#my parents had me in their early 20s and it ended in a divorce you don't want that

[cannimumsable]

watching disappointed shippers (bc that's what the dudebros saying izuku sucks bc he didn't bag ochako are) act like their ship is dead and everything sucks because it wasn't clearly confirmed is so funny like. do I have to do the job for you? the meetcute is so obvious dude the possibilities are endless but these people are too used to having their ship handed on a silver platter to them. use your imagination

[justmeinadaze]

November Rain (Part 4)(Eddie X Plus Size Y/N)

A/N: They and I have been through so much that I just wanted to give them a comfortable day at home.

Enjoy <3

Warnings: Warnings: Older (Late 30s) Daddy Eddie/ Young (early 20s) Plus Size Sub Fem Y/N, SMUT, morning shenanigans, LOTS of dirty talk, reader gets a phone call and Eddie makes a show of it (so semi public...I guess...Idk lol), Daddy kink of course. FLUFF, they spend the day together just talking, being intimate, and getting to know each other. Ending is hella fluffy to. No Cliffhanger.

Light Angst, like I said reader gets a call from an asshole, Eddie talks to his lawyer briefly, Reader mentions her parents divorce (again brief)

Word Count: 4501

Series Here

Instead of my normal donate button, I'm going to add some charities here. Please help anyway you can <3.

Border Kindness- "provides asylum-seekers, migrants, refugees, and the displaced with comprehensive services that include food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and legal services."

Trevor Project-"Your generosity will power The Trevor Project’s 24/7 crisis services, advocacy, peer support, public education, and research programs."

Human Rights Campaign-"Your membership donation will help push for LGBTQ+ equality and fight the attacks on our freedoms." 

Planned Parenthood- "We're working every single day to make sure patients can get the care and information they need to control their own bodies and build their own futures."

Eddie rubs his eyes as he groans awake at the sun just barely peeking through the curtains in his apartment. 

A heavy sigh leaves him as his mind runs through all the things he should get done today. 

“I have to go for a run and then weigh in to make sure I’m on track for my fight next month. I need to call my lawyer and double check some information for my divorce hearing. I should check my email to see if my boss approved those extra OT hours I requested. I need to go grocery shopping for some protein and while I do that maybe I can call Paige to check in. Let me go smoke a cigarette and then I can text Y/N to see if she talked to her douchebag.”

Reaching for his pack beside his bed, he realized there was a bit of resistance when he tried to roll over. 

When his eyes landed on your sleeping frame, his heart melted. He was so used to waking up alone lately that for a few moments his brain forgot you had spent the night. 

All of his anxieties evaporated as he rolled onto his side to face you.

What did he do to get lucky enough to wake up to a Goddess like you in his bed?  

Your hair flowed away from your face so he was able to get a good look at your plump cheeks that he reached out to caress as his thumb ran along your still slightly swollen lips from your night of kissing him and leaving your usual marks along his body. 

Eddie had left a few on you, smiling to himself when his fingers traced the hickies along your neck and shoulder. 

As he lightly tugged on the comforter under your arms, you stirred slightly as you rolled onto your back, allowing the blanket to come free as he pulled it halfway down your body. 

Along your skin were more of his love bites but his favorite was the slight ring of purple around your areola where he had sucked and flicked his tongue around your nipple loving the way you squirmed at the feeling while your fingers tangled in his hair. 

Eddie loved the way you reacted to him in more ways than one. Ava was never really vocal in bed and the few times he tried she would shut down so he stopped all together. When he would masturbate in the shower in the morning, he would picture a woman like you. A beautiful woman who would beg to be ruined by him while clinging to his body as he made them cum.

Unlike his ex-wife, he never strayed and did everything he could to satisfy her sexually even while putting his own pleasure to the side. 

You weren’t like that. 

You always voiced your concerns or found ways to let him know you were enjoying his touch. You asked him after those first few times you were intimate if there was anything else he may enjoy. 

“Tell me everything. Tell me all of your fantasies.”, you murmured as you smiled up at him, curled up in his warm embrace.

“Fuck me. Are you real? Are you sure you aren’t just a figment of my imagination?”

Your grin grew as you cupped his cheek in your palm and your eyes looked up at him as if he had hung the moon in the sky.

“I want you to enjoy yourself. I like hearing you whimper, pant, and whine when you’re fucking me.”

Eddie breathily laughed as his fingers moved your hair back as he kissed your forehead. 

“You won’t believe me if I told you.”

“Oh, please, Daddy. Tell me.”, you respond playfully as he lightly blushes. 

“Honestly? I think my biggest fantasy was…is…you.”

As his beautiful eyes continued to visually drink you in, he couldn’t help himself as he tilted downward and his tongue flicked out to lightly lick your nipple. You face didn’t move or make any indication you felt anything but your body did as the bud became more erect causing him to salivate at the sight. 

Diving in again, he wrapped his mouth around the nub allowing the muscle within to play as his irises remained glued to your face. Your head turned towards him but your eyes remained closed while he tried to carefully scoot closer to your frame. His lips lightly trailed along your skin leaving little remains of his spit as his tongue would occasionally dart out to taste you. 

While delicately kissing your cheek, his palm disappeared under the comforter and he couldn’t help but groan at how warm you were between your legs as he cupped your sex. 

“Fuck, pretty girl. You’re always ready for Daddy, baby, aren’t you?”

Eddie’s husky whisper roused you slightly, as your body seemed to absently search for him and his smile grew when your side pressed against his chest. 

“Come back to me, sweetheart. I want to see those beautiful eyes.” Rough fingers slid between your folds and the metalhead moaned as he pressed his nose into your cheek. “Are you fucking kidding? How can you be this wet this early? Are you dreaming of me, honey?”

Feeling a sudden fullness, a deep moan left your lips as your eyes fluttered open meeting his now closed ones as two of his digits stretched your pussy open. 

“Daddy?”

“Fuck, baby, don’t…don’t talk like that. I’m going to bust right now if you use that sexy ass voice…God, can you feel how fucking hard I am for you?”

You nod, feeling his cock grind against your thigh. 

Craning your neck slightly, you kiss his lips and he subtly whines against them. 

“Do you want me to help you cum, Daddy?”

“Can I fuck you, sweetheart?”, he pants, barely able to get the words out as he licks his lips. 

When you give him permission, he haphazardly climbs on top of you and pumps his dick with you slick that was coating his fingers before guiding himself inside you. Your legs wrap around his waist as you hold him to you, tenderly kissing the base of his neck as his head falls beside you. 

Your light touches are a stark contrast to his almost animalistic pace as he continuously pants in your ear. 

“You feel so fucking good, Y/N. Fuck me. I don’t—don’t deserve you, pretty girl.”

You giggle as your legs lock around him at the ankle, slowing him down as he pushes up onto his palms to look down at you. 

“Yes, you do, baby. You deserve all the good things.”

“Shit…I’m gonna cum.”

Eddie falls against you once more and chases both your highs. A whine escapes your lips as your mouth falls open while your pussy quivers around him and you cum. The feeling is almost too much for him as Eddie’s fingers close around the pillow beside your head and he pounds his release inside of you. 

“Oh, oh, oh, go slow, honey.”, you whimper as he carefully pulls out and falls onto his back beside you, trying to catch his breath. “Good morning.”

He breathily laughs at your joke as he rolls onto his side to face you.

“Good morning. I’m sorry, I just…you looked so beautiful I couldn’t help myself.”

“Oh my god.”, you giggle even as you lightly blush. “What do you have to do today?”

“Um…I kinda want to…spend the day here with you if that’s alright.”

Smiling, you lean towards him and gently kiss his lips.

“I’d like that. I just have to text Paige and let her know I’m not dead.”

***

Throughout the day, you two barely left each other’s side as if to make up for the lost time of the last two weeks. He made you breakfast and afterward you both relaxed on the couch watching a movie that was one of his favorites as a kid.

“From what you told me, your uncle doesn’t seem like the kind of man to let you watch Gremlins at such a young age.”

“Hey, the 80s and 90s were like the wild west, sweetheart.”, he chuckled. “Plus, as a kid, I didn’t actually realize how graphic this movie was. I mean look at the little Mogwai!”

You offered to make lunch but he insisted on doing it himself which you were absolutely fine with. You loved watching him move around his kitchen as he focused on the task in front of him. His eyebrows would meet in concentration and sometimes his tongue would stick out making you smile. 

“Where did you learn how to cook?”

“My mom was a wiz in the kitchen and Wayne was a master at the grill.”

“What about your dad?”

“He, uh, wasn’t really a master at anything except being a fuck up. He could cook up some pretty get rich quick type of deals but other than that…”

As his voice trails off, you grab his arm, pulling him to where you were sitting on the counter, placing him between your legs and wrapping your own limbs around his neck so you could kiss him. 

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to but I’m always here whenever you want to talk about it. You can tell me anything, Eddie.”

Softly smiling, he tilts down to kiss you again before asking you about your family.  

You tell him everything you can think of including your own parent’s divorce that you breeze past hoping he won’t ask any questions which he doesn’t and after finishing the delicious meal he prepared you sit on his couch as you two continue to talk about everything that comes to mind. 

You weren’t sure why but talking with Eddie came easy and it wasn’t just because of the topic of conversations. While you told a story, he always kept his chocolate eyes zeroed in on your face as if he was literally taking in every word and digesting it into his soul. Occasionally, his palm would reach for yours or another part of your skin and his thumb would softly caress your flesh as if subconsciously reminding you that he was there and you were being heard. 

In the middle of one of your stories, his phone rang but he didn’t make a move to answer it nor react like he even heard it go off.

“You can answer that.”

“They can leave a message.”, he replies casually.  Smirking, you reach for his phone and when you read off the name, Eddie heavily sighs. “It’s my lawyer.”

“Answer it. This could be important.”

“Not as important as you.”

Again, your eyes locked on his as you searched them for any deception or indication that he was just saying these things to make you feel good before breaking your heart. He saw it immediately, the trepidation. 

“Sweetheart, I’m not going to change on you nor am I hiding how genuinely beautiful I think you are. You mean a lot to me.”, he murmurs soothingly as he reaches out to cup your cheek. 

After giving him a quick kiss, you press the green answer button as he playfully growls and pushes the speaker button with his finger. 

“Hey Carl.”

“Hey, Ed. I thought you were going to come by today?”

“Yeah, um, something came up.”

“Your dick.”, you mouth silently causing his eyes to narrow as he reaches out to lightly poke your side while you bite your lip trying to stifle your laugh. 

“Ok, not a problem, but please come around at least before Friday so we can talk about things. Are you sure you still want to give her the house? I mean after what she did you don’t want anything—”

“Ah, nope, Carl. I’m good with everything. I just want to get this over with as quickly and seamlessly as possible. I’ll come by tomorrow so we can talk. Ok, bye.”

“Well, that didn’t sound suspicious at all.”, you laugh as he takes his phone and hangs it up before tossing it on the table. 

“Sorry. Force of habit. Usually, when people find out I’m not asking for anything I either get the ‘Be a man’ speech or the ‘after what she did’ lecture. I just want to move on, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. My parents dealt with their divorce for a couple of years going back and forth on petty shit. Imagine being a little kid watching your parents go to court to argue about who gets the silver lamp in the living room.”, you giggle as your eyes fall to the void. “It took a while before they got to fighting over me.”

