#might upload to ao3 sometime later idk

[happyk44]

When Annabeth becomes pregnant at twenty-three, everyone is excited. Percy, most of all. They get married in a small shotgun ceremony inside the safe haven of New Rome, mortal and godly parents in attendance, friends shedding tears of joy.

She gives birth a month early to a screaming, underweight bundle of joy. Everyone adores their son. He has fuzzy hints of black hair and wide curious gray eyes. He doesn't cry much after his birth, is abnormally quiet, observing everyone who holds him like he sees something more beneath the surface.

His quiet demeanour reminds Hazel a lot of Nico. When she mentions this in passing, Annabeth laughs quietly and squeezes baby Oliver's chubby fist. "He does, doesn't he?"

Her words sound unbelievably fond. The tone doesn't shock Hazel - she knows that the three of them have gotten close recently - but it seems... odd. Misplaced in its meaning.

She finishes off her final protective ward on Oliver's crib. "Has he met him yet?"

Annabeth hums. "He was here this morning."

She doesn't say anything more, and before Hazel can ask, she effortlessly glides the conversation to Hazel's training as a witch. Hazel takes the hint and lets the conversation change without any complaint.

-

Grover counts himself lucky in many regards. He's got a wonderful wife. He's Lord of the Wild. He hasn't been eaten alive by any monsters yet. All but one of the kids he's brought to camp are living successful happy lives.

And he knows the truth about Oliver.

They never talk about it - the circumstances that brought him into the world. It was just a few hints here and there in conversation, before he cuts the cord and just asks.

"Nico is Oliver's biological father, isn't he?".

Percy doesn’t even hesitate. "Yeah."

Grover watches from the kitchen, Percy at his side, as Nico emerges from what everyone thinks is the guest room, but Grover is confident is actually Nico's room. Oliver sits on his hip. The one year old is bundled up from head to toe. Nico himself has a matching beanie - bright blue with a warped crochet design of a yellow fish. He waves Oliver's little hand their way before disappearing into the shadows.

The two of them come back a couple hours later with In-and-Out takeout bags. Oliver is chewing on a lone french fry. He falls into Percy's arms with ease. Nico smiles kindly at Grover and comes to sit at Percy's side on the couch. Their thighs press together.

Grover doesn't ask about it.

They're happy. He can tell just by looking at them. Whatever thing is happening between the three of them, they're okay.

That's all that matters.

-

Piper loves Annabeth, she does. But she also believes in integrity. Oliver is three years old and the shadows tremble when he's annoyed. The air goes cold and frigid when he's upset. He doesn't talk very loud, but he's perceptive.

It's one hour into Piper's babysitting time when Oliver tells her that her grandfather says hello and she pieces it together. Oliver doesn't understand what he's done, the secret he's just revealed. She asks him to get her grandfather to tell him a story, just like he used to tell her. Oliver reaches out with one hand, and Piper's world turns upside down.

Annabeth and Percy come home two hours later, laughing and carrying a goodie bag from the restaurant. Grandpa Tom left half an hour ago, right when Oliver murmured a sleepy, "I'm tired", and let go of his hand. Piper doesn't know if he's still around, watching her. But it's the idea that he is, that keeps her brave.

When Percy disappears down the hall to check in on his sleeping son, Piper corners Annabeth in the kitchen.

"Are you cheating on Percy?" she whispers.

Annabeth blinks at her, startled. "What?"

"Are you cheating on Percy?" Piper whispers again, trying not to hide the urgency in her voice.

Annabeth is cool as she puts the leftovers in the fridge. "Why do you think I'm cheating on Percy?"

The question is easily answered, yes or no, and Annabeth's side-stepping is obvious and painful to Piper's heart. She changes gears. "Is Nico Oliver's dad?"

Annabeth pauses. It feels like hours. Then she closes the fridge door and crosses her arms over her chest. "People can have more than one dad, Piper."

Piper scowls and gets in close. "Does Percy know?"

Warm hands plant on both her shoulders. "He knows," Annabeth says, her voice soft. "And I'm not cheating on him."

Piper can't tell if Annabeth is lying. She wants to say more, ask more, but Percy's footsteps are loudly closing in. She takes a few steps back just as Percy rounds into the kitchen and slips an arm over Annabeth's shoulders. The image is sickly sweet. The two of them gaze happily at each other. They're so painfully in love.

Piper's stomach clenches.

The three of them stay up an extra hour. Percy is oblivious to the tension ruminating off of Piper. Annabeth seems fine though. It only stresses her out more. When she finally turns in, she doesn't know how to feel. She pauses just inside the guest room, the door pinched open. She can hear the two of them talking quietly in the hall. Oliver's bedroom door squeaks open.

Another voice, one Piper hasn't heard in a couple months, teases Percy from nearby. Percy protests his protective habits. Piper peeks through the gap. Nico is leaning against the wall. He's smiling widely in Annabeth's direction. Percy is oblivious, sneaking into Oliver's room. Annabeth takes Nico's hand. He pulls her close.

Piper relaxes for a minute. Maybe she doesn't have to say anything, maybe Percy will catch them before they can drift apart.

Or maybe he'll walk out of Oliver's room, shove Annabeth away and dive into Nico's mouth greedy, like he's starved for breath and Nico's mouth is oxygen. Maybe he'll tangle his hands into Nico's hair and push him into the wall with a low growl.

They don't separate, not really. Instead Percy drags Nico towards his - their - bedroom, Annabeth laughing as she follows.

The door clicks shut behind them. Piper takes a step back before pulling her own door closed. In the morning, Nico is gone and Percy is making pancakes. When Oliver asks for pomegranate juice, Piper passes it to him from the fridge and says nothing.

-

Leo doesn't know where this new baby came from. Annabeth wasn't pregnant the last time he saw her, but there's definitely a newborn asleep in the corner of their combined workshop. Annabeth doesn't even let him ask about the kid, just throws revised plans for their latest project in his direction before answering her screaming phone.

Oliver is there next to the baby, rocking her back and forth in her carrier. A picture book sits on his knee. He blinks up at Leo as he approaches. Leo likes Oliver. He's quiet and isn't afraid to use a hammer. The baby girl has small curls of black hair. She is bundled up in a fish-printed blanket.

"Who's this, big man?" Leo asks, squatting down to get a closer look.

The four year old stares at him. Then, "Ariel. She's my sister." He pauses, before adding, "She's really loud."

"When did your mom get a baby?"

Oliver stares some more before answering. "My uncle made her yesterday."

Leo doesn't know what to say to that.

