#mom got it within the first minute of the song

[thevoidstaredback]

I have How Can I Refuse (Barbie: The Princess and the Popper) stuck in my head

[butterflyscribbles]

Freenoodle Headcanons (Part 1) - bc there’s no way I’ll have time to draw them all out fast enough and I need to get them out of my brain:

Hidden underneath bc it’s loooong…

- Tang and Pigsy met in a college-level business class. Pigsy was going for a general business major with a minor in culinary arts. Tang was pursuing Chinese Literature and Lingustics in order to eventually be a librarian or museum archivist as well as an author on the side. They started interacting more bc Tang threatened to call Pigsy out for cheating on an exam and Pigsy “bought” his silence with a bowl of homemade noodles.

- It started with “blackmail” that Tang was gonna tell if Pigsy ever stopped making food for him but gradually they just started hanging out. Pigsy began to realize that if it weren’t for him, Tang would have most likely wasted away considering he was not only a picky eater but would also completely forget meals while being so focused on his studies. Tang in return started helping Pigsy with study before big exams as well. It became routine until they both finished the class. That was one of the only classes they had together being on pretty separate tracks but by then they were close enough friends to continue hanging out semester after semester.

- Tang’s family was not too fond of him hanging out with Pigsy and eventually Sandy who had a bit of a rebellious (and somewhat criminal) hot streak. Lots of being kicked out of bars for fighting, loud music and band parties that somehow would force them to migrate into Tang’s apartment after they trashed their own.

- Tang used to have pierced ears that were Pigsy’s own handiwork but his mom made him take them out the minute he visited home. He wants to get them pierced again even now because he loved how it looked but is lowkey too chicken to act on it bc ouchieeee needles it was hard enough the first time

- They never really defined themselves as dating out loud in college but they were definitely “more than friends” after a while. Pigsy crushed on him first but Tang fell harder once he finally caught on that Pigsy liked him. They were both too emotionally constipated scared to slap an official label on it though.

- Tang is almost always freezing and wrapped up in sweaters, scarves and mittens. Pigsy is always hot. Equilibrium achieved.

- Speaking of scarves, Tang’s trademark red scarf and most precious comfort item he owns, was a gift from Pigsy’s mother when Pigsy introduced him to his parents. He is almost never without it and takes very good care of it because it is hand-made and one of a kind.

- Tang was NOT a fan of the Pigsy mustache era™️ but that did not stop the pig man from burrowing his face onto him and teasing him near to death with prickly kisses

- Pigsy’s affectionate nickname for Tang became “truffles” for a hot second after this^^ Tang secretly and begrudgingly loved it. The nickname is still stashed away for special occasions and ONLY when its the two of them.

- The mirror to that is Tang found out Pigsy’s weak spots were his ears and under his chin. Loves scritches and sometimes Tang would just reach out and idly play with his ears if they were within reach. That’s also something that occurs in present time.

- On rare occasions, Tang would convince Pigsy to sing for him and most of those moments ended in tears both of sadness or laughter on both ends. Mostly because Pigsy would either sing songs his mom taught him or ones he could only half remember the lyrics to.

- They stayed in contact for a while even after Pigsy graduated (Tang was pursuing a PHD so he stayed in school longer). Tang and Sandy were both there when the restaraunt was passed down to Pigsy and they were the first customers at Pigsy’s Noodles.

Things got a bit more complicated after that…

- For about 5 months before MK came into their lives, Tang and Pigsy were actually having a huge fight and were not on speaking terms. Sandy’s anger and violence issues were at an all time high and he dropped out of college just before graduating, Pigsy and Tang struggled to define their relationship after they Tang’s family was insistent he finally cut them out of his life and it lead to a big fight where Sandy ended up leaving the trio and there was a huge and bitter rift between the three of them.

- Three weeks after Pigsy’s mom passed, little MK showed up on his doorstep. He was already running the shop alone for the first time and now he suddenly had a child who desperately needed him. While MK brought some much needed light back into his life, he struggled to properly care for the little ball of energy and still make end’s meet. His quick temper and the passing of his mom had seriously impacted business and chased off a lot of regulars as it was. So, he called the only person he trusted to help. The minute Pigsy explained his situation…Tang didn’t hesitate to come back, even as he continued classes. Things were awkward and messy for sure and there was a lot of baggage to sort through…but they made it work for their little monkey kid.

Okay that’s it ta ta for now part two is going to be Freenoodle Family focused I wanted this one to be more on the early days before MK to set it all up.

[cxffecoupx]

soonyoung as a girl dad

girl dad! soonyoung fluff, smut (just a lil), requested warnings: reader has a womb, soonyoung absolutely whipped for his baby girl, mentions of him wanting a lot of kids, sex (again, i tried) wc: 925 author's notes: thank you, anon, for requesting this, because i loved it way too much. i got carried away a lil heh, but i hope you enjoy this. (and i might do a boy dad! soonyoung too, maybe)

girl dad! soonyoung who starts jumping up and down in excitement when he sees his little baby girl. he is emotional of course, but his happiness somehow overpowers with the way he keeps smiling giddily and kisses the little baby in his arms. runs over to you to tell you how adorable she looks with his eyes and your smile, but he talks so fast that you cant really keep up with him, but just keep smiling because his happiness is so damn contagious.

girl dad! soonyoung who is always so ready to shopping for baby items. he was so so excited to buy a little rocking cot for the baby before the delivery. now he buys a ton lot of plushies and toys, and you only notice at the checkout that most of them are tiger shaped ones.

girl dad! soonyoung who disappears almost immediately when you enter the clothes shop, only to return 10 minutes later with not one, not two, but three matching tiger onesies, complete with hood and all. you dont even argue with him because you know he's been waiting for this. hell, he'd been planning this ever since he's fucked a baby into you. buys a LOT of more matching clothes, but he's always eyeing the onesies with the brightest of smiles.

girl dad! soonyoung who is always around you and the baby, cooing and giggling at her while telling you jokes. he has his hands interlinked with you whenever you're together, and you know he'll he around to offer you as much help and support you need during this difficult time.

girl dad! soonyoung who learns from his mom, how to take care of your baby. learns about how to feed her, when to feed her, how to burp her, how to change her diapers, how to know why she's crying. he rushes over whenever she starts crying at night, but not before telling you to go back to sleep and that he'll handle it.

girl dad! soonyoung who dresses her up in her tiger onesie when his friends and family come over to meet her. when they arrive, they find the door open and the first thing they see when they enter is two and a half tiger looking people. jihoon asks you to blink twice if you need help, and you cant help but shake your head and sigh watching soonyoung keep up his tiger persona.

girl dad! soonyoung who feels like she grew up within the blink of an eye, and starts missing her baby days when she becomes one year old. but at the same time, he starts to learn how to tie and braid her hair, starts to buy more fashionable clothes for her because to him, "she's either going big or going home". his words, not yours.

girl dad! soonyoung who starts trying for his next baby right after his first child hits one year. he had already told you how he wanted to have a football team of children with you, and although you scoffed at him then, you did discuss to have at least 3 children. "the rest", he said, "we can decide later".

soonyoung who, although swears he loves his baby girl, is absolutely ecstatic when he learns that his mother has volunteered to babysit her for one night. and he promises to take full advantage of it. he pushes your face down into the mattress the second you agree to have more kids and thrusts in deep to make sure that you're pregnant by the next day. his low groans elicit louder moans from you, and he's never been more thankful for his mother, he thinks later.

girl dad! soonyoung who dances with his daughter every single day. it started very unexpectedly though. you were all in the living room and watching music videos until a song came up and your daughter started throwing random moves outta nowhere. this was enough for soonyoung though, to jump up from the couch and hold your baby's hands and dance with her. it didnt take long before they pulled you in too, just three people goofing around in their living room.

girl dad! soonyoung who, even though has a passion for dancing, never forced your daughter towards it. agreed, that seeing his daughter dance to songs makes him feel very proud. and although he'd love to see his daughter has a dancer like he is, he never ever wants to push her to something she doesnt like. which is exactly why he's over the moon when she asks him to take her to his dance studio or practice rooms.

girl dad! soonyoung who is always at the front row seats whenever your child's school has any programs. he's always the first to jump from his seat and give a standing ovation for anything your daughter does on stage, whether it be a dance performance or a speech or singing. he's just very very proud of his baby girl, forever.

girl dad! soonyoung who had a lot planned for his family before his marriage. and even though it doesnt always happen according to them, he's happy for the most adorable daughter who unmistakably takes after him (except for his obsession with tigers tho, which makes him pout), and for the most beautiful wife who he continues to love every single day. he's happy for this small family that he has now, but he's even happier looking forward to expanding it and maybe even have a football team of children. whatever you're up for.

[loveinhawkins]

goes without saying

ao3 Written for @steddie-week Day 1 prompt, “secret relationship.”

Dustin’s been trying to communicate with his eyes alone that Eddie is under no obligation to sit through his mom going on and on about whatever trouble Uncle Frank’s gotten himself into now. For one, Dustin loves his mom, but the story got old, like, within the first five minutes of her telling it, and two, she’s mostly just telling him anyway, while handing over grocery bags; Eddie’s only trapped in the general vicinity of the conversation which he could easily leave at any point, but he’s apparently got this fear of being rude that he’s never actually admitted to, but Dustin can read it pretty confidently.

Like now, Eddie’s sat on the front step, and one finger is tap-tap-tapping on his knee—it’s not quite the same as when he’s got a song stuck in his head, an anxious edge to it that Dustin can discern but not really explain; you just have to know how to look.

He abandons the silent communication as a lost cause—seriously, Eddie needs to get with the program and dramatically improve his telepathy skills—and heads inside, bags in tow.

Steve’s in the kitchen; he’d brought the first of the bags in. Thankfully he’s more than competent in telepathy, because Dustin just needs to raise one eyebrow slightly, hey, dumbass, he needs you, and he’s already nodding.

He’s stopped on his way out by a petulant miaow: Tews in the doorway.

“Sorry, dude, I don’t know which bag your food’s in,” Steve tells him earnestly.

Dustin rolls his eyes. And maybe it’s because he’s distracted by the groceries, or it’s just the fact that him and Steve are alone—either way, he’s not really thinking when he says it.

“Stop bothering my cat and go and bother your boyfriend.”

He doesn’t even notice what he’s said until he sees Steve’s eyes go wide and—

“Shit,” Dustin says, because this wasn’t the plan, not even remotely. His suspicions were confirmed over a month ago, the tail end of a phone call he hadn’t even meant to overhear, Steve murmuring, “Love you, too. Try and get some sleep, okay?”

Dustin had kept the conclusion strictly to himself—he was going to actually approach it sensitively, damn it.

But now there’s a flicker of trepidation in Steve’s eyes, and he can’t let it stand.

“I didn’t say anything,” Dustin insists. He waves his hands for emphasis, desperately hopes it’s enough to get everything across. It’s okay, you’re okay, we’re okay. “I’m a goddamn ignoramus and I know nothing.”

There’s a long pause.

Then Steve starts to smile.

“You’re a goddamn ignoramus and you know nothing.”

Dustin only has to look at the way Steve’s eyes are shining to know that’s not what he’s saying at all.

[iguessweallcrazyithinktho]

“I'm Just going to ask it send me request to write blurbs”

Can you do a cookout blurb with Jude? With y/n? And have y/n mom teach him the electric slide dance with the rest of her family? lol it’s giving “ the best man and welcome home Roscoe Jenkins”

DANCE • JUDE BELLINGHAM

💌 I'm going to imagine he's dancing to the cupid shuffle. That seems like it's more complicated for him.

🏷️ warnings: no warnings

🏷️ author note: look at me! I finally wrote

It was summer break so you know what that meant, Jude and I were spending an evening of vacation at my parents house. Very rarely did we both get to see them. I worked hard on getting my degree and well Jude.. he was a professional footballer. Our careers clouded most of our time and we barely got much to travel and see both of our family until now.

Jude sat in the passenger seat as I drove down the road. He would be driving but he refuse to get his license.

“I'm really excited to see your mom.” He said from the passenger seat. I took my eyes off the road for a second, sneaking a glance at him before turning back to the road.

Jude loved my mother like she was a second mom to him and he was her son. They may have only known each other for 3 years but it seemed like they known each other forever.

When we arrived at my parents house. I parked the car where everyone else's was and got out with Jude. We both walked up to the front door where I knocked. After waiting for less than a minute the door swung open revealing my mom. Within seconds I was in her arms, haven't seen her in so long it was nice to finally get the hug I've been waiting for.

When I pulled back Jude was quick to take my place and my mother's arms. My mom laughed as she hugged the 6 foot man tightly.

