re dating a Mormon?”

Lucas talks over you. “Oh, shit. She doesn’t have electricity?”

“Oh, that’s the Amish.” Max corrects him, and you get flashbacks to when you had to correct Steve about Nazis and Germans.

Will frowns at you. “What are Mormons?”

“Scary people–”

Dustin interrupts you. “Super religious white people. They have electricity and cars and stuff, but… Since I’m not Mormon, her parents would never approve.”

“Please don’t become Mormon,” you beg, dripping even more sweat. “I need someone sane in our family.”

“I won’t,” Dustin reassures you, though he has a far off look in his eyes. “But it’s all a bit Shakespearean, don’t you think?”

“Shakespearean?” Max laughs and you also can’t help but giggle.

Dustin doesn’t let your teasing deter him from reminiscing, though. “Yeah, like Romeo and Juliet.”

“They both die, Dustin.” It’s important to you that he knows this.

“But they were also star crossed lovers.”

“Who killed themselves.”

Below, Mike shouts to the rest of you, “Hey, guys!”

You all turn and you frown when you see just how far he and El are, both of them empty handed and dry as a daisy in the summer heat. When Mike sees that he has all of your attention, he taps at his watch. “This is fun and all, but, uh…”

“I have to go home.” El announces, her arm intertwined through Mike’s.

Dustin points towards the top of the hill no less than a few yards away. “We’re almost there.”

“Sorry, man. Curfew.” Mike shrugs, he isn’t really sorry and you all know it. He then grabs El’s hand and they descend down the hill, giggling and enamored with one another.

With a gleeful laugh, El says goodbye. “Good luck!”

Dustin looks down at his watch. “Curfew at four?”

You’re startled by the time, having assumed it was at least closer to six. Hopper may be an overprotective grump of a man, but not even he is crazy enough to enact a curfew for El at four in the afternoon. “That… Doesn’t sound real.”

“They’re lying.” Lucas explains, frustrated.

“It’s been like this all summer.” Will says bitterly, something that you take note of.

Max nudges you with her shoulder. “I think it’s romantic.”

“It’s gross!” Will voices again.

You bite your lip. “I don’t know, it’s your guys’ last summer before high school and…”

“It’s bullshit.” Dustin finishes for you, hurt in his voice. “I just got home.”

You flick him. “Language! But… I agree.”

Dustin watches with annoyance as Mike and El walk down the hill hand in hand. While he’s incredibly hurt that they’ve ditched him after being gone for a month, he remembers what Steve has taught him. People can suck, but there’s nothing he can do about it. “Well, their loss, right? Onwards and upwards, Suzie awaits!”

Max and Lucas groan at the idea of continuing the hike while you admire your brother’s perseverance. You’re proud of him for not letting Mike and El ruin his plans with the others. He’s excited to be home, and you’re more than happy to go along with whatever schemes he has planned.

You’re about to follow the others up the hill when you realize that Will hasn’t joined. You turn around and see that he has his hand around the back of his neck as he stands there, frozen. Then, he turns and faces Hawkins, stumbling back a bit as he does so, and you watch with a frown on your face.

“Hey, little bee, are you okay?” You gently place a hand on his shoulder, which seems to break him of whatever spell he’d been under.

“I’m fine,” he lies, and you don’t at all believe him. Will looks uneasy, as if he’s just seen a ghost. A part of you begins to worry, but you don’t push him. For all you know, it could be about Mike and his growing distance from the others.

“Well, c’mon, then.” You grab Will’s hand and together you ascend the rest of the hill.

At the top, Dustin drops his bag and sighs. “Made it!”

“Yeah, only took five hours,” Max pants out, stumbling the final few steps up the hill.

You collapse onto the ground and fight to catch your breath. “I run almost every morning. I think I lost a lung back there.”

“Why couldn’t we just play DnD?” Will collapses next to you.

Lucas grabs the flask of water, and as you struggle to get air into your lungs, you watch as he chugs the remaining water without a care in the world. Max watches as well, annoyed, and once again you pity Lucas. He’s such a boy.

Building the radio takes longer than expected. After your short five minute break, Dustin puts you all to work. There’s a million pieces to the thing and your fingers ache from screwing bolts into slots and extending poles. The sun has begun to set when you finally push the giant radio into an upright position. It’s easily fifteen feet high, and it’s an impressive sight that you can’t deny.

“Not bad, Dustin.” You admit, walking around Cerebro in awe.

“Ready to meet my love?” He asks everyone, and you all sit down next to him and eagerly await. Dustin switches the radio on. “Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over.”

No one answers. All you hear is radio feedback.

Dustin scratches his nose nervously. “One sec. She’s probably… She’s still there.” Again, no one answers, and he ducks his head down in embarrassment. “Suzie… This is Dustin, do you copy? Over.”

More radio static follows in the absence of Suzie’s response.

You wince, despite trying to appear supportive. You can’t help it, this is embarrassing for your brother. While you don’t doubt that he has a girlfriend, you admit that this doesn’t look good for him. A long distance girlfriend who is hot and smart and magically needs a radio to communicate with? Unlikely.

“I’m sure she’s there,” Dustin tries to explain to you guys, now even more embarrassed. “It’s dinner time, and she’s busy…”

“Yeah, sure.” Lucas tries to be supportive and play along, which you appreciate him immensely for. Max nods as well, but Will just stands there silent.

“Maybe try again?” You encourage, trying to be nice.

Dustin nods and tries once more to contact Suzie, and it goes on like this for a while. He radios, no one answers, and eventually you and everyone else lay down in the grass as you wait for nothing.

Almost an hour passes and the crickets begin to chirp as the sun goes down and the moon comes up. Dustin is still trying to reach Suzie, but Max finally has enough. “Dustin, come on! She’s not there.”

“She’s there, alright? She’ll pick up.”

“Dustin…” You sigh, unsure how to tell him that you also want to leave. You had plans with Steve tonight, he invited you over to watch a movie and you should’ve left ten minutes ago.

Will lifts his head up from the grass. “Maybe Cerebro doesn’t work.”

“Or maybe Suzie doesn’t exist.” Lucas argues.

Dustin gasps. “She exists!”

“She’s a genius and she’s hotter than Phoebe Cates? No girl is that perfect.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose at Lucas’ words and wait for Max’s inevitable offense. He truly, deeply, is such a boy. As predicted, Max sits up and looks down at him with annoyance. “Is that so?”

Lucas shuffles up in panic, now realizing too late what he’s said. “I mean–you’re perfect! I mean, like, perfect–in your own way, in your own, uh, special way!”

“Lucas,” you hit his shoulder. “Stop talking, dude.”

Max laughs, pleased with herself. “Relax, I was teasing. I’m obviously perfect and Dustin is obviously lying.”

“Okay, no,” you now sit up. “He isn’t lying, it’s just a very unfortunate circumstance.”

Max doesn’t listen and instead offers Lucas her hand to help him up so that they can leave. “Come on, Don Juan.”

“Where are you going?” Dustin follows, not understanding yet what’s happening.

“Home,” Max huffs, before remembering that you’re there, too. “Bye, Y/N!”

“Bye,” you wave at them weakly, knowing that this will only upset your brother further as she and Lucas slowly head home.

Dustin stands next to you now. “Well, guess it’s just us and Byers, Y/N,”

Will now stands up and awkwardly avoids your brother’s gaze. “Um… It’s late. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow we can play DnD, or something fun, like we used to?”

Dustin clenches his jaw. You know he’s close to tears, and it breaks your heart to watch. You stand up and rest your arm around him as he responds to Will. “Yeah, sure.”

“Welcome home,” Will says sadly before he starts to walk down the hill as well.

You anxiously watch as he leaves. “Be careful, please!”

“I will!” He reassures you, knowing that you’re still terrified of losing him again.

As you watch Will, Dustin whispers to himself, “Yeah, welcome home.”

His words break your heart even more. Forgetting about your anxiety over Will, you wrap both arms around your brother and hug him. He had been so excited earlier to be home and see all his friends after a month of being away. You understand that the kids are all growing up, but you had always hoped that they’d grow together, not apart.

“You still have all of July and August,” you try to comfort Dustin, desperately hoping that you aren’t lying to both him and yourself. “I’m sure they’ll come around.”

Suddenly the radio attached to Cerebro switches on and Dustin pushes you off of him so that he can get to the radio in time. He stumbles over his feet and trips, and you watch with amusement and curiosity.

He manages to finally untangle himself from the radio and answers. “Suzie, Suzie, is that you?”

You sit down next to Dustin and lean in close to the radio, excited to finally meet your brother’s girlfriend. Instead, you hear what sounds like a foreign language. It’s distinct, slightly muffled, but you know what it is. “Is that…”

“Russian.” Dustin whispers.

Everything changes, then.

–

You force Dustin to go home immediately. He wants to stay, see if he can find any more hidden messages, but you refuse. He’s elated, talking a mile a minute as you bike home, theorizing every possible answer as to why you heard Russian in Hawkins, Indiana.

“Dustin!” You yell at him, terrified that someone could be listening. “Not here, okay?”

He deflates, but pedals home alongside you.

You’re terrified as you bike home, a million thoughts are running through your head. You don’t at all like what any of this could mean; you’ve had enough sketchy government facilities and secret government agencies to last you a fucking lifetime.

When you get home, you order Dustin to go to bed.

“But Y/N, we’ve got to tell someone about this–”

“Tomorrow, okay? Just, please, Dustin.” You’re exhausted and confused and overwhelmed.

Your brother senses that you’re at your limit and reluctantly backs down. “Fine, but can we at least tell Steve tomorrow?”

Hearing Steve’s name puts something at ease within you. Tomorrow, you’ll go to Scoops with Dustin and ask Steve what he thinks about all of this. Comforted by the fact that you now have a plan forming, you begin to calm down. “I promise we’ll tell him tomorrow, okay?”

Dustin nods and heads to his room, wishing you a good night. When you hear his door click shut, you slowly head to your own room. You’re terrified, and there’s only one thing you want to do to lessen the fear that scratches at your throat. After crawling into bed, you call Steve.

He answers immediately. “Y/N? Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” you breathe out, his voice like an exhale of a summer’s day. “I… I’m sorry I missed our movie night.”

Steve laughs softly. “Angel, I’m just happy you’re okay. I was getting worried there.”

You close your eyes. “It’s been a weird day.”

“Did something happen?” Steve senses that there’s something you aren’t telling him, which worries him.

“Dustin… He may have found something, but I just–I don’t want to talk about it just yet. I… I don’t want to jinx it,” you squeeze your eyes tight and will away the fear you feel. “I–I’m just, I’m so exhausted, you know?”

“Y/N, are you in danger–”

“No,” you dispel any fear that Steve may feel. “I promise I’m okay, I just really need to hear your voice right now, okay? Can you just talk to me, please?”

“Of course I can.” Steve agrees without any questions asked, and you love how he trusts you enough to do this.

Exhaling the remaining fear, you allow the warmth from Steve to hold you through the night. “Thank you, honey.”

“Anytime, angel. You know that.”

And you do.

Steve begins telling you a story from today, how he dropped an ice cream cone on a toddler and enraged the mom, and you fall asleep that night to the sound of his voice over the phone.

-

⌑ series masterlist

⌑ if youd like to buy me a coffee ☕︎

⌑ thank you for reading ! feel free to like, comment, reblog, or send in an ask so we can chat <3

[siriustaylorsversion]

Nevermind (Taylor Swift x reader) She has always owned my heart pt.4

finally got over my writers block so this is a little long <3 thankyou so much @karsonromanoff for the idea!!

part one, two and three

enews

enews does anyone hear wedding bells? singer yourname.official seen wearing an ENGAGEMENT RING in a new interview... what news do her and taylorswift bring??? liked by tomhalland2013, y/n_sink and 4,205,600 others.

y/n.sink WHAT IS GOING ON IS THIS REAL????

tay.y/nforevermore TMZ POSTED AND TOM HOLLAND LIKED THIS IS HAPPENING theerastour.updates IM FREAKING OUT WHAT THE HELL

costataylorsversion IM GONNA CRY IF THIS IS NOT TRUE IM SO HAPPY

conangray my mothers are doing what now??

oliviarodrigo oh my god yourname.official SO HAPPY FOR YOU

siriustaylorsversion NOT #mymothersaremarried TRENDING ON TWITTER WHAT 😭😭😭

snehit.13 NOT LEAVING MY PHONE UNTIL THEY CONFIRM

blakelively oh wow

tay.y/nforevermore WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WOW'?????? y/n.sink MOM WHAT'S HAPPENING

y/n_sink

y/n_sink it's yourname.official's new story AND OH MY GOD MY PARENTS ARE MARRIED IM DEAD liked by woodvaleisreal, y/n_sink and 100,309 others.

y/nandsadie.forevermore FORGET TEARDROPS MY GUITAR IS FLOODED

y/ntourupdates but her story is so real 😭😭😭

folkmore.forevermore THIS IS WHAT WE NEEDED BEST NEWS TO START THE NEW YEAR

yourname.official

yourname.official IM OPENING FOR THE LOVE OF MY LIFE (and the highest grossing tour, I could not be prouder) liked by tomhalland2013, blakelively and 7,208,600 others.

taylorswift could not be more excited, my love 🥹🩷🩷

blakelively my favorite girls, oh my god <3

folkmore.forevermore CONGRATS ON THE ENGAGEMENT

y/nandsadie.forevermore YOU'RE MARRIED????????

woodvaleisreal SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS AAAAHHH

conangray CONGRATULATIONS, MOTHER (why didn't you tell me??)

yourname.official what's up with the comments?

tomholland2013 i might've accidentally liked a post... yourname.official uh huh.... tomholland2013 it might've accidentally been about your nonexistent wedding, nevermind... yourname.official you're dead, spidey. folkmore WAIT WHAT IS GOING ON??

taylorswift

taylorswift we got married? looking at all the fake wedding drama like 😦 liked by yourname.official, blakelively and 7,208,600 others.

yourname.official it was fun while it lasted 💘

zendaya wait, what drama??

tomholland2013 nothing, nothing at all. i- zendaya you good?? yourname.official got him mid-sentence... rest in peace, holland

forever.more I'M CRYING WHY IS THIS ONE NOT TRUE

y/n_sink i have never been this heartbroken, why.

folkmore.forevermore WHAT NOOO??????

blakelively i thought you didn't tell us </3

taylorswift you'd be the first one to know when it does happen tomholland you'd say yes to her? why?? yourname.official shush, you're dead.

y/ntourupdates THAT'S IT I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE

jimmyfallon

jimmyfallon we're gonna have yourname.official talking about the eras tour, the wedding rumors and should she "pull a monica" for a surprise proposal? don't worry, blondie can't see this post liked by yourname.official, blakelively and 3,200,600 others.

comments on this post have been limited

yourname.official i should go do it...

blakelively best of luck, darling <3

tmz

tmz We are not coming to you with fake news this time, that time was in yourname.official's words... "all Tom Hollands fault". On the Jimmy Fallon show, the singer revealed that all the comments by the fans made her reflect on her relationship and said that "I couldn't be happier being with my girlfriend and I just think maybe we should get married. Taylor was scared at first that the people would believe the news and we'd have to get married when I'm not ready but.. it's like that one f.r.i.e.n.d.s. episode, maybe I should pull a monica and ask her." We could not be happier for the couple, now it's up to Ms. Swift to follow her own lyrics and baby just say yes. liked by zendaya, blakelively and 5,060,700 others.

forever.more I WAS WATCHING AND I LITERALLY SOBBED WHEN SHE SAID THIS, THEY ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER

y/n_sink THEY BETTER GET MARRIED BECAUSE OH MY GOD

folkmore.forevermore IMPATIENTLY WAITING FOR NEW NEWS ON THIS BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST THING TO BEGIN THE YEAR WITH

gracieabrams they both have such a way with words, I'm actually crying.

yourname.official

yourname.official NEVERMIND, SHE SAID YES liked by taylorswift, blakelively and 11,060,789 others.

taylorswift I LOVE YOU SO MUCH OF COURSE I SAID YES

yourname.official YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME CRY AGAIN

gracieabrams FINALLY 🥹💖💖

tomholland13 to think i made this happen

yourname.official shUSH tomholland2013 congratulations and you're welcome 🙄💕

conangray YOU'RE FINALLY MARRIED AAAAAAHHHHH

oliviarodrigo CONGRATS GUYS!!

forever.more YOU GUYS ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER, THIS IS AMAZING

y/n_sink LITERALLY THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

taylorswift

taylorswift of course i said yes, there is no other answer when it comes to her 🩷🩷🩷 liked by yourname.official, blakelively and 13,000,000 others.

had a lot of fun writing this, maybe I'll make the wedding a part 5? stay happy and hydrated!

[stormlex]

Im sorry...WHAT THE HELL IS THIS

BUCK BUCK BUCKLEY EVAN BUCK BUCKLEY

Did you start off your flirting by first mentioning Eddie, like almost immediately. AND THEN GENDER NEUTRALLY talking about your ex girlfriends?!? BUCKLEY

Im sorry ok im sorry Im calming down

Can we please also talk about how their flirting was also clearly like a metaphor(i think thats the right word) for bisexuality?

Buck: I don't know man, I-I, I guess it would be kinda different. (dating a man after only dating women?)

