#i’m gonna edit this later gang

[eviesqueezie]

(idk if i’m supposed to put a tw for this but just know it talks a lot about sinning and religion so pls be careful guys!!)

curly, watching as ponyboy climbs the tallest tree in the lot with his switchblade between his teeth and his busted up converse untied, thinks about the church he went to when he was younger.

the candles glowed in the dimly lit room, reflecting and bouncing off the stained glass windows, shining colourful rainbows across the hall in a sense of sick mockery compared to what they were preaching.

he would always sit in the third row, held down and scolded by his mother when he fidgeted, with angela resting on tim’s hip next to him. his mother would always take an extra gulp of the communion wine, glaring at the pastor as he passed them. no coins clattered into the already rusting metal bowl as he walked by their retched excuse for a family, barely staying afloat by themselves after their most recent step father had disappeared.

ponyboy lifts himself onto a thick branch, pulling out his switchblade and wrapping his hands around the wood before gesturing with his head for curly to follow.

as curly sits, leaning into the embrace of the boy next to him, he thinks about what his mother would say. what his pastor or his priest would say as he laughs with ponyboy, smiling when he smiles and letting his eyes flicker down to his lips.

they would tell him in blunt words, that curly had always feared up until now, that he would be cast down to the pits of hell. cursed a life of misery and eternal damnation.

but he’s already had a life of misery, still has no idea what damnation means and hasn’t stepped in a church in five years.

if what he does in his back bedroom, what he does when he’s hidden away with ponyboy, makes him a sinner. then loving him must be the greatest sin of all.

[shrimpybbq]

imagine fans being sad that there’s no more obx actress!reader and drew after outerbanks finishes…until they get casted in a romcom together…👀

ok so I have this thought that maybe after outer banks finishes, the two of them are the ones with the most prolific careers, and they’re both getting roles in really respected films and shows. but forget romcom, bc the pair both get cast in this big new HBO tv show alongside a bunch of other really famous actors. and what do we know about HBO? that they’re getting down and dirty - the show doesn’t shy away from anything. i’m about to create my own entire tv plotline rn.

i have this headcanon that obx actress!reader plays a really challenging role and people are praising her for the portrayal, so for this instance, let’s say it’s something gritty like a crime drama. drew plays an undercover cop going into a gang or trafficking ring and she plays one of the women being trafficked as a prostitute. the director doesn’t shy away from showing a lot, graphic sex scenes and probs scenes with drug use too (similar to euphoria), and people can’t believe just how good both former ‘teen tv show actors’ can act. maybe drew’s character can’t intervene but he’s falling for the poor girl and there’s just so much angst. we’ve seen drew in a romcom but the angst is where it’s at!!!

think undercover cop secretly beating the shit out of the sleazy guys she is supposed to have sex with, maybe they go on the run later in the season. the pair had kinda tame sex scenes together in outer banks but the ones in this new show together are crazy steamy and the people watching are just like “damn….. hot”

fan edits going crazy talking about ultimate enemies to lovers bc he was having to act like a pimp to her too, but now they’re giving each other heart eyes in the hallway. and if in real life, the pair still hadn’t started dating, well they’re literally never escaping the rumours now

also in my made up tv show pedro pascal is her hot nasty pimp and that’s all i’m gonna say about that hehe

actually feel crazy for this but also zero apologies

[sticktopia]

Sticktober Day 1: Youtube

“Guys guys!! We’re famous!!!” Green excitedly shouted as he ran to the others. Second arched his brow as the green stick came running, waving his phone around.

“What do you mean by “Famous”?” The hollow head asked as they sat up straighter. Green plopped himself down on the couch between Yellow and Second, showing them the two videos they had posted earlier that day.

“People are seeing our videos! And they like them! Look!” Green scrolled through the comments, reading some of them out for the others to hear.

“I am speechless right now :D this is amazing!!! Keep up the amazing work!”

“Lol, videos like these are what makes youtube worth a while.”

“W EDITING!!!’ Hollywood needs to take notes!”

“This is really cool and a ABSOLUTE CINEMA”

“Whoa! They really love our stuff!” Red giggled as she bounced on her toes. “I'm glad they like my little surprise at the end of greenzilla.”

“I didn't realize that others would be watching our videos.” Yellow hummed as she looked at Green’s phone, leaning on his shoulder.

“These people are so kind. I did look good in that wig.” Blue chuckled as they sat next to Yellow. Green suddenly stood with a gasp.

“Guys!!! We should make more videos!!!” He said excitedly.

“Hell yeah! I’m in!!!” Red said excitedly.

“I don’t see why not. It was fun filming the other ones!” Yellow shrugged.

“Sounds fun. You in Second?” Blue asked. The other three turned to the orange hollow head, awaiting their response. Second chuckled and shook their head.

“Let's get filming.” The gang jumped to their feet with a cheer, running off to film their next video.

**********

“Guys come on! Let's go film another video!” Green cheered. The others turned to look at Green, who was holding a selfie stick.

“Didn't we just finish with the Super Orange video?” Yellow spoke up.

“Yeah, but to be a good content creator, we need to release many videos in a steady stream so our fans don’t get bored! Besides, we’re not filming another movie. We’re vlogging!” Green exclaimed.

“Vlogging? You mean documenting what we do every day?” Blue asked, munching in the nether wart in his hands.

“Oh please, that’s boring. The fans will be upset. We’re gonna do a vlog in minecraft!!!” Green exclaimed proudly. The others looked at each other unsurely.

“Soooooo why are we vlogging now anyway? Isn't us making those action movies good enough?” Red asked as she tapped her fingers on the table.

“Those are old school now! The fans want more! They want variety! And who are we to deny them?” Green says as he ruffles Red’s hair.

“Hey-Green!” Red shoved Green’s hand away.

“Come on guys! It’ll be fun! We can show them all the cool things we can do in minecraft! It’ll be fun!” Green continued to pester the group. Second finally sighed and stood.

“Ok ok, we’ll go vlog with you. But it’ll have to be quick. I need to help Alan later.”

“You got it!”

**********

As the days went on, Green became much more obsessed and involved with his youtube channel and making videos. The others had largely stepped back, no longer enjoying the process of filmmaking. Especially since Green would constantly demand them to be perfect.

This formed a rift in the group, causing the others to be cold towards Green. They didn't even know who he was anymore. There was no more fun, it was just a constant need to make sure everything was perfect for the audience.

One day, while everyone was lounging around, Green suddenly came to them.

“Hey guys, wanna go out for a picnic?” Green asked.

“Oh so you're doing Mukbangs now?” Red wittily snorted. Green hummed.

“No I'm not, but I should try that at some point.” Green hummed as he noted that for him to make a video on.

“Oh creators red what have you done?” Second sighed as he pinched her cheek. “Stop giving him ideas.

“Ow! Hey! It was a joke. I wasn't trying to give him ideas!” Red pouted. Green sighed as he shook his head.

“This isn't for a video. We just haven't hung out in a while and I wanted to do something with you all.” Green said. The other four paused before looking at reach other. They seem shocked about this, but they smiled.

“You know, I was getting quite hungry.” Yellow chuckled.

“A picnic doesn't sound all that bad.” Second admitted.

“I can help make food.” Blue offered.

“Finally! You're doing something besides your stupid videos!” Red cheered as they hopped to their feet. Green smiled as he turned.

“No need for food, I already set the place up. Come on!” Green said as he walked away. The others smiled more as they followed Green through the nether portal and into a cherry tree biome.

“Whoa! I haven't been to one of these yet!” Yellow exclaimed as she looked around. “It’s beautiful!”

“No kidding! Minecraft really has come a long way since we first started playing it.” Second chuckled, hands in the pocket of their hoodie.

“I think the graphics are beautiful. I mean, look at this!” Blue said as they caught a cherry blossom petal in their hand. They then blew it out of their hand, watching as it gracefully danced to the ground. “Definitely gotten better.”

“Oh look at this!!!” Red gasped as she ran ahead of Green. She looked at the makeshift picnic blanket in the ground. She giggled as she laid on it. “This is so cute!!! Thanks for doing this Green!” 

“Of course.” Green said as the others sat on the wool, grabbing sandwiches. As his friends passed around the food, green had to bite his lip to keep from giggling.

“There’s also another surprise I have for you guys.” Green managed out.

“What is-” The four froze as they heard pistons. Suddenly, they were falling, and they were burning. Screams of pain and panic suddenly filled the air as Green sat above, laughing cruelly at them. Quickly, the four had escaped the fire pit. Second, the first out, lunged at Green, pinning him down as they started punching the stick.

“You ass!!! What the hell was that?!” Second screamed at him. Green blocked Second’s punches with his arms.

“Dude what the hell?! It was just a prank! Calm down!” Green shouted, knocking Second off and standing.

“Just a PRANK?! Green, you could have killed us!!!”

“Ok and? You guys would just respawn! I don't know why you're so pissed!!!”

“I don't understand why you think this is funny!!! Don’t you remember what happened to Blue?! You’ve gone too far!!!”

“You're just being dramatic!!!”

“Youre fucking sick!!! We’re all SICK OF YOU!!!” Second lunged at Green again, starting a brutal brawl.

On the other side of the pit, Red and Yellow are tending to blue. Blue was a horrible mess, trembling and crying as he remembered the pain of being submerged in lava.

“M-Make it stop. Creators please make it stop!” Blue cried.

“Hey, hey it’s ok, you're ok.” Red said as she held the trembling stick. Yellow searched through Blue’s inventory, finding a few healing potions.

“H-Here. Drink these.” Yellow said as she handed two to Red. Red quickly took one and uncapped it.

“Here, drink the potion. The pain will go.” Red gently pressed the glass to Blue’s lips, helping him drink. Once Blue downed the potion, Red quickly drank the other one, ridding her body of its pain. Yellow drank her potion as well.

“Are you feeling better?” Yellow asked as she kneeled next to blue. Blue sniffled and rubbed his face.

“Why…? I don't understand, I thought that Green wanted to hang out with us. He said this wasn't for a video.” Blue cried.

“Well clearly not. The bastard tricked us all.” Red growled.

“Red! You shouldn’t-”

“Well if Green doesn't care why should I?!” Red shouts, her gaze darkening as she watches Second and Green fight. She then released Blue, rolling up her sleeves. “I’m gonna go get a few swings in.”

“Red-”

“Don't stop me Yellow. I don’t wanna hurt you.” Red said as she went after the other two. Yellow looked at Blue who merely shrugged. The yellow stick sighed as she sat next to blue, burying her face in her knees.

“I wish we never posted that first video…” She choked out. Blue silently wrapped an arm around yellow, comforting her as she did her best not to cry.

**********

As the days passed by, the other four began to actively ignore Green. And Green had begun to ignore them. He put all his time and energy into youtube. It was his life line, his will, his need. It was his entire being. And he was willing to do anything for his ‘fans’.

But soon, the views began to lessen, comments became scarce and whatever comments were left were people telling Green how disappointed they were in him. It infuriated the stick. He had done everything they had asked of him. No longer making action movies, vlogging, doing their requests, EATING GRASS. He’s done everything to please them and now they're leaving him.

Green needed to do something to make them come back. But what? He racked his brain trying to think of something to reignite the audience. But he had nothing.

“No… NO!!! I-I cant…!” Green struggled to think of anything. He was just staring at an empty void. He began to laugh uncontrollably.

“Oh creators! Dear creators, I'm a washout!!!” Green laughed maniacally.

“I've done everything! There’s nothing for me to do anymore.” Green’s laughs quickly turned into cries. Green’s anger began to build as his mania took over his mind. The stick then began to trash his room, smashing his monitor, his phone, breaking his microphone and punching holes into the walls. Once Green expelled all his energy, he stood in the middle of his room, panting as tears rolled down his cheeks and blood spilled from his torn and cut up fists.

“Damn… I really am nothing huh?” Green mumbled as he stared at his feet. “What was… the point of any of this…?”

Green’s vision began to get blurrier and spotty. He hummed a bit before closing his eyes and collapsing. Green laid on the ground, looking at the shattered mirror leaning against the wall in front of him. He looked terrible. Deep dark eyebags, bloodshot eyes, and disheveled hair. He looked like a zombie. The blood did not help with the look either. Green weakly smiled at himself in the mirror.

“Damn. No wonder no one wanted to watch my videos anymore. I’m a goddamn mess.” Green then closes his eyes, succumbing to his exhaustion.

**********

When Green awoke, his whole body felt sore. He almost didn't want to get up, but he knew he needed to clean up the mess he made. So Green forced himself to sit up. Once Green was upright, he realized that he wasn’t on the floor. He was actually in a bed, Second’s bed.

Green stared at the familiar sheets, wondering what the hell happened. He then noticed that his hands had been bandaged as well. Green was confused. Had he gotten up and dealt with the wounds himself? Why was he in Second’s bed? There’s no way they were the one who tended to him. Especially not after what had been said after the picnic. The door suddenly opened and Green’s eyes glanced over. There stood the orange Hollowhead, their expression blank as they looked at Green,

“Damn.” They suddenly spoke. “You still look like shit.”

Green stared into Second’s lime green eyes, almost in disbelief. Green’s lips suddenly curled up as his body trembled. A teary laugh choked its way out of Green. He laughed for a moment before quickly dissolving into harsh sobs. Second sighed and sat next to the mess of a stick, side hugging him and rubbing his arm while he covered his face with his hands.

“I’m a fucking idiot.” Green choked out.

“No you’re not.”

“Yes I am! I… I thought you hated me.” Green choked out, shoving Second away, only for the hollow head to hold him tighter.

“Will you shut up and listen to me for once?” Second huffed as they held Green’s face, making the messy stick look at them.

“You clearly overworked yourself, and now you're all burnt out. You need to calm down and shut that damn channel down.”

“But-” Second placed their hand over Green’s mouth.

“Sh-No, I'm not done.” Second sighed as they spoke again. “You're letting that thing take over your entire life. You're making yourself sick for a bunch of people who literally don't care about you. Not to mention pushing away everyone who really does care about you.”

Green scoffed and pulled away from Second.

“You say that like you guys still care about me.” Green said bitterly, pulling his knees to his chest and hiding his face in his knees. Second groaned and flicked the side of Green’s head.

“You must be dense as hell if you think we don't care about you. Who do you think bandaged your hands and cleaned your room for you?” Second scoffed. Green was silent. The hollow head had a point, but it didn't help with the guilt and the shame that filled Green’s chest.

“I don't understand…” Green mumbled, body shaking again.

“I don't understand why you do…” Green flinched as he felt Second’s hand gently pat his back.

“We care because we’re your friends Green. Your real friends. We aren't random people behind a screen. We genuinely care about and love you for you. Not whatever fake you put up on the internet.” Sec says.

“Green?” Green looked up to see Red, Blue, and Yellow standing at the door. Blue had a tray of food, making Green’s stomach grumble.

“Someone’s hungry.” Red chuckled. Green buried his face in his knees again, overwhelmed with emotions.

“Please, eat green. I know you haven't been eating well.” Blue said as he placed the tray of food on the corner of the bed. They then handed a bowl of ramen out to everyone in the room. Green stared at the bowl that had been placed in his hands. The scent made his mouth water and his stomach grumbled again.

Green suddenly remembered the first time Blue had made this for the group and the adventure they had after that. The memory made his eyes teary as he slowly began to eat the noodles. He looked around the room, seeing the others casually chat while enjoying the food. The empty pit in Green’s heart suddenly felt full as he enjoyed the moment. A moment he never realized how much he missed.

Green’s phone suddenly pinged on the desk next to him. He reached over and looked at the notification. It was another comment from someone on his latest video. The others sat still, watching green to see what he’d do.

Green simply opened his phone and deleted youtube before tossing his phone at the end of the and continuing to eat. The others looked at each other with smiles.

“Welcome back Green.” Second chuckled as they playfully nudged Green. Green merely hummed as he leaned on the hollowhead. He looked at all his friends, tears silently rolling down his cheeks as he absorbed and lived in the moment. No cameras, no staged acting, just pure raw emotion Green never wanted to lose again.

[call-me-strega]

How to Become a Step-Dad: Lore

Edited: 10/16/2023

While I am currently in between writing chapters I thought I’d release a little bit of the lore that will be incorporated in the story or that I think is canon but might not get mentioned since the story is mostly Jason’s perspective.

What’s up with Jason?

So in this au Jason went through basically all his canon backstory and stuff already so that’s established and done with. Some smaller points that may or may not come up are things like his possession of the all-blades, his time on Nanda Parbat, Talia essentially adopting him, or his experience being Catatonic. Speaking of which, I have decided his resurrection came from his righteous anger combining with the ectoplasm in Gotham’s atmosphere, and he is essentially a revenant for the purposes of this story (he’s about a fourth ghost? Or maybe 3/4ths? 3/5ths? Idk yet).

He does already have a reputation in the Infinite Realms as “The Avenger” and “Son/Knight of Gotham” due both to the existence of city spirit Lady Gotham and the ghosts of people who’ve died in Gotham. He actually has a rabid fan club who want him to kill the Joker( if he became a ghost he’d be tried and banished to the nightmare realm).

I am also going to use “the pits are corrupted ectoplasm” trope in the story. However, they’re gonna be corrupted less in the sense of being straight-up poison and more in the sense of eating a weird mushroom with weird side effects (rage, slightly sentient/vocal core, white trauma streak)

As for his relationship with the Bat Family, we’ve moved to a point where everyone’s more or less made up. For Jason and Bruce specifically, they are now more civil. Their relationship is less “ What you’re doing is wrong and you have to stop.” vs “ I’m just doing what you won’t” and now it’s more “ I don’t fully approve of your decisions, but as long as you’re not killing people and coming home for dinner, I don’t care enough to nag you about it” vs “ You’re my dad and I love you. Plus actively killing people is no longer super necessary so I will give in but I still enjoy pissing you off”.

In terms of sibling relationships, Jason has like the cool older brother vibe but he’s actually the semi-responsible one that feeds you when you come over and makes you do homework and sleep properly. He’s still down for shenanigans but is low-key a mom friend. (Dick is not the “responsible one” he is a certified chaos gremlin. Not to say he can’t be responsible, he’s just not the one enforcing these things. He cares more about your social, emotional, and/or, mental state and would help you skip school to steal a penguin or go to ComiCon or smth if you said it was a “mental health day”). I think he has semi-regular hangouts with his siblings on a weekly basis.

I like to think that he and Damien did have a bit of interaction when they were both with the League so they do have a close bond there. He’s definitely apologized to Tim a bunch of times and they’re pretty close now they like scheming together, especially on how to annoy Bruce. Overall he’s largely made up and re-integrated with the family. It’s going to be mentioned later in the story that they resurrected his civilian identity as Jason Todd, so he can publicly be seen with his family and also to do work with the family.

This brings me to my next point of lore: that as Jason gains more control of Crime Alley, he focuses his efforts more into charity work. He’s helping the people get their education, get better access to healthcare, get better job opportunities, running soup kitchens, etc., and doing more humanitarian-focused work. He has got a pretty firm grip on crime and drugs so he’s shifting his focus more towards helping the people now. Even just being part of his gang can be helpful because he works with the Goonion (Goon Union) and offers good insurance plans and stuff. That’s part of the reason they resurrect his civilian identity is so that he can start working with/taking over the Wayne foundation.

What’s up with Danny and Ellie?

