#literally 5 mins from the end ugh

[llycaons]

ep13: oh, the misogyny

wwx is finding a way to DISCREETLY get the formation to rest for lwj, who is walking on a broken leg, and still jc is like 'what the fuck did you do now' like damn jc he can't do anything right. makes that post about jc hero-worshipping wwx and copying what he does and idolizing him even funnier

wwx and jc gossiping about wlj is so mean. of course she can't carry a sword, she never learned how! she was a maid. they're clearly judging her for sleeping her way into a position of power, but I see you wen chao I know it's more on you than on her

wwx falling down/out of/off things. first of many!

this is a really pretty shot ngl the water is lovely

wlj being positioned as the jealous, spiteful mistress using her power to harm a Good Woman is so shitty. they both were treated (in this arc) as one-dimensional tools to support the arcs of the men around the. wlj I know the writing did you dirty but you will always be a legend to ME for miss 'ghosts don't exist'

interesting moment - it's actually lwj who steps in to defend mm with jzx. wwx looks like he wants to, but jc shakes his head and wwx ultimately stays put. it's cool to see lwj and wwx trade off scenes that establish them as willing to defy authority and risk attack for the sake of protecting the vulnerable. it makes their ideals and goals feel truly mutual and balanced rather than wwx coming in and inspiring lwj to have a moral code (as is sometimes interpreted by fans)

this fight scene is genuinely REALLY fun and well-crafted. jzx and lwj have some sick moves, as do jc and wwx

WEI WUXIAN ICONIC MOMENTS. god I love it when he points out the hypocrisy of the great sects and the cultivation world. why is this scene never talked about! it's literally one of the best from him in this arc

again a TRAGEDY that this significant moment between them chalks up to an angsty subplot for wwx and lwj later on. it's a fucking good aspect of their relationship and it does compel me like lwj drunk-branding himself is INSANE and I'll never get over it but the misogyny 😭

wwx shot three arrows at once and took out wlj and mm's two guards without hitting mm herself LEGEND

she is literally the only wen with an understanding of how politics work

FAMOUS LAST WORDS. my dude you just locked the teenager who's going to torture you to death in a cave with the weapon he's going to use to do it

this is literally such a fucking funny joke. slept on. also wwx does take serious situations seriously but he also sometimes does this. I don't even blame jc for being like 'are you serious right now'

YOU ARE BOTH SO USELESS. SCREAM

of COURSE mm is the one to slip and cut her hand and release blood to awaken the monster. of course it had to be her

I'd say that she deserved better but honestly after this her arc really rules and she's one of the few characters to get a happy ending so I can't be too mad

this scene is wild. lwj jumps in and THROWS wwx behind him like 20 ft

jc yelling at wwx to be careful and promising to come back. aw man

also WHY ARE THEY ALL LEAVING. wouldn't it be much easier to kill the false xuanwu if they stay and work together? I don't think wwx even expected lwj to stay with him. he was really ready to stay there and fight it off alone and maybe die in the process. he's unwell!

okay this has always bothered me. WHERE DOES HE FIND THE STICKS THEY ARE UNDERGROUND

that underrobe is so beautiful purely on an aesthetic level ugh he has such good taste. also I like that you can see his bare skin under it like HOW hot was that branding iron jfc

EVIDENCE!!!! EVIDENCE for my 'wwx is intimidated by lwj's earnestness and his fears around commitment/the strength of his own feelings cause him to avoid his feelings because getting too attached/too serious is scary for him even tho deep down he craves it'

wwx casually asserting getting scars/being injured as a...sexy and impressive sort of triumph of masculinity (?) as a young teenager vs. his devastated expression seeing lwj's scars as an adult. he has so much to learn

this translation is so weird. just say inedia?

[hamiltonaf]

Payback | Kylian Mbappé

Pairing: Kylian Mbappé x Female Reader

Word Count: 2.4K

Warnings: Cursing

A/N: My apologies for not posting part 2 of ‘One More Dance’, I’ve been so busy and I’m currently working on it so hopefully it will be up soon. Inspo is from an old tiktok trend. Enjoy .xo

(Y/F/N) - Your Friend’s Name

The thud of heavy rain drops hitting against my window set the mood to do absolutely nothing today. Though it doesn't work like that today since I have an assignment due in a few days time. It would also be ideal to cuddle someone right about now but that's out of the question because of a certain someone.

After completing half of my assignment, which I was quite satisfied with, I decided to call it a day for work and take advantage of the gloomy weather.

Taking a look at Instagram was a bad idea since I came across rumours of Kylian dating another girl. So much for breaking up a month ago and wanting to 'focus on football'. His excuse still bothers me since it was a poor one after dating for almost 3 years. I don't see a change of performance on the pitch if I’m being honest. I guess everything happens for a reason, maybe we're just not meant to be.

I mean if he moved on then so should I, right ? It then hit me that I should spice things up and give something for people to talk about. We’ll excuse my petty behaviour and blame it on the weather for making me somewhat evil. Before causing some drama, I called (Y/F/N), "Ello !" she answered. "Hey girly ! How are you doing on this beautiful day ?" I asked. "Ugh I’m so bored, you have no idea” she whined. “But never mind me, how are you doing more specifically ?” She asked curiously. “I’m doing okay, but-“ “I can already tell something is up your sleeve” she cut me off.

“Damn you really know me well” I pouted. “Of course ! Otherwise I wouldn’t be your bestie. Anywho, spill the tea…I’m all ears” she said enthusiastically. “So word of mouth right now on insta is that he is dating someone else, there’s literally pictures of them at dinner together” I rolled my eyes. “Shut up ! What the actual fuck dude. That’s so messed up. He’s such an ass” she yelled. “Yeah yeah I mean it hurts but the only way for my petty ass to get over it is-“ “If you do the same thing” she finished my sentence.

“Exactly ! So remember that TikTok we wanted to try out ages ago where one of us is dressed up as the guy and take out a bunch of pictures to look like a couple” I reminded her. “Oh my god ! Our time has finally come ! Okay I’m on my way, I’ll literally be there in like 5 mins” she said lastly before ending the call.

As soon as (Y/F/N) came over, we went straight to my dresser and got working on her makeup. We started by accentuating her veiny yet bony hands and then contoured her cheekbones, as well as her jawline to look more masculine. I failed to mention how smart she is, she came through with a bouquet of my favourite flowers so I had something else to post about.

Once we were done with her makeup, she slipped into one of my high heels so she was much taller than me. With her oversized hoodie and cap on you’d literally think that she’s a guy - a hot one at that too. I changed into a black slip dress and took off my shoes to spice up the picture, and exaggerate her height.

When (Y/F/N) came up behind me in the mirror, we both burst out laughing over how accurate she looked to a guy. “Shit. Even I would date me” she said before getting serious and wrapped her arms around my waist. After a few pictures of my head tilted and her face nuzzled into my neck, we finally had the picture. Her side profile looked so sharp, it’s actually insane.

After all of this, I suddenly felt hesitant to post for some odd reason that even (Y/F/N) noticed. I think it was pretty obvious how long I was staring at the pictures. “Girl don’t hold back now, just do it. He should see that you also moved on” she wiggled her brows. “You got a point there” I said to myself. I then uploaded 2 stories, one of the bouquet and one of us together - both simply captioned with a white heart. “If I saw this for the first time, I’d literally scream. Everyone is gonna lose their minds, especially him” she smirked. “Feels good to throw this back at him” I smirked back. “Welcome to the dark side bestie” she patted my back. “Anywho I need to run, got a few errands. Love you and call me later to update me on the drama. I’ll desperately be waiting for your call” she said as she gathered her things. “Of course ! Will do. Thanks bestie” I quickly hugged her before she hurriedly left.

I proceeded to spending the rest of my afternoon binging on early 2000's chick flicks, it wasn't until the evening when I decided to check my phone again that I noticed how many notifications I received. My notifications were the highest its ever been, well shit. We love to see it I guess.

I received countless tags on reposts as well as comments from fans, and surprisingly messages from family - understandable how many messages I received since it’s so evident that it’s not Kylian in the pictures. Scrolling through my notifications I decided to ignore all until my eyes landed on Kylian’s contact name, 'Kyky'. Surprise surprise.

"Heyy" the text read, I rolled my eyes, I don't have time for a conversation starter. I left him on read and proceeded with watching my movies. It wasn't even 5 minutes and my phone started to ring. It was Kyky calling. My heart started racing, I was hesitant to answer the call because what are we going to talk about and why call now ?

"Hello" he greeted. "Hey" I answered plainly. "Are you busy ?" He asked curiously. "Well kind of.. I'm actually just getting ready to leave" I said with a devious smile creeping onto my face. "Oh. Erm okay never mind" he said disappointed. "Why ?" I raised a brow. "I'm actually outside your apartment" he said embarrassed "No way" I said lowly to myself. "Have a look" he said as I then walked towards my front door and was met with his face. I ended the call and looked at him in shock, "You- here- like..what are you doing here ?" I asked.

"Can I come in please ?" He asked pleadingly. "What for ?" I asked back. "To talk about us" he said. "Theirs no us anymore. Theirs nothing for us to talk about" I said as I was about to close the door. "Wait. Just give me a chance" he said softly. "Theirs literally no point. You moved on..I moved on-" "You have another boyfriend already ?" He asked in shock. "I'm offended that you think I'm not capable of moving on so soon" I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest.

"So you must've known this guy whilst we were dating ?" He asked as he started to grow angry. "Yeah so ?" I scoffed. "You were just waiting for us to break up so you can date this guy" he said as he started to raise his voice. "You literally did the same thing. You made it seem like it was such a simple break up for your own good, but for the last 2 weeks you're rumoured to be with another girl !"I said as I started to grow annoyed. "Yes, but she's just a friend" he said.

"Funny how we’ve been together for so long and I never met this friend before" I said. Just then my next door neighbour yelled at us for raising our voices. "Please do yourself a favour and leave" I said as I shut the door. I then heard rattling of the door and in came Kylian. "You weren't invited inside" I said. "Well I had a spare key" he said as he held up the key. "That was supposed to be returned to me when we broke up" I said as I snatched the key from his hand and went to sit on my couch. “Also, how could you act surprised that I moved on when you’re literally here after I posted a picture with another guy ?” I questioned. He then sat beside me, "Can you just stop talking about that idiot ? I came here to talk about us…How do I make you love me again?"

"Love ? Dream on" I half laughed. "I'm being serious" he said as he looked between my eyes. "Forget about me loving you. How do I know that you love me ?" I asked. "Well I missed you all this time so I came back" he smiled. "It's not that simple. If you truly loved me as you say, you wouldn't have wanted to break up after all these years" I said. "Look I'm sorry okay ? I really am. I wish I could go back in time and reverse what I did...I just needed some time to myself to think about my future personal life and I kept imagining you in it..." he said as he gently moved a strand away from my face.

"Don't play with me right now" I warned. "No jokes. I love you. I really do, and I want to continue to spend the rest of my life with you" he said as he held my hands. "Okay cute. Anyways I have to go meet my boyfriend. It was nice of you to stop by..I'll think about it" I huffed as I got up. He grabbed a hold of my wrist and pulled me towards him to sit on his lap. "Stop lying" he smirked. "What makes you think I'm lying ?" I raised a brow. "I know your facial expressions when you lie. I just know you all too well because you literally could've left the second you opened your door instead of coming back inside" He said with a smile.

"Well I've changed my mind, I rather be with him right now" I shrugged. "I want my old (Y/N) back" he pouted. "She left the building the day you left her" I said lastly and got up to walk to my room. "Ouch" he pouted as he followed behind me. "I still love you no matter what. Always have and always will" I gave him a brief look before pretending to rummage through my closet. "So is this how it's going to be ?" He asked as he leaned back in my bed and watched me. "I told you that I need to think about it" I said as I continued to skim through my closet. "I'm not going until we stop fighting" he said casually "This isn't fighting. People don't get back together based off 5 minutes of talking to them after a whole month" I said as he stood up to stand in front of me.

"I like it when you're angry" he said as he got closer. "Don't" I said softly as I looked down. He lifted my head to meet his eyes as he cupped my cheeks, his thumb tracing over my lips. "You're making this harder" I pouted. Just when his lips were a mere centimetre away, he mumbled "It shouldn’t be hard if you have a boyfriend…Should I stop ?"