Tommy: There's no rule that says you can't get certified and still stay at the 118,

Let me paraphrase: Theres no rule that says you cant date men and still like women

And then they immediately follow that up with more flirting and Buck asking him out on a date

And you can SEE when Tommy starts declining, Buck is getting his just got rejected face

Buck is an absolute awkward bisexual mess during this whole thing (at least to me but ive never flirted or been flirted to so maybe its normal)

But it gets WORSE even MORE awkward when EDDIE arrives to pick up Tommy for THEIR date

Which lets be honest prolly only Tommy really sees it as that because Eddie, the absolute lovesick simp he is, immediately gets excited and hopeful that Buck gets to join.

And yet Buck, poor insecure oblivious Buck, can barely hold onto the slightest molecule of cool he has left because his Husband is going on a date with he guy he wanted to date, and proceeds to stumble through the rest of the conversation.

Ohhhhh my god, I definitely need to uninstall tumblr for a bit I CANNOT look at the spoilers when the episode releases but I watch the show with my mom and brother and they dont watch episodes the same day they release and sometimes they wait A WEEK LATER and I Do Not have the self control to not look at spoilers

[niuniente]

NIU!!! were you taken by surprise at alrick and kizzie catching feelings? i know in the past youve mentioned that alricks never given much interest in dating in your stories, im so excited to see what made him change his mind!!!

Trust me, I was surprised by this turn of events, too! If I could decide, Alrick would stay single. But then, many things started to happen. Whenever I was thinking should I take the feeling of Alrick and Kizzie being interested in each other seriously a random love songs started to play. I considered this a lot because in the beginning of DHD, I did say that Alrick isn't interested in dating and him having a girlfriend would break the episodic nature of the comic.

In 1,5 years, things have changed a bit. DHD isn't as strictly episodic as I expected it to be but some events have "bled" over to other episodes. In that context, Alrick's and Kizzie's interest in each other would fit the picture quite well.

Then, Kizzie herself. She seemed like a character whose role within the story and also within Lywood's society would fit Alrick's work and role in the comic (more about this within the comic when I get there). I want to treat all my women well. Alrick's girlfriend can't be just a thought, a concept, and it would have been that if there was any other character than Kizzie. Alrick's love interest needs to be as fleshed and important as Alrick himself. It can't be anything like "Oh, he's dating this person you rarely ever see and her existence doesn't affect his life at all". Kizzie, due her nature and role, can have a certain distance to Alrick while the romance could still work and be fleshed well. I think it would serve this more adult type relationship, which I hope I'll get to show you (if I can decide) because I can't really put it into words but I know the comic will speak for itself.

I think I got the final kick in the ass when I was listening to my friend Laura Mauro speaking on a podcast. Laura is a professional award winning author, who writes for living. Laura said that every creator must be willing to kill their darlings, because sometimes stories need it. I realized that Alrick being single was "my darling" which I needed to kill, because it seemed like the best. I always preach about free expression and not limiting yourself when you create, so if I then didn't follow my own preaching, I would be a hypocrite!

Having said this, while I have wishes for how things turn out, I don't know what actually happens and where the limits for Kizzie's and Alrick's thing go without it disturbing Alrick's role and story and without it diminishing Kizzie either. We'll see!

By the way, the ship name is Kizzrick :3 Thank you Erin for coming up with the name on Webtoons!

[icetobes]

my favourite bits and things i noticed when watching heartstopper 🍂

9th time watching notes but most are my first reaction opinions too

this is from april 28 2022 in my notes app but i wanted to put it here because i keep going back to read all my notes i wanna hear other peoples notes ahh !! (it’s long i’m sorry)

EPISODE 1

- the first time they look at eachother, charlie sees nick is attractive.

- as much as i hate b*n h*pe, “you’re so cute” charlie’s smile after

- nick and charlie literally just saying “hi” to eachother everyday even tho they hardly know eachother or have never interacted

- the smiley face on charlie’s hand stays there until the next day

- tao buying elles drink because he forgets she’s not hanging out with them

- charlie staring at nick “golden

- retriever”

- just them in the bathroom while nick washed pen off him, charlie didn’t NEED to be there but he was

- “… and likes being with me” - charlie to tori when she asks what type of guy hed like

episode 1

> “i like being with you” - nick,

episode 6

- nick when he looks at charlie

- *asks about charlie playing the drums* “that’s so cool” he’s so ahh

- isaacs face or snicker when tao says something funny

- “ where is your can do attitude” “oh she left, long ago”

- rugby lads cheering when he catches the ball

- charlie getting along with most of the rugby lads eventually

- 1 2 3 squeeze

- tao and elle looking at everyone after school wondering where the other is

- nicks concern watching charlie go to the music block instead of leaving

- nick following just to check he was okay, he didn’t even know if something was actually up he just wanted to know he was okay

- “you say sorry a lot” “don’t”

- nick smiling at thank you x

EPISODE 2

- nick literally stalking charlie’s insta

- the way they both can’t decide what the fuck to text eachother

- nick making sure charlie is really okay

- “but i am your friend and i do care”

- charlie actually telling someone about everything

- nick upset for charlie and angry at ben for what he did

- “please don’t ever talk to him again” PROTECTIVE

- ❤️

- nicks smile at the ❤️ then the realisation of “fuck im smiling at this”

- elles teacher is so sweet

- “bisexual people exist” charlie you’ll never guess what

- art teachers and art classrooms being safety - relatable

- elle painting on her pencil case !! she’s just like me ahh

- “monster munch” DARCY MY BELOVED

- “chin length or above rule” thinks about taos hair

- “best gal pals”

- “you should come round my house and hang out with me meet her”

- charlie checking his hair

- “you look… it looks great” no he looks great ? right…

- nick “you’re just good at everything” babe you like him

- charlie wearing nicks jumper that’s definitely too big “that one looks fine”

- THE SNOW ALL OF THE SNOW SCENES AHHHH

- lying on the floor together

- nick taking pictures of them both

- them just talking

- nicks mum “you seem more yourself around him” and nick hiding an excited/happy face “do i?”

- nick wanting to hang out again

- tao watching the boys play rugby because charlie plays now

- “we’ve been hanging out non stop”

- “he’s been acting a little bit flirty sometimes” homies

- “nick likes a girl” literally where bitch ?

- tao protective bestie ily

- “her names tara jones” charlie i have something to tell you

- nick shouting charlie just to wave at him

- “i wanna believe in romance” me too isaac me too

- “straightest person i’ve ever seen” i don’t think elle has seen straight people before…

- the group hug

- darcy and tara giggling “do you have a boyfriend” “yes i have a girlfriend” “oh whoops”

- “what, what’s up” he just leans closer he wants to be a good friend ahhhhh

- THEYRE LESBIANS !

- hanging out at charlie’s whoooooo

- the drums. the way nick looks at charlie, the way charlie holds nicks hands, they’re sitting so close

- charlie fell asleep watching a film

- the way nick looks at him, the wanting to hold his hand

- the spark animations when their hands are close

- they both didn’t want nick to leave

- “you look so cuddly like that” THE HUG

- *leaves in bi panic”

- nick looking at insta again

- why am i like this

- he’s just looking at their pictures together

- “am i gay” it’s funny because i did the same. the feeling of probably knowing but wanting confirmation from literally anything

EPISODE 3

- the conversion therapy and homophobia pages, the “if this is me my life is gonna change so much”

- imogen my beloved idk why people hate you, you’re just living your life

- the hearts on her head are so cute

- they’re talking about girls, and he’s like “but charlie tho”

- “do you wanna go to harry’s party… with me” WITH HIM, go together

- “IM SCREAMING AJDBSJSBSISBF” me too

- isaac completely ignoring the messsges lmao

- “ive been looking for you”

- the way they just stand in the middle not moving

- “she loves you more than me” do all parents like their kids friends more than their own kids lmao

- “well it’s not old times anymore” she’s so cute

- “i don’t think he’s there to see harry to be honest” true

- tara coming out to nick is so special to me

- “he’s probably my best friend right now”

- “that’s homophobic harry”

- “and i really don’t like you” HAHAHAH L FOR HARRY

- taos bedroom is my favourite, the polaroids on the wall are so cute

- tao and elle holding hands ahh

- nick frantically searching for charlie mans is down bad

- charlie sticking up for himself to ben

- tao and elle deep chat :D

- imogen’s dancing is so cute

- i actually like her she just has a boy crush

- “i’m gonna go find my friend” nick lmao

- nick being proud at harrys party when he sees darcy and tara kissing , also having a moment of realisation that he wants that for himself

- the subtle pride flag overlay on tara and darcy

- he looks so relieved to find charlie

- “ben?” he’s so concerned

- “i’m so proud” HAND HOLDING

- theyre still holding hands

- “wanna race”

- running through the corridor feels romantic and i don’t know why

- “you just going to assume they’re a she” he’s so inclusive

- charlie’s realisation that nick may not be straight

- nicks questioning his identity rn, it’s crisis time

- S H O E S

- their fingers touching

- “would you kiss me”

- “yeah” fuck

- they both look so unsure but ready and i just can’t

- properly holding hands

- they just lean in again

- the flower animations are so cute

- nick panicking when harry calls for him

- bAnTuH i hate him

- nick going back for charlie and he’s not there

- charlie’s dad telling him it’s okay “i’ve got you” he’s the best

- he ran. in the rain. to talk in person

EPISODE 4

- idiot endearing

- nicks smile at charlie in his pyjamas

- charlie blurting out everything’s while nick stands there like “bitch”

- NICKS HURT FACE “i shouldn’t have kisses you”

- the way he holds his face and they kiss again

- they’re both confusing eachother

- “full on gay-crisis” same

- the hug. they just hug and they look safe

- charlie smiling at him

- he just cries

- secret

- the borrowing the umbrella

- charlie just runs out in his pyjamas

- “did i forget something” yeah a kiss

- nicks so happy

- imogen messing with his hair is so cute

- his hair sicking up on the side bro please fix it

- <imogen3

- they’re so happy looking at eachother they look like their hearts are about to explode

- tara and darcy kiss

- “there’s a boy in there waiting for you”

- hand holding under the table

- “you’re nothing like him”

- “a lot of gay people are good at sports charlie” comic teacher reference

- charlie really trying to tackle

- “maybe you’re a lesbian and you have no idea” protect these children

- “i’m not like homophobic, im an ally” she’s so funny

- “it’s not even like they’re dating” “unless they are “ isaac you’re so right

- nicks so nice he hangs around with the wrong people im sad

- “i won’t say anything about us” nick looks kinda sad

- charlie and elle

- darcy and charlie friendship

- she just guessed

- “nothing but my gay intuition”

- nick looking kinda sad about not telling people

- isaacs giggle in the background

- nick wanting to help and not looks suspicious

- he goes to check on him

- you got mud on your face, he’s so cute

- the pink tint and leaves

- isaac just knows

- he looks really confused ahh

EPISODE 5

- isaac flipping the board lmao

- tao and elle pillow fight

- i assumed he was coming anyway

- “you don’t have to” “no i am” about charlie’s present

- nick sticking up for them

- “you came” “of course i did”

- nick not questioning anything about elle

- the fact they all suck at bowling apart from nick and elle is my favourite

- they went to hug but didn’t

- nick won

- “you have strong rugby arms”

- “i thought you liked me arms”

- F L I R T I N G

- “tao, tao no it’s his birthday” she doesn’t want charlie upset ahh

- nick paying

- “i’ll ask so accept a can of coke, if your paying” the way he said it is so funny

- nick hearing the argument

- bi lighting

- “hes, hes, hes my… friend” nick looks so sad

- he wants to be out so bad but he doesn’t even know as what yet

- the. hug

- nick and tao talking is so awkward lmao

- tao and elle running to machines

- nick trying to get donut teddies

- “i didn’t know how to say no… and then her dog died” charlie why are you smiling

- “i wish i’d known then what i know now”

- the stickers and the photo ahh charlie’s smile

- “i really like you” “you like me” “wasn’t that obvious”

- WAWLT

- “i wanna kiss you so bad right now” “okay”

- this scene is just so incredibly cute

- tao and elle playing games together

- isaac on the coin machines is so relatable

- charlie and nick racing

- “you wanna get slushies” “god yes”

- the stars for elles realisation she really likes tao, the game noises too

- the talk with imogen

- “do you ever feel like you’re only doing things just because everyone else is”

- he is so special to me

- they’re besties now i decided that

- “you’re proper thick about girls sometimes” harry guess what he’s daring a boy

EPISODE 6

- “best lgbt movies”

- the fact he’s watched mamma mia 4 times this year already says something lmao

- the realisation from the film

- “girlfriends 🏳️‍🌈” they’re cute

- “i think i have a crush on tao” bestie tell him

- “i think you hurt his feelings” “good” lmao

- tara reading the mean comments is so sad

- tara and darcy just sitting together is my favourite

- “sit and gossip with your friends” bestie

- anti-homophobia cheese

- nick and charlie lying on the blanket together

- the subtle hand hold

- “it’s a good suggestion”

- nick sitting up looking like he’s about to cry

- charlie still not wanting to force nick to spend time with him

- NICK TELLING TARA ! HE LOOKS SO RELIEVED

- darcy actually scaring tara lmao

- nick waving at charlie he looks so proud of his bf

- “we’ve found another one” another queer lets goo

- “im waiting for your mum actually”

- D O U B L E D A T E

- milkshakes whooo

- “kissing you was one of the things that made me realise i don’t like kissing guys” “happy to help”

- it feels good to have told someone he wants to be public so badly

- “i didn’t realise you were in a committed relationship” tori

- s i p

- nick catching charlie staring

- “i told her we’re going out”

- TACKLE HUG

- “that’s amazing” “you’re amazing”

- “i wanted to tell them”

- the way nick rolls them over

- “i’ve never been on a date” “me neither… wanna go on one”

- happy charlie stims

- darcys bedroom is my favourite

- “we are such meddling gays”

- “you’re just here for the milkshakes then” i would too

- a second round

- bubble gum i’d definitely not a crime charlie

- chocolate is also good tho

- “we can share, we are on a date” he’s so cute

- “we should go on a date just us”

- charlie nervous rambling

- “we should”

- “what do you mean” darcy is so cute i can’t

- “sort of no boys allowed conversation”

- “we though it would be fun to go on a triple date”

- “you and charlie”

- “charlie im SO happy for you”

- isaac definitely guessed

- elle and tao sharing headphones

- “i really love you” “i love you too” they’re so cute

- charlie letting nick play the drums again ahh

- telling charlie about his bisexual research “i think that might be me”

- tHe DoOr… oopsie

- darcys stickers on her phone

- “talk to me” the way they can just talk to eachother

- “i just wanna live my life” “we can do that” THEM AND ALWAYS THEM

- “you seem gay enough to me”

- it’s like hide and seek

- homophobiaaaa

- something about how nick crashes through the door…

- HAND HOLDING

- “you know i can’t run l relatable

- “thanks boy i kissed one time” “no problem girl i kissed one time” besties

- nick looks so proud of charlie

- the hearts when elle looks at tao

EPISODE 7

- “older sister magic”

- tori just knew

- charlie telling tori ahhhh

- you know you know

- charlie’s dad is a hero he just is

- HUGS

- they look so safe together

- “you kind of are a gay nerd” “shut up rugby lad” flirting

- they look so sad when they see ben and harry

- c h a r

- “uh, wow that just slipped out”

- “it’s cute” “now im never calling you it again” teasing

- L they jumped

- H A N D H O L D I N G

- their pinkies locked

- “you’re a dork”

- interlocked h a n d h o l d i n g

- “nicks not even my type” HE LOOKED SO SAD

- he ran after himmmmmmmm

- “im used it it” NICK LOOKS SO SAD FOR HIM

- charlie’s dad to the rescue

- nick back to F I G H T

- nick defending his bf

- h o t

- “probably used to it by now”

- s l u r throws up

- BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM

- GET HIMMM

- “he just used a really bad word”

- “charlie’s a really special friend isn’t he” SHE KNOWS

- “yeah he is” he really is

- not tired playing rn

- charlie ignoring his alarm

- “you clearly didn’t get hugged much as a child” im dead

- charlie is so concerned noo

- they both look so sad

- “you shouldn’t have to be” (used to it)

- he’s so angry about the boys bullying charlie

- “you’re not allowed to say the s word

- nicks head on charlie’s shoulder, my head in my hands

- any other way sobs

- charlie’s lunch… flashes of volume 3

- “is there something actually going on between nick and charlie” uh oh

- everyone but tao knows

- tao noooo

- charlie’s draft messsges break my heart

- the way tao stands on the stairs gets me every time

- nick looks so sad when charlie’s talking about how things are his fault

- the way they both instantly knew it would be tao

- the lads booing nick for breaking up the fight

EPISODE 8

- he tried to apologise

- man’s angry banging on the drums

- tori best big sister ever

- “both my fault by the way” charlie nooo

- charlie telling tori about ben

- “maybe i do just ruin peoples lives, and it would be better if i didn’t exist” CHARLIE BABY NO

- “you’re not ruining my life” they just sit and hug ahh

- nick wants to have lunch together

- he said nooo

- nick sitting with tao cause he thought charlie would be there

- tao and nick talks >>>>>>

- nicks concerned about charlie

- darcys “fake injury to get out of this” relatable

- surely nobody is actually this excited about sports daycinematic

- setup lmao

- charlie still avoiding nick my heart hurts

- “i haven’t signed up for an event” bestie same

- “there aren’t any sports day events on in the art block” that’s sad

- “don’t let anyone make you disappear”

- charlie switching bibs, running for him

- he apologised

- charlie winning lets go bestie

- he stuck up for himself

- charlie and tao besties again

- tara and darcys kiss

- go isaac !