When he finally pulled away she spoke.

Come in. Your father is busy on th grill try to cook us a meal. Also your cousins are here.”

me and Jude walked in and greeted everyone as we passed by. A few of my nieces and nephews made the trip to the backyards longer as they tried to talk to Jude but eventually we made it outside.

Outside the atmosphere was pumping. Music played loudly over the back yard, people everywhere and the fumes of delicious food being made clouded the area. I gave jude a kiss on the cheek before splitting with him to greet more of my family.

twenty minutes went by before I was finished talking. I found Jude sitting on a lawn chair a beer nestled in his hand as he talked to my mom who was sitting beside him. I plopped down on the other side and stayed quiet. Jude knew I was there seeing how his hands rested on my thigh a few seconds as I got comfortable.

A few more minutes went by, my mom and Jude talking about football. That was before the music changed. Good lord it was my mom's favorite song.

I groaned knowing what was coming next.

My mom popped right up happy as can be. Her first target was me of course. I instantly hesitated, I was in no shape or form interested in dancing today.

“Come on y/n, you know you want to.”

I shook my head staying glued to my seat. She wasn't going to stop which means I have to get out of this some way some how so I used my closest target. Jude!

“Why don't Jude dance with you?”

Jude's eyes grew wide as soon as I said that. He looked betrayed and I couldn't blame him. I smiled at him shyly hoping he'll do it and take me out of my misery.

Luckily for me he did.

“Sure.” He stood up. I sighed in relief.

“but I'm not good at dancing. I'm kind of white.” he joked.

My mom laughed ignoring his comments, dragging him into an open space where she can teach him correctly.

I was attentive as I watched them. Every now and then I would giggle to Jude messing up the easiest move humanly possible.

My mom stayed patient as she taught him and eventually… one hour later he finally got the dance correctly.

“Did you see all that?” He asked me as he walked back over to me.

I smiled as I nodded. “Yeah and I kinda filmed it so expect it to be on the internet tomorrow.”

Jude rolled his eyes and sat back down beside me.

“You know you're going to have to repay me right?”

I nod once again. Leaning closer to him I whispered in his ear. “I know and when we leave here later I plan to give you what you want.”

[strangersteddierthings]

Bad News First, Eddie

Part One 🦇 Part Two🦇Part Three🦇FInal Part

This was getting longer than both Steve and Wayne's parts combined, so I'm gonna break it into 2 parts. Posting part 1 now, and part 2 should be up within a day. Thank you everyone for the wonderful replies/reblogs. I screenshot them cause they keep me going haha.

Trigger Warning: Child abuse referenced, as well as one scene of a child being slapped. Use of slurs in a derogatory manner.

-

Bad news first, Eddie thinks to himself as he swings the trash can lid turned shield, this is a fuckton of bats. Good news, Dustin is safe.

The bats are overwhelming but he's holding his own. He can do this. He can buy them more time. He's done running away from the things that scare him.

-

Bad news, Eddie thinks, watching Dustin sob above him, I'm gonna die here.

-

Eddie dies. He knows this because all the hurt stops. The world has faded into itself, dimming to a blackness deeper than Eddie's ever known.

The afterlife is a bit disappointing if he's honest. He's not sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't nothing. Endless, unfathomable nothing.

He kinda hoped he'd see his mom or something, but that's delusional. If the afterlife was heaven or hell, he wouldn't end up in the one his mom went to, that's for sure. Too many sins under his belt for that.

Death is pretty boring though.

-

Time is impossible to track. He's tried a few times, counting seconds to make minutes but that's so boring he loses his train of thought. Ends up humming some tune or another before repeating the process.

The day he finds himself humming a Wham! song has Eddie a little panicked. He doesn't listen to Top 40 stations. He spent a good deal of time avoiding learning any Wham! songs, actually, so now that he's somehow gotten one such in his head...

This has got to be capital H Hell.

Well. Everyone in town thought he was on the road straight to it. Laugh it up, Hawkins. You were right. The Freak went straight down.

-

Eddie misses Wayne. He can't remember the last thing he'd said to him. When did he last tell his uncle he loved him? Wayne knew it though. He had to know it. They didn't say it out loud but they didn't need to. Right?

-

In the distance, Eddie sees something. A light? He's not sure what it is but it's something new. Something different.

The light leads him back into the Upside Down. The bats are swarming and he just crashed the bike- fuck fuck fuck, run. Run, Eddie, get the fuck out of here!

He's screaming at himself to run but instead his body stops. Turns. Pulls the shield and spear from his back and screams at the bats.

Eddie rips himself back, away. Crumples to the ground, folding into himself. Not that. Anything but that again.

-

A soft humming sound. Gentle, warm.

Loving.

Eddie unfolds himself to see what it is.

His mom smiles down at him, reaches out to ruffle his hair as she hums. Eddie knows the danger has passed and he is safe now because Mamma only hums that when it's safe.

"There's my handsome boy," she moves the hand from his hair to boop the tip of his nose. "How about we play a little game, hmm? The floor is lava!"

She scoops him up and plops him on the kitchen table. There is a crunching sound beneath her feet as she moves. Lava sounds an awful lot like Dad's broken beer bottles but if Mamma wants to play pretend then Eddie can do that for her.

-

His mother is beautiful. The most beautiful woman in the world. He takes after her in a lot of ways. Matching curly locks, the same face scrunch when they're angry, their noses, big brown doe eyes. Eddie even shares her voice, just a different pitch. The point is, Eddie's mom is beautiful and he's got enough ego left at four years old to think of himself as beautiful, too.

The problem, then, is that Eddie makes the mistake of saying it in front of his Dad. 'As pretty as Mamma,' he'd said. They'd, he and Mamma that is, were sitting crosslegged on the floor in the living room. Dad had been in the kitchen, Eddie could hear him puttering about. Mamma had booped his nose and called him the best looking kid in all of America.

Eddie nodded fiercly, "yeah! As pretty at Mamma."

It used to be a fuzzy memory, what happens next. A flurry of movement and shouting. Now he's witnessing it with terrible clarity. His dad's hand curling around his upper arm and yanking him into the air, crushing hard enough to bruise. His dad's shouting at him. He remembers not remembering the words but now they hit him like the slap his dad delivered to his face. "No son of mine is going to be a fuckin' fag, thinkin' he's some pretty little girl. Is that what you want, you little shit? To be a little girl?"

"Stop it! Stop it! Let him go, he didn't mean anything like that!" he hears his Mamma plead but his Dad won't stop shaking him and screaming. He bursts into tears because it hurts and he's confused and his Dad's never hit him before- "Hit me! Hit me! If you're gonna hit someone, hit me!"

Eddie gets tossed aside. He lands on back and sees as his Dad does exactly as his Mamma demanded. Eddie's never been so scared in his life, he can't watch. He scampers down the hall as fast as he can and crawls under his bed to hide.

-

If Eddie had to guess, that's the memory that ingrained his need to run.

-

He's reliving his memories. He's a little embarrassed how long it takes him to figure that out. They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die. They don't tell you that the quote flash unquote takes a really fuckin' long time. Like, you know, your whole life long time.

It's so strange to witness, too. Like he's both watching the memories as an outsider, but also through his own eyes. He has both the knowledge that he had when he died, and also no experience beyond what he's seeing in the memory.

-

He watches his Dad beat his Mamma, beat him, but also watches his Dad push him on the swings and slow dance around the kitchen with his Mamma. And that's the worst part, he thinks. That his Dad could have been an awesome one. If he'd stayed sober like he kept promising. He didn't though, couldn't. Hell, maybe it's even a wouldn't. He watchs Wyatt fucking Munson pick beer and drugs over him and his Mamma time and time again.

Couldn't even put them down long enough to be there when Mamma got sick.

-

Eddie is seven. He's just had his head shaved, bald as his Mamma now. He regrets doing it as soon as he sees his Mamma's smile falter when Uncle Wayne drops him off at the hospital.

"We match, Mamma," Eddie says shyly, eyes downcast. "I wanted to match..."

"Oh, baby, come here," and she's scooping him into a hug, genuinly smiling again, "I love that we match. So long as it was your decision to cut your hair."

Eddie realizes now why her smile had faltered. She thought Dad had shaved his head against his will, probably because long hair was for woman, as he liked to say. Eddie in the memory didn't know that, though, so he just cuddles closer and says, "Yeah. Uncle Wayne did it for me, so it would be nice and even, he said. Wanna hear what we did in school today?"

-

There is something looming at the edges of his vision. Eddie can't seem to make whatever it is come into focus. It's not a memory because those always focus. It's something else. Something new.

-

His dad teaches him to hot wire a car. Makes him learn how to pick the lock on car doors and handcuffs. When he sees how easily Eddie took to lockpicking, he makes him learn other locks, too.

Eddie misses out on school because his dad can't be bother to enroll him and Eddie doesn't know how to do it himself. He's too scared to, anyway. Afraid his dad will start swinging and won't stop until he's dead.

-

When Eddie is eleven, a lot happens. It was a pivitol age for him. He got his first crush (a boy named Jimmy) and a first kiss (a boy named Jeramiah). Eddie also ends up in the hospital because his Dad caught him kissing Jeramiah.

It's not his Dad that picks him up from the hospital, though.

Eleven is the age he is the day his Uncle Wayne moves him to Hawkins, Indiana.

He's also eleven the first time he hears Black Sabbath.

Eddie is also eleven years old when he decides that he wants good news delivered last. To end with something good.

-

He relives becoming himself.

Catching up in school because he's not stupid, but falling behind because he is kinda dumb (schoolwork never seemed as imporant as hanging out with friends, or starting a band, or playing dungeons and dragon, or any other number of things).

The relief he feels the first time he meets another person like him, learns there's another word besides faggot for what he is. Gay. The immense pleasure of feeling truly seen the first time he says that out loud to someone (it's his best friend, Jeff) "Bad news, Jeff. You might hate me for this. Good news, I'm gay."

Good, good news. Jeff doesn't hate him!

There's a fear that Wayne might be like his Dad regarding all this, so he can't tell him; won't tell him.

But then Wayne comes home unexpectedly when Eddie is a freshman and catches him with another boy's tongue in his mouth. Eddie has a panic attack that winds up with him in the hospital.

He remembers the paralizing fear when Wayne came to pick him up upon his release. Eddie had walked to the pickup numb and afraid. He climbed in, buckled the seatbelt, and waited for the worst.

Wayne climbed in and started the pickup but didn't put it in gear. Instead, he spoke, "Life is gonna be rough for you, boy. Rougher than it should be."

Eddie cannot make words form to reply. Can't do anything but shake.

"Eddie," Wayne says and he feels the seat move as Wayne shifts to turn towards him, "the bad news is, life is gonna be rough, but the good news? Living under my roof isn't. Won't be. Eddie, my boy, I love you. And nothing, absolutely nothing, will change that."

Eddie breaks, like a puppet with its strings cut, sags in the seat and sobs. Never, never had Eddie ever bothered to entertain the idea that this might be Wayne's response.

-

Eddie is a sophomore the first time he notices Steve Harrington. It's fucking awful. It's also amazing.

Because noticing Steve Harrington means noticing Steve Harrington. He's immidiately popular because he's good looking and good at sports.

Eddie's not gonna claim to know Steve, he doesn't. There's just these little clues that King Steve isn't a default jerk. For one, Steve doesn't partake in bullying. He stays silent. Lets it happen.

But Eddie's also been witness to two times when Stever did step in; both times when it was escalating to be a phycical altercation.

"Hey, Tommy, don't," Steve had said, not quite stepping between Tommy and the other kid, but enough to be within Tommy's line of sight. "The game is tomorrow. You throw that punch and your hand is gonna hurt like a bitch through the whole game. And I swear to God if we lose this game because you can't handle it-" Steve didn't finish the sentence, didn't have to. Tommy lowered his arm and scoffed. Walked away mutter about how the kid wasn't worth it anyway.

The other time, it had been Jeff he'd defended. Jeff hadn't even been doing anything. Just stumbled into some asshole from the basketball team and knocked him over. Eddie had been the one who'd shoved Jeff (because Jeff was teasing him) and he was ready to place himself in the way when Steve had beat him to it.

"Fucking relax, it was an accident," Steve stood face to face with Roger. Eddie and Jeff just stared at the back of Steve's head. "It's not Jeff's fault that barely tapping you knocked you down like a house of cards. Right, Jeff?"

Eddie and Jeff blinked at each other in a sort of stunned silence because since when does King Steve know either of their names? Steve turned to look over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. Jeff stammered out, "R-right. It was an accident. Sorry, man."

"See, he's even sorry."