Calloused fingers lift your chin and you’re met with soft lips to yours. 

That evening without telling him, you ordered both of you a pizza and he sighed at your stubbornness as he shook his head. 

“I take care of YOU, little miss.”

“Yeah, ya do.”, you grin as you open the box and crack open one of his beers. “But I can take care of you sometimes to.”

Smiling the entire time, you two finished your meal and you were so giddy off the alcohol and the evening, you crawled into his lap to curl up in his embrace. 

“You alright?”

“More than.”, you giggle as you nuzzle into his neck. “What were you like when you were my age?”

Eddie laughs and as his whole chest vibrates you feel yourself dropping down further into that headspace. 

“Welp, back in ma day…”, he starts with a southern accent, unable to keep it up when he feels your body radiate with a happy energy that has him grinning wide. “No, um, I guess you could say I was a nerd. I played D&D with my friends and was into all that fantasy shit even then.”

As your forehead presses against his neck, your palm absently rubs his pecs to his shoulder before repeating the process. 

“I loved heavy metal and playing with my guitar. Some nights I could stay up till dawn just smoking cigarettes, playing, and talking with my friends. Then suddenly I was a husband and a father.”

Eddie feels you scrunch closer to him and his hand comes up behind you to tenderly stroke your hair. 

“Being a husband was never like this.”, he murmured. “I never felt…I don’t know…everything happened so fast. There’s not one moment I can think of where we had a day like I had today with you.” Your palm cupped his cheek as you leaned back so your eyes could meet his. “Thank you.”

Nodding, the tip of your nose touches his as he tilts down, pressing his lips to your own. 

“You’re welcome, Daddy.”

A gentle smile paints his lips as he tilts you onto your back to allow your head to lay on the arm rest as he opens your legs and lays his upper body between them to kiss your soft tummy beneath his shirt you were wearing. 

Eddie’s large hand braces against your hip as he closes his eyes and rests his head, exhaling when your fingers come down to play with his hair. You’re not sure how long you both lay like that but you know its long enough to fully fall into the warmth of your subby girl headspace and when his head tilts to look up at you, you know he sees it to. 

“If we were the same age and went to school together, do you think you still would have wanted me?”

His grin grows as you nod your head before your mouth opens and you tease, “No.”

Biting your lip, you giggle as he quirks his eyebrow and very lightly, spanks the side of your behind.  

“I’m just kidding, Daddy. I definitely would have wanted you to be mine. We would have had to sneak around though.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“My father wasn’t a fan of me dating, let alone dating bad boys like you.”

Eddie’s laugh hisses through his teeth as he leans his cheek against your knee and places his palm on your mound, allowing his thumb to hover near your parted legs. 

“What makes you think I was a bad boy, huh?”

“Guitar, smoker, motorcycle, getting into fights… Naw, you were definitely an altar boy.”

Your breath hitches as his thumb presses down on the fabric of your panties just barely allowing friction on your clit. 

“Psh, I didn’t learn how to ride a motorcycle till I was 30.”, he jests. “Everything else was on point though. I definitely would have had you on the couch in my uncle’s trailer on the second date.”

“Second date?”

“I’m a gentleman, sweetheart.” Eddie smiles wide when you cackle, loving the way your body moves when you do. “Jesus, these panties are soaked. Is that all because of me?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

His chocolate irises lock on your face as his tongue flattens against the garment blocking your cunt. 

“Fuck, you always taste so good.”

Pushing up onto your elbows, you watch as he slowly licks up and down repeatedly driving you crazy at the delicate pace. 

“Daaaaaddy…”

“Am I being too mean, baby?”, he chuckles at your whine. “I’m sorry. I just…I love taking my time with you.” Your body slightly trembles as he tenderly kisses the meat of your thigh, trailing his lips to your core before making you pout when he stops. “Let’s get these off.”, Eddie whispers as he reaches for the band of your underwear and slides them down your legs. 

Your phone on the table vibrates but you ignore it as you feel his tongue finally where you want it. 

“Please.”

“So beautiful, Y/N.”

Placing your palm over the one he has resting on your side, you moan as he runs the organ in his mouth from top to bottom between your folds, stopping to flick and suck your clit before repeating the process. 

“Fuck, just like that.”

Your heavy pants encouraged him while he continued to devour you, his lips always having you see stars. 

Again, your phone went off and you grunt in frustration when Eddie pauses. 

“You should check that.”

“I can call them back. Don’t stop—”

“Could be important—”

Angerly you grab your device, checking who was stopping you from getting what you needed. 

“It’s no one.”

“Yet they’ve called twice—”

“Eddie, please!”

The man moved in the blink of an eye; his muscular arm reaching over you to grip your cheeks till your lips puckered out. He didn’t say anything and he didn’t need to. His annoyed eyes burning into your own as you swallowed, trying to calm down. 

“I’m sorry, Daddy.”

Eddie nodded, accepting your apology as he brought your lips to his. The phone rang again and this time you showed him your screen. 

Brad

He growled lightly before a devious smirk painted his features and he answered the call. Your eyes widened in shock as you hit his shoulder but he effortlessly caught your wrist and pulled you forward so his lips could kiss you again. 

“Hello? Y/N, are you there?”

“What do you want, Bradly?”, you hiss sassily causing the metalhead to snicker. 

“I want to talk. It’s been a couple days and I haven’t heard from you. I got punched in the fucking face and my girlfriend doesn’t seem to give a damn.”

“I’m NOT your girlfriend.”

With amazing strength, Eddie pushed you back against the couch and lifted your legs over his shoulders as he pressed his face back between your folds. 

“Then what the fuck have these last couple of weeks been?!” Covering your mouth with your hand, you tried to muffle the moans that wanted to escape as the boxer made out with your pussy, his mouth barely lifting from you while his tongue expertly roamed. “Huh?! Fucking answer me!”

“It…it was…was a mistake. Now leave m-me alone.”

“You think you can just play around with my emotions like that?!”

“Fuck…Fuck you…you can’t just…come b-back into my life and think—”

“Y/N are you…are you with someone?”, he growled eliciting a smile when you felt Eddie do the same. 

Climbing up the length of your body, two of his fingers slide effortlessly inside of you and as he thrusts them into your cunt his head falls beside yours. 

“Tell him, baby. Tell him Daddy’s taking care of you.”, he whispered, your eyes rolling shut. 

“I’m with…with Daddy…fuck M’gonna cum.”

“Naw…you…your fucking lying. Trying to make me jealous. Who would want someone like you?”, he sneered. 

“There she is. That’s it, pretty girl. Cum hard for me.”, Eddie said more prominently as your body shook and the coil snapped. “Good…good girl…MY beautiful angel.”

You smiled up at him as he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean. 

“Alright, honey, time to let little boy go so Daddy can make you cum on his cock.”

“Fuck you! And fuck you, Y/N! How dare you—”

You couldn’t help but laugh as he hung up your phone and tossed it across the room on the opposite chair. 

“Do you think he’ll recognize your voice?”

“I think he was to hung up on his ego to notice, fucking asshole.”

“Aw…I like who you get all grouchy like an old man.”, you coo obnoxiously as he chuckles. 

“Hey now. You’re my girl and no one insults my girl.”

At his words, your smile faulters slightly as your fingers reach up to caress his cheek down to the stubble on his chin. 

“I’m your girl?”

“Yeah…yeah, sweetheart, if you want to be. I know we have some…I don’t know…kinks to work out—”

“I guess you could call it that.”, you joke and his grin grows.

“But I just want you to know that I’m not…I mean…I haven’t been with anyone since I met you.”

“I haven’t either. Brad and I didn’t…we didn’t do anything, I swear. I like being with you. I feel safe with you.”

The tip of his nose grazes your own. 

“You are safe with me, baby. No matter what happens I’ll be here and I’ll protect you.”

Your lips gently kiss his, steadily growing more passionate as his lower half grinds against you seeking friction and Eddie lets out a soft hum as your palms run down his bare, muscular back. With closed eyes, his forehead leans against your own as you pull down his sweats enough to free his hard cock within. 

Your eyes watch his gorgeous face as his eyebrows furrow together and he licks his lips at the feeling of your hand around him. 

“Let me feel you, pretty girl.”, he whispers and you oblige as you guide his length to your entrance.

He effortlessly takes over as he gradually thrusts his cock inch by inch into your cunt and every time his hips touch your own an utterly sexy strained grunt escapes his mouth as his jaw goes slack.

“Fuck, your pussy takes me so well. Mmph—taking Daddy so deep, baby.”

Your legs lock at the ankle around his waist and his head falls into the nook of your neck as his hand comes up along the other side to dig into the fabric of the couch as if he’s using it for leverage to try and push himself deeper. 

“Atta girl…how-how does it feel?”

You struggled to find words as his mushroom tip delicious glided along that spot inside of you gradually that had your eyes rolling. Pushing up on to his palms, his long hair tickled your face forcing your gaze to meet his.

“Tell me, honey. I need to hear it.”

Eddie knew what he was doing. 

He knew you having trouble recollecting the English language as he purposely arched his back and rolled his hips.

“Tell Daddy, baby.”

At his whispered words, he smirked as your pussy tightened around him and your whimpered breath hit his face.

“Feels good…Fuck… please…”

Falling flat against you, his palm slid down to rub your thigh around him.

“Please what?”

“Faster, Daddy, please. I wanna cum.”

The feathery kiss he placed just below your ear was light but the way he thrust himself was anything but as he did what you pleaded. Your fingers threaded through his hair as your arms wrapped around his back and Eddie mewled at the feeling of your lips trailing along shoulder to his neck. 

“Cum…Cum with me.”

He didn’t verbally respond but you felt him nod as he picked up his pace and his grunts of pleasure filled your ears. Clinging him tighter to you, your orgasm crashed into you like a wave and a giddy smile remained on your lips as he roughly pumped his release into your heat. 

While his head rested on your chest, you kissed his forehead before he pushed up onto his elbows to give you a soft kiss. 

“Nooooo…”, you whine as he starts to get up and push away from you.

“I’ll be right back, sweetheart, I promise. I have to clean you. Do you want another shirt? Something not slightly covered in my sweat.”, Eddie teases as he pulls up his pants and starts heading for the bathroom. 

“No, thank you. It… smells like…you.”

He chuckled as he shook his head and disappeared to get a washrag. 

“Well, at least let’s move to the bed so you’ll be—”

When he entered his living room again, your eyes were closed giving him pause as he took in the sight before him. Kneeling down on the floor, he carefully opened your legs and tried to clean you without moving you too much, murmuring soft apologies when he notices your face scrunch at the feeling. 

“I think you were a good husband.” Eddie’s brown irises fleet to your face as you continue, your eyes still closed even through your head was turned towards him. “You said…being a husband never felt…like this. I don’t think…that was your fault. I think you were a good husband…”

Smiling, his hand cups your cheek as his thumb runs along your soft features. 

As he watches his arm across you rise and fall steadily, he realizes you’d fallen asleep again and as carefully as he can, lifts you in his arms to bring you back to his bed. After crawling in himself on his side facing you, you promptly scoot closer to him and press your face into his chest. 

His arm circles around you as he places his chin on top of your head while staring out the window behind you into the city skyline.