I hesitated to answer. To give up the game and kiss him or keep annoying him. “I can’t” I faked a pout. “Why not ?” His mood dropped. “I can’t do this to Nico” I said as I looked down. “Fuck Nico !” He yelled. “How the hell do you even know this guy ?” He asked frustrated. “We met at a party” I answered casually. “Besides him, it’s wrong of you to cheat on your girlfriend” I said looking everywhere else but him. He walked closer which made me take a step back, my back hitting against the wall. He placed his hands on either side of me, cornering me. “I just told you that she’s a friend and nothing more” he tried to say calmly. “I’m not convinced” I shrugged.

“Forget about her, she’s irrelevant right now. I came to claim back what was once mine. If I have to fight this stupid so called boyfriend of yours, then I will” he said as he inched his face closer to mine. There was a moment of silence. Both of us holding eye contact and switching between looking at each others eyes and lips. He leaned in and I didn’t stop him. It was a sweet soft peck. His forehead against mine, he sighed and said "I'll give you your space.” I surprised myself by grabbing a hold of his hand and pulling him back into place. “What’s wrong ?” He asked. “You’ll fight for me ?” I teased. “I know that I’m not fighting anyone because you’re lying, but if I have to then I will” he said as his hands were on my waist.

“How can you tell I’m lying ?” I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck. “Besides reading your facial expressions, we wouldn’t be in this position right now” he said. “Or doing this” he said softly before placing his lips on mine. I pulled him closer against me and just then he broke away from the kiss. “I think I should go” he teased. "No no wait just a little more" I hushed him as I pulled him closer to connect our lips once again.

[ranposgirlboss]

~late night car drives with bsd charas~

this is an idea i got while listening to depressing vocaliod songs, SO HERE WE ARE!!! these are just some hc i have about how it would go, some charas are COMPLETELY platonic!! (this is mostly platonic in the 1st place tbh) this is my first time writing on this app, and i haven't written anything online in a few years, so if the formatting is weird, PLEASE TELL ME IDK WHAT IM DOIMNHG

chara list: dazai, chuuya, poe, ranpo, and yosano

GENRE: fluff fluff fluff and sillies

enjoy!!

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DAZAI

-HESSS DEEEEEFFF THE TYPE TO BRING YOU ON LATE-NIGHT DRIVES!!!!!

-he would probably be going to some weird ass convenience store with you at ungodly hours in the morning 💀

-HE EITHER SINGS THE MOST DEPRESSING SONGS OR THE MOST UPBEAT SILLY SONGS THERE IS LITERALLY NO IN BETWEEN

-i feel like he would mess with you and fucking drift the car when yall turn

-lets just say you get close to dying more then once 😁

-one time when yall tried to sneak out, kunikida caught yalls asses (your ears still hurt to this day from the mouthing off you got from kunikida)

-all in all, VERY FUN TO GO OUT WITH!!! WOULD RECOMMEND IF YOU WANT CHAOS!!!! OR IF YOU LIKE ALMOST DYING 10 TIMES IN 30 MINS <3333

CHUUYA

-ok so i know i said late night CAR rides BUT CMON WHO DOESNT WANNA RIDE A COOL ASS MOTORCYCLE WITH CHUUYA!??!?!?/1

-mf has HORRIBLE ROAD RAGE!!!

-i hc that when chuuya gets really pissed and the person is super rude to him, he fucking makes their car float...LIKE FULL ON 😭

-AND THEN HELL MAKE THEM SAY SORRY

-but other then his road rage, its honestly pretty chill

-i know that he has a BANGER playlist, I JUST KNOW IT

-i fell like he'd also play around on the motorcycle a bit, BUT AT LEAST HE WOULDNT NEARLY KILL YOU UNLIKE DAZAI (눈‸눈)

-id say its pretty nice and balanced, with enough calmness to make it enjoyable for the most part, but enough thrill to keep asking him to take you out <33

RANPO

-just gonna let you know right off the bat, his ass is NOT driving 😂

-there is a high chance that he JUST woke up and started banging on your door because he had cravings and well, he ran out of his snacks...so OBVIOUSLY he had to bang on your door, its important!!!

-and even if he was completely awake...he would get yall lost so fast

-so you were driving him

-honestly? its kinda funny to see groggy ranpo walk around and try to grab what snack he wants at the convenience store when he's barely awake

-bro literally drops the bag like 5 times (you picked it up all 5 bc you kinda pitied him rn 😭)

-he basically ends up sleep walking his ass outta there

-the ride is mostly quiet, mainly because ranpo falls asleep on the way back

-imagine if you played heavy metal and woke him up

POE

-HE WOULD DRIVE WITH YOU FREQUENTLY, DUE TO HIM BEING A NIGHT OWL

-these car rides would be so peaceful

-ngl he would probably sometimes take you out just to drive with you (its not like gas is a problem for him anyways 😭)

-HE HAS SUCH A GOOD PLAYLIST OF SONGS TO JUST SIT THERE AND DAYDREAM TO

-doesnt seem like a talker tbh, he might ask you if you want to go anywhere specific, but you guys mostly just listen to music together (he saves the story telling for another time <3)

-I FEEL LIKE HE WOULD MAKE A PLAYLIST THAT LIKE KIND OF HAS A STORY LINE SO IT WOULD BE SO FUN TO DAYDREAM TO THE SONGS CUZ YOU COULD CREATE YOUR OWN STORY TO THEM

-you hold karl in your lap and pet him like you're an evil villain (cannon)

-very calming and relaxing drive <33

YOSANO

-UGH IM SO GAY FOR HER

-ngl she kinda gives dazai vibes, in terms of playlist

-there has been more than one occasion when she just drunk-drove you

-LUCKILY YALL DONT DIE??!?!?!??! HOLY FUCK

-shes a small talker, OR A GOSSIPER WHILE YALL DRIVE

-yall just have so much fun talking about the ada and everything that's going on there <333

-would scream the lyrics to any 2010's throwback song, while having a (hopefully) safe dance party

-very fun to be around, and even though she drunk drives, shes def safer then dazai

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

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS!!!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧

PLEASE SEND ME REQS I BEG OF YOU

[arolegos]

GUYS WHAT THE FUCK I JUST FINISHED S2 PT 2 IM GOING CRAZY WTF??? EXPECT SOOO MUCH GODDAMN ART FROM ME ITS SO GOOD BYE... spoilers below the cut cause i have specific thoughts

GEO AND COLE ARE SO CUTEEE AHHH THE WAY THEY WENT ON A LITTTLE TOUR DATE TOGETHER I LITERALLY JUMPED UP AND DOWN AND KILLED MYSELF

also DAMN that build up to arins betrayal was GOOD. i really like the fact that arin didn't immediately believe ras outright and even now he clearly doesn't think he's a good guy he just wants to see his parents and he believes ras is the only way to do that. like IDK i just like that he wasn't immediately like 'ugh fuck those ninjas!' LIKE I LIKE HOW IT KEPT TRUE TO HIS CURIOUS CHARACTER and while he believed parts of it he took the time to investigate on his own before just accepting word as truth. his falling out with sora HURTTTT

AND DAMN (2) NOKT WAS CRAZY THAT BATTLE SEQUENCE WAS GORGEOUS I WAS ABSOLUTELY ENTHRALLED . ITS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO WATCH THIS FROM 2 - 6 (ALMOST 7 NOW) AM (don't ask why it took so long to finish. i kept replaying scenes over and over and it took me like 30 mins to calm myself down enough to watch it properly) . CAUSE I KEPT ON TRYING TO NOT SCREAM FROM JOY AND WHIMSY

every single scene with lloyd was so ughhh just i really really like how its emphasized that he's not perfect and he can still do stupid shit but he's learning too because its his first time living . and i REALLY like the mentorship bond w him and sora GDODDDD

AND KAIS RETURN!?!??!?! AHHH SMITH JIANG SIBLINGS LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was cheering so loud i almost killed myself STOP IT

lloyd falling into a coma damn near sent ME into a coma cause i thought. he died. CAUSE IM REALLY COUNTING ON HIM TO DIE. and like lowkey i want him to (saying this as a HUGE lloyd fan) BUT I DIDNT WANT HIM TO GO LIKE THAT SO I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN HE RETURNED AND JUST A LITTLE UPSET HE DIDNT GET TO GO BATSHIT CRAZY BUT... THATS OKAY

and jaya :( NOAUAUARRRR NYA GET YOUR MAN BACK NEOWWWW THAT ENDING SCENE WHERE KAI WAS LIKE we'll find him together and beat his ass YESSSHEHSHDHDSDSUHRASUHEDJDSAIHEAISH I CANT WAIT I CANT WAIT I CANT WAIT I CANT WAIT I CANT WAIT JAY COME BACK HOME PLEASE YOUR SEAT IS SO COLD. ALSO WHERE IS PIXAL.

I ACTUALLY HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS BUT I CANT FORMULATE A SINGLE ONE.

FORBIDDEN 5 LORE WENT CRAZY. RAS LORE WENT CRAZY. EVERYONES LORE WENT CRAZY.

RAS YOU ARE SO AWESOME SAUCE.

CINDER JAILED ERA. I LOVE HIM.

JORDANA COME BACK PLEASEEERR SORA WANTS TO RECREATE ENEMIES TO LOVERS YURI WITH YOU PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

ALSO. wyldfyre and roby are cute omg theyre so silly... loserboy x losergirl real.

OK ill stfu now. JUST TO BE CLEAR i will STILL be watching it when it comes out on Netflix. of course i will. i just could not hold back im sorry im weak to leaks im a fraud BUT ILL STILL WATCH THE NETFLIX VER!!! i usually use netflix for rewatches!!!!

[hannahmanderr]

DannyMay Day 5 - 10 min vs. 1 hour

Words (10 min): 259

Words (1 hour): 1613 (FFN)

Summary: They say your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. Dash discovers that his brain has other ideas - namely, focusing on his bisexual awakening (post-reveal Danny/Dash)

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

~10 min.~

Dash thought dying would involve more reminiscing of his life. All those golden memories that flash before your eyes, like in the movies. His first touchdown, his first kiss, that sort of thing.

And yet as he plummeted towards the ground and time seemed to move in slow motion, he found himself annoyed. Of course he wouldn’t get to relive his life’s greatest hits.

Of course he’d be forced to think about the one person he didn’t want to think about, the person who was supposed to be saving him right now.

He hated the thrill that ran down his spine when he thought about that person swooping down, sweeping him up, and flying off with him into the sunset.

Stupid Fenton. Stupid wind-swept dark hair. Stupid endless blue eyes. 

Stupid bisexual awakening moments before death.

Dash closed his eyes. If he was going to die, he might as well just suck it up and face the music. At least then he could die knowing he wasn’t such a coward that he couldn’t finish what he’d started.

Alright Fenton, he thought to himself. You got me.

The ground was getting closer and closer now. He tried to ignore it.

Then, just seconds before impact, he was jolted to the side and he started falling sideways. No, wait. Not falling sideways.

Being carried.

“You’re an idiot, you know that, right Baxter?” Danny’s voice came through the rushing wind.

Dash could only nod mutely and wonder if his racing heart was because of the near-death experience or because of the rescue.

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

~1 hour~

Look, no matter what anyone tries to claim, I wasn’t trying to fall off the building, alright? 

I mean it wasn’t even my idea to have the junior prom on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in Amity Park. I was only on the roof ‘cause that’s where prom was, end of story.

No, I wasn’t sloshed. And I wasn’t high either. I’m not an idiot; I’m not gonna do something that’s gonna get me kicked off the team. People just sometimes fall off of buildings, especially in cities that are literally haunted by ghosts.

God, I swear none of the teachers at Casper have a clue how to handle themselves and all of us around ghosts. Like come on, us students have been involved in way more ghost stuff. We saved all the adults that one time!

Ugh, whatever. Not important. The point is, I didn’t fall off the building on purpose. The ghost that came and crashed the prom just happened to fly right towards me. As I was just standing there, doing nothing. 

… near the edge of the roof.

It caught me by surprise, alright? Like it wouldn’t happen to anyone else. I’m the most athletic kid in school, if a ghost can knock me off my feet, it can happen to anyone.

So yeah, I was basically falling twenty-six stories at breakneck speed. 

Heh. Breakneck. You know, ‘cause landing on the ground would break my - you know what, forget it.

But yeah. Whoop-de-doo, this was how the King of Casper High goes, apparently. Being knocked off the building in a random ghost attack. During junior prom of all things.

Aw man, everyone was watching me, weren’t they? 

I saw a flash of light from back on top of the roof. Thank God, Fenton was finally getting up off his -

-

Nope. Nuh-uh. We aren’t going there, Baxter.

