#might make some changes to this before it goes on youtube

[chongoblog]

Weird Al has a new polka medley so I made this to keep with tradition

[warehouse-in-la-cienaga]

Fantasy high au where over the course of four years, The Bad Kids all end up with online followers for wildly different reasons, and it makes the rest of Solace realise that this disaster group of teenagers are responsible for their continued existence (many times over).

-As in canon, Fig has all her music accounts. However, they all link to her personal accounts (not including any from before freshman year). On her personals, there are plenty of clips of her and the rest of the BK, starting halfway through Freshman year. She has a Fantasy YouTube account where she shows concert clips and music demos, but also running complications of each bad kid being cool/stupid/insane. The highest viewed video is Riz and Adaine pulling Fig into a magic debate, with the quote ‘someone get Kristin, I think they might actually kill each other’.

-Kristin actually gets involved on social media at the end of Freshman year. She starts with taking about her deity ‘yes!’ but also includes stories about unlearning toxic religious teachings, and how to deal with changing/leaving a religion. She gets a lot of ex-religious followers, although few of them actually follow ‘yes!’ When she starts talking about Cassandra at the end of Junior year, a lot of her followers get behind it. Highest viewed video is introducing her Sibling Bucky, who talks about following an older sibling who’s been denounced and escaping a religion as a pattern in families.

-Riz starts his social medias during the summer of Freshman year, when he gets his license and starts getting clients. He has a separate, personal Fantasy YouTube account that’s a mix of reviewing mystery-genre media (books, films, ect), and advice for adventurers (think Polygon Unravelled meets Monster manual guides). Highest video is rating all the enemies the BK’s have fought in their time, with the quote ‘Porter was strong, but he also relied on angry teenagers to be subtle and organised, so that’s a flaw.’

-Adaine is next, takes an idea from Riz and talked about her favourite media, as well as advice to other Wizards. Guides on memorising spell chants. Organising material components. She has Jawbone on some videos to talk about how to deal with the mental effects of adventuring. Most of her videos are very calm and easy to listen to, with a few insane clips of the BK’s thrown in, usually when demonstrating a spell. Highest viewed video is a blurry clip of a car on fire. In the background, Fig is howling laughing. We hear Riz say ‘what have we learned.’ The camera flips, and Adaine’s blank face says ‘do not punch a car to see how far it’s thrown.’ End clip.

-Fabian is terminally offline, and only joins the others online at the end of Sophmore year. His videos are a mix of dancing and fighting techniques. He goes through steps easily, from beginner to expert. His fighting videos include the rest of the bad kids as opponents. He sometimes does talk over them to give advice, but there are also complete dances and fights set to music with no talking. Highest viewed video is his first dance with Mazey. It’s not a ‘couple dance’ it’s almost like breakdancing, but you can tell the two have high chemistry together.

-The group channel is started at the beginning of Junior year. It’s mostly clip compilations, to begin with, since everyone is incredibly stressed and busy, but as the year goes on there’s videos of the snowball fight at moonar yulenear, the frostyfair. Debates between Riz and Adaine, Godess talks with Fig and Kristin. At least half of their videos are the BK’s doing something insane and documenting results, ranging from ‘fantasy jackass’ to ‘fantasy myth busters’ depending on who’s involved. Highest viewed video is Fig surfing a lava river, following Fabian who is riding the Hangman through the same river like a jetski. Adaine is standing on the other bank, holding an ice bag.

-Gorgug is surprisingly last. The audience know about him, he’s appeared in Figs music, Fabian’s fighting, Riz talked about his gadgets and the group channel includes him as much as the rest of the BKs. He just doesn’t really think there’s anything for him to have his own channel for. Until there’s a group video where Fig needs a gadget, and the audience get to see Gorgug’s workshop, where he’s currently working on a robotic, fox-like creature that jumps up on Fig when she walks in. His channel is sort of a Michael Reeves type, where he does such impressive engineering for the most insane reasons. Highest viewed video is a workshop tour that includes three fires, at least one of which is Figs fault. The thumbnail is Gorgug watching the fire on his desk with a completely straight face.

[into-the-grey]

~It's Raining, It's Pouring~

Noah x F!Reader fic

Genre: Fluff, Romance, Mild Smut and some Angst

Sometimes, people are just meant to be in each others lives. And sometimes, magic happens.

Warnings: mentions of SH, allusions towards Suicide, allusions towards abusive family, mentions of death, brief smut (theyre both 18 by this point), high school, mental illness, panic attack, divorce, mild jealousy

WC: 13.2k

Taglist: @wh0th3h3llisbucky @blend-in-with-the-madness

RIP my YouTube history, I think I played It’s Raining, It’s Pouring by Anson Seabra for 7 hours straight working on this. Also, the tense probably changes a few times because I never write in second person, I apologise for that, still learning a bit. It might go from past to present tense and back again a few times. This is a new format, and a new way of writing for me, so let's see how it goes.

Fic Masterlist

Alright; ON WITH THE SHOW

Once upon a time, there were two people. Those two people were star-crossed, fated, meant to be. All of the romantic stories could have been about them. It wasn't a grand adventure for him to find her, and he didn't have to save her from a dragon. And she had never been locked in a tower, or forced into slavery by an evil step-mother.

No.

No, it was much simpler than that.

You. You were the one who lived in the house down the street. The house that he rode past every day on his bike when he was young. You were the one he used to see in the neighbourhood, playing with your friends and climbing the tree at the end of the block that all the kids were convinced was a magic wishing tree.

You were the one who came to school with notes in your lunchbox from your mom and knew that you were loved.

And him? He was the kid with the witch for a mom. She wasn't really a witch, but she scared a lot of the kids on the block. She would stand in the street, yelling for him to come home, and if he didn't show up, she'd give up and lock him out for the night. He was the one who came to school with bags under his eyes wearing the same hoodie he'd been wearing for a week.

He was the one who would look at all the kids around him, wishing he could be like you.

You found him in the wishing tree once. That day, you ran down the block, adamant that the tree would help you pass a test in your fourth grade science class. As an adult, you know how stupid you were, but back then it was the most obvious answer.

He was in the tree, high up in it's branches. He huddled in on himself as the cold wind whipped against his skin. He was alone, but his lips moved as tears rolled slowly down his cheeks. His bloodshot eyes fixed on you as you climbed higher, his lips pressing into a thin line as he watched you nervously.

You didn't hesitate for a second.

'Hi,' you said brightly, seeing his pain. You didn't know how to help him, and your eight year old brain couldn't imagine the gravity of his troubles. All you were sure of was that he was there, and he was upset. 'What are you wishing for?'

'Nothing.' His lie was blunt, and his eyes flitted away from you as he sniffed hard against his tears. He drew his heels in under himself as he perched on the thickest branch, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees while he shivered.

'Oh,' you said softly. 'I was going to wish for help on my test tomorrow. It's a science test and I suck at science. But, if you want, I can wish for whatever you were wishing for? It might help to have more than one person wishing for it?'

He scoffed, his deep brown eyes looking you over quickly before returning his hard stare back to his purpling fingers.

'A science test? Why didn't you just study?' he asked, his voice low. His hard shell seemed to crack as he glanced back at you a few times.

'I got distracted,' you admitted. 'A lot. Focussing is kind of hard for me, my mom says I have attention problems, but my dad thinks I'm just making it up to get people to feel sorry for me.' You leaned against a branch, tugging awkwardly at the sleeves of your pale blue hoodie. 'Sometimes my brain goes too fast though, and I can't read or I say stupid things that I don't mean. It's embarrassing.'

'Like offering a wish to a stranger?' he said, a snip in his voice. The words cut through you, stinging as you digested them. Your lip jutted out in a pout as you felt your gut twisting from his insult.

'Yeah,' you nodded sadly 'I guess...'

Your turned dejectedly, wishing silently for the boy to learn some manners, and grabbing the branch to lower yourself down.

'Wait,' he called. Your head snapped back to him, seeing him staring at you. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.'

You smiled weakly up at him, and after a brief pause, you made your choice. You scaled the branches and hauled yourself up to his level. As you reached him, you sat on the only other branch that stays steady under your weight, just above him in the dying leaves. The cool breeze rustled through the leaves, a few coming loose and drifting around you while the sky above darkened.

'I'm Y/N,' you said, pulling your hood up to protect you from the chill. Your introduction sounded eager, like you were asking for something. Mentally you kicked yourself, but he seemed receptive.

'I know, I've seen you at school,' he told you, shifting slightly to face you. He chewed the inside of his lip while he wiped his sleeves over his face, trying to erase the traces of his tears. No matter how hard he wiped, there was no way for him to erase the hollow sadness in his eyes. The moment you saw it, you knew there was more to this boy than he let on.

'I've seen you too. You're in Miss Forson's class, right?' you asked. You watched him nod slowly.

'Yeah. My name is Noah. You've probably heard it being yelled down the street enough times...'

'That's your mom, isn't it? The one who stands on the lawn yelling?'

Noah nodded, his cheeks flushing red and hanging his head. He clenched his fists and sniffed again, tears welling in his eyes.

'Yeah, that's her.'

'You're hiding from her, right?' you prodded.

'Yeah,' he said, his voice thick as he swallowed down the pain welling in his chest.

'Do you do that a lot?'

He nodded again, unable to look at you now. Your face fell, watching him picking at his nails and seeing his lip quiver.

'If you want, my mom would probably let you stay at my house? We could play my playstation for a while?' you offered. 'But, you gotta help me with my science test, just for a little while so my mom thinks you're not just there to distract me.' You giggled when you saw the corner of his lips lift into a smile. A sad one, but a smile nonetheless.

'Are you sure?' he asked timidly, looking at you with a glint of hope. 'I'm not really good at science...'

'That's okay, I'm not really good at playstation,' you told him.

A fat raindrop fell through the branches and the leaves, landing smack dab on your head with a pronounced 'plop'. You reached for your hair, feeling the wet spot and giggling more.

More raindrops fell, slowly turning the sidewalk below into a picture of grey polka dots. Noah followed your gaze, seeing the drops colouring in the concrete.

'I guess it's better than being out here in the rain,' he agreed, finally releasing his knees from his vice grip and stretching out to reach the branch below him to begin his descent. You smiled at him, following his lead and dropping off your branch.

Once you were on solid ground and you had a moment, you looked at him. Shaggy brown hair hung in his warm hazel eyes. A light dusting of freckles covered his nose, and a gentle smile lifted his pink lips. He stood only just taller than you, maybe an inch? An inch and a half at most.

You offered him your hand, leading him down the street towards your house. He walked slowly, letting the raindrops fall on the both of you. Normally, you'd run for home to get out of the rain, but something about him made the rain less intimidating. You felt safe with him the moment you saw him in that tree.

What you didn't know was that he felt safe with you too. A stark contrast to how things were at home. Noah had a strained relationship with his mom, and he never told you just how bad things were, but you knew it was worse than he let on.

He found solace in you and your home. Your mom welcomed him in, knowing exactly who he was and who his mom was. Noah's mom was known around the street, and a few of the parents in the neighbourhood were familiar with Noah's hiding spots. They would all keep a quiet eye on him whenever they saw him near their houses, knowing that someone had to.

When you brought him home to your mom, she didn't question anything. The two of you stood on the front doorstep, dripping and cold, and all your mom did was laugh and find you two the biggest fluffiest towels in the house. She brought you inside and found you a change of clothes, letting Noah have one of your oversized pokemon t-shirts and a pair of your dad's old gym shorts.

Your dad wasn't happy about it, but your mom shut him up. Never in front of you or Noah though. She wouldn't dare fight with your dad in front of the two of you, but you didn't miss the pointed glares she would shoot at him over the dinner table when your dad would make a remark.

Noah became a staple in your house, feeling safer there than at home. You liked having him there too, he was a lot smarter than he let on, and he was funny. Plus, he was really good at the playstation, he could help you beat the tougher levels. He even completed Crash Bandicoot for you when you got stuck on the hog riding level. And yes, he helped you with your science test, and you passed.

Some nights, Noah would sneak in through the dog door in the laundry and creep into your room. The first time he did it, it scared the hell out of you, but you got used to it quickly. Those nights were hard. He would wake you up in tears, but he would never tell you why. And when he did, you would simply scooch over and let him into the bed, rubbing his back while he cried himself to sleep.

Your dad would always ask who left the dog door open. Your mom never admitted it, but there were a few nights that you caught her unlocking it before she went to bed.

You two grew up together. Joined at the hip, you went everywhere together, did everything together...

And then high school happened. The first year was supposed to be exciting, you were meant to be enjoying life and all the perks that came with being high schoolers. Instead, your parents got a divorce.

Noah held you while you cried, fearing that your dad would try and make you move to Topeka with him. He mourned the breaking apart of your family with you, and he kept you distracted by playing video games with you or by hiding in the wishing tree with you.

Your mom gave him a key to the house the day your dad moved out, telling him he didn't need to sneak through the dog door anymore. He hugged your mom, unable to find the words to thank her. She even cleared out your dad's study and turned it into a bedroom for him.

Then came the awkward "talk". Your mom sat you down on the couch one day when Noah wasn't there, telling you that while she understood you two were close, that sex is a big deal and if you're not ready, then you can always tell him no.

She didn't judge, but she taught you all about protection, and asked that you wait until you were sure.

You laughed at her, telling her that there was no way you'd ever have sex with Noah. He was your best friend, and you told her you didn't feel that way about him. She just smirked at you, nodding and saying 'okay.'

But when you went to bed that night, you couldn't help thinking about it. You felt weird as you laid in your bed, staring at the ceiling with the images of Noah on top of you flashing through your mind.

Maybe you did feel that way, but you would never dare tell him.

That night, when Noah crept into your room, you comforted him and you felt butterflies as you held him. Silently, you cursed your mother for making you think about him that way, but you didn't let on that anything had changed.

At school, you joined music class with Noah, and he found something in himself. You watched him beam whenever he touched a keyboard or picked up a guitar. Lyrics seemed to flow from him like a fountain. He was magical.

You wished you were as good as him. But through music, he found his friend Nick. Nick was nice, and he hung out with you guys at lunch, but at the end of the day, Noah would come home to you. You tried to like Nick, but you couldn't help that teenage bubble of jealousy as he and Noah bonded over something that you just couldn't do.

And then Noah left. He just stopped coming to school.

The first day, you texted him and asked him where he was. He was blunt, telling you he wasn't coming. You assumed that he was just sick, or skipping for the day. But one day turned into two. Two became three. Three became a week. A week became a month.

After that, you knew to just let him sleep when you got up in the mornings. At least he was still in your room, still with you.

He got a job to fill his days, working at Nick's family's tattoo studio. Noah wasn't the art type, he couldn't really draw, so he never picked up a tattoo gun, but the money wasn't bad. He would bring you little trinkets and gifts sometimes. He even saved up to buy himself a car. It was an absolute piece of shit, but it ran, it got good gas mileage, and it had a stereo.

Then came the nights where you would drive around aimlessly, discovering more and more of Richmond as you belted out the words to any song you knew. Sometimes Nick would come with you, but you liked it better when it was just you and Noah.