“Thank you, baby, for what you said. I’d…I’d like a chance to try again one day…to be a husband…maybe someday soon.” When you don’t react, he knows you’re down for the count. “Baby?”, he questions, just to make sure but when you don’t stir, he cranes his neck to kiss your forehead before whispering delicately against your skin, “I love you, Y/N.” 

###################

@dashingdeb16 @myherometalhead @micheledawn1975 @hardladyheart @chelebelletx @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @paleidiot @alphabetically-deranged @sophiejayne-illustrations713 @yesimabratandwhataboutot @idkwhattoputhere08 @gryffindorqueensworld @mewchiili @veemoon @heavenlyhorrors @twirls827 @jamiecb66 @chelebelletx @longpondlibrary @friendly-neighborhood-ghoul @hellv1ra @utterlyinsanity @eddiesclub @wiinterwiidow @stylesxmunson

[emsprovisions]

❄️ Day 9 - Catan and Christmas ❄️

🎁 Today's fic is dedicated to @guardian-angle22

Summary: Carlos saves Christmas at the firehouse.

Word count: 722

Prompt inspired by "20. playing board games" found here

24 Days of Tarlos Masterpost

TK couldn’t get out of working Christmas Day this year. It used to not matter to him. He used to accept every Christmas Day shift if he wasn’t already working because it never really mattered to him if he missed. It’s not like his father did much to make the day special, having always picked up Christmas shifts himself once he had divorced TK’s mom.

But now, TK has Carlos. He loves Christmasses with his husband. The big Reyes family celebration is always on Christmas Eve–Nochebuena–at the Reyes Ranch, and they’d gotten home late last night as it was, only for TK to turn around and come into work a few short hours later. Christmas Day is always a lazy affair with Carlos. When neither of them has to work, they sleep in, then stay in bed even longer. When they finally get up, they make breakfast together and exchange presents and enjoy the early part of their day with coffee they make last before showering and preparing dinner for their parents, or otherwise getting ready to go to one of their parents’ houses for dinner. 

However, since TK has to work this Christmas, Carlos has taken it upon himself to show up at the firehouse with beef tenderloin and board games. 

“Babe!” TK’s entire face lights up when Carlos walks through the bay doors, his arms laden with grocery bags of stuff. “I thought you were going to go to your mom’s since Ana’s still in town?”

Carlos just quirks a brow. “And spend Christmas without my husband? Are you joking?”

TK just shakes his head, starry eyed as he helps lighten Carlos’s load, helping him carry it all into the kitchen. 

Most of the crew is already in there, prepping sides in-between calls for their own feast. There’s a bag of chicken breasts marinating in the fridge in garlic, lemon, and thyme, and Mateo is making mashed potatoes while Nancy is leaning against the counter at his side. Marjan is working on a shaved brussel sprout salad, Paul is on roasted veggies, and Judd is warming bread rolls. 

“Hey, Carlos!” Nancy calls out as she glances up from her phone, being the first to notice him. “Did you bring presents?”

“I brought beef tenderloin and Catan,” Carlos grins. 

The members of the 126 cheer anyways, except for Judd, who just shakes his head. “Y’all and your Catan, you can count me outta that game.”

“You know, probie,” Marjan grins mischievously as she turns her eyes on Judd, “I think it’d be a Christmas wish come true if you played Catan with us just once.”

Judd just heavily sighs. “And you’re gonna get the captains in on this too, I s’pose?”

“Oh, absolutely,” TK grins. “It’ll finally be a true 126 hang!”

“Plus me,” Carlos adds.

“You’re an honorary member, babe,” TK winks. “You married into the firehouse fam.”

A couple of hours and a few short calls later, as much of the 126 as possible is seated around the long dining table while TK is setting up Catan plus a few expansion packs. The usual crew is attempting to explain the game to Judd and Tommy–Owen declined on account of paperwork. 

They end up with a Frankenstein game of Catan with all the extra pieces from multiple expansion packs. Paul isn’t even sure the game is playable like this, but Marjan and Mateo wave his concerns off. 

“This’ll be fine,” Marjan says, waving her hands in the air. 

It’s a really fucked up game of Catan, but everyone’s laughing and having fun, and it feels a lot better than any Christmas TK’s ever been stuck at the firehouse for, even his previous ones in Austin have never felt quite this joyous. TK’s pretty sure it has something to do with the man biting his lip and grinning beside him, a gold wedding ring on his hand signifying he belongs to someone—TK, specifically—as he attempts to get wool from Nancy for their settlement. 

Between rounds, when Carlos gets up for a drink refill, TK follows him to the fridge and hugs his husband tightly. 

“Thank you for doing this, baby,” TK murmurs into Carlos’s ear.

“I wouldn’t dream of missing spending Christmas with you, TK,” Carlos kisses TK’s cheek. “Let’s get back over there?”

TK nods. “Merry Christmas, baby.”

“Merry Christmas.”

[s4bbatical]

YOUR GIRL | Part 2. Patrick Zweig x Female!Reader

Pairing: Patrick Zweig x female!reader, Tashi Duncan x female!reader (platonic)

Summary: After your parents announce their divorce, you're sent to New York to pursue your passion for the arts at NYU. Your cousin, the infamous tennis player Tashi Duncan, introduces you to her insufferable colleagues at a house party in the upper east side. Already a sore thumb from rural Canada, Patrick can't help but find interest in an untouched territory.

Word Count: 5,5k

Warnings: Sexual tension, profanities, mentions of cigarette use.

MINORS DNI

Notes: The timeline is inaccurate in comparison to the film, this is an AU. All characters introduced are barely in their early 20s, unless stated otherwise. No use of y/n.

Part 1. Part 3. Part 4.

CHAPTER TWO: “Everything is Embarrassing”

"Could've been my anything, now everything is embarrassing."

It had been two weeks since the house party scene had unfolded, and to no avail, you could not stop thinking of those green eyes. They watched you in the back of your mind no matter what you did, whether it was homework or taking a shower. They never leaved you alone.

The worst part is, you hadn’t even seen him since the gathering. The constant recollection of how he stared at you, haunted you more than the idea of his presence itself. It was embarrassing.

-

You found yourself walking into a coffee shop not far from your grandparent’s home, willing to perform in the corner of the space by convincing yourself that you’d get any of your homework done.

You ordered a black coffee, not in the mood to drink anything heavy as your stomach already felt uneasy with the deadlines you had waiting for you.

Tashi had agreed to sleep over, on the condition you’d be willing to meet her at the recreational space provided by NYU later that day. You two had a family gathering the next day, so it made sense. Plus, she loved you like you were her sister. She was more than happy to spend time with you.

Tashi was already training even though it was the off season. You envied her drive, but wouldn’t dare doing half the things she did. Your uphill treks to even make it to your classes were more than enough.

You stared at your laptop screen, feeling the blue rays burn your eyes into your skull. You read the first paragraph of your paper at least five times over, hoping you’d find a spark in you to write the second one. One would think that writing a paper on a topic you actually enjoyed would be a walk in the park, that is, if the park was burning in flames.

You end up scrolling on your phone not soon after, somehow ending up on Patrick Zweig’s Instagram page by diving deep enough on your cousin’s profile. You hated to admit that this wasn’t the first time you had done this within the past two weeks.

You feel yourself get worked up slightly as you scrolled past the photos of him on the court, sweat and lean muscle encapsulated perfectly within the professionally taken photos.

Your thumb slips as you attempt to refocus on your task at hand, accidentally liking a family photo from two years ago. You gasp quietly to yourself.

“Shit!” You whisper, removing your like from the photo before putting your phone face down on the table. Shockingly, you manage to find a jolt of energy to continue writing your paper in fear of looking at your phone once more. You heard your phone vibrate, but refuse to look at it.

An hour goes by, you've grown tired of looking at the words on your screen again. Without thinking, you pick up your phone to look at your notifications.

pat_zweig started following you.

Your eyes widen at the notification, hesitantly unlocking your phone and opening the Instagram app. You decide to follow him back, feeling as if your chest was about to explode by how fast your heart rate had gone up.

You watch as you receive a new DM.

pat_zweig: thinking of me are you?

You put your phone back down, shaking your head. You begin to pack up your belongings, seeing it was nearly time to meet up with Tashi and it takes nearly an hour to get there from your current location. Your face surely had gone red from the interaction, wanting to disappear into the hole of the earth and become one with the dirt.

You begrudgingly exit the café, walking over to the subway to get yourself to the West Village.

-

You approach the large recreational center, using your student card to get inside.

You notice students from different skill levels and sport backgrounds exercising in their own bubbles, paying no mind to each other unless necessary. You walk over to an empty bench, sitting down as you scan the room for Tashi. She was nowhere to be seen.

You remember there’s a tennis court in the next space over, picking up yourself back up.

You walk over to the next heavy set of doors that led to an outside lot attached to the building, pushing them open to reveal the court. You still don’t see Tashi.

You sigh, pulling out your phone to see if your cousin had texted you; nothing from her end. You scan the space again whilst walking into the bleachers. You set your bag down, deciding that she could find you here.

Off season apparently meant nothing to these people, watching them work up a sweat in the late September breeze. Your mind is so set on the schoolwork you left behind that you don’t even notice exactly who is playing until you begin to focus on faces.

Your eyes land on Patrick.

He was on the furthest court away from the door, which is why you hadn’t noticed him at first. He was playing a round against Art.

You watched closely as he smacked the ball, hard. His muscles moved with every decision he made, your eyes wandering down to his exposed legs, specifically his thighs.

You felt your face flush again, finding somewhere to sit before anyone could notice you fixated on the sight in front of you. You pull out your phone and text Tashi quickly.

where r u? i’m sitting by the tennis court

You look up right in time to watch Patrick begin to chase around Art after their game ends. As Art falls to the ground in a dramatic feat, this is when Patrick finally makes eye contact with you. He slows down, now only about 20 feet away from you. You could see that smirk from the top of the empire state building if you tried hard enough.

You knew he wanted to talk to you, and a part of you wanted him to, like a child playing with fire. Before he has a chance to approach you, Tashi appears from what seemed like thin air with her bag around her shoulder.

“Sorry, I was in the locker room.” She says, approaching you with a smile.

You snap out of your daze, looking up at your cousin. "Took you long enough." You force out.

“Let’s go, I am starving.” She says, signaling you to follow her.

You get up once more, moving your messenger bag across your body. The two of you climb down from the bleachers and make your way to the exit. You quickly glance back as Tashi opens the doors, looking at Patrick.

He was watching you closely, his eyes sizing you up. He waves at you with that diabolical smirk once your eyes meet again, just like he did at the party. You mentally kick yourself, despising the excitement you felt from this situation. Tashi would be immensely disappointed in you, to say the least. You look away.

“Hello, you okay?” Tashi asks, waving her hand in front of your face as the doors closed behind you two.

You blink repeatedly, coming to. “Yeah, sorry. My essay has drained me mentally.” You smack your cheeks lightly, attempting to straighten out your brain and rebuke any thoughts of that mischievous bastard.

Tashi laughs at you. “Okay you weirdo.” She says, linking arms with you. “I drove today, by the way. No shitway for us.”

Tashi has referred to the subway as such for as long as you could remember. She grew up better off than you, avoiding public transit whenever she could. However, she always willingly rode the subway with you when you visited. It was apart of the experience, you had always reasoned with her. Since you were now a local until further notice, the desire to do so wasn’t as strong now that you had to take the subway yourself nearly every day.