-

Oliver and Ariel are joined a year later by a third and final child. While Ariel's origins are still speculated by anyone not in the know, it's clear from Annabeth's round belly where Eve was going to emerge from. She has thin wispy hair so blonde it blends into her skin. Her bright sea green eyes mimic her father's.

But Nico is her favourite. By now everyone knows not to bat an eye when instead of "Daddy" or "Mommy", her first word is "Papa". She reaches for him more than anyone else. As soon as she is old enough to crawl, her favourite place to wiggle towards is his lap.

Frank watches as she tries to pull herself to a stand. He runs a hand over the head of a nearby cat. It purrs loudly. Nearby Nico's hands are outstretched, ready to catch her if she falls.

Like Grover, he cuts the cord fast. "Is she yours too?"

Nico doesn't falter. "No."

Eve doesn't make it to a stand, but gets close enough before she falls face first into Nico's arms. He bundles her up to his chest and she squeals, reaching out with one hand to tug at his necklace.

He doesn't wear the camp beads anymore. Instead, it's a silver band looped through a golden chain. The band has three different jewels studded into it - a diamond, an aquamarine gem, and an onyx. What each jewel represents isn't a question. The fact that Percy and Annabeth wear the same silver band just above their wedding rings isn't much of a question either.

Frank takes Eve when offered and holds her close. Her green eyes look exactly like her father's, look exactly like her sister's. Her blonde hair is soft against each stroke of his fingers.

Nico comes back with drinks. Frank doesn't go for them when offered, content with where he is. Nico puts his can next to his foot, before lowering himself back to the ground. Frank watches him for a moment.

Then, "I thought you were gay."

Nico shrugs as he pops the top to his soda. "Annabeth's pretty," is all he says after a slow sip and Frank snorts.

He hands Eve back when Nico reaches for her. "Is that why Oliver was first?"

Nico's grin is wicked sharp, but happy in all its angles. "No," he says. "That's because I'm pretty."

-

Jason watches as Ariel and Eve team up to drown their older brother in the lake. In retaliation, he summons skeletons that ignore Ariel but grab at Eve. She screams, loud and unholy, as she’s tossed through the air and lands with a gigantic splash. Oliver pulls himself out of the water, shaking wet black hair out of his face. Ariel bats her eyes at him as he approaches, unafraid even as he picks her up and tosses her into the lake himself.

The two girls laugh as they surface, before swimming speedy laps around each other. With a short scowl, Oliver settles on the towel next to Jason. He does not enjoy swimming. Jason remembers the first summer after his birth.

They had tucked his feet into the water to splash and he’d screamed bloody murder. People joked about how Percy’s ocean powers clearly hadn’t made themselves known yet. But now it was pretty well known that Oliver didn’t have any ocean powers.

It had been pretty funny when Ariel came around. She took to the water like a fish and Oliver had panicked himself into a stressed out ball around the edges of the lake before he accidentally summoned a dozen ghosts to wrestle her from Percy’s arms and bring her back to the safety of dry land.

Percy hadn’t been allowed to hold Ariel for the rest of the day after that. If he tried, shadows would whip at him with Oliver’s frustration. He stayed tucked around his little sister while she cooed at the ghosts still protectively hovering nearby.

After that, everyone had pieced together what they had already started guessing at, if not outright knew.

The three of them never said how, or why, or even when, it had all come together for them, but they seemed happy nonetheless. And Jason was good with that. Nico deserved to be happy in whatever shape or form that came in. He didn't bat an eye whenever Nico kissed Annabeth's cheek before leaving with Jason. He didn't question it whenever the two of them came back and Percy clung onto him like needy barnacle.

Nico would flush a soft pink, and his smile was gentle, almost hidden sometimes. But he was happy, genuinely happy.

And that made Jason warm to see.

He pulls out the book Oliver had packed for their day out. Oliver puts on his glasses, thin round frames just like Uncle Jason’s, rolls over onto his stomach, and begins reading. In the lake, the girls are still splashing one another. A couple times they glance over at Oliver, like they’re thinking about pulling him into their game. But they know better than to bother their brother when he’s reading.

Oliver hums curiously and kicks his legs. Jason glances at him. “Good book?”

“Yes,” Oliver says.

He still speaks quietly and slow, each word a deliberate thought. It makes him the worst person to argue with. Ariel and Eve get loud and passionate - Ariel like Annabeth, cutting sharp like a knife, each spit of her words an uncontrolled punch; Eve like Percy, thunderous and vibrant, fast and off the cuff.

Watching the three of them fight a genuine fight is a masterclass in terror. The last time it’d happened - Eve blowing out Ariel’s candles on her sixth birthday and Ariel throwing a tantrum that exploded cake all over Oliver’s face - Jason had thought the whole city was going to be destroyed with every scream and thrown punch.

It had taken nearly half an hour to separate them. Oliver remained furious, refusing to cry even as Jason helped him wash the cake out of his hair, and stubbornly avoiding everyone for the rest of the day. Eve, like her mother, refused to admit she was wrong, steadfast in her determination not to apologize (although she caved fast when Nico came back with Ariel). Ariel got over it fast, she always did, which Jason found hilarious considering how emotional each of her fathers’ were. But her eyes remained red rimmed and she would tear up each time she caught sight of her siblings’ bruises.

She hit the hardest. Always did.

But when they fought together? In defense of one another? Amazing to see. It reminded Jason of the wolves, of the Cohort - working in tandem with one another, flying seamlessly off one another. A well oiled machine, each cog fitting together like the pieces of a puzzle. Oliver was the leader, in charge of each attack, Eve assisting in his command, and Ariel the powerhouse ready to take aim.

It’s clear where they picked it from.

-

The kids are half-asleep in a pile on the floor as Nico crawls across the couch cushions and into Annabeth’s lap. He dangles mistletoe above her head. She laughs and rises up for a kiss. In the chair nearby, Percy watches with half a grin across his face.

“That’s gross,” Eve mutters tiredly.

“Go back to sleep,” Nico calls back before kissing Annabeth again.

Ariel makes a gagging noise. Oliver swats at her before he slips out of their pile to rise slow to his feet. His glasses are lopsided on his face, but he doesn’t fix them. Instead he leans down to pull both girls to their feet. Eve yawns as she ducks her face into his shoulder. He slides one arm across each of their shoulders before tucking them in close and dragging them off to bed.

Percy pushes off the chair and flops against Nico’s back. Annabeth groans under the added weight.

“Seaweed Brain,” she grumbles. “Get your fat ass off my boyfriend.”

“Fat?” Percy huffs. He leans in harder. Nico laughs while Annabeth groans louder. “Woman, I am toned.”

“You have a dad bod,” Nico says. He tilts his head back and Percy accepts a kiss.

“You’re just jealous because you can’t put any weight on your bones.”