He was growing up, and you loved seeing who he was becoming. He was still the awkward introverted boy you knew, but he was blossoming into a musician. Your mom even bought him a guitar one christmas, making him cry. Because he could finally practice again, he found his way into a cover band. You were their number one fan, and your mom was a close second. She cheered him on in any way she could.

You kept going to school though. You didn't have a choice, you weren't good enough at anything to take the creative path. Every day you wished Noah was there, but you did your best without him. Class was harder without him. It had been years of the two of you side by side, Noah helping you to understand the questions that didn't make sense to you. He would even read the questions aloud to you if you needed it. Now, your grades were slipping. You didn't have your support system, and no one else seemed to believe that it was that hard.

He would help with your homework, but it was getting harder. He'd never learned the subject matter, so he could only do so much. You'd let him read your textbooks, but sometimes neither of you understood what the hell the textbooks were talking about.

One night, a particular project had overstressed you. He held you while you cried, running his fingers through your hair while you tried to compose yourself.

'I can't fucking do this,' you choked, your arms around him while he rested his chin on your head. When did he get so tall?

'You can, it's just your brain,' he shushed you, his voice soft and his arms strong as he held you together. 'There's too much going on in there, isn't there?'

'There always is, you know that,' you told him, letting him sit you down on the side of your bed.

'And what do we normally do about it?' he asked gently, holding your hands and squeezing lightly. As he sat in front of you, you found yourself staring at him, your mouth hanging open while you panted through the tears.

He had the beginnings of a sleeve colouring his arm, the ink peeking out under his three-quarter sleeves. A shiny dermal piercing sat in his cheek, glinting under the low light of your bedside lamp. His warm brown hair hung down almost to his chest, always a layered mess.

But his eyes, those warm brown eyes. They were still the eyes of that boy from so many years ago, searching for comfort in yours. Offering you comfort with him. In them, you could see how much your pain hurt him, and how hard he tried to hide it.

'I don't know if can talk about it,' you whimpered, your gaze shifting to his hands. His long, slender fingers, wrapped up in your shorter, pinker ones. His thumb grazed over your knuckle supportively.

'There's nothing you can't tell me,' he said, both gently and firmly. 'What's different now?'

'Everything.'

'Y/N...' he whispered, shuffling closer. His hands ran gingerly up your arms, and you couldn't help flinching. You closed your eyes, holding your breath as heavy tears blurred your vision. You were thankful, you didn't want to see the pain in his eyes as realisation dawned on him.

'Why?' he asked. You knew he knew. It had been a while since you'd done that. You'd been clean since your dad gave up on trying to move you to Topeka. You hadn't needed it...

But school, the projects, the frustration of your brain not working right...

You hadn't felt good enough in a long time. Like something in you was broken. And even though you could normally talk to Noah about these things, Noah had found his people. He found his thing, the thing he was good at. You didn't have that. You were convinced he wouldn't understand anymore.

'I'm not right. I can't do the things everyone else can do,' you whispered. 'My grades are going to shit, and everyone thinks I'm just being lazy, but I just can't fucking do it. No one believes me-' you tell him, crumpling in on yourself as your voice breaks. 'I'm fucking def-fective,' you coughed.

Noah grabbed you, pulling you into his chest and holding you tightly, whispering into your ear.

'You are not defective. You are not lazy, or broken, or any of that bullshit. It's not your fault,' he told you, swaying you back and forth in his grip while he buried his nose in your hair.

'I-' you tried to start, but he shushes you, knowing whatever you were going to say would be negative.

'No, you are the kindest, smartest, most hard-working person I know,' he told you. 'You care so fucking much about other people. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here, that's for sure. It's not your fault that you can't always figure out what the fuck those textbooks say. They're stupid fucking books anyway, written by snooty old guys with nothing better to do than write rules about how numbers should work or brag about how war is great when you win one.'

'Noah-'

'Nope, I'm not done,' he stopped you. 'You don't need to think like them. You think like you, and the way you think is magical. You are so special, and that's what matters. You might not be great at science or math, but you make the most amazing paintings I've ever seen. You write the best stories, and you sing better than half the guys who auditioned for my band. Don't you ever doubt yourself, okay?'

His arms lock tighter around you as his voice hitches in his throat. You nod against him, your arms around his narrow chest. His width had yet to catch up to his height, he was still skinny as anything, but he still gave fantastic hugs.

'I'm sorry-' you try to say, but again, he stops you.

'You. Are. Incredible,' he tells you, punctuating each word as he finds your face and looks at your bloodshot and puffy eyes. 'And you are everything to me, got it? Please, don't ever take yourself away from me like that. I care about you way too much to lose you to that.'

You nod, releasing an arm and wiping your face with your sleeve.

'Y/N,' he breathes, 'I mean it. Please, don't go anywhere.'

Your heart breaks as his firm voice slips, instead pleading with you now.

'I promise,' you tell him, swallowing hard past the lump in your throat. 'I care about you too much to leave you behind.'

'Good.'

Pulling you back into a tight hug, he doesn't tell you that he meant more with those words than you understood. He had for a while. And so had you. Both of you caught in the limbo of what you each thought were unrequited feelings, and neither one of you brave enough to tell the other about the butterflies in your bellies. Neither of you dared to speak the three words that your hearts yearned to say.

I care about you?

No.

I love you.

More than life itself.

Noah made a point to be around a lot more after that night. Sure, he was always around, but he slept in your bed a lot more after that. He watched as your long sleeves became tank tops, always checking to make sure the scars stayed scars.

He even offered to get Nick to tattoo you to cover them up, going as far as asking your mom if she would let you. To your dismay, your mom was against that idea. She let you get away with a lot, but an underage tattoo was toeing the line.

It didn't stop you from getting a tattoo though. It just meant you put it somewhere your mom wouldn't see it. You got Nick to tattoo it on the front of your hip, somewhere even a bikini would cover it.

A little tree, just like the one at the end of the block. Noah held your hand while the needle dragged across your skin, the bony parts hurting the worst. Nick chuckled while you squeezed your eyes shut tight and grimaced at the worst of it.

Finally, senior year rolled around. The best and worst year of your life.

Finally, someone believed you. At school, there was a new counsellor. She recognised something in you that no one else had. You called Noah the second she told you about the letters that changed your life.

ADHD.

That's why you had been struggling so much. That's why things never made sense the first time. Noah celebrated with you when you got home that afternoon, and he went with you to talk to your mom about it.

Your mom was just as excited for you to have an answer, agreeing to help you seek treatment. She couldn't get on the phone to your doctor fast enough. Finally, something made sense. A chance at normalcy...

Noah took you for a drive that night, the two of you sitting in the front seat of the car and screaming along to all the songs on your shared playlist. He drove you out to a lookout and the two of you watched the stars, talking about how different things could be.

He told you about his side project from his cover band, Man Vs Self. He was excited about it, and Nick was getting involved too, and Vincent. You weren't completely familiar with Vincent, but from the few encounters you'd had with him, he seemed nice enough.

He showed you some of the things he was working on for the band, and you had to admit, it was good. Not that you expected any less from him. Noah couldn't make something bad if he tried, it's like it was against his nature.

While you two sat there, you googled everything you could about ADHD, learning more about how your brain worked. A part of you mourned how your life could have been if you had been diagnosed earlier. Things could have been so different, so much easier..

But without the struggle, you never would have found Noah. And you wouldn't change that for the world, and neither would he.

If only things could be so simple forever.

But time marches ever onward, and life goes on.

Noah's band picked up. And after a while, you noticed him withdraw. There was something there, something he didn't want to tell you. Whenever you asked him what was bothering him, he would shy away from the topic, trying to change it quickly.

After a few weeks of pushing, you finally got the answer. He was leaving.

He cried as he told you, telling you he had been seriously considering backing out so he could stay with you. Knowing how much you needed him, it was killing him to choose between making this demo in Jersey or staying with you.

So you chose for him. You told him to go. You told him how much he would hate himself if he didn't try; that if he didn't go for it, he'd never know how far he could go.

You asked him how much time you had left. He told you that you had a month, and that he had no idea what would happen after. For that month, he worked his ass off on that demo, doing everything he could to have it ready to record, but he spent every night with you, promising you that this wasn't goodbye.

The night before he left, the two of you sat in the wishing tree and talked all night. He carved your names into the branches that you'd been sitting on when you met. He held your hand tightly, promising you that he'd come back.

And then he left. You and your mom stood on the driveway, sending him off with a bag of snacks and the tightest hug the two of you had ever shared before your mom came in with a group hug. She told Noah that she was proud of him, a phrase that brought tears to his eyes.

As he drove away in that cramped car, your mom kept her arm around you. The pair of you waved goodbye, watching him disappear down the road. You were thankful he didn't see the tears in your eyes as he disappeared around the corner.

Your mom held you together while you cried for most of the day. And that night, you snuck down to the wishing tree. You scaled its branches, climbing to the high branch that you sat on the day you met Noah and pulling your knees into your chest.

Silently, you whispered to the universe, making yet another wish.

You wished for his success, for him to be brave, and to push through anything this industry could throw at him. But most of all, you wished for him to come back.

Weeks passed, and the end of the school year drew closer. Promposals were exchanged at school, but no one asked you. Your friends all had dates, while you debated if you even wanted to go.

You told Noah as much on one of your nightly calls. You had fallen into a rhythm with him, waiting for him to call you when he was going to bed. Sometimes you had to call him, now that you had a job to fill your time.

It wasn't much, just stacking shelves at the local record store, but it paid better than fast food or waiting tables did.

As prom drew closer, you found Noah egging you to go. He even dared you once. You knew you couldn't say no to a dare, and your mom was more than willing to take you dress shopping.

She found you a beautiful dress, and it cost a small fortune, but she was adamant that you needed to go. Something about a 'rite of passage for a young woman' and 'regretting if you don't go.'

So you did. You went to prom, alone, in your beautiful forest green dress. The colour of the leaves on the wishing tree. And you hated every second of it. You stood in the back of the room, watching all the couples slow dancing while you sipped at a plastic cup of spiked punch.

Until a hand graced your arm.

'Care to dance?' he asked you. You turned, hope blooming in your chest.

But it wasn't him. It was someone else, Jacob? Joshua? You never learned this guy's name. He was a theatre kid with cropped black hair and too-tight skinny jeans. Sure, he was nice, but it wasn't Noah.

So you shook your head.

'Thanks, but I'm good. I was thinking I might head off.'

He just nodded at you, wandering off in search of a different dance partner.

And you did. You left, wandering out of the school gym and through the halls. You didn't cry, even though you really wanted to. You kicked your heels off and scooped them up as you walked through the quiet halls, the music echoing behind you as it seemed to taunt you.

Outside, the cool night air sunk into your skin, a welcome change from the stuffy air of the gym.

You were about to shortcut across the grass to get to the parking lot where you had parked the car. Your mom had loaned you hers for the evening, and you figured if she thought you were out for the night, she wouldn't mind if you went for a drive, as long as you put gas in it before returning it.

A car came careening into the lot as you stepped onto the wet lawn, grass sticking to your bare feet as you moved. The car came to a stop, and the engine silenced. His voice rang out across the parking lot, your head snapping over to him the moment you heard it.

Noah.

He slammed the car door, running over to you as fast as he could. Your heart stopped as you looked at him. He was dressed in a white button down with the sleeves rolled up, a black vest, and a skinny tie hanging from his neck.

You grinned, tears pricking at your eyes as you ran at him, throwing your shoes on the ground. You threw your arms around him and sank into his grip, feeling him hold you like his life depended on it.

'Were you leaving?' he asked as he squeezed you tightly, a hint of a laugh in his voice.

'I didn't have anyone to dance with,' you told him with a shrug. 'Plus, it's kinda crap in there, the music isn't even that good. You came a long way for nothing,' you joked.

'Definitely not nothing,' he told you, pulling back and looking down at you. You missed his eyes, and the way he smiled at you. Your heart fluttered as he grinned down at you.

'Oh?' you asked him, 'so what really made you come back? If the renowned draw of prom night sex wasn't the reason, it must be really good.'

He smirked as you teased him.

'Well, there's this girl I really like, and while I was gone the guys told me I should really talk to her and tell her how I feel about her. They had a point, so I was kind of hoping you could help me out with that?' He asked nervously.

You could feel his hands trembling as he laced his fingers with yours. You didn't dare let your smile falter. He couldn't know how much your heart was breaking at the idea of there being someone else.

'I mean, I can... but you've gotta tell me who she is before I can help,' you said, trying to keep that teasing tone in your voice.

Noah shook his head, chewing the inside of his lip nervously.

'She's probably the kindest, sweetest, funniest girl I've ever met. Y/N, I think I'm in love with her, I've just been too scared to tell her because I didn't want to lose her.'

'Noah-' you breathed, stepping back. You wanted so desperately to be right, but you needed to hear it from him. You watched as he took a deep breath, locking his eyes on yours.

'I love you, Y/N. So much.' he finally said, pulling you back to him and lifting his hand to your cheek. Your breath hitched in your throat at his touch.

All those nights of picturing what it could be like, the tingles at his touch, the thoughts you had tried to squash, it all came flooding forward. There was no denying it now. You were desperately in love with him too, and you didn't need to hide it anymore. The butterflies were free, no longer being squashed down and digested. You felt like you could float as he drew nearer.

Your breath quickened, your hand running up his chest and resting over his heart. You could feel it hammering beneath your fingers as you smiled up at him. In his eyes, you could see his fear while he hung on every breath, waiting for your answer.

'I love you, Noah. You have no idea how much I love you.'

A relieved laugh left his lips, and he leaned in. His lips brushed yours. At first it was tender, learning how you felt, how you kissed. After a moment, the kiss became confident, your arm wrapped around his neck while his hand rested on your lower back, holding you to him.

His taste intoxicated you, and in seconds he became the addiction you knew you would never be able to break. He felt the same. He knew he would never be the same, in that moment you became his air.

A hissing sound broke you apart, and the pair of you looked around. You were still alone, and there were no obvious signs of where the noise was coming from.

Until the sprinklers started, the cold mist spraying over both of you. You squealed, jumping in his grip and feeling him pull you in tight against his chest as the two of you cried out.

He was the first to laugh, and you followed close behind. You had met in the rain, it was only right that you confessed your love for each other the same way, even if the rain wasn't real.

'My shoes!' you cried out, looking behind you to where your heels glinted under the haze of mist.

'I got it!' he told you, releasing you and running through the brunt of the spray. You couldn't help but laugh as his hair deflated while he scrambled across the slick grass, grabbing for the shoes.

He scooped them up and turned to run back to you, but you had other plans. Instead, as he turned, he crashed into your drenched form and his arms wrapped around you again.

Your lips crashed to his, putting all the feeling you had been holding back for years into the kiss. He kissed you just as passionately, and both of you giggled as the water soaked you both to the bone.

'When I said you're everything to me, I meant it,' he told you, his forehead resting on yours as he smiled at you.

'I wish I had said something before you left,' you said, letting him sway you gently.

'So do I. But, we're here now, and that's all that matters.'