-

The car ride was long but bearable. Tashi had let you choose the music, also letting you complain when she apparently had no good CDs. They were her parents CDs, anyways. It didn’t matter to her.

You felt your phone vibrate on your lap, lifting it up to see what notification you got as Tashi droned on about her own studies.

pat_zweig: do you always look that hot and bothered, or is it because of me?

You gulp quietly, side eyeing Tashi to make sure she wasn’t taking notice to what you were doing on your phone as you continued to nod in agreement to whatever she was saying.

You: do you always speak to women like this, or are you just born this way?

You didn’t really want to put up a fight with Patrick, but you found it only fair to at least try to drive him away on your cousin’s behalf.

pat_zweig: only to the ones id like to see underneath me to be honest

You gasp loudly at the aforementioned text, causing Tashi to become concerned.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” She asks quickly, taking her eyes off the road for a second to look over at you.

“Nothing! Nothing.” You laugh nervously, holding your phone screen away from her sight. “I just uh, I realized I had something due sooner than I expected.” You say curtly, pulling gently at the neckline of your sweater. You stared at the message over and over, taken aback by his crass response. You quickly text back.

You: wowww you’re really ambitious! you should direct that energy towards your personal goals in life and actually make something of yourself

You knew that you were being rude, but you had a feeling he enjoyed being ridiculed by you. It was quite obvious that you couldn’t say anything that would make him leave you alone. Quite frankly, that’s the last thing you’d wish for him to do.

pat_zweig: what if my personal goal is to know what it’s like?

You hastily put your phone in your pocket as the two of you approach your grandparent’s home, your body burning to the touch.

“Do you need help with that assignment?” Tashi asks once she parked her car and turned off the ignition.

“What assignment?” You ask, confused by her question.

Tashi gives you a quizzical look. “The one you seem really worked up over. You’ve barely spoken for the last five minutes. You don’t do that.” She points out, gesturing towards you.

You laugh again. “No, it’s fine, sorry. My mind is just–“ You whistle, pointing your finger out the window. “–elsewhere today. Ignore me.” You say, stepping out of the car and closing the passenger door.

You retrieve your bags from the backseat, Tashi giving you a look like she didn’t fully believe you. Albeit, she did not question you further.

As the two of you have dinner with your grandparents, your mind keeps wandering back to the message. Your imagination gets the best of you as you thought about what it is like to have his calloused hands on your exposed skin, the same flames as before licking at your core. Deep down, you wanted to find out.

“Excuse me, I have to use the washroom.” You says suddenly, getting up to exit the room and run upstairs.

“Don’t be long! We still have dessert!” Your grandmother exclaims after you.

You felt your heart race as you closed the door behind you, sitting on the ledge of the bathtub as you unlocked your phone. You go to text back Patrick.

You: and what exactly is it that you’d do in order to find that out?

This was getting messy. You knew you were doing something you shouldn’t have, and it only enticed you more to the situation.

-

Patrick didn’t text back right away. In fact, he didn’t at all until you and Tashi were in your room a few hours later, staying up watching rom coms.

Tashi was laying beside you, her eyes barely staying open. Jennifer Hudson was meeting Matthew McConaughey for the first time in How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days when your phone buzzed again. You looked at it instantly.

pat_zweig: what are you doing rn?

pat_zweig: i’ll answer your question in person

Your eyes flicker between Tashi and the movie before responding.

You: i’m busy sorry

pat_zweig: not busy enough to be ignoring me though, right?

You don’t respond right away, your mind drifting off over the imagery he has given you. Patrick sends you another text.

pat_zweig: you’re thinking about it, aren’t you

You: about what?

You knew exactly what he was referring to, but something about trying to make him say it out loud made it even better.

pat_zweig: you know what i mean, you're smarter than that

pat_zweig: are you sure you’re busy?

You look over at Tashi. She’s fallen asleep without you even realizing it. You purse your lips in deep thought, weighing out your options. You respond back.

You: i can’t tonight

You watch as the typing bubble reappears then disappear multiple times before he finally messages you back.

pat_zweig: enjoy that dream world of yours in the meantime then

pat_zweig: goodnight

You feel your cheeks warm up, placing your phone face down on the bed beside you.

You begin to think about what would it be like; to be underneath him, over him, in front, his head between your–

You flip over to bury your face in your pillow, attempting to suffocate the thoughts out of your mind. Without trying, you end up falling asleep.

-

As the morning rises, you and Tashi busy yourselves with school assignments for the earlier half of the day.

"Stop moving or this portrait is gonna look disfigured." You state, Tashi readjusting herself in your desk chair once again. You had to paint a subject for your visual studies course, figuring your cousin would be a great example. Except, she could not sit still for the life of her.

"Sorry, the coffee is getting to me." She admits, keeping her face straight as you continue to paint the base of the image.

"Just let me get the color grade right, then you can get up." You say, sticking out your tongue slightly as you focus on the canvas.

Your grandparents and Tashi's parents liked to host family gatherings every couple of months or so, preferably when it was still warm outside so they had an excuse to use the barbecue. The entire house was expected to be in attendance, meaning you and your grandparents. Tashi explained that her parents were more than happy to do so, considering your appearance in their home of New York.

"Okay..." You lay down a few more strokes before humming in approval. "You're free to roam now."

Tashi gets up instantly, stretching out her back. "I'm grateful you asked me to do this, but don't make me do it again please." She pleas, groaning slightly.

"Noted." You say, putting the paintbrush into your jar of murky water.

"Girls! Are you hungry? I'm making appetizers for later." Your aunt Diane exclaims from the bottom of the stairs.

"Do you think she made pigs in a blanket?" You ask Tashi excitedly, who laughs at your facial expression.

"Coming, mom!" She yells back, exiting the room with you trailing behind.

The two of you enter the kitchen, seeing all kinds of ingredients laid out on the counter. Your grandmother was assisting Diane, your grandfather outside with Tashi's dad Mike as the two hovered over the barbecue. There were in fact, pigs in a blanket on the counter. You reach your hand out for one.

"Careful baby," Your grandmother warns. "They're fresh out of the oven. Wait a few minutes."

You nod, retracting your hand. "What time is everyone supposed to be here at?" You ask, sitting on a stool.

"About an hour, just a few more family friends is all." Diane explains. "I invited Michelle and her folks. I haven't seen her in quite some time, I'm very ecstatic." She muses, a smile forming on her face.

"Who's Michelle?" Tashi asks, taking a grape from a nearby bowl and throwing it into her mouth.

"An old friend of mine from college. Her son actually goes to NYU too, tennis player as well." Her mom says, pointing her knife towards Tashi before going back to cutting tomatoes.

"What's his name? I might know him." Tashi states.

"I honestly can't remember, honey. He's coming too though, I believe. You'll see then if you know him or not." Diane shrugs.

Your phone vibrates, pulling it out of your back pocket.

pat_zweig: any wet dreams of me last night?

You roll your eyes, turning your body away from the conversation between your family members.

You: that would actually be a nightmare. so no, thankfully

pat_zweig: you're really good at pretending you don't give a shit about me

pat_zweig: keep it up and i might get hard ;)

You scoff, putting your phone back in your pocket. Unbelievable.

Your grandmother says your name, earning your attention. "Can you mix up the caesar salad for me while I get these tarts going?" She asks with a drawl of her Brooklyn accent.

"Course." You say, getting off the stool and catering to your grandmother's needs.

-

The door bell rings. Not realizing it had already been an hour, your aunt makes a noise of excitement as she heads over to the front door. She begins greeting people you have either last seen when you were 14, or have never met at all.

You felt like your head was metaphorically hit with a large stone when you see a familar head of black curls step through the threshold of the front door. You hear Tashi choke on her water behind you.

"Grandma, what's Michelle's last name?" You ask quickly, turning away from the scene to face your grandmother.

"Oh, Zweig I think. Why?" She says casually, having no idea about the chaos that was about to ensue.

Tashi locks eyes with you, although you knew you didn't look nearly as pissed off as she did over his presence.

"I'm going to help dad outside." She says calmly, quickly walking through the sliding door that was already open.

You debate whether or not you should follow your cousin, but you didn't wish to create a situation. "Is Tashi alright?" Your grandmother asks.

"She will be." You sigh, turning back towards the guests. It would be rude of you to not say hi, after all.

Patrick looks at you, standing beside his mother. That's where he gets his looks from. You think to yourself.

"Michelle, this is my niece." Diane introduces you, Michelle stepping forward and engulfing you in a hug.

"Your Steph's daughter? Gosh, you are quite the stunner." Michelle says, rubbing your back briskly before stepping back. "This is my son, Patrick."

Patrick smiles innocently. "Oh, we know each other already." He says nonchalantly.

"Oh really? You must know Tashi then," Your aunt glances around. "I'm not sure where she went, though." She hums.

Michelle and Diane rejoice in conversation, wandering off to the backyard to join the men. Your grandmother had began bringing out snacks to the dining table, leaving you and Patrick alone in the kitchen.

He leans against the counter, a little too comfortably close to you. "Long time no talk." He muses, grabbing a grape from the bowl behind you and popping it into his mouth. A grin spreads across his face when he realizes how tense you are.

"Did you know I'd be here?" You ask with a flippant tone. "It's like you get off by making me uncomfortable." You suggest, crossing your arms.

Patrick shrugs. "Don't know," He leans in close. "you didn't seem that uncomfortable last night." He glances down at your lips before making eye contact once more. "Also, no, I didn't know. Pleasant surprise." He murmurs before stepping away, heading towards the backyard.

You let go of the breath you didn't realize you were holding, deciding to preoccupy yourself by helping your grandmother arrange appetizers on the dining table.

-

More family members arrived over time, nearly everyone either outside on the lawn or sitting around the dining table with drinks.

You had decided to stand on the balcony connecting to the master bedroom, having a cigarette so the smoke wouldn't be a disturbance to anyone. You watched carefully as Patrick entertained one of your younger relatives, trying not to laugh as the kid threw his stuffed animal at his face. He feigned being hurt, earning a hug from the little boy. It warmed your heart a bit, seeing this side to him. You hear the door open behind you, turning your head to see Tashi.

"I cannot believe he showed up, seriously." She scoffs, looking over the scenery. "He knew this was my family's gathering, it's like he enjoys being the piece of shit on the bottom of my shoe or something." She says bitterly, taking a sip of the diet coke in her hand.

You tilt your head side to side, somewhat agreeing with her. You blow out smoke. "At least he isn't trying anything," You attempt to reason. "But I get it. If I were you, I'd wanna kick him in the nuts or something too." It wasn't far from what your feeling yourself.

After a few moments of silence, Tashi speaks once again. "I think I'm gonna head home, I have an early day tomorrow anyways." She sighs, looking over at you. "Are you gonna be alright?" She asks, clearly referring to the threat down below.

"Oh, yeah." You reassure. "These bad boys?" You flex your arms as your cigarette hangs out of you mouth. You put your arms back down and hold out your smoke to continue speaking. "They'll protect me."

Tashi laughs quietly, nodding. "Okay then. I'm heading out." She pulls you in for a brief hug. "You smell like cigarettes." She comments, her nose scrunching up a bit.

"Hm, wonder why." You say, raising your brows as you inhale the cigarette once more.

Tashi smiles at you. "Okay, bye." She says, returning back into the house.