Nico rolls his eyes. Percy squeezes his hips and pulls away. Annabeth breathes easy, and then easier when Nico pulls himself from her lap. Percy turns off the TV as Annabeth rises groggily to her feet. Nico tucks her under his arm, and the two waddle off to bed.

Percy crawls in soon after.

In the morning, Eve will ask for pancakes, which Percy will make while she helps. Ariel will braid Nico’s hair in the bathroom and he will braid hers. Oliver will argue with Annabeth about the philosophy of Plato.

In the evening, the kids will ask the question that no one else has ever been brave enough to ask. And without falter, their parents will answer.

It was never a secret to begin with.

[reginalusus]

AHHHHH. Ok.

So I was just checking some reblogs through my blog - because sometimes Tumblr notifs are weird and I don't see everything (and, yes, I do read everything and appreciate all of it <3) - and I came across the fanfiction poll and noticed that, after the results were finished, some people still continued the discussion and made some good points for both sides.

But I've been swayed a little. So now I'm like.

Huh.

Maybe I SHOULD just continue my trend of posting chapter by chapter like I do with everything else. I mean, there's not much harm in it either way.

Originally, I was just gonna dump my entire Jason/Harvey on AO3 all as one. But it's becoming a tad longer than expected. So THEN I was considering, ok, perhaps I should just upload half of it? Kind of like a Part I?

But, again, I've been swayed.

So TBH I might just quietly throw the second chapter up today at some point, IDK. The first chapter has been private/unrevealed for 90% of its time on AO3, so. Then the third a little later down the line and properly advertise it here or whatever.

Anyway, yeah.

[arcaneglitch]

Tagged in 20 questions for fic writers by @baronetcoins <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently 52 (feels like it should be more but I tend to write longer stuff)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

824,622

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Destiny (my main fandom), the Dream SMP, and Hermitcraft/the Life Series

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

don't scream when all the wolves come find you when he comes a-knocking at my door with warmth to stave off the end And A Song when the cold wind rolls in from the north

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Almost always! I try to respond to as many as I can because I want anyone who comments to know how much I appreciate them :)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That might be a tie between Rewrite the Stars and Dig Two Graves, my take on Forsaken. That one ends on a real low note because it's designed to feed right into the next story

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'm swiftly realizing how few of my fics have endings that can truly be described as happy. I think I'd have to pic your feet find purchase in shifting sands

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really, thankfully. I did get a rather mean-spirited comment on my oldest story (not any of my current fandoms) but it didn't bother me much because I'd written the story while I was in high school and didn't get the comment until years later

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope, you won't find sex in any of my stories lmao. I'm both ace and aro and I find writing even just plain romance difficult

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I May have written stuff in the past for a fandom that shall not be named. Currently, though. the only real crossover is an MCYT/Destiny crossover that @baronetcoins and I worked on

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I welcome anyone that wants to translate my fics as long as they ask and give credit ^-^

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, but not one that's been uploaded

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I'm not big into shipping but if I had to pick I'd probably go with Grian and Scar from the Life Series (I'm a sucker for Desert Duo)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There's a DSMP Rise of the Guardians AU sitting in my google drive that I'd love to finish but idk if it's going to happen

16. What are your writing strengths?

Oh it's gotta be dialogue. To the point where I sometimes feel like I write too much of it lol. I can have characters just talking to each other for multiple pages

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Description, I'd say. Mostly because I don't think I take enough time to sit in the scenery of the piece and want to get straight to the action

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

It all comes down to doing your research. But also don't take it the wrong way if people fluent in the language correct you on things

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Why must you dredge up the past. Superwholock. The answer is Superwholock. Happy now?

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Requiem for the Departed, hands down. It gave me the opportunity to write a complex plot featuring multiple characters/POVs while also exploring aspects of the Destiny universe that don't necessarily show up much in the game

Tagging @collapsingintojupiter @utlana @petitmortsposts and @houseofmcallister

[shijiujun]

hello im new to writing fics. i was wondering how your cope when you write something that flops? like has that ever happened to you?

Heya!!! Oooh okay that’s a loaded question but it’s an important one and while I don’t have much advice to give, let’s do this:

*If you want more advice I suggest following the account AO3 Comment of the Day! They’ve got some cool asks that are answered really well about writing and etc.

1. Firstly, yay that you’re writing fics!! Regardless of whether you think your stuff is good or not, kudos to you for wanting to write and contribute to your fandom! You’ll get even better with time and the more fics you write, so welcome to the world of fic writing! 

2. “Something that flops”: The argument is that you should not find value of your fic in the number of kudos or comments (or the lack of it) it gets, and of course it isn’t! But it still sucks when you see little or no engagement on your fic, but also I guess there are a few factors to why a fic isn’t getting as many kudos or likes, e.g. it’s a niche topic you’re writing about, maybe the fandom has been a little dead for a while etc., but once again it’s still healthy to not tag the value of your writing to the kudos/comments, maybe people are still new to the fandom and haven’t gotten into the fandom on AO3 yet (this one is about timing) etc. you get, really, it’s tough to do and it might be unfair but in the long run I do believe that fic writers first and foremost write for themselves. And somewhere somehow people will be interested.

3. Not every single fic you write, you write at your 100% - Don’t be too hard on yourself! You provided your efforts for free, and sometimes you write something nonsensical, or can’t be bothered to check every line to make sure you didn’t write uranus as ur anus but you know! Definitely some fics will do better than some others, that’s for sure.

As for how I cope:

Honestly I’ve been quite lucky? I write for two small fandoms, so firstly you have to adjust your expectations and set thresholds for like the number of kudos/comments etc. you are expecting to get - For me as long as I hit like a minimum number of 100 hits I’m good my expectations are pretty low because I tend to obsess over why people aren’t reading a particular fic for example etc. out of IDK a terrible, misplaced sense of narcissism but I AM GETTING OVER IT! 

Another thing is I don’t think of myself as a good writer so - If you hit, leave kudos and oof the best, leave a nice comment on my fics, you have my eternal love. When I upload something I erm... don’t usually go back to read it because I get embarrassed, but it makes a world of a difference if your mindset is - I’m new at this, I still got so much to improve on, people who support me even if it’s one of you THANK U and people over time will be drawn to your writing cuz it’s good

If you define ‘flop’ by the point above, then yeah I’ve had one that flopped before but I honestly didn’t think of it as flopping XD It was just 1. A niche pairing 2. The fandom is kinda half dead 3. Honestly was a work that was slightly below average - But I put it up anyway because I wanted to get it out of the way and honestly I don’t really think much about it (so yes, one way to cope is like: oh that flopped? cool let’s never talk about it or look at it again, thanks MOVING ON)

I also cross post on Tumblr (for certain fandoms and shorter fic lengths) and I am also fond of self-reblogging, but there’s nothing to be ashamed about that to be honest!