Okay so first things first in the story Danny is going to be the ghost prince (not king yet for a long while) and he acts as a junior member on the Council of Ancients who rule with Clockwork acting as his main regent. Meaning that Council + Danny make decisions and Clockwork is Danny’s ghost dad and is formal regent but mostly just handles things with help from the council. Essentially, after at least a couple thousand years Danny will be considered “of age” or eligible and take over the Infinite Realms; and after several billion he’ll become the ancient of space/reality and essentially become a god or primordial being of sorts. Also being of age is different than being an adult ghost. To be an adult ghost you need to have been a ghost for at least 20 years after your lifetime, unless you’re an eternal kid ghost like Youngblood or BoxLunch. So ghosts like Technus, the Box Ghost, and Lunch Lady are all adult ghosts. Whereas ghosts like Johnny 13, Kitty and maybe Ember either aren’t yet adult ghosts or became adult ghosts recently. Ellie ranks as princess and second-in-line, she’ll go through a similar process and eventually join the Council, become a diplomat, and/or rule as regent if/when Danny leaves the Ghost Zone. I’m gonna say all other afterlife’s and stuff are connected to the Zone and their respective leaders make up Phantom’s Court. (So basically he’s king and they are like the nobles). They all govern their own territories and Phantom handles any rouges or conflicts. When Ellie gets older she’ll move between realms on diplomatic missions to lighten some of Danny’s work. I haven’t decided what this means for anyone who is currently mortal and/or liminal. I might just have them live, fulfilling lives and pass away and move on to different afterlives. Or I might have them take places within the Phantom’s court or as advisors. And on the topic: Jazz, the Fenton parents, Sam, and Tucker are all fairly liminal, Jazz and the Dr.s Fenton a bit more than the other two. Everyone in Amity has a little bit of liminality, but not enough to affect their life spans or anything. Also, Vlad is still currently his usual, creepy, Frootloopy-self. But after screwing him over in this fic eventually, I want to have him arrested by the ghost police and spend several thousand years in ghost prison before he gets let out. Then he works on improving his relationships and post-redemption he’s going to be like that annoying, overbearing Uncle who tries to be cool and annoys you but ya don’t hate him. Another thing I wanted to go over is their obsessions. I wanna say the halfas all have dual obsessions bc it fits nicely with the half-and-half concept. Danny is protection and space. Ellie is freedom and family. Vlad is power and love. If I include Dark Danny he’ll be power and destruction and a reformed version would have control and safety.

As for his rouge gallery? Danny is able to help them find healthier outlets for their obsessions so they've become less of an issue. Now they kind of just act like Danny's annoying friends and/or extended family. The ones who were straight-up evil though are on indefinite time out in ghost prison though (e.g. Spectra and Freakshow). The gang still comes to visit him and Ellie from time to time though and he regularly sees them when he goes back to the realms for prince duties and stuff.

What’s up with Amity?

So after he turns 18, Danny decides to tell his parents about being Phantom. He’s legally an adult now and has been working toward getting emancipated anyways so he might as well. They took it like how I imagine slightly homophobic parents would react to learning their child was lgbt (side note: the Fentons are pro-lgbt. When Danny told them he was bi Jack said “Me too son!”, happy to have something to bond over). He tells them about the portal and becoming Phantom. They believe him and they are devastated and guilty.

In the next few weeks, they get into a couple arguments over them wanting to “fix” his ghost half. He blows up and tells them that by doing that they’d end up killing him and that Phantom is a part of who he is and they’ll just have to accept that. That night Danny leaves and with help from Sam stays in an apartment with Jazz near her college. He takes a two-year gap to get a handle of Infinite Realms and GIW stuff, plus doing a few small jobs to save up some money. Within that time the GIW gets taken down and the Fentons reach out bc their love for their children is stronger than their dislike of ghosts. Their relationship is still strained but getting better.

Dani also gets de-aged during that time and Danny decides to take care of her (partly for healing purposes and partly cause he wants to). His friends help forge documentation for her and he fights with Vlad over custody but ultimately wins and makes him pay child support. He’s saved up enough money and with a little help from Sam and Vlad gets an apartment in Gotham. He got a scholarship and is doing mostly online classes at Gotham University. He’s currently working part-time (I have not decided as what but I’m leaning toward mechanic). Vlad paid to have him enroll Ellie in Gotham Academy so she wouldn’t have to go to public school and Danny allowed it since it’d get her a better education. Ellie is going to start first grade in about 3 months since they moved to Gotham in June. (Just for reference, Damian is currently 12 and in seventh grade since I've decided not to move him up.)

Everyone in Amity knows about the discord between the Fenton's before Danny leaves. They don't necessarily know about Phantom though. Everyone kind of assumes Danny came out, fought with his parents then left. When some of them find out about Ellie another rumor circulates she was the topic of the fight. Regardless, the Fenton drama is kinda an open secret and most people sympathize with Danny. Whenever he comes back to town to visit a lot of people are really nice to him and Ellie, which he thought was weird until he learned what people thought was going on. Now he just takes advantage of their misunderstandings.

What's up with the GIW?

The GIW manages to get a hold of Ellie after Danny leaves Amity. When Vlad and Danny +Team Phantom find out they team up to rescue her. Danny also recruits people that he's met during his time away. For this mission, he recruits Constantine and Captain Marvel/Shazam. When the Fentons find out they want in too, almost as an apology gesture. They no longer want to try and "fix" Danny and are okay with Ellie's existence. They view her like family and want to help out. A lot of their views are still prejudiced but they're getting better, however, that's not the only thing straining their relationship. This is a step in the right direction though.

So they go in and infiltrate first in order to get Ellie out. Then they destroy the facilities behind them as they leave. Constantine and Captain Marvel then go back to the JL to work on getting to Anti-Ecto Acts repealed, something that is still in progress during the beginning of this fic. That's why they are gonna lay low while they’re in Gotham. The GIW attempted to experiment on Ellie while they had her but the containment unit they used destabilized her ectoplasm. She retains all her memory but is mentally and physically de-aged. Frostbite assesses her and says she needs to get extra ecto and to be near another halfa aura to help develop and stabilize her own systems. That leads to Vlad and Danny fighting over custody before Danny inevitably beats Vlad into the ground and walks away with custody and child support.