- charlie holding isaacs book for him

- the butterflies for taos realisation he likes elle

- nicks face when he can’t find charlie

- charlie sitting with isaac besties

- when he sees charlie

- the flower animations

- walking to him

- HES RUNNING

- go get him

- HAND HOLDING

- IN

- PUBLIC

- imogen’s smile

- isaac isn’t phased lmao

- “i don’t wanna break up”

- “my life is way better because i met you”

- “kindest, most thoughtful, caring and amazing in the whole world”

- “i want us to be together”

- “you’re my favourite person”

- “i need you to believe me”

- “i believe you”

- K I S S

- they’re so cute

- they’re on their date

- ALICE CAMEO

- he’s so happy they’re at the beach

- hands on the face when they kiss is my favourite

- THE PHOTOBOOTH

- he teases throwing him off

- “what if i came out” baby

- “im definitely bisexual” bi king ily

- platonic bffs lmao

- “i wanna tell the people who matter”

- “oh my god i like you so much, and i love liking you”

- “I LIKE CHARLIE SPRING INAROMANTICWAYNOTJUSTAFRIENDWAY”

- they’re literally perfect

- his shoes are wet wtf

- he carried him all the way back

- charlie lying on nicks chest is so cute

- he’s home

- thinks about telling her

- he’s ahhhh

- “you know charlie’s my best friend”

- “he’s my boyfriend, charlie’s my boyfriend” he said it

- his mums reaction is my favourite

- she’s so sweet

- “it’s called bisexuality” sir

- he’s crying

- THE MONTAGE KILLS ME

- THEYRE ADORABLE

- CRYING

- SOBBING

- FAVES

- WHEN IS IT MY TURN TO BE HAPPY

- “we’re gonna tell people”

- HAPPINESS

- they deserve all the happiness ever and nothing bad

EXTRAS / THROUGHOUT

- nick wearing his blue jumper more when he sees charlie after charlie wears it at his house

- [gay panic]

- taos insults are the best

- nellie always lying on nicks bed with him

- the way nick sits with his arms crossed

- darcys rainbow tie dye jumper is EVERYTHING

[lonestarbabe]

i’m genuinely so upset.

i think the only reason that tim didn’t have carlos tell tk before is because he couldn’t fucking think if this plot until a month ago. he just pulled it out of his ass.

knowing that, and knowing that uncertainty of having no one to go to and no one to call when you’re sinking and thinking that you’re in the wrong and no one wants you or to have anything to do with you makes it incredibly understandable, and knowing that they were legally married because they were two people who needed each other made sense

but it also is so frustrating that tim can’t think three episodes ahead of him, let alone three seasons, and it’s ruining people’s view of our boy because he couldn’t write it in sooner

i hate to feel like this and it’s so dumb but i feel like im personally being attacked and my heart is ripping out of my chest every time i see a creator that i have followed since season one was airing saying they can’t look at carlos the same because of something tim fucking did when we know carlos would have told him if the writers had two fucking braincells.

sorry for the long vent like ask. i just want my boys to be happy.

No need to be sorry for the vent like ask!! It’s hard when you love characters and an overall story and want it to be good and at its best! A lot of people share your feelings. I’m kind of in between I guess on it (don’t like it that much but am rolling with the punches). Anyways, I think you make a lot of good points.

The idea that Carlos would be in that relationship... totally makes sense with his psychology and the feeling that his sexuality was unspeakable and something that he shouldn’t even talk about. it was something that was known but never really addressed, which is so hurtful, and even though his family probably didn’t mean to be hurtful, he was hurt, and he internalized a lot of messages, which is so hard. I do that they have addressed that self-talk he had and how it was part of finding who he is, but there are lots of ways they could have done that, even through the wedding planning, for example.

And I don’t think there are reasons Tim waited, but still, an offhanded comment Carlos makes about having a girlfriend in the past when he was processing his sexuality at least could have planted the seed for the storyline, and it wouldn’t have felt so jarring I guess. There’s a lot to be said with being patient with storytelling and building up to things rather than just throwing them in. (i often want to just cut to the good scenes, but that’s not a good thing to do lol).

And hey, there’s nothing to be sorry for for feeling like this. Our feelings represent so much more than the surface level. Characters are a way to connect meaningfully to the world, so it’s okay to feel hurt and personally attacked by something that has happened to them. And being able to feel empathy and passion for characters just shows that your an empathetic and passionate person, and that’s such a good thing to be. Intense feelings are what make the good things that happen in shows so exciting, and the Tarlos wedding will come, so we’ll be lifted up from this!! Characters can be so personal, and it’s so hard sometimes to watch hard things happen to them.

I want them to be happy too :) and I totally think they will get there. Hang in there!! We’ll get through this.

[simp4fictionalguys]

Loving the new hype that the JJK anime is bringing!! Can I ask for Yuji x strong fem reader? How would he react to her getting hurt and how would he want to be comforted?? I adore your writing. Keep up the good work ✨

Hey! A Itadori request 🤧 best boy for sure haha. I loved today’s episode! Thank you so much for the compliment! I’m glad that you like my writing, I was a little nervous to start this without knowing if my writing was good enough and not mediocre but comments like this makes my day better and excited to keep writing!

Fushiguro and Y/n were the ones assigned to search for the Sukuna finger. That’s the moment when they met Itadori.

It was a weird meeting if you think about it. However, after that, Y/n and Itadori had been attached to the hip.

The two of them got along almost immediately. They relationship based in playful fighting and teasing. Y/n trying to make Itadori blush without avail (the boy was too oblivious for his own good).

The two of them usually trained together. When they first started their training, Itadori was nervous to do it. What if he hits her too hard? Or if she ends up with a nasty injure?

However, while overthinking, Y/n had already take him down.

Their training sessions consisted in Y/n betting Itadori up. He hasn’t been able to win against her, not even once.

Without realizing it, the two of them had caught feelings. In a pretty Itadori way, he had purred his feelings in one of their training sessions without knowing it. It made Y/n blush and unable to focus at the start, however, Itadori didn’t realize his opportunity and just walked over to her and kissed her lips.

Their friends had laugh and tease them at how Itadori had confessed. Y/n didn’t mind really. She was happy with Itadori now.

From then on, the two of them haven’t had to worry about the other. The two of them being sent to missions together with the other two first years.

Today was the same. The four of them had been sent on a mission together.

“Here’s where the Sukuna finger is suppose to be?” Fushiguro turned to look at Itadori who had his arm in Y/n shoulder while walking. He deadpanned.

“You’re our radar. You should know already.”

Y/n stifle a giggle from her friend remark. Her boyfriend turned to look at her with a fake glare.

They keep walking in the area. They were walking around an hospital, the area was surrounded by trees though. Something weird for an hospital to be.

It didn’t take long for the curses to began acknowledging their presence. The four first years decided to separate in pairs. Itadori and Y/n, while Fushiguro went with Kugisaki.

“Yuuji.” Y/n called at her boyfriend while following the curse running away from them.

Itadori glazed at her showing he was listening to her.

“Don’t let Sukuna out...”

Before the mission, Gojo had pulled Y/n out and talked to her privately.

“I need to ask for a favor Y/n-Chan!”

Y/n crossed her arms at her teacher childish tone. He just smiled at her.

It surprised her how serious he got a second after smiling.

“Don’t let Sukuna take control over Itadori’s body.”

“Huh? Why? I mean, haven’t he taken over before?”

“Yeah, but we don’t have to get used to his strength.”

Itadori hummed at her. His attention was in the curse in front of them. Her words weren’t something he retained in his head.

After her intermission, she put all her attention on the curse. The two of them had to be able to exorcise it without problem but the thing was too fast.

The chasing kept going for a long time. Neither of the two paying attention to their surroundings at the moment. The curse had been able to attract them just the way it wanted.

It took her a while to understand what was this weak curse doing. It had lead them to the boss. The curse that had the Sukuna finger.

It was too late though. The bigger and stronger curse got out of her hiding spot. It had a humanoid body but one could tell that the thing wasn’t human.

The first thing Y/n noticed was how the former curse they were chasing joined the bigger curse’s body

‘So it was part of it... Gross.’

Itadori had run from the left while Y/n went from the right. They strategy was simple. Land fast hits while dodging their attacks.

It worked at the start. However, the longer they hit it, the bigger it got.

“Why aren’t we dealing damage?!”

“Maybe because we’re attacking with cursed energy...”

Itadori turned to look at his girlfriend with a bewildered look.

“How else are we suppose to attack?!”

Y/n straighten her posture. She closed her fist in front of her. In a fats movement she had hit the curse with her pure raw strength. The curse hit back but she was able to dodge and go back to Itadori’s side.

“Why did you do that!” Itadori got close to her checking to see if she was injured or some fatal wound. Y/n smiled at him taking his hands off of her telling him that she was fine.

“Sorry, but look.” She pointed to the curse. Itadori turned around to see that Y/n’s punch had made some damage to it.

“I hit it without curse energy...” She got in position again. The enemy had began charging towards them.

Itadori got in fighting stance too.

‘So no curse energy...’ His fist had no longer curse energy. ‘I’ll have to hit it with just my strength!’

Just like their former strategy, they began landing several hits to the curse, this time without cursed energy.

It worked. The pair had manage to weaken the curse. However, in a moment of distraction, the curse had been able to land a hit.

Y/n saw the curse directing its hit in Itadori’s way. Her mind erase anything not related to her boyfriend, her body moving on its own.

Itadori saw everything in slow motion. One moment he was seeing his enemy fist directing to his face and a second later he saw Y/n take the hit for him.

Y/n feel her body making it’s way to the ground. Itadori’s reflexes saved her from the fall. Now in his arms he retreated a few steps from the curse in a frantic state to check on Y/n.

“Y/n! Hey!” He shook her body a little. “Y/n! Answer me!”

The girl opened her eyes a little. Her head turning to Itadori.

“Yuuji... Im fine...” Y/n tried to stand up but her body gave up against her will.

Yuuji bit his lip at his girlfriend state. He was mad at himself. He should have seen the attack coming his way! If he had he could have dodge and the two of them could have exorcised the curse already!

The descontrol in his emotions had given Sukuna a chance to take over his body without Itadori realizing it.

“Yuuji...! No!” It frustrate her how her voice sound so small. Sadly, she couldn’t do much since her body had run out of energy, her consciousness slowly fading away.

“You care too much about her, brat! Your emotions leaded to my freedom!”

Sukuna had easily defeated the curse. It caught his attention how Itadori hadn’t made an attempt to go back to his body.

Sukuna’s loud and wicked laugher filled the area.

Kugisaki and Fushiguro arrived at the scene. It took them a minute to let the imagen sick in their brain. Fushiguro sprinted to Y/n’s body while Kugisaki followed suit.

Fushiguro had taken Y/n’s body, Kugisaki was in position if Sukuna tried to do something.

“Itadori! Y/n is fine!” Fushiguro yelled for Itadori to come back. Y/n didn’t need Sukuna right now. She needed Itadori Yuuji, her boyfriend !

“Don’t let Sukuna take all the control!” Kugisaki joined Fushiguro trying to get Itadori to come back.

“She ne-“

“Yuuji...! Please!” With her last strength, Y/n was able to call for him.

Sukuna tsked. Itadori had taken control again. The first thing his brain had commanded was to run to Y/n and take her to Jujutsu High to take treatment as soon as possible.

Y/n had woke up in her bed. After the treatment, they had let her rest in her room. She groaned at the pain all over her body. She tried to moved to get out of bed but there was an additional weight in her. Taking a better look at herself she saw her boyfriend cuddling in her side.

Y/n smiled at how cute Itadori looked cuddle beside her like a cat. She run her fingers in his hair gently. Itadori began to stir from his sleep. His movements still affected by his sleepy mode, his eyes landed in his girlfriend’s smiling face.

Y/n was amused at his reaction. His sleepiness had faded faster that lighting, now being replace by an excited Itadori.

“You woke up!” He had throw himself in her without realizing it. Y/n groaned again at the force.

Itadori let go in a hurry, it was funny how fast his body moved trying to check for any more injuries or wounds in her body.

“Yuuji...” She tried to stop him but Itadori didn’t listen to her. “Yuuji! I’m fine!”

Y/n stopped his frantic moves taking his face in her hands. She tried to make eye contact but Itadori kept avoiding her eyes.

“Yuuji... Look at me please...”

Slowly and with trembling eyes, Itadori had focus her eyes on hers.

“I’m sorry... I was so scared when I saw you laying in my arms...!”

Y/n offered a gentle smile trying to ease his stress but Itadori kept getting worked up.

“And I could do anything! And Sukuna ha-“

Itadori was unable to kept talking with his girlfriend lips on his. He corresponded almost instantly. Trying to drown his worries, making sure that she was alive, beside him.

When the need for oxygen had presented, they separate from each other. Y/n got ride of the little tears escaping from his eyes gently with her thumb, he hadn’t realized they were there.

“Why don’t we cuddle?” Itadori nodded at her words, laying gently beside her.

“It wasn’t your fault Yuuji. I chose to protect you. And I’ll happily do it again.”

Itadori hugged her tighter at her words.

“Thank you...”

She stroked his hair gently. Itadori relaxed at the sweet action.

“You know...”

Itadori turned to look at her from his spot. Y/n avoided his eyes with a red face.

“You look kinda hot when Sukuna takes over your body...”

Itadori looked at her with a deadpanned expression.

“Gross Y/n.”

[sunnysidevans]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 | 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 - 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

Summary: Everyone goes through stages in life, meeting new people, falling in love, getting married , having children. Some people think it won’t happen to them but maybe fate hadn’t lead you in the right direction. 

Warnings: ANGST ANGST ANGST , TW: slight sexual harassment , fighting , language , 18+ reccomended 

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

PREVIOUS STAGE | THE STAGES MASTERLIST

READERS POINT OF VIEW

THREE MONTHS AFTER FIRST DATE

The sound of your alarm woke you up on the cold Monday morning. You groaned as you rolled over and hit the off button on the top, with a sigh you sat up, rubbing your eyes with a yawn, as you were waking up you grabbed your phone from the charger on the bedside table, with a smile you opened the text from Chris “CHRIS: Good morning beautiful! I hope you have a great day today, call me maybe at lunch time?” you smiled as you read the text and sent him a quick reply which was soon interrupted by Zeus, ready for his morning run around the yard. After having a cup of coffee and making your way out of the shower and many clothes tossed to the side, you were finally ready to leave for the day. Making your way out the house you made sure to give Zeus a kiss to the head and a scratch behind the ears and making sure all toys were out from under any furniture, “okay buddy, I love you. Maybe you can have your buddy over later, maybeeee” you said with a smile as you shut the door behind you and make your way to your vehicle to start the dreaded Monday morning.

Driving into work you danced in your seat to the song playing on the radio, humming along softly you pulled into the parking garage attached to the office, being met with Casey. “You made it today” he smirked as he watched you get out of the vehicle, you turned to face him after fixing your skirt, tilting your head you sighed “what does that mean?” you asked as you grabbed your bags from the back seat as you watched him walk past you “well I mean, I figured you spent your weekend with your new boyfriend you can't stop raving about '' he said as the door closed behind him. You made your way into the office, with a sigh you set your things down at your desk and sat down, you couldn’t imagine why Casey made that comment? You shook your head, pushing the thoughts aside and got to work, grabbing all the papers you needed to start the day and get everything done for the long Monday. “(Y/L/N)!” Casey yelled from his office, you got up quickly making your way into the office, standing in front of him “yes?” you asked, adjusting the jacket you had on “well, if you aren’t too busy, I would like you to come to court with me today” he asked looking at you as you nodded quickly “no not at all! Of course I will!” you smiled excitedly, as he nodded “okay, good”.

Leaving the office, you completely lost track of the time,time hitting around 1 pm, having no clue you had just checked your phone with a text “CHRIS: I hope you’re okay, you didn’t text, just checking in, we gotta talk tonight” you sighed, shoving your phone in your purse, what could you possibly need to talk about? You sat in the back of the courtroom taking notes as Casey began the case, you followed along intently on the case as the intern you were but being first hand was exciting for you. “You did great!” you complimented Casey, following him out of the courtroom, holding both your notebook and bag you looked at him “I mean I knew the evidence was there but my god that was like an episode of Law and Order or something!” you laughed following to the car as he laughed in response “see kid, stick with me you can do that everyday of your life if you wanted” he grinned, holding the door open for you as you nodded in thank you before you felt a hand on your butt, gasping you turned and looked at him with shock on your face “What the hell!?” you turned away from him watching his face “oh don’t act like you didn’t like it” he shrugged as you looked over his face “Oh I did not ‘like it’” you put in quotes “I for sure did not appreciate that at all! You are my boss, what the hell” you shook your head, tossing his things in the passenger seat “oh like your boyfriend doesn’t mind, you clearly haven’t gotten much” he rolled his eyes in response to you, you scoffed turning  back to him “I will be going back to the office alone, and do not be surprised if i switch attorneys” you slammed the car door behind you walking away quickly.