'We should probably go and clean ourselves up though. My mom will kill me if I catch a cold from running around in the sprinklers.'

Noah chuckled, kissing you again before finally releasing you. He took your hand, leading you through the water and over to the car.

'I'll meet you at home? I have to take mom's car back.'

'Okay, but after that, I have somewhere I wanna take you, if you're up for it?'

You agreed, parting with a kiss and practically floating back to your mom's car.

The drive home was agonising, and the lights were all off when you got there. Your mom had gone to bed, expecting you to be out late. You entered the house quietly, tiptoeing across the tiles.

You left the keys on the kitchen counter, grabbing a change of clothes from a basket in the laundry and the two towels from all those years ago. They didn't seem as big or as fluffy anymore, but your mom had embroidered your names into them for you. She knew an origin story when she saw one, and she was sentimental, so naturally, she took it upon herself to hold onto memories for you.

You met Noah outside, clambering into his car and handing him the towel. He grinned like a little kid when he saw it, remembering everything with you.

He wrapped the towel around his shoulders before setting off. The whole drive, all you did was talk. He told you about the demo, you told him about work and school, everything felt so normal. Normal, except for the buzz of adrenaline in the pit of your stomach, the cool rush that you felt every time he took your hand in his, kissing your knuckles.

After a while, he pulled into the parking lot of a hotel, grinning as he turned the car off.

'I figured that most people have some kind of after-party, why shouldn't we have our own?' He said, a sheepish grin on his face.

You laughed, shaking your head at him. He lead you from the car and through the hotel, the two of you looking dreadfully out of place in the gilded lobby in your drenched clothes and fuzzy towels. The concierge even giggled quietly as she watched you get in the elevator.

The room itself was fancier than any hotel you'd ever stayed in, and you wondered how he paid for it. You didn't ask, deciding to just enjoy it. As soon as the door closed, Noah tugged you close to him again, gazing down into his eyes with the sweetest smile on his face. If he kept looking at you like that, you knew you could die happy.

'Say it again?' You asked him quietly, your lips hovering just in front of his.

With a soft chuckle, he happily obliged. 'I love you, Y/N.'

'I love you,' you whispered, letting the space between you disappear again.

He was gentle when he stripped the dress off of you, draping it over a chair to let it dry. You were just as gentle about unbuttoning his vest and his shirt. Together you found your way to the shower, letting the warm water erase the chill from your bones.

Being naked in front of him felt strange, but his tender kisses made it easier. For a while, you stood under the water, wrapped in his embrace. Your head tucked perfectly under his chin, and every now and again he would nose into your hair, leaving feather-light kisses on the skin of your neck. If the water hadn't gone cold, you might have stayed there forever.

He wrapped you in your towel before finding his own. Your heart pounded as you watched him, looking over his growing collection of tattoos and the scars on his back. He caught you watching, and stepped closer to you with a look in his eye.

He reached for you, his fingers running over the scars on your bicep. Together, you were beautifully broken, and together you could build a whole new type of perfect. As you stepped into his embrace, you felt safe. You felt loved. You felt whole.

You were the one who lead him to the bedroom.

He was just as nervous, and both of you giggled as the towels came off. Neither of you had done this before, but it felt right to be doing it with each other.

You paid heed to your mother's warning, thankful to be on the pill, and you were sure you were ready.

He laid you down on the bed, and Noah positioned himself between your legs, slowly pushing himself into you, groaning as he felt your body accept him.

You breathed through the feeling, a sting burning through you as he froze in place and waited for your signal.

'You okay?' He asked as he saw your face screw up in discomfort.

'Mhmm,' you hummed, 'just getting used to it.'

'For what it's worth, you feel so much better than I ever imagined,' he breathed, kissing your collarbone and up your neck. His words reverberated through you, making you clench around him.

He smirked, taking your face in his hand. 'You like dirty talk?' He asked, surprised and fascinated to learn about what turned you on.

'A little,' you admitted as you held his bicep.

'So if I said something like...' he smirked, dipping low and hovering his lips just next to your ear, his voice barely a whisper, 'you're mine. Only mine. This pussy? It's mine, and I won't stop until you're out of breath and the neighbours know my name.'

He grinned, sucking in a sharp breath and feeling your muscles contract around him, lusciously squeezing him.

'You're so tight, baby, and so wet. Is this all because of me?'

You couldn't help the soft moan as he spoke, beginning to roll his hips against you. The feeling was heavenly despite the stretching feeling. You'd been warned that the first time could hurt, and it was easily bearable.

'Noah,' you whimpered, running your fingers across his skin.

'Does it feel good, baby? God, you feel so good,' he continued, rutting into you slowly. His thrusts were firm, exploring deeper than you'd ever been able to with your fingers.

You dragged his face back to yours, kissing him deeply. Noah happily followed your lead, letting you swipe your tongue over his as you moaned into his mouth.

'Fuck,' you hissed, your back arching. You wanted more, but you were too scared to show him what you needed. You didn't want him to feel inadequate, or think he was doing something wrong, but your clitoris screamed for attention. Your hand kept inching lower, but you couldn't help the anxiety in your stomach.

'Tell me, baby,' he purred, always able to read you. 'Show me.' He took your hand, guiding it between your bodies and resting his fingers atop yours.

You began to draw timid circles over the little nub, feeling Noah trace your movements to learn how you liked it.

You whined his name, and you felt his dick twitch inside you.

'Noah, please,' you begged, 'I think I'm close.'

'Me too, Y/N,' he panted, his cheeks red and his forehead slick with sweat. 'I want to watch you come. I wanna see how good I can be to you.'

The tingles started small, but the more you circled your clitoris, the stronger it became. Whines and groans left your lips, Noah mirroring the sounds.

His gasps were almost enough to have you, but what broke you was the way he said your name. His breathy cries for you as he sped up and reached his peak, sighing and closing his eyes while your body tensed around his.

He emptied himself into you, and you eked it out of him. You'd heard that it was rare to experience an orgasm during your first time, let alone a mutual one, but it happened, and it was so much better than using your fingers.

Noah laid on top of you, breathless. His eyes fluttered closed while he gasped for air, his panting tickling your nipple as he laid his head on your chest.

'I love you,' he told you between deep lungfuls of air.

'I love you,' you repeated, grinning and exhausted, running your fingers through his still wet hair.

If only that night could have lasted forever.

Fate was cruel like that. Fate, and Sumerian Records.

Man vs Self, then called CHLDRN got signed, becoming Bad Omens... You were ecstatic, celebrating with him and Nick and Vincent. Part of you was less thrilled, knowing this meant he would be gone again.

He promised you it wouldn't be for long, only a few weeks at a time. You believed him. But weeks didn't stay weeks.

Weeks became months, and months became moving to LA.

He promised you that he would come home and visit. He swore to you that he would pay to fly you out and you could stay with him. He would text you every day and call you every night, telling you how much he missed you and how much he loved you.

No matter how much you wanted it to be, nightly phone calls and texting weren't enough. Every time it rained, your heart ached for him. You missed his touch, his embrace.

And then the contact started to wane. You would lie awake, waiting for him to call or text you after a show, and some nights he would, but those nights grew further apart.

You would text him first, and you'd be left with no answer.

Your mom watched your heart break in real time. She understood the pain, and she missed Noah too. She felt like she had lost her son. She did all she could to help you cope, but you just felt hollow, like barely a shell of yourself.

Every now and again you would hear from him, and it would tear open that wound again. Finally, you had to call it what it was.

Dead.

You called him, knowing that this phone call would be the hardest call you'd ever had to make. You told him that no matter how much you loved him, you couldn't handle the heartache. His home wasn't with you anymore, and you couldn't have a home with him. Not right now.

He begged you to reconsider. He told you he'd throw it all away for you. You told him he was being stupid, and that he would never throw it all away, and if he did, he'd miss it too much. He'd regret it. Sure, the words sounded pretty, but he would never be able to walk away. Not fully. Nor would you ever want him to.

You told him that he was too talented and too good to walk away. He needed to stick with the band. So he did. And he hated it for a while. He wrote songs about how much he hated it, but none of those ever made the albums.

Well, one did.

It was embellished, sure, but you knew which lines were about you. And you hoped against hope that no matter how much he wanted to, that he wasn't watching you from afar. You knew his heart couldn't take that strain. He'd already been through so much. He needed to move on and live for himself now.

You found yourself in the tree one night, wishing he would be okay. You never wished for yourself anymore, but any wish you could make for him, he had it. Success, stability, love, you wanted it all for him. You could make do on your own.

So you did. It killed you when his name came up on your socials, seeing the articles about the band, and about him. You missed him more than anything. But you forced yourself to continue on with your life. The ADHD medication made it easier to function, so when you decided to go to university, you managed it a lot easier than you thought you would.

There were still nights that you wished he was there to read the questions to you. Or nights that you broke down in tears because the pressure was too much. Every time you reached the end of that rope, you remembered your promise to him, and you stepped away from the medicine cabinet.

Noah came to town once. His long hair had been cropped short, and his once spindly build had filled out. You thought about going to the show, but you couldn't bring yourself to go. Your mom even asked if you should go together, but you told her that if you did you'd only have to start the healing process over again. She was understanding, but you knew she wanted to go. She missed him too, after all.

More time passed, whizzing by in a blur of study, work, and long nights. Your mom watched your heart heal and break again every time his name was mentioned on the radio or in a news article.

One night, she sat you down on the couch like she had that night she gave you the "talk". Her skin had begun to sag, and her hair was greying, but you still saw the same look in her eye. That knowing look, the one that knew all your secrets.

'Y/N, honey, you've got to do something. You're not getting over him,' she told you. 'It's been almost two years.'

'I know,' you told her pathetically, curling into her side like a child. She rubbed your arm, comforting you.

'I have an idea that I wanted to run by you,' she said, her tone soft and warm. 'I'm almost ready to retire, and I think I want to retire somewhere sunny. I like the rain, but I'm ready for something new...'

You looked at her, an eyebrow cocked as you caught that mischeivous smirk on her lips.

'Mom...' you said slowly.

'I found a nice house, and with what this place is worth, we could easily afford it if we sell. You're almost finished with school, and there's plenty of job options for you-'

'And you want to move to LA?' you asked her incredulously, sitting up and searching her face for a hint of a joke. You found none. She was completely serious. 'Mom, this isn't some small move down the street, you're talking about moving across the country.'

She nodded, laughing at you. 'I know, sweetheart. But I mean it. I want something new, I've lived in this house for too long. I know it's your home, but once upon a time, it was mine and your father's. We bought it shortly after we got married, and there are days that I still expect to see him sitting on the couch when I get home from work. I still feel like he's here, even though he's been gone for so long. I need to move on from him, and I don't think I can do that here.'

You chewed your lip, looking at your hands. Sometimes it was easy to forget that your mom was a person too. She had her own life, her own story, her own feelings. It had been a long time since your dad left, and it was easy enough to forget that your mom had spent nearly twenty years with him. He was her Noah. Sure, in the end, he turned out to be an uncaring ass, but there had to be something there that she'd loved in the start, and now she couldn't let go of it. Just like you couldn't let go of Noah.

'Okay,' you told her. 'Show me this house?'

She did. She showed you the house, and it was perfect. A quaint little three bedroom townhouse in a quiet community, a thirty minute drive from the city. You fell in love with it the minute you saw it.

Things moved quickly after that night. Your mom put the house on the market, and when you weren't working or studying, you were packing. You found so many memories as you boxed up everything you owned. It didn't take long for the house to sell. It wasn't until the sold sign adorned your front yard that it finally sank in.

You were saying goodbye to your childhood.

The place looked strange without all your things in it. You remembered all of the nights you spent with Noah in your room, whispering about stupid things to make each other laugh. You remembered the sound of his guitar drifting from the room that was once his, even though he almost never slept in there. You had to patch the hole in the wall from when you had tried to slide down the hall in your socks and you slipped, coming crashing down through the plaster.

You remembered sitting around the dinner table, telling your dad about the picture you had drawn at school that day. Or showing off how much better your grades had gotten since Noah started to help you with your homework.

Most painful of all, you had to say goodbye to the tree.

For old times sake, you hauled yourself up into its branches, searching for the carving of your names on the trunk. You had labelled your branches, but after the night in the hotel, Noah joined your names in a heart on the trunk where the two branches met.

For the last time, you made a wish. You weren't sure you believed in it anymore, but that childish wonder in your heart refused to let go of the possibility. You whispered your wish, letting it go with the wind that rustled the leaves.

And then the frenzy began. The movers took all the boxes, packing them into a huge truck with all your furniture, and you got in the car. You told your mom to fly ahead, not wanting her to drive across the country. She was too easily worn out for such an adventure, and there was too much to do, you needed her to save her energy for unpacking and setting up.

So you drove across the country alone, just you and your mom's car. You sold the beater you had bought with your money from the record store. It wasn't going to make the trip, and you could find something better when you had a new job.

You stopped at motels, sleeping more fitfully the closer you got to LA. Your mind spun with possibilities. What would you do? Would you call him? Text him? Would you even reach out?

What if he had a new girlfriend? What if he hated you for ending things? What if he wasn't your Noah anymore?

Each night you tossed and turned, and each day you tried desperately to drown out the noise in your mind with music and podcasts. Finally, after nearly a week of non-stop driving and gas station sandwiches, you reached the exit for Los Angeles. Your new home.

You followed the GPS to your new house, seeing your mom outside with the moving truck. She was helping to take boxes into the house, even though the movers brought the couch in first for her to sit down. She insisted on helping, but that was what your mom was like.

You parked on the street, getting out of the car and stretching your weary legs. Who would have thought sitting still for so long would be so exhausting. The sun had started to dip in the sky, bathing the street in a warm golden glow. You took in your new surroundings for a moment, noting the difference in the smell of the air, the warm breeze, and the lack of trees. There were only a few trees in the street, most of them small. One house had a large tree in the front yard, and it reminded you of the wishing tree. Smiling to yourself, you were glad something felt like home.

Your mom had told the movers to put your bed in first, which you were thankful for. You made your way to your new room, stretching out on the unmade mattress and letting your spine decompress for a little while.

It took a couple of weeks to set up the house how you wanted it, and it took a few more weeks to find a job, but soon enough, you were an official LA working girl. You had a desk job, you paid stupid amounts of money to park fifteen minutes away from your office, and you thrived on coffee, but you were doing it. You were living.

You still hadn't called him. You wanted to, but fear got the better of you every time you typed in his number. Your thumb would hover over the green button for stupid amounts of time, and then you would lock your phone and put it down.

You never thought it would go the way it did.

You came home from work one cloudy afternoon, climbing out of your mom's car and heading to the mailbox. A cool breeze nipped at your arms while you sifted through the mail. While you sorted the bills from the junk, a large black pickup pulled into the street. It was the first time you had seen it move since you moved in. For the last month it had been stationary on a driveway a few doors down.

It crawled past your house, slowing down as it passed by. For a moment, you tensed, ready to run or fight, whatever you needed to do, but then it moved on. It rolled into the driveway you had become accustomed to seeing it at, the house with the large tree in the front yard.

The loud rumble of the engine ceased, and as you were about to turn and head inside, a voice called out to you.