If no one champions your work and you can’t expect them to, then you’ll have to champion it yourself because you’re you own biggest supporter. It’s pretty cathartic actually, I recommend self-reblogging your own work so more people see it!

Also if you think about it, attention is double-edged sword - Lesser attention means emotionally you don’t feel like you’re obligated to put up certain fics or topics, or ensure they’re at a certain quality and honestly you really can write anything you want. More attention will of course on one hand motivate and fuel you to write even more (and I do think readers should at least drop a kudo or a short comment if they really like the fic) but sometimes it might hinder your writing process a bit.

Do what makes you happy! If writing fics and it ‘flopping’ gets to you after you tried the first one, take a step back, take a break, and then try again. Fic writing is fun like that. If a halfway through your draft you feel like throwing the whole thing away? Just slot it in an Archives folder on your laptop and think of something new or rewrite it.

I’m really not a good person to ask XD but I’ve been quite happy these past few months so!! <3 In fact, my issue is not really if a fic flops or not but IF SOMEONE STEALS MY SHIT!!! I don’t dare to check because if I don’t check and don’t see it I don’t have to fight but I got a feeling it’ll come sooner or later.

[thegraysquirrel]

Reaction gifs

When commenting, sometimes words don’t do justice to whatever emotion I’m trying to express. I’m big on emoticons, especially on AO3 because it has a limit on characters, but there’s an alternative that was just as big a part of it for my Tumblr reviews.

The gifs! 

The only downside is you can’t upload one directly to an AO3 comment, which means a gif folder on a flash drive is... not quite the best thing for it. I’ve also lost my gif folder, so I’d have to rebuilt it anyway.

This (first) post is my attempt at having my MVP gifs in one place still a WIP so I can more easily use reaction gifs in my comments/reviews on AO3 AND on Tumblr! :D

Long list of gifs/images under the cut IT'S 74 IMAGES WHAAAAT

HUGGING AND I LOVE YOU GIFS

A classic one:

A very cutesie one:

I gasped out loud when I saw this one again! This is the best hugging gif! So far

anD THERE'S ANOTHER ONE??? HOW COULD I FORGET THESE GIFS:

The ANGSTY hug:

Hm, this is a good gif hug

Oh, ATLA hitting in the feels with the Iroh and Zuko hug:

I think it's a hug? It can also be after a very heart-breaking chapter

Awww I remember this gif!

Oh yessss this hug gif!!

And this cute one!!!

*snort* I'm putting this one with the hugs:

Apparently, one can never have too many hug gifs

Honestly, mood.

Another creative hug gif:

Ooooh an attack hug!

Another attack hug!

I... how many hugs do I have? This is heartfelt hug

One of my classic hugs gif:

Oh wow, another classic: the equation

*snort* ah yes this gif:

MOODS WHEN I'VE REACHED THE END OF A CHAPTER

When words are really hard:

OMG THE HAPPY JELLY!! (great gif):

The wave of feels, like, this is THE fandom gif. This was in all the reaction gif posts back in the day when you couldn't easily search for new gifs and had to MANUALLY ADD them to the post (hence... the gif folder)

Stich in the rain is such a mood. Sad Stitch but also, rain!

And the counterpart, David Tennant as the Tenth doctor in the rain (I do not watch Doctor Who though o.O)

When all that's left to do is flail towards a place away from here

What a happy bunny!! It's happy because of the fic it just read or whatever else I say:

The close to tears gif:

Idk what energy it gives off but it's ANGSTY and the snow gives it the right kind of energy

The cat looks so sad!!:

THE CUTE BEARRRR

Good for when things fall apart or other paranoid things:

I guess this one is good for when a theory of mine came true...

*snort* oh god this is good for when a fic takes an angsty turn. I used it when I said "Let's say I'm... worried."

When you're feeling smug or just vrry... this:

OOOH THE FLUFFY GIF!

When the slow burn reaches THAT part (ship setting sail in WHATEVER way):

The part in Mulan that I'm sure was THE moment I fell in love with the movie the first time I watched it, and every view after!

Things took a turn for the worse (or for the better):

*kggg noises*

When the chapter is particularly angsty:

yesss a gif with text again!

Is... is this my first laughing out loud gif?

This is also a happy kind of gif

Ah, there is a sad gif again

OOH Killer B, I did use that one!

It's so beautiful, a classic I never used before this week:

Idk it's ominous, isn't it?

WHEN I'M ABOUT TO READ A FIC THAT JUST UPDATED

omg I used the following gif in one of my tumblr reviews, cool! I will use this one... a lot more I think:

My secretly favourite gif (and the goose is so excited because it ate a bread crumb. Yes.)

This one falls in the same line of being excited I think:

Idk if I'll use this one ever again but you never know when it could be relevant:

Dug!! Getting distracted by a squirrel. Which is a good way of showing me, the squirrel, getting distracted by fic:

This is a perfect gif for when I'm about to read it

RANDOM SHIZZLE

This... this probably fits better with end of chapter stuff, but it's more random than not.

When I want to facepalm about what a character thought was the right thing to do:

Wow, Mulan is really expressive:

Wow I really had a lot of gifs, huh?

*snort* it's almost the same as the other Dug gif except this one has "squirrel" on it, in case I want to make a reference to myself:

Obvs the "writer waiting for comments mood" but also same

Hm, this one is a fandom specific one, so... who knows?

*snort* I really have low bar for humour, huh?

I know, this is when a theory pops in my head in the middle of a sentence!

Oh I remember when the Luigi meme made its rounds!!

When I need to hold hope my ship can sail so I use a thought-to-be-impossible sheep surfing:

LIST OF GIFS I ADD LATER AS I COME UPON THEM:

*cricket noises*

This image will def have its use:

This one'll also be good dot dot dot yes:

In my search for the previous on to be a gif sourced from tumblr, I found this one:

...I'll probably never use this one but you never know:

...And the list goes on

Cookie monster o.o probs won't use it either

WAIT THIS IS A GIF I MIGHT USE!