You put out the cancerous addiction into the ash tray on top of the side table to your right, resting your arms on the railing. You look back down, watching your relatives mingle with one another. You smile, yet felt heavy without the presence of your mom around. You were pretty good at calling her every other day, but it just wasn't the same.

You make eye contact with Patrick, who holds up a pack of his own smokes, gesturing to your current location. You roll your eyes. You knew it was best if he smoked where you were than anywhere else. You nod, watching him grin as he disappears into the house.

A minute later, he joins you on the balcony, closing the sliding door behind him. He doesn't say a word, putting a cigarette in his mouth. He pats down his pockets, looking for a lighter.

You flick yours and hold it up, allowing Patrick to lean in and light his smoke without you even looking at him.

You listen to him inhale then exhale, standing right beside you.

"Beautiful evening, isn't it?" He says, no indication of arrogance in his words. He actually might be genuine for once.

"Mm, yeah." You mumble, resting your chin on the palm of your hand.

He leans over the railing to make eye contact with you. "You okay?" He asks, noticing your lack of sarcasm.

"Yeah, it's fine." You say, looking back down at your family members. "It's stupid, I just miss my mom. That's all." You say nonchalantly.

Patrick nods, inhaling his cigarette again. "She's back in Canada, right?" He asks.

"Yep, unfortunately." You say, looking over at him as you purse your lips. "I'm surprised you haven't made a lewd comment yet." You remark, a small smile playing on your lips.

It was odd, there wasn't any tension to slice with a knife. The air was peaceful between the two of you.

Patrick chuckles. "I figured right now isn't a good time. Besides, there's children present." He gestures towards the young children running around the legs of parents who attempted to hold conversation while their kids yelled.

"I don't think they can hear you, nor would they know what you were even saying." You point out, debating whether or not you have another cigarette.

Patrick hums. "I suppose you're right." He says, putting his cigarette out in the ash tray.

You look at each other for a long moment, complete silence taking over. You clear your throat and stand up straight, running a hand through your hair.

"Can I ask you something?" You say, your stomach flipping over as he nods. "Why..." You struggle to find your words. "Why do you do the things you do?"

He furrows his brows at your question. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"How come you like flirting with everyone? You slept with my cousin over the summer and now you're going after me. Why?" You ask. You didn't have any cruel intentions behind your words, you simply just wanted to know why.

Patrick goes silent, his gaze looking down at the ground. "I, I don't know." He mumbles before looking back up at you. "I think I like knowing I have that ability over people." He admits, shrugging. "I'm not trying to achieve anything, I just can't help myself." He says, scratching the back of his neck.

You nod, looking away in thought. "Right, makes sense." You say.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He inquires, sounding nearly offended by your statement.

"Manwhore." You simply say, holding back a smile.

"Oh shut the fuck up." He quips, shaking his head. "You're really something, you know." He adds, looking at you with a certain fondness in your eyes. You were meeting his level, you knew it was entertaining to him.

"I'm something to Patrick Zweig? God bless America." You say sarcastically, placing your hand over your heart.

He mocks you in a high pitched tone, rolling his eyes. "Most women would've caved in by now, even Tashi did." He states, a shit eating grin on his face.

"Hey seriously, don't speak of her like that." You say sternly, clearly upset with his words.

His smile falls, wincing at your words. "Sorry, I'm sorry. That was a low blow, that wasn't cool. Sorry." He says. "I mean it." He adds, his words with a clear indication of regret.

You hum for a moment. "I guess I forgive you." You say, rubbing your arms. The breeze had gotten colder over the course of two weeks, causing goosebumps to rise on your skin.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." He says, a half grin on his face now. "Are you cold? We can go back inside. I think the party is dying down anyways." He points out, grabbing ahold of the door handle.

"Yeah, I should get back to my homework anyways." You state, stepping inside once Patrick opened the door.

The two of you make it out to the hallway, hearing the faint commotion of family downstairs.

Patrick stands awkwardly in the doorway as you enter your bedroom, unsure of what he was allowed to do.

"You can come in, just don't try anything please." You warn him, walking over to your closet to find a change of clothes.

"Course." He says, entering the room. He may be a horny asshole, but he knew when to respect boundaries. "Do you, want me to close the door or...?" He asks timidly.

"Please." You request. "I need to change, so I'd also appreciate it if you stood and faced the wall in the corner." You add, gesturing him towards the other side of the room.

Patrick raises his eyebrow, closing the door before facing the corner beside it. "Go ahead." He says, muffled by the wall.

You watch him as you undress, making sure he doesn't attempt to sneak a peek at you.

"Okay, you may turn around now."

Patrick slowly turns to face you, your outfit now a baggy shirt and some worn out sweatpants. "Wow, what an outfit." He says sarcastically, going over to your bed to sit on it.

"I was trying to impress you." You say with the same amount of humor in your voice, walking over to your desk.

"Are you actually gonna do your homework?" He asks, leaning back against your headboard.

"Yeah, the fuck?" You remark, sitting down in your desk chair.

"Wow." He lets out a low whistle, resting his hands behind his head as he crosses his legs. "Shocking."

"What?" You ask.

You both knew exactly what the other was thinking, but your pride was too big and his ego was too inflated for either of you to say anything about it.

"Nevermind." He says, closing his eyes. "Your bed is comfortable, I might just sleep here tonight." He muses, opening one eye.

"Hm, sorry, there's no flames to recreate the heat of Hell where your apartment must be." You retort, turning to face your laptop.

"You're really funny, I like that." Patrick comments, smiling at the back of your head. "You ever consider stand up?"

"Only if I get to make fun of you on stage for two hours straight." You quip, looking over your shoulder with a smile.

Patrick laughs quietly, standing up from your bed to lean over you, watching your laptop screen. "I cannot understand why a research paper is more exciting than my presence." He says, placing one hand on your chair and the other on your desk beside your hand.

"You'd be surprised." You say humorously, looking up at him.

He looks down at you, his face illuminated by your desk lamp. God, he was one attractive idiot.

He smirked, leaning his face in closer. "Take a picture, it'll last longer." He murmurs.

"I was just about to say the same thing." You whisper. You both hesitantly move in closer, finding yourself slowly losing the battle.

Patrick was not an easy man to ignore, and you were rapidly becoming unsure of your ability to control yourself. His lips just barely graze yours, teasing you slightly. You're about to go all in-

Until someone opens the door.

You both pull away from each other. Patrick is now standing as stiff as a board, his hands stuck to his sides as he pretends to look at your laptop screen. You stared at Diane with wide eyes.

"Oh, sorry you two." She raises a brow. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Nope. She was just showing me her research paper. Boring as hell." Patrick states, walking over to the door. "Is my mom looking for me?" He asks.

"Yes, I was about to say. She just wanted to say goodbye, and if you needed a ride to your apartment." Tashi mom says, eyeing Patrick closely.

You begin to laugh, covering your mouth.

Patrick's ears turn red, laughing awkwardly at Diane's words. "She's so sweet, considering my crappy Volkswagen is in the shop right now." He explains through gritted teeth, making sure you knew he wasn't getting rides from his mom consistently at the proper age of 22. "I'll get going now, goodnight Mrs. Duncan." He says, then looks over at you. "Goodnight." He winks at you before disappearing from view.

She watches him go down the stairs, turning to face you again. "What an interesting man that Patrick is." She states, crossing her arms. "He wasn't trying anything, was he?" She asks cautiously.

"No ma'am, I wouldn't let him do such a thing." You assure her. Like mother like daughter. You think to yourself.

"Alright." She whispers, uncrossing her arms with a smile. "Mike and I are heading out now. Call me if you need me." She states as she quickly walks over and hugs you, placing a kiss on your head. "I love you a lot."

"Will do. I love you too." You respond, smiling.

"Bye baby." Your aunt says before she exits your room, closing the door slowly behind her.

You groan loudly a few moments later, dragging your hands over your face in frustration towards no one but yourself. You almost succumbed to the powers of Patrick Zweig, and it was pissing you off.

"Stupid motherfucking pretty boy motherfucker." You mutter bitterly to yourself, grabbing your makeup wipes off your desk to clean your face. "You will not win! Your charms don't work on me, you bitch!" You exclaim, pretending he was still in front of you. You rub the makeup off your face and discard the used wipes in the trashcan by your desk.

Your phone buzzes. You sigh loudly, rubbing your forehead.

"I swear to god." You mutter, grabbing the cellular device.

pat_zweig: next time there will be no interruptions

pat_zweig: goodnight ;)

You toss yourself onto your bed, grabbing your pillow as you scream into it.

You will be the death of me, Patrick Zweig.

-

i know i wrote this but why is he lowkey pissing me off too LMFAO

anyways, thank you for your patience everyone. A whole 24 hours.. blasphemy. I'll get right onto part 3, no doubt about it. also!! over double the amount of the previous word count because i am very grateful for the responses i got. much love you guys.

as always, let me know how you like it, and if you have any suggestions for future pieces lmk! huzzah

much love, isabel

[philaet0s]

For the WIP folder ask game, ex-husbands? 👀

Very very excited about this one ehe

So it's a canon-compliant story -by that I mean that I kept the magical elements; I write so many Normal AUs that I feel like I have to mention it when I don't- and the general idea is this:

Simon and Baz met and got together like in canon, they got married in their late 20s, had a daughter, Cassandra, a few years later, and they divorced in their early 40s.

Over the next decade, they still talked every so often because of their daughter -that they had shared custory of- but every interaction between them was about their kid. Simon has has a few partners that never stuck around for very long (and none of them ever met his daugther, though she did suspect that her dad was seeing someone at times) while Baz was in a relationship for several years (I'm not sure how many yet) that ended a little over a year before the events of the fic. (Cassie told Simon about Baz's new boyfriend, he didn't Vibe with that. Especially not as Cassie actually liked the guy -for those who know my stories, you've guessed it, it's Thomas)

And so this fic begins when they're in their early 50s, with Baz going to a concert. When he leaves the gig, he sees Simon outside the venue. It's the first time that they interact outside of their roles as Cassandra's parents, and things quickly... escalate. They go home to Baz's place and spend the night together. And then *stuff* happens in the morning, but I'm not exactly sure what *stuff* is except that it involves them and their kid

And now an extract!

Simon

“They’re good people,” I say, defensively. Who is he to judge them?

They’re good people and they’re important people to me. I’ve found that vampires are the creatures who make me feel closer to the World of Mages. Mages themselves always make me feel very distant from it; their magic a painful reminder that I have none, now. Vampires are more like me. People with extra bits and a knowledge that the Normal world isn’t all there is out there.

“If you say so…” Baz answers, in that drowsy lazy, slow voice I hate. “Well, as long as those people aren’t around my daughter…”

“She’s my daughter too. Anyone I trust, I trust with her.”

Baz hums. I hate that. We were together for twenty-five years. He should trust me. Especially with Cassie. He knows I would do anything to keep her safe, always.

“Did you enjoy the show?” I ask, trying to erase the last few seconds of this conversation from my mind. I rarely talk to Baz these days. Don’t wanna make it anymore painful than it has to be, so small talk it is.

(You don’t even have to talk to him. You could go back to Mary, finish the night with someone you like.)

But I like him too, don’t I? It’s the tragedy of my life. A divorce and a decade apart have not made hate grow in my heart. Not even indifference, though I so desperately wished for it.