I think a full reveal about identities will happen after Danny gets confirmation that his existence is no longer illegal. It'll probably be after Jason asks him out but before he accepts because he wants Jason to know what he's getting into. Jason will probably be shocked but accept it relatively quickly. I haven't decided yet if I want him to live a mortal life with them and then die (either to move on or become a full ghost) or if I want him to be basically immortal like them and give him a position in the court.

~~~~ Find chapter one here

Chapter 2 now here

[ponds-of-ink]

The Certified Pond Analysis of Scraptrap Voicelines

Because I haven’t talked about this rabbit’s voice lines as much as I should.

Buckle up. This is gonna get wordy.

-

So, going in the order of this video, we have:

“I always come back!”

The most quoted Afton line. And understandably so. This is the man at his most triumphant, even with his.. questionable suit-repair choices. The emphasis on “always” as well as the moderately louder volume really sells that confident air Springtrap continues to have in FNAF AR. Though, as we’ll soon see, this is not the only emotion he feels as Scraptrap.

(Also, before we continue: This gives me the first point on the “I can hear the smile in his voice” scoreboard. It’s a surprise tool that should help us later.)

”Bittersweet, but fitting”

…And by “later”, I apparently mean now.

There may be a smirk at the end, but it’s not a strong one. The overall line read is much more reserved here. Maybe even somber, if I’m inferring correctly. The choice of words is interesting here too. Whoever’s the owner of the Pizza Sim building, he may not be as fond of jumpscaring them as one would think…

”What a deceptive calling! I knew it was a lie the moment I heard it— Obviously, but it is intriguing nonetheless…”

Ah, yes. The big monologue post-Salvage. Couple of things I noticed here that aren’t debatable lore implications:

(1) Man’s rushing through that second half for some reason. Don’t know if that was an editing error, an intentional line read, or Scraptrap trying to.. reason with himself? Sound smarter than he thinks he is? I dunno, something about the pacing is off here.

(2) Oh, hey, first line with a “snake hiss”! This isn’t a consistent trait with his lines, but it’s a key feature that I use to differentiate Springtrap and Scraptrap during voice impressions.

(3) This man puts so much emphasis on words sometimes. So much so that I can not only hear the smile near the end, but I can also feel the eye roll during “deceptive”. And PJ Heywood never voice acted before FNAF apparently? H u h.

Anyway, moving on before I start implying that Scrap-Trap might’ve been lured in by a newspaper or something…

“Fascinating! What they have become…”

Another point to the “I can hear the smile” board. We’re on three points now; three and a half if you count “Bittersweet”.

This one I’ve already brought up before, but the abridged analysis is: This guy (unlike Glitch-Trap in that one Security Breach trailer) actually compliments his.. uh.. teammates? Workmates? ..Just realized that the relationship dynamic between the Salvage Gang doesn’t have an official term. Bummer.

That aside, it’s genuinely interesting that he doesn’t diss them at all. You think he would given his reputation, but no. He just has this twisted sense of “oh wow they’re so cool”.

…Come to think of it, has he directly dissed somebody in the games specifically? I’m not even sure if the “Deceptive Calling” monologue or the AR Springtrap lines count. AR Springtrap tends to boast about himself more than put the player down and Scraptrap was having an ‘I’m smarter than that lol” moment.

If I’m right, then I think I may have found a proper difference between a pretend Mimic Afton and the real one. Huh.

“How can I resist a promise such as this?”

Getting back to the main topic, we’ve got a return for the snake hiss and the emphasis on certain words. Also, add another point to “I can hear the smile”— Except it’s more of a smug grin than a bizarre, wide-eyed look of wonder.

Not sure what that promise is post-jumpscare, but I do know that this has a chance to play during the office sections. So the promise is either Henry’s lure or seeing his son Mike one last time. I dunno, dude, it’s all vague to me.

”That was easier than I thought it would be…”

AKA The line that makes me wonder “Dude, you good?”

No seriously. The quick halt in-between the second and third word. The sudden choke that happens at the end. Like his voice just properly broke for the first time in ages. The overall somberness of it all. There is literally no smile here and I’ve checked. There may even be tears starting to well up, but I obviously can’t be sure.

It’s even implied that he thought he’d had a tougher time fighting the owner! He actually assumed he wouldn’t win this easily!

Something about this feels.. unnerving. He’s not supposed to sound this upset. At least, not usually. So what, pray tell, is going on with this voice line?? Why was this the take Scott used??

“You may not recognize me at first, but I assure you: It’s still me”

Well, that’s one more point for the “I can hear the smile” board. Also, I believe this is confirmation of that ‘Springtrap switched suits after FNAF 3’ theory? That’s what it sounds like, at least?

But, hey, at least Scrap-Trap is canonically aware of the sudden shift in appearance. Let’s hope his potential FNAF World 2 version isn’t as nervous about it as I assume FNAF 6 him would be… If he had access to the internet, of course.

Also, for the one person who may or may not care about this: He’s using contractions here. I think it’s been established that he only uses these at certain times, but I can’t remember where exactly I read that analysis. Anyway, he’s unafraid about “slipping up” at this point.

One more thing…

Compared to AR Springtrap, Scraptrap is much more.. casual in tone, if that’s the best way to put it. Much more low energy, though his antics are anything but.

Like, yes, he’s still coming for you if you keep letting ads play on your computer. But maybe he’ll let you live for a few seconds longer just so you could turn the ad off? He’s not in a rush, as far as I can tell.

Maybe that’s another reason why my brain jumps to Scraptrap more than Springtrap. If he wasn’t tied to this “attacking the guard” business, he could probably chill for a second and give advice on paperwork. Wouldn’t last for long, of course, but at least one could potentially die knowing that you drank coffee with a much more business-savvy Spring Bonnie… Grungy though he looks. Springtrap, on the other hand, wouldn’t give you the time of day.

TL;DR:

PJ Heywood put more nuance into this guy than even I was expecting. Big round of applause, genuinely.

[fandomgirlz01]

Courageous Gift Pt.2

Greg Sanders x Reader

Imagine on my fandom Instagram?: No

Prompt or Request or Requested Prompt?: No

Style of Writing: Mini Series 

Rating: PG-13 ~ For fluff and cuteness, but more adult commentary or even some triggering content.

Edited: Yes

Word count: 5,481 

Post Date & Time: February 7th 2025 at 5:23 PM

Ko-fi

Masterlist

Warnings Here 

Listen to the story be read out loud here {coming soon}.  

Summary:  Based off of S7 Es4 & 7 When Greg becomes victim to a gang of street thugs that have been beating people all night, the reader is forced to fear the worst for her best friend. 

Reader’s Pov:

Finally after walking down many hallways and corridors, Sara stops in front of a room. She turns and smiles at me before moving aside. 

“Go on in,” she encourages me with a squeeze to my shoulder and I nod before taking a step closer to the doorway. 

“I’ll see you a little later, okay? I’m gonna head back to the lab and help the others,” she informs me and I turn to look at her. 

“Thank you, Sara,” I reverently give her my appreciation and she smiles softly, shaking her head. 

“No need, y/n. You guys are family,” she waves me off with a light smile. 

“Text me if you need anything. Anything at all, got it?” she asks and I giggle softly. 

“You got it. I promise I will,” I reply and she smiles softly once again before nodding, turning and walking back the way we came from. 

I turn back to the door, pausing a moment to look at him laid up in the bed in a hospital gown. I choke up ever so slightly seeing him connected to a bunch of wires and the white wrap around his head. I sigh before swallowing my emotions, finally taking the first step and walking into his room. I’m not sure if he’s asleep or not so I walk in a little further and slowly sink into the chair next to the bed. 

“Fruit loop…” Greg groans out as he opens his one eye that’s not swollen. 

“Hi Poohbear. I’m here,” I nod at him and he smiles ever so slightly. 

“Come here,” he almost commands me and I sigh. 

“No Greggy. I… I don’t want to hurt you anymore then you already are,” I deny though a scratchy tone as my throat seems to close up more and more. 

“You won’t hurt me more. Please come here and give me a hug,” he begs and I freeze to think about it. 

“Please?” he pleads some more and I sigh, getting up from the chair. 

I sit on the edge of the bed very carefully and he holds his arms out weakly for me. I still hesitate, but he gives me a very minuscule nod of reassurance and finally I lean down. I wrap my arm around his waist as his arm sluggishly wraps around me and lays limp on my hip, making me close my eyes. As I lay there in his arms, I get choked up all over again and it seems he can tell. 

“Shh. It’s okay. I’m going to heal up real fast then we can have the breakfast you seem to want to owe me,” he jokes in a very monotone murmur against my shoulder and that gets a small light giggle out of me, but it falls silent again, making him sigh. 

“Fruit loop. Really, I’m going to be fine,” he promises me and I still stay silent, trying to will the tears away. 

“Please tell me what’s wrong…” he asks in the same monotone voice as he rubs at my lower back. 

“I thought I lost you…” I sob out and Greg reaches up languidly to scratch at my scalp, holding me to his shoulder as he leaves a very sluggish kiss to my forehead. 

“You’ll never lose me, frootloop,” he promises and I sigh before moving back to look at him. 

“Yeah, but I alm—,” I start, but get cut off as suddenly I’m letting out a small squeak as suddenly his lips touch mine, his hand staying tangled in my hair. 

My eyes widen for a moment ever so slightly, but I melt into the kiss. It feels like time slows down as we move our lips against one another’s. At first the kiss feels like coming home, his lips are warm and soft like sweet silk against mine. Then the kiss turns almost needy as I let all of my emotions from the day pour into it and it seems like he does too. 

We continue to kiss for a bit before he starts to groan and I pull away. I look at him for a moment in utter awe before my eyes widen. 

“Oh my gosh, Greg… did… did you mean to do that?” I hesitantly ask as I turn away from him, refusing to look at him and he reaches up. 

“Yes. I definitely meant to do that. I’ve been meaning to since we were fifteen and sixteen,” he admits shyly and I smile at him. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think I didn’t want that to happen, you just caught my lip wrong,” Greg softly informs me with a tired chuckle and my brain short circuits for a moment. 

“Wait…” I pause for a moment. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. Does it still hurt?” I ramble as I reach up and lightly touch his lip. 

“No, but I definitely am upset that I probably won’t get to do that again anytime soon if this busted lip doesn’t heal fast,” Greg jokes as he rubs my cheek and I grin cheekily at him. 

“Who says ya can’t?” I ask him and he shakes his head. 

“Umm, my busted lip I think,” he replies with a roll of his good eye and I roll my eyes right back. 

“Well, I don’t think the busted lip will mind this…” I trail off and he gives me a confused look. 

I sit forward closer to him again before quickly pecking his lips in the spot I know won't hurt him. I move back with a smirk on my face and he just shakes his head at me. 

“Get some sleep, Poohbear. You need rest to heal up fast,” I inform him as I get up off the bed. 

“You’re staying, right?” he asks as he catches my hand and holds onto it. 

“Of course I am. When have I not stayed by your side?” I joke with him and he lopsidedly grins as he seems to grow more and more tired. 

“Go to sleep. I’ll be right here,” I promise him as I take a seat in the chair. 

“Would you cuddle me?” he asks and I sigh. 

“Poohbear, as much as I want to, maybe we should wait till you're a little more healed up, yeah?” I ask him and he sighs too. 

“I guess you might be right. I hope I heal fast then. I have a date I need to make soon,” he cheekily comments and I smile, shaking my head. 

“I hope you do too. I think that date will be very happy and definitely willing to wait as long as it takes. Now, get some sleep,” I tell him in a stern tone as I squeeze his hand softly and he nods before sinking into his bed.

I sit reading a book Sara had brought earlier while my other hand holds onto Greg’s as he sleeps peacefully. My phone is charging in the corner and I now have changed into more comfortable clothes. Every once in a while Greg squeezes my hand and I just squeeze his back. I see movement out of the corner of my eye, making me look up to see Grissom walk in. He smiles softly at me and I close my book, going to get up, but he holds a hand out and shakes his head so I sit back down, setting the book on the side table. 

“Greg?” Grissom calls out for his attention and I softly squeeze his hand again. 

“Poohbear. You have a visitor,” I inform him and slowly his one good eye opens. 

“Grissom,” Greg calls out and though it’s hard for him to speak, you can still hear the happiness in his tone. 

“Just another day at the office, huh?” Grissom replies with a small smirk and I roll my eyes. 

“Well, at least I can see now,” Greg jokes back even though it’s hard to tell he’s joking when his face can’t show it. 

“That seems very good indeed,” Grissom agrees with a nod. 

“And I finally got my girl,” Greg smiles ever so slightly, holding our hands up and I smile back over at him. 

“That’s great, too. I’m very happy to hear that,” Grissom replies with a soft look on his face. 

“The guy they beat up…” Greg asks after a beat of silence, trailing off for a moment. 

“How is he?” Greg finishes and I squeeze his hand. 

“He’s gonna be fine,” Grissom answers and I let out a sigh of relief before there’s another pause in the room. 

“What about the other guy? The guy I hit,” Greg asks and I hold my breath once more. 

“His name is Demitrius James. He’s in surgery,” Grissom explains as he leans against the bottom of Greg’s bed. 

“Is he, like, a gangbanger or something?” Greg asks and Grissom looks at me for a moment. 

“Actually… he’s a student at the university,” Grissom breaks the news to him as easily as he can. 

“He gonna be okay?” Greg asks and my eyes tear up. 

“I don’t know,” Grissom tells him honestly and Greg sighs as he moves his head to his left. 

“Has someone called your parents?” Grissom asks and Greg huffs. 

“We should let them know,” Grissom adds on and Greg lets out a hum as Grissom looks at me. 

“I was going to call them, but he told me not to,” I tell Grissom, who shakes his head. 

“What’s the matter?” Grissom asks, confused. 

“They still think I’m in the lab,” Greg hesitantly admits to Grissom, who looks at me and I shrug. 

“Why do they think that?” Grissom softly asks and I squeeze Greg’s hand again. 

“When me and y/n were in high school…” Greg starts, pausing to take a breath in. 

“I never played any sports. No football, no basketball. Definitely no hockey,” Greg starts to explain and I giggle. 

“Oh most definitely no hockey. Mister I almost broke my butt bone,” I joke and he groans, moving his head to look at me. 

“How’d you do that? Never mind, I don’t think I wanna know,” Grissom quickly backtracks, making me laugh. 

“I never would’ve guessed,” Grissom adds and I giggle a little more. 

“Well, it wasn’t by choice. My mom wanted four kids. Ended up with only one,” Greg continues to explain and I gasp. 

“Umm, excuse me, she had two amazing kids,” I add my two cents as I put a hand up to my chest in mock offense. 

“You know what I meant. Biologically,” Greg comments with a roll of his one open eye. 

“Anyway, she always made sure I, or more like we, stayed close,” Greg adds more to his explanation and I nod in agreement as I squeeze his hand again. 

“If either of us got a nosebleed, she’d have us at the E.R.” Greg continues and I chuckle, nodding. 

“She is a worrywort. Even before Gemma took me in, she and my mama were both always fussing over us,” I add on and Greg chuckles weakly. 

“Yeah, they both had only us so they mothered us together,” Greg adds onto my statement and I smile at the memories. 

“Well, now would be the time to come clean,” Grissom comments and I throw my head back. 

“I told him that too! Does he listen to me? No!” I cry out and Grissom shakes his head in amusement. 

“Mom’s gonna freak out,” Greg says in the saddest tone ever and tears come to my eyes for him. 

“You tell her that you risked your life to save someone else’s… and I think she’ll be very proud of you,” Grissom reverently tells him and Greg starts to cry, making me stand up. 

“I know I am very proud of you, Greg,” Grissom adds with a nod and I smile at him as I hug Greg. 

“As am I,” I jump in as I lightly rub at his scalp. 

It takes a while, but soon I get Greg to calm down from his crying episode and we sit with Grissom just visiting for a while. All too soon though, Grissom leaves and Greg sighs, shaking his head. 

“Go ahead. Call mom,” he reluctantly tells me and I shake my head. 

“Are you sure? I mean, I’m all for telling her, but only if you want me to,” I reply as I lightly rub my fingernail over his hand in a soothing manner. 

“Yeah… she’s gotta know about it at some point, right?” he asks and I smile, nodding at him. 

“Okay, then. I’ll call her, do you want to talk to her about it or for me to tell her?” I ask him as I get up and grab my phone before walking back over. 

“I’ll do it. No need to make her mad at you too,” he comments jokingly and I giggle, smiling softly at him as I sit back down on the chair. 

“She wouldn’t be mad at me. She loves me more than you, remember?” I joke back and he scoffs, rolling his good eye and I giggle again. 

I dial her number and soon the phone starts to ring. I hand him the phone and with a shaking hand he takes it. I smile in encouragement and massage his hand as he has the long talk with his mother about everything. 

It’s been a few hours and a lot of Greg’s swelling in his face has gone down. He still has the black and blue bruises all over his face as well as a black swollen eye that won’t open, but other than that the doctor said he’s healing up pretty well for the short amount of time he’s been here. A little while ago somehow by sheer luck, Demitrius gets rolled into the room next to us as I finish my food the nurses so kindly had brought me when they brought Greg his first meal. 

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick, okay? Keep eating. Doctor says you need it,” I tell him as I stand up and leave a quick soft kiss to his cheek as he mutters out a very soft ‘okay’. 

I quickly head down to the bathroom that I’ve been using since getting here and use it as quickly as I can. Once I’m finished and my hands are all clean I head back as fast as I can, not wanting to leave him alone to watch Demitrius's room alone. When I walk in my heart breaks a little to see him staring into the room in a daze. 

“How’s the food, Poohbear?” I ask as I walk back in and back over to my chair, breaking him out of his daze. 

“Kinda wish it wasn’t hospital food,” he tells me with a shrug and I nod. 

“That’s to be expected, but you’ll have real food when you're all healed up and I take you out for those very delicious pancakes you always devour,” I joke with him, but I frown when he only hums, still watching Demitrius's room through the glass wall. 

“I think this is the room, sir,” a voice comments, making both me and Greg look to the door to find a nurse wheeling a man in a wheelchair into the room. 

“There he is,” the man calls out and Greg stands, pushing the table aside as I immediately stand to be next to him if he needs me. 

“Mr. Sanders?” the guy questions. 

“Hey, how you doing?” Greg asks back as I grab onto his hand. 

“Better than dead,” the guy comments sarcastically. “Get me over here, Lizzy, where I can shake this man’s hand,” he tells his nurse, using his hand to motion over at us. 

She wheels him closer and Greg lets go of my hand to shake the man's hand, then grabs mine again. 

“You’re a brave man. Thank you,” the guy gives Greg his appreciation and tears well up in my eyes as I hug onto Greg’s arm. 

“You’re welcome,” Greg replies with a nod of acknowledgement. 

“Is this your girl here?” The guy asks as he smiles at us. 

“Yeah. It is,” Greg answers him in a very happy sounding tone. 

“You two look mighty happy together. You deserve it. Keep her, would ya?” The guy tells him and Greg smiles a small smile, squeezing my hand. 

“I promise that I definitely plan to,” Greg replies and the guy smiles. 

“And you keep him, young lady. He’s a good one,” he tells me with a wink and I giggle, smiling. 

“Oh believe me, don't I know it. I promise I will,” I reply with a big smile as Greg squeezes my hand. 

“Good,” the guy smiles with a firm nod. “Home. Elizabeth,” he tells the nurse without even turning his head, keeping his eyes on us. 

“Okay,” the nurse softly replies before she starts to pull him out of the room. 

“I cook some mean barbecue, if you two ever get yourselves to Union City, Tennessee,” he informs us just as she wheels him out the door and they come to a stop. 

“We’ll look you up,” Greg promises with a nod and soft smile. 

“You do that,” the man agrees with one last smile before Elizabeth wheels him away for good this time. 

Just as they disappear, there’s a loud crying scream that makes me and Greg turn to Demitrius' room. A lady runs forward, screaming as she hugs his body and the doctors in the room all move about to let her have her privacy as he flatlines. 

“Oh!! God!! No!!” she cries out and Greg lets go of my hand. 

He walks around me and moves closer to the window. I turn around, watching as he walks up to the glass door and stands frozen as he watches the scene play out. I walk up behind him and grab his hand again as I leave a kiss on his shoulder, but he doesn’t even react or grip my hand back. I lean my head against his back for a moment and close my eyes while holding back a sigh. When I open my eyes again, keeping my cheek against Greg’s shoulder, the lady lays down hugging the body and my eyes travel up to see a younger boy right behind her, staring at Greg. 

Greg sees him too and sinks back before walking back to his bed with shoulders slumped, not looking at them anymore. The boy glares at Greg the whole time before looking at me. I jump slightly at the look of anger in the boy's face before deciding to ignore it. I turn and walk back over to the chair and sit down as Greg lays down on the bed. 

“G…” I softly call out to him and he hums at me. 

“You need to eat, babe,” I tell him as I push the table back to him lightly. 

“Okay…” he mutters out and my heart breaks even more for him as he picks up the spoon. 

Soon before I know it, he’s done eating which wasn’t much in the end. He pushes the table away again and mumbles out about being tired. He lays down on the bed and I nod, scooting closer. He doesn’t say another word and just closes his eyes, falling asleep quickly. 

Third Person Pov: 

“I am going to pick up some Roberto’s,” Sara starts as she opens her locker. 

“Take it over to Greg and y/n. I know y/n said he doesn't want the hospital food and could use the pick me up. Anybody wanna come?” she finishes asking both Nick and Warrick as she takes her jacket off. 

“I’ll take a ride with you, but I’m going to pass on Mexican food at 10:00 in the morning,” Warrick replies as he sits on the bench, flipping through a magazine. 

“No. I’d like to see Greg and y/n. I’m definitely in, yeah," Nick replies from his locker before turning to put stuff away on the top shelf. 

“Pig and the piglets are in the pig pen,” Catherine informs as she walks in and stops in the doorway. 

“It’s about time. Finally, some good news,” Warrick comments as he looks up at her. 

“Did you know that pig, aka Cole Trit, was the only adult? The rest of them were under 18. One was 14,” Catherine continues to give more information about the suspects and Sara scoffs. 

“Are you kidding?” Warrick asks in shock. “Who raises these kids?” he comments in annoyance. 

“I mean, they weren’t all delinquents. Demitrius James was a college student,” Catherine explains as she takes her hand off the door jam and puts it on her hip. 

“Hanging out with the wrong crowd in the wrong town,” Nick starts as all eyes turn to him while he laces up his boots. 

“I’m telling you, a fake ID in Las Vegas is like having a free ticket on the hell train. Sex, drugs, gambling, no adult supervision, 24/7. By the time they’re 21, they’ve done and seen it all,” Nick grimly points out as he continues lacing up his boots. 

“Make me slit my wrists, why don’t you? I’m raising a teenager here,” Catherine comments sarcastically while shaking her head. 

“Nah. You’re done a great job. Lindsey’s gonna turn out to be a beautiful young woman,” Warrick comments, trying to comfort Catherine. 

“Besides, I grew up in Vegas, I didn’t turn out so bad, did I?” Warrick asks, turning from Catherine to Nick. 

“Yeah, that was pre-mirage. Back when you were a little squirt going to the casino and playing the arcade games,” Nick jokingly answers as he now puts his boots on. 

“No. Vegas is a different animal now,” he finishes off and Warrick nods. 

“Yeah, these kids need to beat people on the street to be entertained. They just need some good discipline. They need their grandmother whooping their ass like, like I had,” Warrick jokingly comments back and Nick smiles. 

“Yeah, a good slap,” Nick agrees, nodding. 

“You know, it kind of sounds like you guys are blaming everybody, but these kids,” Sara comments as she leans against her locker. 

“I mean, you don’t get a bye just ‘cause you grew up here or your parents are on drugs. Those kids are perfectly capable of telling the difference between a wild night out and…” she trails off for a moment. 