… oh, who was I kidding. If I was gonna die, I was gonna face it like a man. Face everything head on, you know? Especially ‘cause my life was definitely not flashing before my eyes. Which sucked. There would’ve been some memories I would’ve liked to revisit. Like when I scored my first ever touchdown. That was sweet! Or when I got my car and drove it for the first time. Or my first kiss - 

- argh, no! No, I was not gonna think about kissing, or think about Fenton, or think about his dark hair and how shiny it is, or think about that little face he makes when he’s excited about something, that one is so cu-

- 

- I hate everything.

I hate this. I hated the fact that I was falling towards my certain death. I hated that I had been dumb enough to walk off and hang out towards the edge. I hated the fact that I was even at this lame prom in the first place. I hated that I hadn’t been able to come with the person I really wanted to come with.

I hated that the person I wanted to take to prom was freaking Danny Fenton.

There, alright? I admitted it. I could die happy. 

Except I wasn’t happy. It’s like whenever I think of him, my stomach does all these crazy flips and stuff like I see him doing in the sky all the time, and I can’t tell if it’s ‘cause I hate him or ‘cause I… ugh, don’t hate him. I’m not going any farther than that, nope.

It doesn’t help that it’s not easy to avoid thinking about him. He’s in the majority of my classes, and beyond that, his stupid face is plastered all over the city. Heck, I walk out my front door and there’s a huge billboard with, like, “HOME OF DANNY PHANTOM” written on it, right next to his picture.

It definitely doesn’t help that it’s a really good picture.

You know, shouldn’t he have been helping me? It wasn’t like him to just abandon a civvie like me to the wolves. The wolves in this case being the concrete that was approaching way too quickly for my liking.

It’s whatever. He’s gotta keep everyone else from falling off the roof too, I guess.

Didn’t keep my stomach from doing a freaking trapeze act when I thought about him swooping down and rescuing me. And then he’d look at me with those pretty green eyes and tell me I’m an idiot and I’d sit there and let him because he wouldn’t be wrong.

Yeah. Whatever at this point, right? Not like I’d be alive long enough to live it down, anyway.

I was the idiot in love with Fenton.

Does anyone else know? God, no. I have a rep to maintain, you know! It’s not easy being me. Like I could ever be seen crushing on a loser, whether that loser was a superhero or not.

I mean don’t get me wrong, they guys on the team are like, super chill. It’s not like I’m necessarily worried about them beating me up for liking a guy or anything, but come on. Hundreds of other guys at Casper High and I had to pick on the one guy that was the worst for me to crush on?

And to be honest, I didn’t really feel like trying to justify the fact that I’d gone out with a bunch of girls before. Again, most of the guys on the team aren’t homophobic or anything, but that doesn’t mean they understand everything, like the fact that bi people exist. Honestly, I bet most people think I don’t understand the fact that bi people exist.

Look, I might, ah, help loser-types understand their place, but I have standards. I’m not gonna be a weird bigot about it.

(Also that concrete was definitely getting closer, where the heck was Fenton?)

Except for some reason, even though I was admitting this to myself, I could hear Kwan’s voice in my head, telling me that I wasn’t being totally honest. Kwan, who would definitely be the last person I would think would suspect my secret.

Which probably meant the voice was right.

Okay, so I might, emphasis on might, be the teeniest bit nervous about approaching Fenton. Not scared! Dash Baxter doesn’t do scared. Just, uhh, a little antsy. Like how I get right before a game.

Argh, fine, a lot antsy.

It’s double stupid ‘cause I have no reason to be. He and Manson broke up like, only a couple months after the whole asteroid thing, and it somehow leaked that he swung both ways a little bit after that. He hasn’t gone out with anyone since, which is kind of surprising, really. I would’ve thought a superhero like him would’ve been snatched up right away. 

Especially with how I’ve heard other kids at Casper fawning over him. He’d have the lion’s share of potential partners.

… Oh my God, do not tell me this whole thing was some sort of inferiority complex on my part. I mean sure, I did beat up on him for the better part of middle school and our freshman year, but I stopped, and, again: I’m the King of Casper High. Who wouldn’t want to go out with me?

Apparently my subconscious has decided the one person who wouldn’t want to go out with me is the one person I want to go out with. 

Well, no sense in worrying about it. The ground was getting closer and closer, and really, I was kind of surprised that time felt like it’d slowed down as much as it had. And of course, Fenton and that pretty white hair of his were nowhere in sight. 

Just my luck. 

I closed my eyes. Might as well make my last few moments count, right?

And so I started imagining how things would’ve turned out differently if, let’s say, I’d been able to take Fenton as my date to prom. We would’ve had a blast laughing about Brady, who had definitely been the one to spike the punch and then proceed to chug it. And we would’ve just hung out and talked about sports and space and the stars and anything else he wanted. Then a slow song would’ve come on, and I would’ve taken him out onto the floor and danced with him, hand in hand just like a real couple. His gorgeous blue eyes would’ve had that little mischievous twinkle they get all the time when I inevitably tripped over my own feet while dancing ‘cause I’d be so nervous.

And then he’d laugh and wrap his arms around me, and I would’ve pulled him closer, and we would’ve leaned in all quiet and excited, and his lips would be right there and -

“GAHHH!!”

Okay, I’ve taken some nasty hits during games, but whatever had just plowed into my ribs hurt like crazy. Was it the ground? Was I still alive?

A quick scan told me that yes, somehow I was still alive? 

And it wasn’t the ground that I’d crashed into. Or, more accurately in this case, crashed into me.

White hair stung my cheeks as it whipped around in the wind. 

“Jeez, Baxter, what were you thinking?” came Fenton’s voice. He set me down on the ground and fixed me with a look that sent my heart racing. “Why on earth were you that close to the edge?”

I couldn’t help it. I closed the gap between us. 

His lips were cold and chapped. Totally different than any girl I’d ever kissed.

I broke it off. He stared back at me with his wide eyes. I just grinned and asked, “Wanna go to prom with me?”

[whentherewerebicycles]

here is a scruffy little angel! ok I feel pretty fragile inside from a week of bad sleep & an especially terrible insomnia experience last night but I am trying to be brave about it. two of my grad school friends I haven’t seen in forever are in town this weekend and I am v excited about that!!! I always get weird homebody inertia around social stuff but then I have a great time (like last night I really dragged my feet on hanging out with M&A in the park/getting dinner after and then it was so much fun) so I just have to commit to stuff even if I feel like socially hibernating. when it comes to most social things my instincts are not a reliable guide to what will actually make me happy. so tonight I will meet up with them for dinner/drinks and then tomorrow we will hang out at the lake.

here are some things I’d like to do with the day:

finish young mungo which is absolutely gutting ughhh so painful but so good. I kind of want to put up my hammock and read somewhere without distractions but can’t decide if it’s too much effort. mm tbd.

work on writing meme prompts (this has been v good for me it’s forcing me to dig into scene writing/revision which for whatever reason is the thing I’ve built up the most writer’s block anxiety around)

the house is a tip right now it’s not dirty really just super untidy and the clutter is making me feel on edge. I think I need to do a few song-timed bursts of putting stuff in its proper place and ugh I might actually start with that so my brain feels calmer about other stuff

fold laundry

long walk with dogs because I didn’t walk them at all yesterday… I can tell I am avoiding walks partly because it’s a bit hotter out and partly because I’m getting Walk Boredom with our usual route. I think I’ll drive them to the slightly farther-out forest (4 min instead of 2 min haha) because it’ll be cooler and kinda interesting/new. also if I’m feeling really motivated I could do a very short run after I drop them off at home—I’m talking like, 3 min run / 3 min walk times 3 short haha. gotta ease back into it somehow.

pick something to wear well in advance of leaving. otherwise I will get so stressed later on and will end up running way later than I mean to & being way more amped up when I leave. why are clothes so stressful to me literally no one cares and I feel like people care even less in this city than anywhere else I’ve ever lived lol

shower around 3:30/4 so I can be ready to leave between 5-6ish

mm okay that all seems good. I think now it’s time to get up and do my first burst of song cleaning… maybe I will do all too well 10 min version + I can see you.

[russellshaws]

TOP 5 ANON: What are you Top 5 Chenford Moments Of Season 5?

OOOH hello ok this is fun! i had to think about it for a few mins but in no particular order:

the phone call in 5x10 before their first date. i'm obsessed with the fact that they literally needed to talk to each other because they're best friends 😭 like. they were both so nervous about going on a date with each other that they needed to find comfort in each other. it was just suuuch a perfect display of their dynamic and also such a soft push into the reality of "we're dating now", which i think was a super necessary shift!

the end scene of 5x02. i'm obsessed with angsty moments between these two – eric and melissa don't get enough of them to showcase just how phenomenal they are at playing it up, but also knowing just how much tim and lucy mean to each other and seeing it strained like that is Everything To Me, personally. they care about each other so much and so deeply that it's literally gut-wrenchingly beautiful to see them have to struggle with that and not be on the same page. that scene was such a beautifully done miscommunication and i loved seeing them just get to lean into knowing they were speaking sub-textually and textually about something so much larger than they were prepared for. i will never in my life be over "but we didn't – we didn't" like they SPOKE on the fact that they almost fucked???? i never thought?????? they would EVER???????

the entirety of 5x20. listen: i know this is about moments, but 5x20 was one of the most fascinating tim episodes we've seen in a long time and, bonus! we got to see lucy interacting with someone who was once the closest person in tim's life. the ending moment of that episode was one of the most lived-in, tension-filled, comfort but no comfort moments i've ever seen on tv. watching lucy broach tim's fears and him try to swallow all that down was so painful, but perfect. seeing them seeking comfort in each other on her couch, holding onto each other with those dejected, pained faces...i want to cry thinking about it. also, just to prattle on: i think the tim and isabel dynamic was so painfully, meticulously, and beautifully done. isabel showed such a fun dichotomy of guilt about the way things ended in her marriage with tim along with a love for him that will truly never fade. some people took that in the wrong way, i think – feeling that she's still interested in him, or still hoping to be with him. i don't think that was the intention at all, though – being with someone for years (a decade, minimum) regardless of how it ended or what you said in the extreme moments creates this level of understanding that, if you're able to engage in it safely, can be so fulfilling. you know that person, or a version of them, at their core. you understand many of their motivations, you don't really need to ask them questions to have them answer. isabel has an understanding of tim that lucy doesn't – and that's good, that's not a slight toward his relationship with lucy at all. having an ex spouse isn't always just like having an ex, and i think tim and isabel's interactions through that whole episode gave him a sense of closure (both of them, really) that they so very deserved.

5x12 end scene, aka the one where chenford finally fucked. listen: that was perfect to me. they were fighting, they were making out, tim's shirt came off, he did the hand move to keep her head from hitting the wall...the smiles? in their kisses? i will never be over it. gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful, yes.

5x01 "call me crazy" scene. it was so hard to narrow down 5 moments but i would be bonkers not to include this because ugh. it is just the most wonderful thing in the world to me that in the shades of these moments where they're putting on a show, tim has to check in with her...because he's feeling too much and it feels real to him and he needs to know where her head's at. it gives a similar vibe to the 5x10 scene in a way – tim trusts lucy inherently with his emotions. he wants that gut check with the person he feels most comfortable with, but at the same time...he wants to make sure he's not feeling something that she's blissfully unaware of. he doesn't want to be alone in the way he wants her, and he's not, but lucy doesn't have the capacity in that moment to reciprocate. it's such a chess match, i love it so much. CALL ME CRAZY, BUT IT JUST DOESN'T FEEL LIKE PRETEND??? i will never be over it, ever ever ever.

honorable mention to 5x06 scavenger hunt (i can't believe she did that), 5x05 hospital scene, 5x08 ENTIRE EPISODE, 5x11 baseball lucy, and 5x21 phone call montage 🥺 , and 5x22 forehead kiss. i am surely missing 10000 other things and oof. this season was so 😵‍💫 i loved it soooooo much.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend and I don't know about you but I'm so, so tired. Amazing how the rush of excitement I got at seeing the promo pics for an actual dramatic emergency could instantly be taken out by a 7 second promo. I feel like KR got the news well before the official announcement and said "I'm going to turn this finale into everything I want", and basically decided to push everyone but Buck to the sidelines and make them observers while pairing him with her failed self-insert. And ugh, the only thing equally as bad as the prospect of L being involved in saving everyone is the prospect of the emergency just being like a quarter of the episode and us wasting the rest of the time on wrapping up Buck's many, many, many storylines. I know we don't know for sure this is what would happen, but KR has given us no reason to think it won't. Frankly I think we should let ABC know that should they, in taking over 911, choose to retcon anything (or everything) from the last two seasons we're okay with that, and no questions will be asked.