Making it back to the office you walked inside quickly, ignoring the many glances from the other women in the office, making your way to your desk you grabbed your things quickly, as Nina made her way to your desk with a whisper “honey..” she whispered looking at you picking up your things. You turned to her with a slight sniffle “yeah?” you asked looking at her “are you okay? Oh honey” she whispered, giving you a hug, no one in the office had a clue that your own mentor groped you in a courthouse parking garage. You gave her a quick hug back as you whispered a soft goodbye and made your way out of the office and to your car. Once you made it to your car you sat back and cried softly, the tears streaming down your cheeks as your cheeks stained from your so called waterproof mascara. Starting the car you made your way home, sniffles and sighs the whole way, pulling into the driveway you sighed, grabbing your car keys and purse making your way inside. You made it inside and within seconds Zeus was beside you jumping up on your legs, you crouched down petting behind his ears and giving him a much needed hug, with a huff he rested his head on your shoulder.

After a few hours of sitting in your own pity on the couch with zeus you decided it was time to get off the couch and make something to eat. As you were standing in the kitchen you were scrolling through your phone, attempting to find a recipe or something to slightly interest you in making something for dinner, as you shouldn’t order takeout but it was in the cards. You looked through  a couple food blogs before coming across a tweet on your feed “OMG CHRIS IS IN LONDON OMG” you read the tweet a few times before continuing your investigation into the tweet. Taking the phone with you, you let Zeus back in from outside as you read through the tweets while you leaned against the door. You looked around with a scoff and pushed your hair back, you couldn’t be mad he was a grown man, but like london? You grabbed the phone quickly before dialing chris’s number quickly as you paced around the kitchen in the sweats and sweatshirt you borrowed from chris’s closet. You pulled the sleeves over your hands as you bit on your nails, waiting for the phone to pick up.

After a few short minutes the phone line clicked,signaling he had picked up and with a groan followed by “hello?” you sighed “chris” you snapped, probably louder than you should’ve as you expected him to be just waking up or sleeping from the time zones, “oh hey” he sighed again as you heard him adjusting in the bed “so uh, what did you want to talk about?” you asked as you thought logically, maybe it was a slip, maybe he didn’t mean to not tell you. “Oh I don’t remember now babe” he yawned loudly on the other end of the phone as you bit your lip “was it I don’t know… maybe the fact your in fucking london?!” you snapped over the phone as you looked around the kitchen, cringing at the fact you raised your voice at him, you heard the sigh as he sat up “oh yeah” he sighed “i’m so sorry I got on a flight and made it our here, it happened so fast I’m really sorry” you could hear the tiredness in his voice as he spoke, you felt horrible “okay but as your so called girlfriend you should’ve told me chris” you sighed pushing your hair back again. He sighed “yeah probably” he sighed as you groaned “yeah probably?” you mocked him over the phone as you sighed again “chris its fucking london! We had fucking plans this weekend!” you groaned “you could’ve even sent me a fucking text but no I find out my boyfriend is in fucking london over a god damn tweet” you yelled, zeus’s ears perked up at the raise of your voice “well maybe if my girlfriend” chris put emphases on the word “returned my phone calls and my texts we wouldn’t be in this mess now would we?” he sassed back. You laughed over the phone “you do realize I don’t sit and make movies right? I don’t have time to be accessible to my phone at your beckon call chris!” you yelled back as you could hear him adjust in the bed with a laugh “that's rich, but yet you're mad that I didn’t answer the phone and tell you i was in london?” he yelled back “seriously (Y/N) !” he finished with a sigh “you are upset im in london”. You shook your head knowing he couldn’t see it “No! I’m mad I didn’t even get a text that you were leaving the fucking count-” a knock interuptted your yelling as you sighed with a laugh as you heard him get out of bed. “Hold on” he said over the phone as he went to answer the door, you heard the door open and a “Hey Chris!”, a voice awfully femanine for being a buddy. You laughed and shook your head, ending the phone call there, you probably shouldn’t have ended on bad terms with the fight, was it dumb? Maybe. You sighed, starting to sob as you slid down and sat on the kitchen floor, the emotions of the day adding up for the day, flowing, you didn’t know what was going to happen with your life anymore, career or love wise.

-

TAGLIST: @onetwo3000​ | @memoriesat30 | @denise1605 | @angrybirdcr @hopefulbonkvoidland | @tessa-bl | @patzammit | @uniquebeautyqueen | @cocomel0613​

[prismarts]

2020 Creator’s Self-Love Extravaganza!!

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Thank you @roninreverie for the tag!

Let’s see... 2020... what am I most proud of from this year???

---

1.  A Bond That Lasts Centuries

My Douxilly au fanfic inspired by @alovesongshewrote ‘s Almost A Thousand Years, it’s pretty much my first continuous fanfic that I am still working on for the next part (sorry, if I kept any of you waiting for it xD).

I was super inspired by AATY but was incredibly nervous about turning the au ramblings I came up with while reading the fic that I shared with friends into a fanfic, mostly from the fact that I might be accused of copying. But Lovesong and everyone in the Discord server as well as just my friends have been super sweet and supportive and I couldn’t be happier!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636032522517626880/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-prologue

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636033273346359296/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-chapter-1

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636036602881359873/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-chapter-2

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636037062453231616/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-chapter-3

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636465861108056064/a-bond-that-lasts-centuries-chapter-4

---

2.  Douxilly Ship Art

Self explanatory, Douxilly has been my comfort ship from the start and has been my way of getting cute ship art and practicing drawing Douxie.  I am extremely proud of the progress and improvement I made in said art and absolutely adore my wizard dorks, I’m also happy that so many of you seem to like them as well and enjoyed the warm reception!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638253722848378880/i-was-cutting-it-close-but-here-is-my-christmas

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635634426419822592/just-two-wizard-dorks-being-in-love-and-happy

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635211321534758912/his-girlfriend-cat-dragon-familiar-and-demigod

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634646165441445888/is-it-way-past-halloween-and-just-weird-timing

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634729723188133889/soooo-i-was-writing-a-one-shot-but-then-i-lost

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634913728891174912/soooo-justhave-my-first-ever-time-drawing-douxie

---

3.  Shadowmancy (Pre Wizards Douxilly Oneshot)

Ah, my second ever oneshot posted for not only Tumblr  but for the ToA fandom in general.

I am super proud of this oneshot because it was my first time delving into trying to write more magic stuff, trying to describe magical and tense scenes, writing Merlin. 

But it also gave me a chance to try delving more into writing a frustrated moppet Douxie, who is just determined and impatient, writing a more timid Illy who is....honestly naive when it comes to her affection and loyalty to Douxie. It also let me explore a line from Wizards that always peeked my interest when it came to Douxie’s past, “I never had the gift for Shadowmancy”, 

Overall, I’m just really proud of this one.

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634812267056283648/shadowmancy-camelot-era

---

4.  Selena Lucia Rica

Granted, I only made one post about her but I am really proud about how she came out design wise and am working on developing her backstory right at this moment as well as making Zolena art!

I think what I loved most was how many of my friends from the Douxie server were so excited in helping me design our werewolf bab, it was honestly a group effort and it makes her all the more special! Expect more of this bab soon! Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638556968441790464/i-almost-forgot-to-post-her-and-that-is-a-crime

---

5.  Birthday Surprise (Pre Wizards Douxilly Oneshot)

The first oneshot I ever posted here and for the ToA fandom!

In all honesty, I just enjoyed how fluffy it is xD.

This was my first time attempting to write moppet Douxie and also trying to write his and past Illy’s friendship as well as her one sided affection for him. It was also my first time writing Archie, if I am not mistaken and I really wanted to give him and Illy a sibling like relationship.

I’m just proud of how fluffy this came out!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634741321060564992/birthday-surprise-camelot-era

---

6.  Douxie Discord Server Art

OOOoooOOHHH BOY!!!

Joining the Douxie server on Discord has definitely helped me expand in my art, and by that, I mean, I started drawing cool concepts, cute concepts and just cursed......

Just cursed art.

That being said, it was absolutely fun and has been quite the adventure, you guys are a riot and I love you all xD

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635914679486709760/just-something-dumb-and-fun-after-the-stuff-we

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/636493996173197312/i-im-honestly-not-sure-how-to-feel-about-this

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638004381489496064/did-this-purely-spawn-from-the-fact-that

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638345362691719168/discord-shenanigans-that-resulted-in-imagining

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/638578308266721280/this-is-what-happens-when-i-get-nostalgic-and

---

7.  Happy Birthday Douxie! (Art and Oneshot)

Haha, I enjoyed making these,

Now, I won’t say they are my best work but I did immensely enjoy doing special things for my comfort wizard’s birthday! It was also just fun to work on birthday themed stuff so closely to my own birthday.

For the art, I would say it was great to get more practice drawing Nari and Archie, I really loved how they turned out and I can’t wait to draw them more. Oh! also the lighting, I’m still practicing but I was proud of how it turned out!

The oneshot, again, not my best but I loved getting to delve into Illy’s dynamic with Archie and Nari and giving them some special family bonding, trying to make Douxie a birthday cake. Plus, the chaos of it all was super fun!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635211321534758912/his-girlfriend-cat-dragon-familiar-and-demigod

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/635397253786402816/happy-birthday-douxie

---

8. Illyria Calypso

And last but certainly not least, Illy!

The very oc that began my journey on Tumblr and into joining this wonderful fandom!

I’d like to give a special thanks to my friend, @legendling for convincing me to create the lovable dork in the first place! Everyone, you can thank Leg! She is just a special oc to me, like many of my ocs, I enjoyed creating her and inserting her into the world of Tales of Arcadia and exploring her place in this world and in the lives of not only my comfort character, Douxie but also the other characters I adored so much from this series.

And the fact that so many of you loved her and instantly welcomed her existence makes me extremely happy, you guys are amazing and made me and Illy feel so welcomed in this space and I love you all!

Links: https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634626258919178240/soooooo-this-is-my-bab-xd-illyria-calypso-former

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634638299911356416/illyria-calypso-backstory-camelot

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634641323053465600/i-did-say-i-have-a-few-things-i-came-up-with-that

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634644004924964864/more-character-relationship-stuff-cause-yes-so

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634649103598534656/illy-in-wizards-episode-1-spellbound

https://prismarts.tumblr.com/post/634654231157227520/illy-in-wizards-episode-2-history-in-the-making

---

Seriously, all of you guys, my friends and followers are what made this year amazing! I love you guys! Tags: @yagirlcheesely ,  @prezzole , @tales-of-hisirdoux , @alovesongshewrote , @legendling , @blixeon , @soni-dragon , @generalfandomsofthefreak , @bernie-the-nugget , @furblrwurblr , @krelitobxby , @wizardalienhunter , @moppetwithamanbun , @valentimmy , @roninreverie , @pinkflash4627 , @angeliatheturkishdelight

[lils-writes-stuff]

The Lesson

Spencer Reid x reader

Best Years Season 2 part four | part three | part two | part one | season one

summary: the week that changed everything

warning: normal criminal minds things, angst, sadness, gore, fun stuff

A/N: based on season 8 episode 10; you’re all going to hate me, im sorry, i promise it gets better the is the storm before the rainbow

 The cool Georgia air hit Y/N’s face as she stepped out of her rental car. The scene in front of her seemed so foreign after years of being away. Her childhood home stared her down as she stood in its driveway. She almost didn’t want to go in. Every time she saw her mom, she came to visit her. So the last time she was truly home, was almost six years ago. 

 She walked up to the front door, duffel bag in one hand and the other raised to knock. However, that wasn’t needed, because her mom swung the door open the minute she saw her. 

 “Y/N!” She exclaimed, wrapping her in a tight, motherly hug.

 “Hi Mom,” she whispered, her cheeks squished against her mother’s shoulder. 

 “Come in, come in,” she ushered her daughter into the house. Y/N looked around the home she once called her own. The walls were a lighter color then she remembered and there was new furniture and decorations scattered throughout. 

 “So I have it all planned out, I know you’re only here for a couple of days, but tonight, you’re aunt and uncle are coming over for dinner, along with some of our friends. Them for the other two days we can do whatever you want.” Her mom was standing on the opposite side of the island from Y/N, a smile absorbing her face as she looked at her daughter. 

 Y/N just looked at her mom, a watery smile on her face. She wasn’t upset at all though, she was just so happy to see her mom again. 

 “What’s wrong, sweetie?” Her Mom walked to the other side of the counter. 

 “Nothing, Mom, I just am so glad to see you,” she whimpered. 

 Her mom gave her the same watery smile and wrapped her in another hug. 

 The two sat in the kitchen, coffee cups in hand, laughing about her mom’s stories at her restaurant she worked at. Y/N told stories of the team and how much they loved her mom from her visits up there. 

 “So have you done it yet?” Y/N’s mom asked, pointing to her left hand. 

 “No, not yet.” 

 “Why not?” 

 “I don’t know, I just haven’t found the right time I guess,” Y/N shrugged.

 “Well, I think that when you get back you should just do it.” Her mom laughed taking another sip of her coffee. “You talk about how perfect he is and me and London are waiting in anticipation for that call, so just do it. The next time you see him.” 

 “We’ll see mom, we’ll see.” 

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

 It had been two days since Y/N had left to go home for a visit. After the night where Spencer gave her the idea, she waited about three weeks before actually executing it. Spencer kept pushing her to go, telling her the team could survive without her. So she finally went. 

 “You know, now I know how you felt when I was gone on your leave,” Spencer laughed during his confession. His phone was pressed against his ear as he passed back and forth in their living room. 

 “Oh yeah, but I learned to survive, how are you holding up?” Y/N asked through the phone. She stood in the kitchen of her childhood home, leaning on the island with her coffee sitting in front of her. “And besides it’s only been like what? Three days?” 

 “Two days twelve hours and thirty-six seconds,” Spencer corrected. 

 “Ah, forgive me. And here I thought you didn’t miss me at all, clearly, you do.” 

 Spencer chuckled at her remark, “So much.”

 “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I miss you too,” Y/N admitted. “And my mom misses you too, she says that we both need to come down here and visit together sometime.” 

 “I think that’d be fun,” Spencer said.  

 “Hey, Spence, so listen I was thinking when I get back we could go out to dinner, you know like a fancy restaurant maybe?” Her voice was hesitant at her request. Her heart pounded in anticipation as she waited for Spencer’s answer. 

 “Sure, that sounds great. Rossi was telling me about this great Italian place yesterday that we could go too,” Spencer responded. His mind raced at the thought of them going, knowing it would be the perfect opportunity to ask her the question he’s been waiting for. 

 “Perfect,” she responded. He could see her do her little jump of excitement through her voice. 

 Spencer was quiet for a second and looked up at the larger than average sized clock in the living room. He was late. Then his phone pinged, pulling it away from his ear, he saw the message from Penelope about a case.

 “Damn it,” he muttered. “Y/N, I’m late and we’ve got a case, I love you, I’ll talk to you later?” He rushed around the apartment, grabbing all his items and go-bag so he could head out the door. 

 “Yeah, sounds good bub love you too,” she responded. 

 “Bye.” 

 Spencer pocketed his phone quickly and rushed for the door of the apartment. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the black box he left out. Quickly, he picked it up and put it in his satchel. He opened the door and rushed to make it to Quantico in time. 

 “Sorry I’m late, guys, I had an appointment,” Spencer rushed, taking his bag off and sitting in his chair. 

 “Uh-huh, did this appointment have to do with a Dr. Y/N Y/L/N, who you so dearly miss,” Derek teased, making kissy faces at Spencer.

 Spencer muttered a small ‘shut up’ and pulled the file on the table closer to him. 

 “Alright let’s get started,” Hotch said as he quickly entered the room. 

 Maybe I wasn’t as late as I thought, Spencer thought to himself. 

 “Yeah, okay,” Penelope said, standing up from her chair. “Three days ago, Bruce Phillips was found dead with his blond hair dyed black. He had been put in a box and left on a busy street.”

 “A custom-made box,” Rossi noted as the picture of the box came up on the screen. 

 “Maybe our unsub was a carpenter,” Blake posed, twiddling with a pen in her hand. 

 “He stuffed him in there practically folding him in half,” Derek added. 

 Spencer looked at the pictures of the man in the box. His legs bent and broken at the knee and his head leaned back against the box. 

 “He had also been hung and restrained and that’s where the plot thickens like a bad soup,” Penelope explained as she pulled up the next two victims. “Yesterday, Justin Marks and Connie Foster, who were dating, they went missing two miles away from the first abduction site.” 

 “A couple? He’s escalating,” JJ remarked at the new information. 

 “Yes, this morning Justin’s body was found. He had been hung, he had been stuffed in a box in an alley. Officers say his brown hair had been dyed black. Connie is still missing,” Penelope continued. 

 “So he probably still has her,” JJ said. 

 “Why would he reject Justin overnight but keep the first male victim for two days?” Derek asked, not understanding the escalation. 

 “Something about him didn’t work,” Rossi responded, looking up from his file to the TV with the victims. “Look at his neck. He was hung multiple times.” 

 “The question is, what does he do with Connie?” Blake asked.

 “He could make her watch him abuse the men or have asphyxiated sex with them,” Spencer posed a theory. 

 “Well, a brunette male and a woman are crucial to this guy's fantasy,” Derek said. 

 “Well he’s kept Connie, maybe she’s the object of his desire,” JJ said. 

 “Well, our first order of business is finding her and then making sure he doesn’t do this again.” Hotch closed his file and stood up. “Wheels up in thirty.”

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

 Spencer sat on the coach of the jet, his head resting on the backside of his hand as his eyes followed the clouds that rolled beneath them. He thought about all the ways the dinner with Y/N could go, his fear of rejection showing itself as he thought about her saying no. But then he thought of her saying yes, a smile shining bright on her face and it allowed some of his anxiety to wash away. 