'Y/N!?' the deep voice bellowed, echoing down the street.

You froze.

His footsteps approached, his sneakers pouding against the asphalt as he crossed the street and stepped closer.

'Y/N...' he breathed, stopping a few feet away from you.

You looked up at him with your heart in your throat. His hair was still short, but it had grown out since you last saw him. A hint of stubble graced his chin and his lip, making him look so much more grown up than the weedy little teenager you remembered from prom. And his muscles...

He truly was a man now.

'Noah,' you whispered, your voice gone as you stared at him in disbelief.

He seemed to be having the same problem, stammering as he inched closer to you. 'You're... you're here?' he asked, his tone bewildered, asking the how and why without the need to say them.

'Mom retired, she wanted to get away from the memories of dad,' you told him with a shrug. You could barely bring yourself to meet his eye. Your throat tightened as you got a glimpse of the warm brown that you had missed so much. 'She missed you too, I think that's why she came here.'

'I miss her too,' he said sadly, 'she was the only parent I really had.'

Bit by bit, he stepped closer, closing the distance between you.

'I'm sure she'd love to see you,' you offered quietly, 'if you're not busy?'

'I don't think I'm busy,' he told you, smirking. Your stomach backflipped, and your fingers itched to know his skin again.

Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath. You knew you needed to rip the band-aid off and just say it.

As you finally blurted out the words, his voice melded with yours.

'I missed you,' you both said.

Pausing, you looked at each other. You finally met his eyes. In that warm gaze, you saw all the love you had seen when you were young. All the longing that you felt was mirrored in him. His cheeks flushed, and you became aware of the heat in your own face as the pair of you laughed.

'I'm sorry,' you told him, taking a step closer to him. He was within reach now, you could have easily brushed his hair from his eyes, or taken his hand.

'For what?' he asked, closing the distance further.

'For ending things. I thought it hurt to miss you when I had you, and then I didn't anymore... I've never felt so alone... I should have just waited-'

'No, Y/N, you did what you needed to. And it would have only gotten worse from there anyway. We didn't get a break for years. With or without you, I never would have seen you.'

He lifted his hand to rest on the bare skin of your arm, admiring the tattoo that covered the scars on your bicep. Your body tingled under his touch, your resolve weakening.

'I'm glad to see that chapter is closed,' he said softly. 'It is, right?'

'Yeah,' you assured him. 'I got close a few times, but I remembered what I promised you and I just couldn't.'

'Good,' he breathed.

You were so close now, his head tilted down to look at you, and you could almost feel his breath on your skin. A cool breeze blew over you, making you shiver. The sound of thunder rolled across the sky, and you couldn't help but laugh as a heavy raindrop smacked on his head, making him flinch.

'Why is it that every time we find each other, it rains?' you mused, grinning up at him.

'Or there's sprinklers?' He added with a smirk.

As the rain fell in slow, fat drops dotting the sidewalk, you felt your heart twist. His hand moved, raising to your cheek. Your eyes welled up, too many emotions filling you.

'I never stopped loving you,' he told you. 'I missed you, and I thought about you every single day.'

'So did I,' you admitted. 'I couldn't stop.'

'And now, here you are...' he said.

'Here we are.'

His lips finally touched yours, and thunder cracked overhead. The sky opened, the rain falling faster, masking the tears on your cheeks as you melted into him. In a matter of moments you were drenched, but you didn't care.

'Never let me go again,' he begged you between heated kisses.

'Never.'

Your arms wrapped around his neck, holding him to you. Your hearts pounded against each other's as your chests pressed together. There wasn't enough of him, you needed everything he could give you. You wanted to wrap yourself in him and never let go.

When the thunder seemed to be overhead, he released you, grabbing your hand and dragging you to the front doorstep of your house. His beautiful smile set something in you alight, a fire you thought you had lost a long time ago.

He rang the doorbell, holding you close to his side, his fingers laced tight in yours. After a moment, your mom appeared at the door with a broad grin and the two towels in her hands.

'It's about time,' she said, handing the large fluffy towels over to you, ensuring you each had the towel with your own name embroidered on it.

'You were watching out the window, weren't you?' you asked her with a laugh.

'You were taking forever to get the mail, I was curious,' she told you innocently, 'but Noah? It is so good to see you, honey.'

She opened her arms to him, asking him for a hug. Noah hesitated for a moment, looking down at his sopping clothes.

'Honey, it's water, get over here,' your mom demanded, pulling him into a tight hug. Noah grinned, revelling in her hug. He was home. You could see it on his face, tears pricking at his eyes as he squeezed her tight. He was finally home.

Noah stayed the night with you, having missed your mom's home-cooked meals and sharing a bed with you. He texted his housemates, telling them that he would be with you. Nick was excited to hear that you had moved out to LA, and you had to promise that the three of you would hang out together soon, but for the moment, all you wanted was Noah.

You spent the night tangled up in him, your legs entwined while he cradled you close to his chest. Every now and then he would kiss you wherever he could reach, often on the forehead or on your lips.

You giggled together in the dark, listening to the storm outside and reminiscing on all the nights you'd spent huddled under the covers back in Richmond.

'I love you,' he whispered to you as you both drifted closer to sleep.

'I love you too,' you told him, brushing your fingers across his cheek and smiling tiredly.

In the morning, your mom handed him a key as you sat down at the table with your coffee. She told him that he always had a home with the two of you. He tried to hide it, but you saw him getting misty eyed as he hugged your mom.

You had to leave for work, but Noah was free to sit and catch up with your mom. You left them together, smiling at the scene as you said your goodbyes.

Noah rushed after you, chasing you to the car with a smitten grin.

'Hey,' he called out, holding the car door open, 'you forgot something.'

'Oh?' you asked, raising an eyebrow.

He leaned into the car and kissed you, not caring that some of your lipstick was on his face now.

'I love you,' he said with a smile, 'okay, now you can go.'

This became a routine. As long as he was in town, the two of you shared a bed. Sometimes you slept in his, but most of the time you slept in yours. He would kiss you goodbye every morning as you left for work, and if he wasn't in town he would send you some kind of message.

The distance became bearable now that he would always come home. You missed him while he was on tour, but at least he would end up back with you at the end of it all instead of on the other side of the country.

It took some getting used to, but you adjusted.

Months passed, and there came a day when you were both free. He was excited, wanting to take you out somewhere, just the two of you. You agreed, seeing him so happy there was no way you could tell him no.

In his black pickup, you drove to the outskirts of town. He wouldn't tell you where you were going. You let him lead the way, trusting him.

He pulled up and parked the car, finally letting you see where you were. He'd taken you to a forest trail. For a minute, you didn't understand, but you let him guide you. He lead you down the trail and to a little clearing where you saw it.

A tree, just like the wishing tree back home.

You couldn't hide the smile on your face. He raced with you to the tree, both of you dragging yourself up through the unfamiliar limbs and branches. Noah had to help you a few times, pulling you up to a higher branch that you could sit on together.

And as you sat, you found yourselves grinning like little kids.

'I figured a little bit of home was a good thing,' he told you, taking your hand. 'But my home is wherever you are.'

'Noah,' you giggled, leaning into him and shoving him gently with your shoulder.

'I'm serious!' he told you, his eyes crinkling with his laughter. You loved the sound, never tiring of his voice. He could read a dictionary out loud and you would listen to him happily.

'How did you even find this?' you asked him, letting him hold you steady on the branch.

'I used to go hiking during quarantine. It was all I was allowed to do, and it got me out of the house for a while.'

You nodded in understanding. Those years had been insane.

'But, there's a reason I wanted to bring you here,' he said nervously. You shifted, turning to face him and swinging your leg over the branch to straddle it. Noah mimicked your movements, your knees touching each other's as he took your hands in the space between you.

You searched his face, seeing a hint of fear in his eyes. Your throat wanted to close at the sight, but you forced yourself to breath through it, squeezing his hands reassuringly.

'I know it hasn't been long since we found each other again, but I don't ever want to lose you again,' he said, sucking in a deep, shaky breath. 'I wish I had told you earlier than I did, I wish we could have spent more time like this. I loved you before I knew what it meant to love someone. You helped me when no one would, and you never wanted anything from me but a friend. I don't know where I'd be without you, but I wouldn't be here.'

As he spoke, your eyes began to water. Your fingers tangled tighter into his, your heart twisting in your chest.

'I don't want us to ever go through what we went through ever again. I want to always be with you, to look after you. I want to kiss you good morning every day, and I want to be the last thing you see when you go to sleep. I want to bring you coffee, and read your books to you, and run through sprinklers with you. My world starts and ends with you, and I want to be there while you build your world into whatever you want it to be. And I hope that whatever that is, it includes me...'

He released your hand, sliding his fingers into his pocket and retrieving something. A deep red velvet box. He opened it and turned it to you, holding it carefully in the palm of his hand.

'Y/N, I love you, more than anything. I wanted to do this in our tree, but this is the closest I could get us,' he chuckled, smiling nervously and looking at the box in his hand. The ring glittered under the light spilling through the canopy of leaves above you. 'Marry me? Please?'

You couldn't find words. Your body was a cacophony of emotion, tears spilling down your cheeks while your heart pounded in your chest.

'Noah,' you whispered, testing your voice. You could see how nervous he was, and you wanted to put him out of his misery. You nodded, smiling back at him. 'Absolutely. I will absolutely marry you.'

He couldn't get the ring on your finger fast enough. He couldn't kiss you hard enough, or hold you close enough. The pair of you were an emotional wreck, smiling and laughing while tears spilled down both of your cheeks.

Before you left the tree, Noah carved your names into the branch, scrawling a date under it. He helped you get down, and he caught you as you lowered yourself from the last branch, spinning you in a circle and kissing you fiercely.

'I love you,' he said, 'and I'm gonna say it until you hate it.'

'I could never hate it,' you told him, your arms tight around his neck.

When you got home, your mom was thrilled. She couldn't be more excited, demanding to see the ring and telling Noah it was about time. She immediately launched into wedding planning, promising to finance whatever you needed. She was overjoyed to have Noah be a part of the family on paper.

She helped you over the next few months while you picked dates and guests and everything there is to do with a wedding. You debated on inviting your father, but decided against it. He had never been warm to Noah, he didn't need to be a part of this celebration.

Noah had to travel a little bit while all this was happening, but it gave you plenty of chances to find a dress. And he would call every night wanting to know what you and your mom had found or planned.

You weren't sure who was more excited, you or Noah.

And as the days passed, the day finally came.

You walked down the aisle with your mom, surrounded by friends and family, but the only person who mattered to you waited at the end of the aisle with the biggest smile on his face and a glimmer in his warm brown eyes.

He took your hand and held it tight, silently swearing to never let it go. You swore the same. It had always been the two of you (and your mom) against the world, but now you got to declare it in front of everyone.

What you weren't prepared for were Noah's vows.

'Y/N,' he began, 'our history has been a long road of ups and downs. We've known each other longer than I've known anyone else. And I can't think of anyone else I'd rather take on the world with. You have always been my rock, my biggest supporter, and my best friend. You came into my life when I needed someone like you, and I know I was mean to you, but I was embarrassed.

'I was embarrassed because I had seen you in that tree making wishes. I wondered if maybe it was magic, because it always seemed to work for you. I never told you what I wished for that day, but I think by now you've earned the right to know.' He paused, squeezing your fingers and lifting them to his lips, his eyes glistening with tears as he cleared his throat. 'I wished for someone to love me. And not a minute later, there you were, wanting to wish for a pass on your science test. But you offered to wish for something for me, caring about me from the minute we met. I got my wish.'

'But, as I got older, I learned something. The tree wasn't where the magic came from,' he said, smiling at you, losing himself in your gaze. 'The magic was you. You granted every single wish, one way or another. You pushed me to be better, to succeed. You gave me everything you could. You protected me when I couldn't protect myself, you gave me a home when I had nothing, and you loved me when I couldn't love myself. So here I am, vowing to you, that I will always, always, protect you. I will love you when you can't, and I will give you everything I can, and I will always be your home. I vow to keep your magic alive, and to grant every wish for you that I possibly can, because you gave me all of mine.'

You knew he was good with words, but he had you there. By the end of his speech, you were a mess of tears, your own vows forgotten. You wanted nothing more than to throw yourself at him and never let him go.

When you were finally pronounced man and wife, you met Noah with the deepest kiss you could, pressing your body into his and wanting to hold your breath forever so you could stay locked in his lips.

Your guests cheered and wolf-whistled, and Noah dipped you, giving them a show. When the need for air overcame you, you grinned up at him, hanging on to him tightly.

'I've got you,' he assured you.

'And I've got you,' you smiled back up at him.

He spun you back onto your feet, holding you to him as you left the ceremony together. You had to go and take pictures, but you really just wanted a moment alone together.

You lead Noah to the room where you had been getting ready before the ceremony started, closing the door.

'Are you okay?' he asked you, taking your hand. You nodded, thumbing over the band that adorned his left hand now.

'Yeah,' you told him, swallowing hard. 'You just blindsided me a little.'

'I'm sorry-'

'Don't be. Noah, I am so sorry for what you went through, but also I am so thankful that out of all the places it could have lead you, it lead you to me. And I am so thankful that I get to be the one to love you.'

'So am I,' he told you, stepping closer until your chests pressed together. 'I meant it, you're everything to me.'

'And you're everything to me.'

The reception was filled with celebration, jokes, cheering, speeches, and some very unfortunate dancing. And naturally, at the end of the night, LA was subjected to a massive thunderstorm. Your guests hid inside, but you and Noah ran out into the rain, knowing you couldn't break tradition now. The pictures ended up immortalised in your photo album, displayed on the mantle in the house the two of you bought shortly after your honeymoon.

You got lucky, you managed to find a house just a few blocks from your mom. The house had a big yard, but it was missing something...

Noah came home from a tour with the answer a few months after you had settled in.

'I don't know if this is legal, and I have no idea how to do it, but we're gonna try,' he told you, opening a secure compartment in his suitcase and presenting you with a box.

It was an old amazon prime box, about as big as a shoebox, but as thick as a matchbox. You shot him a look, raising an eyebrow.

'Just open it,' he told you, rolling his eyes.

So you did.

A bundle of branches sat in the box, wrapped in wet paper towel.

'You went to Richmond?' you asked. He nodded.

'I did, and I brought some of the wishing tree home. If we do it right, we can have our own wishing tree, right here in our yard. It will take years to grow, but I can't see a reason not to.'

You smiled, shaking your head and placing the branches on the table.

'I love you,' you told him, looping your arms around his neck and kissing him.

'I love you more.'

Together, you propagated the branches, and you successfully planted a tree. And over the years, as that tree grew, the two of you grew. Your love grew, your family grew, your happiness grew. And one day, you and Noah will get to tell your daughter all about the wishing tree, and take her back to your wishing tree.

But for now, you and Noah get to watch her, seeing the magic you made together grow.

THE END.