...I see possibilities for this gif:

[stvrwar]

wait out the plastic weather

marauders social media au | 2k words | they’re youtubers bc why not and bc @frxddi is up this trope’s ass | ao3

james potter to tucci gang: you guys see the newest vid

sirius black: you mean the newest video that all of us are fucking in

sirius black: that cideo?

sirius black: *video

remus lupin: the video you uploaded and sent all of us the link to like…twelve minutes ago?

peter pettigrew: I think he might mean that video

james potter: fuck all of you not that video

james potter: and it has a name. it is out cHILD

remus lupin: pardon me, I didn’t realize “getting kicked out of Walmart #4” fit on the birth certificate

james potter: I have small handwriting

remus lupin: my mistake

james potter: ur mistake indeed but

james potter: not our fucking video morons

peter pettigrew: ur unnecessarily mean to us

james potter: lily evans video. The woman of my dreams. The greatest youtuber to ever fucking live

sirius black: now that’s just hurtful

remus lupin: and also why the fuck would we have watched her video?

james potter: now who’s hurtful?

-

remus lupin to so pete davidson and ariana grande are engaged and idk who I am anymore: sirius why is this our chat name now

sirius black: bc idk who I am anymore

peter pettigrew: is it bc ur in love with ariana grande

james potter: he loves ariana and he’s in love with pete

remus lupin: I can’t believe you’ve never told us

peter pettigrew: im touched

remus lupin: when’s the wedding?

sirius black: okay fuck all of u she is an icon and he is hilarious

james potter: ur face is hilarious

sirius black: im leaving you for him

james potter: babe no I didn’t mean it

sirius black: u’ve hurt me too many times

james potter: I promise I’ll change for you

remus lupin removed sirius black from the chat

remus lupin removed james potter from the chat

peter pettigrew: this happens like twice a fucking week

remus lupin: so how’ve you been pete?

peter pettigrew: pretty shook about that engagement tbh

remus lupin removed peter pettigrew from the chat

remus lupin: I am an island.

-

sirius black to the office season 2 episode 7: yo Walmart 4 is on trending wtf

james potter: !!!!!!!!!

peter pettigrew: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

remus lupin: im not gonna do that

sirius black: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

james potter: what number is it on trending??? Is this twitter or youtube btw

sirius black: youtube and #6

remus lupin: shit that’s our best yet

peter pettigrew: anyone check the subscriber count recently????

sirius black: the marauders are at 3.1 million what the FUCK IS UP YO

remus lupin: im so surprised u aren’t key smashing

sirius black: is it because im gay

remus lupin: no it’s because u have massive thumbs and can’t text to save your life

remus lupin: yes because you’re gay

sirius black: that’s homophobic. Im not gay bc I keysmash

peter pettigrew: ??? neither of you are straight. ????

remus lupin: no you keysmash bc you’re gay

james potter: WE ARE TRENDING WE CAN ARGUE ABOUT THIS LATER

james potter changed chat name to BRAINSTORMING SESSION ASAP

sirus black: porn

james potter removed sirius black from the chat

peter pettigrew: tasteful porn so we don’t get demonetized

james potter: keep talking

-

james potter to twinky winky is a great porn parody title why are you booing me: aquarium vid is a goooooooooooo

remus lupin: but the question is, can we live up to Walmart 4 hype

remus lupin: bc that shit is going insane online. People love it

remus lupin: we’re hoodlums, vandals

sirius lupin: loveable vandals and hoodlums

peter pettigrew: I feel like that’s debatable tbh

remus lupin: we as a collective whole have been kicked out of four separate walmarts

remus lupin: do you know how far I have to drive to get my fried chicken at 2 am

james potter: why the fuck are you getting fried chicken at 2 am

remus lupin: I don’t need this judgement

sirius black: so how’s the aquarium vid faring

peter pettigrew: u know what sirius is being the rational one for once and im too focused on the fried chicken to be amazed

remus lupin left twinky winky is a great porn parody title why are you booing me

peter pettigrew changed the chat name to colonel lupin’s fried chicken

sirius black: is it really that rare that im the rational one?

sirius black: jk ik im a messy bitch

-

peter pettigrew to three’s company: uh. Guys has james seen this yet

peter pettigrew sent an image

remus lupin: oh fuck

sirius black: well I haven’t heard any high pitched screeching yet so, no

peter pettigrew: she’s got more subscribers than we do, it would be good for the channel

sirius black: she’s a video game streamer what sorta collab are we supposed to do with that

remus lupin: idk, maybe a vid on her channel, a vid on ours? She’s in the same city so like, shouldn’t be too hard, right?

sirius black: welp he’s screaming so he definitely has seen the comment now.

-

james potter to chad and ryan were gay fuck you disney: “hey we should totally do a collab sometime! Message me :)”

sirius black: u have sent that TWELVE FUCKING TIMES NOW

sirius black: TWELVE

remus lupin: let the boy live

peter pettigrew: okay but the smiling is a little concerning tbh

remus lupin: @james potter have you even sent the fucked message yet? What did it say?

james potter: “hey! I’m so excited that you wanted to do a collab with us! I love your channel and doing something would be super great for both of us. Anything you had in mind?”

james potter: did I come off as a crazy person?

sirius black: in the best way possible

remus lupin: somehow that doesn’t feel like a compliment?

peter pettigrew: maybe you should use MORE exclamation points

james potter: stfu I am an expert at talking to the most beautiful woman in the world

sirius black: excuse me

james potter: I said woman

sirius black: tell me im pretty

-

james potter to little pig boy comes from the dirt: fuck gotta clean this shit up

james potter changed chat name to the marauders group chat

sirus black: ??????????????? wtf

remus lupin: has james been bodyswapped

peter pettigrew: like the movie face/off with nic cage?

remus lupin: I feel like there are better examples of body swapping

james potter added lily evans to the marauders group chat

sirius black: oh fuck now that makes sense

remus lupin changed chat name to little pig boy comes from the dirt

lily evans: from that SNL skit?

lily evans: I fucking love pete davidson tbh even though he breaks in like every skit

lily evans: did you guys hear that he and ariana got engaged? Idk who I’m more jealous of

sirius black removed james potter from the chat

sirius black: she’s our new james

-

peter pettigrew to owen wilson saying yeah for 2 hrs: drink every time someone comments about sirius’s appearance on a vid

james potter: “im a simple girl. I see sirius, I click.”

remus lupin: the words that will haunt my nightmare

james potter: the comments on the drag trying vid are…bonkers

peter pettigrew: who even says bonkers

lily evans: wow okay some of these commenters are…creative

james potter: by creative, do you mean terrifying?

lily evans: yes yes I do

remus lupin: I don’t even get it. He’s not that great looking?

sirius black: okay fuck you, u trick ass hoe

remus lupin: like, you cannot be everyone’s type

sirus black: trick ass hoe

remus lupin: im just being rational. You’re also like out. So who is thinking that saying they wanna have your babies is valid

lily evans: surrogacy?

peter pettigrew: sperm donation?

james potter: adoption?

remus lupin: fuck all of you individually and as a unit

sirius black: trick ass hoe

-

lily evans to shake shake shake senora: okay just posted my collab vid let’s see how this goes

james potter: what did u end up calling it?

lily evans: “i teach 4 idiots how to play overwatch”

sirius black: harsh but fair

remus lupin: we didn’t do that badly

peter pettigrew: remus die with dignity we did fucking awful

james potter: idk what it meant when lily kept calling me a hanzo main and laughing but it felt hurtful

lily evans: good. It was.