And yeah, I can definitely agree that while Buck taking over during a crisis would be a nice way to get closure on his doubts from episode 1, the path there (if one can call it a path, which implies it goes somewhere) makes absolutely no sense. I don't even want to think about how they are going to shove Natalia (I think she's around next episode?...still) and a baby into the whole mess. I honestly would have easily taken 50% less Buck this season if they had just taken the time do the leadership arc well and have this grand emergency to show that off.

So while I'm kind of resigned on the finale for OG, I have a bit more hope for the LS one, though I too am hard side-eyeing the "earn the wedding" comments. Who exactly has to earn this wedding? The audience? They make the effort to tune in regularly despite some pretty shitty writing choices, I think they're owed a debt. The characters? Not sure how two people being in an long-term relationship and seeing each other through hardships hasn't earned them a wedding. We'll see what happens, but at this point its the odds are 50/50 that this "tragedy" will involve either a hospital or a crime scene (or both)

Hi my friend! I have been under the weather this week and ended up being out of town all day today so I am *literally* tired, but also I am WITH you on my excitement for the finale getting sucked away by half that promo being of L and her once again butchering line delivery on something as minimal as "mayday" 🙄 I already got my hopes up for a good firefam feels focused episode and got let down by 6x11 SO HARD, so I'm just going to operate under the worst assumptions that way I can, hopefully, end the episode with a "could have been worse I guess". Although I went into 6x17 with zero expectations and the show still managed to let me down anyway soooo 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm sure KR knew something was up, the negotiations were *rough* last year so I'm sure they were all told to prepare. And since it's something the show usually does, wrapping up nicely each season, it won't feel out of place, however I'm also worried the emergency won't be that long. Seasons 2-4 all had a cliffhanger in the penultimate episode to get people to tune in to the finale but 6x17 did NOT give people a lot of reason to HAVE to tune in. At least s5 made the effort of showing that firetruck crash like 8000 times over the week and making it look like Bobby was in danger, even if it was just a 5 min emergency that ultimately didn't do anything at all or affect anyone. They couldn't even be bothered to give a promo until Friday and without a cliffhanger, what's the hook to draw everyone in for the finale? Because you know those casual viewers are scouring the internet for news about the show, hell, most of them probably figured with no promo that 6x17 WAS the finale! Madney got engaged which is usually a season finale thing so I wonder how many of them though that was it!

"I honestly would have easily taken 50% less Buck this season if they had just taken the time do the leadership arc well and have this grand emergency to show that off." 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 SAAAAAAAME. They should have spent less time trying to turn everything about his storylines into a joke and actually delved into HIS emotions more. Instead we got the whole sperm baby now being about some rando characters we don't even know or care about's emotions for some reason?! His death being turned into "haha funny math skills for ONE episode only!" And this whole death doula thing where we haven't even heard them actually really talking about anything and what we did see was her being DEEPLY insensitive and unempathetic for her line of work, and then a parade of Buck's awful choices to remind everyone of them for??? What reason exactly? To give her a reason to leave? When after what we've seen we....didn't even need her in the first place? Like, WHAT has she actually said or done that has actually been meaningful or addressed Buck's death? We saw some of the aftermath in his talk with Eddie at the cemetery but what purpose besides giving Buck another LI he met on a call is she actually serving? Anything important could have been imparted by a victim at a call, and that triggered Buck to talk to someone in his firefam (OR HIS THERAPIST FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST!), and given us a peek into Buck's head about it. Instead we have wasted all this time on what? An excuse to bring two of the most audience hated characters back? WHAT?! Like, literally, who allowed this to happen? WHOMST in that production team looked at this absolute mess that KR presented as an idea and said "yeah, that works!" ?!?!?!?! Sorry, I'm too grouchy to try and make sense of this, it's just SO stupid and such a waste of time, the ONE thing KR is good at.

As for LS, I still haven't gotten to watch last week's episode. I'm hoping to watch it tomorrow but at this point I'm just watching that show with an "eh. This might as well happen I guess" because I'm out of energy for much more than that. I've seen some of the spec floating around but mostly I'm just excited that we were all right and Paul is officiating. Bobby is gonna be sooooo jealous. But for real, WHAT is this idea on shows that characters have to "earn" happiness and that always meaning that someone like, dies, or they have to be miserable in 98% of the episodes to get one or two happy scenes before the next tragedy strikes? Because I think the WRITING should have to earn the payoff and neither show has managed to do that this season.

Here's expecting the worst so we aren't TOO disappointed, while holding space to be happy if Andrew manages to get around the nonsense KR insisted on to give us a decent emergency because I doubt we'll get a satisfying wrap up for anything else on the Buck or Eddie front. Maybe we'll get extra lucky and the backlash after this week (and on that TVLine article, seriously what did they expect with that question?) will get L's scenes cut as much as possible again. For old times sake. Pretty much every article comment space, review space, and SM space I've seen has been pretty clear about KR needing to be gone so here's hoping ABC is taking notes! At the very least, their promo team can't possible be worse, right?

[pansypr3p]

which mcr songs do u skip (i skip wttbp and all of bullets)

ALL OF BULLETS? you are so fucking lucky i like questions. bullets haters besides this one anon need to fucking leave i love bullets and if you dont we cant be friends im sorry. bullets forever. anon stays until they run out of questioms bc im having fun.

okay, but, i am going to get yelled at by my boyfriend and also probably everyone for this, but listen to me, i follow whatever the autism tells me to do, so it is not my fault. blame her (the autism).

NA NA NA —

this is genuinely! one of my favorite songs! okay! in my defense! i fucking love her! and this entire album! danger days lover! but, because shes so popular, it doesnt give me the right mcr vibes for when im in a "literally only listen to mcr for 5 days" state, which is all of the time. i listen to mcr and decaydance and a few other people almost exclusively. so.

PLANETARY (GO!) —

yeah its one of my favorites and yet i skip it all the time. i couldnt tell you why, because i genuinely do love her, but i know i do it bc every time i do i wait like 5 mins and realize i skipped her and yell at myself for it.

S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W —

I HAVENT BEEN SKIPPING HER LATELY, OKAY? but again, i usually have a very specific vibe im matching and scarecrow is a.. lower toned song i suppose? its not quite as faced paced or loud, and its often that im just less in the mood. but the fact that its the same beat as the snowflake song delights me so ive been listening to her more.

SUMMERTIME —

see above, honestly! its a very sweet and tender song abt love and i absolutely adore it, but its just not my usual mood.

DESTROYA —

this song feels too dangerous to play most of the time. it feels like if mcr was like 500x scarier (and subsequently 500x hotter) and that is terrifying because i can barely stand them now. if i listen to her more than one day a month i pass out and go into a brief coma. so sorry. shes too hot for me.

THE END. —

wrong vibes! nothing against her . i love her .

WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE —

MASSIVELY overplayed and yet so so underappreciated !!! ugh!!! i love wttbp, but i cant stand it by virtue of "no one knows her like i do" and "the part of this song that is the Wrong Vibe is Way Too Long"

I DONT LOVE YOU —

GREAT SONG FUCKING LOVE THIS SONG however she also suffers from... wrong vibe

CANCER —

see above

MAMA —

i LOVE mama. like. SO much. as much as EVERYONE does. but she also suffers from. Overplayed

TEENAGERS —

teenagers was the first mcr song i ever heard and also the first song i ever actually liked - shes just another overplayed one. to be clear, im not like, AGAINST the ones i call overplayed, they just rub me wrong bc of how often i hear them. theyre played because theyre GOOD tho.

DISENCHANTED —

im obsessed with disenchanted and i always will be, but for me to enjoy her i have to be focused and when i play music (always, in the background, 24/7, literally no i am not kidding i have music playing rn and im watching a show) i am not able to focus on her enough :/

BLOOD —

saying i "dislike" blood is disingenuous because i i find it hard to dislike any mcr song. if u take all the layers apart it drives me crazy i couldnt possibly dislike any of them even a fucking little. but plainly im just not usually in the mood for her LOL

HELENA —

the worst case of overplayed so far. she gets on my nerves bc of that. shes a great song! objectively! but this is the closest i could get to disliking an mcr song

TO THE END —

tbh? dont know why i skip her so much lol

IM NOT OKAY —

the intro is amazing but its not suuper interesting as a song to me ? surface level enjoyment at least, like, id have to focus like i focus on disenchanted to enjoy her properly

GHOST OF YOU —

wrong vibes

[enigmasandepiphanies]

I spend 8 hours talking to my best friend yesterday we were literally on video call from 9:30 pm -5:30 pm (that's the only nine to five I ever will enjoy) but like wtf that is so insane of us I don't think I will ever come close to talking so much with anyone and like I still don't have a clear idea of what all we actually talked about she showed me the song she recorded, we spoke about all the books and movies and media we recently engaged with, I showed her the last 5 mins of go s2 the kiss™ and we spoke about our dreams, fears anxieties, ugh idk even remme it is so hazy now but this was unplanned and the best thing ever

and it's really weird cause I am trying to fix my sleep schedule so I told her at 1 let's the end call and she said tomorrow is sunday and I, a freshly graduated student who has no concept of time in her burn out days, just rolled with it and it was so worth it despite the sleep deprivation

I love her so much that I feel that time can outrival distance when I am talking to her

[runihura-kek]

ugh is 1 am and i can't get this out of my head...

So "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns", right? And the betrayal of Anck-su-namun!

I love those films cause they form a part of the pilar that is my childhood, but the one thing I can't let go is the tragic love story of Imhotep and Anck-su-namun.

we have the Pharaoh that has a mistress (Anck-su-namun) that is definitely not into it

the mistress is in a secret relationship with the Pharaoh's High Priest, Imhotep

the Pharaoh literally covers Anck-su-namun's body so no one can do funny business with her (my girl was doomed to one geriatric eggplant)

Anck-su-namun and Imhotep get funky

Pharaoh is the version of "wrong place, wrong time, wrong question" and gets unalived after seen Anck-su-namun's body desecrated and having the audacity to question it.

Are we all on the same page? Cause now is when I get deep... I think.

Once he realized, that she went down south without his eggplant, he rages against her demanding who it was, Imhotep shows from the back, but there is a moment of doubt when he sees the Pharaoh in disbelief that his most trusted high priest could have done such a thing. And who gives the hit? Our tired Anck-su-namun, she was not letting that chance go and when the guards show up what did she said?! "Go Imhotep you're the only one that can bring me back from the dead" and she unalived herself.

Now, my boy Imhotep did everything and i mean EVERYTHING to bring her back to his side as in "screw world domination, i want my girl with me", but nah... Time after time, attempt after attempt the heroes didn't stop for 5 mins and though "well we kinda unleashed them and there was a warning, also we literally read that he's trying to bring his babe back and that's it sooooo... also the Pharaoh was kind of a bitch"

And yes, I totally get that Imhotep tried to use Evelyn to bring Anck-su-namun back (try and error i guess cause in the second film it was unnecessary) and unleashed the 10 plagues and all, but would he be willing to chat after what he went through??? Lots of thoughts tbh...

Ok!!! So the heroes win and is all over... Or is it?

Imhotep really wants his girl back and i guess he had a lot of thinking in the underworld, so plan B it is. There he goes, but now he makes the fatal mistake of trying to conquer the world by seeking other forces, so is valid af that he must be stopped, also he can just put Anck-su-namun's soul in a lookalike volunteer, just like that???

Anyway, so he has the girl, but is power hungry and we can't allow that in the film industry, so there he goes, and what destroyed me was that in his final time he asks her, the woman he started all this madness for, to help him from doom and that ungrateful lil bitch turned around and ran for the hills... There you can see it, the betrayal, the desperation, the heartbreak and at the same time he sees a clear picture of what could have been right in his face by Evelyn and Rick's love for each other, my boy decides to end it all and I'm grateful for the horrible fate that fell over Anck-su-namun's ratched soul (definitely not a ride or die)

Well... thank u for coming to my TedTalk :)

[brainrattlers]

Play It Cool - Tyson Jost (19/n)

Author’s Notes: AHHHH YES, these two crazy kids get to see each other again after over a month of time apart. You know what that means! Also... there are so many things I want to tell you right here, but you’re going to just have to read on for something I wasn’t even quite prepared to write about, but it flowed so I went with it. I hope y’all enjoy this little curveball I threw in. Also, damn it, this chapter is making me miss Seoul Taco. (IYKYK.) Another fun chapter to write though - I was at the MIN/STL game in the previous chapter, as well as the one in this chapter - always nice to have some source material to work with. 