“Beating somebody to death,” she finishes off with a frown and Warrick shrugs. 

“The truth is…” Grissom cuts in as he closes his locker, turning to look at everyone as they all turn to look at him. 

“A moral compass can only point you in the right direction, can’t make you go there. Our culture preaches that, uh, you shouldn’t be ashamed of anything you do anymore and unfortunately, this city was built on the principle that there’s no such thing as guilt ‘do whatever you want, we won’t tell,’ so without a conscience there’s nothing to stop you from killing someone and evidently you don’t even have to feel bad about it,” Grissom explains in a grim tone and everyone shakes their heads. 

“In other news, I’ve been told to tell you guys some great news,” Grissom changes the subject. 

“Oh, what?” Nick asks in fascination. 

“You guys don’t have to worry about the two being painfully unaware anymore,” Grissom comments with a small smile while he waits for them to catch on. 

“No way! Greg and y/n are finally a thing!” Nick yells out and everyone chuckles. 

“That they are…” Grissom tells him in amusement with a smile on his face.

“Pay up, Warrick!” Nick shouts with a grin as Warrick shakes his head, sighing as he pulls out a twenty dollar bill from his pocket. 

Reader’s Pov:

Greg lays on the bed asleep now and I sit in my chair, reading my book. My phone goes off, signaling that I have a text message so I lay my book over my leg before reaching over to the table to grab it. I flip it open and see a notification from Sara. 

“Hey. I know earlier Greg was wanting real food. I was thinking of stopping by Roberto’s and getting him some. Would you like anything?” Her text reads and I smile, knowing it’ll definitely make Greg perk up. 

“Sure. You know both of our orders?” I quickly text her back. 

“Yup. I’ll see you soon then :),” she replies and I smile again. 

“See you soon :),” I finish off the text before setting my phone back face down on the table. 

I read for a little while longer and after a while I feel the need to go to the bathroom again, so I quietly close my book before pulling my hand slowly away from Greg’s hold. I leave a light kiss on his forehead before heading towards the opening of the room. 

“Where you going, Fruit Loop?” Greg asks, making me pause and turn around. 

“Don’t worry, Poohbear. I only need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back, go back to sleep,” I inform him, making him smile softly at me while giving a small ‘okay,’ and sinking down a bit more into his bed. 

Once I’m sure he’s good, I walk out of the room and pass the nurse's station. I stop by the counter, asking one of the nurses to just keep an eye out while I’m gone and she agrees. Glad someone will be watching over him, I finally walk over to the bathroom and go inside. I quickly finish up before washing my hands and walking back out. 

“Hey, you. You bitch!” A voice calls out and I’m taken back as I look up to see the young boy from Demitrius’ room coming up to me. 

“Yeah, you,” he confirms after I point at myself. 

“How can you be with that killer?” he asks me as he gets up in my face. 

“He’s not a killer,” I reply back with venom dripping from my tone. 

“Yes, he is. That son of a bitch killed my brother and you're okay with that?!” he shouts, pointing at my face. 

“It was self defense. Your brother was part of something he shouldn’t have been,” I continue to fight back and he growls. 

“My brother was a good man. He didn’t do what you and your stupid lover says he did!!” he yells back in my face. 

“The evidence shows different, it shows he went after him. If you think that’s a good man, I’m sorry to tell you, but you're delusional,” I fight back and his face gets even more red. 

“You’re going down with him, I swear it. You will both be brought down!” he screams in my face and I’m about to yell back at him, but a set of arms pick me up, pulling me away as I see Sara come around, holding him back. 

“Whoa. Whoa. Calm down. Y/n. Calm down,” a voice calls to me and I recognize Nick as the one who pulled me away, making me surrender. 

“Now if you don’t want to be arrested for assault I highly suggest you walk away,” Sara tells the boy, who only growls at her before pointing at me over her shoulder. 

“We’re not done here. You got lucky, bitch!” he threatens and Sara pushes him back away from her. 

“Hey. Did you not hear her? Just back off, man,” Warrick steps in next to Sara and firmly uses one hand to hold him back away from Sara and me by the chest. 

“We have an officer who won’t hesitate to put you behind bars for threatening her or us. You stay away from her, you hear me?” Sara tells him as she cuts off his view of me. 

“Whatever. All of you are lying so watch your backs,” he tells her along with Warrick before storming off as I slowly sink to the ground, my shock and adrenaline wearing off. 

“Hey. She okay?” Sara asks Nick as she turns and walks back to us. 

“I don’t know. Sweetheart, you okay?” Nick asks and I shake my head, tears welling up. 

“How can he not know what his brother was involved in?” I whisper out and Nick sighs, shaking his head. 

“Some people just don’t want to believe that the people they thought were good, people they looked up to, would ever do something bad,” Nick replies in sympathy as he rubs my hair back like a brother would. 

“On a different subject, we brought Roberto’s,” Sara sing-songs as she holds up a plastic bag full of the delicious Mexican food, making me smile. 

“Thank you all for stepping in like you did,” I give them all my appreciation and they share a look before smiling. 

“Anytime, y/n. We’re family,” Warrick says and the others hum in agreement. 

“Now. Let’s go see Greg. We’ve got news for you guys,” Sara adds on with a grin as she helps pull me up to my feet. 

Together we all walk towards his room and I pause a moment. Everyone stops and looks at me expectantly. 

“Hey. Guys, give us just a second together okay?” I hear Nick ask and they all nod before continuing to Greg’s room. 

“Hey. You okay? You seem shaken up still,” he asks before rubbing my arm and I sigh. 

“I think I’m okay…” I hesitantly reply and Nick gives me a look of disbelief. 

“Okay, no I’m not and I know Greg will be able to read that off of me. I don’t want him worried about me when he needs to focus on healing…” I rapidly explain as I start to breathe heavily. 

“Hey. Hey. It’s okay,” Nick tells me as he pulls me into a hug. 

“Here. Cry it out right now. I got you,” he continues as he rubs my head and I do just as he says. 

We stand there for a few minutes as he just holds me, letting me cry. Once I’ve calmed down a bit, I pull away and smile at him while wiping my eyes. 

“Thank you, Nicky. I needed that,” I give him my appreciation and he smiles softly. 

“Anytime, y/n. You're like my sister. I hate seeing you cry. Heck, I hate seeing any of us cry,” he admits sheepishly and I giggle. 

“Nick Stokes acting shy? I never thought I’d see the day,” I joke and he chuckles, shaking his head. 

“I do have feelings, ya know?” he jokes back with a shrug. 

“Huh, nah. I’m just messing with you Nicky. Thank you for comforting me,” I tell him and he smiles, shrugging. 

“It’s no big deal. I’d do it anytime. Now, get in there, I’m sure Greg is missing you,” he jokes some more and I giggle, nodding. 

“Ok. Come on. Let’s go then,” I reply and he smiles, nodding.  

Together we walk to the room and through the door. I smile as I see Greg laughing at something Warrick had said as Sara pulls out food, handing it to those who are eating. He turns to see us and he frowns when he sees me. 

“Hey. What happened, Fruit loop?” he asks and I curse how well he knows me. 

“Its nothing, pooh. Really, I’m fine,” I reply and he shakes his head. 

“No. Something’s wrong. You’ve been crying and I heard yelling. They won’t tell me, so would you, please?” he practically begs as he points to the rest of our team who look at me. 

I make eye contact with Sara and she shrugs, making me take a deep breath. I take a step forward and nervously rub at my arm. 

“Don’t get mad though, okay…” I start with a heavy sigh. 

“I won’t. You can tell me,” he promises as he gives me a sad look. 

“You know the young boy from Demitrius’ room, right?” I ask him and he nods. 

“He came up to me in the hall, he was saying some very harsh things and the team came in just in time to have my back,” I hesitantly explain and he frowns. 

“Are you okay?” is the first thing he asks me and I smile softly. 

“I’m still a little shaken, but I’ll be fine,” I answer him and he frowns harder even if that’s possible. 

“Come here,” he almost commands, holding his arms out and I shake my head as a smile slowly grows on my face. 

“Don’t have to ask me twice,” I comment in a cheeky tone before walking over to him. 

I sit down on the bed next to him and warmth quickly takes me over as he wraps his arm around me, making me cuddled into his side. 

To Be Continued...

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[marokra]

UHM. I would like to hear more abt purple child if u wanna share :3

hi i’m gonna preface this by saying this ask made me cry (/pos) it’s not that often that people ask abt my ocs and realizing that people like my stuff made me go bvbvbvbvbvbvbvwaaaaaaa.

ANYWAYS! emotional stuff over, gonna talk abt her!!!!

look if i’m being honest i threw all the backstory stuff into the polls so i’m not gonna elaborate much on that here bc i’ll sound like a broken record. however, i didn’t mention a lot of silly goofy fun facts and also the fact that she’s a victim of an oc x canon ship /silly

anyways!!! ramblings and associated art under the cut because this is gonna be LONG

- for starters!!! during the season 1 special, she wasn’t exactly deemed powerful enough to aid in the DBK takeover, so she mostly stayed behind and guarded the Flaming Foundry, making sure that no heroes or little thieves wandered in to take them down from the inside. this meant that MK and the gang hadn’t actually properly met her until the Great Wall Race, which caused MK and Mei go “what do you mean there’s another one???” and Tang was like “yeah she’s only mentioned in one legend, i’m not surprised you don’t know of her” said legend was her and Red Son’s birth. sad times

- she has been banned from wikipedia for editing her page to add info without sources one too many times

- her scar is actually from a sparring accident! red son burned her face bad and it rendered her practically blind in one eye, unable to open it. she’s researched all the healing magic she possibly could, but it never worked. partially because she doesn’t have much magic power, and partially because an injury like this is damn near irreversible. it was originally just an excuse for me to not have to draw her other eye but yknow the lore has to come from somewhere

- she suffers every day and for what. girlish whimsy/ref

- we’re getting to the yuri part now yeahhhhhhh!! i did mention that she ended up befriending mei during season 3 with the goal of taking the samadhi fire from her, except oops!!!! she’s starting to enjoy her company, seeing her as someone she genuinely cares about with her stupid jokes and annoyingly cute arrogance and sheer determination and willpower to save the people she cares about, she’s almost admirable with those eyes like stars and laugh that chimes like bells and disgusting optimism that makes Purple want to shut her up with a kiss whenever she says another one of her dumb hero speeches——oh crap those are not normal platonic feelings are they. nope nope nope shoving those in the box for later. to say Purple Child went through hell over this would be an understatement, but she’s fiiiiiiiiiiine. promise. it’s not like she’s absolutely terrified of letting her parents down by falling for someone they would surely disapprove of, even if she’s starting to work through her trauma. it all turns out ok tho. hopefully

- her & mei’s ship name is Grapes or Grapeshipping. this is cause of purple (well technically red. but they’re purple) n green grapes !!

- she writes as a hobby. she specializes in fantasy stuff inspired by ancient legends, but it’s a bit hard to do so if you’re a walking legend yourself and live in megapolis, china. in recent times she tried to publish a book under a different name but her publisher was immediately like “is this a modern slice of life story?” and needless to say the publishing office found themselves a victim of arson.

- her favorite food is pork wontons!

- she has a really bad problem with constantly feeling worthless and inadequate. this was caused almost entirely by her neglect from PIF and the shoes she has to fill of being the (technical) heir to the Demon Bull throne, yet not possessing the abilities worthy of the title of Crown Princess. if the demon bull family wasn’t basically immortal this would be more of a problem, but it still weighs on her.

- her ahoge is an actual, live flame. don’t touch it, you’ll get a second degree burn!

- Purple Child, compared to Red Son, seems to be the more… quiet out of the two. While Red Son was loudly proclaiming his plans, she was plotting to strike her enemies down in the shadows. She has always preferred to scope out the situation and act with caution rather than charging in headfirst.

- if she knew what kinning was, she’d kin franziska von karma ace attorney

i’m so sorry this got so long btw, i just get really excited when i get to talk bout my ocs ehheheh (and i’m sorry it took me a full day to answer i really wanted to draw some stuff for this)

[maxbegone]

hello, hello, it's been a helluva week. it's going to be a tough one for personal reasons, but i hope the rest of your week is well. some good news: this is the last WIP snippet you will be getting from me. the apocalypse AU is finished, minus some editing and an epilogue, and will be out soon. in the meanwhile, enjoy this last sneak peek:

Apocalypse or not, Alex still fucking hates getting up early.

Especially when it involves getting hit in the face.

He groans, swatting his arms blindly as he tries to roll over, only to receive a pillow to the face again.

“Fuck, alright, I’m up!” He whines, snatching it from June, who’s standing next to his bed with a smile on her face. He stuffs the pillow into his lap and folds his arms over it so she can’t grab it again. “Can I help you?”

“It’s almost ten,” she tells him.

“So?”

“So. You’re on watch in an hour.”

He blinks at her, his brain still sluggish from sleep. “What’s today?”

“Tuesday.”

“I’m not on watch today.”

“Yes you are. We switched.”

“Uh, when did that happen exactly?”

“When I looked at the rotation chart and saw that I was on watch and then switched it because I didn’t want to do it.”

“What the hell, June!”

She laughs. “Hey! You owe me one! I cleaned the barn for you last week.”

“I was supposed to ride Olaya today and help Dad with some stuff.”

“You can ride Olaya later,” June tells him as she takes a seat on the edge of his bed. “And I’ll help Dad because I’m his favorite kid.”

Alex gives her a flat look. “His favorite kid is Nora.”

June nods in agreement and gives his legs a shove. “Get up.”

He flops back down dramatically. “You’re the worst, bug.”

“Love you, too. Now get your ass up.”

He does, only after he chucks the pillow at the back of her head while she’s retreating from the room. He gets dressed and shoves a baseball hat over his messy hair before heading downstairs to grab something for breakfast. He finds his mom standing at the counter reading with a half-eaten piece of toast in her hand.

“Hey, sugar,” she greets as he enters, smiling as she accepts a kiss on the cheek. “Glad to see you’re finally up. There are eggs for you by the stove.”

“You can thank June for that.” The eggs are lukewarm at best, having only been covered by another flipped-over plate, but they’re a welcome sight. He shovels a forkful into his mouth and takes the chair at the head of the table. “She chose violence this morning.”

Ellen barely looks up as she says, “Manners, baby,” and he swallows his bite before continuing.

“She switched our shifts, so now I’m taking watch.”

“I know, she told me.”

Alex gawks at her. “She did? And you let her?”

“What’s wrong? She said you agreed to it.”

“No! She swapped our names on the chart and then beat me up!”

Ellen laughs. “It’s not like you two haven’t done this before,” she says. “Besides, she’s already gone for the morning.”

Alex slumps back into his chair and rolls his eyes, stabbing at his eggs with his fork. “Couldn’t you make the executive decision to call her back here so she can do it instead? I had stuff I wanted to get done today.”

“How urgent is it?” She asks, and oh, okay. His mom and June are ganging up on him. Now he gets it.

He huffs.

She walks across the room and presses a kiss into his hair. “Watch is important. I’ll tell her she has to do your next scheduled shift as well as her own, but for now, it’s what you have to deal with today.”

“You think this is funny, don’t you?” He asks, angling his head to look at her, and she gives him a wink.

“A little.”

“I thought you were in charge of this house or something.”

“It’s a team effort and you know it,” she tells him pointedly, and Alex just finds himself accepting defeat.

He quickly eats the rest of his breakfast and takes an apple to throw in his bag for later. “I’m gonna load up and head over.”

“Alright, darlin’, be safe.”

“Oh, you know me.”

[yaspup9000]

Ice Age 1-3 and it's themes of Kinship, made family and found family

Okay, I know what you all are thinking, "why am I talking about some 2000s animated funny talking animal movie?" Well Many reasons actually, 1. I'm bored as heck and 2. I've wanted to talk about the ice age series for a while now. And yes I am aware that with the later films is most definitely not good. mainly ice age 4-5 along with the Buck wild spin-off and the Ice Age Christmas special (which still to this day doesn't make a lick of sense to me) But anyways before Ice Age became the joke it is now, I'm gonna tell you how the Ice Age series should have ended with the third film. And Why the third film could have been the perfect conclusion to the other main characters' stories. (and yes there are some things in the third film that could of been fixed of course, I'm not saying the film is on pare with Citizen Cain nor Sherk of all things, yet I want people to at least understand how under appreciated the actual story of ice age really is. That is the story of Lost and Found family.

Let's Recap! In the first film, Manny a lone mammoth is a loner and doesn't trust others due to his traumatic past, however, due to accidentally befriending a Sloth name Sid, a sabertooth cat Diego along with helping a human baby find his own family while also finding a form of community with themselves. Basically, your classic gang of misfits trying to help a lost child type of deal. 2nd film is about escaping a flood and along with Manny worried about being the last mammoth on earth then meeting another Mammoth named Ellie, who was raised by possums. The third and film is about Ellie and Manny having a kid. oh yea and there's a dino world underground. Just basically summing up the three films without being extremely cluttered since I have lots to talk about when it comes to Ice Age's themes. well, mainly the three films themes along with the growth of Manny as a character along with Ellie's charater.

Basically what I’m try to get at here is that these characters had a lot in common, they all were left behind and or was abandoned in some way and then at the end had found each other and made their own family. Which within all three films perfectly concludes to their character and such!

But of course, due to wanting to milk everything, they just don’t want the movies to end so they just keep making movies that just doesn’t fit it’s original premise and also just giving every character love interests because of course

(Hey me editing this I’ve post this on accident cuz I was trying to post something else but anyways have this old wip of a post I’ve made awhile back that I forgot)

[mercymermaid]

oh boy shadows of agony was a wild wild ride

here’s my insanely long live reaction

warning: spoilers

OKAY SHADOWS OF AGONY

SAW THE COMMENTS

ONLY PNE COMMENT

BUT MARK CAMEOOO

APAPRENTLY

afton sweetie i think the guy is dead

oh! i see!

ykw won’t judge everyone needs a helping hand sometimes

oh a bomb

down goes freddy fazbear’s

YEAHHH MARK ‼️

someone get bonnie his sprinkles

what is he doing 💀

is he gonna sing some emo song about “wow look at what i’ve become goddamn i hate life ilove life” because that’s what this scene is looking like

IS HE SLICING OFF HIS OWN HANDS?

HUH

HELLO

AGONY YEAH VERY

oh yeah no explanation thanks

IS THAT NATEWANTSTOBATTLE 😱

BRO THEY GOT THE WHOLE GANG UP IN HEREEEE

YEAH NATEEEE

chew on that pizza hut

and then he drops it

foxy you dumb bitch where are you going

OH HE DID SLICE OFF HIS OWN HANDS

WTF 💀

WHY

GOOD LORD WHY

I WISH WE HAD THE EMO SONG INSTEAD

how are you gonna edit out the messy parts without hands

also that is not matpat’s voice hello

WAIT DID THEY LET BABY OUT

WOOHOOOO

YEAHHH BABY BOSS FIGHT

wait

hold on

hold on

so if

in the fnaf musical

which comes after this whole fucking mess

he has hands

whose hands is he using

WAIT.

im thinking too hard about this

he either stole the inspector’s hands and connected them to his own, so when he’s taken in for interrogation if anything, his fingerprints are different than the ones that killed the inspector

but he’s wearing gloves??

did he get prosthetics later on or did they just not plan ahead

did he get so emo he decided to take his own hands

good lord

oh that is not matpat’s voice 💀

“who left all this garbage in my office?” glitchtrap: 🧍

“two miserable monsters” kys glitchtrap

“what are you?!” funny that both times he’s yelled this phrase (og musical and agony) he’s being assaulted by a psycho rabbit

WHY IS GLITCHTRAP KILLING AFTON HELPPP

WHAT DID BRO DO TO YOU HE LITERALLY MADE YOU

“you’re not william afton”

huh

glitchtrap is your memory ass

or have we been trolled this entire fucking time

hollddddddd onnnnnnn

YEAH GO BABY

how is bro gonna use a chainsaw while lacking hands

HE’S SO FUCKING HILARIOUSLY PATHETIC HELPPPPPPPPPPP

this is why we don’t cut off our hands chat 🥰

the tech’s face of :O right before being whacked is golden

“he has too much to hide” so this IS william afton?

what if this is michael afton

and all this time michael just went “oh yeah killing people? family business, dream career”

but

elizabeth

she’s william’s niece

and called him william in web of lies

and everyone else calls him william afton

did william die and michael coincidentally looked enough like him to take his identity?

NO MORE CRYING ONLY CHAOS

GOOOO SWEETIEEEEE

the glowing eyes still have me gagged

are we sure we wanna do this ☝️🤓

im sorry im being mean

bring back non voiced-over scenes

bb being used as bait :(

YEAH GO LIZZIE

can’t wait to see the blooper reel for this tbh

oh sorry *lizzY

oh and then not-voiced-over?

pick a type random encounters please

vanny!

*vanne!

magic scissors and chair is crazy

INVISIBLE VANNYYYY

“everyone is my enemy” okay edgelord

okay so vanny does not like glitchtrap

who would’ve thunk it

“escaped?!? ?!?” web of lies: 👁️👄👁️

therapytrap

HELPPPP SHE’S SO GUILTY

OHHH

or she doesn’t remember a thing from web of lies somehow

the actor change doesn’t symbolize a new character bc she escaped through the window

so she’s quoting afton as a cute little callback orrrrr they both know lizzy let him escape (in that case vanny would be beating her ass nvm)

probably a callback

okay so i’m just dumb

yeah she regrets the entirety of web of lies

lizzy is an icon

YESS GIRLBOSS VANNY ILYYYYYYY

“not if i get into his head” YES EAT EAT EAT OUGHHHHJJJ YESSIRRRRR

or

is she manipulating lizzy

bc we all saw what happened in monster in your head

unless that was vanny being manipulated by glitchtrap and now she’s repaying the favor

why is this so fnaf lore core

what is he pondering so heavily about

she doesn’t even care that she killed eggs 😭 she’s here for her silly robots

i love how animated and expressive glitchtrap is

is this all a joke to you

icon

“fear is like a hammer. with a hammer and a couple nails, you can build an empire, or pry away the pieces that just won’t fit. the nails don’t know what they’re making, whether it’s good or bad, they only know the weight of the hammer.”

okay i hate to say it but that line ate

“i’m a results-oriented kind of guy” oh fuck off

a twisted bear monster

bear?

as in afton’s suit?

toxic grudge with the humans

bro who did what to you glitchtrap

glitch maybe you were entrapped bc your shitty therapy made things worse idk tho

NO VANNNYYYY

also SONGGG TIMEEEE

VAMMY GLOTCHTRAP DUETTTTT

OHHHH THIS SONG SLAPSSSS

BUNNY BOSS FIGJT

OUGHHHHHHJHH THIS SOMG GOES HARDDDDDD

NO VANNY

okay op

famous last words glitchtrap

NO

VANNY

DID HE JUST FUCKING KILL HER

ASSHOLE ASSHOLE ASSHOLE ASSHOLE

BTDKUGDIUOGEROHITEBNOL

lizzy get his ass please

DAMN

THAT IS NOT A FUN CLIFFHANGER

okay that’s an interesting installment

how do i feel about that

[pwblogarchive]

January 2006

January 2, 2006

It was strange being outside of chicago on new years. If anyone remembers our apartment shows.

But the confetti was pretty and I think a girl from miss seventeen tried to kiss me on the mouth but kind of missed. Oh yeah and apparantly andrew john hurley is a dreamboat. Check the scoreboard. Tommorrow letterman and then I’m gonna buy some more heinous gear. Do you love it when I wear clashing colors as much as I do?

And why didn’t anyone tell me how amazing the movie the squid and the whale is? I told you about panic…

Over and way the fuck out.

xoxo

January 4, 2006

my top ten (er top seven) of 2005 - no records included.

bonnie dillard - she is always around to tell me how wack i am - she uses the the word "totes" and "just sayin" way too much - and actually types them! she named her dog roxie wentz and she has given me exactly two compliments in my entire life - one of which was on an outfit that she picked out for me. but she pretty much is the glue for clandestine and sometimes pete wentz. editor of filthy magazine.