-

remus lupin to three rings to rule them all: so has james seen that people are shipping him and lily yet

remus lupin: because we should NOt let him know about that

peter pettigrew: he’d fucking cry

sirius black: theyd be called lames

sirius black: ha

-

sirius black to james potter: dude you gotta stop staring at lily when she comes over for pizza nights

sirius black: she’s gonna notice

sirius black: or like stop pretending that she isn’t noticing

james potter: wait you think she’s noticed

sirius black: christ you dumbass

-

lily evans to marlene mckinnon: you seen my newest collab with the marauders

marlene mckinnon: we’re roommates, obvi

marlene mckinnon: did u steal my lipstick

lily evans: okay but like. The comments

lily evans: …………………………………..what of it

marlene mckinnon: gonna kill u evans <3

marlene mckinnon: okay wow they really want u to get all up on glasses

lily evans: that one’s potter

marlene mckinnon: they want u to climb him like a tree

marlene mckinnon: do the horizontal tango

marlene mckinnon: netflix and chill

lily evans: these are getting less clever

marlene mckinnon: suck his dick

-

peter pettigrew to wwlbd (what would leonard bernstein do): uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh guys we are on tv

peter pettigrew: TV LIKE WE ARE ON FUCKIN TV

peter pettigrew: TELEVISION

sirius black: what

james potter: what

remus lupin: what

peter pettigrew: OKAY like not us but like. Our video. Walmart #4

remus lupin: great now everyone’s gonna know we’re fucking vandals

james potter: im fucking crying

sirius black: IM FUCKING CRYING

peter pettigrew: oh shit now it’s the video with @Lily Evans

peter pettigrew: we are being called charming and loveable with an “adoring” fanbase

lily evans: oh my god??????????? How’d you (we) even end up on tv

peter pettigrew: idfk! Some like...social media segment or something

-

sirius black to smonk wed: settle a bet for me

remus lupin: christ here we go

sirius black: I don’t appreciate the tone

remus lupin: christ! Here we go!

sirius black: whatver, acceptable, james wants to bone lily

remus lupin: uh

peter pettigrew: that be known

remus lupin: u know this isn’t the three man chat right

lily evans: uh

james potter removed sirius black from the chat

-

peter pettigrew to remus owes me like $20 and some triscuits: who ate all my freezy pops

sirius black: who the fuck calls them freezy pops

remus lupin: who let you back into any of the chats

sirius black: fuk u m8

james potter: he was crying so i let him back in

sirius black: and lily isn’t in this chat so i can say all the shit i want

james potter: i wish u wouldn’t

remus lupin: seconded

peter pettigrew removed sirius black from the chat

james potter: problem solved! peter pettigrew: okay but who ate my freezy pops

-

lily evan to james potter: so are we going to talk about it

james potter: about what precisely

lily evans: the revolution of the moon and the fact it’s made of cheese?

james potter: ah yes, it’s swiss btw

lily evans: the moon?

james potter: clearly

-

COMMENTS ON “THE MARAUDERS TRY DRAG FT. LILY EVANS (EVANSLY)

Chaitea7: oh my god why the fuck is sirius so pretty im jealous wtf

Janeyloo: okay but anybody else picking up on the tension between james and the redhead??

                  VIEW REPLIES

                            4marauderssssss: @Janeyloo that’s lily evans, she’s                                        another youtuber and she’s fucking great

                            dva-main3: they are definitely a thing, i agree

                            greektragdy: okay but does this make their ship name                                       lames? LIMES?

thomasthetrainbdsm: is wormtail ever gonna make another appearance? I love that funky little rat

dwightkshroooot: okay but why isn’t lily actually a like...try vlogger like these guys? she outdid sirius which is like. Unheard of.

                  VIEW REPLIES

                             dianaprinces234: like i never thought id see the day

                             yalldve: she looks so good wtf im shook

dhfakjshdgljdsl: i want lily evans to step on me and i would                              say thank you

                  VIEW REPLIES

                             honeynutcheetos: p sure james thinks the same thing lmao

                             011000110110000101110100: lmao right???? Im so gay

                            TheMarauders: I definitely think the same thing -James                                     Potter

[bastardnev]

Do-Over

i said i would upload this fic after paige returned and would you look at that, she’s back!! also paige/eva is a Good Ship and it deserves to be talked about more

tagging @briankendrick @dr-goggles and @rivela!!

(link to ao3)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: World Wrestling Entertainment, Professional Wrestling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Eva Marie/Paige | Britani Knight Characters: Eva Marie (Professional Wrestling), Paige | Britani Knight Additional Tags: Internalized Misogyny, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, real fancy schmancy, Pre-Relationship, sorta?? idk that's mainly why paige doesn't like eva, Post-Break Up, what is it with me and writing fics where dolph is an asshole and breaks someone's heart, this is the second time this has happened now im scrmeaigjkfdfg, sorry dolph, Dialogue Heavy Summary: Everyone seemed to be talking about it -- the seemingly happy couple that had crumbled right before their very eyes. How could this have happened? Did one cheat on the other? No one knew for sure, and the uncertainty was driving them all mad.

Eva was being driven mad too, though that had less to do with the drama and more to do with the fact that no one in this damn school knew how to shut up for five minutes.

Eva grumbled to herself as she stormed down the dorm halls, high heels clicking loudly on the tiled floors as she made her way towards the exit. Well, this is just fan-fucking-tastic. There’s nothing in the whole world that she loves more than having her plans for a quiet evening in her room ruined by someone else’s bullshit relationship problems.

It turned out that there was trouble in paradise between Paige (otherwise known as the one girl at this school that she simply could not fucking stand ) and her boyfriend, Dolph. The two of them had apparently gotten into a pretty nasty argument earlier in the evening, and as a result Paige had gone running out of the dorms and out into the rose garden. None of the other students had heard from her in awhile, and they were all worried sick.

Naturally, Eva was prepared to just let them continue to argue and spend her time doing more important things, but her fellow classmates weren’t content with letting her have some peace and quiet. Everyone seemed to be talking about it -- the seemingly happy couple that had crumbled right before their very eyes. How could this have happened? Did one cheat on the other? No one knew for sure, and the uncertainty was driving them all mad.