[wordarttmn]

Omori observations 10

Artics

Found a guy who knows Hero!!

Things hero is meant to be:

Caregiver (hot diggity dog)

Protector (mountain)

Saint (goosey)

Now i want to go to the pinwheel platform

And follow those red footprints for good

Ortès

Poems in the fog is a weird track. It feels like it is building up to something that never happens, constantly going back to the beginning (like headspace i guess), and it has an irregular, hesitant rhythm, sometimes going adding extra beats for no reason. It feels like it has some urgency to it, a weird urgency that slows down randomly.

The place had some urgency  the first time i saw it (in trevor’s treefort playthrough)

But it is a weird place. It has the most important letter in the hangman, the one that allows a player to guess the message as early as the prologue if found, but that isn’t obligatory in the plot and might be missed until the very end. And it has kind of nothing else?

Spaghetti which aren’t that important as an item, completely normal bunnies, a mari picnic and a boss i won’t fight today, and that’s about it. This isn’t a lot! It’s pretty small too, especially compared to orange oasis… it doesn’t even have different trees from the main forest!

Red footprints are gone.

Pujòu

What is going on?

Got a daisy from daisy. Daisies are one of the eight flowers that are relevant in this story, and they’re the one whose fan interpretation diverge the most as no canon meaning is given. However it’s also a pretty good item and i will equip it on omori asap.

Or maybe Kel.

Dude your sister is about to rope Aubrey into hitting you repeatedly with a baseball bat.

Come on

I like how that’s the moment they pick to play cards

For as much as sunny probably doesn’t like to admit it, they are.

Time to go fight Space Boyfriend!

Well once i’ve switched trains of course. Seemingly i’ll have to wait over 20 minutes in Dacs

Dacs

Ok so first i find this interesting

it’s a first hint that their relationship was more than rocky.

Also, not only Kel is not following the conversation, but no one is paying attention to what he is doing at all.

Time to discuss my idea i guess

I think that although Headspace is avoiding touching on the elephant in the room, as a dream it will end up surfacing Sunny’s more palatable worries and anxieties. And this dream in particular seems to bring up a lot of elements of Sunny’s home life. A home life marked by divorce or breakup, moving (the cardboard boxes having the same text as the ones in Sunny’s actual home).

i’m not sure how much Spaceboy and Sweetheart are meant to be a 1:1 representation of Sunny’s parents (i don’t really think they are, if anything they might be switched gender-wise with Spaceboy being the one left behind). The space pirates staying behind doing chores has a parallel with Sunny doing the same for his mother.

And the junkyard is littered with objects that seem to come from Sunny’s memories. Just like the house may be.

i’ve drawin attention earlier to the fact that the scary stairs are not the real stairs, or at least not the modern ones. But because they’re also filled with boxes, they might have looked like that in real life as recently as a few months ago.

I admit it, Spaceboy being a representation of Sunny’s mom is something that i came up with right now in the train. Because i don’t believe she’s that well adjusted anymore. How could she be?

Of course that doesn’t excuse the leaving Sunny home with absolutely no food, but it could explain it.

Might be a galaxy brained idea but let me cook here.

Space Boyfriend’s Tape - I want Nothing More might not be sung by Sweetheart.

He changed hair color. He had his little transformation scene under his bedsheets. And the space pirates just ran away really fast.

He says, while clearly not in his NEUTRAL state

Morcencs

Trouble - NEVER/ALWAYS is probably the missing theme for what’s coming

Aubrey has absolutely no reason to intervene here as always. She still does it because she likes starting boss fights.

You Were Wrong. Go Back - alright: we’ve got the 3BL ostinato (minor key) mixed with a motif from Trouble, and together they make most of the prologue, before we switch to the Stardust Diving melody. Surprisingly, nothing from Lost, then Found.

i’m afraid Spaceboy will be a little too easy to beat

he’s already furious there’s no way i’ll get to use the special attack this time

Back to redhead.

This would have been much funnier if i had stabbed him.

Such A Time We Had Together is a track i find kind of underwhelming. It sounds like a very modified, almost wrong version of 3BL, too major to sound good.

Spaceboy’s ambivalent attitude towards the mixtape is also something that feels relevant wrt the main plot, but i’m not sure how.

Also the Earth is gone for good.

Yeah put a pin in that description

Aubrey should cry more so Spaceboy would give her more free stuff.

Wet pillow time:

Interesting

(also i know i’m being a completionist but i might have missed another letter hole earlier)

She plays Lost at a Sleepover kinda hesitantly

He plays GOLDENVENGEANCE without hesitation

He plays his piece, which doesn’t really have a name.

i’m under the impression that all of them had music lessons earlier. Well Aubrey is the only one for which this might not be canon.

Space pirate Amigo just fell asleep.

Time to go save. I won’t follow the footprints right away but still

Also it’s pretty clear Hero is not seeing what we are seeing.

Biganòs

Sunny’s oversleeping.

I plan to wake him up at some point!

[marsilles]

🚶 !

SEND  ME  A  🚶  AND  I’LL  INTRODUCE  YOU  TO  AN  NPC  IN  MY  MUSE’S  LIFE.

celeste  noémie  sinclair  was  a  girl  of  class.  born  in  split  river  of  fall  of  1973,  she  never  faltered  in  her  needs  to  be  somewhere  other  than  here.  a  self  proclaimed  “it  girl”  who  never  seemed  to  follow  much  of  a  trend  and  instead  set  her  own,  sights  were  set  on  somewhere  far,  far  away  from  split  river.  new  york,  paris,  los  angeles.  anywhere  she  could  get  her  name  in  the  door.  always  a  girl  with  more  ambition  than  academia,  she  had  her  eyes  on  stardom.  determination  takes  you  everywhere,  which  is  how  she  landed  at  wilhelmina  models  at  the  age  of  18. 

from  where,  it  was  peaches  —  shining  lights,  her  face  on  billboards  and  in  advertisements.  her  wit  &  charm  was  enough  to  work  her  way  up  that  brands  were  wanting  to  work  with  her  specifically.  traveling  around  the  world  and  ending  up  in  fashion  week  is  where  she  met  her  husband,   marceau  marsielle,  a  man  of  old  money  and  little  else,  he  only  had  eyes  for  pretty  things  he  could  tack  onto  his  arm  and  notch  their  name  in  his  bedpost.  their  one  night  stand  turned  into  two,  into  three,  into  a  months  -  long  silent  affair  from  his  wife.  promises  to  divorce,  promises  to  run  away  with  her  into  the  sunset  forever.  but  when  she's  holding  the  positive  pregnancy  test  on  a  private  jet  at  the  age  of  20,  the  tectonic  plates  of  her  life  shift.

modeling  continues,  even  after  colette  is  born  and  placed  within  the  confines  of  a  baby  pen  while  celeste  is  working  —  until  there's  enough  money  that  her  mother  purchases  a  quiet  home  in  argenton-sur-creuse,  france,  the  smallest  town  she  could  find.  up  until  the  year  between  7th  and  8th  grade,  colette  was  ..  relatively  fine.  moreso  raised  by  her  neighbors  than  actual  mother,  who  seemed  to  like  being  just  famous  enough  that  she  doesn't  have  to  stick  around  too  often  —  when  the  move  back  to  split  river  causes  her  to  essentially  drop  colette  off  and  bounce,  that's  when  things  get  …  weird.

colette  and  her  mother,  prior  to  her  death,  only  spoke  very  rarely.  from  the  age  of  about  12  on,  colette  was  raised  by  her  grandmother  after  the  death  of  her  grandfather  (  aka,  the  entire  reason  she's  placed  back  into  split  river  )  .  came  around  for  colette's  funeral,  then  bounced  again.  has  occasional  contact  with  her  (  colette's  grandparents  )  ,  but  even  that  is  becoming  more  sporatic. 

colette  attended  a  ritzy  private  school  but  only  because  celeste  really  was  not  fit  to  be  a  parent nor did she care to try.  this  is  evident  by  the  fact  that  colette,  while  in  france,  saw  more  of  her  neighbors  than  celeste. 

nice  in  the  way  someone  is  fake  —  exactly  the  kind  of  people  who  tormented  colette  when  she  came  to  split  river.  nice  when  she  thinks  you  have  something  or  worth  to  her,  then  drops  you  when  you're  no  longer  nessecary  for  her  plans  or  goals. 

famous  in  the  way  someone  who  was  really  into  fashion  in  the  early  90s  would  know,  but  some  regular  person  would  have  no  idea  who  she  was.  colette  hadn't  figured  out  how  to  block  her  photos  from  coming  up  on  her  short  -  lived  tumblr  feed,  and  fumed  every  time  they  did.

[jackie-gremlin-ghost]

Today marks 7 years since the reawakening of my Captain Underpants hyperfixation, which had been asleep for a very, very long time.

I had first discovered the books much like any kid in the late 90s/early 2000s; at the Scholastic Book Fair. If I remember correctly, the first one I had found was the second book, Attack of the Talking Toilets. I remember thinking how silly the cover looked, and it drew my little elementary school self in like a moth to flame.

I had quickly read it and absolutely loved it, and like discovering a new favorite treat for the first time, I immediately wanted more.

I was able to find the first book in my school’s library so I was able to get the full story on the two best friends who pulled the ultimate prank by hypnotizing their grouch of a school principal, and how it immediately became the worst decision they ever made.

And I loved every second of it.

As the years went on, I eagerly anticipated the Book Fair’s arrival at my school and would beg my mom for a few dollars extra, just so I get my hands on the newest adventure.

I devoured every single story I could find and bought as soon as I could, and each one was more entertaining than the last. From alien lunch ladies and zombie nerds, to a megalomaniac professor with an incredibly silly name in a giant robot with charts that you could use to give yourself a silly name (mine is “Poopsie Bananachunks” BTW), to an insane hypnotized woman with Medusa hair that gave atomic wedgies.

The more I read and reread these stories, the more I couldn’t help but think that it would make a pretty fun movie, or at least a tv show.

These stories had been with me through a lot of ups and downs in my life, the biggest being my parents’ divorce. They were there to remind me that even when times could be tough, you can make it through and still be able to laugh at even the silliest of things, no matter how old you got.

By the time I was 10, I got my hands on the latest book in the series, The Big Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy Part 1. I loved it as always, but was shocked to see it ended on a cliffhanger. This had never happened before. I was anxious to see what would happen and how George and Harold would get out of this mess.

But… it would be some time before I got those answers.

Time went on, and my attention went to other things. I found new hyperfixations over the years, and while I didn’t have the 7th book at the time, I was eventually able to get answers thanks to the internet.

Eventually I entered middle school, and I found myself drawn to new book series that I grew to love, but Captain Underpants remained a big part of my childhood and some of its happiest memories. And for a while, I thought that was all it would be; memories to just fondly look back on.

But that all changed the winter of 2016.

It was the halfway point between Christmas and New Year’s, and I was gonna be 24 in less than a month. I was spending my downtime between holidays like any other bored 20-something year old; scrolling through Tumblr, of course. It was during that time that I stumbled across this post by @mondentertainment. It was photos of posters from a Licensing Expo, showcasing upcoming animated projects, be it films or series.

Among them were a few that sounded promising, others not so much.

But what caught my eye was this.

A poster from DreamWorks with a very familiar face on it.

I could barely believe what I was seeing, and from the comments and reblogs on the post, neither could a lot of other people.