[blissfullyecho]

how to study + become a better college student

*i’m in nursing school for reference*

before classes/school:

#1. eat a good, hearty breakfast. i cannot concentrate when i’m hungry because i think about lunch or having a snack. i like to carb up for breakfast (carbs give you energy) and have things like pancakes, french toast, bagels, etc., as well as protein (because that keeps you full) like eggs, turkey bacon, yogurt, etc. i like to take a green powder or a multivitamin during this time to give my body what it needs so that i can function for the rest of the day too.

#2. i always bring water with me to class so that i can concentrate and not think about how thirsty i am. it’s super important to stay hydrated so come prepared.

#3. i know the lesson plan and what’s going to be talked about each day, and if your classes are run like that too, read the chapter or look over whatever it is you’re going to look over today in class to give you a general idea of what you’re going to learn today. this will help you feel like you’re one step ahead (which you are).

#4. wake up early enough to be relaxed in the morning. every time i didn’t perform my best in school was when i woke up and immediately rushed to get ready for class and not took the time to allow myself to ‘wake up’. your mornings should be chill, not a race against the clock.

during classes/school:

#1. actually jot down notes— do not rely on just using your phone to take pictures of the board/powerpoint. when you write your notes down, you get a chance to get that information stuck in your head. what i do if my instructor goes too fast on the powerpoints is: i take a picture of the powerpoint, then i write down what she/he says, then when i get home i rewrite what i took a picture of and the notes that i took in class (i’ll talk about this later).

#2. ask questions— who cares if you’re shy or whatever. asking questions will allow you to be more engaged and it shows your professors/instructors/teachers that you actually care (and they might even bump some grades up for you if you show you’ve taken initiative and tried). every question you ask, write your question down and their response in your notes. i’m telling you, this has helped so much and it gives you such a good look.

#3. use your lunch break for what it is— a break. 30 minutes isn’t a lot of time for an 8 hour day so actually rest and enjoy your lunch during this time. you need a chance to reset.

#4. if you can, always ask to review your tests with your professors/instructors. see what you got wrong and talk it through with them. in nursing school, we generally aren’t able to see what we got wrong on our exams and tests without our professor being there to review them with us. please do this.

#5. use a 1 subject notebook for each class and have pens/pencils that you only use for class. your notes in class should be legible but not super pretty. make your notes pretty at home, not in class.

#6. when taking a test, go over the questions and answers before turning in. there have been so many times i read a question too quickly and changed my answer and i ended up being correct when i looked it over again. don’t make those dumb mistakes.

#7. befriend the other students who do really well in the class. seriously, this will save you.

after classes/school:

#1. when you get home from school, unwind for an hour. take a shower, go to the gym, do whatever you want to do to allow yourself to relax and unwind. you need to take another break after school to regroup and to find a little bit of balance.

#2. review the notes you took in class that day and the pictures you took of the board, and rewrite your notes in a different notebook. so i suggest 2 notebooks for each class— one for your sloppy in-class notes and another for your pretty and organized notes. rewriting your notes will allow your brain to help retain that information.

#3. spend some time each day after rewriting your notes to watch a few videos on youtube about that topic. for nursing school, i like to look at 1-3 videos about what we’re learning to get a wider understanding.

#4. on the weekends, i like to spend 1-2, sometimes 3 hours each day reviewing everything i learned that week. i will watch more videos, i will read over my notes, and i will also create flashcards with my own practice questions in regards to the notes i take and quiz myself with those cards.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Distancing Character from Person of Same Name

Anonymous asked: I'm writing a fanfiction about an obscure pairing, and some time ago I met a person who has the same name as one of the characters, and now writing about this pairing makes me a little uncomfortable. It's a pretty common name, but I also see this person quite often and it's just weird for me. Do you have any advice so I can separate the character and the person in my head?

Here are some things you could try to distance this character from the person you know in real life who has the same name:

1 - Keep a Character Visual Handy - If you're writing fan-fiction about a canon character, you can search for promo pictures of the character. Or, if it's an OC or an original fiction character, you can try casting the character (see guide here: Guide: Casting Your Characters) with a real actor/model to help you visualize them. Try printing the picture out and tacking it up someplace where you can see it while you write. You could also keep it open on your phone, laptop screen, etc. This will help keep the character fresh in your mind as you write.

2 - Watch Clips or a Character Tribute - If you're writing fan-fiction and you're writing canon characters, odds are good there are clips or even fan-made character tributes of this character on YouTube. Watching some clips or a character tribute before you write is another great way to make sure the character is fresh in your head, rather than the person you know who shares their name. If you're writing an OC or original fiction and you've cast your character with a real actor or model, you could look for clips of movies or shows they're in that closely matches the vibe of your character, and watch those before you write. Or, you could put together some character aesthetics/mood boards and look at those before you write.

3 - Make a List of Differences - Try making a list of all the ways you can think of that your character and their inadvertent namesake are different. No detail is too small. When you're around the real person with that name, really try to focus on the things that make them different from your character.

4 - Change Up the Name a Bit - If you're writing a canon character, your options might be limited, but see if there's a canon nickname for this character you can lean on in your story that makes sense. For example, let's say the shared name is Madison, and the person you know in real life only ever goes by Madison. But maybe the canon character is sometimes called Madi by other characters... if you use Madi as often as it makes sense, that can help to create some distance.

If you're writing an OC or original fiction, you have more room to give your character a nickname of your choosing, and most names have a variety of possible nicknames. You could also try altering the spelling or changing the name to something that sounds very similar.

5 - Talk About It - If you're comfortable talking to this person about that fact that you're a writer, see if you can find an opportunity to share that you happen to be writing about a character with the same name. If it's a fan-fiction character, you can say something like, "Have you ever heard of the TV show ----? There's a character in it named -----, and I've been writing about her and another character, so I always think about that character when I see you." Or, something like that. Sometimes, just getting it out of your head (if possible) can sort of interrupt the connection in your head.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[poraphia]

"Morning Routines with Wilbur"

➵ PAIRING! cc!wilbur x gn!reader

➵ CREATING! 12.10.23 | 390 words

➵ CONTAINING! immense fluff, mornig spent with wilbur, making pancakes, domestic tingzz

➵ SAYING! really wanted to post something today, so heres an old draft i had in my notion yall can enjoy :)) i might make a little banner for my posts just to give it more personality hehe

My masterlist :)

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

both of you have busy schedules, so you two try to make the best of yall’s mornings

wilbur would hug you closely in bed for at least fifteen minutes. he specifically sets his alarm 15 mins before he actually does have to wake up just for those snuggles :)

“good morning, sunshine, how did you sleep?” he would ask in a grumbly voice that would always make you smile.

once you wake up, both of you head into the kitchen and decide what to have for breakfast together

wil would prepare the ingredients while you cooked on the stove. once he sets up all the plates and does any cleaning around the house, he wraps his arms around your torso as youre flipping pancakes

while eating, you and wil make small talk bringing up some past memories, talking about work, or just talking about some ideas to each other

“oh— by the way ash and I came up with this riff for this song we’re working on. I think it’s pretty cool!”

if either of you dont feel like talking, wil would take out his phone and set it against the kitchen’s flower vase so that the two of you can huddle close together and watch some youtube videos (yall try to avoid tommy’s videos in the morning. he could get loud!)

“don’t click on that tommy video.”

“but willll! it’s his survival series!”

“it’s too early for his gremlin voice.”

afterward, you would take wil’s dishes and wash them as he goes into the bathroom to shower and get changed

once done with all the cleaning, you pack up his lunch (that you prepared yesterday) and write down a little note that he could find under his food containers

by the time he’s out of the shower you’ve already packed all his bags to make sure he doesnt leave anything behind

he always makes sure to give you a kiss on the forehead before heading out the door

“ill text you during lunch, okay? i love you. drive safe!”

you would make sure to watch him until you see him get into his car to make sure he’s safe

once you know he securely made it to his car, you get yourself ready for the busy day ahead :)

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

a / n ~ really fluffy and sweet. hope yall enjoyed :D reblogs, replies, notes of all kind are super duper appreciated!

[kitthepurplepotato]

Chapter 7 - The Truth About Pro Hero Deku.

Summary: Deku introduces his girlfriend to his family. Y/N teases Inko and All Might about their “relationship”. Izuku.exe has stopped working after Inko’s answer. Also, Izuku tells Y/N his biggest secret.

Warnings: Swear words

First Chapter Master List

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

“Izuku, you need to come home more often!” Inko gives up on hiding and joins the group hug. You can’t miss All Might’s fond smile as one of Inko’s arms snake around him while she pats Izuku’s back with the other.

Izuku might not have his blood father in his life but Izuku clearly grew up in the most loving family anyway. Izuku talked a lot about his past in the interviews; about their financial struggles, his mom’s torturous work routine, about how they googled “how to shave” together on YouTube to learn how to do that stuff because neither of them had anyone in their lives who was nice enough to show Izuku how to shave without cutting himself. They lived a lonely life until Izuku joined UA; it was only him and his mother until All Might took Izuku under his wing. Everything had changed after Izuku made his first proper friends; the house got more lively when his mates came around and Inko smiled more as well, finally able to concentrate on work without feeling like he’s neglecting the only important person in her life for some spare money.

“I genuinely couldn’t. Ask Sweet Pea, if you don’t believe me!” Izuku retorts, his eyes teary from happiness as he looks back at you.

“The boy speaks the truth, madam.” You bow in front of Inko with a cheeky smile on your face.

“Talking about the truth…” Izuku walks to your side, clearly anxious. Oh god, this is it… “I would like you two to meet… the woman I’ll marry one day. Treat her well.”

You choke on your saliva just as Izuku puts his arms around your middle to pull you closer.

Marriage?! Already?! Not like you would mind to change your name to Midoriya… oh my god, Y/N Midoriya, shut the front door, that sounds gorgeous. Then after marriage, you could have a kid, a little baby with green curls and pretty freckles and your eye color… or would it be your hair and his eye color? Nah, you want the green curls to be passed on for sure. And the freckles. Oh my god, those freckles.

“Stop fangirling.” Izuku murmurs into your ear with a shit eating grin on his face; his voice is low and extremely enticing, too quiet for the others to hear but loud enough for you to get goosebumps on your arms.

“Does that mean…” Inko looks five seconds away from crying, probably less, so All Might puts his arms around the woman’s shoulders.

“I think you are meeting your future Daughter-in-law, Midoriya-san.” He murmurs happily, clearly not surprised by the revelation. You have a feeling these two talked about you quite a lot already.

“This is the best present you could have given to your mother, thank you.”

Inko cries like a baby for at least an hour before she finally calms down and goes into the kitchen to prepare some food for lunch. Toshinori-San asks her if she needs any help but he gets shushed right away.

“Enjoy yourself, Yagi. You haven’t seen the boy for ages.”

Clearly, “Yagi” isn’t used to hearing his own first name from the woman’s mouth yet; his whole face reddens as he nods shyly, rendered speechless for the next few seconds.

“Uhm, I don’t mean to be the person who asks this as I’m not technically the part of the family yet, but… you and Inko, hmm?”

Izuku almost chokes on his water while Toshinori looks really close to throwing up by the way he pales completely after you finish your sentence.

“I… I think you miss… understand the situation. We share a house, just like you two… wait, that’s a really bad example, isn’t it? Oh my, I’m making this worse.”

“Sweet Pea, you can’t seriously think All Might and mom…”

“All Might and mom what?” Inko comes out from the kitchen, scaring the living shit out of Toshinori. You swear you can see his soul leaving his body for half a second.

“I was just wondering if you and Toshinori-san are… well… in the same situation as Izuku and I? Sorry if I’m being too straightforward, but…”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Sweet Pea!” Inko waves you off with a light blush on her face. If you see disappointment on All Might’s face you don’t comment on it. “My house was finally full of laughter and happiness when he moved in, I’m more than happy to have him here as a good friend. Honestly, you are so silly. This is Yagi, the hero of the century, the man who saved millions, why would he even look at a silly old, boring lady like me?”

You can barely keep your smile hidden. Yup. This story sounds really similar.

“What are you talking about, Midoriya-san? It’s the other way around! You are the kindest, the purest, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on! You are way too good to be stuck with a silly old man who’s barely standing on his legs after being beaten to pulp way too many times!”

Suddenly, you could cut the tension in the air with a knife if you would carry one with you like Jirou does. The two stare at each other, only just realizing they were both thinking the same thing all this time. You are a little bit jealous for them for being forced to face their own feelings this way; you definitely helped them to get their shit together before they ended up being weird about it like you two did for several weeks. Or, you just ruined the fun. Oh, well.

“I think I’m going to show Y/N my room.” Izuku mutters with a pale face. Obliviousness clearly runs in the family.

~•🥦•~

“Do you want to talk about this or…” You mutter under your nose, your eyes not leaving the confused greenhead.

“Give me 5 to 7 days to get over the fact that my mother has a crush on my favorite hero, All Might, and her feelings are reciprocated and I’ve been watching them for almost ten years and I never realized it.” He mutters back, his speech followed by a big sigh. You can’t help but laugh at Izuku’s dumbstruck face. He’s absolutely adorable.

“I mean, you didn’t even realize your own feelings towards me, at least if I can trust Katsuki’s words and I’m quite sure he ain’t a liar, so…” You giggle to yourself as you snake your arms around the man’s middle with a flirty look on your face.

“Wow, so you talk shit about me with Katsuki while I’m risking my life to save the city?” Izuku moves closer, his body flush against yours as he slowly steps forward to push you towards the bed. Jesus Christ, you’ll never get used to the way he towers over you. The chill that goes down your spine makes you feel dizzy.

“Well, he gets lonely when his husband is on a mission.” You retort with a cheeky smirk. Izuku rolls his eyes fondly while he leaves tiny kisses on your cheek.

“Stop shipping my friends and my family, you weirdo.” He mutters into your neck, his breath hot on the sensitive skin.

“Look into my eyes and tell me those two have never kissed.” You take Izuku’s cheeks in your hands and pull him up to force him to look at you.

“They did. I saw it.” The shit-eating grin on Izuku’s face is downright terrifying. “It was on one of Denki’s house parties. It all started with Eijirou asking Katsuki if he thinks it’s possible to spar with their tongues. They did not remember a single thing the next day and we all decided to not tell them about it for their own modesty. What happens at Denki’s party, stays at Denki’s party. That’s the D-rule.”

Your face resembles a fish trying breathe on the surface. You can’t do anything but gawk at the hero in front of you.

“You saw them french-kissing and you still deny their attraction to each other?” You don’t need to say “I think you are an absolute idiot”, Izuku gets the message.

“Trust me, there was nothing sexy about that tongue fight. I actually couldn’t even think about kissing for years after that. It ruined me.” Izuku sighs dramatically as he turns you around and jumps on his bed with a loud thud.

“Now, can you please have your full attention on me and look around in my room? It might not be the original one but there are a lot of memories here. Mom brought over everything, my notes, my old clothes from the UA days… come on, get wild.” Izuku giggles and to be honest, you would rather concentrate on the sprawled out hottie on the bed instead of your surroundings right now, but you decide to obey anyway.