Eddie reached out, wrapped his hand around Jeff's wrist, and tugged him away. He could not stay here and witness anymore of Hero Steve or he was going to embarrass himself infront of the entire cafeteria in the worst way possible.

-

That was the tipping point for Eddie. When he finally had to admit he wasn't just noticing Steve Harrington. He had a full blown crush on the dude.

Fuck.

-

Watching his memories play, Eddie realizes he spent far too much time in high school trying to get Steve's attention. Bumping into him on purpose, being antagonistic to his friends just get a response, or trying his best to use Jedi mind powers to make teachers pair them together for projects in the rare few classes they shared (this never worked; teachers liked Steve too much and hated Eddie).

Steve changes between junior and senior year and still doesn't notice Eddie. Eddie's kinda bitter about it.

Then Steve graduates, but doesn't leave. He's always hanging around, bothering the freshman Eddie's taken under his wing. He's not jealous that Dustin Henderson thinks Steve hung the moon. He's not. (he is).

Anyway, the bad news. Steve graduates but doesn't leave and Eddie can't get over his stupid crush. Good news, he and Steve share a mutual friend in one obnoxiously lovable freshman, so that's like one step closer to Eddie being Steve's friend, right?

-

The thing that's looming finally comes into view when his most recent memories come up. Or, more accurately, it -she- makes herself seen.

He's holding a broken bottle to Steve's neck demanding to know what he's doing here and then the scene pulls away from him until he's watching himself threaten Steve. The memory moves in slow motion.

"Eddie?"

He screams because Jesus H Christ nothing else in the afterlife has ever spoken to him.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you," she says. Eddie can see her now. She doesn't look like either an angel or a demon. She just looks like a regular person, a girl with shoulder length brown hair, wearing jeans and a yellow shirt that looks too big for her.

"Uh, it's fine?" Eddie says, because what else is he going to say? "Who're.. who are- what are you?"

"I am Eleven. It has been difficult to reach you, Eddie. Had to try, though."

"What?"

Eleven nods, like someone has said something he can't hear. There is a long pause before she speaks again. "Do you want to wake up, Eddie?"

"What do you mean wake up?" Eddie feels like he might start having a panic attack.

"I am not good with words. Not delicate, Mike would say," Eleven says, "so I will be frank. You are alive. Can be alive. Doctor Owens says you retreated into yourself. To protect yourself. But it's safe now. It is all safe. The Upside Down cannot hurt you again."

Eddie feels the panic set in almost instantly at those words. The memory explodes into black and the girl vanishes.

-

The more Eleven shows up, the more aware of other things Eddie becomes. Occasionally the sound of conversation drifts in but it's far away, muffled. He can taste food on his tongue that he had not eaten. Feel a brush get stuck in his hair.

They don't really talk, he and Eleven. She takes her queues from him and since he's got no idea what's happening he doesn't know what queues to give.

"So, you're not here to like... send me on, or something?" He asks. They're sitting cross-legged in front of each other. Eddie in the outfit he died in and Eleven in shorts, a crop top, and an oversized jacket.

"Where would I send you?"

"Y'know. Like... Hell or wherever."

Eleven is silent a long time before she says, "I don't want to send you anywhere. I want to bring you back."

Back. He can go back? That doesn't seem right. That doesn't seem like it should be an option. "You mean like, back to Hawkins?"

"Eventually."

Eddie's not sure what to make of that. Is he gonna be a ghost? Because if it's Hell or being a ghost, the latter sounds infinity more fun. Plus, as a ghost he could probably check in on Wayne.

"Alright. You win, Eleven. Take me back."

Eleven stands up immediately, offering a hand to help Eddie up. "You have to want it."

"Want to be a ghost?"

"No. You have to want to be alive."

That makes sense, Eddie supposes. Wanting to be alive is probably what makes ghosts be able to like, be ghosts. "OK. OK. I can do this." He does a full body shake, dancing from one foot to another to pump himself up. "Alive. Alive. I want that. I want to live. I want to see my uncle again. Want to give Hawkins a big fuck you for thinking I'd end up in Hell. I want to see Jeff and Gareth! I want to haunt the fuck out of Dustin Henderson for trying to follow me! I want to know if Robin, Steve, and Nancy won! I want to know if they made Vecna pay!"

He is yelling by the end of it, and Eleven is beaming at him like she's proud of him.

"Yes! Yes! Now, wake up!"

-

Eddie does wake up. Sort of. He's already awake, sitting in what appears to be someone's living room. He blinks several times before exhaustion washes over him and he sags back into the chair he's sitting in. "Wh-" he tried to speak but his vocal chords don't seem to want to work.

"Holy shit." A voice says off to his side. It's vaguely familiar. Like a distant memory. "Call Owens! Call Owens right fucking now!"

-

Bad news is this. He's been stuck in his own head for several years. His fucking body has been moving around without him yet the amount of physical therapy he has to do is torture. Fucking Owens won't let him contact anyone until he gets the all clear from his new therapist. Oh, and his uncle believes he's dead.

Good news is this. He's alive.

[2cupids]

nasty mark & yy headcannons 🤭?

say no more 🤭

—

cw: yangyang takes an up skirt pic of you (non-consensual), overstimulation, panty stealing, and mark sniffs and licks your dirty panties

mark

mark’s busy working on a song and has barely paid you any attention today so you decide to act bratty. you come up behind him while he’s sitting in his chair and run your hands down his chest only to have him push your hands away. you dip your head down to trace the shell of his ear with your tongue and whisper to him how bad you need his dick in your mouth; he tells you can have it later, not right now. when you bring him a bottle of water, you lean over in front of him in a way that makes your t-shirt ride up to show him you don’t have on anything underneath it, including underwear. still nothing. you eventually go to bed, a bit agitated and you’ve just gotten comfortable when mark walks in. he apologizes for being so busy and not giving his you attention. at first you pout and try not to give in but you’re so needy that you can’t help it. his lips connect with yours and you gladly welcome them. his hand finds it’s way to your body and down to your core and within minutes you’re cumming around his fingers. you expect him to pull his fingers out and suck them clean like he usually does but he gets on his stomach instead and latches his lips onto your clit and resumes fucking you with two fingers. you try pushing his head away; it’s not that it doesn’t feel good, because it does but you’re sensitive and it’s overwhelming. he doesn’t budge. you whimper, “too m-much.” his mouth lets go of the sensitive bud but his fingers keep pumping inside you. “you wanted my attention and now you’ve got it baby. be careful what you wish for next time.”

he’s never found himself sexually attracted to older women, but there’s something about you. yes, you might be his friend’s mom and twice his senior but you’re. every time he hangs out with your son, his eyes are on you more on you than the video game he’s supposed to be playing. he can’t but fantasize about you and all the things he wants to do to you and about what it’s like to sleep with an older woman of course, a milf as they’d call you. he wants his face between those pretty tits of yours and between your legs, covered in your essence while you moan his name. one day you’re out of the house when mark comes over, much to his disappointment. but an idea pops into his head. he excuses himself to the bathroom and makes a b-line to your bedroom instead. he slips in and immediately goes to your dresser, searching for the drawer that your panties are in. he grabs a pair towards the back of the drawer and stuffs them in his pocket. on his way out, he passes by your laundry pamper and he opens it in hopes you have some used underwear in there, and you do. right on the top. he picks them up and brings them to his nose, your womanly scent fills his nostrils and god, do you smell amazing. he almost cums untouched right there on the spot. if you smell this good, how do you taste? without thinking he licks and sucks the fabric of your panties, hoping to get just a small taste of you to satisfy himself. he savors the taste, you taste better than he ever expected. he needs to find a way to get your cunt in his mouth soon or else he might just go crazy.

yangyang

he loves seeing you in skimpy little skirts. thinking about how if you sit a certain way or the wind blows a little too hard, or any small action could result in your panties showing. even though you two are dating he doesn’t tell you because he thinks you’ll find it weird so he keeps it to himself. sometimes when you two go shopping together, he stands on the escalator step right behind you and pulls out his phone and snaps a picture under your skirt. he doesn’t check the picture to see what color your panties you have on or if you even have any on, he waits until he gets back to the dorms to look at the picture. the wait is agonizing, but so worth it. you have on a pair lacy pink thongs that perfectly show off your ass and he feels himself getting excited, various dirty thoughts begin to run through his head. he lets his hand slide down to pump the length of his cock in his sweats. he only means to calm himself down but he ends up masturbating to the photo, thinking about how he would love to just flip your skirt up and fuck you like the slut you’re dressed like and fill you full of cum. he finishes embarrassingly quick, with his load landing on his phone screen instead of inside your warm cunt where he wishes he was. he goes to clean and guilt washes over him. he goes to delete the picture but he can’t bring himself to do it, he puts it in his my eyes only folder.

yangyang having a high sex drive means he can fuck you any and everywhere. that also means nothing can stop him, there’s no obstacle he can’t overcome to get his dick wet. so when he got you to his empty, shared bedroom and his bed was a mess with clothes thrown all over it, he has to find another option, quick. he’s not about to fuck you on the floor and the only other option is his roommate, xiaojun’s bed. he doesn’t even think about it twice before he pushes your back down onto xiaojun’s bed, getting ready to fuck your brains out about to fuck. he’ll wash his sheets and apologize to him later.

[infoactionratio7]

(you) on my arm - s. adamu

summary: sydney is at a wall, she has no ideas when it comes to the new menu at the bear. she decides to go to a bookstore for some new inspiration, she finds it, but not in the way she was expecting.

pairing: sydney adamu x fem! bookseller! reader

word count: 2,514

note: annoying! carmy bc he literally is insane, kinda fluffy meet cute vibes, reader just moved to chicago, inspired by the song (you) on my arm by leith ross cause the song is rlly cute! also sydney gives me sapphic vibes, she definitely would have a crush on a girl!

monday morning -

Sydney was pissed, she had sent at least ten messages to Carmy in the last twenty minutes. Some about the new menu they were working on together, some about the fact that he had been a bitch the night before when he kicked everyone out because Claire just had to see the new restaurant. She ran her hands down her face in frustration as she sat at her dad's kitchen table, the sun streaming in through the blinds into the apartment. It warmed the floor as she got up from the table, debating what to do. She had no ideas left, everything was either not working out, or it just didn't fit the menu for the new revamped restaurant.

"Sydney, where are you headed off to today?" Her dad walked into the room with a steaming cup of coffee, freshly brewed from a new coffee blend she had found shopping the day before.

"Uh well Carm is not responding so I'm gonna head over to The Bear and meet up with him for a little then see where the day goes from there I guess." She walked out of the dining area and put her breakfast dishes away.

"Okay honey, have a good day. Hope he stops being an ass." She laughed, "Me too... me too."

Sydney grabbed her shoes out of the closet she had thrown them in last night, slipping them on and grabbing her bag. "I'll see you later dad." She grabbed her keys, and started making her way to the restaurant where she could deal with Carmy in person.

-

You looked around the bookstore, you had only been open for a month but it had been a hit within the community. You had almost any book anybody could want. There were teens coming from the school a few blocks away to get some cheesy romance novels to bring to the park and read with their friends, and there were grandparents coming in to get their grandchildren a new picture book about god knows what. You even had some people come in and request books you had never heard of before, you promptly ordered two copies of any book you didn't have. One for the customer, and one for you, to read and explore the pages.

It was a beautiful space, tall ceilings strung with fairy lights and lanterns, trying to bring some sense of whimsy to the dull days in Chicago. The books were arranged in every which way, requiring the customers to truly search for a book they wanted to read. You had tables full of recommendations, from people online and the employees of the bookshop. You really enjoyed curating all the titles you had in your collection. Tourists looking for a cute little magnet or souvenir adored the hole in the wall place, a safe space to just cuddle up and read a book.

You had a few customers that day, a mom and her son looking for his first chapter book to read. You had suggested he read The Magic Tree House, a series, about a brother and sister and their time traveling tree house. There was a tall guy with a buzzcut, who said he worked just down the street and was looking for a book about how to get rid of mold in the structure of a building. He seemed in dire need of some help, so you found the best book possible, The Toxic Mold Recovery Guide. You had no idea you had the book but it was meant to be. He thanked you immensely, leaving his name and number just in case you ever needed anything. His name was Richie, he seemed pretty nice.

Low music played as you restocked a shelf, you hated the idea of having Colleen Hoover books in the store but they were a big source of income. They absolutely flew off the shelves. The least touched section of the store were the cookbooks, it seemed like everyone in Chicago was moving too fast to just dedicate one hour of their day to making a meal from scratch. It was disappointing, because you had a large selection, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child to Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan. You knew that someday it might come in handy and you would be lucky to have all the cookbooks.