Pairing: Tyson Jost x OFC (AJ)

Word Count: 6796 (why do I keep writing longer chapters?)

Warnings: 18+ ONLY. I’ve tried to keep it classy but if you’re under 18, you gotta go. Adult themes and language. Tyson does get hurt (again?!) in this chapter, but if you followed the rest of his season this isn’t a surprise.

Need the Chapter 18 hookup? https://brainrattlers.tumblr.com/post/693358126122008576/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-18n

The week was a whirlwind, but crept along so slowly at the same time. It was tough for AJ to stay focused on work that week, even if it was only a three day week for her. Tyson was doing his best to keep from phoning it in. He worked hard during practices, and the team won their games at home before hitting the road for Dallas, and then St. Louis again later that week. 

So many check-in calls and texts with each other were made, making sure things were still going to plan. Tyson made sure AJ knew what hotel the team was going to be at, she sent her travel itinerary. (Which was driving to St. Louis. No fancy flying, and at least she had her car with her.) He had her pick up a couple more items from his apartment that he could fit in his bag to take back as well.

The game in Dallas ended, the team flew out that night, but AJ wouldn’t get there until Friday late afternoon. Tyson’s teammates had not seen him this antsy before. After practice that afternoon, he headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up. A couple of the guys saw him leaving his hotel room, noticing he’d shaved, and styled his hair. Too warm for a hoodie, he opted for a tee and jeans. Trying to get comfortable in one of the lobby chairs was proving difficult, Tyson was straight up fidgeting in anticipation.

The vibration of the phone in his hands made his heart nearly pound out of his chest.

AJ: Just parked, heading in the main lobby.

Tyson’s eyes could not be peeled from the door as he anxiously awaited her walking in. Sure, they saw each other the previous week in the same city, but he hadn’t been able to physically touch AJ in over a month. All he had wanted to do the last week was hug her tightly to him, and if he had his way, never let her go.

The way he figured it, they’d have about 15 hours together, and he wanted to make the most of it.

The sliding doors to the lobby opened, and in walked a very tired looking AJ. She had left Denver at 3:30am, drove all the way through Kansas, and all the way across Missouri to get to St. Louis by 5:30pm with the time change. The speed limit drop once she hit Missouri made her timing off a bit, but she used as much pedal to the metal as she could to get there. Looking across the lobby, eye contact was made with Tyson who was already up and out of the chair, heading her way.

“Ugh, babe, I need a shower, I have been in the car for over 12 hours, I…” 

AJ didn’t even have a chance to finish as Tyson’s warm hands cupped her face, tilting it up towards his and pulling her in for a long kiss. One of his hands traveled to the back of her head, the other heading way down south, pulling her body impossibly close to his. The two held their embrace for an inordinate amount of time, as if time stood still around them. Neither could even hear the chirps and catcalls that came from a handful of Tyson’s teammates making their way through the lobby in search of dinner. 

It literally took Tyson getting dizzy from lack of oxygen before the kiss was broken, leaving the couple simply looking into each others’ eyes, panting. Before AJ knew it, Tyson grabbed her hand and was pulling her to the elevator. Pushing the button to the 8th floor, he had already pulled her into him for another kiss that was barely broken when the doors opened for his floor. The two of them stumbled down the hallway, AJ being pulled forward by Tyson walking backward to keep kissing her. He reached into his pocket and whacked his wallet against the lock, and with the click, the door opened and the two nearly fell inside the room.

Tyson could not keep his hands off of AJ. She had barely got her backpack thrown onto the sofa as he was kicking his shoes off and working on grabbing the belt loops of her jeans to pull her back to him. 

“Baby, shhh… slow down. Seriously I need a shower, I feel gross from the road… before… dinner… need to… get… cleaned up.”

The smile on Tyson’s lips turned into a wicked grin, curling up at the corners. His lips attached to her neck, as he toyed with the collar on her shirt, pulling it down to expose her collarbones.He knew if he found the right spot just above them, she’d be a whimpering mess, and completely putty in his hands. 

He found the spot.

It was clear that AJ was frustrated by this development, but at the same time was starting to not care either. In a quick decision, she let Tyson stay attached to her skin, but started pulling him toward the bathroom. Kicking off her shoes and pulling off her socks with her feet, she reached down to start shimmying out of her jeans. Forcing him to break contact, she tore her shirt over her head, and quickly leaned into the tub to start the shower. Tyson followed suit with his own pants, and AJ slowly peeled his shirt off, kissing her way up his abs and chest with each inch of exposed skin.

Looking down into AJ’s eyes, Tyson had a feral look on his face, pupils blown, cheeks flushed. He damn near picked her up to put her in the shower with some of her underthings still on. Impatiently he waited for her to unhook and pull off everything, although he really did enjoy the show. She tiptoed into the shower, letting the hot water melt away the icky feeling from being on the road, with Tyson coming in hot behind her. 

Thanking his lucky stars that the tub had grippy strips, Tyson hoisted AJ up and pinned her against the side of the shower. She yelped at the shock of the cold granite wall, but wrapped her legs around his midsection, pulling his torso flush to hers. It was taking all of his willpower to not just take her right there, and even that was waning. But after a couple minutes of intense making out, and AJ failing at not grinding her hips into Tyson’s, he couldn’t focus on tasting every bit of AJ’s skin he could reach, holding her up against the wall, and keeping himself from just sliding in. It literally was too much for him.

The two stared at each other, out of breath, trying to calm down a bit. Between breathing hard, the hot water, and the sheer intoxication they were feeling from each other, they had to stop for a few moments. 

This is probably one of the few times AJ turned the temperature of the water down in a shower, trying to put out what felt like fire on her face. The cold water almost stung across her body, but she finally felt like she was finding herself again, breathing more evenly.

Tyson leaned back against the wall, feeling the coolness against his skin. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a few moments. With a few deep breaths, he was able to compose himself. Instead of the intensity from just moments earlier, a calmness settled in Tyson’s head. With a soft kiss, he turned AJ around, and reached outside of the curtain, grabbing some of the Olaplex shampoo and conditioner that she had turned him onto a couple months prior.

“Close your eyes baby girl, I got you.”

With a tiny dab of the shampoo in his hands, Tyson worked a lather up in AJ’s hair. The light raking of his nails against her scalp elicited a low moan to fall from her lips as her head dropped backward into his hands. It was a sound that he missed so much in the last month. Sure, there were attempts at phone sex, and he occasionally would hear those sounds… but it sounded so much better in person. He leaned her back into the cool drops of water falling from the showerhead to rinse it out, followed up by putting a small dollop of conditioner in her hair.

AJ opened her eyes slowly, and turned, chest to chest with Tyson.

“Want me to return the favor?” AJ bit her lip a little, making eyes at Tyson.

“I learned from the best… only wash every couple of days. And I did earlier this afternoon. This is all about you right now.”

Tyson grabbed some shower gel and a washcloth, working it into suds before gently scrubbing AJ’s neck, shoulders, back, and around to her front. Taking a knee, he kissed the curves formed by her ribs, waist, and hips as his hands slid down her thighs, massaging them lightly. 

He may not have wanted his hair washed, but she did run her fingers through the wet tangle of curls atop his head as he looked up at her. It wasn’t the same feral look he had earlier. While it was still intense, the look was softer. It wasn’t lustful. It was adoration and love.

Of course, with the boiling hot passion coming to a gentle simmer, blood and oxygen were getting back to Tyson’s brain. And that cheshire grin of his came back as he looked up, but then leaned down and nipped the inside of AJ’s thigh. She was caught off guard, expecting maybe a kiss, or his fingers sliding upward a bit, but instead gasped, then giggled at the puppy dog look he was giving her. Helping him back up on his feet, he finished rinsing the conditioner from her hair, and shut off the water. 

Reaching around the curtain, he found a fresh towel in the cubby next to the shower. Unfurling it, Tyson dabbed it over her body, drying the stray drips of water that cascaded down her skin from her drenched wavy curls. AJ wrapped the towel around her, leaning up to softly kiss her love, with similar adoration in her eyes.

Tyson quickly dried off, and grabbed one of the robes from the hook and slid it on, tying the sash in front. It never failed to amuse AJ that he would do this at hotels - ever since the Ask the Avs segment regarding robes at hotels, she knew he enjoyed the finer things and being pampered. Looking at his watch though, he sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

Tyson had all these grand plans. He wanted to take AJ to a fancy dinner for two. He was going to pull her chair out for her, and scoot her in to the table before seating himself. He was going to cheat a little and they’d share a dessert. Maybe have an Irish Coffee with it. He envisioned them walking back to the hotel room, hand in hand. And once back in the room, his ideal night was going to be making love to AJ until the wee hours of the morning, game that next afternoon be damned. He knew that come morning, they’d have to get a quick breakfast, and kiss each other, not goodbye, but more goodbye for now. He’d be exhausted at the game. But he’d play his heart out, and he’d point at AJ when he’d score a goal, and she’d blow him a kiss.

“Tyson, you still with me babe?”

It took a moment to snap out of the daydream.

“Yeah, I… I just had some ideas for the night, but it is too late to really start them now.”

“So let’s make new plans? Are you hungry?” AJ squinted at Tyson. “I’ve been craving Seoul Taco for a while. Door Dash?”

Tyson chuckled, shaking his head a bit in disbelief. He’d never had a girlfriend that was this vocal about wanting things… didn’t matter if it were dinner, or something she wanted to try in bed. And he was fine with her taking the lead.

Ordering up a couple burritos (and really hoping this was not going to throw him off his game the next day), there was about a 45 minute wait for their food to arrive. AJ threw on a tee and her pajama shorts, and wrapped a towel around her hair, fastening it at the nape of her neck. Tyson didn’t exactly want her meeting the Dasher in the lobby dressed like that, but AJ was too comfy to care. A text alerted her to the arrival of food downstairs, so she put on her shoes sans socks, but still had her hair in a towel. Grabbing a few dollars from her wallet for a tip, she headed downstairs to retrieve dinner.

Setting up a makeshift dining room table on the bed, which probably wasn’t a great idea due to the kimchi fried rice being a little on the messy side inside their burritos, the couple chatted and ate. Laughter and smiles were in abundance. And after sweeping the rice crumbs off the bed, Tyson turned on the TV to find a movie to put on as he leaned back against the headboard with open arms to hold AJ with.

Giving a motion to hold on a moment, AJ grabbed her backpack from the sofa, and pulled out a small bag from one of the pockets. She tossed it at Tyson, who thankfully caught it before it smacked him in the chest. In his hands, he found a bag of Haribo Star Mix.

“Movie snacks? I love that you’re always prepared.” 

Tyson tore into the bag and set it to the side, opening his arms again for AJ to join him on the bed. He’d propped the pillows up against the headboard as she was grabbing the candy from her bag. Curling up into his side, one of Tyson’s arms slid around her midsection and held her tight as he kissed the top of her head. The two stayed like this for a good portion of the movie, occasionally a hand would snag a gummy shape from the bag. Tyson always made sure to give AJ the Happy Cola bottles, and she’d give the Twin Snakes to Tyson. 

Grabbing another from the bag, Tyson studied it closely and stopped before popping it in his mouth. He looked at AJ.

“This one is for you,” Tyson held the candy in front of AJ, directly in her line of sight with the TV.

AJ smirked and leaned forward, taking the candy from Tyson’s fingers with her teeth, chewed and swallowed. “Thanks babe. I could get used to you feeding me candy in bed.”

This was not the response that Tyson was looking for.

He searched the bag of candy again and dug out another specific piece, and again held it up in front of AJ’s face.

And again, AJ chomped down on it, thanking him for the candy.

Clearly frustrated, Tyson grabbed the bag of candy, frantically searching until he found the last of the particular shape in the bag. Holding it in his fingertips, he held it further from AJ’s face this time. She started to lean forward, when he pulled it away.

“What the hell?”

“Babe, stop.” Tyson inhaled slowly, thinking about what he was about to say. “Look at what it is.”

AJ eyed the gummy ring now sitting on his palm, then looked back at him in slight confusion.

Tyson turned to face AJ, and looked at the gummy ring, then looked at her again. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and, well, this seemed like a sign to me. I know it’s only been a few months…”

AJ wasn’t breathing. All she was doing was staring into Tyson’s hazel eyes, hanging on every word that was coming out of his mouth.