This room of Izuku’s is more plain than his bedroom now; instead of the cool adjacent wall there are only old posters littering the walls, no personal photos or anything visible on the shelves, just a few low-quality All Might figurines left on the old, wooden desk. There are a few boxes half open in the corner of the room; most of them are notes and memories Izuku wasn’t fond enough to display; his yearbook from middle school for instance is also thrown into the pile, the hard covered book’s front ruined by massive red letters written with a sharpie.

“I hoped you’ll find that last.” Izuku mumbles, his eyes melancholic as he stares at the book. “I wanted you to enjoy being here before I… before I show you that.”

Your blood freezes in your body. Somehow, the mood went from “I want to make out with you in my old bed” to “I will show you something terrible and you’ll probably cry” and you have no idea what to think about this sudden change.

“Why… who…” you mutter while you stare at the book, still too far enough to actually read what the words are.

“Do you remember how My Hero Academia has started?” Izuku asks. He pats his thigh 2 times, asking you to sit down and you do; Izuku’s arms come to the front right away, hugging you from behind, giving you a warm cuddle to soothe your troubled soul.

“With you almost failing getting into UA because you couldn’t use your quirk properly.” You answer right away, like a good fan.

“Yeah. That’s right.” He mutters, giving you a peck on your cheek for your success. “I knew how much you like that manga and everything in it is true but there are some parts Horikoshi had to change up or completely skip because I asked him to. I hated to do this to the fans but… I had to keep our secret safe.”

“You and who’s?” You move around to look at your boyfriend with questioning eyes. Izuku leans over to take the yearbook out of the box and hides it behind him for now.

“What’s the name of my quirk, Sweet Pea?” Izuku asks as he leaves tiny kisses on your neck. You are too anxious to actually enjoy them but they definitely take the edge off at least.

“One for all. After your favorite hero, All Might.”

“Yes. And that’s a lie.”

Your world crumbles. Whatever Izuku is about to say must be something extremely important and probably quite dangerous for you to know but right now, you are just grateful for being included in the small group of people who know Izuku’s apparent secret.

“What…?”

“I haven’t met All Might at UA. I met him way before that. We knew each other quite well by the time I got in. My quirk, All for one wasn’t named after All Might’s. It is… All Might’s.”

Suddenly, Izuku takes the book out from behind his back. There are a lot of rude things written on the covers with that red sharpie, but there is one that comes back over and over again…

The word “quirkless.”

“Izu, what… what do you mean? It doesn’t make any sense…” you mutter to yourself, frustrated tears falling to your cheeks. You want to understand, you want to be able to comprehend his heavy confession, but the original story was etched into your mind so much that hearing all of this is like hearing someone denying the history of heroes completely and asking you to believe they are right and the history books are wrong - to be fair, there is a high possibility that history books are indeed made up. It’s not like anyone was there from the current population to see the whole thing with their own eyes. Izuku is a part of this specific part of the history though, the main character of the decade, so you have no reason to not believe the green head but it’s still… it just doesn’t sound right. Izuku was born to be a hero yet he was born without the most crucial part of being one, but somehow he managed to snatch the number one hero’s quirk when quirks are not supposed to be transmittable?

“You are right, quirks are not usually transmittable but this one is.” Of course you muttered half of that out loud. “There are several other quirks I managed to unlock during my journey which makes the quirk look completely different from All Might’s but I ensure you, they are one and the same. I can’t tell you more than that as this story isn’t just mine, but what I can tell you is that there is a reason no one knows about the fact that my power can be given to basically anyone and I don’t think I need to tell you why is that.” Izuku sighs while he lets you free from his hug in case you need some more space. “I just wanted you to know… The truth… About me. Because I love you and you deserve to know. I was just like you. I know how painful it is to grow up without a quirk. I understand you so much more than you think, Sweet Pea and I’ll forever love you for being the way you are, if you let me.” Izuku’s first teardrops trail down his cheeks, a fond smile decorating his face. You genuinely can’t make a single word right now; there is so much you want to say; you want to tell him how proud you are of him for putting up with all of that without being able to tell a single soul about it, you want to tell him he has no reason to look so frightened because you can’t possibly be mad at him for this, you want to tell him it doesn’t matter if his quirk is “borrowed” because it’s not the quirk that makes you a hero but your will to die for the weak; but your mind it too frazzled to say all of that…

“Even if you’d be quirkless and weak, I would still love you, Izuku. There is no universe where I’m not by your side. I love you to the moon and back and your confession only made me love you more…” You mutter into his neck. “Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for going through all that pain for us, common folk. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you, Izu.” You mutter into the crook of his neck, making his skin wet with your tears. As a fan, you are certainly shook by all the lies around your favorite pro hero but as a human being who’s been living with Izuku for the past few months you can’t say you are surprised by this revelation; he’s always been way too humble for his own good, he barely showed off his quirk to anyone except you, it always felt like he doesn’t really know what to do with the whole fame that came with him being a hero and now it makes so much sense. It’s not right, but it makes sense.

“Can we… uhm… use the hot tub when get home? I want to be close to you. As close as I can get. That’s my wish for today.” Izuku says with teary eyes, his arms tight around your waist. A tiny blush appears on your face as you mutter back, your face still hidden in his neck.

“I would really love that, Izu.”

You know you probably said this at least thousand times already, but having Izuku as your boyfriend was the best decision of your life.

…next chapter!

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Potato ramble:

- Okay, here’s my opinion about how much is out for the public canonically about Izuku (s6 spoilers): While Izuku told his classmates about the fact that he got his power from All Might, the public only knows that for some reason the boy was the the one Shigaraki wanted. At one point in the future I’m quite sure there will be gossips about him but I literally don’t think anyone would ever think about Deku being quirkless. People know their quirk has the same name but its just a name and everyone knows what a big fan Izuku is so everyone just thinks he’s being a fanboy.

- Also, I love how Izuku goes from “I’ll tell you my biggest secret and we will all cry about it” to “can we have a cheeky hot tub date now?” In five seconds. Bro just want to chill 😂

- Don’t tell anyone but Izuku’s dream is to be able to give his power to his quirkless, future kid if they want it. He would never force them to take it though, he’s not an asshole.

- My Hero Academia is different in this AU; for instance, the first book is literally just about Izuku struggling to get into UA, the second about him struggling to keep up then about Izuku unlocking his powers and the backstory villains (except Dabi, his story isn’t in the books at all out of respect to the Todoroki family but there are hints to it.)

- Before you ask: yes, some of the “messages” on the front are from Katsuki indeed. Hell, he probably came up with the whole “idea”. He wanted to swap books with Izuku after they reconciled but Izuku wanted to keep it to “never forget where he came from.”

- So I will try to be on time with the next chapter but I got sick (again) so please be patient with me!

- The next chapter will probably be an NSFW one, not because of the s mut (I don’t really want that chapter to be the s mut chapter, I have different plans, but these fuckers have their mind of their own sometimes 😂), but it will involve nakedness and quite a lot of touching so… yeah. Sorry if you need to skip most of the next chapter 😭😭😭😭

- If you are waiting for the next Shenanigans chapter, I’m also done with that but it’s a double chapter, half SFW and half NSFW and it’s 5K+, that’s why is so delayed 😂

TL: @garfieldthomas @porusuniverse @stickygumchewer @sixxze @mily-moo @aei-sedai-moiraine @aymasakusa @katsuari @kenzie-deadly @shiviwrites07 @lukerycyja-reblogs @cloroxisadelectabletreat @coffeent @kisskissshutmydoor @bobcar1 @yazminetrahan @cringefan @ronimacaroni77 @thekookiecorner @dangerousluv1 @emperatris-rinaka @shotos-angelic-whore @angelsdemonsmonsters @norvacaine @rei165 @unofficialmuilover @yao-ai

[ughgoaway]

i guess this would be pre teacher/reader but i saw a tiktok about baby wearing and all i can think about is matty trying it with annie when she was much younger and him just going about his day with annie strapped to his chest asleep especially in the studio with the boys 🥺

anon. this has literally been rotting my brain since you sent it. I can't stop thinking about it.

I'm envisioning new dad matty, his mum has been staying with him for a few weeks and has just left and he is so fucking overwhelmed. it's been 2 hours and he can't get Annie to go to sleep, any time he tries to put her down she just screams bloody murder. and to make matters worse, he absolutely has to be at the studio in an hour to fix this song.

matty is shushing her and bouncing her around when he remembers something carly and Adam got him before Annie arrived, some weird baby wrap thing he never thought he'd use. he quickly scavenges around her room for it (Annie is still in his arms because he values his ear drums) and manages to find it squished behind some piles of clothes he has yet to put away.

at first when he pulls it out of the box, he is fucking baffled. it's just a long strip of stretchy fabric and matty has no idea what to do with it. but the second he puts her down to try and figure it out, the screaming starts again.

so he looks up a YouTube video, props his phone up against the kettle, and tries to follow this lovely woman's tutorial. it looks easy enough, tie a knot here, loop this bit through there, and so on.

it takes him a few goes. The first couple attempts look like matty lost a fight with this fabric, but soon enough... "Aha! fuck you stupid fabric!" he says triumphantly. he had to put Annie down to really figure it out so the last 10 minutes were filled with the desperate cries of his 3 month old but he thinks he's got it.

so he picks her up and slips her in, and there she is, wrapped up against his chest. and finally... silence. no cries. no screaming. just silence.

well annie might not be crying, matty feels pretty fucking close considering how exhausted he is. but any anger or frustration just melts away when he looks down at her, Annie's eyes have finally fluttered closed and she's fast asleep on his chest.

it brings him back to the day she was born, the skin to skin he did with her just minutes after. he'll never forget the instant love and complete devotion he felt in that moment. and having her now, slightly less gross, sitting fast asleep on him brings everything back.

before he starts crying (again) over how beautiful his daughter is and how much he loves her, he gets a disgruntled phone call from George who has been waiting outside for 5 mins to walk with matty to the studio.

now with both hands free matty can grab the baby bag, his phone and his keys and run down to meet George.

when he comes out George is leaning on the wall outside fully engrossed in his phone, that is until he catches a glimpse of matty and immediate begins to crack up.

"Oh, mother dearest, what do we have here?" he teases, walking over to matty whose eyes are sunken and hair is sticking up in every direction. last time George saw him this frazzled was after he first found out he was having Annie and wasn't exactly coping well with the news, how times have changed.

"Oh shut up, will you. she wouldn't stop crying unless I held her, and I quite like having 2 arms, so I grabbed this thing carly gave me and wrapped her up. and look how cute and happy she is, George. "

matty spins around and shows George Annie's sleeping face, and he's never seen his friend just immediately melt before his eyes. George simply gasps and brings his finger up to gently stroke her cheek, Annie grumbles slightly and wiggles but soon settles back into her place in her dad's chest.

"Dude." George says, flicking his eyes from Annie to matty, "she's the cutest baby ever. don't tell Adam and carly I said that, tho"

matty just laughs and nods, both men staring with such love at little Annie Healy.

she sleeps the whole walk there and through Adam and Ross arriving, who both have similar reactions to George. After the initial teasing, both men crumble at the sight of their best friend being a dad.

"god, how did you make something so cute??" Adam jokingly says.

"Can I try this wrap thing too??? you look stupid, but she's so happy I just need to do this, " says Ross, who's rubbing her back softly through the layers of fabric.

matty agrees and says once she's awake, he's free to have a try. She stays asleep for a little bit, but as soon as mattys voice rings out of the speakers, she perks up. Big brown eyes blinking up at matty with a gummy grin to match. Once each man sees that, they all want a turn wearing her.

of course, they somehow turn this into a competition.

Ross claims he's her favourite because Annie simply stares up at him with wide eyes the whole time she's strapped to him, smile not leaving her face. he even plays bass with her still attached to him, a new skill he's very proud of. he keeps his hair safely in his bun, though, not wanting her to get a grip. (Annie does later become obsessed with Ross' hair because who wouldn't?)

George claims he's the favourite because she makes the most gargling noises when he has her. he walks her around the room, talking to her and explaining the studio. "So this is soundproof padding Annie, basically it's so other people don't have to hear when your dad does a shit take" "Oi! don't swear at my child George. and don't slag me off!!"

adam claims he's the favourite because, "I'm just a natural. look how chill she is. " Annie is very chill with him, just kinda enjoying life and vibing. no nonsense, just a happy little girl.

matty knows she's happiest with him though, as soon as she feels the rhythm of his heart and smells her dad, she just falls right asleep. the closer she can get, the better.

so needless to say, the baby wrap is a hit, and Annie becomes the hottest fashion accessory for the men of the 1975. the day she finally grows out of it is a sad, sad day for them all.

(this is what I mean when I'm talking ab the wrap btw <3)

more blurbs for this au here!!

[jayalaw]

Thoughts About Light Yagami Being A YouTuber

Thanks to @cacklingskeleton for starting this idea, and @kingofthewilderwest for talking with me about this.

For reference: I am referring to Light from the first five volumes of the manga mainly, rather than the various spinoffs. We will not speak of the horrendous Netflix version. This would be taking place after the Lind L. Taylor incident, which confirms that Kira is in the Kanto region for the whole world.

What's fascinating about Death Note in modern times is that it came out before social media. Light has to get all his news about criminals from newspapers and television, to the point that he had to hide a mini-television in a potato chip bag to avoid surveillance.

Social media has changed things; you can find information about criminals and trials in real-time. The Internet is forever, and we all have smart devices now. Kira could kill a criminal as soon as their mugshot hits Twitter. Not to mention that with the right credit card, you don't need shinigami eyes; you can find all the info that you need on a person.

King and I were disagreeing about one point: would Light do well at YouTube? I think so because Light knows how to control his image, and L was the only person who could see through it. King doesn't agree, because Light's mask falls away rather quickly in the manga. He may know how to plot murder, but his ability to act normal fades away rather quickly.

So let's consider these two angles. There are two ways this could go:

If Light Yagami Is Good At YouTube

Light is calculating and intelligent, good at building his image. I remember this from the manga, how he is popular both in high school and college,

My headcanon is that Light would do videos talking about justice systems in fiction. You have stories about if the apocalypse in Mad Max has appropriate punishments for the antagonist, and if the chickens in Chicken Run have any legal rights. He knows that you can go viral for the wrong reasons, and chooses his topics carefully. What's more, his dad may not understand YouTube, but it would be shameful if Soichiro Yagami's son was caught doing something uncouth.

If Light has some disagreements with YouTubers? He knows how to do what James Somerton did: hide behind an aura of feigned innocence and send his fanbase against them. And how can he be a bad guy? He doesn't even have a Patreon or crowdfunding! All his YouTube revenue goes towards charity, because he has a full-ride to university and his needs are few since he still lives at home to help out with his little sister. She posts videos of them dancing to Misa-Misa's songs. All the other YouTubers are more worried about their careers and are just jealous little shits.

Here is the thing: people leave patterns. And there are whisper networks. Light may think he's leaving no trail, but computers have screencaps, and memory.

If Light Yagami Is Bad At YouTube

He gets by with his channel topics due to his natural good looks. I admit that Light isn't my type because he seems too dark and broody, plus the whole what he did to Naomi Misora, but he might have been appealing.