 Still, he was nervous. Penelope and JJ had tried to reassure him many times that she would say yes, even Blake thought so, but he was still scared. But isn’t everyone when they’re about to propose? 

 “Alright let’s go over victimology,” Hotch said, gaining everyone’s attention.

 Spencer peeled his eyes away from the window and back towards the group. 

 “Both male victims had their hair dyed black, and the woman is a brunette,” Hotch began the topic. 

 “The guys are similar, same ages, same builds,” Blake added. 

 “Hey were also abducted outside their homes, which were all in the same area,” Rossi continued. 

 “So they were probably being stalked,” Derek noted.

 “Was Connie with her boyfriend when she was abducted?” Spencer asked quickly. 

 “It looks that way,” JJ answered, then began to read from the file. “Her purse was found on the ground outside of his house.”

 “So this involves some kind of ruse,” Derek said.

 “It’s difficult to lure most people from the security of their own homes,” Spencer added, not sure about the ruse thing. 

 “Well, some people let their guard down,” Blake countered. 

 For some reason, Spencer started to become very defensive about this. “Yeah, but stalking victims vary their routes home. They enter and exit through different doors, they wear disguises. They don’t talk to anyone in their driveway. They hardly talk to anyone at all, They’re-they’re terrorized.”

 Okay, maybe he shouldn’t have gotten so worked up about that. But he couldn’t help but spew the stuff he had learned about victims of stalking onto everyone. He couldn’t help that instinctive feeling inside of him. 

 The team looked at him, confused and shocked gazes on their faces. They did not expect that outburst from him.

 “Okay, so maybe they were followed, Reid,” Derek said in hopes to have him back down his front he was putting up. “I mean, the bottom line is the unsub escalated. The first male was abducted alone, the second was with his girlfriend.” 

 “We, what do we know about her?” JJ asked, hoping to find some new information to help them. 

 “Connie was in her thirties, baked cakes for a living, she never had a run-in with the law,” Blake answered. 

 “Assuming he kept her, what’s the reason?” Rossi posted the new question. 

 “She’s the necessity, somehow she fits into his fantasy,” Blake replied. 

 “And so far, that need may be what’s keeping her alive,” Hotch added.

 “So what we know is that we have an unsub with a fantasy or a deep desire that requires the man to look a specific way,” Derek said, going over what they so far had. 

 “Since he rejected Justin so quickly, he’s probably looking for a replacement as we speak,” Spencer added.

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

 The doors of the elevator opened with a ding as Y/N reached the sixth floor of the FBI academy building. When she stepped out, a hand grasped tight on the strap of her bag, she was met with the familiar smell of coffee and paper. She had made it back earlier that day,the apartment her and Spencer shared empty when she arrived. So, not being able to deal with the quiet again, she decided to head to the office. 

  She was supposed to be in Georgia for another day, but when she heard there was a case, she really couldn’t help but come back. Her mom understood, she would have been leaving in the morning anyway. So before she went to the airport, Y/N visited her brother's grave like she had intended to do. 

 She stood about ten feet away from the headstone, fear of stepping on his body in the ground made her stomach turn. She told him all about her job and how proud she thought he’d be of her. How Derek had become an older brother to her when she moved up there. And she told him about Spencer. All about how she was planning on proposing to him and how excited she was to do it. 

 “Hey, I thought you weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow?” Penelope’s question brought Y/N out of her memory. 

 “Oh yeah, but I heard there was a case and I was leaving in the early morning tomorrow so I just decided to catch an earlier flight,” Y/N answered, pulling her lips into a line. 

 “Oh, so you get to hang out with me on this one!” Penelope excitedly took Y/N’s hand and pulled her to her office. 

 “So catch me up to speed,” Y/N said as she sat in the extra swivel chair in Penelope’s office. 

 Penelope explained everything she did to the team before they left and added in the details of what they told her so far on their victimology. With only some of the broader picture told to her, she was able to fill in the rest of the victimology herself.

 “How was Georgia?” Penelope asked after she finished typing on her computer. 

 “It was good, got to hang out with my family, go visit some old friends, wasn’t too exciting,” YN said, her eyes still trained on the tablet in her lap as she looked at the photos of the case. 

 “Cool,” Penelops’s eyes wandered the office. “ So, did you figure out how you’re going to propose to Spencer?” 

 “Ah, so that’s why you’re making small talk,” Y/N laughed, closing the tablet now. “Yes, I have. When they get back from the case, we’re going to go to dinner and I’m going to ask him.” 

 “Oh my gosh, can I be there? No, that’d be weird he’d be suspicious. But I want to see his reaction and you’re reaction and-” 

 “Garcia-” Y/N put her hand up to have her stop rambling- “You will see tons of pictures, and I am sure you are going to convince Rossi to throw some sort of party.” 

 “Good point, Penelope whispered. “I probably will have that done.” 

-----------

 “I’ve been getting lame GSWs, a few bus crash victims, but a hanging? This is fun,” The M.E., Dr. Cross, said to Rossi and Spencer after she brought them over to the body. “You think it was sexual?”

 “Not in the traditional sense,” Rossi responded, slightly weirded out from the woman's excitement. 

 “Well, look-” she pointed to the victim’s body- “there are numerous ligature marks on the neck, indicating he was hung multiple times. The ones without abrasions were probably made by something soft, like fabric.” 

 “Any idea how long it went on for?” Spencer asked, looking up from the victim's body to Cross.

 “Based on the different varying coloration of the bruising, I’d say about twelve hours,” Cross answered, then pointed to another mark on the body. “This ligature mark with the abrasion is the final one.” 

 She moved the light in her hand down the neck of the victim to point out what she found next. “There’s an inverted ‘V’ in the back. He was hung with a leather strap or belt, which is what killed him. Oh, we also found ketamine in his system.”   

 When Cross mentioned the final hanging, Spencer stood up from his hunched position and walked over to the x-rays on the light board. 

 “Well, ketamine acts quickly, so he must have used a ruse to get close to our victim,” Rossi said. 

 “Look at this,” Spencer held up the x-rays, “The bones were perfectly disjointed.”

 “Could have dislocated from the fall after hanging or when he shoved him in the box,” Rossi said, trying to give some ideas as to why they were dislocated. 

 “Well, actually, the bones were dislocated antemortem.,” Cross corrected. Her attention quickly advertised the two men wheeling in the next victim. “Oh,” she gasped excitedly. “Goody, overtime.” 

 “Can you check to see if the bones were dislocated in the same way?” Spencer asked her as she walked over to the next victim.

 She pulled the sheet back on the victim. Her hands reached for his arm to check the dislocation. “Yep, the same way.” She removed her hands from the body then crossed them. “This guy’s sicker than my last girlfriend.” 

 Rossi turned to look at Spencer. “The question is, why is he doing this?”

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

 Y/N sat with Penelope in her office still, she wasn’t really planning on leaving though, since the rest of the team was away. She held one of Penelope’s many figurines in her hand, this one was a small unicorn that squished. While it was very childish, Y/N couldn’t help but be entranced by the object. 

 “Oh yay, we have a call,” Penelope said as she answered the phone. “Garcia and Wonder woman at your service.” 

 “Can you find anyone in the area that might sell or rent medieval torture equipment?” Hotch asked, getting straight to the point as usual. 

 “Besides a friend of mine in a knitting group?” Penelope asked jokingly.

 “Try S&M suppliers, we’re looking for a stretching rack,” Rossi elaborated. 

 “Spanking the keys as we speak,” Penelope began typing. 

 “Ew,” Y/N said in disgust with Penelope’s phrase.

 “Don’t worry they like it,” Penelope reassured her. “Okay, I have cross-checked stretching equipment with S&M equipment and I found something that stretches something…”

 “I don’t think this is something that we’re looking for,” Y/N said as she looked at the photo. Her head turned at the item in confusion. “How does that even work?” 

 “Maybe he made his own,” Spencer’s voice was heard as he came up with the new idea. 

 “That would be pretty elaborate,” Rossi remarked.

 “Okay, me and Y/N will keep looking, we’ll get back to you soon,” Penelope said, her pen hovering over the hang-up button. 

 “Hang on Garcia,” Hotch stopped her from hanging up. “Y/N when did you get back?” 

 “Couple hours ago sir, I caught an earlier flight home,” Y/N responded. She hoped Hotch wouldn’t say anything about her being back earlier, she knew Spencer would call her later about it though. 

 “Alright, hit us back when you get something.”

 “Will do,” Y/N said and then Penelope hung up. 

-

 “I thought you said she wasn’t coming back until tomorrow?” Hotch looked at Spencer. 

 “I thought so too,” Spencer replied, having no clue that she was home early. 

 “I just went to the latest abductee’s home,” Derek said as he walked up to the three standing in the conference room. “Not only did our unsub use fake blood in some kind of ruse, but the front porch security cameras were also disconnected right before the abduction.”

 “So he cased the site,” Rossi observed from the information Derek had given. 

 “Well, it’s residential streets-- a lot of people coming and going, that’s high-risk behavior,” Derek mentioned.

 “Yeah, the unsub didn’t care. He needed him and it was worth the risk,” Hotch added. 

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

 Spencer peeled the tissue paper inside the box they found back. It’s light airy pink color contrasted with the dark horror inside. 

 “The box is wrapped this time,” Spencer said as he looked at balled up tissue paper. 

 “What is this, a gift?” Detective Marks asked. 

 Spencer pulled back some of the tissue paper from the top. He pulled back about four pieces before the face of the latest victim was revealed. The man that had been taken the day before. 

 “His natural hair color is black and still he kills him,” Hotch remarked as Spencer pulled more pieces of paper away. “And, look, no neck wounds.” 

 “Then how did he die?” Marks asked. 

 “Maybe he bled out,” Hotch suggested.

 “Or he fell from something,” Spencer argued as he examined the body more. “Look at his hands. He bored holes through the hands that ripped, and then he moved them to the wrist.” 

 “Reid, check the feet,” Hotch ordered, getting a hunch on what it could be. 

 Spencer pulled the victim’s shoe back, seeing the same type of hole. 

 “Stigmata?” Spencer asked as he had a theory forming. 

 “Hanging and then crucifixion,” Hotch explained the meaning of the word for the detective. 

 “So this has to do with religious beliefs,” Marks said. 

 “Maybe he just found a new way to torture them?” Spencer suggested. 

 “And still he’s keeping Connie. Something about her is working,” Hotch said.  

 Spencer’s eyes kept on the body. He went over every detail in his head, comparing it with the other bodies. Then he came up with a hit. 

 “Hotch look-” Spencer pointed to the jeans on the victim- “These are the exact same jeans that victim number two was wearing. Look at the trim.” 

 Spencer reached his hand into the box, pulling on the color of the shirt the victim had on. When he pulled it around enough, he could clearly read the tag. “Bonner Brothers. Is that a local store?” 

 “About five miles, half thrift store, half yuppie mart,” Marks answered.

 “I’ll have JJ and Morgan check it out after we give the profile,” Hotch said. 

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

 “Okay, so we’re looking for a white male, at least thirty due to the sophistication of the crimes,” Y/N began to deliver the profile to Penelope. She sat in the swivel chair behind her, her head leaning on its back. She held a pink pen in her hand as she twiddled with it to keep her somewhat entertained. 

 “He’s torturing his victims. From what I’ve discussed with the team, he’s trying to perfect a delusion, which he’s failed. Three times.”

 Penelope sat, her hands laying on her thighs as she listened intently to the profile. She only usually got a small paper description to help her search parameters, so it was really cool for her to see a profiler at work.

 “With most delusions like this, the reality never lives up to the unsubs expectation.” 

 “That is the truth with anything though,” Penelope commented on Y/N’s last statement. 

 “Yeah, anyway, his fantasy involves the torture and stretching-”

 “Okay, you can skip that part, my perfect, pure, and gore free office space doesn’t need that,” Penelope said, holding up her hands to stop Y/N and her face contorting in disgust. 

 “Okay,” Y/N laughed before she continued. “Before he kills them, the unsub fixes their hair and paints their nails. The last victim he escalated to crucifying him, I’ll spare you the details of that. Crucifixion was used for serious crimes, so the unsub probably believes that his victims have wronged him.”  

 Y/N sat back in her chair, making it spin in circles as she kept thinking. “Something isn’t working though in his fantasy, because he keeps discarding the men…”

 Y/N stopped the chair and grabbed the tablet off the table beside her. She pulled up the picture of the latest victim in the box. “He kills them, then ritualistically places them in a box with tissue paper, which is weird.” 

 “Why is it weird?” Penelope asked, on the edge of her seat like Y/N was reading her some sort of novel and was reaching the climax. 

 “Well his initial behavior dehumanizes them, so it means his victims he values more when they’re dead,” Y/N answered. She looked back down at the photos again. “But if he's keeping Connie, does that mean she’s dead and he is doing ungodly things that I shouldn’t even think of, or is she still alive?” 

 Penelope looked at Y/N with a puzzled look on her face, not knowing the answer to her questions.

 “I was asking myself, Pen,” Y/N eased Penelope’s thoughts.

 “Oh good.” 

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

 After the team delivered the profile, Spencer had moved back to a quiet room to work in. Well, he wasn’t really focused on his work, he was worrying about proposing to Y/N. 

 All-day, the team had noticed his behavior. Of course, they would, they’re profilers. Spencer’s odd behavior on the plane, his constant whispering under his breath, and his nervous breaths.

  Blake took extra notice of this though, she had formed some sort of motherly bond with Spencer. And Spencer was glad to have it, she was someone he could relate to intellectually also so it was nice to have her to talk to. 

 Spencer sat in a small office, writing on some paper to help with his geo-profile. He was trying to narrow it down to an area where the unsub might be keeping his victims. He was hard at work, but his mind kept going back to Y/N. 

 She was all he could think about. His nerves from proposing, going over every possible way the evening could go. He couldn’t help himself but feel nervous. 

 “There you are,” Blake said as she saw Spencer in the room. “How's the geographical profiling going? And why are you doing it here?”

 “It’s going good. I’m just having trouble concentrating out there, is all, so I came in here.” Spencer gestured vaguely with his pencil around the room. He quickly looked back down to the map and continued to work. 

 “Hmm,” Blake hummed. “So what’s with you today?”

 “Hm,” Spencer said, not understanding what she meant. 

 “Is this about the black box in your bag?” 

 Spencer opened and closed her mouth, he really hadn’t told anyone about his plan to propose. Only JJ and Penelope. JJ because she’s his best friend and Penelope because she could help him find out what Y/N would like and she was also really close to him. “She asked me the other morning, for when she gets back, to go to dinner. And I-I decided that’s when I decided I’m going to do it.”

 “Awe, Reid,” Blake gushed. “She’s going to say yes, you know.”

 “I know, it’s just, she’s the most beautiful girl in the world to me, and I don’t want to mess it up,” Spencer confessed. “But what if she says no? What if she doesn’t want to marry me?” 

 “Spencer,” Blake scorned and then took a seat in the chair across from Spencer. “Why wouldn’t she say yes?”

 “Because I’m weird,” Spencer said. “I slouch, my hairs to long, she always has to fix my perpetually crooked tie-” 

 “Your hair’s fine.”

 “Really? Thanks, my mom thinks it’s too long and so does my Aunt Ethel,” Spencer admitted. 

 “Well, you’re not about to propose to them,” Blake laughed. 

 “I just don't want to ruin something so special, over something so trivial as looks.” Spencer was showing how insecure he was and it truly broke Blake’s heart. “She’s beautiful, Alex, she’s all I could ever ask for, inside and out. Her smile is contagious, her heart is so big, and her eyes sparkle.” 

 “Spencer, I think you’re excited but afraid,” Blake told him.

 Spencer nodded, agreeing with her.  

“But I have only known you two together for four months now, and the way she looks at you, with such love and adoration. Tells me she’s going to say yes,” Blakes gave him a serious face.  

 Spencer gave a half-smile, her words comforted him.

 “So don’t second guess yourself, just do it, because she is not going to say no,” Blake gave him one last word of encouragement.  

 “We’ll see.”

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

 “You know what’s crazy,” Y/N blurted into the quiet space of her and Penelope. 

 “What’s crazy?” 

 “The way that these victims were tortured. The dislocation seems so...moving? Like he wants to control them.” Y/N looked at the M.E. report. The dislocation just seemed odd and yet so familiar. 

 “Movement, control, crucifixion…” Y/N was muttering these words under her breath as she continued to think why she knew this case. It seemed like something she read before. A book? No. A Reddit scary story? Possibly. An old case? 

 “Penelope there was a case, uh around 2010 I think, I can’t remember the unsubs name but it had something to do with a woman drugging her victims and...oh and she dressed them up,” Y/N listed off what she could remember from the case file she read before she joined the BAU.

 “I think I remember that one, but let me look it up just to be sure.” Penelope began to type on her computer quickly and look up the case. “Here it is, Savannah Malcolm, thirty-two at the time of her arrest. She kidnapped and drugged women to look like a line of dolls due to a frontal lobe problem from electro-shock therapy prescribed by her father, who was a serial molester.”

 “Okay, the doll thing that’s what I’m looking for.” Y/N pulled her phone out and quickly scrolled to Spencer’s number. 

-

 “The M.E. just called, not only were ligature marks on victim three’s arms, but his jaw was dislocated as well,” Rossi said to Hotch after he hung up the phone. 

 “His jaw?” Spencer asked as he and Blake approached the two men. 

 “Why would you hang someone, dislocate their joints and their jaw, and then crucify them?” Hotch’s confusion was received all around by the group. 