-

Sydney walked into the restaurant in a sour mood, Carmy had still not responded to any of her texts and she knew he was here. She walked straight into the office, passing the locker room, sans lockers and covered in black powder. Richie furiously flipping through a book that said something about mold on the cover. He glanced up at her

"Shut the fuck up." She was taken aback

"I didn't even fucking say anything Richie," he scoffed at her

"Well I was preparing for you to say something dumb as hell, and you did so I stand by my first statement." He looked back down at the book and mumbled something unintelligible to himself. She rolled her eyes and made her way into the office.

"Carm are you here?" Turning the corner she saw the chef, surrounded by papers and various file folders. He had his phone in his hand and was about to dial a number, "You little bitch, you fucking had your phone this entire time." She couldn't believe what was right in front of her.

"What do you mean chef?" Carmy looked confused, "Of course I had my phone, I'm about to call the fridge guy."

Rolling her eyes she brought her hand up to her face, holding her forehead in her palm. "I texted you at least ten fucking times, you couldn't even bother yourself to respond!" Shaking her head she sank down into the office chair Carmy had abandoned an hour ago.

He looked around the room, trying to get her to understand how much work he had been doing, "Syd I've been trying to make sense of this paperwork for hours, I haven't had time to respond to your messa-"

Fak's head popped into the doorframe, "Carmy I got your text about helping Richie clean up the mold but he's being mean to me." Sydney turned from Fak to the red faced chef sitting on the floor. He had been caught in a lie, of course Fak came in at just the right time for this to happen.

"Okay fuck you chef, I'm leaving." Sydney shrugged, stood up and left the room. She heard heated words from Carmy as she walked out of the office and passed the locker room again, now he was pissed at Fak, as usual. She heard her name as she turned around,

"Sydney, wait a sec come here."

"What do you want Richie, I thought you wanted me to shut the fuck up." She crossed her arms tight and shot him a pointed look.

"You should go to that bookstore a few blocks down, I got this damn mold book earlier and saw a shit ton of cookbooks. You should check it out." She sent him a tight smile and turned her back to him. "Thanks Chef."

-

You had just finished restocking the shelves for the day when the little bell above the door rang. You went behind the desk and called out, "Welcome to The Book Worm, If you need anything let me know!"

You heard no response so you just busied yourself cleaning up the case that was behind the checkout, it housed all your special edition signed or first edition copies of books. It needed to be dusted pretty often because you wanted to keep the quality of the books at their highest, just in case anyone would ever want to purchase one.

You heard a thud come from behind you, and turning around you looked down at the counter. There was a stack of six cookbooks placed on the counter in front of you. Looking up you saw one of the most beautiful women you had ever seen since you had moved in to the city. Her hair was long and perfectly braided, her eyes a beautiful shade of umber catching the light in a hypnotic way. She had a grimace on her face, yet still looked stunning. You had no idea how to react, so instinctively you started to enter the books into the register as you made some small talk,

"So how has your day been," She sighed and looked up to meet your gaze, "If I'm being honest, shitty. My fucking partner wouldn't respond to my messages and when I went to talk to him he had is phone in his hand about to call someone. So yeah really fucking shitty." You looked back down at the book at disappointment, of course she had a partner and of course she was straight.

Awkwardly smiling you tried to think of a good response"Oh, um, wow. That's pretty shitty I'm sorry." She seemed to sense your disappointment, trying to save the conversation, "Shit uh, my business partner I mean, he's a little bitch sometimes. We're uh, opening a business- or I should say um," She rubbed the back of her neck, "We're kinda rebranding his brother's old restaurant, its a lot." You had finished entering all the books into the system, your chest had filled with warmth when she rushed to clarify that he was her business partner. You thought that maybe, just maybe it might be because she wanted to make sure you knew she was single, and not exactly straight.

"I guess that explains the cookbooks then," You looked at her, she had been staring at you in a flustered state of shock. "What, oh, uh, yeah! I'm kinda stuck making the menu so wanted to get some inspiration."

Sharing an understanding smile, you read her total out to her. She grabbed her wallet and pulled out some cash, as she handed it to you her fingers brushed along yours. It sent chills down your spine, no matter how cliche it might be, you knew that she was someone to keep close. Your face flushed red as you took the cash and put it into the register, printing her receipt and giving her any change she needed back.

You decided that since she got so many books you would give her a free tote bag, just so she could carry all the books out of the shop. You pulled one off of a hook behind you and started to put the books into a bag. You decided to quietly slip a business card with your cell number and a little note into a book so she could find it and contact you. A subtle way of screaming, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen I want to spend the rest of my life with you, without being too forward. As you finished packing the bag, the two of you both happened to say something at the same time.

"Do you wanna come see my restu-"

"Do you work at the restura-"

You flushed

"No you can go-"

"No you can go - sorry um. Do you want to come to the opening of the restaurant. It's uh, the one down the street, we're not opening for a while but, if you want to come to the friends and fam-"

You cut her off, wanting her to know you really wanted to go to her restaurant, "I would love to go... what was your name?"

"Sydney, It's uh Sydney" Her face got hot, nervous about the fascinating bookseller she just had the pleasure of meeting.

"Well Sydney, I would love to go. Just let me know the details," You softly smiled as you gave her the bag filled with books. She looked to you and grabbed a bookmark you had as a display that happened to have the shop's phone number on it. "I'll call you, um when we get closer to the open date, promise." You smiled, hoping that she would get in contact with you sooner than she expected to. She turned to leave.

"Thanks for coming in, really good to meet you Sydney." The door rang again and she sent you a wave through the glass, walking away quickly.

You were frozen, you had just given a random girl you just met your number, and had openly flirted with her for all the world to see. You crouched down onto the small stool you had behind the desk, tucked your head into your knees and screamed. You were feeling rushes of emotion and didn't think you would ever recover from that interaction. The bell rang again just as you finished screaming, you shot up and saw a group of teenagers heading to the new books you had just set out.

"Welcome to The Book Worm, If you need anything just holler!"

-

Sydney rushed back to The Bear, she was so utterly mortified, she had never seen someone so radiant and in their element. The chef couldn't contain her emotions as she stormed into the restaurant, Richie was the first person she saw, he started to say something,

"Not right now Richie I swear to God" The tall man was taken aback but threw his hands up in surrender, not wanting to get involved.

She might as well have ran into the office at the speed she was going, throwin the bag of cookbooks on the ground and closing the door, sliding down the back of the door she groaned,

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck, fucking, fuck," dragging out the last word as she hit the floor.

Carmy stared at her from the floor a few feet away, "Yo Syd what happened to you? Looks like you just ran a marathon." He chuckled at the expression on her face.

"I just met the most beautiful girl and totally fucked up my chances with her cause I left so quickly." Sydney put her hands into her face and just sat there marinating in her embarrassment.

Carmy had some strong suits, his attention to detail one of them. He noticed something poking out of one of the books. He grabbed it, hoping that it was something that would change Sydney's mood before he had to work with her for more hours than they could count. He grinned taking the note out of the book and reading it,

"Hey Syd," He reached out to give her the note.

She looked up from behind her fingers, "What?"

He shook his hand, implying he wanted her to take the note from his grip. She groaned, then leaned forward to forcefully take it out of his hand.

She read the note, and smiled. Thank God you slipped her this note.

cookbook girl -

i hope you enjoy your SIX cookbooks, i have some more you could borrow for some inspiration. text me

Sydney's face heated up as she leaned back into door and scoffed.

Carmy had saved the day, one again.

[rhapsodynew]

#memorial day

On this day in 1980, an attempt was made on John Lennon's life. After 25 minutes, he died due to heavy blood loss. RIP

It is a pity that such a great Romantic of music, John Lennon, has left our world. The singer of peace got bullets. The murderer Mark Chapman himself, when he was arrested after the murder, said that if he had not managed to kill John, he would have killed David Bowie, who was on tour in America at the time. In general, the killer is a complete psychopath and a moral freak. Bright memory to John. Thank him for the thrill of the soul. His songs are imbued with bright positive energy, which is so lacking in our imperfect world, where negativity is more than joy. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Where were you when John Lennon was killed?

"I was in my third year of college in San Francisco, a moody punk lying on the bed in my room at my parents' house and listening to Devo. My sworn enemy, my mother, came in to me with an ashen face. I asked sarcastically: “Who's dead now?”When she answered, my face reflected her expression. This news silenced me" – VA

"I was in high school at Curtis High School on Staten Island. My friends and I were big fans of the Beatles, and John Lennon in particular. The morning after the pledge of allegiance to the school, one of my friends went into the sound reinforcement room and asked for a minute of silence in memory of Lennon. The school administration punished him for the unauthorized announcement. That Saturday, a group of my friends went to a longer minute of silence in central park. I remember it was very cold. We fervently hoped that as a result of his senseless death, appropriate gun control laws would be passed. It would be a fitting tribute. Ah, the youthful idealism inspired by Lennon and never faded to the end" – Alison W. Reed

"I heard gunshots for the first time in my life. They didn't sound like they were on TV at all. Bang, bang, bang. My parents and I looked down at the chaos unfolding on West 72nd Street, 22 floors below and east of our terrace. It was the first time I saw my parents crying at the same time" – Dinny

"I was in my college dorm room watching Monday Night Football with a group of other freshmen from the Midwest. I remember Howard Cosell's voice breaking when he broke the news. After that, everyone poured out into the corridors, and The Beatles' songs could be heard through the crying" – Nuel

"I remember the expression on my father's face and his changed voice; he seemed meek, defeated, as if the pallor of his face had spread to his entire being. At that moment, I realized that even a person who worked on the creation of missile guidance systems can be shocked and depressed by the death of a man whose demise was the last blow that turned the course of events towards good"

– Eric

"We learned about John's death from the then communist Czechoslovakia on Radio Luxembourg. I was 9 years old, and I remember how sad my parents were, especially my mom. Soon after, students began painting an image of John Lennon and his call for peace on one of the walls in Prague's old town. The authorities didn't like it and painted over the “Lennon Wall,” as everyone called it. It was always restored within a few hours" – Andrea

I just walked a friend to her house on West 72nd Street,

about 100 meters from Dakota. As I was leaving her entrance, I heard a sound like a car exhaust, and a few seconds later I heard people screaming and saw that they were coming from Dakota. I, like many others, went towards Central Park, and almost immediately sirens started wailing from all sides.

At that moment, I couldn't get close enough to understand what had happened. I went home and turned on the TV to listen to the news. Like the day J. F. Kennedy was shot, or the day M. L. King was assassinated, or the day R. F. Kennedy was assassinated, that evening is etched into my memory. I remember the girl's name, the place where we had dinner, the weather—everything that happened that evening. The sound I heard must have been a gunshot"

– David

[miheartsedthings]

NSFW Minors DNI

Part Three (Go catch up and come back)

ModernBilly x FemReader (AFAB Reader)

Summary: You and Billy have been sneaking around enjoying each other's company. It's all fun and games until your period is late.

Billy and reader are both 18, but they haven't graduated yet.

Warnings: Aggressive behavior, pregnancy scare, waking up to f!ngering, abort!on, sl*t-sham!ng. ANGST

You realize it one morning while brushing your teeth. Do I have enough pads for my next period? You though, then it dawned on you in horror; when is my next period? It should be any day now, right? You checked your planner. Your last period started over a month ago. You were a week behind. The rest of the morning was a jittery blur. Your room, your favorite sweater, your nail tearing a run in your favorite tights. All of it felt distant, unreal somehow. You felt like a clock was thrumming in your head, a countdown to disaster. 

“You okay, baby?”

Your mom asked this on your way out of the door. Your bus would be by any minute and you'd been on autopilot. She sat at the dining room table with her coffee, looking over at you with a suspicious glint in her eye. Your stomach flipped. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just kinda tired.”

“Better sleep instead of texting that boy.”

You couldn’t find the words, plus you was flooded with panic. 

“I can see the bus, gotta go. Love you.”

You rushed out before she could say another word and bolted down the street. What she didn’t know was that you hadn’t taken the bus in months. You walk right past the bus stop, down the block to the gas station where Billy had been picking you up for months. You have to steel yourself as you wait for him. Biting your lip and taking deep breaths.

You can’t tell him before you're sure. Your mom’s promise that he would abandon you if you got pregnant stuck in your head like an old song. Of course, you didn’t believe her…but what if she was right? Even if he didn’t totally abandon you, how would you manage to deal with it without your parents finding out? Maybe I could ask Nancy’s mom? A honk made you jump out of your skin and you turn to see Billy laughing hysterically from the driver’s seat. 

“Hey scaredy cat.”