In this case, the channel topic could be anything: Let's Play video games, reactions to vines and viral videos, "The Best Snacks To Eat While Studying for Entrance Exams." No one doubts that Light can cook, even if he eats those nasty potato chips.

So let's go with King's interpretation. Light is someone who is big talk about general topics, but if you look up close, it's really shallow. People follow him because he's good-looking and has a lovely voice. It's a voice that makes you want to go into battle. Some of his more impressionable fans wonder why he wasn't scouted by a J-pop band. It wouldn't have worked; Soichiro Yagami would stake any manager or agent that would dare keep his son from the college path.

The problem is when Light gets the Death Note. He still posts videos, but he starts getting sloppy. Though he doesn't want to admit it, murder is a huge weight on the human soul. And he takes it out on the communities that welcomed him, in subtle ways.

The Video

Hbomberguy has noticed some trends. Any YouTuber that crosses Light Yagami, even for pointing out something like, "Dude, you took footage from me," somehow gets hit. Light is careful to go only after small people, the marginalized that may leave YouTube from the harassment.

He is careful. After all, if you are going to accuse someone of plagiarizing videos and using his fanbase to destroy the competition, including YouTubers that considered Light a good friend, you need hard evidence, and backups. So hbomberguy brings the receipts, with permission from the victim.

The Kira stuff is the real bombshell; Hbomberguy cites what happened with Lind L. Taylor, and how Light is one of the biggest international YouTubers from the Kanto region, who is bilingual to boot. And something something how he figured out the shinigami thing because there have been incidents of people online talking about writing names in notebooks, getting creeped out when others died, and tossing the books away. They talked about having seen mysterious figures. Yes, it could be Internet hearsay, but the heart attacks match the pattern.

The video goes viral. Light can only watch in horror, because hbomberguy points out that if he dies of a heart attack now, Light will be the prime suspect. Ryuk is cackling.

And somewhere, L is leaning back in his weird crouched position and puffing out a deep breath of frustration. Several months of subtle investigation down the drain, thanks to YouTube drama.

[hannahssimblr]

I tap a knuckle against the study door. 

“Dad?”

There’s silence. 

I knock again. “Dad? Are you busy?” 

He’s moving around in there, I can hear him. Closing browser tabs, maybe. Shuffling around and rearranging things, in a blind panic trying to look like he’s doing something important. I huff out a tiny laugh at the thought of him hurrying to close the minesweeper window before someone can come in and catch him doing something unserious. I don’t really know what he does in his pokey little study all evening, but one of Jen’s crazy theories is that he’s chatting online to his twenty two year old YouTuber girlfriend, to which I need to remind her, once again, that my dad is too boring to have an affair. Mom says he’s writing reports and even that sounds too exciting for him.

“Come in,” he says eventually, and I let myself into his lair where he is sitting stoically at his computer, a stack of paper, no doubt with exceedingly dull information on them is right by his side, and his hand hovers over it so I'll know he’s especially busy, and whatever it is, I had better make it quick. 

I close the door behind me and approach him while his eyes settle curiously on the stack of soft cover books in my hands. “What are those?”

“I spoke to the guidance counsellor at school this week. She gave me some college prospectuses, and I thought we could... um, look through them together”

He heaves out a sigh and gestures to the second chair. The guest chair, I suppose, not that there’s ever guests in here to sit on it. It’s uncomfortable like a lot of furniture in this house, all style but no substance, and I perch on its edge, my knee doing that annoying anxious jerking thing while dad takes off his glasses and swaps them with another pair. “Show me what you have.”

I pass the stack to him and he drops it onto his desk with a thud, picks up the first and immediately flips the front cover towards me with a completely uncalled for attitude. “What’s this?”

“A prospectus.”

“Rhode Island School of Design?”

“Yes.”

He tosses it aside without so much as a glance inside it and grabs the next, “School of the Art Institute, Chicago,” Then reads the blurb incredulously “‘Art and design change the world.’ Alright…” He raises his eyebrows and puffs out a breath as he chucks it into the discard pile. “CalArts, nope.”

My face gets hot. 

He snatches another and flips over to the back, “‘Studying here is different,’” He reads, “‘It is about making a better world, about becoming a creative force and learning to change the world through bold and curious thinking…’” He mumbles the rest and then scoffs at it as if it’s some political argument he disagrees with inside the Sunday Times, and he goes on and on in this manner while the rejection pile builds and builds and so does the feeling inside me. 

“What is this?” He says eventually. “These are all American schools. American art schools.”

“Yes.”

He scrutinises me like he believes I have gone mad yet says nothing because he doesn’t need to. I already know what he’s asking. 

The words come out of me in a rush. I rehearsed this in the hall for five minutes before having the nerve to knock, “Because I think I would get a chance at a really great education there. It’d be good for me to be away and independent and to learn a lot of new things, not just education and art, but also travel and culture. I’d really like to go to college somewhere that’s exciting and dynamic and… and…” Damn, I forgot the other adjective I’d chosen, “...Um, fun, I guess. It’s just that whenever I think about college I imagine myself in the US. I really think that’s where I should be.”

“That’s because that’s what you see in those movies.” He says movies like one might say hardcore pornography, because Christopher doesn’t waste his time with such things as movies. Christopher works, and studies, and reads endless, endless books about World War II. “You’re not going to college in the states.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a waste of time and it’s a waste of money. Do you know what it costs to attend just a year of college in the US? Before your living expenses?”

“I know, but I spoke to the counsellor about it, and she explained that there are scholarships.”

He laughs, “You’re not going to get a scholarship,” and switches back to his other glasses and shakes his mouse to wake up his PC, which has some kind of thrilling spreadsheet open on it. This 2009 financial report must be rapturously exciting if he’s more interested in it than the future of his only son and firstborn child. 

I inhale sharply, “But why couldn’t I get a scholarship?”

“Because,” He types some numbers into the sheet, “You’d have to have a pristine academic record, a long list of extracurriculars and a very persuasive personal statement,” he peers briefly at me over the rim of his specs, “I’ve been through the US education system, and I know the standard that these colleges expect of their scholarship students. You’re just not up to it.”

“I could be, if I worked hard. I’m already doing pretty well in all of my classes, like, I get Bs in most things-” I stop myself before unhelpfully adding, without even trying, “And I have extracurriculars, like, I play rugby and help out Jen with her maths work…”

“You have to understand that the kinds of people who earn these scholarships do a lot more than that.”

“Well I would do more things if I had more time to myself in the mornings, or in the evenings, or after school, or at any other point in my day when I have to ferry Ivy back and forth from-”

Dad barrels on as though he hasn’t registered that I am speaking, “And you know, as well as the extracurriculars, all of these scholarship students have exemplary records. They're well mannered, well behaved, they never get into trouble, never get detention, never mind suspension. Twice.”

I snap my mouth shut. 

“Honestly, if I was the dean of one of these,” he plucks at the limp corner of one of the prospectuses, “Art college places, and I saw an application from someone with your record, I would simply toss it out. There’s not a chance, and before you ask, I am not paying for art school when you could easily do that here. For free.”

“Okay, I understand that, but I don’t really want to go to college here if I can avoid it.”

He doesn’t ask me why. He already knows but doesn't want to acknowledge it, and it’s easier, as it always is, just not to discuss feelings. Any feelings, especially mine, which are the most irritating and irrational feelings of all. “Why art school?” He hums, idly poking around with something on screen. “Couldn’t you choose a more academic course?”

I’m surprised he thinks I’m capable based on all the things he just said about me.

“You could apply for something in Trinity. Math, maybe?”

“Maths.”

“Or if you want something more artistic you could try English. Literature. That would be interesting, don't you think?”

“Or I could just… do art.”

“I would just hate to see you become one of those arty types. One of that NCAD crowd loitering around Thomas Street with their facial piercings and crazy haircuts.”

Oh no, a haircut. I sigh, “I’m not going to NCAD. I was kind of hoping you’d be more enthusiastic about my choices, but if you don’t think they’re right, I mean… what can I do.” I loathe the laugh that comes out of me, this strange, nervous titter that I didn’t even realise I was capable of.

I get up and begin to gather the stack of prospectuses laying forlornly on my father’s desk, my hopes and dreams bound for the recycling bin. “I’ll speak to the guidance counsellor again about my options, I suppose, and then I’ll try and choose something that’s more realistic for me.”

Before I let myself out I force myself to pause and turn to him one last time, “Do you… um, if I come up with more choices for colleges, do you think you’d want to sit down with me some evening and go through them? Like, I mean, really look over all of the options and help me decide what the best thing is?”

There is a lengthy pause. 

“You know, Jude, I’m really busy, and-”

“Okay.” I leave the room and shut the door with a gentle click.

Beginning // Prev // Next

[crepesuzettey]

Talkin about the current shift in Smosh main

Sooooo I'm really thinking about this now because there is some implication in the newest LWS that they were kind of trying to "manipulate" their audience to get memberships off the ground or whatever. Let me just say right now that I am still a fan of Smosh and I'll still watch their content, I'm still a member. But every time they make a major shift like this, they always handle it sooooo poorly imo.

I mean, the way they handled the pivot from unscripted to sketches was so messy. I bet if they just communicated from the beginning that those videos were too costly with not enough return and the main channel was in a really desperate place, there wouldn't have been as much of a divide in the fandom after the buyback. Instead, they implied that unscripted ended because Anthony was coming back, and that caused a whole argument. Tbh that's probably the root of the current problems in the fandom lol

And someone else pointed out that they kind of put down a previous era to hype up the current era. Yeah lol. There's probably some genuine feeling behind that -- I'm sure the cast are very excited about what they're doing, and each "era" of Smosh does have its pros and cons (for example, under Mythical they were free to do whatever they wanted compared to DEFY, but there might have been struggles with the main channel's voice and the brand wasn't as popular as it used to be). But it doesn't really help this situation.

What's happening now isn't super clear to me -- did they actually want to make the sketches or not? Either way, their communication with their audience hasn't been great. The way I see it, when you make content on YouTube, part of the career is seeming transparent to your audience and being genuine where it counts (even if you're a company). It's kind of ironic that they're highlighting unscripted content more due to the demand for a genuine approach to online media in modern years, but this is how they communicate with their audience lol

I can understand if they didn't want to blow things up by announcing that the sketches were over before Bit City came out, because that might have hurt the premiere. But I do think there's always a way to announce the news in a way that won't make people THAT upset. The way they've done it just comes across as kinda sneaky and I guess it doesn't feel like there's "closure".

One of the other fandoms I've been in was a kids' MMO fandom and when it was about to shut down, they released an article for parents called "When Your Child's Favorite Media Goes Away". Since I was reminded of that earlier, it got me thinking about how that game handled its closure really well and kind of walked the audience through that last month, whereas with other kids' MMOs I kind of got the vibe that they just announced the shutdown, put up the FAQs page, and then pretended like everything was normal for the most part.

I know this was a game for literal children, but I still think it really shows how handling the end of a service with care can actually minimize fan backlash against the company. From a practical standpoint. Smosh makes changes so abruptly that it can come across as "uncaring" to their audience and it's also just so annoying lol. Like, there HAS to be a better way to go about this!

[blahpanblah]

Before the new episode of the anime drops, let me drop this theory that I’ve been having for a year now and why I think it might come true in the next episode.

My theory is that I think 9S is going to die in the stead of 2B. Let me explain.

So far the anime has had some, on first glance big differences compared to the game. Like Lily living instead of Anemone, and Eve dying before Adam. And it seems like these things would be a major change, but in hindsight, it changes overall nothing. The most we get from it is a character study from those characters when they are put in these new scenarios. This isn’t a bad thing.

I believe that the anime is telltaleing the viewers, making us think these are major changes that might change how the story goes and maybe even change the the ending but in reality, no matter how it gets there, Ending A and B still happen the same way. This also isn’t bad thing

Where this theory falls in is this thought I had, “Would Ending C & D change that much if 9S died instead of 2B” what I think is no.

Let me put you in this hypothetical: Your 2B, YoRHA is destroyed and you just escaped with 9S, and while this is very much a bad thing, seeing that most of YoRHA units got the virus and are now killing zombies, in the back of your head. This is perfect.

With the death of the commander and the whole space facility destroyed, you have no reason to kill 9S anymore. There’s nothing he can find out. And even if he did there was no reason to. Yeah there’s still the machines that are responsible for this, but after all of that is settled, you're done, forever!

You can just live your life with 9S on earth. Never having to worry if this will be the day you have to kill him ever again. And in a way with the facility destroyed there’s no way to come from being killed. So they can live their lives like humans! Finally living lives without care! Finally getting those T-shirts.

First you have to find 9S. Stop the machines so they can get to the good life fast. And as you ask your pod to give you his location to find him. And as you get close, you run across this bridge, and when you're halfway there you see him! You yell out to him but then you notice something.

…He’s been impaled by a sword.

By A2 no less…

As he falls lifeless on the ground. Your mind begins to scramble. He’s dead. He’s dead, forever. He’s not coming back again. And you’ll never see his face, his smile, his voice, ever again. He’s been taken from you just when you're finally free.

And it’s all of A2’s fault

A2 killed him before she could even say goodbye. Before she could say anything! She killed him! Something only she was supposed to do! She gets to decide when to kill him, not her!

So she’ll kill her! She’ll take her away from this earth with her own bare hands if she has to!

So yeah, I don’t think this would change anything with C & D. 2B would have the exact same bloodlust towards A2 in this scenario. And that rage would have been manipulated by the red girls the exact same way, because I’m mostly sure, that 2B didn’t even know why she was killing 9S, all that he found out too much information, information about what? She doesn’t know. And the truth would absolutely drive her insane.

Also it is a bit suspicious that the first OP of the second half isn’t on YouTube officially but the ED is. Which said ED just happened to be about 2B. And Almost as if the OP is going to change.