“I know it isn’t ideal, because it’s probably going to get fuzz all over it when it gets sticky, and it’ll probably melt in the shower. But.. will you… be my sweetie?”

Forgetting that she hadn’t breathed in a bit, and trying to process what Tyson just asked, a sharp inhale happened, and started giggling at the first thing that popped into AJ’s head.

Tyson remained quiet, afraid of why she reacted the way she did. He frowned.

“Hey now I was just thinking I never told you I’m not a big yellow gold fan. I do like pineapple though, and I love you. But… I’m needing clarification… are you asking me to…?”

Tyson bit his lip, and nodded. He was now the one holding his breath, and looking for any sort of clue as to what AJ was thinking. His eyes went downward, looking at the candy still in his palm, and looked at her hand next, then back into AJ’s eyes. Finally he broke the silence that heavily hung in the air.

“AJ, will you? Will you be my…”

AJ had been through a lot in the last year, and it took so much arm twisting by Nate to get her to apply for her job. To move to Denver. There were days she had issues picking between mozzarella sticks or fried pickles for a side at her favorite diner. She was the queen of overthinking.

This time though, she didn’t even think. Everything about what was going on just felt… right. 

Her answer came in the form of AJ launching herself at Tyson and kissing him deeply. When the two finally separated, Tyson’s heart was pounding and he was trying to catch his breath. The smile on AJ’s face was all he needed. The gummy in Tyson’s hand was shakily slid on his love’s finger.

“It’s beautiful, Tyson.” AJ admired the candy on her finger while giggling.

“I’m going to get you a better one, I promise.”

“Probably a good idea, this one is cutting off my circulation and I kinda want to eat it.”

The two continued to lean into each other, foreheads lined up so they could just look into each other’s eyes for a bit. Neither could believe what just happened. But as much as Tyson would say that he hadn’t planned it, it had been on his mind for a while. The talk with Grandpa Jim after Valentine’s Day, regarding how he knew Grandma Emily was the one. Every day without AJ in Minnesota with him felt like something was missing. It had been on his mind so long, to be honest, that he remembered telling his mom about the afternoon that the two met in the locker room before the game that evening. (“She’s something special, there is just something about her.”) He even realized that the song she was singing was one he would hear her play/sing often in the next six months of their time together - Chet Baker’s “My Funny Valentine.” It suddenly all clicked as soon as he saw the gold colored gummy band with off-white “stone”.

Very few things in Tyson’s life made more sense than that spontaneous question he posed to AJ. 

I don’t think I need to tell you what the two were up to the rest of the night. So while part of his plans were changed, like dinner, and he hadn’t planned on asking the question, a fair amount seemed to stay intact. And it was as Tyson had envisioned - it wasn’t rushed, but instead it was slow, and full of emotion. And it felt different between the two, in a better way.. The newly established bond seemed to free something in the both of them, allowing for further exploration of the connection they shared. But in true AJ and Tyson style, there was still a lot of laughter and smiles. That was destined to be a thing with them from the start. They were both of the belief of if you’re not laughing, you’re being too serious. And while they had their intense moments, the lighthearted were still some of their favorites.

AJ insisted on them getting a couple of hours of sleep as she’d been awake nearly 25 hours, and Tyson had a game to play in about 10 hours. A quick cat nap, and the two were up once again, with one more quickie before heading to breakfast. 

Neither had looked at their phones since AJ’s arrival, or so AJ at least thought, and her watch buzzed with a notification from Instagram from Tyson.

Fumbling around the counter trying to grab her phone without getting out of the shower, AJ finally gripped it and was nervous to see what Tyson had posted on IG - mainly because they’d already talked about not spilling the news regarding the status change of their relationship. Tyson swore up and down he wasn’t going to blurt it out to his new team like he did with his last team, even if they all already knew. This time he was going to play it extremely cool.

What he didn’t play it cool about was the fact he was ecstatic that he and AJ were sharing the same physical space even if just for a few hours. And his level of silliness.

josty17 BEDHEAD WAR IS BACK ON, BABY! LFG!

And in all it’s glory, Tyson shared a photo of some very messed up bedhead on AJ. She had no idea when he snapped the photo. But it was definitely from today, it was the same tanktop she fell asleep in, and clearly was the bed in the hotel. She chuckled to herself, knowing full well that was not just run-of-the-mill bedhead, but definitely ASH. (After sex hair, for those that were questioning.)

wicketthewarrior Don’t make me get photos from your mom, Jost. I know she’s got a stash and is more than happy to share.

AJ could hear Tyson cackling from the other room as she hit send, and was toweling her hair off.

Breakfast was a little weird, as it wasn’t a nice quiet bite to eat, but instead a flurry of introductions with Tyson’s new teammates. And it was taking all his self control to not explode with “THIS IS MY FIIIIANNNNNCEEEEEEEE!!!” 

Once breakfast was eaten, Tyson had to hop on the bus to head to the arena. The two sighed as he packed his bag, as did AJ (although she was just switching to a different room, there was no way she was driving another 12+ hours home after the night she had, plus going to the game that afternoon). There was a long hug that didn’t want to be broken between the two, but they knew it was coming.

“See you at the game, Jost. Kick some ass.”

AJ had some time before the game to kill, so she checked out the aquarium at Union Station, but really just wished that Tyson had been there with her. One of the dates she really wanted to go on while he was still in Denver was to hit up the zoo together, but schedules and weather never seemed to quite align. She needed to look up whether there was a zoo or not in the Twin Cities, and if not there, maybe there was one near his family up in Alberta. Zoos and aquariums were one of her favorite things to visit - could easily spend all day just watching the various animals. In fact, she had to set an alarm on her watch to head out on time. It wasn’t far, just a couple blocks (in fact that’s where she parked the previous week as well), but she didn’t want to miss the lunch that came with her ticket (she snagged the EXACT same ticket she had the previous week!), and she definitely didn’t want to miss out on warmups - another sign was in tow in her car.

After watching the otters, and chilling out with the jellyfish, petting sharks and rays, and generally taking in the animals of the wet, swimming variety, her watch started buzzing, reminding her to head out.

Getting through security was a bit of a chore, for some reason this week the door folks were being sticklers about her poster. It was well within Enterprise Center’s rules, but they were still harassing her about it. Finally they let her in but it seemed like they really didn’t want AJ’s sign there. Maybe it was the green jersey she wore, emblazoned with JOST 10 on the back. She made her way downstairs to check out meal options for the day, and grabbed a plate and got in line.  Not that she was trying to listen in, but she had a good chuckle at the couple behind her. 

“Hey hon? This seems really bougie. Like this is way too fancy for us to be here,” the guy told his partner. “I don’t feel like I belong here.”

“Pfft, whatever, we’re fine.”

AJ leaned back and whispered, “I feel that way too, but you know what? You paid for the ticket, you have every right to be here. Eat and drink up!”

The man nodded and smiled.

With her plate full of a variety of things, including Eggplant Parmesan, fried corn nuggets, nachos and strawberry shortcake, AJ found a corner to sit down and just people watch. There were clearly some families there, and there were the bro types, and a few others that clearly looked like it was their first time in the Rinkside Club area. A brass band was piped in on the televisions from upstairs, playing from the concourse outside the arena. St. Louis had a different vibe than Denver, that’s for sure. 

Finishing up her meal, AJ snagged her sign and headed back upstairs, to head back downstairs to her seat. The same photographer from the week before recognized her instantly, chatting her up. They talked for a few minutes, until the teams were preparing  to come out onto the ice. He knew she was going to be looking for Tyson, and she knew he was going to be taking photos of warmups. 

The crowd cheered when the teams hit the ice. A couple guys sporting Minnesota jerseys were standing next to AJ against the glass. It seemed like all the folks in green gravitated to each other, as there was a bit of familiarity, as well as the feeling of power in numbers. The three were chatting as the men in white and green hit their side of the rink. AJ pushed her sign against the glass in front of her. A few of the players tapped their sticks at the glass in front of her as they skated by, usually flashing a quick smile of acknowledgement. She could overhear the two men next to her questioning how she was getting attention. And as per the new tradition, Deslauriers slammed into the glass right at her. This time she was ready, and didn’t flinch. The guys next to her sure did though.

The chat came to a grinding halt when Tyson came by with the biggest of the smiles shown her way. Stopping to read the sign, he didn’t turn the shade of red on his jersey, but sans fishbowl, he was able to kiss the knuckles of his glove properly and fistbump AJ through the plexi, mouthing “Love you, Eggo.”

“Love you too. Let’s fucking GO!” was mouthed back.

Tyson chuckled and skated around to join the group at center ice.

The guys next to her were completely gobsmacked by this. They continued chatting with AJ while the team did drills with Talbot, asking how she knew Tyson, and the rest of the team. A very abridged version was shared, that they started dating when he was with the Avalanche, but since he was traded, she was attempting to split loyalties. The Avs were her team, but Tyson had her heart. And if she was being completely honest, found it interesting watching the Wild and their style of play as it was so different from what she was used to seeing with the Avalanche. They joked about how they didn’t want to meet up with the Avalanche in the playoffs, and with good reason. They were likely the team to beat. At that point they could lose most of the rest of their games and still be the conference champs.

After the team broke apart again on the ice, Tyson did his stickhandling drill in front of AJ as usual, and noticed a family with kids at the glass on the other side of her. Corralling an extra puck, he sent it up and over the glass, behind the net so it’d drop for the kids. Tapping their slapping hands against the glass, Tyson glanced over one more time and winked before heading off the ice for the start of the game. AJ’s heart melted. She didn’t want kids, but damn if Tyson being adorable with little ones wasn’t making her second guess that decision.

(AJ felt like she had problems taking care of herself some days, so she wasn’t about to bring a new life into the world that she may struggle with taking care of - always envisioned being the cool aunt that bought annoying as hell musical instruments to “enrich” her nieces and nephews, and absolutely drive mom and dad nuts. Also she was so excited for arts and crafts of the messy variety so she can just hand the paint-covered children back to the folks, but with fun little art pieces. Unsure of others’ plans, she might have to just be the chosen aunt of her friends’ kids.)

The puck dropped, and it was game on between the Wild and the Blues yet again. Definitely another hard fought game - very back and forth with scoring. Defense seemed a bit soft on both sides. It especially stung AJ when Saad scored, with a Ryan O’Reilly assist. She was still an Avalanche fan deep down, and harbored a broken heart when the Saadfather signed on with the Blues the previous summer after having such a tremendous year with the Avs. O’Reilly… she just harbored a lot of intense dislike for after the way he behaved after leaving the Avs. 

Late in the third, Buchnevich hit Tyson near center ice. It was such a fast hit, and sadly, a legal one too. All AJ saw was Tyson still laying on the ice, and suddenly Deslauriers was ON Buchnevich letting him know it was NOT okay for him to hit his teammate like that. Tears were filling AJ’s eyes as Tyson slowly got up, and dragged his foot lightly behind him, trying to get to the bench. As if seeing him limp to the bench and head down the tunnel wasn’t hard enough, the voice hollering from behind her in the stands made her ready to line up like Deslauriers just had with the Blues player.

“BYE BYE JOSTY, TIME TO GO HOME!”

Someone pushed AJ’s shoulder from behind her. 

“AWWW is JOSTY HURT? WHAT A CRY BABY!”

The usher near AJ stepped in, telling the very intoxicated man behind her to cut it out, or he was going to be asked to leave.

In the meantime, AJ had grabbed her phone, and was texting away.

AJ: He’s not on the bench. He’s down the tunnel.

Jess: It didn’t look that bad, maybe he lost an edge.

AJ: I have a bad feeling about this, fuck I hate this.

The end of the third period horn sounded, tied 5-5. AJ was trying to breathe slowly to keep the anxiety bubbling up in check, but definitely was struggling. After a quick sweep of the ice by the zambonis, the teams were ready to start OT. 

AJ: He’s not on the bench.

Jess: I’m sure it’s just precautionary with playoffs coming up soon. He’ll be alright, you know how tough he is.

AJ: HE JUST GOT HIS FISHBOWL OFF, DAMN IT. Just hope he’s alright. I HATE THIS SO MUCH RIGHT NOW, they’re still not going to let me in the locker room even if I tell them I’m his…

She had to stop herself from typing “fiancée” as she hadn’t told Jess, or even her family yet. This was just something for her and Tyson right now.

… girlfriend.

The scene she made the week prior trying to get past security previously still played out in her head. There was a glimmer of hope being extinguished in her mind that just because he was injured, he’d be able to have a visitor. She knew better, the security was tight, and just doing their job.  