Eva was being driven mad too, though that had less to do with the drama and more to do with the fact that no one in this damn school knew how to shut the fuck up for five minutes.

Seeing as it meant things would finally quiet down, Eva made the decision to look for Paige and get the full story. Then, after working her trademark Eva Magic, everything would be fixed and she could get to her relaxing. How bad could it have been? This is probably all because of some bullshit miscommunication or something...

Eva arrived at the front door a few moments later, stepping outside and taking in the sight of the beautiful garden spread out in front of her. She could stand here and take in this view all day… except she really couldn’t because it was about to start pouring rain soon. Christ, did Paige really have to run out when the weather was  this bad? (And so soon after Eva finished doing her hair, too…)

“Paige!” Eva called out, the wind whipping around her gradually growing stronger. “Where are you?” There wasn’t a soul in sight. Where the hell could she have run off too? There were only so many places to hide.

Eva bit her lip as she looked up at the dark clouds looming overhead, thinking over her next move. Did she have enough time to search around the garden for Paige and bring her back to the dorms before the rain started? Not only that, but -- and this was perhaps the biggest question of them all -- if she were to get caught in a downpour, would her makeup be salvageable? So many questions, so little time.

Preparing herself for the worst, Eva darted out from under the protective cover of the entryway. He head was swiveling back and forth as she weaved her way through the roses. Wherever the hell Paige was, she would be pretty easy to spot; her all-black get up would clash with the elegant red of the flowers. Still, the redhead was having a tough time actually finding her. Could she be in the nearby woods? Or maybe behind the garden shed? Possible hiding spots flitted through Eva’s mind as she rounded a corner.

“There she is…” Eva breathed out when she finally spotted Paige. She was sitting in the arbor, her head down on the table. She had really gone all the way out here just because she didn’t want anyone to see her upset. Paige could be a bit of a nuisance sometimes, though Eva supposed she wasn’t in any place to judge, seeing as she would most likely do the same exact thing in this situation. “Hey!” She called out.

She watched as her classmate slowly lifted her head, registering that it was Eva fucking Marie standing in front of her and hastily wiping at her cheeks. “What are you doing here?” She asked with a shaky voice as Eva approached, her accent thick.

No hello? Paige just goes straight into arguing? Christ, Eva should have just stayed in her room… “I came looking for you,” Eva replied with an annoyed expression, hands on her hips as she stepped into the arbor. “You’ve got everyone worried.”

“I don’t know what they’re so worried about.” Paige crossed her arms, her whole body tense. Eva knew that she was at the top of Paige’s list of people who she didn’t want to see her cry. It made sense that she was so apprehensive. “I’m completely fine.”

“Fine?” Eva snorted. “How can you say that you’re fine when your eye makeup is all smudged like that?”

“What? Are you serious?!”

“Look for yourself, raccoon girl.” Eva reached into her pocket with a smirk, pulling out her compact and handing it over. Paige snatched it away from her, looking at herself in the small mirror.

“Oh my God…” She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she got a look at just how messed up her makeup had gotten.

“Next time, invest in some waterproof mascara. Funny, I figured a goth of all people would own a tube.”

A sudden bolt of lightning caused the two of them to jump. Before they had a chance to react any further, the rain began to come down in buckets. “Shit…” Eva muttered. Now she and Paige were trapped in the arbor together until it lightened up. There was no way she could go out when the weather was this bad. It would totally ruin her outfit.

Eva took a seat across from Paige -- who looked less than thrilled by her company -- clicking her tongue as she resigned herself to her fate. She knew she should’ve just waited for Paige to come back on her own… Leave it to her and her bright fucking ideas to land her in an awful situation.

“I guess we’re stuck here now.” Paige said with a soft voice as she rested her head in her hands, gazing out at the rain. For awhile, both of them were quiet, but there was no peace. Not even the sound of the rain drumming on the roof of the arbor was enough to eradicate their animosity towards each other.

“... So…” Eva finally spoke up, deciding that she might as well say something , otherwise risk losing her mind from the uncomfortable silence. “I heard about what happened earlier. Y’know, with you and Dolph.” She noticed Paige wince at the mention of her (ex?) boyfriend’s name, and an eyebrow quirked up.

“Who hasn’t heard at this point?” Paige’s gaze was fixed on a point off in the distance, her voice wavering.

“What exactly happened? Like, what was the fight over?”

“What do you care? Since when have you actually given a shit about anything that’s happened to me?”

“Hey, I was just trying to start conversation. No need to get snippy.” Eva raised her hands defensively. She understood that it was a touchy subject, but it was literally the entire reason why she was out here in the first place. She might as well address it.

“Well, if you wanna know what happened so badly, then I’ll tell you.” Paige started as she finally looked at the girl sitting across from her, a mixture of rage and sadness in her eyes. “Bullshit, that’s what happened.”

“How was it bullshit?”

“Well…” Paige took a deep breath. “It’s just that… lately Dolph has had these… suspicions about me.”

“Suspicions about…?”

“I’m getting to that. Let me talk, would you? Apparently I’m overly-affectionate with all of my friends, and he thought that I was cheating on him with one of them. He’d see me hug Emma, or Bayley, or Sasha, or literally any of the other girls and would get the impression that there was something more there.”

“You know that hugging a friend isn’t cheating, right?” Eva asked. “A hug is just a hug.” If giving someone a hug meant that she was unfaithful, then Eva had cheated on every single partner she’d ever had.

“I know that, but… He saw it differently. We’d reached the point where I was worried that I couldn’t even talk about meeting with my friends because I thought he’d get jealous or angry. I tried confronting him about it, but that didn’t work out at all.” Paige took another deep breath before continuing. “It started out as a talk, then it escalated into a full blown argument. He accused me of cheating with one of my friends, I argued that I was innocent, and…” Paige stopped herself there, and she looked away from Eva and stared back out into the garden.

“And?” Eva urged her to continue.

“And I got my fucking heart broken, okay?!” Paige blurted out, burying her face in her hands as she was unable to stop the tears that were now rolling down her cheeks. She had clearly stopped giving a shit about whether or not Eva would judge her over her vulnerability.

“Jesus Christ…” Eva muttered, processing what she had just been told. Dolph dumped Paige all because she had the audacity to be a decent friend. He broke her heart over something like that . “What a goddamn idiot !” She slammed her hands down on the table suddenly, shocking Paige in the process.

“Eva, what the hell--”

“You… You didn’t deserve that…” Eva said after mulling over what she should say.

“You… really think so?”

“Yes, of course I do! No one deserves to have their heart broken, especially over such bullshit! Breaking up with you because he thought you were cheating on him with a friend? Christ, what garbage !! And here I was thinking that he was smarter than that.”