“Shut up.” you chide, though you're already grinning and on your way to the car.  He can always make you feel better.

“Aw, don’t be a sour puss, little puss puss.” He called with puckered lips. As soon as you were within reach he pulled you over the center console and kissed you, causing a chain reaction of flutters which complied with the nerves you'd already been feeling. As a result you're overwhelmed and break from his lips too early. 

“What’s wrong?” he asks gently. You know you only have one chance to smooth things over or else you’ll never hear the end of it. So, you smile and peck him on the lips. 

“Just tired. That’s all.” 

He looks into your eyes for a moment, those cool blue eyes as serious as ever. Then, he nods and drops the subject. He makes a joke about keeping you up too many nights but you don’t hear it over the furious drumming of your heart. You manage to put the issue aside on your way to school, and you think you’ve successfully made it through until you’re just about to part ways in the hall. After a final kiss, you turn to leave and feel him take your elbow in his hand. 

You turn to him, genuinely unsuspecting.

“What’s going on?” he asks it quietly, and when you realize what he means your spirits plummet into your feet. 

“It’s like I said, I’m just tired today. I’m fine.”

You try to smile again but he isn’t buying him. 

“Baby,” he says with a serious look on his face, “you’re a bad liar.”

You drop your eyes to his chest, absentmindedly tracing a few fingers along the seam of his leather jacket.

“I-”

“Did your mom say something? Is it Nancy?” 

You shake your head, putting your hand on his arm as the bell rings. 

“I’m okay, Billy. Trust me?” 

You leave him frowning, but hurry off to your first class. 

. . .

Billy's POV

           I haven’t been able to fucking think straight all morning, luckily the bullshit they teach in this school is preschool level so it takes none of my focus to ace the exam in my first period. What the fuck could she be hiding? What would she feel like she couldn’t tell me? Had her bitch of a mom finally convinced her to leave? In gym I take my frustration out on the weight bench. Some asshole tried to muscle me off it but it takes next to nothing to make him back down.

This school is full of clowns who worship the simplest displays of superiority. Which explains how Steve was the king at one point. Anyone with half a brain cell could lead these freaks. Of course, there are those who don’t care about that shit, the normal ones who can’t wait to get out just like me. Unlike me they can stomach this boring shit every day. I can’t. Without YN I would die in this place. 

            Is she mad at me about something? Has she talked to Nancy about it? I shower and head out early, she’d mentioned something about Nancy having Chemistry 3rd period and I take the back stairwell in hopes of beating her to Mr. Hopewell’s class.  

I’m lucky, I get to the classroom just moments before Nancy does, she’s looking down at a book in her arms and I have to touch her arm to get her attention. 

“Oh, hey.” she seemed surprised to see me, I gestured for her to come out into the stairwell with me. 

“You talked to Yn yet today?” 

            “No, we have lunch together. Why?”

            “Somethings up with her, she won’t tell me. I need you to find out for me.”

             She shrugs.

             “Maybe it’s really nothing.”

             “Nancy, I know my girl. Just ask her about it?”

              She considers it a moment. 

              “Alright, but I can’t promise I’ll tell you. If she’s really hiding it I’m in her side.”

              I roll my eyes.

              “Girls are all alike.”

. . .

Y/N's POV

               By the time lunch comes around you're dying to talk to Nancy. Billy has been texting you non-stop and at this point you're dreading seeing him in 5th period. When he thinks you're keeping something from him he gets like a blood hound chasing a rabbit: he just won’t let it go. It’s so frustrating! In his mind there’s no such thing as an innocent secret between you, as if you can’t have any privacy as individuals or else it means you don’t really love each other. 

                At first you didn’t think much of it, but even the simplest thing you might not wanna share can ruin a whole conversation because he gets fixated on it. When you spot Nancy at your usual table, you're so relieved you could cry. 

                “Hey Nancy, I need to ask you about something.”

                 She gives you a knowing grin.

                “Let me guess, it’s something you haven’t told Billy about, right?” Your smile falls and she chuckles at my expression. “He already tracked me down and asked me to find out for him.”

                  You shake my head, genuinely dumbfounded. 

                 “This boy is relentless.”

                 “You got that right. He seems really worried. But listen, I told him I’m on your side. If you don’t want me to tell him whatever it is, I won’t. I swear.”

                 You're relieved to hear that, reassured that you chose the right person to be friends with. 

                “Thanks.”

                “So? What’s so big you can’t tell your lover boy?” 

                Rather than risk anyone overhearing, you whisper it in her ear. Her eyes go wide and she whispers back, asking if you’ve taken a test yet and you whisper back that you only realized this morning. You ask if her mom can help get a test and she promises to ask her. 

                “But don’t mention my name, please? If my mom finds out….”

               “Don’t worry, she won’t find out.”

. . .

            He won’t stop, no matter how much you ask him to please drop it and that you’ll tell him later. He’s yelling and driving way too fast and playing his music way too loud. These are the moments you really hate Billy Hargrove. 

            “Wanna stop by the ice cream place, oh whoops, there it went. Gotta answer faster." He's yelling over the blaring guitar and chaotic drums, asking questions and then answering them in the same second just to annoy you, just to try and get an answer. "Oh there’s that cafe you like how’s about, awwww, too slow. You gotta speak up, baby.” 

           His tone is condescending as we speed through town. You sit with your arms crossed staring out the window, trying not to let it show that you're terrified. We reach a back road and he speeds up even more, going 15, 20 over the speed limit. He cranks up the music until it's painfully loud and leans his head out the window, hooting and hollering like he just won a million dollars or something. 

            “What’s wrong?! Not having fun?!”

            He takes your chin and tries to make you look at him but you wrench away and look back towards the window, wiping at tears streaking down your cheeks. He does it again and it takes both hands to push him away. In response he pounds on the steering wheel and speeds up even more. By the time you get to the gas station you're so shell shocked all you can do is hop out of the car and start walking.

Almost immediately he’s there, grabbing your arm, getting in your face so that you have to turn away from him. He’s asking you again and again what’s going on. Is it your mom? Nancy? Did someone at school say something? Is there a teacher messing with you? Are you mad about something? On and on until you feel on the verge of panic. You hate him so much at this moment but all you can do is wipe at tears and try to catch your breath. Can't he see how this looks? People walking into the gas station turning to gawk at you? Finally, with your back against the car you blurt it out.

“I might be pregnant!”

Instantly he falls silent, leaving just the sound of your sniffling between you.

“I don’t know yet. Nancy’s gonna ask her mom about a test.” 

You don’t wait for him to collect himself enough to answer. You break out of his grip and start walking home. He doesn’t come after you. You stop by a grocery store and duck into the bathroom, crying.

Billy has the ability to scare the shit out of you and he uses it to get his way at the slightest inconvenience. Why doesn’t it mean anything to him when you ask him to wait? When you tell him you're not ready to say something, why can’t he just leave it at that? How can he claim to love you and bully you into submission like that? It feels so unfair. Just now, in the car, you felt like your heart was going to explode and you couldn’t stop crying. How could he claim to care about you and make you feel like that just to get what he wanted? Didn’t it bother him to see you so upset? You spend half an hour in the bathroom while others come and go. Eventually you manage to stop crying and leave, your mom’s words are burning in your heart. 

“You think that boy cares about you?” She’d asked at dinner one night shortly after they met him “Get pregnant and you’ll see. He looks at you like a piece of ass and you’re probably giving it to him free of charge. Do you even make him buy you dinner first?” she’d scoffed, shaking her head. “Little girl, you think he loves you so much, just go ahead and keep letting him use you like a damn toy and see if he sticks around to take care of you and the baby. I bet you anything he’ll be gone. Anything.” 

You're shaking by the time you reach home, and rush upstairs to your room. You must've fallen right asleep, because you wake up with just enough time to do homework and go down for dinner. By then, you're numb. You just want your mom to be sweet to you. You wish you could tell her that you're scared and hurt and angry, but you can’t say a word. If you ever admitted that you and Billy had sex she would truly do everything in her power to keep you apart, even if it meant dropping you off and picking you up from school every day. Your life wouldn’t extend beyond school and your bedroom.

The next day is Saturday and Billy doesn’t text you all day. Maybe your mom is right. You tell her you feel sick and spend the day in bed. It’s true, after all. She checks on you, bringing you soup and touching your forehead. She’s so gentle with you when you're sick that you wish you got sick more often. When she’s not in your room you turn your music up and cry into your pillow. You hurt in so many different ways that it’s hard to feel anything other than this overwhelming sadness. You want to hear Billy’s voice, but the day passes and you don’t hear from him. Maybe it’s over. Maybe he never loved you. Saturday night you're lying on the couch watching a movie with your parents, it’s something old that the two of them say is a classic. Nancy texts you.

*Mom got a test. Come over tomorrow?* 

*Yes, thank you so much, Nancy! I love you!*

*Love you, too. Hope Billy didn’t flip his shit the other day.*

*You have no idea*

You're embarrassed to show up to Nancy’s house the next day, afraid of her parents or her brother catching a glimpse of you needing a pregnancy test. Luckily, it’s just her at home when you arrive. You're so relieved you start to cry. 

“Oh, yn, it’s okay.” 

She pulls you into a hug and you go to her room. You tell her everything; from the car ride from hell with Billy to crying in the bathroom, and what your mom said. 

“He hasn’t texted you at all?” She asks. Her eyes and her tone are gentle, she’s such a comforting person. You lean your head on her shoulder. 

“Nothing.” 

“Well, we should probably figure out if you’re even pregnant first.” 

You laugh at that. 

“Yeah, about that. Isn’t it too early?” 

“You said it’s like a week late?”

“9 days now, yeah.”

“Should be fine.” She digs into her night stand and pulls out a brown paper bag. “There’s two in there, just to be sure. Plus some condoms.” You thank her again and hug her “Anytime. You owe me, though. I had to swear on my grandma’s grave that they weren’t for me.” 

“You’re a good friend. I’m lucky.” 

She smiles and then waves you off towards the bathroom. The instructions are a mile long and you're so nervous scanning through them. By the time it’s time to pee you realize you probably haven’t drank water since Thursday night. You come out and Nancy laughs when you say you're dry as a bone. The day ends up turning into a hangout as you go to the corner store together for lemonade and run into some girls from school. The three of them had just gotten out of church and were complaining about it, making fun of the pastor and talking about which choir boys they thought were cute. 

It was a rare moment of connection that you cherished. You didn't have a lot of connections outside of Nancy. Billy's reputation kept you insulated as this untouchable being. New to the school yourself, no one knew what to make of you, and now, most people didn't try getting to know you. Some out of fear of Billy's jealousy, others because of their own. You got lucky with Nancy. She never let a rumor stand in her way.

When you were good and ready, you and Nancy said goodbye to the girls and headed back to her house, having to run laughing the final stretch because you could barely hold it by then. The stick was barely wet before she came barging in and you couldn’t stop laughing as you traded spots on the toilet. 

Only a best friend could make such a terrifying day so much fun. 

You sat the two tests next to each other on the bathroom counter and stood staring at them. Nancy leaned over your shoulder. 

“Dare you to lick em.” 

You push her away, laughing and she starts fiddling with her hair. 

“What are you gonna do? I mean, if it’s positive?” 

You shrug. 

“I can’t keep it. I mean, I don’t want to be pregnant.” 

“Were you guys…using anything?”

You shake your head, embarrassed.

“I don’t know why. We just…I don’t know, we were being stupid.” 

What you couldn’t admit was that for a while, you’d felt untouchable. Sex was a magical thing and getting wrapped up in it was intoxicating. You’d felt so close to him, so able to make him happy, to be connected that way. Neither of you had ever mentioned using protection, it didn’t feel necessary, somehow. Nancy puts her hand on your shoulder. 

“It’s okay,” she says softly, “Mistakes are what they are.” 

You hugged her again. You separate when the timer goes off and for a moment you're too afraid to look away from her eyes. She gives you a reassuring smile and you take a deep breath, and look down. 

. . .

“We’ll go to California after graduation. I’ve got a buddy in San Diego who owns a string of surf shops, he’d let me manage and maybe even own one. You can go to school out there, we can get a nanny during the day and then be together at night.”

It’s Sunday night and Billy finally asked you to come over. You went right from Nancy’s over to his place. His parents were out of town and Max was in her room. You’d barely gotten into his room when he started spilling this grand plan. His eyes were bright and wild, imagining this future for the two of you. Well, three. 

              You're too stunned at first to say anything. You watch him go on and on about the sunshine in Cali being good for a baby, and how his grandparents would be happy to babysit and his cousin had a big summer house on the shore you could stay in. Your heart feels so full it could burst watching him go on, so excited. Your eyes start to well up with tears. He sees you crying and puts his hands on your cheeks. 