Not even paying attention to the game being played, AJ heard the roar of the crowd as Schenn put one past Talbot not even a minute into OT. Angry with the outcome of the game and not being able to get to Tyson, AJ got up while everyone was still cheering, and started walking (almost stomping) to her car. She was still agitated by the guy behind her in the crowd mocking Tyson. She didn’t even care that it was Tyson - a lot of her ire was because it was Tyson, but if it had been any other player on the team they were making fun of for being injured, she would be just as angry. Just the concept of being that much of an asshole made AJ’s blood boil.

Reaching her car in the Union Station parking lot, she opened the door, sat down, and just cried all the frustrations that had bottled up in the last 40 minutes. The physical tiredness of running on about 7 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, the worry of whether Tyson was okay, and the emotional exhaustion from the night before hit AJ hard. Thankful that she wasn’t driving more than a few miles to get to her temporary home, she started the engine to her car, and ended up sitting for a good 30 minutes waiting on traffic to move so she could pay her parking fees and head out.

While waiting in line behind about 4 cars at the pay booth, her phone buzzed. She realized in all this, she never reached out to Tyson, checking in on if he was okay.

Tyson: Hey? Are you OK?

AJ wiped her eyes, realizing she probably was going to look like a hot mess for the toll booth employee.

AJ: Sorry, I just… I kinda shut down. I’m just mentally and physically drained. Are YOU okay though? Fuck Buchnevich. I hope Nic beat the shit out of him. I wasn’t even paying attention, I was trying to keep from throwing hands with an asshole sitting behind me.

Tyson: I tweaked something in my calf, didn’t feel right, so I took myself out. Coach agreed it was the right call.

Tyson: Wait, you did WHAT now? 

AJ: Hold on a sec, I have to pay for parking brb

Handing her card to the employee, she thanked them and wished them a good day when they handed back her card and receipt.

Not even sure if he could take the call, AJ pushed the facetime button. He answered immediately, already dressed in his suit to travel back to Minnesota on the team’s flight. Tyson saw the smudged makeup and sighed.

“Sorry, I just.. Ugh. I can’t text and drive. I just needed to know you were okay.”

“Little rest and a little PT, I’ll be just fine. Now what the fuck happened that you were going to PUNCH someone?”

AJ heard the locker room chatter immediately quiet, and she had a hard time coming up with the words to even explain what happened.

“You got hit, and… I saw Nic go after him… and it was like I wasn’t even me anymore when I heard this absolute asshole behind me mocking the fact you were injured. It was taking a lot for me to not turn around and scream, and I imagine if I did, I’m pretty sure that I would have at minimum slapped him, if not more. I still have nail marks in my palm from how hard I was clenching my fist. St. Louis has some seriously not classy fans.”

Tyson couldn’t hide the corners of his lips curling up, his body shaking a little bit.

“Are you laughing right now?” AJ went silent after confronting the odd behavior. Her eyebrow furrowed as she turned onto another street, coming to a stop behind a line of cars.

Looking back, Tyson was indeed smirking.

“Are you hearing yourself right now? You were willing to FIGHT… because someone said something dickish about me.” Tyson turned and leaned back, hollering at someone. “Hey, yeah can you give AJ some fighting lessons? She nearly took on some fan in the stands like you took on Buchnevich.” He looked back and smiled at her again, and Deslauriers leaned into the frame  to give a thumbs up. “My woman is willing to fight for my honor, that’s badass! But.. really don’t do that. That’s probably not good for the PR team. I love you though, you know that.”

The sheer exhaustion was evident on AJ’s face, giving a sheepish grin. It was occurring to her how absolutely ridiculous it was sounding. Trying to suppress a yawn, she failed as the line of cars ahead of her started moving.

“I should probably hang up, traffic’s moving and I need to figure out how to get back to the hotel. Text me later?” AJ’s eyes were trained on the road.

“You know it. Text me when you get to the hotel. Love ya babe.”

AJ could hear the chirps in the background. 

“Love you too.”

A kiss was blown at the screen as she attempted to find the end call button without looking. With a deep breath, focus was figuring out which road she needed to take to get back. A quick detour found AJ picking up another round of Seoul Taco (knowing she wasn’t going to make it there again anytime soon, and no plans of hitting it up in Chicagoland either), and dragged everything upstairs to her hotel room.

AJ: “Home” for the night. Keep that leg RICEd for the flight back. Text me when you’re on the ground?

Tyson: You know it, **future wife**

The grin that showed up on AJ’s face upon reading that single line of text made her forget all about being angry at the Blues player that hit Tyson, and the fan that she almost got into an altercation with. 

AJ: It’s going to take some getting used to, hearing that. I mean other than the fact we’re trying to keep that on the dl, future hubs.

She couldn’t see it, but Tyson had the same goofy grin that graced her own lips moments earlier.

Tyson: Love you 

AJ: (heart emoji)

It wasn’t long after AJ took a few bites into her burrito that she ended up wrapping it back up, and stashing it along with an order of sweet potato waffle fries in the fridge. Her eyelids were so heavy, and her brain was SCREAMING at her that she was going to have to drive the twelve and a half hours back to Denver the next day. The attempt to stay up until Tyson texted that the flight had landed failed, and AJ crashed out hard on the bed.

Tyson: Back home, Eggo

The phone buzz didn’t even faze AJ.

Tyson: I hope you’re sleeping, it’s been a wild day and a half. I’m going to crash too. Can’t wait to see you again soon. Text me when you’re leaving in the morning. Love you so much.

The alarm on AJ’s phone woke her up at 6:15, having slept nearly 10 hours made her feel a little out of sorts. A quick cold shower to get more coherent happened, followed by a once over of the room to make sure all her toiletries and clothes made it back into her backpack. Snagging the leftover Seoul Taco from the fridge, she threw it into the makeshift cooler made from a few ice bucket bags filled with ice. AJ headed downstairs to snag breakfast before hitting the road. The fairy tale was ending. Or at least, it was taking a break for the time being.

AJ: Heading back to Denver. Doesn’t feel right going back without you. Miss you already.

Chapter 20 is up! https://brainrattlers.tumblr.com/post/694622680212783105/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-20n-authors-notes

[queenofbaws]

Okay if this one doesn't cause too much psychic damage (or even if you can answer it lol): top 5 horror movies and/or books that you went in thinking you were gonna love and would be right up your alley only to end up sorely disappointed or just hated in general.

oh god, i can answer this. i can answer this. so easily. there is so much fuckin disappointing horror out there i stg askdjfklasjfksdjfkldjf UGH LET’S DO THIS.

we’re all going to the world’s fair (2021; movie). found footage is notoriously hard to do right, but man i had high hopes for this one. let me tell you, iiiiii’m not sure i can even tell you what happened in this confused mess. a girl does an internet challenge that MAYBE triggers some kind of psychological break in her? perhaps? and then another person on the internet takes it upon himself to inject himself into her life via her youtube uploads? well let me tell you the #1 reason WHY this movie got a solid two thumbs down from ya gurl: uh the flashing/strobing lights in this wereeeeee so constant and so intense that even though i am NOT epileptic, i had to go to bed for the rest of the day after watching it. left me with a bad taste in my mouth lmfao. i’m sure it’s SOMEONE’S thing.

the empty man (2020; movie). the first like 20 min of this movie are so solid. if they ended this thing right after the prologue? good little horror short. it’d be wonderful. great, even. fantastic. but they didn’t, they turned it into a whole movie and it shouldn’t have been a whole movie. this is another one where the plot - to me - felt so muddled i’m not even sure i can explain it clearly, but there’s a spirit out there, and it wants to empty you out until you’re a husk. if you want a good, spooky little watch, turn this one on, but man alive, you turn it off the second you see the “6 months later” or what the fuck ever. trust me on this one.

the requin (2022; movie). i am a simple woman. a simple woman who enjoys a good, schlocky, “oh no, that giant shark is going to eat us!!!” movie. mostly because i have CRAZY intense thalassophobia and as my friends irl will attest, i’m so scared of any fish bigger than a koi that if you take me to an aquarium, my knees literally might give out. this one was just confused. and there wasn’t actually a whole lot of shark. at no point did i feel...anything for the characters. if the selling point of your movie is GIANT SHARK HUNTS PEOPLE, i want to see your gianT SHARK HUNTING PEOPLE AHHHHH.

the ritual by adam nevill (book). okay, this one is definitely just a matter of personal taste, but...i LOVED the movie the ritual, so i thought i’d get the book. the writing itself is great! the story, however, is very different than what you get in the movie, and actually focuses a lot on like...a kidnapping. with a bunch of heavy metal obsessed teenagers. it wasn’t what i was expecting, and it wasn’t what i was hoping for, so it left me feeling pretty deflated. still a great story, just...not the story i was looking for.

sharp objects by gillian flynn (book). i love a story about a fucked up family. i love a story about a serial killer. i love protagonists who are deeply, deeply troubled. this was...hmm. hmmmmmmmm. i’ve read this book like three times, each time hoping maybe my feelings on it will change, but they just don’t. this book feels like suffering for the sake of suffering, and there’s no catharsis, imo, nothing that feels RESOLVED. reading this book felt a whole lot like the written version of “life sucks and then you die,” like it just stretched on and on and everyone was MISERABLE and everyone HATED EACH OTHER and in the end everything just gets WORSE, and idk man. again, i’m sure it’s someone’s thing - it got turned into a tv series on one of the streaming platforms so clearly SOMEONE out there likes it, but boy oh boy, this one just wasn’t for me, folks.

ask me my top 5 anything!

[saintobio]

wait because i’m thinking of an au wherein gojo and y/n are older and end up having a daughter that megumi falls in love with. pls they’d be so cute 😩 i feel like gojo and y/n’s daughter would be a literal sunshine, she’d be playful and teasing which would have megumi all flustered and blushy. he’d always have to hide his blushes, letting his turtle neck swallow up some of the redness at the bottom of his cheeks but that doesn’t stop her from commenting over the pinkness of his ears and he’s just like “gosh this girl-.” but she’s also really sweet and gentle like her mum 🥺 always checking up on him and making sure he’s eating and drinking water. and he’s always there to help her with her homework, even offer to write some of her essays bec he knew how overwhelming it is sometimes. he also waits for her after her classes to walk her back to her car or home, always shy to hold her hand but does it anyway bec he loves how it feels in his—pls megumi best boyfriend. also just imaging the two of them going on cute coffee dates, 😩 her huddling closer under his arm bec it’s cold and shopping dates, megumi watching her fondly as she gushes over some pretty dresses—but swears on her life that they’ll never come close to her mum’s designs. even cutely makes him pinky promise not to tell y/n that she was getting so giddy over another designer’s creation (even tho she knows her mum wouldn’t mind) — ugh

pls megumi only got like 5 mins of screen time here and look at me 😭

if this is sn verse, it’s not possible bc megumi is alr 15 sjnsj but since u said au i think this actually a really cute plot 🥺🥺🥺 megumi rly would be best boyfriend pls he’s going to b so sweet and caring

[dcbnam-aep]

715- amina

pre-ep thoughs

- I already know that this is alycias last episode and i cant say im ready

- alicia is literally my fav character ever I cant believe she’s leavingggg

- but at the same time alycia will be great at whatever role she plays next and shell always have my support so yuh

- anyways on to the ep AKA my breaking point ksjdjjf

ep thoughts-

- straying with a montage of a dying, hallucinating, semi-unconscious alicia wow

- this better be 47 minutes if just alicia

- HER BEING SO OUT OF EVERYTHING BUT SAYING HI TO THE BIRD STOP SHES THE LOML

- the way she’s so shaky sitting up

- june taking her pulse slay

- ‘do not stand up… bring fever under control it will kill you’ owch from the get go

- ‘you need to rest’ alicia pls listen to the doctor and rest

- aannndddd she’s hallucinating again

- she doesn’t know if she’s hallucinating or not

- ok she’s chasing after a hallucination ok then

- it better be her as a child or else 😤

- she rlly just walked into the radiation world as everyone is trying to LEAVE and is not answering her comms

- oh good she answered thank god

- ‘don’t come looking for me’ GIRLIE

- debilitating hallucinations and we’re not even 5 mins in

- almost died count: 1

- THE FLASHBACKS NOOO

- HER TAKING HER MASK OFF DOUBLE NOOOOO OMFG SHES ALREADY DYING

- HER SEEING HER REFLECTION AS A ZOMBIE NOOO

- lol the kid is actually real

- actually my bets are the kid still isn’t real and she’s hallucinating it all to keep the last of her mental sanity

- and since the kid won’t say her name or take the mask off that’s what’ll happen at the very end as she dies kskdnnf

- if the kids ‘friend’ is nick i will SCREAM

- not the kid quoting Alicia’s mum istg it’s literally young her I called this ages ago

- ‘I’ve been fighting a long time’ GIVE BESTIE A BREAK AND HAPPINESS

- not the madison tape talking bout the bird and alicia said hi to a bird

- awww she’s taking it with her and once she dies madison will get it back

- ‘I barely made it here’

- ok at least she’s going for self preservation now slay

- the way she just grabbed the gun and didn’t care

- ‘to do something that might outlast me’ awwww bestie ur memory will live on forever

- yeah u can beat it and help ur friends ‘that’s not true’ owch

- the way the kid has the bite mark in the same place literally baby alicia stop-

- kinda devo ive got no happy scenes for literally a season and now she’s gonna die

- her making fun of young her being short

- almost die count: 2

- she literally cant even stand up stop it

- not her planning on killing herself very much owch

- i dislike that the child is saying how she’ll be find and giving us all hope and then she dies die like that’s so cruel

- i get queerbaited enough now im getting deathbaited do ksjjdjd

- if she’s going to the tower Strand better be with her when she dies

- and she’s fainted. Again.