It was like a door that had been long locked in the back of my brain finally burst open, and all those memories came flooding back, particularly of a reoccurring thought that ran through my young mind whenever I would look at those illustrations every time I turned the page.

Could it really be true? Was one of my favorite childhood books finally getting a chance to truly come to life on the big screen?

It had already happened once before after I read Coraline in middle school, so there might be a chance.

As you could probably imagine, I poured my thoughts of hope and excitement into the tags as I reblogged the post.

And when the trailer finally dropped three months later, it was like meeting that one childhood friend you never truly forgot all over again.

So much happened after seeing the movie on opening night, including meeting Dav Pilkey himself!

And all the great memories and friends I’ve made since rediscovering the fandom all lead back to that one moment on December 28th, 2016.

And I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

[skyblueartt]

I love the idea of the Emily/Afton parents not being the best people (and also not the best parents) so I’m eating well with your Clara and Will interpretation.

And I’m gonna apply that bad person/decentish parent idea to my Mrs. Emily.

I LOVE YAPPING ABOUT IDEAS YAYYY!!! I’m on a break from work rn so a lot of this is just rambling that doesn’t make sense, BUT I’m gonna put this under read more bc. I wrote an essay lol. Can you tell that I’m bored? :’)

I’m so glad you like my interpretation of them, thank you!! In my ✨AU✨ (aka the lore I made up in my head about these characters we don’t know what about haha) I love to make Henry a fuckin awesome dad tbh. I’ve never read the books, and I know he’s kinda crazy, but man if my little daughter was murdered by my BEST FRIEND, I’d also go crazy y’know what I mean😭 He’s a busy dad who is at work a lot, and who is working on stuff a lot, but I genuinely think he really fuckin cares for his little girl and probably feels this insane amount of regret/emptiness every damn day:( little lore about me! My parents actually own a tiny little pizza restaurant in my hometown! So I grew up with very busy parents, but my dad irl is honestly fucking amazing and my best childhood memories are with him. And I kinda take inspiration from my own childhood and like, the bond Charlie and Henry probably had :’0 I adore them. Honestly bro, if I was (maybe a single???) dad and I had the capability to build some fuckass robot thing as a gift for my daughter that also happens to work as a thing to watch over her, I’d probably do it too💀 I don’t think Henry is a bad guy at all. He’s a human being, one who suffered a fuckton of trauma LOL, like homie got the short end of the stick fr. And that’s why I think his character has such interesting potential ughhhh. I wish they did more with my GUY!!

AND YESSS OHHH I wanna do more with Mrs Afton fr. I thought it would be interesting to come up with a reason other than death for her to not be in the picture. I like to think William got her pregnant when they were in their very early 20s when they were both in college, probably. That’s the lore in my head lol. And because it was the 60s, they’re like “well guess we gotta get married now lol”. Fast forwards to the late 70s, Clara is just overrrrr the life of a mom and being in a loveless marriage with William. I headcanon that they had another kid (probs Elizabeth) to help “save their marriage” (HORRIBLE IDEA!!). It didn’t lol! But oops she accidentally ended up getting pregnant with Evan/CC/whatever his name is. And she was just over it. Depression, all that stuff. She ends up having an affair, and William finds out and blah blah blahhhhh. They get hashtag divorced. The two younger ones are too little to truly understand what’s going on, but Mike (probably like 11 or 12-ish??? When they divorce? Idk) is hit extremely hard. He is PISSED at his mom, and he doesn’t want anything to do with her. And I’m sure William makes it difficult to see the younger two because he SUCKS! But I HC that he’s amazing at charming people and shit, and got primary custody of the kiddos. I also think it’s very fun to have poor Mike be under the impression that his dad is the “better parent”, like..lmao WRONG!!!! FUTURE SERIAL KILLER! Poor kids, man.

OHHH but I somehow have like zero headcanon for Mrs Emily, which sucks! Charlie looks mainly like her. I know Henry has a son in the books, and I think the idea of them splitting up and the son (Sammy?) going off with mom while Charlie stays with dad could be thing, but man idfk. I haven’t thought about it😭 I do have it in my head in this au thang that Henry is totally completely gay lmfao. And their marriage is LOVELESS LMAO. I’m sure he respects his wife and helped her out during her pregnancy, and stuff, but he is so unhappy and he realizes it’s cuz “oh I like men. But it’s the 1980s in Utah. Well fuck” 💀💀

TLDR: I LOVE fictional family conflict for some reason, and you could really go wild making shit up about these guys in your head! It’s almost a blank canvas lol. OCs with less steps. Not saying ANY OF THIS IS CANON‼️ bc I know some people get weirdly mad. It’s just a goofy au in my head haha

[lurkingshan]

La Pluie: Do you still believe in soulmates?

Earlier I was chatting with @sliceduplife about this week’s La Pluie and how the show has been layering in the subversion of the soulmate concept, and they reminded me that this is literally the last screen of the show’s teaser trailer:

Which kind of blew my mind a little. Because it confirmed for me that this show was being open about its intention to interrogate the idea of soulmates right from the start. They’ve never been particularly subtle about it. It’s been right in front of us all along, but given how trained we all are as a bl/romance audience to have certain expectations tied to romance conventions, this intentional subversion of the soulmate trope seems to have caused some confusion. And thus, I was compelled to do a rundown documenting how the show has used the context around our characters to guide our understanding of this theme. I’ve talked about some of this in other posts but please indulge me as I organize my scattered thoughts into one coherent piece. Shouts also to @wen-kexing-apologist and @bengiyo for reading this over for me and making sure I didn’t miss anything (over to WKA for the body language analysis).

Let’s start at the start. In the very first episode, Saengtai tells us plainly in his opening voiceover that no one knows why some people have hearing loss or why some of them start hearing another person after they turn 20, and that the idea that this is a soulmate connection is a social construct that most choose to believe. So right off the bat, the show is telling us the soulmate idea is not necessarily true and inviting us to question the lore.

Then within this same episode we are introduced to two couples involving people with hearing loss: Tai’s parents, who are hearing loss soulmates that are divorcing, and the couple in the cafe, one of whom has hearing loss, and one who does not. One example of a soulmate pair that is ending their romantic relationship permanently, and one example of a person with hearing loss who has chosen to be with someone who is not their soulmate. Interestingly, the show did not and has not since countered these examples by including even a single happy soulmate couple in the story for Tai and Patts to see as an example.

The show then built on this by giving us direct commentary about the skeptical point of view via Lomfon. He (and presumably, plenty of others) believes that the hearing loss connection is a scientific phenomenon and the soulmate idea is just a romantic notion with no basis in reality. He believes that people should not be expected to enter romantic relationships with their hearing loss partners, and that choice is what matters most. Again, we are being explicitly invited to question the lore and encouraged to doubt. 

As we got into the romance between Tai and Patts, the show took basically every opportunity to undermine the idea that they should be together because they are fated soulmates, and instead emphasized over and over again that their individual choice and feelings are what matter most:

Tai is not interested in meeting his soulmate at all. In fact, he actively avoids it and leaves poor Patts on read for two entire years. Had they not happened to meet in the real world, Tai likely still would never have spoken to him.

Patts meets Tai in the wild, is immediately attracted to him, and begins pursuing him all without knowing they are soulmates. This is crucial for establishing that it was not the hearing loss connection that brought them together, nor is it the hearing loss connection that serves as the basis for their relationship. It was the genuine attraction Patts felt for Tai that got their relationship started. Patts says explicitly that he wants to “defy his destiny” after meeting Tai.

Tai becomes interested in Patts only after meeting him in real life. Because he’s a hot, kind, generous animal doctor who Tai is attracted to, not because he is the person he hears when it rains. 

In the early stages of their relationship, Tai struggles to trust Patts after overhearing some things out of context that he misunderstood. The hearing loss connection actually creates distance between them rather than bringing them closer together.

Patts and Tai have their first date before their soulmate connection is acknowledged between them. We saw that they were vibing and getting to know each other without that connection being part of the equation, and in fact, that connection was the thing causing Tai to hold back. Once Patts knows that, he understands what’s been going on with Tai and after one very emotional drunken kiss, gives him space to process - literally, he physically removes himself and leaves a note. The revelation, once again, causes distance between them rather than bringing them together.

Once it’s out in the open, because of their hearing loss connection, Tai and Patts experience immense pressure from their loved ones to get together immediately. This hinders more than helps them, as it raises the stakes on their relationship right out of the gate and makes Tai anxious and Patts cautious.

Nara is introduced to the narrative in order to show us that Patts actually had a love before Tai, and one that he was genuinely happy with. There is a universe where Patts could have gotten back together with her and lived quite well. Had he not run into Tai in the real world, that’s probably the universe he’d be living in.

As they get to know each other and their attraction grows, Tai is actively in distress about Patts being his soulmate because he is so devastated about what happened with his parents and he fears they will end up the same way. Moving past his fear about this is the biggest obstacle to their romance. 

Don’t think I didn’t notice that during the crucial few episodes when Tai and Patts started seeing each other and getting to know each other properly, it didn’t rain once. From the time Patts took Tai out on a date and they got drenched (and didn’t even use their connection because they were together) until Tai wandered up the mountain, we were in a rain free zone. All of that crucial relationship development, all of that trust-building, every moment of the time we saw them actually falling in love, happened entirely without the involvement of the hearing loss connection. 

Tai and Patts finally affirm their love and decide to be together after directly discussing their doubts and uncertainty about the soulmate connection, mutually declaring that their feelings are real even if the soulmate bond is not, and committing to be with each other regardless. What matters is they really love each other.

Throughout this entire series of events spread over a few months, Tai’s only hesitation about this relationship is that he doesn’t want to get involved with his soulmate. Because if they weren’t soulmates? They would just be two single dudes who met, sparked, and immediately started dating. But because they are connected by hearing loss, it’s all way more complicated than that, and they had overcome a lot of internal struggle to be together. 

The show has now introduced Lomfon’s hearing loss, which does not seem to be following the rules of the soulmate construct as we know them. We are clearly not done interrogating the concept of soulmates; the show has more yet to say and we know that Lomfon is going to end up in a romantic relationship with Tien, not either of the people he can hear when it rains.

So. Do you still believe in soulmates?

[escapingexvangelical]

hello & welcome

this is a (side)blog for ex-christians or those deconstructing their faith. if you are currently christian you will probably not like it here!

I write poetry that focuses on religious trauma in a pretty heavy way, including elements of child abuse, violence, and harmful theology. for me, it's a validating, healing practice, but it can also be triggering, so take caution <3

~ about me ~

I am a bisexual/queer woman in my early 20s, located in the USA. I love Chappell Roan with my whole heart, and enjoy crafting, reading, and playing Stardew Valley :) You can call me Mae.