“Baby, what is it?”

You shake your head. 

“I thought you’d be upset.” 

He scoffs at you. 

“You’re gonna be a great mom.” 

He says it with so much love that it hurts. 

“No, I’m not.”

“Baby-”

“I’m not pregnant.” 

He’s silent, the light dimming in his eyes. 

“I took two tests.” 

He drops his hands away from your face and steps back, then sits on the bed. You go sit beside him, sensing so much sadness. 

“I’m sorry.” You whisper to him. 

He shakes his head. 

“It’s alright, baby.”

You’re quiet for a long time, his eyes distant. 

“We can still go to Cali together.” 

He looks at you, seeming somewhat surprised to hear you say that. 

“I mean, if you still want to.” 

He palms your cheek and kisses you. He puts on music and you lay down together, his head resting on your chest. It's quiet for a long time as the music plays. You lay there with your fingers gently moving in his hair.

“I love you,” you whisper. “I was so nervous, ya know? I thought you’d hate it.”

“Scared the shit out of me when you told me. Then I started thinking about everything and it just started coming together. We could’ve really done it.” he pauses and you feel a little tremble in him, making your heart skip a beat, you hold him, gathering him into your arms as much as you can “You would’ve been a great mom and a fuckin milf, too.” 

You laugh a little, but he keeps shivering and then he breaks. His breathing hitches and for the first time since you met him, he’s crying, wetting the front of your shirt. You kiss the top of his head and stroke his hair, holding him close through the tremors and the sobs. He gathers the side of your shirt in his fist as he cries, holding onto you as if he’ll blow away if he doesn’t.

             You love him so much at this moment that you would do anything for him. Anything to comfort him. But, there’s nothing to do, so you let him cry. The music plays and he cries through the album, at least as long as you had in the bathroom. It’s strange that he’s mirroring that sadness now. You had no idea he would become attached to the idea of you mothering his child, but given what you know about his mom it makes sense. It makes your heart ache for him. 

Your mom was wrong about him. Hell, even you were wrong to think he'd abandon you. Neither of you understand how much he really loves you.  You laid there, quiet, the music and his crying the only sounds. You have a future with him, he loves you enough to want that with you. But, it’s better this way; to go to college and get jobs before you have kids…as a matter of fact, you'd never even decided that you wanted kids. You feel like you should tell him that had you been pregnant you wouldn’t have kept it, but now doesn’t feel like the time. It also isn’t the time to talk about how much he scared you the other day. His outbursts aren’t usually that bad, and most of the time he apologizes on his own, but you don’t think an apology will cut it this time. 

How he reacted wasn’t fair at all. But this isn’t the time for that, either. You just let him cry for as long as he needs to. Eventually, you fall asleep. You're woken up by a tingle that rushes through your body, making you gasp. The lamp is still on but the music has stopped, heat and pleasure pushes a moan from your throat. His fingers are moving in you, his teeth bearing into your neck. 

His mouth moves to yours, hungry and insistent. You're so wet and so close to cumming that you don’t have time to think before cresting helplessly into an orgasm. It’s such a rush and your head is empty as you moan his name, gripping his arm to stabilize yourself. It feels so good you can’t think of anything else but his skin against yours, his hand, the way he touches you. You rock your hips against his arm and he kisses you, his tongue brushing against yours. 

His palm is on your cheek and you're kissing it as he moves his body between your legs, pushing his boxers down and letting his dick free. He’s stroking it and then slipping into you, all the while his lips are pressed against yours. He feels so good, and then you remember. You push away from him once and then again when he doesn’t move away. You struggle to sit up and finally he understands, backing away. 

Breathing heavy he pulls out and asks what’s wrong, panting against your lips.

“I have something we can use.”

He looks at you strangely, then you dig into your backpack and fish out the condoms. When you hold it up he looks even more confused. 

“Why the fuck would we use this?”

“Uh, because. Billy, I don’t wanna get pregnant.” 

“You won’t.”

“We just-”

“But you weren’t. Right? I’ll pull out, baby it’s fine.” 

He goes to climb on top of you but you inch back. 

“I’m serious. We can’t risk it anymore.” 

He sighs, sitting back on his haunches. 

“Do you even know what you’re asking? Those make it so I can’t even feel anything.” 

You don’t know what to say to that. You're conflicted because it feels bad to have to ask for this, but it feels worse to have to fight for it. 

“Billy, I can’t risk it.”

He sighs again, shaking his head. Eventually, though he relents, asking you to suck his dick a little first. You do, and soon the little hiccup with the condom is forgotten. You hope it isn’t like this all the time. You had sex that night, though you could tell he had a harder time finishing than he usually does. He came, though, with you on top, grinding your hips into his while your own high had already left you lightheaded. You didn't talk any more about it that night.

You didn’t talk about the pregnancy scare until a party the next weekend.

To Be Continued...

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey Raven, are you going to watch the upcoming new Disney movie "Wish"?

I've seen mixed reviews, but i'm lowkey excited since we get to see a new Disney villain, especially since Disney got really lame villains after all the old classic movies!

Have you seen the trailer for the movie? What are your thoughts so far?

I saw Wish with a friend recently! I'll give my thoughts on the trailers here (in case you don't want spoilers for the film itself) and put my full thoughts beneath the cut (if you're okay with spoilers).

Looks-wise, I think Disney was definitely trying to go for something more stylistic and painting-esque for this?? And while I commend the effort, it definitely doesn't look as interesting as Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish. The humor also definitely isn't for me, it feels very "quirky" and "so relatable" (Asha reminds me of Mirabel in that sense), and other times too juvenile (like the goat butt joke). I do like the idea of the villain passing as a good guy in-universe and actually being vain and selfish, especially since the marketing is making it clear who the bad guy is rather than making it a "twist" villain scenario. Not sure if I like Magnifico himself though??? All the ads with him in it feel like Disney is trying too hard to make people thirst for him. From just the trailers, Magnifico does seem interesting and like more of a return to the traditional "villain" rather than the protagonist having to deal with an existential dread or concept.

***Spoilers for Wish beneath the cut!***

Right off the bat, my first impression is the narrative is SO ham-fisted. Within the first 5 minutes alone we're establishing so much information and in such a clunky, unnatural way. Like... Asha says hi to her friends but then they robotically have a dialogue where they overtly call each other "friends" just so it's clear to the audience (when in reality no one talks like that). It's telling instead of showing, and this happens sooo many times early in the film.

Could not for the life of me remember the friends or their names. There were just too many of them when 1 or 2 would have been just fine to move the plot along and to help Asha. (Yes, I know they're a reference to the 7 Dwarves but it's STILL not necessary to have so many just for a reference.)

Bruh, the makeup in this movie is on point. Every time there was a close up of a character, I was staring at their eye makeup (especially Asha and the queen's).

Asha as a protagonist was... fine? She feels very close to Mirabel and at times Rapunzel in her character. I didn't dislike her by any means, but she didn't reinvent what it means to be a Disney protag. Her motivations also come off as… really “out of nowhere”. We’re told she “cares too much”, but she initially only wants to save the wishes of her mom and grandpa; she randomly decides she has to free ALL wishes midmovie and that was jarring. There could have been a smoother transition. Instead, it was abrupt and Asha didn’t change in any meaningful way. Even her “I want” song was vague (what exactly is “to have something more for us than this”?) and didn’t connect well with her character.

I do really like her design though! Her freckles, earrings, and how her hair moves are my favorite details.

Valentino was not as annoying as I thought he would be. Still didn't care for his sass and brand of humor, but at least he helped out a few times.

I called it, the film is trying so hard to make Magnifico "hot" 🤡 I don't get it but okay, Mouse. I see your effort.

Loved his fit!! Very cool cloak and diamond/star motifs everywhere! His lab and study was also fun to look at.

I quite liked the moments when the queen talked to her husband and tried to smooth things over with him. “I can fix him energy”— Their relationship seemed very genuine at the start of the movie.

NOT THE WISH NEPOTISM...

If they were going for “sympathetic” with Magnifico, it didn’t work. He gave this backstory about how he was traumatized before + left as the only survivor of a great tragedy and so now he wants to use his magic to prevent that from happening to anyone else. Thing is, we only ever know about this via his word and staring at a half-burnt tapestry. We never see the event on screen, nor what was left of the tapestry. I was expecting a twist where it’s revealed that he lied all this time about his backstory and rewrote history so he could more easily manipulate the people of the kingdom he founded and live out the fantasy of being worshipped as a “good guy”. That was such a missed opportunity!!

Something else I was thinking of (this was during “This is the Thanks I get” was??? Maybe Magnifico started off genuinely good but became worn down over time as people’s wishes grew more selfish and they became ungrateful for what they had?? Then he could have become bitter and disillusioned by the behavior of his people.

Another idea is maybe Magnifico was “villainous” only in Asha’s eyes, since they don’t agree on how to best handle granting wishes. This would be more of a clash of ideologies rather than the traditional Obvious Evil vs Obvious Good that Disney is so known for, but hey, it could be a neat evolution of their storytelling from classic fairy tale roots.

This is to say that there were so many more interesting directions they could have gone with Magnifico’s motives, character, and portrayal 😭 but the second half of the movie never commits to any of these, they just blame his complete insanity and turn to the dark side on Forbidden Magic which is such a cop-out.

The trailers gave away the twist that Magnifico was the villain. It wasn’t revealed until like the second song into the movie. Would’ve worked better as an on-the-spot reveal rather than part of the marketing, in my opinion.

When they showed the wishes, the TWST fan in my was shouting, "OMG IT'S WISH UPON A STAR, THE LIMITED TIME STORY EVENT FROM THE HIT DISNEY MOBILE GACHA GAME TWISTED WONDERLAND!!!"

As Wish is Disney's anniversary film for 100 years, there were tooons of easter eggs scattered throughout. (I had fun looking for them!) Some were visual (I saw Aurora's dress, Snow White’s well, Peter's Pan's costume, Ursula's green smokey hands, Asha's robes resembling those of the Fairy Godmother, etc.) or extended imagery/scenes (Asha recreates Mulan's dinner and “Reflection" scenes), others were more overt lines of dialogue (Magnifico says the "Mirror, Mirror" lines along with others, a deer named “Bambi”, Valentino mentions an animal metropolis in reference to Zootopia, etc.).

In theory, the wish magic sounds cool but has so much that isn't explained??? And yeah, it's magic so it technically doesn't have to be. However, there are things not explained even when it is important to the plot. For example, Magnifico crushes some wishes and seems to absorb their power for himself (including the wish of Asha's MOM, so you'd think this would be important)? The consequence of this is that the wish's owners... become sad??? Okay, what are the long-term effects??? Why isn’t this fully explored?? But then later in the film we see the same people whose wishes were crushed... regenerate their wish??? So what, he has to keep reaping them??? And why are the wishes only taken at 18 years old? What if a wish changes? Ironically, the townspeople of Rosas have a scene where they question the technicalities of this wish magic. Magnifico essentially tells them to shut up, and it kinda felt like Disney was telling us to not question their lore www

It was weird that they never fully explored the ramifications of going without your wish. You’d think they’d show us people without ambition or hope (which would incentivize Asha to return their wishes), but everyone seems blissfully happy without their wishes?? The only exception is Asha’s friend that betrays her (cannot for the life of me remember his name), and that’s namely because his asshole friends keep ragging on him for it.

I thought the movie was going to go in a “you can make your own wish come true!!” direction but NOPE, turns out it’s just magic. Felt like Disney unintentionally wrote a whole movie about "wishes not coming true unless some big powerful entity allows it to come true” (Asha literally becomes the fairy godmother of Rosas at the end, making her ultimately no different than Magnifico)… ie a metaphor for how Disney owns so many properties it practically owns our childhoods www

"The power of friendship saves the day" ending 🤣 It was very Paper Mario ending-esque...

A song saving the day though?? It’s giving the Illumination Lorax film…

I was right about the humor. Too "quirky" and/or juvenile for me.

Animation was alright? Nothing awful about it, it just didn't feel as detailed or as experimental as other films with a similar style.

Songs were mid, which checks out with the recent Disney music excluding We Don't Talk About Bruno--

Some of the lyrics however were awful. “I let you live here for free and I don’t even charge you rent” is redundant. “So I throw caution to every warning sign” means you’ll show more caution than usual, not that you’ll forego caution. The correct expression is “throw caution to the wind”. Etc, etc, etc.

There was a cute after credits scene where they reveal that Asha's 100 year old grandpa (same age as Disney omg) wrote the "When You Wish Upon a Star" theme, which was sweet since his wish was "wanting to make a mark".