- the child literally talks and acts like alicia

- The bullet she’s gonna use to kill berserker around her neck

- and now she’s being carried to the start like the beginning again

- luciana queen

- and now there’s no child cause alicia walkied them ugh too predictable

- her mind making things up to make things make more sense for herself is sad

- ok like give her a tranquilizer and put her on the raft and keep her safe jeez its not that hard

- if she saves the girl she’s saving herself stop this foreshadowing of survival is CRUEL

- alicia doesn’t wanna die 🥹🥹

- she knows she sounds crazy lol

- ayyy luciana teaming up to help alicia slay

- Everyone joining to help her

- ahhh happy s5 nostalgia where they were all one happy family not off on separate storylines slayyyy

- not her loading the gun arghhh owchies

- trailer scene power walk icon shit

- alicia telling everyone why they need to live and then sending herself in to die hurts

- ‘I have to do this on my own’ giving Lexa

- the cgi fire also hurts im not kidding i could literally do better

- id say ftwd should hire me but i wouldn’t get to cgi alicia so no

- shes walking like a walker owch

- ‘im not sure i can make it’ owch again

- shes telling herself she can do itttt

- also the birds there again maybe she hallucinated that the first time to

- kinda want a flashback of how she got down from the burning tower ngl

- SHES NOT READY TO DIE AND THEYRE GONNS KILL HER ANYESY FTWD WRITERS PLS LEAVE NOW

- her friend is strand aka alicias friend already this is all so obvious and pointless I hate that this delusional alicia is the last we’re gonna get she’s such an amazing character and deserves so much better ksjjdjdj

- *chanels anger and grief and emotions into keyboard smashes* jsjdjdjjdjdj

- the slo-mo of her almost fainting again djjdjfj

- her grabbing her head and looking broken and done with herself so much owch

- strand is her family when rlly madison her actual mother is coming back next ep and shes already gonna be dead

- oop she fainted. Again again.

- and ofc the kid fainted too cause they’re the same duh

- she actually can’t stand and walk and breath at the same time

- the bird cgi is so bad I could cry

- Strand where u at come comfort alicia already

- he’s gonna be drunk asf

- oh guess what he’s drunk asf

- i mean at least alycia got to film some of her last scenes with bestie colman

- she’s got survivors guilt

- ‘making what she gave us mean something. to do what she didn’t get to.’ Well screw that cause she’s still gonna get to and alicias last years are gonna be for literally nothing

- ‘it’s not fair��

- SHES HOLDING A GUN TO HER OWN HESD AND CRYING AND SAYING SORRY THAT IS NOT IK LEAVE HER SKINE

- FLASHBACKS TO ALL HER FRIENDS STOP AND WHEN SHE WAS HAPPY

- IF SHE PULKS THE TRIGGER ISTG

- oop the bird pulled to the window so she’ll be fine it’s all g

- the madison flashbacks are unnecessary

- They’re undermining Alicia’s entire story because they’re bringing madison back instead and I hate it

- it they’re gonna do both they can do it in a way that brings both characters justice

- the reveal that it was alicia all along i wonder who called it oh yeah that’s right me 🙄

- THIS WHOLE EP HAS BEEN SO UNDERWHELMING AND POINTLESS I WOULDVE PREFFERED HER TO TURN IN HER SLEEP OR GO OUT ON THE BOATS WITH HER FRIENDS AND KNOW SHES DONE SOMETHING RIGHT

- the idea that she hasn’t lost her inner child didn’t involve needing an actual child it could just be her staying rational and sticking to her true values- literally the opposite of everything the writers have done

- i hate ftwd why are they doing this

- stop with the madison referenced we literally all know she’s coming back just give alicia a respectful ending omfg

- cut to them carrying her again

- wow called it again

- IF THATS THE END IM FUCKING MAD

- ok its not the end

- they’re not gonna tell us what she said why???? literally why is any of this happening??? none of the characters are getting development of closure??

- at least charlie saw a beach the single redeemable thing about this episode

- and alicia got thanked that’s good

- luciana wanting to go in the raft with her go bestie

- strand taking initiative and going as well that would have been such a better ending

- this episode has been so not-alicia and i genuinely hate it

- strand would knock her out and put her in the boat not just paddle the fuck away

- and now alicias final act is giving strand closure when she deserves the love

- ok she got 1 (ONE) teary smile and that was it

- her little wave is depressing asf but she adorable

- AND SHE FUCKING COLLAPSED WITH THE GUN IN HER HAND WHAT-

- the bird flying above her-

- she’s awake and not sweaty is this meant to be heaven? im confused

- drink that water gal

- no fever slay

- little alicia not a slay she can go away pls

- ok the bite marks gone and she’s safe now I didn’t need little alicia for that

- SHE COULD HAVE GONE ON THE BOATS WITH EVERYONE CAUSE SHES FINE AND SURVIVED THE BITE FUCK-

- DID THEY EVEN LEAVE HER A RAFT??

- ok got another smile which was stupid in the context but ill take it

- ‘I feel like myself’ yeah well the ftwd writers clearly haven’t been watching the past 6 seasons cause shes not acting like herself

- so they’re just gonna end with her walking off into the supposedly uninhabitable land and leave it like that??

- only good symbolic bit all ep was the very very end when she shot the walker with the last bullet she had saved for herself

- at least she’s not dead so I can make canon-compliment fix-it fics in my head

- pulled an althea not dead but potential chance to come back into the series even tho it will probably never happen???

- overall a pretty shit episode did even get close to the justice and farewell alicia deserves but at least she’s alive and alycia acknowledged how much love she had for the character and support she felt from the fans so there’s that I guess

- ftwd is dead to me but alicia will live on in my heart forever 🫶

[butterflydm]

wot reread: the shadow rising (prologue-chap2 Perrin PoV)

spoilers through the end of the fourth book, the shadow rising.

1. Using Min’s Talent here to set up some ominous foreshadowing in a very good way. Oh, and this about Gawyn: “So you will protect her whether she wants it or not?” Summing up a large part of Gawyn in a single sentence there. And we do see here the beginnings of the struggle here between Gawyn trying desperately to Fulfill The Role that he was meant to have (of Elayne’s protector) but unable to do so because the world is in the process of turning upside down, due to the Dragon having been reborn. This question also implies the other half that he deals with as well, which would be: are you trying to protect her whether she NEEDS it or not? (because Elayne is roughly 1000x more capable than Gawyn even at the beginning tbh. except with swords but even there, Gawyn isn’t who she would pick to be defending her with a sword (it’s Rand, she would pick Rand))

2. Min being forced to adopt her old name that she hates and feminine attire that she hates: this is painful to read. If the timelines get compressed in the right ways, maybe she won’t need to do this in the show.

3. Elaida has... a fascinating brain. That is not a compliment in this particular instance, lol. She also teams up with Alviarin right away. Elaida already knows that Rand is important due to her Foretelling from EotW, which is not something that is currently at play in the show. I wonder if they are going to do something in S2 to make sure that Elaida is both aware of and wary of Rand in particular as we go forward. That’s kinda a point in favor of us getting some kind of version of the garden scene, so that Elaida can meet Rand.

4. Ah, and we are reminded that Fain has infested the Whitecloaks like a cancer, feeding on their paranoia and suspicion to make them even bigger assholes than they were before.

5. It seems likely to me that if we get these scenes with Suroth in the show, if they want to show us this side of what’s going on, we would probably use an Aes Sedai we’ve already met to be ‘Pura’, which would likely mean Maigan. Ugh, Seanchan PoVs are so hard to read!

6. Faile is very much of the ‘I can fix him’ school of relationships and it kinda makes me wince. It’s like she has a list of defects about Perrin that she is systematically going through to try to repair, starting with little things like “influence him grow a beard” down to more major things like “his entire approach to relationships is incorrect because it is not the same as my culture’s approach and so he must be bullied and manipulated into acting appropriately”. There are many things that I like about Faile but this is... this is not one of those things.

7. The culture clash remains so strong and yet so much of it is because they will not talk plainly to each other (and this is definitely on Perrin as much as it is Faile). Faile complains that his rooms are too simple because he “refuses stand up for himself” and he ‘did not comment’ even though, literally, it was standing up for himself that got him the plain rooms he wanted instead of the fancy ones that he doesn’t want. Perrin, I think, spends way too much time trying to read Faile’s mind through the way she smells and not enough time actually talking to her.

8. Perrin is almost hilariously casual about how Rand is going to ‘die a rotting death’ from the madness, you know, like all men who channel do. Thanks, bro! Cheerful thought!

9. “Mat won’t even admit that he’s ta’veren, but however he tries to get away, he always ends up drawn back to Rand.” Thanks for the first Cauthor crumb of the book, Perrin! Cauthor crumbs is all I eat these days.

10. I just realized that I have no idea how much time has passed since Rand claimed Callandor. Long enough that Faile is like, “hey Moiraine has forgotten your existence, let’s book it” but this is Faile so that could be, like, two days. lol, but I figure it must be longer for Mat to have admit multiple attempts to ‘get away’ (though judging by his behavior in TDR, I assume that the attempts were mostly just him complaining really loudly tbh).

11. It breaks my heart how... close... Perrin is to Accepting The Call. In these first few books, it seemed like he would be the first one to really accept things. Here, he’s talking about how his destiny is with Rand and that he thinks he needs to do his part so that Rand can do his.

12. And now we bring up the two sticking points in Perrin Accepting the Call -- his refusal to embrace his innate wolfiness, and the conflict between the hammer and the axe. If we get the bubble of evil scenes, then this one with Perrin, Faile, and the axe would be especially heartwrenching because of the backstory change for Perrin. So, the ‘few who already know’ about his wolf secret would be... Egwene, Elyas, and... does Moiraine know? I don’t think Mat and Rand know. I think Moiraine and Lan know...? Yeah, because of the road trip and meeting the other wolfbrother, I think they know.

13. “to go home and see his family again” - I believe this is the first mention of Perrin’s family outside of his apprenticeship to Master Luhhan. But they needed to be invented for... reasons. So now Perrin has a family at home that he wants to return to! It’s actually interesting to me that the show didn’t introduce his family in the pilot, even briefly, so that they could lay that hook in.

14. I’m not sure we needed more mentions of girls ‘young enough to be his grandaughter’ hitting on Thom, but we got them anyway! Show!Thom does have that aging rockstar vibe, I guess, at least. But I would still be absolutely cool if they just... didn’t do this bit.

15. Faile/Perrin - two stubborn people desperately trying to outstubborn each other into making the other one crack first even though they both know that clear communication would make them happier. I don’t blame the bubble of evil for attacking. I have never understood their relationship and I doubt I ever will, lol.

16. I’m glad that Perrin didn’t just let Faile hit him, and that he stopped her and asked her not to do it again. Not okay, Faile! Taking your anger and worry out on Perrin is not cool. Scream into a pillow or something.

17. Faile assumes that Rand was trying to kill them???? Like, on purpose??? Faile, I have so many questions.

18. Question: do we think the pipe-smoking will make it into the show? I don’t personally feel like it adds anything but a LOT of characters smoke. This may have just been an artifact of when the books were written tho and Jordan being a pipe-smoker himself.