 Spencer was thinking, long and hard. His eyes became focused on a Newton’s Cradle that sat on a deputy's desk. The wheels in his brain turned and he was so close to connecting them but he couldn’t find the last little bit. 

 “I can see your wheels turning, don't hold back,” Rossi said, bringing Spencer out of his head.

 “Maybe he’s dislocating their body parts so that he can manipulate them himself,” Spencer said, explaining to them what he was thinking. 

 As soon as Blake was about to ask a question, Spencer’s phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his back pocket and saw Y/N’s name light up the screen. 

 “Hey, Y/N, what’s up?” Spencer said when he answered his phone. 

 “Spence put me on speaker.” 

 “Okay, one sec.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and did as she told him. “You’re on speaker.” 

 “Savannah Malcolm,” Y/N said, confusing everyone in the room. 

 “What about her?” Hotch said as he recognized the name. 

 “She was a collector, she kidnapped women so that she could be a part of her doll collection she was missing. What if this guy has something like that, a male and female set of dolls, stuffed animals, even I don’t-”

 “Marionettes.” Spencer cut her off thinking the same thing she was. 

 “Yes! I know it’s crazy but-” 

 “No, no I see it,” Spencer agreed with her but when he looked around he could see the confusion on the other’s faces. “Think about it for a second. If you add the dislocation, the holes in the hands, the strange clothing, and the odd makeup, it sounds crazy, but our unsub could be turning our victims into human marionettes.” 

 “That makes sense, and it’s the best lead,” Rossi agreed, looking to Hotch who had a posing look on his face. 

 “The Greeks translated ‘puppets’ as ‘neurospasta’, which literally means string-pulling,” Spencer said as he gave more insight on the marionette theory. 

 “Oh and throughout time they’ve been used as a method to tell kings a story so the subjects didn’t have to speak to him directly,” Y/N piped in since she had some knowledge of the matter.

 Penelope looked over at her from her chair, a confused look on her face. 

 “What? I like history,” Y/N defended herself. 

 “She’s right,” Spencer said, a small sense of pride forming in his chest. 

 “It was a way to hear the truth,” Rossi said as he was taking in the information. 

 “It seems like this unsub is doing something similar. Using his puppets to tell his story,” Hotch added. 

 “He can’t be controlling them by hand,” Blake said as she thought about how the unsub would control two humans. 

 “No, he probably built some sort of contraption,” Hotch agreed. 

 “And he’s trying to lift his victims,” Spencer added.

 “That could explain why he discarded the men,” Rossi said as he looked at the victims’ charts. “They were too heavy.” 

 “Wait, Rossi what do you see?” Y/N asked, pushing her chair back so she could grab the copies of the victims’ charts she had. 

 “Well, I’m checking the licenses of our victims, and each weighed less than the previous one,” Rossi noted as he picked up each one to compare the weights. 

 “You know, if he’s making human marionettes, that also explains why he’s stuffing his victims into boxes,” Spencer said, his eyes bouncing between the three around him. “It’s like a sick toy chest.” 

 “So he is dehumanizing them,” Y/N noted.

 “But he’s not killing them, he’s turning them into his playthings,” Hotch said. 

 The four at the station turned as they heard steps approaching. 

 “A father and son were just abducted from a parking lot at gunpoint,” Detective Marks said when he reached them. “A witness saw a man force them into a car.” 

 “Dave, you and Blake go check it out,” Hotch ordered. “Garcia, you there.” 

 “Yes, sir,” Penelope piped up to be heard over Y/N’s phone. 

 “I need you to start looking for theater owners and puppeteers in the area,” Hotch said. 

 “Will do sir,” Penelope responded. 

 “We’ll hit you back with some results,” Y/N added and went to hang up the phone. 

 “Hey, Y/N wait,” Spencer said, pulling her off of speaker and putting his phone to his ear. 

 “Yeah, Spence,” she responded, doing the same as him. 

 “We're still on for dinner when I get back?” 

 “Of course, I already made the reservation.” 

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

 “Okay there are five puppeteers/marionetters in the area,” Penelope said quickly, seeing as there were two new victims.

 “Any recently released from prison?” Hotch asked. 

 Penelope quickly typed into the search engine and got no results. 

 “No,” Y/N answered when she read the screen. 

 “Yeah, they’re all working kids’ parties and at hospitals,” Penelope added. 

 “What about someone who had a traumatic incident with a brunette girl?” Spencer gave a new set of parameters. 

 “That’s kind of specific,” Penelope muttered as she began to type. While she was typing, she got a call from JJ and Derek. “Hold on let me patch in JJ and Morgan.” 

 “Hey, we’re at the clothing store,” Derek’s voice said over the phone. “And we got the names of five people who left numerous messages for Tucker this week.”

 “Give them to me and Wonder Woman,” Penelope said, hands at the ready to work her magic. 

 “Alright, we got Sam Holby, Terrence Crammer, Vincent Lang, Matt Parker, and Jill Olger,” Derek said, reading off the names he found.

 Penelope typed swiftly on her keys, doing cross-checks with all the things she’s been given so far. “And no, and I’m cross-checking those with Hotch’s list of puppeteers. And no.” 

 “So I’ve got eight more names, some written on pads in the back, others are frequent customers,” JJ’s voice was heard next. 

 “All right,” Derek said to JJ. “Penelope we need you and Y/N to trace the phone lines here, too, see if this guy Tucker called the unsub today.”

-----------

 “How’s your vegetarian pad thai?” Y/N asked as she gathered more of her own food in her chopsticks. 

 “Amazing,” Penelope took another bite of her food. The phone began to ring. Penelope used the ends of her chopsticks to answer. 

 “Garcia,” Hotch’s voice was heard through the phone. 

 “Yes, sir,” Penelope answered, swallowing her food.

 “Were there any incidents involving a father and son in the puppeteers’ histories that you found?”  

  Penelope set down her box of noodles and began to type on her computer. “Father and son. Okay, no, it’s coming up empty.”

 “What about twenty or thirty years ago?” Rossi’s voice asked. 

 At the new parameters, Penelope got a hit. “Well, there was a pretty famous puppeteer in the late fifties, named Alex Rain.”

 “He died in a robbery,” Y/N read from the article on the screen. 

 “Yeah, his son witnessed it.” 

 “What was the son’s name?” Blake asked. 

 “Adam Rain, mom died ten years ago,” Penelope answered.

 “Cross-check Adam’s name with the names of the patrons in the clothing store,” Spencer ordered. 

 Penelope began to type again and a huge list of callers appeared on the screen. “Oh, I got a big ‘ole hit. Okay, so Mr. Rain called Tucker, the owner, forty times in the last month.”

 “Damn, I don’t think I even call my mom that much,” Y/N commented, taking another bite of her food. 

 “Yeah, check this-- his father was most well-known for a pair of puppets named Mitch and Steph, the male one had dark black hair, the female was a redhead.” The picture of the two puppets was on the screen as Penelope began to describe their features. 

 “And they’re creepy,” Y/N sang as her eyes widened at the picture. 

 “Do you have an address?” Rossi asked. 

 “Last known was a building on Pine Street, that used to be his father’s theater,” Penelope said as the information on Adam Rain came up on the screen. 

 “And guess what he drives,” Y/N said. 

 “A blue van, call us back in the car,” Hotch’s voice said as he began to walk out of the room. 

 When Penelope hung up the phone, the sound of her door opening startled them. Y/N instinctively reached for her gun on her belt and Penelope jumped. Walking into the room was Erin Strauss, her normal pristine self. 

 “Agent Y/L/N, may I speak with you in my office please,” Strauss said. 

 It wasn’t a question, it was an order. Y/N nodded and stood up from her chair. “I’ll be back,” she said to Penelope who just nodded absently, not sure what was going on. 

 When Strauss entered her office, Y/N followed a few paces behind her. She was very confused about what was happening at the moment. Strauss knew they were on a case and she wouldn’t pull her away unless it was important. 

 “Have a seat.” Strauss gestured to the chairs in front of her desk. 

 Y/N slowly walked over to the seat on the left, nervous about what was happening. “Okay, I’m going to be blunt, ma’am, what’s going on?”

 “Well, I really didn’t want to do this,” Strauss began with a sigh. 

 Y/N’s mind jumped to the worse. “I’m not fired am I?” 

 “Oh no,” Strauss reassured her. She was a bitch, but Y/N was too good of an agent to fire due to budget cuts. “When I asked you to move to fugitive task force, I was hoping you would say yes so we could use that as your cover.” 

 “My cover? For what?” 

 “A couple of months ago, there was a letter left here, it told about how someone in the FBI was being watched,” Strauss began to explain. “The Director and I wrote it off as a simple ‘trying to scare’ type thing. It wasn’t until later that we realized that wasn’t the case. We received another note, with very specific detail about how someone wanted to hurt not just this one person in the FBI, but their whole team.” 

 “Do you think this has to do with Caroline?” Y/N asked, curious if that was a road Strauss had traveled down and looked into. 

 “We looked into it, it’s not.” 

 Y/N let out a sigh of relief, glad she didn’t have to deal with her again. 

 “This unsub has been stalking a member of your team, the last letter we received was about someone in the BAU.” Strauss handed the letter to Y/N in its evidence bag.

 Y/N took the letter from her hand, looking over the neat handwriting. “Well, by the handwriting I can tell this is probably a female.” 

 “Yes, I also thought that. There’s one other thing, if you notice in the letter, she mentions everyone on the team except you.” 

 Y/N looked closely at the letter, reading over everyone’s name except hers. “Do you think I am the one she’s after.” 

 Great, not again, Y/N thought to herself. 

 “Well, that was my initial thought, but then we got a break,” Strauss said. “We found out that these letters were coming from a student who attends George Town, due to a series of mysterious suicides that we believe are connected to this. George Town is a school we frequently have guest speakers at, especially from the BAU.”  

 Now Y/N was beginning to catch on. “Except me, I have never guest spoken.” 

 “Yes. We are assuming this unsub has only done research on those who have spoken at the school. This is where you come in. I would like you to go undercover as a girl’s advisor to get some insight and hopefully find out who this unsub is.” 

 Y/N looked at Strauss with wide, surprised eyes. “Oh-uh-okay, is this a ‘you can if you want to?’ or a ‘this is what you’re doing now’ thing.”

 “A little of both, but I believe you are the best hope of finding out who this is with little to no injury involved.” 

 “How long would I be undercover for?” 

 “Depends on what you find and how close you’re getting.” Strauss leaned on her desk, seeing that Y/N’s last question prompted that she was interested.

 “Okay, and will I have contact with my team?” 

 The sigh Strauss let out was not giving to Y/N’s hope. “This is the part where I believe you were going to say no. You would start tonight if you say yes, you would get some things from your home, leave your cell phone with me, I give you a new one and you will have no contact with your team unless absolutely necessary for an extended period of time.” 

 “What determines this extended period of time?” 

 “Your findings within the first month.” 

 “So at least a month.” Y/N knew she had to do this, after everything the team did to help her with Caroline, she couldn’t let this unsub get to them. But what about Spencer, or JJ, or Penelope? This was a hard decision she had to make, but she knew she’d be back. 

 “Okay, I’ll do it. But on one condition.” 

--------------  

 Adam Rain had been caught. He had been in a coma for a long time due to a car accident. He had a Peter Pan syndrome where he woke up as a young boy again. 

 Spencer was bouncing on his toes. After his talk with Blake, he had found a new sense of confidence for the evening and he couldn’t wait to pop the question. He had the ring out the whole flight home, the box in his hands and absent mindedly played with it. He opened the box, admiring the ring he looked for for so long. It was simple, a thin gold band that had three small diamonds in a line on the top of the ring. It was perfect and he was so excited to give it to her. 

 The team arrived at Quantico that evening. Tired from the long case and excited to get home.  

 “Hey guys,” Penelope greeted everyone when they walked in the door. 

 “Hey Baby girl,” Derek greeted her, giving her a hug. When he pulled away he looked behind her and then back at her. “Where’s Wonder Woman?” 

 “I have no clue, I was hoping Boy Wonder knew because Strauss called her into her office earlier and I haven’t seen her since,” Penelope explained. 

 Spencer walked up to the two when he heard his nickname. “She hasn’t talked to me since we last called you.” 

 The three were now worried and confused, no knowledge of where Y/N was.

 “I can answer that for you,” Strauss’ voice was heard as she walked into the room. Her announcement gained everyone on the team’s attention. “Agent Y/L/N has been assigned to an undercover assignment by me, starting right after the meeting we had earlier today.” 

 The team stood shocked, some with wide eyes and others with slack jaws.

 “I’m sorry, what?” JJ asked strongly.

 “The case is strictly need to know, but she wanted me to tell you that is where she was so you wouldn’t have to worry about her running off or having you think she left you.” The last part of her announcement was directed to Spencer, who Y/N knew would need to hear that until he got home. 

 “Erin,” Rossi said, anger and annoyance rising in him. 

 “Dave, the decision has been made, she was the best person for this job. You will have no contact with her unless extremely necessary for at least one month-” Strauss held up her pointer finger- “She told me to tell you that this was an extremely hard decision for her to make but she needed to do it to protect lives.” 

 With that, Strauss gave a curt nod to Hotch and started to walk to his office. Hotch followed, his walk angry as she had pulled someone from his team without telling him first. 

 “Reid,” Penelope said when she looked over to the man in shock. 

 He stood still, mouth closed and eyes pricking with tears he wouldn’t let fall. The ring in his pocket felt heavy now, like it carried all the weight of the world that just left him. 

 “Spence,” JJ reached her hand to touch his shoulder. 

 Spencer jerked at the touch and began to walk away. “I need to get home.” 

 His whole trip home, his hope was that what had just happened was just some fever dream. It was all fake from his nerves over the past couple of days and he’d get home and she’s been on the couch waiting for him.   

 But when he walked in the door, he was met with a quiet empty apartment. He let out a breath. It sounded like a scoff almost, and then he wanted to start laughing. Because this was fucking hilarious and crazy.  

 This was crazy, Y/N was gone. 

 When he closed the door and flipped the light switch, the corner of his eye caught a glimmer. His head jerked in the direction of the sparkle. 

 Sitting on the table was a white sheet of paper, folded in half and ‘Spencer’ scrawled on the front of it. Beside it sat the gold band Y/N had gotten him. 

 Slowly, Spencer dropped his bags by the door and walked over the letter. He picked up the letter, not daring to touch the gold band that sat beside it. 

 “Dear Spencer: My love, my sweet angel, my bub, I know you’re very confused right now, I am too. As Strauss told you, I was pulled away on an undercover mission. Sadly I cannot tell you what this is about due to the fact I am liable not to and technically I wasn’t even supposed to write this letter to you but you know me, I couldn’t leave without leaving something for you.” 

 Spencer laughed, a small tear he let escape running down his face. Of course, Y/N wouldn’t leave without giving him a goodbye somehow.

 “I know it isn’t fair that I am leaving you a letter, and trust me I didn’t want to leave you one. You’ve been left too many from people leaving you-- Gideon, your dad. But here’s the one thing that’s different, I am coming back. After this is all over I will be back.” 

 Spencer’s lip quivered, not letting any tears be held back anymore. 

 “Tell the team that I love them and I’m sorry that I had to leave like this. I know they were all probably shocked and some were probably angry. Hell, I would understand if you were angry. I would be.” 

 Spencer was angry. He was angry that she was chosen for this, that she had to leave. 

 “So you’re probably wondering, ‘why is there a ring here?’. Well, tonight I was going to propose to you, and it was going to be so great. Penelope and I have been discussing it all day on my speech, the delivery, the whole nine yards. But I guess that won’t happen now, but if you want to hear about it then ask her, she’ll tell you.” 

 Spencer looked down at the ring. The simple gold band sat there and was screaming at him to pick it up. Like if he wore it, Y/N would be right beside him. 

 “I don’t know if you’ll wear it, but I left it as a promise to you. So you’ll know I’ll be back to marry you soon. That this is just a bump in our story, and the rest of if we will spend together.” 

 Spencer danced the ring between his thumb and index finger. He looked at it all around, noticing their initials on the inside. He smiled at them, making his heart soar at how thoughtful she was. 

 “So, technically I am not supposed to do this, but I can’t stand the thought of not being able to talk to you for a month. I’ve thought about the safest way to do this. It’s the same way I’d talk to London in college when Caroline was...anyway. At the end of this letter is the number of the cell Strauss gave me, it’s in code but I know you’ll figure it out quickly. I want you to go to a payphone, call the number, let it ring twice, hang up, and then wait for me to call back. It’s safe and we can only do it maybe three times a week just to be cautious.” 

 Spencer made extra sure to remember each step, already excited to use it so he could talk to her. 

 “I have to go now, Spence. I love you more than anything you’ll ever know. I found a quote that is fitting for when I was going to propose, so I’ll just leave it here: Thomas Merton once wrote, ‘Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone, we find it with another.’  See you soon, Y/N.” 

 At the end of the letter was the code for the number. It was easy for Spencer to decipher, he didn’t even need to write anything down. He took a mental note of the number and was ready to use it first thing in the morning. 

 He then looked back at the ring. He had set it back down at some point and picked it back up again. It sat in the palm of his hand. 

 He was almost scared to put it on now. Then he thought about her words, it’s a promise I’ll be back. With slow, cautious movements, Spencer slipped the band on his ring finger. The ring felt at home there and he had no plans of taking it off.  