“Well, I mean…” Paige looked confused, her brow scrunching. “Don’t you think he has a point, though? I mean, cheating is always a valid concern in a relationship…”

“Paige, were you cheating on Dolph with anybody? Be honest with me. Did you kiss anybody else when you were with him? Or did you hook up with someone else? Did you do anything that even remotely resembles cheating?”

“No! God, no. I would never do that.”

“Then you’re innocent! You haven’t done a damn thing wrong! He’s the one that’s in the wrong here. He had no right breaking up with you over something that he had no proof of. What’s his proof? The fact that you have a lot of close friends? That’s disgusting!”

With her rant for the day over, Eva heaved a big sigh, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms. She could see that Paige now had an alarmed look on her face. She knew that it was because of her sudden outburst -- hell, Eva even surprised herself with it -- but she still decided to ask anyway. “What the hell are you looking at me like that for?”

“I just… never thought that you cared about me that much.” Paige said.

“Paige, listen,” Eva began, “You and I… We’re not friends. At all. It’s just that I... have very strong feelings on this subject due to personal experience. I hate seeing other women being put through terrible shit all because of men.”

“Personal experience?” Paige sniffled. “Has this happened to you before? What’s your story?”

Eva bit her lip, looking down at her hands. She’d never told anybody about her past experiences with love before. The fact that she was about to reveal something so intimate about herself to someone that she didn’t even like was surprising. “Honestly, I feel like this always happens with me.” Eva laughed a bit self derisively. “I meet a guy who I think isn’t gonna fuck me over, and he ends up doing it anyway. Every fucking time…”

“Jinder never did that to you, did he?” Paige recalled how earlier in the year Eva was in a brief relationship with another student, although the two were now only friends.

“Obviously not if he’s still breathing. He’s probably the only guy I’ve been with that wasn’t a complete jackass. All the others took complete advantage of me and treated me like I was some kind of joke. I hated putting up with that shit, and I hate seeing other girls being treated the same way. We deserve better than that.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “And you deserved better than what Dolph gave you.”

It took Paige a moment to respond, staring down at the table and beginning to trace a finger over a crack in the glass.. “I just… trusted Dolph, y’know?” She made eye contact with Eva again. “I trusted him not to break my heart. He was a pretty good boyfriend, all things considered. Things just got so… messy in the end. I really wish that things could’ve ended differently.”

“Honestly, I wish that things had ended differently for you guys too,” Eva admitted. “And I’m not just saying that because the way you broke up got us stuck out here.”

“Yeah, right.” Paige laughed softly, finally cracking a smile for the first time since Eva had arrived.

“I’m serious! I really wish that things had gone better for you.” Eva took a deep breath before continuing. “You didn’t deserve to have your heart ripped out. You’re… actually a really nice girl. You’re always treating the other students so kindly, and you always look out for all of your friends. People would kill to get to know someone like you.”

“How can you sit there and say that I treat everyone kindly when I get into fights with you every damn day?”

“Because I deserve your hatred.” Eva shrugged nonchalantly. “Let’s face it, I’m an asshole. I deserve to be insulted by you.”

“You’re not being an asshole right now, though.” Paige pointed out. “I mean, you’re sitting here giving me compliments when you really don’t have to.” It wasn't even like there were other people around and Eva was trying to maintain an image. The two girls were alone, and no one else was around to hear what Eva had to say. She was genuinely complimenting her.

“Yeah, but… I’m still an asshole. I mean, come on. I’ve been giving you shit all this time because you dress in black. I pick on you for something like that. How can I be anything else but a jackass?”

“Well, it’s not like I’ve been the nicest to you either.” Paige noted. “I mean, I’m always calling you a slut behind your back.”

“ Slut ?” For some reason, Eva was surprised to hear that, although her feelings weren’t hurt. In fact, she even smiled. “Paige, is that the best you’ve got? That’s hardly even an insult to me anymore. If you’re gonna say something so weak, you may as well just say it to my face. I could always use a good laugh.”

“I don’t want to, though!” Paige smiled back at her. “You don’t deserve to be called that. You’re not evil or anything. You’re actually… really sweet.”

“Okay, enough bullshit. You’re just flattering me now.”

“You came out to talk to me -- someone you’re not even friends with -- when no one else did. You didn’t even have to come and find me, yet you did anyway. I think that’s pretty sweet of you.”

“I only came out here because everyone else was obsessing over where you were. I wanted them to shut up.”

“Bull shit !” Paige reached over, playfully hitting her in the arm. “You came out here because you secretly like me.”

“Oh yeah?” Eva decided to fight back. “And you only stayed out here because you wanted to hang out with me! Don’t try and use the rain as an excuse, girl. If you were really that upset, then you wouldn’t have cared what the weather was like!”

“Maybe I--” Paige stopped herself from continuing.

“What? Tell me!”

“Maybe I do like you.” Paige looked down towards the table, trying to avoid Eva’s gaze. “Maybe I did want to hang out with you.”

“I knew it!” Eva clapped her hands together, proud of herself for getting something right. However, she wasn’t able to deny that what Paige said had made her pretty happy. “You want to be my friend, don’t you?”

“Only if you want to be my friend.” Paige shifted her gaze back up to Eva, a small smile on her face.

“I do.” Eva assured, reaching over and grabbing one of Paige’s hands. “I really want to start over from the beginning -- a do-over. Like, completely reintroduce myself. I’m Eva, by the way.”

“And I’m Paige. Nice to meet you, stranger! So glad we’ve never met before just now.” Paige shook the hand that was holding hers. “Oh, hey.” Paige was looking back outside again, and she’d noticed that the rain had stopped, at least for the time being. “We should probably be heading back to the dorms. Don’t want to worry everyone else.”

“Yeah.” Eva quickly stood up, both girls leaving the safety of the arbor and making the trek back to the building.

“... Hey, Eva?” Paige spoke up as they passed by the roses. “Would you, uh… like to come back to my room? Y’know, to hang out?”

“You seriously wanna hang out with me?” Eva was still getting used to the whole ‘friends’ thing.

“I don’t want our conversation to end just because we have to leave. I wanna keep talking to you.”

“Well, if you really want to be with me so badly,” Eva began, trying to cover up her embarrassment (excitement?), “then sure. I’ll come hang out for awhile. Just let me stop by my room quickly so that I can get out of this outfit.”

“No problem.” Paige replied as the two of them went up the few steps in front of the building. “Stop by whenever you’re ready, okay?”

“Okay.” Eva grinned, watching as Paige went inside first. What did she have planned? Bad movie marathon? More shit talking?

In a shocking turn of events, Eva Marie actually found herself excited to get to know Paige.