And it’s also weird that the 2nd Cour trailers, even the most recent episode, only consist of scenes and voice lines from the first episode. And yet the 2nd OP pretty much spoils what happens in C & D, but the first OP didn’t. Pretty suspicious. Just me though

[faebriel]

brrrr rainduo hunger games au

mad shoutouts to bee, beans, daisy and cherry for hopping on the rainduo hunger games bandwagon kdhkdjd

okay so nonnie i have a bit of hunger games knowledge (have watched the first two movies with some pals in the last month, various clips on youtube, etc) so i decided to take this one to my friends in clout farm to bounce some ideas around. niki and wil as tributes? niki as a tribute and wil as an estranged old friend who won the games five years ago and then was swallowed up by the capitol? two coworkers in the world's worst subminimum wage job? then bee comes in with the sledgehammer

for everyone else who also thought oh god i need to google that: avoxes are rebels, traitors or deserters who had their tongues cut out as punishment, and are forced into servitude by the capitol.

alright so. wilbur and niki are two kids in district 12 in the midst of a potential regime change - and they're kids, around ten and fourteen each. to-be-president schlatt is shoving around president dream and it almost seems like this might be a window for change, something wilbur is so passionate about

and then that wrong person overhears, and wilbur is gone.

niki assumes that wilbur is dead. (and tries not to think about how he got taken, because of nothing more than sheer bad luck, and she didn't.) it's awful, but seven years pass and she does her best to cope with it. and then her name is called at the reaping, when she is seventeen years old.

niki has absolutely zero intention of playing along with the games - she thinks they're horrible, just another way for the capitol to terrorise the people of the districts, even if she's learned by now the consequences of actually saying that out loud. she meets her mentor, jack - a year younger than she is, district 12's only remaining victor. he came out of the coal pits at thirteen, with just enough charisma and confidence to win over the sponsors and just enough grit to outlive every other tribute in his games, despite his age.

unfortunately for jack, niki is stubborn as hell when she makes her choices, and she's chosen not to play. fuck the capitol - fuck acting as their entertainment while they burn her entire fucking world down. fuck smiling how they want her to and acting sweet. why should she? she should she, when they've ripped her away from everything she had to lose? niki can hold her own, but not like this - and if she is going to go to her death, she refuses to act pretty about it.

and then she encounters wilbur.

it's one of the dinners for the tributes - one of the early ones, right after they're paired off with their stylists (niki doesn't entirely know what to make of hbomb, who asks her what colour hair dye she'd prefer in one breath and then lays out the most cynical, how-to-get-ahead guide to the games in the second, and then exalts the benefits of a kitty ear motif in the third) but before the interviews and grading. they're eating the fanciest food niki has seen in what is probably her entire life, although it tastes like nothing more than ash in her mouth, and pouring the tributes and their mentors glasses of expensive wine - never mind that almost all the tributes are underage, because when else will they get the chance to drink, hey? niki is still silently fuming, pushing her food around her plate and refusing the sixth damn offer to refill her wine glass and she finally looks up and behind the mask he's wearing, behind the unrecognisable silence, behind seven years of thinking one of her best friends had been horribly killed (and being entirely unable to process that fact) - she sees wilbur.

she immediately asks, wilbur? - not that he responds, and now hbomb and jack are giving her weird looks as hbomb informs her it's just an avox and jack goes oh, yeah, they don't have them in the districts, but -

none of their words matter, because half of niki is solidly trapped in this space between reality and dreams and her worst nightmare - she's only able to pull her shit together once jack has dragged them all back to the district 12 tribute spaces, and gives her the whole spiel about what an avox is, and by extension, what happened to wilbur.

niki is horrified. to think she mourned for all those years, and wilbur was alive - not just alive, but mutilated and tortured at the hands of the capitol. niki didn't think she could become more furious, more enraged with them. she was wrong.

the problem now, then - if niki wants to help wilbur, actually help him, she has to play. she has to win.

(and yes, she does set the forest on fire. she has to win, after all, doesn't she?)

this post is getting so so long so i am putting some more miscellaneous thoughts about The World and more details about niki's games under the cut ⚔️

okay so dream WAS president but was overthrown by schlatt in a "peaceful transfer of power". this was around when niki and wil were 10/14 each - and naturally uprising resulted in a peacekeeper crackdown in the districts, leading to wilbur's capture and arrest :(

2. haven't really nailed down other tributes in niki's reaping (i'm already handwaving the guy from district 12. he doesn't exist to me he is stock image steve) besides uhh ranboo who niki makes brief friends/allies with and then dies horribly. i was thinking aimsey and guqqie because from what i've seen of their content they love a tragedy? but yeah idk

3. sam is the gamemaker for this arena! he was a former victor and has decided to use this knowledge in the worst way possible.

quackity is Also a gamemaker (young upstart with no experience yet in the arena or out of it) and they have terrible workplace drama. is he hooking up with the president? i will not say yea or nay.

4. rest easy in the knowledge that, as a servant to the capitol, wilbur got to see on live television the moment niki was reaped :']

5. niki does, in fact, win the games - by the skin of her teeth. while she is so full of fury at the capitol, i feel like she'd Actually kill like, one career and then feel Extremely ill about it. unfortunately, she has too much on the line to lose. this isn't just about surviving, or going home - she needs to get herself and wilbur home in one piece. she Cannot Afford To Fail.

she ends up winning by setting the arena on fire with use of a match donated by jack and some sponsors he managed to twist the arm of, plus probably some clever digging around in the arena itself to find something flammable (maybe some kind of fuel to power the arena itself?) this fire ends up killing off the remaining few tributes at that point - at least one in front of niki herself - and damages the arena too. niki, already injured before the fire started and now barely clinging onto life past her burns, doesn't even hear the sound of the cannon shots as her victory is announced - she only realises that she's won once the hovercraft descends, perfect steel against a fiery, smoke-filled artificial sky.

she can't really stand the sight of flames after that. unfortunately, fire becomes her new branding.

6. district 13 Is a thing. Eventually. can't overlook niki's beloved anarchist friends :3c

and finally:

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Friends To Lovers + Smut/PWP Masterlist

7 Minutes In Heaven - interrupted-by-fireworks

Summary: Dan and Phil have to play 7 Minutes in Heaven at a party.

A Koi pond, love, sex, and all the crap that comes with it (ao3) - winstonlives

Summary: Dan can't sleep, but Phil can. Dan thinks too much. What happens after the tour?

A Sleepless Night With Dan (ao3) - cockwhoredan

Summary: Dan and Phil live together, and they’re just friends. One night Dan can’t sleep. Naturally, he decides to give Phil a blowjob.

Break Me Down (ao3) - gayestever

Summary: The tour bus breaks down and Dan and Phil struggle to find a hotel room- or at least one that has two beds.

Can't Help The Itch To Touch- To Kiss (ao3) - thescienceofphan

Summary: Phil is deaf and Dan is a manwhore. When people see them together, they worry about Phil’s emotional well being and shame on Dan for targeting a deaf boy, but it’s not like that. Not at all.

Craving Control (ao3) - starwatersong

Summary: Phil is intrigued by the hypnotist at the YouTuber Summit in 2016 and finds himself oddly fascinated by hypnotism. Is Dan helping him find one for a video for Phil’s benefit… or Dan’s? Some timeline mixing where Phil’s fortune telling video takes place in an earlier time. They’re living in London apartment #1 in this story.

drop your heart I'll save it for you (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Tenderness isn't part of the deal, nor are soft words, or feelings, or kisses that don't lead to fucking. It's not what Dan asked for, and it's certainly not why someone would choose to fuck their friend slash flatmate slash colleague who they absolutely don’t have any feelings for.

How do you Sleep? (When you Lie to Me.) (ao3) - CactiPhan

Summary: Dan is about to be married to his longtime boyfriend Henry, but plans change when he walks in on him cheating on Dan. The only person he can run back to is his best friend, who he was blind not to see was perfect for him.

If You Don't Love Me, Pretend (ao3) - phantasticworks

Summary: All his life, Dan has wanted to have the chance to be a parent someday. He would be the best parent that ever existed, he was sure of it. Fostering might not be the most traditional way on the road to parenting, but Dan's dead set on doing it anyway. But, well, it would be easier with a co-parent, right?

the bed-sharing, fake relationship, friends-to-lovers, parent fic i was desperate to read; when i shouted into the void and was met with silence, i decided i'd do it myself

No They're Not (ao3) - bandhoez9194

Summary: Against Phil's better judgement, Dan goes to a small house party with friends. He had been assured by both Dan and the party host that there would be no alcohol after all.

Unfortunately, someone else has a change of plans and gets Dan drunk anyway. Which makes him start talking about buttholes and storage places.

When Phil picks him up though, things get soft, steamy, and bendy, just like the spaghetti he left on the stove.

Very sexy, very smutty, very random, very cute. Also, drunk Dan so who doesn't like that?

Read It and Weep (ao3) - phansomedevil

Summary: Dan's feelings toward Phil are nothing but platonic, or so he thinks before stumbling upon some actually decent phanfiction and falling face-first into the abyss.

Something New (ao3) - benotafraidofwriting

Summary: Dan wants Phil's help when trying something new, but can Phil keep his feelings for his best friend at bay?

stuck on you (ao3) - watergator

Summary: dan finds himself in a rather awkward predicament and phil ends up having to helping him

The Parent Project (ao3) - ATEEZpresent (orphan_account)

Summary: Dan and Phil get paired to take care of a realistic baby doll for a few days. Feelings arise.

The Sun, The Snow, And Everything In Between - chocolatesaucelester

Summary: A lot can happen in the span of one year, or a cycle of four seasons, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes and 31,536,000 seconds. In that common amount of time Phil met Dan at bonfire night in the fall and over the course of a year, realizes he found a person he would’ve never guessed he’d found that night.

Two Man Team (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they’ve always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

Unspoken Rules (ao3) - jestbee

Summary: They have rules.

1. They don't kiss 2. They don't talk about it 3. They aren't exclusive 4. They don't get attached 5. It's over when the tour is

As long as they abide by the rules, no one gets hurt. Simple, right?

Want (ao3) - yoidnp

Summary: It was a rare night alone in a hotel room away from the confines of the tour bus. Dan and Phil discover a few things about each other.

Watching You, Watching Me (ao3) - Spring_Haze

Summary: Dan accidentally discovers his best friend and roommate pleasuring himself in the early hours of the morning and can't look away. In fact, he can't keep his hands off of himself. Phil is surprised by Dan's reaction, and two best friends make long-time confessions.

[gabessquishytum]

I hope you are feeling better!

I'm blaming this one on nail polish fumes.

Hob gets Dream to allow him to paint Dream's nails. Sure, Dream could change them with a thought, but Hob wants Dream to spend some time on himself, as a form of self care or even just self-indulgence. Of all the ideas Hob reels off getting his nails painted is one of the more favorable options to Dream. It means Dream gets Hob's hands on him after all.

Hob goes all out with the idea. He might not have known how to do a manicure before, but he's had a week to plan and access to YouTube. When its time for the manicure to start, he massages Dream’s hands gently and makes sure everything is as relaxed as possible. Dream doesn't have anything as mundane as cuticles or nail ridges, but Hob still pays each flawless nail close attention.

Dream is already fighting off the need to squirm, and Hob hasn't gotten to the actual painting yet. The color that he pulls out is the deepest black Hob could find, of course. Hob is oh so careful when he pulls the brush from the bottle, making sure there is not too much lacquer on the bristles. Dream can't help but draw the parallels between Hob's movements and the care an artist takes with their masterpiece.

Hob, not unaware of how this is affecting Dream, holds each finger rock steady as he applies the fist coat.

Dream had not considered until he sees the wet lacquer that the nail polish would mean that he would not be able to get his hands on Hob in return until it dried.

When Hob finishes up with the last nail, he smirks at Dream and tells him to keep his hands still and not smudge anything as he goes from sitting across from him to kneeling between Dream's legs. Hob quickly unbuttons Dream's pants and gets to work on the feast presented to him.

Dream's first instinct is to grab at Hob's hair and direct him to exactly where Dream wants him, but that would certainly smudge to lacquer. Dream could make his nails dry instantly, but he promised to do this the human way, and he is a creature of his word. So all he can do is keep his hands spread to the side while he uses the little bit of leverage his spread legs can manage to try and buck until Hob's tongue is exactly where he wants it.

Hob manages to orchestrate it so that Dream cums about the same time his nails are ready for the next coat, only taking the time to clean off his hands before starting on the next layer. When he finishes up with the lacquer, his mouth right back on Dream. He starts up the third layer after he has made Dream cum for a second time.

Hob has been told that the trick to a smooth, long-lasting manicure is many thin layers, and Hob intends to give Dream only the best.

When Hob finally decides he is on the last layer Dream has cum enough times that he is floating on pure endorphins. He doesn't even notice that the top coat Hob has chosen is embedded with tiny holographic glitter leaving the black struck through with a rainbow sheen.

Hob is definitely looking forward to being made to pay for that choice when it is noticed in the morning.

-💥

Ajsjdbfhs!!!! Make Dream do self care!!!! I love it, I love it so much. Particularly with added blowjobs.

Oh the torture of having to let Hob totally do all the work and dedicate himself to Dream’s pleasure! Dream just has to sit there and enjoy himself! It's genuinely A Task for him to just. Have a nice thing without thinking that he's doing something wrong. Hob is starting to think that nail polish is the most effective type of restraint ever. Dream is too vain to risk fucking up all those perfectly painted layers, so he has to sit still!

Hob also happens to be pretty fucking excellent at sucking cock. Like, Dream is acquainted with actual Sex Gods who don't give head as good as Hob. So that's. A lot.

Hob also ramps up the "torture" by spending the entire time he's painting Dream’s nails, telling him how wonderful he is. How he's beautiful and lovely and amazing and so loved, and how Hob would do anything for him, and how he deserves the world.

Dream is a total mess by the time Hob is done with him. All that praise, plus the fact that he's cum five or six times in pretty quick succession, means that he's a bit tearful and floppy. Hob carries him carefully off to bed and tucks him in, with one final check to be sure his shiny nails are perfect. Each finger gets a kiss, and by the time Hob has done all that? Dream has passed out. Bless him.

[rocketbirdie]

Hi hi hello, I come to you as a fellow Kunsel liker (and in particular because you have drawn Zack/Kunsel which has such little activity and I am a feral dog about Anything it gets!!! AAA) Since you've been getting a lot of thoughts in your asks I thought I might also drop some ^^

I think a lot about that time right before Nibelheim, where you can have zack say "I love you, man!" to Kunsel, and he says:

"Aww, I didn't know you ca-- ...Hey! Quit joking around! It's that girl in the slums that you're thinking about! You still have some time, right? You should go see her before you leave. Don't worry about it! I'll explain everything to Sephiroth."

And sometimes I like to think. What if it was real. What if Zack was actually trying to say something, and Kunsel, so uncertain that he actually meant anything in Zack's life, assumes he must be being silly. That it must be someone else that's more important on Zack's mind. He does keep doing that, doesn't he? He helps Zack out all the time, but whenever it comes to anything other than Kunsel giving everything to Zack, Kunsel evaporates. Like offering to hang out in Sector 8 and then leaving as soon as they arrive. Does he think Zack is too wonderful for him? That anything more is intruding?

And the "I love you, man" option comes right before Nibelheim, too. What must reflecting on that feel like? Years passing by as it starts to dawn that maybe that was the last time they'd ever see each other, that Kunsel starts to think his friendship with Zack is littered with all these little missed opportunities because he didn't fully realise how much it mattered?

Kunsel doesn't believe Zack is gone. He can't. Every so often, another email goes out, in the hope that Zack is really on the other end. Nothing is ever sent back but maybe they're being read. He swears to himself it will be different next time, if only Zack could be really there. One more time.

But it never happens. Kunsel isn't there when he's needed. He can't get there in time. Zack bleeds out.

(does this add up. Kunsel may be the tutorial character you're probably not meant to think about too much but to me that is only a challenge. mainly I just want to thank you again for the good good zack/kunsel and also thank you for listening!!)

I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS...........

omg just a few days ago i was digging through youtube trying to find ANY players that chose that dialogue option so i could get some screenshots. reunion changed kunsel's response to make it more hetero and it irrationally pissed me off. a friend pulled through for me and found the og dialogue!!!

the idea of it tormenting kunsel for the rest of his life... that tiny half-serious "i love you" that will haunt him forever....... ouhghhhh. OUAAGH