nick scimeca - this kid makes the craziest faces i have ever seen in my entire life. the first time i met him we got in a snowball fight. pretty much we are in this gang together forever. he does infect, foe, and some clandestine stuff. pretty much whenever i am bummed i can call him up on the phone and hell tell me some hilarious story.

demar hamilton - i have pulled this kids underwear off every time he is around me and totally wasted. its awesome. he also has a dog living in his basement that looks like a 100 yearold teddy ruxpin. oh yeah, his band is rad.

leslie simon - me and her talk about our crushes all the time. we have a mutual love for the music of ashlee simpson and kelly clarkson. when i tell her insane stories i dont even have to say "off the record" she pretty much knows. she thinks of bright eyes and fob in the same way which blows my little mind. she is editting rainy day kids. oh yeah and writing a book about boys in tight jeans that wear eyeliner as far as i can tell but its pretty hush hush.

jonathon cecil miller/dirty - pretty much this kid is made of snakes, snails and puppy dog tails. i have nothing else to say but he is the new pauly shore - even if he always punches me for saying that. pretty much he looks like a cheeseburger with toothpicks for legs but i wouldnt trade him for the world. pretty much he is the best kid ever.

jim sevcik (or however you spell it) - this is the guy who goes and digs the little youth medium shirts out of tiny boxes in the 100 plus degrees on warped tour or freezing temp on NFT - and then takes the money out of your paws. he is definitely most underrated.

andrew simon/buck - when on the westcoast these guys function as my mother. they take us out to dinner, help me find a house or apartment, look up movie times, get screenings, help me find tours, starbucks, have the cutest baby on the planet, oh yeah and they even book shows every once in awhile.

oh well i ran out of steam. ill finish later. pretty much people that i hang out with every single day are not included on this - you know who you are.

- petey

1/04/06 Q&A

question

Pete, I really need some advice. I was a virgin until I slept with this guy. I didnt tell him I was a virgin until 2hrs. after we finished nad I told him online. Then I started freaking out because I was scared I had screwed everything up between us, which I think only made everything worse. this all happen yesterday. Did I screw everything up?

answer

the best part about when things like this happen is that eventually they become the past- if you really like this guy you could probably explain yourself to him- how you just got scared and were nervous to tell him certain things. if he is worth it, i am sure he will take the time to listen and tell you how he feels too. and if he doesn’t give you the time to do that, than he isn’t worth it anyway. you can be through with the past but that past isnt always through with you.

question

Pette what type of bass do you have?

answer

fender just made me my own- its pretty rad- red and black- super light maple neck- customized electronics and pick-ups- check out a picture of it over at: www.clandestine.buzznet.com - they say they are gonna make a real cheap version of it for people to learn on

question

the background on the site finally changed. who does that?

answer

it changes with mother nature.

question

Do you have any scars. Not like emotional scars (you can include them if you wish) but good-story-scars. Like stuff involving armadillos or something interesting like that.

answer

ive got this amazing one down the palm of my hand from when me and robby windgator (sp) climbed a fence in his back yard and my hand got stuck on a nail. it slid down the entire length of my hand- i was like 8. i have two on my right hand from when i fought a car the week before the VMAs. trust me i definitely beat the car up.

January 6, 2006 

notes on black clouds and underdogs - see also: cast all your fears away:

1. tickets will not be 50 dollars. haters are spreading this on the internet. if you buy your ticket ahead of time (not through some wack broker or on ebay or from a scalper)- average ticket price will be between 23-28 dollars - not going over 35 anywhere. we picked the venues based on how cheap we could get them.

2. the bands- we didn't want to have a tour where you had to see five bands that sounded exactly like fob. we went for variety. all of the bands are really nice guys as well. there will be special guests through out the tour and some suprises to make each show more exciting.

3. this is going to be fob's biggest show ever. we will be playing our longest set and will be including some special secrets.

4. did you expect us to just dump the dates in your laps? we are nerdy and weird and different. so we created a game. we thought it would be fun. the points will be weighted so a small town will have the same chance as a huge city to win a small suprise show. we want to play in front of kids that are excited and we know this is a chance to do this. there will still be other secret shows randomly happening.

5. close your eyes and just click. youve got it. dont worry just come out. andy will be running a kissing booth - it will be a blast.

more later.

January 6, 2006 

8:11 pm

i am just a hot mess. i woke up to the feeling of myself throwing up today. pretty much put a damper on the entire day. i ate about 50 stomach pills and then threw them all up- it was a pretty color in the toilet. my toungue is black on the top right now. i am pretty sure thats a bad thing. i watched way too much gastinaeu (however you spell it) girls today. i think it made me sicker. it took me awhile to realize that they were mother and daughter and not sisters- but the mom is kinda hot in pissy kind of way. my mom is out of town so there was noone here to take care of me- my brother was around but hes pretty much always bongzilla'd. so i waited for back-up caretakers to arrive- one of them was busy cutting hair and the other has like a "real" job besides being dad. the best part about vomitting alone in the morning is the way the bathroom tiles feel kinda cool in a pleasant way so i took a nap there for a bit. i want to see hostel tonight but the problem is all the vomitting- see its not that i mind so much its just what if i run into someone in my sicky gear and puke on them? wow. i am glad i did this update. arent you? im gonna leave the comments open cause i never do- just write down the first thing that comes into your mind when you see that reply button- heres mine: i am just a hot mess. 

January 6, 2006

I have to say it makes me feel safe and some kind of comfort to look at the clock in the corner of the screen and know that you are awake too.

posted by: peterpumpkineater

1/12/06 Q&A

question

whats your view/opinion on racism?

answer

i love it. i mean what opinion would i have other than it is terrible. i hope thats what you expected.

question

So Pete, I have been wanting to learn how to play bass for a long time. Any idea when that HOT Clandestine bass will be available for the public? Thanks.

answer

its going to be available as a fender squire some time in the (near i hope) future. squire is fenders cheapest bass line - very affordable and a good bass to learn how to play on.

question

college dropout or late registration?

answer

“highschool graduate” its the mixtape he put out awhile ago- its pretty sweet.

question

okay crazy dream last night.. you [pete] and me making out after a show in a bed? yeah just thought id share.

answer

im pretty gross after a show. itd be better to just highfive i think.

question

pete. please stop licking the shoes of the island CEOs. i am getting really tired of turning on a tv and seeing a commercial for you guys playing at the fucking arena or a WHOS NEXT IN MUSIC? PANIC AT THE DISCO and THE ACADEMY IS mtv shit which was was totally all your -for lack of better word- fault. sometimes i think it cant get any worse but im always wrong. when is this going to end pete?!?!?!?

answer

i am kind of confused by this one- we are on island defjam records but the advertisements for our tour were made by our booking agent not island. academy is on atlantic/fueled by ramen and P!atd are on decaydance neither of those are island related. but i think i understand the gist of what you are trying to say. i understand that its hard to feel like you are losing a band you loved to “the mainstream” or to a bigger media. i want you to know how much fob turns down because we dont believe in it or agree with it- at the same time would you rather see the academy is on trl or limp bizkit?- id rather see sincere music up there. anyway, i know we’ll all still be here after this ends. hope you are there with us.

question

Peter do you ever get mad at us?

answer

sure. just the same way you sometimes get mad at me/us- but thats okay. neither of us ever seem to stay mad very long…

question

choose one: paramore. cartel. the academy is. or acceptance.

answer

the academy is. i dont really know the others too well.

question

Petey, what have you been up to this past week? xo

answer

training for the new video and working on/editting release the bats two (http://www.findthescene.com/Videos/RTB2_Trailer.mov)… oh yeah and sleeping some.

question

So what do you think of Brokeback Mountain?

answer

good love story. kind of depressing- it makes me think about how much i do not want to go camping.

question

ryan seacrest called you “heartbreaker wentz.” how does that make you feel? it made me giggle…

answer

i never broke that mofos heart.

question

I was wondering if any of you guys are superstitious

answer

i kiss clocks, make wishes on take offs and first kisses, hold my breath on graveyards - yes.

question

Im really upset because i have friends who like me have been FOB fans for the longest time and have met you guys numerous times but are really angry about the ticket prices and are complaining your just sell outs. Im mad because i dont think this and now they are boycotting your CT show.You guys were bound to get famous so why do people have to get like this? Whats you opinion on all this?

answer

our primary concern with this tour is: having a huge general admission floor space and keeping ticket prices as low as absolutely possible. we are doing our best- if you compare this tour with other tours with bands of the same size you will see the difference in ticket price.

question

so much for teh huge general floor space. i cant get decent tickets.

answer

if you get tickets early you should have no problem getting floor tickets. ask your broker when they will be releasing floor tickets as they are often released in bunches. i promise you every venue we are playing has a huge floor space- and if not me and my friends always used to just sneak down onto the floor. the security never tries to hard to stop you.

question

Have you ever had sex with a groupie?

answer

nope.

question

So after they finish the tour that they are on now Mest is breaking up. I sort of cant believe it but I was wondering - do you guys plan on sticking with us for a while longer? It is actually pretty hard to deal with bands just stopping for good…so I am hoping that you guys can be there with us for at least a while longer. Much love.

answer

honestly? some days i think fall out boy will be around for 20 more years and some days i think it might end tommorrow.

January 13, 2006 

first jt. now mr. frey. i fear that we are next.

it may just be the hour of the night or the song stuck in my head or some strange mix of it all.

i can't shake it. 

the chemists called it crossed signals.

the poets called it magical.

nowyousayimabird.

- petey

January 14, 2006 

i love how i never care about anything you say except how i always do.

that doesn't even make any sense.

late at night everything about you is an orchestra. and i am the conducter.

January 14, 2006 

4:14 pm 

"noones ever been this good for this long"

this is everything i am thinking right now with out transition. i apologize for my brains lack of linear thought processing: i hate the way it gets dark so early here this time of year. i guess "seasonal depression" kind of falls under "ADD" and "post tramatic whatever disorder" for me. i feel like its science from the madhatter down the rabbit hole. not too real. but lately i just wake up blue - my only thought is- how soon will the day be over so i can get back into bed. i open my eyes just a tiny bit and blur the numbers on the clock with my eyelashes. every word you say rolls off of my back - the praises and the barbs. i don't hear either, ever. sometimes the tips of my fingers itch from the back of my head- just to get the chance to tear someone to pieces and just barely let them off the hook. i swear to god, i was asleep alone. quick text me an alibi and oh god please don't dust the keyboard for prints. sometimes i stare out of the frosted window and make up stories as people walk by. the bottled blonde, park ave. princess walking whichever dog matches her coat. you know how i could turn your world upsidedown. its not love if a day goes by when you don't think about dropping it. its not the world keeping you on the outside, its you not wanting to be on the inside. everyone wants to be the first. buts its okay to be the second if you understand it better, if you make it look prettier. worn down doesn't even touch this. and theres nothing worse than when someone acts like they have you figured out, when you haven't even figured yourself out. nice boys don't write good stories or sing good songs. and his songs are boring. and his stories are just personal ads set to background music. i found the skeleton key for wedlock but i am holding off on telling her. on telling anyone for that matter. consistent inconsistency. thats all you ever have to remember and you'll do okay with me. dancers are always strippers. and paying their way through college is the BE VE. oh and hey pete do you remember the way the world used to trick you with fifty degrees in january and orange leaves in june? button your jacket tight, don't believe everything you read... don't even believe everything you wrote. i'm tired of always leaving. i'm tired of the way things always/never change. swim upstream until your gills bleed just because thats what genetic encoding commands. there aren't any trophies that are really worth it in the end. they can put you in a box when you are very young, so you'll be a pretty corpse but there are too many pages filled with too many words to lie beside you forever. intelligent design is the last great joke i heard. but honestly, no one will ever stay where i tell them, least of all the years. they keep moving. worlds greatest liar and how do you know i'm not lying when i tell you this right now? and thats coming from the king of one-liners. copy and pasted - long live the away message. kiss the monitor. fast asleep baby.

1/16/06 Q&A

question

Thanks for deleting me off your myspace friends. Youre different than who I thought you were Peter.. : (

answer

i do not have nor ever had a myspace account… the only sites outside of this one that i use are friendsorenemies.com and livejournal. fall out boy has a myspace account but i dont even know how to work it.

question

PETER! maybe that got your attention this time :)! My question, Did your parents or siblings ever say your “stupid” or “gay” for wearing girl pants, or tight shirts..because i go threw alot of crap for wearing tight clothing and i go to a city school so either its gangsters, or me left out..please help me with gettin threw this..Also cant wait to see you guys in Hersey!

answer

kanye west wears pink polos. rob halford wears black tshirts. not that any of it matters. but how you dress should only be an amplification of who you are inside, it should not be all you are… i get teased about alot of things but you know, at the end of the day its okay to be me. im pretty sure its okay to be you too, as long as you arent like hitler or a serial killer or something insane.

January 18, 2006 

these pictures make me think of me and you before i got so crazy.

the hippo lost its momma in the tsunami. now the he hangs out with this super old turtle and follows it around. from what i've read they have developed their own form of communication.

this is insane.

these parts of life are amazing.

i will try and not forget them next time.

- petey

January 18, 2006 

the band is in chicago preparing their new homes to be moved into. mine is still in my parents cause i am a loser like that: see also why i am hanging in nyc by myself. but ive got some schemes that i am working on.

how i have been (barely) living: the hippo and the turtle, hanging out with minkus from boy meets world in north carolina, going to the mtv studios in nyc to see baby bros all growed up on trl, eating every single thing in this hotel minibar, writing, you. writing you.

- petey

January 19th, 2006 

1:55 am 

wahahahahaha. i laughed for like a million hours at the shittalking over at: www.friendsorenemies.com its way fun to see your friends make fun of you. it keeps you levelheaded. it has gone live.

January 19, 2006 

yesyesyes-ya'll. newyorkcity. hung with patd and tai backstage at TRL and tried to make them unnervous. but i was butterflies inside. but they couldnt ever let me down. the rest of the day was spent listening to the new gymclassheroes songs and working on the new video. the gch songs are insane: i can't describe them "we gotta take our clothes off to have a good time". insane. new octfall: youve probably never met these kids but they are the nicest. always calling and asking how im doing. then the hush sound: all i can say is "sweet tangerine"- 6 months from now, you will agree with me. anyway, this isn't just some preachy post. i just love watching my friends suceed and i will believe in them until the day i die. its so great to watch everyone grow up. hopefully, somewhere someone says that about me.

we contributed a song to the breast cancer one tree hill episode/compilation. we just thought it was a great cause and couldn't pass it up. we actually thought it was a really personal cause to alot of people involved so i wanted to give a really personal song to me, so we used "dark alley".

its late and alot of the things i have been working on and thnking have stalled out. but i am trying oh so hard. got some smaller shows coming up in las vegas and l.a. for the diehards so keep your eyes out.

i am in new york city but it feels so fucking foreign. the band is in chicago but there is too much to be done out here. i know there needs to be breaks but i cant get away. maybe ill see you on fuse or trl tommorrow. maybe not cause it'll be weird with out the guys- i dunno. this hotel room doesn't make any sense. my lights are on and i am in bed knowing i will never fall asleep. i am realizing people in all the buildings outside i can see lit up can probably see in here on me. but thats okay cause i am wearing some sweet pj's.

wwwilliambecketdotlove

turn me inside out.

swoon. make me easy on the eyes. it aint hard in this light. read it. write it. throw it away and come back to the phone. light up text king.

oh yeah a little bird named mouth told me: friendsorenemies.com is up - my profile is actually me over there ... yay! let's hate eachother and/or get sexy.

January 20, 2006 

dear ireland- thank you for your pretty accents and your amazing show.

dear home- i miss you

dear you- what the fuck happened to this

a real update later.

the whole world loves it when you dont get down.

January 21, 2006 

12:17 pm 

i hate you and i hope you die. yes. i realize that you will make fun of me/take stabs at me/post ridiculous pictures of me. i realize that because of this band i have given up some of my privacy and personal life. i accept that. i can laugh at myself. i realize i will get called a douchbag. i get what i get. i have begun reading things about my friends and family. that i will not accept. i read things written by people who kiss my ass to my face. i remember who you are. fuck you. bring it on me. please leave my friends and family alone. it is extremely hurtful to me. if anyone is a friend of mine out there please tell your friends. i on the otherhand am open game. i have a good laugh at all of the stuff written about me. i am silly, i realize that. thank you. 

peter

January 24, 2006

I am an arms dealer.

I sell words you could only use as weapons.

This isn't a scene it is an arms race.

I am a con artist.

A door to door salesman.

A snake oil seller. Cures for whatever ails you.

Somehow I don't hear the violins playing.

Not really the leading man type.

I am a cadaver deep frozen. Waiting for reanimation to beinvented.

Wrote "fuckoff" on my hand to remind me to call you tommorrow morning.

What do you do when everything they say about you is true?

Do you expect me to just roll over and die?

My skin has made promises.

Whether the rest of me has or not.

Writing off tommorrows every time my fingers touch these buttons.

Putting all the comforts and closeness in reverse just for you.

I think its time to re-asses some of the policies of the wentz administration.

Our approval rating is at an all time low.

In case you haven't been informed you have to take a ticket to be disappointed by me.

There's a fucking line.

Well have some goddamned order.

Its a posh and exclusive club.

I have a lifetime membership.

Make it glamorous.

Make the rumors true.

Read the sign next to the bridge "giveupallhope..." and just tie down the gas pedal.

Lie in the back.

Haven't you heard, sorrow is in.

You are the beaches of normandy the night before.

And a girl with such a sweet drink should never sit in the corner and cry about anyone or anything.

The kids on the net had it right sometimes we should fuck off and die and break up and stop ruining art.

But the kids had it right sometimes when they sit waiting in line with hands frozen out waiting to get into a room first.

The only thing I can admit is this is no masterplan. I'm trying to figure it out.

"Without the sour the sweet wouldn't taste so sweet (tangerine)".

Its 3am in leeds. This is what just crossed my mind.

Love, the fancy kid.

January 26, 2006

live via manchester holiday inn express:

first and foremost. these shows have been amazing. i think it is quite possibly because we don’t get over here often or maybe because we are playing smaller clubs… but i am thinking we need to make a stop over here more often.

i wanted to congratulate p!atd the disco on making it to number 10 on the TRL countdown. and i just wanted to put this out there: there is no way it was paid to happen. of all the bands on “new bands week” panic was the only that didn’t put up big pushes to have the video voted on. if anything this band wants to do things their own way. hence picking the song they did for the single- that was the bands choice and in my opinion they have songs on the record that could easily be bigger. it was also the bands choice to create a darker video…. as a label i can tell you that we definitely don’t have the money to spend on a “big budget” video right now- not to mention having any left over for anything else- you’d laugh if you saw the budgets we filmed the new panic and gch videos on. but i couldn’t say enough about how nice these kids are- they don’t even get how big their band is and thats a good thing… i personally would rather see great bands on the forefront of music… and yes there are lots of other bands that deserve to make it there as well- so maybe on our messageboard tell me about some great (unsigned) bands that we should check out.

other than that we’ve just been writing new songs and working on the new video. pretty soon its going to become time focus all attention on a new fall out boy record again.

got some big news for you coming up very soon…

peter lewis kingston wentz

ps 'hater dudes marry hater bitches and have hater kids’

1/26/06 Q&A

question

hey, what kind of books are you and the rest of Fall Out Boy into? p.s. tell patrick he is spectacular

answer

andy is into comics and books on anthropology/human civilization i dunno what books joe reads patrick is into reading about music i am into a bunch of different authors lately hemingway still. before he went and hung out in africa. i haven’t been reading as much as id like lately. ps the book panic has in their book club this month is a great book. its the first thing i gave ryan after reading his lyrics, it kind of reminded me of him- so if you like panics lyrics head on over and check out their book club

question

do you watch that show roseanne on nick at night. i love that show!

answer

me and my friends used to hang out with becky in evanston, il in highschool. she was not to fond of me or my friend jody.

question

ok i know this is nobodys business but yours but there is alot of stuff going around on the boards saying that the big news is your engaged just to get things straight is that it? because those people are starting to annoy me….

answer

me being engaged is most definitely not the big news.

question

in the song calm before the on take this to your grave, there is a line that says :Well theres a song on the radio that says lets get this party started, lets get this party started. did you write that line because of the song by pink called lets get this party started. just curious.

answer

yes.

question

Hey Pete. My grandma is dying (and she doesnt care) and I for real dont feel anything towards her. My mom is seriously upset, my dad is just about the same and my sisters dont know. I am suppose to tell them but how do I do that when my grandma wasnt a grandma for me but for them she was a great lady? I just want this done and over because I am kind of tired of waiting for her to die since she has been making suicide references for the past two years.

answer

that is one of the hardest places to ever be in. i remember seeing thoughts of my grandfather in my head when he died i was on tour. and i couldnt really feel sad unless i thought of it as my dad and it really freaked me out. it made me feel like i wanted to see my dad right that second. id be completely lost with out him. i think that people handle grief in different ways and the best thing we can do is try to be there for them. im sorry to hear about that though.

1/30/06 

question

my roommates and i almost got into a brawl at 4am with some drunk kids who wanted to fight us because we did not appreciate the hint of lime in their tostitos. is it just me, or is your life this ridiculous as well?

answer

it is . we were thrown out of another fob afterparty after nearly fighting the staff who was berating dirty.