THE BEST PART OF THE MOVIE WAS STAR!! It was very cute (partly because it couldn't talk and just jingled and giggled, I was dreading another annoying mascot animal voice) and reminds me of my own pet… The way Star infused everything with glitter and formed unique shapes with the red twine was so fun 😭 I'M A STAR STAN, IT WAS ADORABLE AND KINDA BRATTY AND I'M LIVING FOR IT

Decent ideas, "meh" execution. Enchanted and Shrek did it better in terms of self-aware, fairy tale defying stories. It felt as though the movie was trying to deliver a profound message but got lost in the sauce of making as making Disney references possible and didn't fully commit to actually saying something meaningful. As a result, the film feels somewhat… hollow.

That one friend betraying Asha was the biggest surprise in the film but I still saw it coming 😂 I do get where he’s coming from though (being worried that his wish won’t ever come true) but it also felt like his conflict wasn’t resolved??? It might have gone better if the movie actually fully tried to push the “you can make your own wish come true” message (to reinvigorate the traitor to make his dreams a reality on his own) but they don’t 💦

Wish didn’t end up being “the wishing star’s origin story” because not once did anyone question where Star came from or why it was different from other stars (or what the significance of Magnifico blotting out the other stars was).

I think the people that would enjoy this movie are the people that are already highly invested in Disney and the nostalgia of it.

... Anyway, stan Star 🤩 (and the talking mushrooms 🍄)

[foster-the-world]

Let's glow!

Last week myself and another mom ran ten glow parties for about two hundred kids. As most things with PTA, it was kind of annoying to organize but turned out to be totally worth it. The kids had so much fun. We got silent disco headphones - so I made sure to dance for at least one song during every party. All ages (1st through 5th) loved the parties. The bigger kids busted out their tiktok dances. It was fun to see the energy. I'm glad to know the older kids weren't too cool to dance. I'll be handing over my PTA exec board duties happily next week. I still plan to be very involved but happy to give up the meetings. I'll probably volunteer to manage teachers appreciation week and end of year parties, again. I have one more monthly newsletter to send out.

My husband went Upstate alone for the weekend. He came back happy and relaxed. I'm glad we made it happened. Baby boy's a lot - which was kind of sad to (re)realize. We normally manage him by splitting up duties. One of us takes him in the mornings and then the other comes in the afternoon or vice versa. So the extra-ness is much more manageable. My in-laws kindly came to get the girls yesterday around noon. They took them swimming at their condo pool. It was a like a light switch flipped with baby boy. The second they were gone he started playing by himself calmly. This was after nonstop unregulated behavior the 36 hours before. For the thirty minutes after they left he entertained himself. Then after his long nap he was calm again. We went to the children's museum. I didn't have to correct him once. I sat on a bench across the room must watching. This is unheard of for him. I normally have to be within six inches of him, with constant corrections, just in case. The museum was pretty empty. I was hanging out with all the (assumingly) divorced dads. Its making me think he's going to need a really small class size for kindergarten. Crowds are really his downfall. There is one DOE program with only 12 kids (8 Gen Ed and 4 special needs) but he'll need an autism diagnosis. Which I still am not convinced he has but think we could probably get. We also won't know if he will get a spot. Limited spots and from what I read the squeaky wheel gets the grease. We can also sue and have the DOE pay for private school. These special needs private schools in NYC essentially become entirely funded by the DOE as everyone, regardless of income, sues. Anyway, working on getting the neurological assessment booked. My husband is calling today to figure out what insurance will cover. Fingers crossed.

I saw graduation photos from the school that would most likely fit his profile. Maybe twenty kids were graduating. It made me kind of sad. It feels like it will benefit him to keep his world small (for now) but I want him to be a part of the big ole world. The girls school is small class sizes but much bigger overall. Anyway, no reason to worry about him graduating from 8th grade/HS. Let's get him through 4k, first.

[jobesbabe]

Summer Baby Part 3 / Dominik Szoboszlai

It’s July, 2024. A few of the Liverpool boys are looking for a getaway before and between the summer series and stumble upon your mom’s vacation home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. There, they spend their time enjoying the sun and one in particular, enjoying the company. You find yourself falling for a charming Hungarian- Domi.

warnings- Fluff!

A/n - Hi! Please share and like if you enjoy!

PART THREE

It was a bit late now, The day being wasted away with you lying on the beach watching your favorite footballers bask in the sunlight shirtless. You had hid your face behind a book, hoping none of them would notice you stairing at the most attractive footballer you’d ever seen. Domi.  Lucky for you, the most of them were more focused on having a nice beach day than paying attention to little old you. Most of them. 

Dominik most definitely noticed you stairing at his muscular and tattooed arms and laughed. He pulled his sunglasses down to wink to you and you tilted your head to the side with a smile. 

After a few hours of pure laziness and relaxation, you sighed and began to make your way inside, to prepare dinner. 

You decided that Italian food would probably be best for the lot of them and started making your grandma’s famous sauce recipe. 

Tomatoes, Garlic, onions, you began pulling out of the fridge and dicing so you could add them to your already brewing pot of sauce.

You were playing a Jonas Brothers song and dancing around the kitchen when Caoimhin and Dominik came in, both shirtless and covered in sand. 

“mmm, smells good,” Caoimh said to you with a smile. 

“Thanks, I’m making Italian for dinner if that’s what you all like,” you replied to the irishman. 

“Whatever you make, I’m sure it will be good,” Domi said, smirking. 

You didn’t know exactly why, but his mood and actions toward you sent your stomach into a fluttering mess. 

You giggled a bit before asking, “How was the beach, Good I hope?” 

“Very,” Caoimhin said and Dominik hummed in agreement. 

“Do I have time to shower before dinner?” Dominik asked you. 

“Yep, I still have to make the pasta and finish off the sauce so you should have at least thirty to forty five minutes,” you told him. 

He nodded and they both went off to shower leaving you alone to cook. 

One by one, the rest of the boys came in muttering ‘hello’ or ‘how are we?’ before going to their respective rooms. 

Twenty minutes go by and you’re struggling with your pasta machine. Your dough isn’t going through it well and you have flour all over your face. 

After a few huffs and puffs, you decide to give yourself a five minute break. 

Scrolling on insta, you hear footsteps approaching the kitchen. 

“Hey,” Domi says to you, his heart wet and himself in a compression shirt and loose shorts. 

He looked good. Too good than humanly possible. 

“Hey,” you said lifting your head. 

Dominik started laughing, then quickly stopped, biting his lip into a smile. 

“what?” you asked him. 

He shook his head and walked over to you. 

His hands reached up slightly to your face and he brushed off the flour. 

You smiled slightly at the action before those oh-too-familiar knots appeared in your stomach.

“You okay baba? You look like you got into a fight with the flour,” he said to you, the baba part slipping off his tongue like he’d been calling you it for years. 

“more like the pasta machine. I think it’s broken,” You told him. 

“let me see,” he asked. 

You handed him the machine  and within minutes, it was working.

You laughed out loud. 

“Domi, You’re a miracle worker!” you exclaimed. 

He shrugged.

A few minutes later you were serving the food to the hungry lot of them. 

Again, they insisted you eat with them. 

You sat with them at the large round table, across from Dominik, with Caoimhin on your left and Bobby on your right. 

The first bites were priceless. All but Bobby let out audible groans of contentment and you laughed. 

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” Harvey asked. 

“It’s all my grandma’s recipe.” You told them proud. 

“It’s heavenly,” Curtis said, his scouse accent making the phrase sound kind of funny to you. 

they all nodded, except for Bobby, who was too focused on finishing his plate to make the effort. 

Within minutes, he was asking for another helping. You laughed. 

After finishing dinner, you cleaned up with slight help from Conor and Dominik. 

Before going into his room, Dominik came over to your ear. 

he whispered to you, “If you knock on my door in ten minutes, I’ll be ready for that walk we talked about.” 

You smiled and agreed. 

You knocked on his door what felt like an eternity later.

He opened it, Now wearing a Essentials hoodie and having fluffy beach hair. 

You, had changed into a blue and pink White Fox hoodie and braided your hair back out of your face. 

“ready?” He asked. 

“mhm!” You said, and the two of you walked out the back porch where nobody was currently looking. 

After a few moments, he spoke, his accent sending shivers up your spine as he did. 

“y/n, you look good.” He said.

“Thanks, you look good too Domi,” You said. 

The air between you was silent for a few moments, but in a comfortable way. 

Seconds later, Dominik was reaching for your hand and lacing his fingers in between yours. You met his eyes and you smiled at each other silently, continuing to walk. 

“Dominik, Can I ask you something?” you said. 

“Anything.” He said. 

“How did you know Liverpool was the team? Was it just obvious?” You asked. 

“Well, I really admired the club for the longest time. I have a Steven Gerrard quote tattooed on my arm, the dynamics of the team were just so different and family like.” He smiled remembering the day he made his decision. 

“A question for you now,” He said. 

“Shoot,” You told him. 

“Have you ever had a crush on someone who was staying at the house?” He asked you. 

You shook your head, “no, well-“

“well what?” He asked you. 

“Not before right now.” you told him, heart fluttering at your confession. 

“oh? Now you must tell, Who?” He asked smugly knowing who you were talking about.

“Nobody, I mean, he’s just this guy with fluffy hair and brown eyes. He’s perfect and has a Hungarian accent that drives me crazy.” You tell him smiling at him. 

He smirks and looks away. 

“I can tell you, miss y/n, he feels the same way about you.” Dominik says before dropping your hand and turning his body to face you, grabbing your face in his hands

He envelopes you in a kiss, starting slowly, but then becoming more intense and passionate, expressing the feelings you two had for each other after only a few days. He slipped his tongue into your mouth and yours fought for domination before eventually giving up. You melted into the kiss before the two of you pulled away from the kiss. 

he hummed against your face and grabbed your hand smiling. 

You headed back towards the house hand in hand and parted ways with a kiss. 

Lying on your bed staring at the ceiling you smiled and fell asleep content, hugging your pillow and remembering the kisses you had shared with Domi. 

a/n - Thats it for this part! lemme know if you wanna be tagged in pt 4!!

[jokerislandgirl32]

Ziolet Songs: Day Eight

Day 8: I’m Good (Blue)

You know I'm down for whatever tonight I don't need the finer things in life No matter where I go, it's a good time, yeah And I, I don't need to sit in VIP Middle of the floor, that's where I'll be Don't got a lot, but that's enough for me, yeah

'Cause I'm good, yeah, I'm feelin' alright Baby, I'ma have the best f*ckin' night of my life And wherever it takes me, I'm down for the ride Baby, don't you know I'm good, yeah, I'm feelin' alright

So this is more of a “vibe” song for Zach and Violet. I imagine them together in their pre relationship phase and this song is playing in the background as they fly down Outer Banks’ oceanfront Highway 12 on a motorcycle. Why? Because in my AU Zach can drive a motorcycle. It’s a very attractive concept to me…And this song, like riding a motorcycle is representative of a feeling of freedom.

Note on my OCs listed here: Todd is Koki’s cousin, Paige is his wife/Violet’s cousin, Nathaniel is Paige and Todd’s little boy, and Amy is Violet’s aunt/Paige’s mom. Also I’ve never drove/ridden a motorcycle so I hope this all seems accurate!

“Whose is this?” Zach asked pointing his thumb toward the motorcycle parked in the driveway at Amy’s house. 

“It’s Todd’s,” I replied cocking my head at Zach in curiosity, “why do you ask?”

“It’s nice is all…” he whispered looking closer at the chrome work. 

“What? Do you like it?” I question, surprised that he was so interested in it. 

“Yeah, I do, oh come on, don’t look so surprised, I’ve had one since college…” Zach grinned, winking at me. 

“I don’t believe it…” I whispered. 

“Why not?” His voice rose in aggravation. 

I sputtered, “I-I-I, ummm, You’re just so….scared of things and unsure of yourself….I thought you would be scared to death to even look at one.” 

He balled his hands into fists, “don’t think I know how to ride it, huh? We’ll see about that. Zachbots bring me my motorcycle gear!“

“What!?!?” I shrieked, and within seconds the robots obeyed his order and he was dressed in full motorcycle gear, all in his signature colors and with his V logo. He pulled the helmet on and flicked the visor up to look at me before he took a seat on the motorcycle.

(I image it would look something like this)

Zach sat on the motorcycle and looked at it to get his bearings, then he grinned mischievously at me, “Do you think he’d let me ride it? Just so I can prove you wrong, you’re welcome to join me.��

“ARE YOU CRAZY!” I screamed. 