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added!!):

@throughparisallthroughrome @word-scribbless @nintendumbfuck @confused-and-really-hungry  @andiebeaword @itsarayofsunshine @baby-i-am-fireproof @abitofeverythinggg @nanocoool @marceline-is-my-spirit-animal @fancyfaucet @im-a-raging-gay @atletino @mo-whore @peterparkersdestiny @bandsandjill @mbowles23-blog @sarcasm-n-insomnia @citrussirus @nerual222 @april-14-blog @reidloversisforever @heavenlyholland @justawildmarebae @sana-li @thesailbells @l0ve-0f-my-life @spencer101reid @spencersdolore @delicateprunecashpony @sader12345678 @dashlilymark @mysticalmagicmoon @onebigfangirlworld @saturn-mp4 @hurricanejjareau @thatweirdo466 @angryknightstatesmantrash @nograciass @danandphilfan6 @la-vie-en-amour1 @squirrellover1967 @reidswords @skyirates @spideyspencer @harrypressman @justine-en @absolutelynotsophie @dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal​ @mailikestruecrimetoomuch​ @dadchi-oya​ @marley1773​ @lashtonandmalumsbaby @jesus-christ-ashtons-arms @lulurose17​ @flowers-in-fields​ @multifandombb​ @aimzonicles97​ @criminaly-supernatural​ @aperrywilliams​ @n1ghtsh4d3-67​ @thatsonezesty13​

[appleciders]

personally, im also deep in the station 19 muck but like you i wish i wasn't. randomly watched it because pandemic and maya bishop is just so compelling, even with all the bad writing i still love her sm. is there anything you would want to see for season 4? your hair cut fic was so good and i cant stop thinking about how much better the season would have been had it ended like that instead.

first off, sorry to both of us for being here! but i guess let’s take escapism where can get it, hey. second, thank you so much for reading the fic!! i’m super honored you liked it <33

as for what i would want for s4...whew. a lot, lmao. i’ll put in under a cut to save my poor non-s19 followers.

mostly, i want them to please slow down the pacing. let story arcs breathe and build and develop. last season was so rushed—ryan’s death and rigo’s death and pruitt’s death all crammed in, andy and sullivan having a shotgun wedding out of nowhere, maya and carina fastforwarding to i love yous with only 30 second scenes and not a real date to be seen, vic hardly getting to process ripley—i could go on. it’s cheap and messy storytelling. cut it out. 

i also really want them to let relationships do the same. i want to see the friendships that were so strained last season to grow again. show me andy, maya, and vic being friends and supporting each other!! for the love of god!! (show me andy and maya being friends, period. for the whole season. the whole goddamn season. no drama between them, only supporting each other through outside drama. if i have to see another season where these ‘best friends’ are at each other’s throats half the time, i swear to god.) 

show me more team-as-family! a) i eat that shit up, and b) that’s supposed to be the underlying theme and premise of the show. show them laughing and goofing off together, show them holding each other up when things get tough, show them teasing each other to hell and back while they cook together in the beanery. invest in that again.

for the romances....develop that shit. honestly, i really hope andy and sullivan either break up or really do the fucking work to fix their relationship, because as-is, it’s a hot mess. and not a hot mess i particularly care to watch. i liked them fine in season 2, but the sullivan arc in s3 (which...not to out myself as having watched chicago fire, but which is a blatant rip-off of severide’s s1 arc in cf) puts him in a place where he’s not really ready for a relationship. and with the amount of shit they put andy through, she’s not, either. i know it’s impossible on a drama, but i would really like andy to be single this season? idk, i’m tired.

maya and carina better not be all sunshine and rainbows. they need to do the work! they need to show the work! after that rushed-ass ‘forgive me’ scene (where carina was...pressured into forgiving maya like the day after she cheated on her??? and that was framed as a good thing?? make it make sense), they deserve to show them actually navigating that broken trust and rebuilding something real. and as someone who doesn’t watch grey’s, i really don’t know carina very well? 90% of her scenes were her supporting maya through her ongoing breakdown (though a  totally understandable breakdown! not criticizing maya for having trauma), so i’d like to see more of a balance of support in the relationship and more development of her as an individual apart from maya. she’ll be sticking around, and that will be much more interesting if she bonds with other members of the team.

dean and vic...look, my hands-down #1 wish for season 4 is that they treat vic hughes well, with respect, with screentime, and with a good arc. she’s the absolute best. and as much as i love dean miller (hint: a lot), he needs to start guzzling his respecting vic juice if the writers are gonna try to set up anything. personally, i’d really like to see them move past it? awkward crushes between friends happen. putting myself in dean’s shoes, living with one of my best friends who i’m also secretly crushing on, watching her play with my baby...it’d be a lot too!! but that doesn’t excuse being a dick, so i’d really like to see them take some time apart, and then start their friendship back up on a foundation of honesty and communication. because they’re so good, guys.

individual character notes!!!

well. i want every person at this goddamn station to go to therapy. they won’t, but i want them to.

andy needs to go to serious grief counseling after season 3. compounded by what’s bound to be a shitstorm from the discovery that her mother is alive? please. in regards to the whole mother arc, i really don’t want it her disappearance to have been like...gang-related. i’ve seen that posited as a theory, and that’s just a whole bundle of stereotypes we don’t need to get into. i also want the mom reveal to be the main revelation that takes up the majority of her arc the first half of the season, just to have time to process it. the captain’s race took up all of season 1—you can give this twist time to marinate properly.  

vic hughes, my moon, my stars! i really loved the snippets of vic’s backstory that they gave us in s3. as someone who lost a family member to early-onset alzheimer’s in november, 3x09 was...oof. a lot. i love how they committed to fleshing out her past and her backstory more and i love the emotional depth barrett doss always brings to the screen. for season 4, i’d love to see vic get to process ripley and jackson properly. (and here i repeat my forever adage for female characters lol: let them be single for a hot sec.) i want her to move in with maya, because i think that dynamic is so fun and ripe for exploration, and then i’d love to see her digging in to her issues and getting help—going back to the firefighter group, actually talking, spending time with her found family. (sidenote: would love to see her help out with some like youth community theatre classes on her days off? developing connections with kids who have gone through losses, supporting them and in turn realizing the support she needs herself...tell me vic singing with kids wouldn’t be the cutest shit). anyway, i just rly want her to get a good storyline. but i’m not a screenwriter so like...hope they come up with one!

i’ve already written much more than i’m sure you wanted, so i’m going to condense the boys into one paragraph lol. i want jack gibson to heal himself and stop sleeping with taken women! his new found family is super sweet, so i really hope he gets to keep it throughout s4. i want travis montgomery to get only good and happy things, and the same goes for warren. actually, i’d love to see warren step into his new role as team Older Person a bit more? i think that would be a really fun and heartwarming dynamic to play with all the other characters. dean i think i already touched on, but i’d love him to take a breath, apologize to vic and explain, and lean on the rest of his found family. he’s gonna be such a good dad and i’m excited to see more of that.

finally: maya. oh, maya. she needs therapy. you can’t have a character say she’s been dealing with suicidal ideation and anxiety for nearly 20 years and just...magically make it all better. she deserves to get to unpack all the shit with her dad, and all the ways that’s impacted her. on some level, i kinda wish she’d not stayed as captain—i love her scenes so much when she’s allowed to be just chilling on the same level as her team. since that’s not the case, finding a right balance of her as captain and her as friend is gonna be super important. i want her to open up to her friends and lean on them. i’d love for mason to come back, too? i think her trying to heal herself, establish herself as a team member and leader, and rebuild her relationships with her brother as well as her found family and girlfriend would be more than enough material for an arc. it won’t always go great! this stuff isn’t an easy fix! but that’s why it’d be worth writing. plus, so many members of the team have shitty relationships with their parents that even though they won’t understand what maya went through, there’s some really fertile ground for compassion and cathartic ‘fuck our dads’ ball-busting i’d love to see seeded. bonus father’s day episode where literally none of them are happy and they decide to like...go play laser tag or something.

anyway, i’m sure that’s more than you wanted!! but thank you for the q lmao apparently i had a lot to say

[monitorchakas]

Guilty Spark for the character ask my friend

Ahhhhhhh finally get to fangirl about my #1 favorite character in halo 😍

Major book spoilers below. (No Shadows of Reach spoilers though lol)

So decided going to cover both Spark S/ and Chakas C/ separately since they so widely different

Why I like them

I loved Spark even before 343i expanded his story, Ive always liked A.I. Im a huge fan of Portal and Space Odyssey. (That one part in primordium when Spark starts shutting down oxygen on the rubicon, Hal 9000 move right there)

343i expanding his story definitely made him imo, one of the most interesting halo character in the halo universe.

I remember being obsessed with Bornstellar Chakas and Riser in Cryptum and being super excited for Primordium. I remember wondering how or when Spark would show up since he was the live forerunner connection ingame. I remember reading Primordium while playing through Halo CEA and starting to suspect the Chakas/Spark connection since in the terminals Spark's very fond of the Librarian just as Chakas was.

It was cool how compartmentalization mention in Primordium was consistent with Halo 3 the Ark terminal.

I love Chakas, I loved how he was just a stupid adventurous rough kid with his smol bff stopping him from getting into too much trouble. I love the relationship he formed with Bornstellar, which continued even after he was turned into a monitor.

I love the ghost in the shell concept of an ai straight from a human mind, the way that mind can be manipulated so their memories are hidden, the effects that had on him. The way it turned him into another self.

Then in Renegades when he gets his memories back and he looks back at his two identities or phases of life (Chakas and Guilty Spark) and became a third self. 😍 He accepted the both lives he had and grew from those experiences. He still has those fond memories of being human (and misses all his friends and family) and still tells people he's human, but he also doesn't forget the trauma he endured and caused on others while being Guilty Spark.

The way Spark finally let go of his past (stolen away by forerunners) and accepted his new reality. I mean we all kinda knew he wouldn't live in the domain forever especially after making friends with Ace of Spades crew, but it was a fun read nonetheless

Its crazy how his character pretty much spans the entire lore, and I can't wait to see what him and his found fam do next!!

Why I don’t

S/ I mean he did kill Johnson....

(But I don't really blame him for it)

C/ LOOOVE HIM

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

S/ Halo CEA terminals or the Ark cutscene

C/ Beginning of Cryptum when Riser and him met Bornstellar and later the Didact up until when they get separated

S/ when he finally returns to Erde Tyrene...

Favorite book

Renegades - best redemption arc and character development yet. I feel like after this book his life story is completed and hes finally for the first time since he left Earth happy again

Primordium 😍 love reading from the Chakas perspective and all the mystery and terror he found

Favorite line (I have 3 lmao)

S/ "Save his head, dispose of the rest"

C/ (well at this point he's a monitor but he still has all his memories so its going under Chakas)

to Bornstellar "Chakas could have murdered you in your sleep back on Erde Tyrene, and he didnt"

C/ "I still had difficulty thinking of the sky as something other than a great spreading flatness, on which little glowing insects moved, and occasionaly someone opened up a door to let in light from outside. Old teachings die hard."

Favorite outfit

I like how he looks in the halo ce anniversary terminals, in halo 3, and in renegades ☺

I haaaate how he looks in halo 2 anniversary

OTP

C/ Vinnevra 😍

S/ forever alone as a monitor but

As the armiger he kinda had some chemistry with Rion idk...

Brotp

S/ his Sentinels 🤣

C/ Riser and secondary Bornstellar

Head Canon

Spark takes Lessa and Niko on vacation to disneyworld 🤣

Unpopular opinion

S/ He should not be blamed for his actions during the time that his memories were compartmentalized. He was just following (vague) instructions and protocol to the best of his ability and he was obviously not ready for the isolation he endured, nor was he ready to take care of that ring. He thought he was doing what was right, he doesn't really know better

Blame Librarian for all he did. She's ultimately the one that left him there alone. She's the one that brainwashed him as a human into loving her

A wish

S/ I know I shouldn't complain considering how much expanded lore he has but I wish they had made 1 terminal for the part where Tartarus brings Spark to Truth and Mercy. At that point Spark still remembered how manipulative their species was.

C/ I wish they hadn't composed him and stuck him in a monitor and taken him away from his friends and girlfriend... I wish Librarian had let him return to Earth

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

S/ Oh god please dont kill any more members of the Ace of Spades.

5 words to best describe them

S/ Complicated, sad, lonely, confused, cold

C/ adventurous, mischievous, fun, naive, loyal

My nickname for them

S/ Sparky

C/ Chakas when the walls fell / inland boy lmao

I literally could write more but Im going to stop myself now lmao

If there's parts that dont make sense, tumblr mobile kept deleting stuff and Im also not the best at writing lolol this is more like rambling

[twilightofthe]

Chapter Four liveblog of The Mandalorian!  Let’s go!!!

This title is just “Sanctuary”, it bothers me that this one doesn’t start with “The ___” like the other ones do ;p

Fish shrimp things!!!

Aww village!!!!

Oh no this is too peaceful when are they gonna get attacked

Aaaand there go the birds 

What’s coming?

Surprise surprise bad guys

Pirate raiders of some sorts

Clever mom, tho I’m guessing she’s gonna die

Oh they look like Tolkien orcs

Oh boy Mando Man’s gonna come save them!

BABY YODA IT’S BABY YODA

LOOK AT THEM PRESSING BUTTONS

CUTE BABY I LOVE THEM

Man-dad-lorian: “stop touching things”

LITTLE SHIT TOUCHED SOMETHING AGAIN I LOVE BABY YODA

HE’S HOLDING THEM OH MY GOOOOOSH LOK THAT’S ADORABLE

HE’S TALKING TO THEM

US

LITTLE WOMP RAT

THIS IS IT I HAVE DIED.  TOO CUTE.  

FAR FAR FAR TOO CUTE IMMA REWIND AND WATCH THAT WHOLE THING AGAIN

I MELTED

HIS VOICE IS SO TENDER

L I T T L E  W O M P  R A T

I wanna marry him, I just adore how he talks to the baby, this is killing me

Jeez look how much I’ve typed and we’re only 5 minutes in

BABY VOICE.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE HIS BABY VOICE HOW HE SPEAKS TO THEM

Ok ok ok I’m done

NO I’M NOT BABY FOLLOWED HIM

GAHHHH LOK AT BABY TODDLING ALONG

Mmm that kebab looks pretty good

Hey shiny butt you stick out like a sore thumb

THIS EPISODE WANTS TO KILL ME THAT IS A MOTHERFUCKING.  LIVE ACTION.  LOTHCAT/TOOKA.  RED ALERT.  RED ALERT.  HOW DID THEY KNOW I FUCKING LOVE LOTHCATS.  THIS IS A PERSONAL ATTACK

I’M SUING

Oh hey it’s pretty girl!!  His girlfriend!!!!

Or she’s gonna be his girlfriend anyway.

She’s so pretty!!!

Awww boi’s asking about the pretty girl xD

Wait so this dude doesn’t eat in public when does he eat

LOOK BRO NICE STRANGERS DO NOT NECESSARILY MAKE GOOD BABYSITTERS NO MATTER HOW FRIENDLY THEY SEEM MR CHILD ENDANGERMENT

Ok Mando Man absolutely has to have some Force Sensitivity, I’ll bet money on it, the way he just senses stuff about her.

Awww love at first kick

Yo she’s beating up on Beskar pretty well noice

BRO WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND FLAMING PEOPLE

THE FUCKING BABY SLORPING I’M WHEEZING

YOU WANT SOME SOUP?

THAT’S IT THEIR NEW SHIPNAME IS SOUP BUDDIES

So she’s a mercenary

“Another round” ohohohoho ;) ;) ;)

Awww poor dudes do want him to help!

Space krill?  Huh

Oh yea guilt him over it he’s a real softie xD

Theeeere we go

MORE FLIRTING

Ohhh she’s ex-shock trooper

I get you Baby Yoda, I third wheel a lot too

Oh yeah us too kiddos we all love the Babu

Awww he’s so polite <3

...uuuuuntil he scares a ten year old nice going xD

THE MUSIC IS SO STAR WARS-Y

ALERT ALERT THE BABY HAS A CRIB I’M DYING

Oh!  She’s feeding them/him?  I’m mellllllting!!!

CONCERNED PAPA ;_;

Oh so he does actually wash his hair thank goodness Pedro is too pretty for greasy helmet head

Oh nvm he must be so pale under his helmet xD

Oh wow so he wasn’t an official Mando until he was taken in there goes my theory

HELMET! IS! OFF!

Wait which ones are the AT-ST’s again?  Are they big big ones?

C’mon lady a bunch of Ewoks beat a walker before, give ‘em a chance!

“Unless we show them how” ah so this is another Seven Samurai-inspired ep like that one TCW one, RIP Kurosawa

Yay Home Alone booby traps!

OH YOU GO LADY SHOOT EM

See Anakin, it is actually possible to teach a bunch of villagers stick fighting without twirling it around like a showoffy dumbass xD

omg I’m so freakin’ proud of these people already

Wait oh nooo I kinda ship Mando Man with village lady too hlep

OT3 TIME YEET

Aight ppl let’s get em

Ooo what’s cookin’?

So these bombs make music huh?

Yussss kick ass babes

OH JEEZ THAT WALKER SCARED ME IT LOOKS LIKE A DAMN DEMON

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S ASS SHIT WHAT THE FUCK EXCUSE ME

Baby Yoda Will Protect The Children

Ugh The Cinnamontography

It’s actually like an old monster movie I adore this

And of course it’ll miss the trap

Yep there it is

Wait is that thing fucking sentient

Shit it is

IT’S AN ACTUAL MONSTER I LOVE THIS IT’S LIKE JURASSIC PARK MEETS PIRATES

Hmm a Jedi would be useful for dealing with the walker rn

Take out the legs

GET ‘IM GIRLIE

Oh I think brave village lady is gonna help get it

“Choke on this you ugly-”

Got em!