question

Peter, I just got the “Panic! At The Disco” cd and I love it! could you recomened any others?

answer

the hushsound “so sudden” - myspace.com/thehushsound october fall “season of…” myspace.com/octoberfall dangerradio “party foul” myspace.com/dangerfall the academy is “almost here” myspace.com/theacademyis armor for sleep “all” myspace.com/armorforsleep shiny toy guns “all”

question

do any of you have brothers and siters? (like any single younger brothers…:) if so, who and how old?

answer

um come on this question is kind of insane. but my one dog marley is super hot for a dog. hes a good kisser though.

question

I read somewhere that Patrick was a vegitarian. Is that true?

answer

he was he eats fish and likes to talk long walks in the park with hot babes.

question

Why does patrick wear a hat all the time and why does the drummer never talk?????

answer

just to drive your pretty little head mad with these questions.

question

Okay, heres a question: Has someone you superly-duperly adored gone away? And by adored we are talking like, lets-run-away-to-isreal -and-get-hitched-without-telling-anyone adored.

answer

yes. the sinking feeling in your rotten gut is your reminder. cool sheets on your bed are your antidote.

[deylightsfictionalcompanion]

A while ago [see: when Stranger Things season 4 first came out] my friend and I were talking about “what would the gang think about Princess Bride? It came out around Halloween of ‘87, so they absolutely would have seen it.” And thus, the story was born.

I haven’t written a story in years [see: because college] until I just sat down one day and cranked out this 12k thing. I wrote this giant Steve Harrington x F! Reader fanfic like it sustained my whole life (it did, though, in a way).

I’m sharing it on tumblr first (it’ll go on AO3 after some minor grammatical edits) because why not.

More under cut

Fandom: Stranger Things

Genre: xReader (thought I hate Y/N so you’re Dustin’s older sister in this as “Ms. Henderson” mostly)

Word Count: 11.9k

Rating: I’m gonna go with Teen but think more CW Teen than normal Teen.

Synopsis: You’ve known Steve since high school. You’ve been apart of the craziness coming from Hawkins since the beginning. And worst of all: you’ve loved Steve ever since he first took your brother under his wing—but you’ve kept it a secret. Until now. All because of The Princess Bride.

Important info: I’m a lover of pop culture, and there’s so much of that in Stranger Things, I’ve tried to keep that feeling. This is why the bulk of the story revolves around The Princess Bride and Halloween. I’ve tried to keep it within a 1987 time frame too, just because.

Tags: #Steves A Dork #Everyone Lives #Eddie/Chrissy is there because I love them both your honor and they deserve nice things when Steve is too busy being in love with you, the reader #Listen I know there’s some small grammatical issues I’ll fix them later #Copious amounts of 80s product placement #Theres some heavy petting but like. Again, nothing worse than what you’d see on the CW #Also Eddie took Will under his wings and they DM together #Robin plays too cause they let her woo princesses #I tried my best and therefore anyone may constructively criticize me #Oh yeah Robin/Vicki are there too because I say so #this is my first time posting fanfic so like please be gentle at a time like this ;)

As You Wish

By Deylightsfictionalcompainion

Somehow the light always felt brighter after coming out of the movie theater. It wasn’t a surprise, given you went to see a matinee on a Thursday and the movie was less than two hours long, but still. That initial shock of stepping out from a darkened theater to the afternoon sun made it difficult for you to see for a while. You imagined it was the same for everyone in the group.

“Do you think when Peter Faulk said ‘As You Wish’ at the end, he was implying that maybe it was his book? Like, you can actually check it out from the library or something?” Robin asked, her rough-cut voice echoing in the parking lot. She held up a hand to her forehead to block the sun and looked back at the rest of the group.

“I very much doubt that, Robin.” Dustin let out a small chuckle. “I’ve skimmed every part of that library and I have never come across a copy of The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern, let alone one written by Columbo.”

“Well, it still would be cool if it was an actual book to check out. But I guess I’ll just have to look into more movies directed by that guy that plays Michael Stivie from All In The Family. Personally, I think he’s a better director than actor, but that’s just me.” Robin shrugged her shoulders and grabbed the handle to the passenger door of Steve’s car, placing her weight on one foot as she waited for the rest of you to circle around the car and get in.

You caught up to her in no time and leaned in on the hood, watching as Dustin, Eddie, and Steve slowly made their way around.

You’d picked this Sunday to go because most of the group was off. Nancy and Jonathan insisted on watching it as part of their new attempt at foraging a date night together and Mike, El, Will, Max, and Lucas had already seen it last weekend—they actually convinced everyone else that they had to see it too.

“I’d love to make it into a D&D session,” Will had beamed up at Eddie during the last D&D session they’d had together. Eddie had, upon meeting Will, found it necessary to take the kid in under his wing since he was the only one of the boys that he deemed could carry on his title as DM of Hellfire. Will took an instant shining to him, and in return, started to really take his newfound apprenticeship seriously. “I think I could really work in the part about the Pit of Despair and Dread Pirate Roberts lore. You should see it so you can help me get it set up.”

“Very well,” Eddie responded to him, slouched in his chair that somehow survived Jason’s rampage through the club room. It looked a little out of place sitting in the basement of Steve’s perfectly primmed house—but Eddie had insisted if Hellfire (at least for the summer) was to continue, he’d need his chair. And since Steve was tired of being a taxi service from one end of Hawkins to the next, he’d given up and let the club just meet up in his [empty] house. “I will see The Princess Bride whenever the Henderson’s convince Harrington to take us. See for myself if I can accurately get a feel for how to home brew the storyline into Hellfire’s campaign trail.”

Dustin immediately started to bounce at the thought and turned to look at you. “You gotta convince him.” He said, his eyes shining in the way he knew you couldn’t resist. “I’m all out of favors to ask him this month, and I don’t wanna push my luck asking for another ride.”

You sighed, closing the book you were reading (well, half-reading. Sometimes the campaign they’d play was exciting enough to catch your interest, and you’d tune in to the boys—and Robin, who weirdly got into the game one night when she found out both Will and Eddie would let her seduce princesses—as they’d play). “I’ll ask him next shift. But you owe me chore duty for a week without mom knowing.”

Dustin bounced harder. “Absolutely. It’s a deal.”

Which is how you found yourself leaning over the counter, pleading with Steve the next day.

“Come on, Steve,” you’d said to him as you watched him restock the shelves of Family Video—something you honestly hadn’t expected to still be working at after the events of ’86, yet you, Robin, and Steve all got to come back. “It’s an action-adventure story. Mostly. Just a little bit of romance. And if you watch it now, you’ll be able to recommend it better once it comes to the store. Maybe woo a few hearts with it?

“It’s not the movie, Ms. Henderson,” Steve complained as he shook his head, his hair swaying. He finished putting back the last of his VHS tapes and looked up at you. “Why do I always have to be the one that drives?”

“Not that you don’t make a point,” your words fumbling out of your mouth, still trying to become used to him calling you ‘Ms. Henderson’ after you made a joke one day last week when Janet Jackson’s Nasty came on the radio. “But do you really want me to drive? I already convinced Robin to come along with Dustin and Eddie—so you know they’ll just end up dragging you along regardless—and it would be a shame to have me, the only other licensed driver of this particular bunch, drive. Especially because last time, you compared it to—”

“Max,” he sighed, placing a hand on his hip and closing his eyes. “Never again. You’re as bad as Max.”

“She’s gotten better, you know.”

“Don’t want to.”

“So you’ll drive?” You smiled at him—the one that seemed to always work, since more than once you caught him signing and closing his eyes when you’d break it out.

“Robin and I are off Thursday,” he sighed, closing his eyes.

You bounced—a Henderson trait, it seemed—and leaned farther over the counter to give him a quick hug. “Perfect. It’s a date then, Steve.” You turned around and walked over to the return bin, only half listening to Steve as he mumbled under his breath and walked towards the back of the store.

“So boys,” you said as they each got to the car, opening it and sliding in, your tone curious. “Thoughts?”

Steve started up the engine and turned down the radio. “Loved it.” He took one look in the review mirror at you and smiled before placing the car in reverse and exiting the parking spot.

“I can absolutely see how Will and I could work this into a session or two for Hellfire,” Eddie grinned, shifting in his seat so he faced you and Dustin. “Those ROUS’s would be fun to work with. And the kid was right about the Pit of Despair. God damn title for a campaign if I’ve ever heard of one. Plus I think even our little Robin would enjoy this campaign,” he turned his attention toward the passenger seat, reaching a hand to place on Robin’s shoulder. “Up for saving a princess, Buckley?”

Robin turned back to face Eddie and smirked. “Always down for saving a damsel in distress, Munson. Especially if she’s anything like that Buttercup. Ugh. Talk about Hot. I even enjoyed the romance aspect of the film, believe it or not. And that’s so totally not my thing.”

Eddie leaned back into the seat of the car. “The romance wasn’t so bad. I think I should take Chrissy when she comes home from State. She’d love it, and I’d get a chance to analyze it better.” He flashed a smile for a second before glancing quickly out of the window to hide it.

You smiled at his bashfulness, happy that Eddie and Chrissy had finally started dating after countless hours of flirting back and forth—including when he’d played Master of Puppets in dedication to her, and she, in turn, saved his life when he heroically tried to buy them time with the Demobats. He’d nearly been inconsolable when she’d finally left to attend Indiana State University in the fall, but he’d been so proud of her for getting in he’d put on a brave face until her visits back to Hawkins would come up. “I’m sure she’d appreciate the chance to see it with you,” you said, tapping Eddie’s leg and bringing him back to the present.

“Ah, yeah. Anyway,” Eddie coughed, clearing the air. “What about you? Thoughts?”

“It was sweet. Billy Crystal and Carol Kane were probably my favorite part, though. I’m also strangely craving peanuts now too.”

“Peanuts after Hellfire, please,” Dustin said, looking at you. “Will’s been waiting for us since I told him we were seeing the matinee.”

“God, Henderson, you’re going to make me drive out again to get your club snacks, aren’t you?” Steve glanced into his review mirror, his eyebrows slightly raised. “Why can’t you guys ever just eat what I’ve got at the house?”

“Because dingus,” Robin chimed in, “when you sit in on the game you try to justify every choice that we make, and I’m tired of having to explain how things work to you. It’s fantasy. You’re not supposed to sit there and question how spells work. We have to give you reasons not to bug us every five minutes.”

Steve opened his mouth for a moment before quickly closing it. He fiddled a bit with the driving wheel before quickly flicking his eyes up to the review mirror to look at you. “Fine. But since Ms. Henderson doesn’t play, she’s got to come on snack duty with me. Especially because she’s the one that wants the damn peanuts.”

You look back at him through the mirror. “I suppose that’s only fair. But it’s on your dime, Harrington.”

Steve clenched his eyes in defeat and turned the corner, mumbling under his breath again, his big, brown eyes glancing up at you every so often for the rest of the way back to his place.

…

“And that,” Will said, his voice echoing around the room, “is where we’ll have to leave off for tonight.”

The group around him made a collective of noises, disappointed that their session had ended, once again, on a cliff hanger.

“Lady Applejack could have had time to cast a spell, if you hadn’t stopped there, Byers,” Erica chided, closing her trapper keeper and shoving it under her arm. “She better get first turn next week, or you’re going to suffer for it.”

Will turned to look at Eddie, who was smiling with what looked like pride in his eyes. “You’re DMing next week, that’s on you, Eddie.”

Eddie simply nodded his head from his chair and looked at Erica. “Lady Applejack shall get the first roll next week, don’t you worry, Erica.”

Erica smiled. “Good. Come on, Lucas. Mom said we better not be late for dinner tonight, and I’m not going to be the one to have to deal with her and dad because you can’t say goodbye to your friends fast enough.”

Lucas turned to face the group. “See you all later,” he said, following Erica up the stairs. Mike followed them shortly after, muttering something about going to meet up with El early tomorrow, leaving you, Will, Eddie, Dustin, Robin, and Steve sitting around the basement.

“So,” Will began, turning his chair to face Eddie’s. “What do you think about my idea for a Princess Bride themed session?”

Eddie smiled. “I think we could make something work out.”

Will’s face lit up. “Great! What were your thoughts?”

You put down the book you’d been half-heartly reading and got up from your chair, walking over to the stairs to head up and get a drink while they talked. It wasn’t that you weren’t curious—you were—but you’d been waiting until the session ended to go up and get yourself a refill on the Coke Steve had in his fridge.

“Mind if I join you?” Steve said, following you up the stairs. “Robin refuses to leave this conversation to get herself some snacks. Said she needs to make sure the princess arc in it is challenging enough or something.”

You nodded your head as you continued up and turned to wait for him until you were both off the stairs and in the Harrington kitchen. “I only half listen into their sessions—more for the plot than game play. Plus it’s fun to watch Dustin have fun again. Thanks for letting Hellfire make base here.” You walked over to the fridge and opened it, pulling out a can of Coke for yourself. A quick open, the fizzing noise echoing in the room, and you take a swig before pulling back the bar stool from the kitchen’s island counter and sitting down. “I don’t know if I’ve ever really thanked you for being there for Dustin in a way I couldn’t, really.”

“Henderson’s a good kid. And I know you’re an amazing sister to him. But I get it,” Steve opened up a cupboard and pulled out a bag of microwave popcorn. He walked over to the microwave and popped it in, hitting some buttons until it turned on, and swung around to face you, his hips lightly resting on the edge of the counter. “Not that the little shit gave me much of a choice in the matter, but he really just needed some man-to-man conversations. Pain in my ass, still. But he’s grown on me. All those little shitheads have grown on me. They’re like—”

You take another sip of Coke and smile slightly up at Steve. “Your chicken nuggets?”

The microwave dinged and Steve blinked. “You talked to Nancy, didn’t you?”

You tactically looked around the room, taking yet another sip. “It…may have come up the day we helped Chrissy pack for State.”

Steve lowered his head, carefully turning around to open up the microwave and take out the popcorn, shaking it sadly to make sure all the pieces were covered in the fake butter from the packaging.

“Steve,” you said, your tone shifting into one of sympathetic laughter, “hey. Listen.” You got up from the stool and walked over to him, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder. “I think it’s really great that you want to have a big family. You’re good with them…even if you go around calling them shitheads all the time. You’ve kept them all safe, just like they were you own. You taught them important things, and helped them out when they asked, and most importantly?”

He turned to face you, popcorn bag in hand, his brown eyes wide and looking up at you through his lashes. It catches your breath for a second—enough for you to feel your heart skip a beat—and you have to close your own eyes to finish your sentence. “Y-you never fail to always keep on with that charming Harrington attitude. I know you hate always being the god damn babysitter, but Steve?”

His full attention is on you now, and you can feel yourself getting closer to him; his face inches from yours. “You are a genuine, caring person underneath all that hair.”

“HEY DINGUSES,” Robin’s voice shouted from the bottom of the basement stairs. “I can smell the popcorn! What is taking you so long?”

Steve backed away from you, and you turned around to grab your coke, your cheeks surely as red as they feel hot.

“Coming, your Highness,” Steve yelled out, “Or whatever it is you call yourself.”

“Dame Gaylord, for the record, Steve.” She called up. “Just hurry up with the popcorn, I’m starving down here!”

Steve looked over at you, shrugging his shoulders as he walked back down the stairs, popcorn bag in hand.

You gulp and sit down for a moment back on the stool, cradling your hands in your face.

What was that, you think, staring at the off-white counter. Did…am I going crazy? Or was that—you shake your head.

Your crush on Steve wasn’t new to you, but it had never seemed to be more than one sided. You had painfully made yourself make sure he never noticed it. So why now? Did he notice it now?

It started when you were both still in high school—he was the king of Hawkins high: all smiles, all suave charm, the way he carried himself…you couldn’t help it—but as you grew to know him, especially as he started to interact more with Dustin, taking him under his wing and helping him out; as you watched him time and time again put himself first to protect you and the rest of the gang, never failing to keep a smile on his face even in the most drastic, dangerous situations—your crush developed beyond a schoolgirl trope. You fell hard for Steve Harrington. It was hard at first to keep those feeling in check. Once or twice you had to hide your blush from him and shake it off cleverly, smiling and laughing, or changing the subject to something you know he could talk about for a ridiculous amount of time. You were pretty sure that he had no idea how much you liked him.

That is.

Until now.

The carbonated fizzle from the can of Coke beside you shook you from your thoughts, and you grabbed the can, chugging down half of it before walking back downstairs.

“But what I’m hearing,” Dustin’s voice rang through the basement, “is that you have tomorrow off.”

“I said I would think about calling off tomorrow—” Steve began, his hands planted firmly on his hips.

“Matty owes us time, Steve,” Robin said, tossing popcorn into her mouth. “We haven’t taken a day off since our shifts started back up this summer.”

You walked over to Eddie, who had his legs swung over the arm of his chair. “What exactly did I miss here, Munson?”

Eddie looked at you, a smile spreading across his face. “Midnight ride. Dustin’s trying to book us an overnight stay to finish plotting out Will’s Princess Bride session while the memory is still fresh in our heads. I know you’ve got the day off tomorrow, and I took afternoon shift at Motorwork’s. So, it’s all about convincing Harrington.”

You looked back over at Steve, who was slowly losing the battle against your brother and Robin. You couldn’t help but tilt your head a little bit and smile. He’d cave. He always caved for those two.

“Word has it, Henderson,” Eddie adjusted how he was sitting and leaned in closer to you, his hair brushing against the back of your head. “That all it would take to get him to cave right this minute is a smile from you.”

You snap your head to face Eddie, your brows knit. “On whose authority?” You questioned, your tone coming out angrier than you meant.

“I have eyes, Henderson. Unfortunately,” he leaned back into his chair, crossing his ankles and linking his hands together to support the back of his head. “I also know that sometimes our own eyes fail us at seeing the bigger picture when everyone else already can.”

You stared at him for a moment, your expression unchanging. Eddie was an assortment of flavors—you’d seen him go from being a chaotic punk to screaming child to love sick puppy in under 24 hours—but he never said anything that wasn’t true. And that would also mean that earlier…you weren’t imagining…

“How long,” your voice was quieter as you leaned back towards Eddie. “Have you noticed?”

“For you, darling?” He smirked. “First time I saw you two together. You were worse than I was with Chrissy.”

You bit your lip slightly. “And him?”

“Now, what would be the fun in telling you that?” He brought his arms back down off of his head and rubbed them on his thighs. “All I know is that if I had that kind of power over Harrington—and believe me, I’ve tried—I wouldn’t waste it.”

You blinked. A shiver ran down your spine and something inside your head—a usually very, very quiet voice—rang out. “If you won’t tell me,” you began, your eyes now focused on Steve, who was standing with both hands on his hips, slowly deflating under the weight of Dustin and Robin’s harassment. “Then at least help me figure out how to harness it.”

Eddie’s face lit up. He chuckled as he straightened out on his chair, his feet landing firmly on the floor. “Didn’t you say you wanted peanuts earlier?”

“Steve,” your voice came out louder than you anticipated, “call off tomorrow. It’s a Friday in October and the theater has better options. Matty can handle one night. Besides, you deserve a day off. Not to mention that I still want peanuts, and we’ve yet to go out and get some. We can pick up stuff to make for breakfast while we’re out.”

Steve looked at you, eyebrows raised. His stance softened a little and he tilted his head. “Why are you—”

“Are you seriously questioning my sister right now, Harrington? Go get her the damn peanuts. And pick up some Tang for the morning!” Dustin said, slapping Steve’s back.

You smiled—the one that seemed to always work; the one Eddie had noticed and said something about to you—and you watched. You watched as Steve sighed and closed his eyes.

“Anything else I can get for you assholes here at Harrington’s Bed and Breakfast?”

…

The drive out to the store felt awkward to you, but you did your best to ensure that it didn’t feel like that for Steve. It was hard, though, now that you’d had Eddie confirm Steve clearly had feelings for you to keep your usual calm, playful demeaner you’d worked so hard on the past several years. You’d tried simply keeping the volume up on the radio—you both loved to sing along to it, despite the fact that neither of you were exceptionally good at it—but that only worked until Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now came on, and you couldn’t help but think that whoever was working the radio at the time was playing a cruel, cruel joke on you.

“I thought you loved this song,” Steve said, shifting his head quickly to look at you after you went to change the station. “Why change it?”

He reached over your hand and changed it back, turning it up.

“I think we’re alone now,” he sang at you, loudly. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.” He shook his shoulders and tapped the steering wheel in time to the song. “Come on, Ms. Henderson. Don’t even try to deny it. I’ve seen you sing this song into your hairbrush.”

“The beating of our hearts is the only sound.” You sang back at him, the smile returning to your face.

“There she is! That’s my girl,” he chuckled. He turned the volume up louder and you both sang along to the rest of the song until finally you pulled into the Kroger parking lot and he pulled into a spot, killed the engine, and turned to face you.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Steve said, looking at you, his brown eyes darker in the florescent glow of the parking lot lights.

“I am just focused on our task at hand,” you waved your hand at him and reached down to unbuckle your seatbelt. “That’s all.”

“Getting peanuts shouldn’t distract you enough that you change the radio station like that. I know you better, give me a little credit.”

You turned to face him, taking in how he was propped up in his chair; one arm over top the steering wheel, the other linked back around the seat. “I…I,” you had no idea how to bring out the question do you like me like I like you? in any manner that wouldn’t be embarrassing, so you just said the first thing that came out of your mouth instead. “I am just trying to think about how the boys and Robin are going to put The Princess Bride into their campaign.”

Steve blinked back at you. “S-sure.” He said, not quite believing you, you could tell, but also too polite to call you out on what clearly was a lie. “I mean, if they had asked me, I would have told them to focus mainly on the dread pirate Roberts stuff and go from there.”

The look you gave Steve was one you couldn���t stop yourself from making even if you tried. “Have you thought about this? I thought you didn’t understand D&D?”

“Yeah, well, I don’t get how you play that stupid game, but I know how to tell a story, thank you very much.” He said, taking his hand out from behind his seat and turning himself front facing. “I watched the same movie you guys did. In fact,” his tone in voice shifted, one that sounded like it had a bit of pride mixed in with shame. “I’ve seen the movie twice already.”

“When the fuck did you have time to see the movie?” You blurted out, unable to stop yourself.