“No, I’m dead serious,” Zach replied turning to me, admittedly he did look comfortable on the motorcycle. 

At that moment Todd happened to come out of Amy’s house, he looked at Zach and me suspiciously, “hey, what’s going on you two?”

“He wants to prove he can drive a motorcycle, and he wants me to join him!” I shrieked. 

Todd started laughing, he patted Zach’s shoulder enthusiastically, “oh this I’ll pay to see, it’ll be better than when I took Paige the first time!” He fished the keys out of his pocket and gave them to Zach.

I huffed, digging the toe of my shoe into the dirt, “I can’t, I’m wearing a dress!” 

Todd laughed and spoke up, “I’ll get Paige’s riding stuff for you to borrow, Violet!”

“Todd, Todd! Oh no you won’t, I’m not going on that thing!” I screamed after him, but he soon disappeared into my aunt’s house and reappeared with Paige who starting hollering at me from the doorway, drawing the attention of the neighbors until I caved and followed them inside.

I emerged a few minutes later decked out in Paige’s riding outfit and holding her helmet at my side, I glared at Todd who walked along beside me. Paige, Amy, and Nathanial followed us giggling, “you just had to open your mouth,” I growled.

Todd smirked and patted my head, “go on little cousin, I wanna see this, and you have an audience now…”

I stood hesitantly beside Zach and the motorcycle, looking from Zach to my family, Zach was becoming impatient and he bit out, “are ya coming or not?”

“If you kill me, I expect to have a nice spray on my casket!” I groaned pulling the helmet on. I hesitantly swung my left leg over the back of the bike. 

“I’ll notify my mom, she’ll prepare a stunning arrangement for the occasion. Now put your arms around me, and let’s go,” he flicked the visor to his helmet down and I did the same, then I wrapped my shaky arms around his thin waist, holding on to him for dear life.

Zach grazed his fingers over my arms before returning his hands to the handlebars, “you’ll be fine, I won’t hurt you.” 

“Okay…” I agreed, burying my head against his back and scrunching my eyes shut as Zach turned on the engine and the motorcycle roared to life.

VvvvvvvVvvvvvV

Ten minutes later we are flying down Highway 12, I’d screamed for the first couple minutes of the ride, but I soon became accustomed to the motion and realized Zach truly was a skilled motorcyclist.

I felt comfortable enough to lift my head and look to the ocean to our left, the sea breeze was blowing my hair behind me under the helmet…so this is what freedom feels like, I thought to myself.

[kuuverse]

success story + picture proof(improved art skills in a day, cancelled exams, + more).

ART SKILLS

Okay, so I'm working on a webtoon project and so I started drawing a thumbnail image for it. I was really unhappy with how it turned out, and I felt that my art looked tacky and unpolished. So basically, I just decided; no, I can draw very well and in my desired way(which is inspired by a twitter artist I admire), and I felt it as fact and left it. Then I picked up my pen and started drawing again.

The change was instant, but the dates below are within the time difference of a day because of course, art takes time, and I had to sleep in between. What I did was very simple, and I did not robotically affirm or listen to any subliminals or anything, I only simply assumed it as fact and it reflected back instantly.

BEFORE

You can see how the lines and colouring is more unpolished.

AFTER

The lines are cleaner and more detailed, and the composition of the piece itself improved.

DATE PROOF(via Discord)

CANCELLED EXAMS

I had a math test coming up when I first heard of the novel Undine, and I discovered a Piano & Flute sonata that accompanied it. I am both a Pianist and a Flautist, and I had grown so fascinated with the novel itself that when I heard the piece(sneakily during a Mandarin class), I was like, I need to play this right now. But I remembered my Math test scheduled for that week's Thursday, and I was like, I don't have the time. But then as I bitched about it to my friends, I instantly remembered about the law and was like, you know what? I have time. I didn't care how I had time, I just assumed I had the time to learn the piece I wanted to. Then instantly, my math teacher posted a google classroom announcement, the test had been pushed back to next week's Monday!

DATE PROOF

Teleported my Mother out of the house?

This one... I can't provide picture proof other than my shock when it happened because huh? Anyways, in my apartment the shower is connected to my parent's bedroom, where my mom's always in on her computer doing who knows what. I love to sing, and I love to sing in the shower because it always clears up my throat and even though my Mother praises me for it, it gets really awkward and embarrassing when I'm practicing or attempting a hard song and my voice falters? Well so I got home, okay. I knew my mom was inside her room because the bedroom door was closed and I heard her loudly talk on the phone to a coworker. I sat down to have a quick snack in the living room which is where the only exit of this apartment is and I saw her come out of her room to say hello to me and went back in. This is only in the span of 10 minutes from when I came home from school and when I went to take a shower. I came across a song I liked and I was like, wouldn't it be nice if I had privacy in the bathroom so I could sing? Okay, then I went to take a shower. My mom... was not in her room and the door was wide open. I ran to my dad and was like, where's mom? He was like, didn't you know she left?

EXPENSIVE COSPLAY

Okay, I've been BEGGING my dad to buy me cosplay for this one enstars character for a year. He always said no, and then this year it was sometime September and my friends were talking about dressing up for Halloween. I was like, I want to dress up as Ritsu. I didn't think anything of, "My dad always said no to my cosplay though," I just went, well, "I want to dress up as Ritsu so I shall."

That was it! I asked him in a text, can I have this? He didn't respond btw he ghosted me... then a few days later he asked for my measurements. I'm wearing the cosplay right now at school!

Photo of when I first got it!

TAYLOR SWIFT PIANO SHEET MUSIC

This one is unintentional. I don't even know how it manifested but you know, I went to the music store to check out some guitars because I wanted to start learning, and then I got sidetracked by the Pianos. Previously a while ago, I wanted to learn some of her songs on the Piano, and most of the sheet music got copyrighted. I guess somewhere there I was like, you know what? Fuck it. I have it. I forgot about it, that's for sure. But then as I was messing around on some of the cheaper Pianos, my dad spotted they were selling her sheet music, and without really asking he just bought it for me.

sc from my instagram archive

MANIFESTED A TEACHER ABSENT FROM SCHOOL

This one happened today!!! I was just feeling a bit tired and I wanted a lesson off where I didn't have to worry about a teacher and when I went to the next period, I realised the teacher wasn't in school and the lesson was self study time!

OTHER SUCCESSES

I'm 17 now, and I had been barely 150cm for a while. I've tried growing taller for years with subliminals, nothing happened, the doctors said I couldn't but... I grew! A few centimeters, my ideal height is 156cm and I'm around 154 right now? I also lost a lot of weight starting from May of this year, and I started growing taller around the start of October! Also the other day, I was in a sort of 'tutoring' session(it wasn't really tuition? but I don't know what else to call it) and I was so tired and I wanted to draw, and instead of waiting for a break I was like fuck it, I'm going to draw anyways and reached for my iPad. Then suddenly as I touched it, the teacher announced a break! Also, in my 4D I'm well respected and lowkey worshipped and I noticed when I went out last week, strangers were so oddly nice to me and people turned their heads to look at me? They'd do nice gestures for me when before everyone would just ignore me the way I used to want.

Anyways, that's it for my post! I sat down a lot and pondered and listened to Edward Art's lectures every night. Manifesting is really easy, and so long as you realise the 3D doesn't matter... it doesn't exist and to just focus on your 4D, then you already have your dream life. There's no point throwing rocks at the 3D hoping it'll change, like with how you can't kill the snake because it doesn't exist, you just have to become indifferent to it and persistent in your 4D.

[criminalmutantsins]

(MK1) Johnny's Life Headcanons

I love this version of Johnny. He has the perfect mixture of arrogance and wittiness while still being kind and serious at the most important times. I did a song headcanon post for him a while back and had a fun time doing it so I wanted to do another headcanon post for him and other MK characters. If you want to read my other post the link is below.

https://www.tumblr.com/criminalmutantsins/731871981377617920/mk1-johnny-cage-song-headcanons?source=share

.......................

TW: Mentions of abuse (physical/mental), alcoholism, bullying

- Johnny is the middle child with Jimmy being the oldest and Rebecca being the youngest. Jimmy and Johnny don’t get along because Jimmy follows in his dad’s footsteps and makes fun of Johnny for not being masculine enough. He has a really good relationship with Rebecca- affectionately calling her Becky- but their eight-year age difference made it hard for them to connect. Though he is glad she didn’t suffer the same abuse as him, Johnny is also a bit jealous of her because his dad would spoil and treat her like a princess. They call and FaceTime each other once in a while to catch up. 

- Johnny’s mom was the one who fostered Johnny’s love for 80s media. Whenever she had a rare day off, Johnny and her would dance and goof around while listening to 80s. His favorite artists were ABBA, Bee Gees, and Queen.  

- Johnny’s dad physically and emotionally abused Johnny. His obsession with control and masculinity led him to hurt or insult Johnny if he deemed him “not man enough” or somehow disrespectful. For instance, if he saw Johnny liking something seen as feminine like “chick flicks” he would berate him or if Johnny forgot to do a chore then his dad would beat him. His mother was not aware of the abuse due to working a lot, Johnny’s fear of retribution from his father if he told, and the abuse only occurring when she was not around. 

- School was not easy for Johnny. He was targeted for being the quiet kid and not being interested in typical sports (football, soccer, baseball), and being a part of the cheer squad. It ended after Johnny created his Cage persona, portraying himself as confident and witty, and his martial arts skills. 

- Johnny watched a lot of 90s sitcoms like “Full House”, “Roseanne”, “Boy Meets World”, and “Saved By The Bell” to cope with his broken family- his mother working almost 24/7, his father’s abuse, and lack of a relationship with his siblings- and bullying at school. He liked (and was jealous) that every problem was solved within 22 minutes and the main character had friends/family who were always there for them. 

- He also watched many martial arts such as “Enter the Dragon,” “Crouching Tiger,” “Hidden Dragon,” “Kill Bill,” and “Karate Kid.” He liked to imagine himself being the hero who defeated all the bad guys and saved the world. On top of that, watching the films with his dad was the only good time Johnny had with him.  

- Before his mother paid for karate classes, Johnny’s dad tried teaching him boxing at home. It was a horrible time since his dad would get angry with Johnny if he “did something wrong” like messing up a move or not wanting to hit his dad. As punishment, Johnny’s dad would punch Johnny until either he got tired or Johnny attacked back. This stopped when his mom saw his bruises- thinking it was only from school bullies- and signed him up for karate class, which Johnny grew to love and practice all his life. She also paid for gymnastics class after seeing Johnny’s interest in it. 

- During his first two years in college, Johnny joined a theater group where he created many meaningful relationships, such as Kelsey, his scene partner for some plays who became a successful actress and singer on Broadway, and Frankie, who was in charge of cosmetics and became Johnny’s first personal make-up artist. After college, the troupe meets every year to catch up. 

- Johnny is pansexual. He finds anyone attractive no matter their gender. He realized this in high school, though he didn’t feel comfortable coming out until he moved out for college. 

- He met Cris when she was serving them at a restaurant the theatre trope frequented. It was an instant attraction and Johnny gave her his number along with the receipt. He was surprised to see her attending the college too (she was a business major). They dated for two years and got married the year he got his first lead role. 

- Being very lucky, Johnny got his big break after two years of working minor roles. At twenty-two, he was a major character- comedic but badass sidekick to the main character- in an action, thriller movie because the directors were impressed by his martial arts and quick wit. The film’s major success and good reception to his character led to his first film as the lead.

- Johnny treats every staff member involved in his movies very well. He always thanks the make-up artists, costume designers, and prop designers for their towards him and his scenes. Interns love him because he treats them like humans- asks about their day and thanks them for their work- instead of errand boys. After filming, he always brings them a box of donuts as a celebration. Even the scriptwriter and stunt coordinator like him since, rather than rudely demanding changes, Johnny works to collaborate with them to make his scenes (and sometimes the movie) better. The only people who disliked Johnny were the directors and it was out of bitterness that most of Johnny’s ideas were better than the original premise. 

- After five years of successful movies and a large, loyal fanbase, Johnny’s career started dwindling fast because the action/martial arts genre stopped trending at the box office and directors believed Johnny was incapable of portraying roles other than witty, comedic action characters. Though, he wanted to try more serious roles and genres other than action and martial arts movies but was scared his fans wouldn’t like it and abandon him. 

- This significant drop in his career caused Johnny’s depression to worsen and used alcohol to escape the stress and pain. His wish to rejuvenate his career became an obsession where he would rarely sleep, only focus on work, and neglect his relationship, especially his marriage. These issues and his unwillingness to recognize how damaging they are were the last straw for Cris.