Gah I loved everything about this episode

Look out froggie Baby’s gonna eat ya

Yup

No!  Don’t bully Baby out of his food!!!

She’s so considerate of his culture I love this

DON’T YOU LEAVE BABY ALONE HERE MANDO MAN

Hmmm someone’s a little interested in Mando Man’s love life... >:3

GOD DAMN IT MANDO MAN NO I KNEW IT

DON’T LEAVE YOUR BOY

NOOOOOOOO

Can’t believe I’m saying this, I feel atrocious, but as long as there’s bounty hunters after Baby, Mando Man has to keep him!!!

Awww honey no they can’t be together but now I’m sad this lady deserves all the happiness ;_;

Oooooof ouch secondhand embarrassment rejection oof oof ouchhhhh

OH NO THAT SNIPER BETTER NOT SHOOT HER

STAY AWAY FROM BABY YOU FUCKING SHIT

Ok phew phew he’s fine

THANK YOU SO MUCH ROGUE LADY I’LL MARRY YOU

Guess Baby just has to stay with Mando Man for a bit! :D

Isn’t her name Cara or something?  I like her ^.^

Awww kiddo, I’d miss Baby Yoda too :(

Oh honey I’m sorry your mans is leaving, I’ll marry you instead!!!!

Awww wave bye bye!

Bahaha here I was comparing this to Jurassic Park and freaking Bryce Dallas Howard directed this ep, omg I love her

This ep was amazing yus

So I loved everything about this episode because I am ridiculously easy to please and I love the old samurai flicks and I love monster movies and the Clone Wars ep (why the flying fuck can’t I remember the name it was the one with Obi + Ani + Ahsoka on Felucia with the farmers and then Hondo fuck what was it called) that went kinda like this is one of my favorites and gah merc lady! (Cara?  Her name is definitely Cara, right?)  Omg I know we haven’t gotten any info on Cara yet, but I love that she’s got some softness too, that she doesn’t fall into the new “Strong Woman(TM)” trope where a woman can have no heart and must just beat up and shoot stuff and look hot while doing it.  I’m super excited to see more of her!!!

Just overall, great ep, loved it, can’t wait for more <3

[miasswier]

miasswier’s ultimate glee ranking: no 15

15: The Break-Up

Written by: Ryan Murphy Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Overall Thoughts: This is one of the strongest episodes Glee ever did. It’s also one of the most emotional. It’s kind of strange, ranking it so high, though, because I actually rarely watch this episode since it makes me both furious and so, so sad. Let’s get into it.

What I Like:

My absolute favourite aspect of this episode is Brittana. We’ve seen Brittany explicitly missing Santana for three episodes now, and it all culminates in that scene at Breadstix. When Brittany tells Santana that she left her behind and it really hurt, I think it’s one of the most honest and emotional things Brittany has ever said. Although she didn’t want to break up with Santana, I think Santana was right in doing so. She didn’t shift any blame, she didn’t try and play the victim, she didn’t even excuse herself. “I haven’t been a good girlfriend to you” and that’s that. She isn’t what’s best for Brittany right now, and so she’s not going to keep dragging Brittany down. I think this is also one of the greatest character development moments for Santana; the Santana we saw in “Prom Queen” would never have thought of Brittany’s desires before hers. They’re growing up, and they’re doing what’s right. But, oh, god does it hurt to watch.

That scene between Finn and Rachel at the end is one of Lea Michele’s best acting moments in the entire show. Not that she’s a bad actress most of the time, but the emotion of it all is so real. It’s no secret that I’ve never been a big Finchel supporter, but I feel for her. I sobbed while watching this scene, just as I do every time, because she just blows me away.

The scene between Finn and Kurt is another personal favourite. We rarely got any scenes between these two, and it’s nice to see the comradery that they have.

Someone pointed out when this episode first came out that after “Don’t Speak” Blaine is always seen alone, sectioned off from the group. Even his first shot in “Don’t Speak” is him alone, the camera zooming in on him. Now, I really hate that Blaine cheated, like, more than anything, and I hate that they then spent the rest of the season focusing on his emotional journey rather than Kurt’s, but, that being said I think the imagery of this is lovely. It really shows his isolation, his loneliness, his state of mind. It also builds up in the next few episodes, and culminates in “Dynamic Duets”. It’s interesting how they can show so much about a person’s headspace with just cinematography.

Brody isn’t a douche. He shows up to Callbacks, and he greets Finn first. He’s nice to Finn, and he doesn’t ask Rachel to sing with him, only agrees to do so when Finn suggests it. He respects the boundaries that have obviously been raised by Finn being there, and I really appreciate that. Honestly, I feel like they could have done so much more with Brody if they hadn’t decided they were tired of him mid-season and offed him in one of the worst ways possible.

Kurt is so genuinely excited to see Blaine. It’s hard, because you know what’s coming, but it’s also refreshing to be reminded that even though Kurt is caught up in his new life that he still loves Blaine just as much as he did before he came to New York. It just sucks that the only nice scene we got between Klaine in this episode lasted .02 seconds.

Emma standing up for herself, and making it clear to Will that just because he didn’t get his way doesn’t mean the conversation isn’t over makes me so happy. People rarely talk about Emma’s character development, but she’s seriously come so far since season one. She made it very clear to Will that she wasn’t just going to bend over and do whatever he wanted, which is such a far cry from the Emma we met in the pilot who was basically following Will around like a lost puppy.

I know I already said it, but seriously. Brittana. They blow my mind.

What I Don’t Like:

The way the Klaine story plays out has always bothered me, and will continue to bother me until the day I die. They set it up so perfectly in the previous episode, and the beginning of this episode plays the same way: Kurt is too busy, and Blaine feels alone and neglected. THAT WAS ENOUGH OF A REASON FOR THEM TO BREAK UP. If a significant other made me feel the way Blaine was obviously feeling throughout this episode and the last one, I would break up with that significant other. He would have been completely justified in doing so. But no, apparently Kurt’s not allowed to be the bad guy (I love Kurt, I do, but he wasn’t being a good boyfriend), so instead of just going with what they set up, they pulled a cheating storyline out of thin air that made zero sense and honesty almost made me give up on Klaine. I just… ugh. I hate that they did that, and I will always hate that they did that.

The whole Kitty/Jake/Marley thing was stupid and unnecessary, as were most of their storylines throughout season four. Cut them out and give Brittana and Klaine, or even Wemma for fuck’s sake, more screen time. Please and thanks.

That being said, I really don’t understand why they tried to shoehorn Wemma into this episode as a “potential break-up” thing, when really all they had was a fight. By doing that, they basically brought them back down to high school level, like they’d been all throughout the first season, which isn’t what their relationship has been like for ages. It felt wrong and unnecessary, and I wish they’d played it more like the fight it was than as if it was some huge relationship ending drama that was literally never mentioned again.

While having all three main couples break up in one episode packed a huge punch, it was also frustrating because Finchel got the A plot, while Klaine got the B plot, Brittana the C, and then Wemma + Newbies a tiny D plot. Yeah, they tried to act like Klaine and Finchel got equal screentime, but most of the time both couples were on screen Finchel was touching, and cuddling and kissing, while Klaine were either in different cities or standing ten feet away from each other. Also, Finchel gets like a five-minute break-up scene at the end (which don’t get me wrong, I love that scene, I do) but we don’t even know if Kurt and Blaine are broken up. It just doesn’t seem fair to break every couple up in one episode if you aren’t going to give every couple their dues.

In “The Scientist” when they show Finchel and Wemma’s first kiss, and then scenes of Klaine and Brittana barely touching. WE GET IT FOX, YOU HATE GAYS. Jesus Christ.

Songs:

Barely Breathing: What I like about this song is how Blaine and Finn are in total different headspaces, but somehow this song manages to portray both perfectly. They sound awesome together, too. Plus, I love seeing Kurt in his fake Dalton uniform. Cutie.

Give Your Heart a Break: If I had to cut one song from this episode, it would be this one. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but it feels unnecessary. Every other song packs such an emotional punch, whereas this one is just sort of… there. I don’t know.

Teenage Dream: Although it breaks my heart, I really do love this version of the song. Slowed down versions of pop songs are my kryptonite, and Darren sounds so incredible singing it. Plus, again, the cinematography really does a good job of showing how isolated and claustrophobic he’s feeling. There’s also the crack in his voice when he says the last “let you put your hands on me”, which breaks my heart. He’s clearly thinking about Eli, and how desperately he wishes he hadn’t done it. All that being said: WHY DID YOU FUCKING CHEAT (im literally forever mad about it).

Don’t Speak: Again, emotional. Great harmonies. They all sound fantastic, and it’s really heartbreaking to watch. The one shot that always gets me is the one where Rachel and Blaine are alone at the fountain. Ouch.

Mine: Seriously, Brittana in this episode. Holy fuck. The first time I watched it I didn’t even ship Brittana (I didn’t really start shipping them until season five), but I still sobbed when Santana sang this, and I’ve sobbed every time since. It’s so fucking raw and emotional. So beautiful and amazing. I love it.

The Scientist: This is an awesome finale, and a really strong song. My only issue is how it’s pretty evenly split until right at the end when Rachel comes in and literally takes over the entire fucking song. I hate when they do that, it drives me crazy. But other than that, a great song to conclude a really strong episode.

Final Thoughts: Klaine is my otp, and I nearly lost faith in them during this episode. I’ll never forgive Glee for that. I still think that Blaine cheating was beyond unnecessary, and I will continue to think that until the day I die. That being said, it’s one of Glee’s strongest episodes ever, and that can’t be discounted. And seriously. Brittana. Holy fuck.

[notalwaysthevillian]

Brewing Love

Warnings: Anxiety, food mention, first date jitters

Pairings: Remile; background Logicality & eventual Prinxiety

Word Count: ~1.5k

Based on this post by @teacupfulofstarshine!

Read from the beginning!

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 4

The next morning, Remy breezed through his morning routine. With twenty minutes left before he had to be at the shop for his shift, he decided to head in early to see if Patton needed any help with the pastries.

When he got there, he found Patton on the phone.

“Can you repeat that? Slower?”

Remy couldn’t hear the words on the other end of the line, but he could tell that they were freaking out.

“Oh, V! If you wanna come stay with me and Lo - no, you wouldn’t be bothering us at all, I promise!”

“I have a spare room.” Remy offered, putting his apron on. “Whoever you’re talking to can stay with me.”

Patton’s eyes lit up. “Really? Oh that’s great! V, I have a friend who has an extra room. He’s offering to let you stay...No, I didn’t. He just offered...yeah...he’s Logan’s cousin...okay! I’ll let him know. Talk to you soon!”

After hanging up, Patton threw his arms around Remy, covering his apron in flour. “Thank you so much!”

“Do I get to know who I’m housing?” Remy asked, a teasing smile on his face.

“His name is Virgil! He and I were best friends in high school.” Patton’s peppiness disappeared as he talked. “We went to colleges on opposite sides of the country. I should’ve made a better effort to keep in touch, but we stopped talking. He called me in a panic this morning - I think on instinct. His boss just fired him from his job and his landlord is evicting him.”

“Poor guy.”

Patton nodded, pushing a recipe over to Remy and moving about the kitchen. “I’m glad he’s moving in with you, even if it’s only until he’s back on his feet. I miss him.”

“He’s welcome to stay as long as he needs.” Remy started shaping some dough. “You and Logan were there for me.”

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Remy smiled, seeing nothing but sincerity in Patton’s eyes. “You know, I can’t wait to be your cousin-in-law.”

Patton giggled. “I can’t wait either.”

“For what?” Logan asked as he entered the kitchen. His eyebrows drew together as his eyes landed on Remy. “What are you doing here so early?”

“I just thought I’d come help -” His excuse died as Logan fixed him with a look. “I’m too excited for my date tonight and finished everything I needed to this morning.”

“Awwwww!” Patton squealed. “Now I see the family resemblance.”

“Patton!”

Seeing the redness in his cousin’s cheeks, Remy simply raised an eyebrow. Patton was quick to explain. “Logan was so excited for our first date that he got to the restaurant an hour early.”

Logan buried his face in his hands to prevent them from seeing just how red his face was. Sensing his distress, Patton pressed a kiss to the top of his head. When he looked up, he saw Remy staring at them with longing.

Flipping down his sunglasses, Remy headed back out to the cafe to start the machines.

Remy found himself staring at the clock whenever he had a moment.

And he had a lot of moments.

The cafe was unusually slow that Saturday. With the number of times Remy had wiped it down, he was surprised there wasn’t a hole in it.

Just as he reached the last hour of his shift, the bell over the door went off and a steady stream of people flowed in. Roman lead the pack, stage makeup still on his face. He waved at Remy before heading over to choose his mug.

Being able to insult most of the customers during the last part of his shift was a blessing. Most of his nerves about his date had vanished by the time Logan announced that they were closing.

The last of the customers filed out, with Roman hanging back.

“Roman, we’re closed.”

“I know, Specs.” Roman grinned as Logan rolled his eyes at the nickname. His face took on a seriousness that Remy had rarely seen. “Thank you. For last night. We had sold maybe half of our tickets before then, but we were officially sold out an hour before the show this morning.”

Logan adjusted his glasses. “Your talents will likely increase our business. I am happy that it is beneficial for the theater as well.”

Roman waved before heading out of the store.

Remy cleaned up at lightning speed, leaving as soon as Logan told him he was free to go. He raced to his apartment, opting to dress up a little more for this date. After giving Chai the attention she deserved, he ducked into his closet.

“No...no...no...n- actually.” He held up the black blazer. “This could work.”

Bzzt.

Grabbing his phone, Remy grinned when he saw who the text was from.

Em: We’re going to grab dinner before if you wanna join us! We’re heading to Marco’s. Hope you like pizza!

Remy: Gurl, you know I love it. What time?

Em: Five! See you soon :D

Glancing at the clock, Remy groaned when he realized it was only three-thirty. He hung the blazer back up in his closet, opting to get dressed later. As much as he loved his baby, he didn’t want to be covered in cat hair when he left.

Over the next thirty minutes, Remy managed to wear Chai out. She curled up in a ball next to him as he watched a quick episode of Steven Universe.

By four thirty he was hopping in an Uber and heading over to Marco’s pizzeria.

He spotted Emile with two girls through the window. When he walked in, Emile flashed him a smile that made him weak in the knees.

“Girls, this is Remy!”

“So you’re the cute barista.” The brunette said, leaning on her elbows. “Emmy here has told us some good things about you.”

Remy gently touched Emile’s wrist, turning it to see the charms for the day. “Oh, have they now?”

The blonde nodded, practically bouncing in her seat. “Mhmm! They said you were super nice.”

“Guys!” A beautiful blush spread across Emile’s cheeks. They shook their head before gesturing to the brunette. “This is Valerie, and her girlfriend, Iona.”

“You can call me Io.” Leaning over, she placed a kiss on Valerie’s cheek. “What kinda pizza do you want?”

Valerie moved so that they could share a menu, giving Remy a pointed look. He quickly followed her lead, leaning closer to Emile. “What kind of toppings do you like?”

“Oh, I don’t like a lot of toppings.” They said, trailing a finger down the menu. “Oh, I love margherita pizza!”

“Margherita pizza it is.” Remy flipped the menu closed and put it away. He moved to hold their hand, but hesitated. Was that okay?

Emile noticed, biting their lip before gently taking Remy’s hand. He gave it a squeeze, trying to ease any worries or doubts they may have had - and also some of his own.

“I like that blazer on you. It makes you look handsome.”

Blood rushed to Remy’s cheeks. He heard the girls giggle and mumble something about ‘cuties’. “That’s - thank you. You, um, you look pret-lovely! You look lovely.”

“You can say pretty, I don’t mind.” Emile teased, looking up when the waiter came over.

They placed their orders immediately. As the waiter walked away, Valerie focused her attention on Remy.

“So, where do you work?”

“Oh, I work over at Get Roasted. That’s where Emile and I met, actually.” He linked their fingers together as he talked. “From the first moment I saw them, I thought they were beautiful. If only they’d noticed I was flirting sooner.”

Emile flushed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, darling.” Emile appeared to melt at the nickname. Remy made a mental note before raising their joined hands and kissing their knuckles. “All that matters is that we’re together now.”

“Awwww!”

Io’s outburst had them all laughing. The four of them continued to chat about various things before their pizza came. They dug in, finishing the pies quickly.

“Your checks.” The waiter put them on the table.

Remy snatched them both before anyone moved.

“Remy -”

“I’ve got this.” He got out of his chair. “You get the popcorn. Deal?”

As Remy walked to the counter, Valerie turned to Emile. “He’s such a keeper.”

“You think so?” They asked, watching Remy swipe a card.

“He paid for both of our meals. You said he was an absolute gentleman at open mic night - even when you said you didn’t realize it was a date. What’s holding you back from such a man?”

Giggling at the Disney reference, Emile shrugged. “I just...I’m worried that he’s not how he seems, you know?”

“He’s the whole package, Em.” Io chimed in. “Handsome, sweet, generous. If you don’t snatch him up, someone else will.”

Emile watched Remy joke with the cashier. Their heart swelled as they looked on. “Yeah. You’re absolutely right.”

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