“First time was on a date with…Stacey? Or maybe Sandy. Can’t remember. Second time was by myself, because Stacey-slash-Sandy was too busy trying to stick her tongue down my throat for me to pay attention to the movie. And I just. Really wanted to pay attention to it. It was a good movie.” He sighed and turned to face you. “That’s why when you asked me to drive you all to the theater, I wasn’t upset about the movie choice.”

You blinked. Fast at first, and then slowly a second time. “Steve Harrington likes a rom com.”

“You make it sound like I’m not allowed to enjoy movies with romance in them.” Steve said, offended.

“No, it’s not that. I just. Never pegged you for someone who would go see a movie like that on your own. The date thing I get. Me and the rest of the gang dragging you to a movie, yes. But on your own?”

“Yeah, well, a lot about me had changed in these last few years, if you hadn’t noticed. Though you should,” he said, his hand coming up to rest on your shoulder. You shivered. “You’ve been there alongside me. Hell, helped me change even. I’ve got a lot to thank you for, Ms. Henderson.”

You smiled at him, soft; warm. “Really?”

“Shit yeah, Henderson. You seem to genuinely care about me and call me out on my bullshit when I need it.” He looked down and smiled, his voice shifting in tone. “You’ve helped pick me back up and sewn me back together after all those times I’ve taken a beating; shown me how to grow and find ways to be part of the solution rather than the problem. I’m really lucky to have you in my life.”

The red in your face burned. But you didn’t care. “Steve, I—”

He cut you off with a single look up through his eyelashes. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now. But I’ve never had the chance to. Until now.” He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he leaned in closer to you. “I’ve had a crush on you for a while now. I just didn’t know how to tell you in case you didn’t feel the same way I did. I didn’t want to ruin what we already have by putting my feelings into the mix. But I have to tell you now. Especially after what almost happened in the kitchen. I’d regret it if I didn’t.”

You stared at him. For several seconds, unsure of what to do. It was like being caught in headlights.

He stared back; tried to lean back to give you your space, his hopeful smile starting to faulter, but you grabbed his hand tightly in yours and squeezed. “Steve, I…” you start, your brain firing off thoughts in different directions and your mouth unable to release any of them.

“Hey,” he said, patting your hand. “It’s okay. I get it if you—”

You pulled him in and lightly placed a kiss to his lips, messy and simple, because it’s all you could think to do to let him know how you feel; that his feelings were reciprocated.

When you pull back, Steve’s eyes were closed, his mouth slightly opened. You stared at him like this, wondering if what you did was the right move when his eyes snapped open and his mouth spread into the biggest grin you’d ever seen.

“I am going to take that as a positive sign,” he said before leaning in closer to you. He grabbed both of your hands and looked down at them, his thumbs rubbing random patterns into your palm. “But I would really, really love it if you’d say something.”

You looked down at your hands, your brain still processing what you’d just done, unable to look at him in the eye yet.

“Hey,” Steve lifted up your chin and brushed your hair carefully behind your ear. “I’m kinda sticking myself out on a limb right now and I could use some good old Henderson comforting I’ve come to love.”

Your brain finally stopped. “I’ve had a crush on you for a while, too.”

“That was what I was hoping you’d say,” he said, bringing his face in closer to yours, inches from your mouth. “There’s just one more thing I’m hoping for, though.”

You looked up from his mouth and into his eyes, confusion swirling in your thoughts.

“There is?” You breathed, so close to him you could hear the beat of his heart and smell his shampoo.

“Tell me that I can finally kiss you.” He whispered. “A real one.”

You smiled—the same one you’ve used so many times before. “Absolutely.”

Steve smiled back. “Have I ever told you that that little smile of yours does things to me that I’m not particularly proud to admit in detail yet?”

“Steve,” you plead, your arm now reached up and carded through his hair.

“Tell me I can kiss you again?” He said, his lips brushing against yours and his nose nudging your cheek.

“For you, Harrington?” you said, bringing him in closer. “You can kiss me any time you want.”

You felt his smile as he kissed you; light and soft at first, quickly turning into something deeper as he slid his hand from the base of your jaw to your ear, slowly combing through your hair as he cupped the back of your head. It was breathless and loving, unlike any kiss you’d had before. You lost yourself within his embrace and it was only when he bit your bottom lip, pulling you closer and tilting your head that you were able to catch your breath. In doing so, you moved your hand to his shoulder and forced yourself to pull apart, deep breaths taking over you both and fogging up the windows surrounding you.

“That was—” you started, your focus still lingering on his mouth.

“Worth the wait,” he finished, resting his forehead on yours. He grinned and leaned back in again to steal two more kisses from your lips before you pushed yourself off of him again, giggling.

“Steve,” you protested as he turned his head and began gently placing kisses along your jawline and down to your neck. “Steve, we’ve still got to go in and get those peanuts or everyone’s going to get suspicious.”

“Who gives a shit about what they think,” Steve said in-between kisses. “We’re alone now. I’ve finally got you all to myself, and I don’t want to waste a second of that.”

You felt a jolt of electricity tingle in your head and it softened your eyes. You could just forget about everything for a while—enjoy they fact that Steve Harrington was here, kissing you after professing his crush. And wouldn’t that be enough?

You grabbed Steve’s head, pulling him up so you could look him soundly in the eyes. His hair was messy, his pupils blown, and his lips plump from kissing you. He looked almost feral—flushed and salacious—but still soft, comforting, gentle. “I promise,” you stroked his cheek with your thumb, doing your best to hold his attention. “I won’t let you waste any second you’re with me. But there will be so much more time for that if we get what we came for and go back to your place. Steve,” you gave him a quick kiss, reminding him you were still there with him, “the quicker we do this, the quicker I can show you just how long I’ve waited for you.”

Steve stared at you, his eyes trained on yours.

“Because there’s only so much I can show you in a car. It’s…a little cramped. I expect your bed will accommodate many more things.”

He pulled himself from your grasp at that, and you watched as your words ignited a fire in him. “Pancakes or French toast for breakfast?” He said, opening up the car door and swinging his leg out. “Come on, Ms. Henderson. Let’s go! Move your ass, we’ve got things to take care of. Mainly…me.”

“As you wish,” you chuckled as you opened the door and stepped out in the cold night air.

…

Halloween was Saturday. The Byers were throwing a party because the kids all complained they were too old for trick-or-treating, and you and Steve had decided to go in on a couples costume as The Princess Bride herself and The Dread Pirate Roberts.

Steve was more excited about it than you—he hadn’t stopped telling everyone about how much he loved the film (even though Robin, sick of hearing him quote the movie endlessly at her, threatened to push him down a hill if he didn’t stop it at work), and he was quick to ask you about doing couples costumes once he stopped prompting make-out sessions.

“I didn’t take Steve Harrington for one wanting to do couples costumes.” You said when he’d asked you.

“What can I say?” He responded, hand on his hip. “I like to surprise people. Plus I’ve been thinking about all the things I used to be—who I was in high school—really wasn’t who I wanted to be. It was all some deliberate attempt to be someone my father wanted me to be. Everything that people say you should care about, it’s all just bullshit. When I’m with you, I feel like I can drop the bullshit and just be myself. And myself is someone who wants to do a couples costume with you from a really good movie.”

You stepped closer to him and grabbed his hand, kissing his cheek and smiling. “That is why I started liking you in the first place. Because I watched you challenge yourself to be the best possible version of you that you could be.”

Steve blushed. “Turns out all I needed was a thump on the head to change my life. And I’m grateful for it every single damn day.”

You cupped his face and rubbed your thumb along his cheek before pulling him into a hug. “I am too.”

“I’ll see you and Dustin after my shift tonight.” He said, breaking away from the hug. “You’re going to have to tell me how you convinced Matty to give you the best shifts when I get there.”

You laughed. “I don’t get the best shifts. I just get lucky. I also don’t spend half of my shift trying to flirt with you, Steve.”

Steve shifted his stance. “You saying you want me to stop, Henderson?”

“No,” you chuckled. “I’m just saying Matty doesn’t do love-sick.” And love-sick was probably the best way to describe Steve ever since last Thursday. It was almost like he couldn’t get his fill of you—stolen glances as you two put movies back on shelves; winks and nods while on lunch; a stealthy grabbing of your hand as he walked you to his car at the end of a shift, a passionate kiss sometimes on the hood that left you both aching for something more.

Those days were the best, because as he drove you back home, anticipatory for intimacy, you’d talk. About your day, about your struggles and excitements and plans for the not-so-distant future dates you’d take. The make-out sessions you’d had in his car were amazing (Steve was an excellent kisser. More importantly, he was good with his hands. The way he’d cup your face, his thumb on your jawline, fingers behind your ear. How it slowly slid back until he held the base of your skull and moved your head so he could get the best angle. How his other hand carefully caressed your back and slid to your hips…or sometimes…sometimes, when the day had been particularly stressful, he’d reach around and lift up the side of your shirt to cup your breast, teasing your nipple in such a way that it would send a wave of pleasure through you and create a small hitch in your breath that always produced a toothy smirk from him. This was, of course, followed by a pull on your lips so forceful it dragged your entire head forward and allowed the kiss to become deeper—his mouth opening yours and his tongue finding its way inside. You’d get him back, though. After the kiss deepened, you’d push him backward and climb on top of him, running your fingers through his ridiculously perfect hair; starting at the base of his neck and grabbing and pulling it slightly once your whole hand had found its way into the feathered layers. Then you’d grind into him a little bit until you could feel the bulge in his pants, give him your own deepened kiss until you could hear him moan, and then…excuse yourself off of him, kiss him one last time—soundly on his cheek or forehead or a peck on the lips—and bid him goodnight, enjoying the dazed and confused look he gave as he watched you walk up to the front door and blow him a kiss before stepping inside) but those conversations before then were something even better. You’d always been close to Steve, but this was new territory. And it felt…right.

“Lucky, sure.” Steve picked up a bunch of VHS tapes and walked over to an aisle. “I’ll see you tonight, Ms. Henderson.”

…

“Hey,” Dustin called through your closed door, knocking once before letting himself in. “I just need a bit of help getting my hair just right.”

You looked him up and down, smiling at your brother’s costume. “Han Solo. I am guessing Suzie is Leia?”

“Yeah. We’re going to be calling each other later tonight to watch Empire Strikes Back together over the phone.” He sighed, sitting down on your vanity chair. “But for now, I’d like some help getting my hair to be less curls, more poof.”

You chuckled and moved towards him to help. “No problem.”

“Are you and Steve going as Princess Buttercup and Westley? Your costume looks spot-on.”

“We are. And thanks, Steve sewed it himself.”

Dustin broke away from your comb and turned to face you. “Steve knows how to sew?”

“He took Home Economics our sophomore year to impress some girls and wound up actually enjoying it. Says it was worth the entire class because now he knows how to hem his pants and cook basic meals—which he also thought doubled his chance at being able to woo women.” You turned Dustin back to face the mirror and started to brush out his curls again, taming them with whatever product you could find so they fanned out around his face.

“I have heard the ladies love a man who knows how to cook,” he said, watching you work in the mirror, a giant grin on his face.

“Ladies love a man that knows how to take care of themselves, Dustin. That’s like…bare minimum qualification. Know how to take care of yourself, which includes being able to ask for help when you need it. And, suffice to say little brother, you’ve got that down.” You applied some hair spray to the top of Dustin’s head and leaned down so your face was right next to his. “Suzie is one lucky lady to have a guy like you.”

“Thanks,” his face turned a light shade of red. “But I feel like I’m the lucky one.” He took one last look in the mirror before he got up and headed toward your door. “I’ll be downstairs with Steve, attempting to calm mom down about us leaving for the night. But don’t take too long. I’m starving, and Argyle is supposed to be bringing pizza. I want to get there before there’s nothing but pineapple left.”

You smiled. “Be down in a minute, then.”

It was time for the final check. You walked over to your mirror to look at your reflection. Buttercup’s head piece was neatly pinned into the cheap wig you’d picked up and her belt was securely wrapped around your waist. The bottom of the bright red dress was hemmed perfectly so that it fell down at your ankles and you smiled in spite of yourself, feeling like an actual princess. You only got to see Steve’s costume once while he was giving you yours, but it wasn’t on him—just casually draped over the back of a chair. In fact, the only part of the ‘costume’ you’d gotten to see at all was the thin little mustache Steve had been growing since you agreed to do the couples costume. It was a good look for him, actually.

A final brush of your dress and you opened your door.

“Dustin said you were almost ready, but to try and convince you to come down faster so he wouldn’t be stuck with pine—wow.” Steve took a step back from your door, glancing at you up and down. “That dress really. It really works for you.”

You grinned and looked down at the dress. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

Steve regained his composure and took a bow. “At your service. M’lady.”

You giggled and pushed past him, heading for the stairs. You could have stayed there, in your doorway, eyeing him up and down in that costume though. His pants were a little tighter than the ones Cary Elwes wore, and the thread that was supposed to lightly fasten the top of his shirt was loose, exposing the top of his chest hair. He’d yet to put on the mask and black cloth around his hair, but that was what made it better. But if you did that, you knew you’d never get to the party on time and Dustin would berate you for missing the non-pineapple pizza for the next three weeks.

“Let’s get going to the party, less Han over here gets stuck with pineapple pizza,” you called out as you descended the staircase. “We’ll be home late tonight, mom. If you desperately need us, call the Byers.”

“Finally!” Dustin threw his hands up and opened up the front door. “Let’s go, Harrington! Get your ass down here so we can leave.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your panties in a twist, Henderson.” Steve said, trailing out the door and unlocking his car. “We still have to pick up Robin and Vicki.”

You followed them both out, blowing a kiss to your mom before shutting the door behind you and heading towards Steve’s car.

“Why are you always the chauffeur?” Dustin asked, opening up the backseat and sliding in.

“You know, Henderson? I ask myself that same god damn question every single time I get in my car.” The engine roared to life. “If you—either of you—want to tell me how I ended up with this job, I’d really like to know.”

…

Hopper opened up the door, his skin painted green and a brown suit swimming on his body. “Glad you kids could make it!” He said, moving to the side to let you all in. “Argyle’s late with the pizza, but we’ve broken out snacks until he gets here.”

“Thanks, Hopper.” Dustin said, pushing past him. “Good to know I won’t miss out on the good pizza.”

You smiled as you walked past Hopper, your hand holding Steve’s.

“Well, that’s new.” Hooper closed the door and turned back around to face you. “When did this happen?”

“A couple weeks ago,” Steve said, gripping your hand tighter. “But it’s been a long time coming.”

Hopper laughed. “I know the feeling. Joyce is around here somewhere, make sure you tell her the party’s going great. She’s been on edge since this morning about decorations and party games. Even though I told her you kids were probably just going to end up playing that game you guys always play. Or watching whatever monster flick is on the tube tonight.”

“Will do, Herman.” You nodded your head at Hop, letting a single chuckle escape your mouth.

“And here I thought you kids wouldn’t get The Munsters reference.” Hopper smoothed down his jacket, grabbing it by the lapels once done.

You smiled and pulled Steve forward into the living room, where you found everyone else sitting around, talking.

“I see Buttercup and Westley have made their grand entrance, finally.” Eddie said, standing up from his seat to walk over to you. “M’Lady,” he made a swift bow when he reached you, his hair falling down in front of his face and his arm raised behind him. “Glad to see that you could make it with Harrington, in matching costume, no less.”

Steve pushed Eddie back slightly on the shoulder and grinned. “Looks like we’re not the only one in matching costume.” He pointed towards Chrissy, who was busy talking to Nancy.

“Aragorn and Arwen, from Tolkien’s masterpiece, dude.” Eddie grinned, his face going soft when he looked at Chrissy. “I sent her with all the books to read while at State. She’s really gotten into them. She’s the one who suggested we go as Aragorn and Arwen, and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to dress as the great Strider.”

Steve’s expression turned into one you recognized as confusion. “This is like, related to that Mordor thing, isn’t it?”

“Lord of The Rings, Harrington.” Eddie patted him on the back. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty.”

“Alright!” You clapped your hands, walking farther into the room. “Who’s ready to finally have some fun for once?”

“I know I am,” you turned to see Max approach you, dressed as Freddy Kruger—or, at least you thought that’s what she was going as from the looks of her sweater and hat.

“Bit too much on the nose, don’tcha think, Red?” Eddie sat down next to Chrissy, who beamed up at him, and wrapped his arm around her.

“Thought it was funny. Plus I wanted an excuse to wear a sweater and jeans,” Max said, plopping down on the couch across from where you stood. “Lucas wanted us to do a couples costume this year, but he and I couldn’t agree on one we both liked. So, I chose Freddie Kruger, and he—”

“Decided to go as The Terminator,” Lucas finished, walking into the room wearing a leather jacket and a pair of sunglasses. “I ran out of time at the last minute because someone didn’t want to do The Breakfast Club with me.”

“Sorry Lucas,” Max said. “But I’m no princess. No offense,” she added, looking at you and Chrissy.

“Oh, none taken, Max! Truth be told,” Chrissy said, adjusting her legs so they no longer crossed. “I always hated being shoved into that princess stereotype, so I understand. Before I met you guys, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to break it.”

“With that roundhouse you’ve got,” Eddie beamed, “I never doubted for a second you were anything but a terrifying badass.”

“Yeah Chrissy,” Dustin chimed in. “Who’d a thought you could take out so many demobats with backflips and cheer movies. Most metal thing I’ve ever seen.”

Chrissy blushed, tucking away a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. “Thanks guys. And also, just for the record, Arwen isn’t a princess. She’s the daughter of Elrond; Lady of Rivendell and later Queen of the Reunited Kingdom.”

Eddie placed a kiss to the side of Chrissy’s head. “That’s my girl.”

You chuckled and shook your head, turning to face Max. “Believe me, Max. I don’t think anyone here is princess material, despite their costumes.”

“I thought about being a princess,” El chimed in, her hair piled in curls on top of her head. “But then Mike and I went to see Alien and I thought I would make a much better Ellen Ripley.”

You turned to get a better look at El and realized she was in a near-perfect replica jumpsuit, complete with a stuffed cat and plastic gun slung around her.

“You make an excellent Ripley, El,” Lucas said, opening up a piece of candy from the table in the middle of the room. “You’d also give her a run for her money. Not that I think you two would fight. But….that might be a cool match to see.”

You leaned over to Steve to let him know you were going to go grab something to drink before walking out of the living room and towards the kitchen. The Byers’ house was a lot bigger now that Hopper and Joyce were living together and you could tell it was slowly becoming well-loved. Pictures hung up in the hallway on your way there: Will smiling as he was painting, Jonathan contemplating in the background; El and Will sitting on the couch reading together; Jonathan and El sitting on the floor of the living room, headphones on and listening to music; Joyce and Hopper smiling and looking at each other, snow on the ground with Christmas lights in the background; all five of the found family laughing around a table covered in pumpkin guts from last year’s Halloween. It was comforting to know that they were able to create a sense of normalcy again after all the trauma they’d endured the past couple of years.

“Princess Buttercup.” Will’s voice, now deeper than it had been just a summer ago, caught you off guard as you entered the kitchen.

“Luke Skywalker.” You took a step back, your head tilted to get a better look at his costume.

Will smiled before pulling down on the black sweater he was wearing. “I’m glad you know who I am.”

“I’m sorry sweetie,” Joyce bent down and put a glass pan that appeared to be full of cheese inside the oven. “I’m sure he’s a wonderful character from that film series you and Jonathan won’t stop talking about. I’m just a little preoccupied at the moment.”

“Mrs. Byers,” you said, as you took a step closer to her, “do you need any help with that?”

“Sweetheart,” she replied, adjusting her long, black wig that had fallen forward on her face. “I’ve told you—all of you kids, actually—Joyce is just fine. Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got it handled!”

“She’s just making some nachos to tide us over until Argyle gets here, whenever that may be.” Will said as he walked over to the kitchen table to put on a belt. “I could use your help with this, though. I couldn’t find a scabbard to wear, but I did manage to construct Luke’s lightsaber and belt just right. I even found a pair of boots at the thrift shop that work. But…I can’t seem to get it on without help.”

“No problem,” you stepped forward and turned Will around to help attach the belt.

“I’m guessing that Steve is dressed as Westley?” Will questioned, his head turning slightly to the side to see your face.

“Yeah. It was his idea too. He’s seen the movie something like three times now and convinced me we’d be the perfect Buttercup and Westley.”

Will let out a small laugh. “I’m glad you guys are going out. It was painfully obvious to everyone else that you two needed to end up together—”

“God, every single time we had Murray over for dinner he wouldn’t stop talking about putting you both in a room rother until you came out a couple.” Joyce called from the pantry, interrupting Mike mid-sentence and causing you to raise your eyebrows. “I knew eventually you two would work it out—like Hop and I did—because god knows Murray doesn’t need to control everyone’s love life around here.”

“I like Murray well enough, but she’s got a point.” Will said, holding his belt up as you gave it one last adjustment before turning him around to face you. “We all knew you’d wind up together one way or another. Except maybe Mike. He still thinks Robin and Vicki are just friends.”

You snorted a laugh. Robin had come out to the group a little after what happened last spring, right before Steve helped her get the courage to ask Vicki out. Everyone took it pretty well—especially Will and Eddie, who hugged her excessively when she was trembling her way through her speech—but Mike had just sort of stood there, unable to grasp what it was Robin was saying. “He’s very dense. Nice, but…”

“Yeah,” Will sighed, stepping back and smoothing out his pants. “Thanks for helping me. Though I’m sure that’s not what you came into the kitchen for in the first place.”

You blink, trying to remember what it was that you came in here for. “Coke.” You finally blurt out, your thoughts distracted by the tone in Will’s voice.

Will turned and headed over to the fridge to pull out a can for you, his arm stretched out as he comes back. You wavered a bit before you decided to reach out and pull him into a hug, your arms clasping around his back, his hand still outstretched, holding a Coke. Everyone had been through a lot over the years, but it was always Will that seemed to need a little more comforting than everyone ese. You knew Jonathan would always be there for him, and since Eddie had met him, he’d made sure Will knew he was accepted into the Hellfire club. But still. Maybe it was just the sister instinct that took over when you were around Will that made you want to comfort him. “Thanks Will.” You pulled back from him and smiled, grabbing the Coke out of his hand. “Make sure Dustin see’s your outfit. I have a feeling he’ll go bananas over it.”

Joyce walked out of the pantry, a bag of tortilla chips in her hand. “Happy again to hear about you and Steve, sweetheart. These nachos should be done in a couple minutes, make sure to let everyone know there’s something here in lieu of pizza.”

“Will do, Mrs. Munster.” You smiled.

“Lily.” Joyce corrected.

You laughed as you walked out of the kitchen and back towards the living room.

“Robin and Vicki did a couples costume! We could have had the whole Breakfast Club!” You heard Lucas shout as you entered the room. You saw in the corner that Robin and Vicki had finally made their way into the Byers house (they opted to stay in the car to get ready, as when you went to pick them up, neither one of them had costumes on), and you couldn’t help but wonder why they were dressed as Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald from The Breakfast Club of all things.

“Feel free not to answer,” you said, walking up to the two ladies. “But The Breakfast Club?”

Vicki smiled and placed her hand on Robin’s shoulder. “Your idea, so you explain it to her.”

Robin took a sip from the cup she was holding and closed her eyes. “So,” she began, her voice competing with the sound of the music someone had put on while you were gone, “you’ve seen the movie, right? There’s that scene, in the end, where Molly Ringwald’s character takes Ally Sheedy to the side and completely redoes her make up. Which, first of all, didn’t need to be done. Because she was just fine the way she was. But, more importantly, she did the make up the way she though would make her look better. It was soooo intense. And it just, clicked? You know? They totally could have been a couple. The princess and the oddball. It’s a huge literary trope, so, why couldn’t it be like that with the two of them? Honestly, that whole film could have been the gateway into making gay history. I mean, it’s clearly an undertone of the entire film. It’s subtext—”

“Robin, sweetheart,” Vicki chimed in, placing a hand on Robin’s shoulder. “The film did a pretty good job with the written material, regardless of the subtext. Not that your theory isn’t fascinating. But…I thought Claire’s make-over for Allison was nice. All she did was wash her face and pull her hair up so you could see her eyes. I liked how simple it was.”

“Vicki, Vicki, Vicki,” Robin said, turning to face her girlfriend. “You’re missing the point. We’ve talked over this! It’s—”

Vicki placed a finger on Robin’s lips. “Okay, smartypants. I secede. Why don’t we go and get something to eat? I’ve been smelling nachos for the past five minutes, and I want to grab some before the teenaged boys do and leave nothing left for us.”

Robin smiled. “Yes. I am famished.” She turned back to face you, her hand now captured in Vicki’s. “As for you, don’t think I didn’t notice how you’re dressed up as Buttercup when Steve is Westley. You and I will have a chat about that later! I know I can convince you to have him stop quoting that damn movie all the time!”

Vicki tugged at Robin’s arm and the two headed back to the kitchen.

You went to go and stand next to Steve, who was sitting on the arm of the chair next to Dustin, watching Michael Jackson’s Thriller video on the TV, when the front door opened.

“Happy Halloween, brochacos,” Argyle said, walking through the front door, bringing with him the scent of pizza and weed. “I’ve brought the pizza and Halloween because I think it’s absolutely the right way to go about today.” He set down five pizza boxes on the couch and held up a VHS. “And one of those pies has pineapple, my guys. May I remind you again, try before you deny.”

El smiled. “I enjoy pineapple on my pizza, Argyle. But I do not understand your costume.”

Argyle laughed. “I am Brand from The Goonies, my alien fighting friend.” He snapped at his red head band. “Please tell me someone here has shown her the greatest movie of our time.”

“I’ll make sure she sees it, Argyle.” Will said, walking over towards El. “It’s one of my favorites. It’s about a group of kids that go on a treasure hunt in order to save their home. Mikey’s optimism got me through the worst of the nightmares after last spring. He just. Reminds me of someone I know. I think you’ll really like it.”

“If Will says it’s a good movie,” El said, “then I will be sure to watch it, Argyle. But first…pizza.”

“Second on that,” Nancy said, moving out from her corner and towards the couch, adjusting her sweater and corduroy pants. “Thanks for bringing the pizza, Argyle.”

“Totally no problemo, Nance. Or should I say…?”

“Oh, I’m Carrie Fisher’s character in The Blues Brothers. Jake is around here somewhere.” Nancy said, picking up the gun she’d placed on the floor.

You looked closely at the gun, your eyebrows raising when you realized—

“Excellent prop gun, Nance!” Argyle smiled, his entire face beaming with joy for a moment before his eyebrows crossed. “Right?”

Eddie snickered from the corner. “Guess again, my friend.”

“Can’t be too lenient around here, even if things have quieted down. Had to work this thing into my costume somehow. It was easy enough to dress Jonathan up in a suit, too. Plus,” Nancy walked over to the pizza, opened the box, and took out a slice. “I just like Carrie Fisher.”

“Me too,” Argyle said, his smile returning to his face. “I don’t know if I would have gotten that one right away. Not like Westley and Buttercup over there from the second greatest movie of our time.”

“Thank you!” Steve said dramatically, raising his arms. “I am not the only one here with taste.”

“It’s not that you don’t have taste,” Robin walked over towards the pizza, a can of Coke in her hand from the kitchen. “It’s that you’re annoying about it.”

Steve just stared at her, his mouth slightly open, trying to think of something to say back to her.

“Aw man, just let it go. Best not to argue with Allison Reynolds.” Argyle slapped Steve on the back. “Which. Digging the costume, Robin. I take it Vicki is Claire, because of that whole make-up scene, right?”

“Argyle,” Robin said, opening up the pizza box with pineapple and grabbing a slice. “You have excellent taste.”

“Thanks, dude. Now,” Argyle slapped Steve on the back again, causing him to flinch slightly. “Why don’t you and your princess come grab a slice of pineapple before it’s all gone. My taste extends beyond that of film!”

You grabbed Steve’s hand and walked over to grab a slice of pizza together, enjoying the atmosphere of being surrounded by your friends.

…

“You seem a decent fellow,” Steve said, circling the table in the middle of the living room. “I hate to die.”

You watched as Steve and Dustin continued to circle each other, Steve holding up his plastic sword and Dustin his plastic blaster. Everyone was in various degrees of watching them—Eddie was enthralled by their performance while Robin and Vicki had left the room completely after Steve brought out the movie quotes.

“This is such a boring conversation,” Dustin stopped circling and held up his blaster. “Besides, ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side.”

“There is something I ought to tell you,” Steve said, his sword now in front of his face—which had lost the mask and bandana long ago, giving his hair a wild look to it.

“Oh? As long as it’s not the odds. Never tell me the odds.” Dustin motioned his plastic blaster so it dropped a little.

“Get used to disappointment.” Steve lunged forward at the exact time Dustin began making blaster sounds and ran his sword under Dustin’s arm.

“Laugh,” Dustin choked, dramatically falling to his knees. “It,” he dropped his blaster and looked down at the floor before lying down, the sword still sticking out from his armpit. “Up,” he coughed. “Fuzzball.” Dustin closed his eyes and curled up, faking his death like the dramatic kid he was.

You clapped. “Alright, can we please head out now? Some of us have to work in the morning, you know.”

Steve turned to you, his expression of satisfaction still plastered on his face.

“You’re really not going to mourn the death of your own brother?” Dustin said, looking up at you from the floor.

“I shouldn’t need to mourn. Han Solo doesn’t miss. Maybe you should have dressed as a Stormtrooper,” you joked, watching Dustin’s brow furl. “Kidding. I’m very sad for you, Dustin. But I also really just want to take a shower and get to bed. It’s almost eleven. Half the party is gone, anyway.”

Besides Robin, Vicki, Eddie, and Chrissy, everyone had trickled out of the Byer’s house throughout the night.

“Your sister’s right, Henderson,” Steve said, walking over to you and wrapping his arm around your shoulder. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to call Suzie tonight or something?”

Dustin shot up. “She’s gonna kill me if I’m late! Movie’s on at midnight.” He rushed to the door. “Robin! Vicki! Let’s go! Thanks for the party, Mrs. Byers! See you at Hellfire, Will!”

You shook your head and waited for everyone to say their thank you’s and goodbyes before walking out and getting into Steve’s car. You dropped Robin and Vicki off first, then turned the radio on and enjoyed the ambiance of Halloween decorations to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. When you finally pulled into your driveway, Dustin shot out of the car, barely thanking Steve as he ran into the house to call Suzie.

“That kid has it bad,” Steve said, shutting off the engine.

“Suzie’s good for him, I think.” You said, shifting to look at Steve. “I’m glad he’s found someone.”

“I’m glad I found you,” Steve said, pulling you in for a kiss. “Thanks for being my Buttercup tonight and every night.”

You smiled. “I’m glad I found you too, Steve. Thanks for being my Westley, babysitter boy.”

Steve chuckled as you opened up your car door and got out. “I’ll see you later.” You blew him a kiss and headed for your front door, a faint mumble from Steve barely hitting your ears.

…

Turns out, a hot shower after a long night can also wake you up considerably. You were lucky enough to have a bathroom attached to your room; it made the transition of getting out and getting dressed easier.

Or so you thought.

“There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world,” Steve said, lying on top of your bed, his arms behind his head. “T’would be a pity to damage yours.”

You stood in the bathroom doorway, robe halfway on, your hair tied up. “Steve?”

“Guilty as charged.”

“What—how—why—HOW did you get into my room?”

“You keep your windows unlocked. I’ve been plotting a route up here for days, ever since you agreed to do Princess Bride costumes. I wanted to surprise you.”

You stared at him, open mouth, not paying attention to your robe as it slowly opened up more. He smiled at you wider, sitting up a little on your bed. “Too much? Too cheesy?”

You shook your head and grasped at your robe, pulling it tighter (causing Steve’s smile to fade a bit). “Steve, I watched as you and Dustin made pew-pew and clanking noises for five minutes. I don’t think it was too cheesy.”

He sat back, relieved.

“Besides,” you walked over to your bed and sat down on the other side. “What I like most about you is your cheesiness.”

Steve quickly turned his head towards you and scoffed. “I am not—”

“Steve. You’re cheesy. Charming. Gallant and almost stoic to a fault. Maybe not the most gracious with words or coordination…but that is why I love you.”

Steve looked at you, his mouth a straight line. “Ms. Henderson,” he began, sitting up once again. “I believe you’ve just said something there is no going back from.”

You blinked. “I did?”

He smirked and scootched closer to you. “You looooooove me.”

You felt your cheeks grow hot—not just because you were embarrassed, but because you hadn’t planned on telling him on accident. There were three options you could go with now. Option one: playfully hit him and deny it. Option two: kiss him to shut him up. Option three: disrobe and distract him completely.

You knew which option it had to be.

You faced him and gently reached up to cup his cheek, pulling him closer to you. “Steve Harrington, I have loved you since the first day you brought Dustin home with a smile on his face. I love your charm, and your determination, and how incredibly stupid you can be, risking your life for everyone in an attempt to always be a better version of yourself.” You kept eye contact with him, watching him as he watched you. “You may act like you don’t care, or that you’re too cool, or that you hate being the babysitter, but I know you Steve. And I love what I see.” You reached up to run your fingers to the back of his head, your eyes flicking between his and his lips. “I love you, Steve Harrington.”

This kiss was different than the ones you’ve had in the past. It was more passionate—more pure; it left all the others behind Steve would quote to you later on—and left you feeling light headed. Slowly, you found yourself crawling up on your knees. He grabbed at your waist and pulled you flush against him, one hand pawing at the small of your back and the other cradling the back of your head, reaching up to loosen your hair so it cascaded down and tickled your ears. You turned your head to deepen the kiss, your hands digging into his hair to keep a semblance of keeping upright. Ultimately this was useless as you found yourself melting into him, sighing unapologetically as he nipped at your bottom lip. He reached his hand up to cup your face and pulled apart for the briefest of seconds before he lightly kissed you once; twice; three times before resting his forehead on yours, his breathing faster in effort to catch his breath.

His eyes remain closed, but yours looked at him gently, your cheeks red and your mouth slightly agape.

“You know, Ms. Henderson,” he opened his eyes finally and flicked them up to match yours, a cheeky smile growing on his puffy lips. “I love you too.”

You leaned in to give him another kiss, soft and gentle, the smile on your face growing wider. “You know,” you said, breaking away from the kiss, much to Steve’s disappointment. “Since you went through all that trouble of recreating the scene where Westley comes to rescue Buttercup…”

Steve gently fixed your hair behind your ear, his eyes only leaving yours for a minute. You reached up to place your hand on top of his before placing it back down across his chest. You smirk. He had less than a second to register as you pushed him down on the bed, straddled him, and reached for the belt of your robe, loosening it. “Why not really give into the scene?”

Steve’s mouth closed shut as his eyes moved up and down on you, watching as you leaned forward and began to kiss him, starting with his forehead and working your way down to the two tiny little moles along his jawline.

“Gently,” he whispered, his hands on your hips.

“At a time like this, that’s all you can think of to say? Gently?” You tuck one hand behind his head and lift him up slightly, grabbing his mouth in yours.

“Gently,” he said again before you released him from your kiss, his head knocking against the headboard of your bed. “Ouch.”

You giggled. “That’s for Robin. Stop quoting the movie to her at work so much.”

Steve took a hand off of you and rubbed at the back of his head. “Fine,” he said, scooting himself down further so his head was at the bottom of the pillow. “I’d much rather hear you quote the movie to me anyway. It’s hot…”

You placed a finger over his mouth and smirked before leaning back down to kiss him again. “As you wish.”

[jjungkookislife]

So Secret is finally over, let me just go cry in the corner real quick 😫😭🤧 but nevertheless, I really loved reading about these friends and couples 🥰 I’m going to miss this chaotic group 🥹 I still remember when I first read this and was left with the cliffhanger of MC and Chim having that fallout, I was so devastated but was so hopeful for it to only get better since you promised us a happy ending for them. I was always so excited when you update it and remember how amazed I was with how well you make the social media chapters. And now we’re here 🥺 I love how the gang is finally reunited 🥳 Tae being sulky for not being picked as best man and going through Jk’s legs to join the group hug was just so him 😂 And Jk being such an excited bunny and the OG cheerleader of MCxJimin is so heartwarming to see 🥹 This was such a great ending to their story, I’m so gonna miss this group 🤧 Hoping to see glimpses of their future thru future drabbles🤞but only if you feel like it of course, it’s completely fine if you just want to end it this way 😊 Thank you for this amazing story and I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us soon 😌 I’m especially excited for the TLC continuation, I still remember how you made me feel with its ending 🙃 lol

I hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself 💜

I really loved this series it just took a lot out of me 😅 I don’t think I’ll be doing another social media au bc it’s hard and I didn’t have it all pre written like leave it all behind 🥹

I definitely enjoyed writing Tae and jungkook in this lol both chaotic energies 🤣

I’m happy with the way it ended but I’d be happy to have requests for this couple during drabble nights 👀

I’m excited to post the last part of TLC I just need to edit it. 😅 I can’t believe it took so long to finish when the first part I wrote, edited, and posted in 12 hours 😭 but I am happy with the way part 2 turned out and I’m excited to post in a few weeks. I’ve updated my WIPs page after ages so I can focus on those. I’d like to get back into shadow later in the year and ofc I need to plan a fic for Jungkook’s birthday. I havent missed one since i joined the fandom and at this point its tradition to have a little something for him

I am doing well, I’ve been sleeping a lot and taking my vitamins which seems to be working for me 😅 I hope you’re doing well and I hope you enjoy TLC

[ismahanescorner]

These Violent Delights | Book Review

Author: Chloe Gong

Series: These Violent Delights

Genre: YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Historical Fiction

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Release Date: 17/11/2020

Rating: 2/5 🌟🌟

Synopsis:

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

Review:

Okay y’all! Strap in for a long-winded review, that’s mostly me ranting about how much I hate hype!!!  So we all know the hype that surrounded this book around its release. I fell for it!! and all the pretty aesthetically pleasing edits and fanart. ffs I got the book; and the sequel, before I even finished the 1st!! 🥴😩

Anyways, I started this book back in March 2022 and it was going fine. I dropped it for another read around chapter 10/12, cuz it wasn’t gripping me like the girlies said it would. I picked it up again a few weeks later, and read up to chapter 16, then stopped again! That time around, I shelved as restart cuz I felt I wasn’t giving it all the attention it deserves so I can enjoy it fully like all the girlies did!!!  Well, fast-forward to this weekend! I got the audio on Libby and I restarted it. Again, I liked the first few chapters, then got bored outta my mind once I hit the tens chapters! Literally, from chapter 13 to 28, I tried my hardest to actively listen and not to let my inner monologue take over! All I could think about was: “damn! this! this! was marvellous to y’all?” “I’m boooooredddd!!” “how am I gonna explain the 2 star I’ll rate this book?”  Honestly, I’m so disappointed, because I didn’t hate this book (per se), I just feel fooled by the hype! 

Now, onto the actual review! This book had sooo much potential! Unfortunately, the execution fell short! The setting, the characters, the plot, they are all very intriguing and make for a great mystery or a romantic suspense novel. However, this was marketed as a fantasy!! Why??  It offered a good commentary on capitalism and colonialism, but even those parts were neither cohesive, nor coherent, nor did they mesh-in well with the plot!  Honestly, this novel woulda been much better if it was 150 pages shorter and didn’t rattle on and on all throughout the middle chapters. The first few chapters did averagely well setting up the plot and the last few also did averagely well as a closure; but those middle chapters just bored me outta my mind. Where was the editor?? So much of this book was unnecessary!  Another thing I really didn’t like was the reveal in the epilogue! I had hope that maybe the sequel is gonna be different and I’ll actually enjoy it. However, that final reveal makes it very clear that book two is gonna be just like book one. The only difference will be Roma hating (rightfully holding a grudge against) Juliette!  I’m just soooo disappointed! but since I own the sequel I’ll probably be reading it!

[thecagedjester]

what the fuck do you think dawg

the comments!!

person 1: well obviously what is this question

me: people stay asking dumb stuff in my forms

person 1: not me though i just flirt with you once everyday

me: youre not the only one 😒

different thread!!

person 2: oh

me: was this you

person 2: no way 😞

different thread!!

person 3: lowkey

person 3: anyways i’m gonna t0ng^3 your perfect h0l3

(i censored this cus i dont know what might get me banned or smth- so im just being safe.)

me: I BEG YOUR FUCKING PARDON?

me: WHAT?

me: HOW THE FREAKY DEAKY DO I REPLY TO THIS?

me: UHHH

me: ig ill just say uh- ah ah please oh my fod pleasse- IDK MAN

different thread!!

person 4: people are so fucking stupid yeah no fucking shit its sa omg

me: literally

different thread!!

person 5: obviously not :/ /sar

me: wait what- yes the fweak it is chat

person 5: do you not see the /sar on there

person 5: that means sarcastic

me: OHHHH- MY BAD GANG IM A LIL SLOW (by little, i mean a lot..)

different thread!!

person 6: is it lowkey sa if you get touched as a child idk I can't tell

different thread!!

person 7: fellas, is it sa to sa?

different thread!!

person 8: why does this need to be asked

different thread!!

person 9: Yall, is it low-key SA if you get r@p3d,I'm just like... At a loss

different thread!!

person 10: oh !

different thread!!

person 11: why do ppl ask you or confess the strangest shit 😭

me: for the confession part or your question: thats literally the ENTIRE POINT OF THIS FORM…but then later i edited the form to say confessions or tell me stuff- or smth around that. and for the last part of your question: because its funnyyyyy

different thread!!

person 12: this mf wants attention So bad

me: usually id agree- but i got SA’d, so im gonna defend them- literally shut up. they might have literally *NOBODY* else to talk to this about

person 12: then get a therapist? 💀☠️

me: therapy is kinda expensive. well, atleast where i live.

person 12: and that is?

me: america?

person 12: no your address

me: IM NOT GIVING YOU MY FUCKING ADDRESS?

person 12: aw worth a try

[thatpunkmaximoff]

[Book One of Three]

Story: 3 out of 5 Smut: 1 out of 5

If you’re one who can look past some very obvious (but not many!) mistakes, then this book was actually a pretty decent read.

There was a bit going on, but once you grasp how the world works then you’ll be hooked.

The highs and lows, twists and turns, left you anxiously wondering would happen next or what the hell one character was thinking to do what they did. Looking at you, Rio 😡

Now read my spoilery thoughts…

* Very much little mermaid vibes… just more darker.

* Lynne vowed she wouldn’t lose a bone and what did she do? She lost a bone. And Rio picked it up 😬

* Ahhh. A crime boss. I like Rio, but I’m not sure I like this writing style 🤔 Maybe I’ve read too much mafia romance and fantasy just isn’t my fav anymore…

* The Blood Queen is a bitch. And why doesn’t she want Lynne to know who her fuck buddy was..?

* Being sent to the Top World without a voice.. ? She’s definitely Ariel. And Rio is a gang leader instead of a charming prince.

* Lol. She chose a “dress” from her collection and was wondering why she was being gawked at while Too World. It was a fuckin’ negligee! That’s why everyone thought she was a sex worker 🤦🏻‍♀️

* So who the fuck is Baron? If it’s Rio, she’s fucked. He doesn’t let chicks get in his way and Fox apparently has dibs. If her dislike for Lynne already is anything to go by, she’s gonna be super pissed/jealous when Lynne and Rio start spending time together.

* ….and Rio’s fucked. Love at first sight? Already possessive? Yes, please.

* Dude, Rio’s kind of a dick. He unfortunately saw Lynne kill one of his men, accidentally, and wants to weaponize her now 🤦🏻‍♀️

* The tension! Oh man, he was showing her how to seduce a man… and yeahhhh… they’re both fucked 😂

* I love how protective he is already. He took her out to see if she could do parkour and she’s impressing him. I love it.

* “All right, I like that you can fight back. But I will always take the blows aimed at you, understand?” — and this is where I fall in love with Rio.

* Lol she whacked him with her shoe hard enough to draw blood 😂

* The betrayal! Rio’s best friend is a dick.

* Or not… 👀 Wtf is going on lol.

* How did C-Wax get in Lynne’s clutch? Is Fox really fucking with her or someone else…?

* The “sexting” is kind of awkward, but bearable.

* Then again, Lynne’s never done that before so, of course, her flirting is awkward.

* I think the author should have edited this again before sending it off. Twice I’ve seen two different sentences repeated a couple paragraphs later. It’s kind of cringe.

* “I may seem calm,” he said, “but I’ve already fucked you a hundred times in my mind.” — goddamn 🥵

* Wow. Lynne totally went Selene on Fish’s dead ass 😂 That leap + decapitation combo was totally inspired by Underworld. Calling it rn.

* Fuck. “Any” knows about the Underworld. He just outed Lynne to Rio. Fucking asshole.

* So “Any” has a deal with the Blood Queen too 🤦🏻‍♀️ He has a time limit to kill his sister’s murderer… and twice already Lynne’s caught him pointing a gun at Rio. Does he think Rio is responsible? Fuck that dude.

* Ugh. I hate Fox and her smug little attitude.

* Wait.. is Lynne “Aria” and she just not know it? Rio’s mentioned how she and “Any” look alike, and notices some familiar things about her that he shouldn’t because he’s never met Lynne before. What if she’s “Any’s” twin?!

* What the fuck, Rio. You betrayed Lynne?!

* Oh no. Lynne touched Rio with her bare hand.

* Who the fuck knocked her out?!

* Oh fuck. Rio can see Bory and hear Lynne now!

* I FUCKING CALLED IT! I knew Lynne was Aria, “Any’s” twin 😭

* Also, how dare the author end it like that.