~ my story ~

I was raised in the white conservative evangelical church, specifically non-denominational/Christian Missionary Alliance. I come from a long line of missionaries on both sides - but my parents divorced when I was four and my mom deconverted around that time. I was raised by my dad, who was incredibly legalistic and to some extent abusive, as well as my stepmom. I was deeply devoted to my faith, and it was a core piece of my identity for my entire childhood. I began subconsciously deconstructing when I was around 16/17 years old as my political compass started to shift and I entered into a relationship, which allowed me to see just how strange my family was. I transitioned into more of a questioning/progressive Christian around when I started college, studying English/Communication at a small Christian school. I graduated quickly, and then began working at a progressive Lutheran church and leading a middle school small group at the CMA church I grew up in. By the time I was in those roles, I had begun consciously deconstructing - listening to podcasts like Recovering Evangelicals and Straight White American Jesus while building worship slides. Eventually, I completely stopped believing. It took some time to step back from those roles and "come out", as I felt trapped by expectations, need for income, and fear of rejection. This is part of where my name, "escapingexvangelical," comes from. The first step of my escape was ending my role as youth leader, which I finally did after over half a year of leading a group of middle school girls in Bible studies without being a Christian. After months of declining mental health, I managed to obtain a therapist, and with her help, I told my dad I was no longer a Christian. She also gently encouraged me to consider quitting my job, which I finally did in November 2024 after two and a half years of working there. Now, I feel almost free. I still hope to tell my partner's family about my deconversion as they are also deeply Christian, but I am working through some other traumas before I tackle that. My partner is currently deconstructing, but still Christian; we've been together for over six years, and he's been my closest supporter during this journey.

if you have any questions about my journey or need support in similar struggles, feel free to message me. it is not easy to detangle such a tight mess of faith and community and identity, but it is possible to escape. <3

[theblogofinsanity]

Here goes nothing... Or something. Maybe this is a little more than nothing.

NOTE:

Hello and thanks everyone :)

I honestly didn't expect anyone to follow me, much less read my blog.

It brings a smile to my face and makes me feel less alone knowing that others can relate to my ramblings. (End note).

Starting a blog is something that I've always wanted to do. It's also something I've been afraid to do.

I always enjoyed writing. And from the moment I was literate enough to write simple sentences, I kept various journals that I would write in nearly every day. But that all came to an abrupt end in my teenage years. Around the age of 16 I was called into my mother's room and confronted in some type of strange intervention. She had read EVERYTHING. My thoughts, my dreams, my hopes, my wishes. All of it had been read and analyzed by my mother who seemed very concerned that I wasn't exactly enjoying life in a religiously abusive household.

That "intervention" and the subsequent fallout was enough to make me completely lose any interest in writing.

The privacy of one's thoughts is sacred. And I felt that had been taken from me. I felt so vulnerable. As if I had been stripped naked in public. A cornucopia of deeply personal information was now public. It may as well have been on a billboard next to the freeway.

So, until recently, I never wrote. Now, in my mid 30s, a divorced single parent, I finally feel comfortable writing again. Albeit, anonymously.

Although I may not be the best writer or have the most interesting things to say, I want to give back to the blogging community by actively participating in it.

One of my favorite things to do through my teens and early 20s was to read the blogs of complete strangers. I learned about people, I learned about myself, discovered new genres of music to listen to, learned about new websites and online games, and was able to live vicariously through others who were brave enough to share their personal lives with the world.

EDIT: If you happen to deduce my identity through the information found in these entries, please keep that discovery to yourself. This is obviously very personal and somewhat damning information.

If you happen upon this blog, read away. Just don't tell me or anyone else about it.

Thank you :)

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I write while drinking/under the influence sometimes. So if you happen to read something and say "what the fuck?", it's probably safe to assume that I'm in the process of drowning my blues away.

[imkalla]

📖 Book topic.

Hi,

a few weeks ago i posted that i was finishing “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

I did it.

I finished it -although it was actually about two weeks ago on my night train ride, that i did.

I wanted to take some time to think about what the book means to me and also i was quite busy those past two weeks. Studies, uh.

So, someone wants a review? Here it goes, but just a little disclaimer that it will contain spoilers.

The story is very intriguing from the begging. We are welcome with the mystery of seven marriages of the icon actress Evelyn Hugo, who is being “interviewed” by Monique - our second narrator. They are writing a biography. Evelyn takes us on a journey to her past, telling us in details about her life - how did she became popular and what are the costs of that lifestyle.

Each of the husband has its own section in the book as the story unfolds. It makes the book more structured. Also, above each name of each man there are some adjectives describing them, which i think is a nice insight to the story.

What i also think is quite clever are the unspoken words Evelyn says while retrospecting. I caught pretty early on that Harry Cameron is a gay man. I would love to say that it was actually written all over his face, but- well, i’ve never seen him. She did hint he was part of the queer community, though she never said it - and that’s what gave it away for me. That’s also why i kind of expected the queer motive to pop up some more in the book. I wasn’t surprised when she fell in love with Celia or when she found out she was bisexual.

I think those are extremely important parts of the book. Because it shaped her, and we get to know where it came from. Also because at the beginning of the book there is a question stated: “Who was the love of Evelyn Hugo? Which husband did she loved the most? Who was the one for her?” She gladly tells us that the love of her life was no man - it was her wife. This shows us a common misconception about public figures. We might think we know them but we don’t. Every celebrity out there has their own private life we know nothing about. What’s in the paper and on all the photos is a daydream, a fairytale told to sell. It’s all just for the right publicity. She tells us exactly that we might think we know, but we don’t.

I think it’s also very interesting how she talks about her marriages and divorces. I remember that one quote she said while she was taking with Monique. It says:

“Heartbreak is loss, divorce is a piece of paper.”

I think it’s beautiful in its honesty. I loved to see her different takes on marriage and divorce. It made me reflect on my own life, where my parents are, as of exactly today, finally divorced. It made me see the fallout of love in a different perspective. The divorce is essentially a heartbreak. So simple yet it took me a lot of time contemplating to finally feel the weight of those words. It was heartbreaking on its own.

Thinking about it especially in my 20s is a weird sensation. The questions flooding: How to prevent heartbreak from happening? Can we even prevent it? How can we choose our marriages wisely enough so there is less risk of it?

Let’s take an example in Monique. A young journalist, on the verge of divorce. She has so many questions about it, so many thoughts. Talking with Evelyn eventually gives her the courage and awareness to make the right step and divorce her husband. They did not fit. It felt like a failure. But she was still young. She just had to see it. She also had to find herself, as we get to know at the end of the book, it was not an accident for the two of them to meet.

Lets finish this long “review” which is really just what i think about the book tbh.

In summary: i like it. I like how many motives it has, how it makes you rethink how you view the world just a little bit. How it comes to your mind at a random moment, pops a scene in your head then fades away slowly, but just enough, so the thought of it could linger in your mind. And i think what i love about it, but haven’t mentioned it, is how it really shows us a female character and her life. Essentially a woman, but with world expectations around her. How she was twisting and turning to survive, but found her way into this world. She made a mark, created something that will outlive her, and she lived a life, showed in this book.

If you read all the way here,

thank you,

and have a beautiful day <33

-K

[bisluthq]

Do you think LOT prolonged Harry and Olivia’s relationship? I think they would’ve tried to save face for DWD’s sake either way but it’s interesting to me bc she clearly enjoyed and made the effort to be seen at his shows almost every week and the madness of everything was tied up in the tour for a while. So much of the intensity of their relationship seemed to be born out of covid restrictions limiting them to the house and her fertility causing them to speed run some decisions. I can’t picture what a tl looks for them where lot doesn’t happen so they’re at home more or jason doesn’t pick a fight with custody. It’s weird to think about now because the harry pre dwd and post dwd/olivia seem like different people to me and I can’t imagine him in that situation now. for all the genuinely traumatising scrutiny that must’ve been and I assume heartbreak over losing olivia and subsequently taylor, I think having a serious relationship that was 100x less publicised than holivia and having tour probably helped him process and made him think a lot about his choices

when I said it was a bit traumatic I didn’t even mean the public side of it lol (that too obviously and escalated the whole situation for sure), I meant like dating a woman going through what was essentially a divorce that included a very horrible custody battle that involved two kids and a really nasty ex is a WHOLE LOT for anyone but especially someone in their late 20s/early 30s imo who hasn’t had that type of experience before. Like NO ONE has fun during custody battles/divorces but at least if you’ve had your own experiences with them it’s like “okay here’s what I did” but Harry hadn’t had any experience with that beyond being a child of divorce and seeing Ann’s divorce with John and then seeing Robin really step the fuck up for Gemma and him? And I just imagine, even outside like the celebrity side of it, that that would’ve been really difficult. I’m basically his age, am a child of divorce, have seen my mum divorce twice more lol, am not in principle averse to dating someone with kids (haven’t ever but not like because it’s a rule for me) and have an older partner but ngl if my partner were going through a custody battle while with me I’d be very fucking stressed and I think pretty useless with advice and wouldn’t even be the best at the moral support side because it’s just like… quite far out of the realm of my own experience. And I do get the sense that Harry was hella overwhelmed lol and also again partly because of how much he loved/loves Robin and respected Robin, he was trying to do the right thing for Olivia and the kids but also like he’s not yk old enough per se to be in that position.

I don’t know what their whole situation would’ve been in another life where she’d left Jason in a classy fashion and had obtained a normal parenting plan and then started dating Harry. And also what it would’ve been like without LOT and all the DWD drama that was unrelated to them/this. Like that would’ve been a completely different tl and maybe it would’ve worked better because they clearly got along grand for the most part and did really love each other and if things were chill from Jason’s end like I don’t think the kids would’ve been a problem at all. I don’t think Harry would’ve tried to replace him or anything as their dad but also would’ve tried to be a good stepfather figure.

the biological clock thing would still have been an issue just because like she realistically needs to have a kid in the next few years if she wants more bio kids - she can’t really wait another 8 years or anything - but they did seem legit open to kids together idk so again without Jason drama + all the other crap then maybe it would’ve worked out. It didn’t.

and I agree the Taylor thing was healthier and probably helped him work through a few of the issues he’d built up over the past few years but clearly also didn’t work out and imo he should take it slow with the next girl and like see where things go and how they develop. Which again is why Olivia D or someone like her, who’s busy and not really in a rush to marry/have kids etc, would imo be a really good idea. He needn’t stay single but I also don’t think he should move in with someone and/or start talking rings and cradles in the next year or so lol. He should just chill for a bit.

[bluedalahorse]

I’ve been thinking about the fairy deal question of would you want more YR forever but the price is no longer having fic and I don’t know if I would change my answer but I’ve thought through my answer a lot more and I want to put so many more asterisks on it.

So for me I answered from a place of like… creative ethics, I guess? YR was Lisa’s story first, and she had a beginning and end for it and wanted to write it in three seasons. It’s obvious she cherishes it, but she has other stories to tell now. The actors gave us their all for three seasons, but they’re all growing up and will be moving on to new projects and I’m excited to see what they do next. So the notion of some fae queen putting Lisa and the cast and the crew in a magical prison of having to perform for us forever just feels… not so great. I know that’s not what the question was asking but now I can’t unsee the fae nightmare scenario. Blame Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell if you must!

On the other side of creative ethics is that I feel like what we call fanfic is intrinsic to the human condition, and therefore humans should be allowed and encouraged to do fanfic. Like centuries ago someone would tell a story about Robin Hood to their kids and then eventually one of those kids would tell a story to their friend like “ok here’s my Robin/Little John/Maid Marian OT3 hurt-comfort epic” and their friend would be like “excuse me no the vibe is Robin/Sheriff of Nottingham enemies to lovers” and then they would have had a ship war about it. Lisa et al might own the legal rights to Young Royals but everything about the way they ended the series felt like they were lovingly handing it over to the fans. They trusted us to envision an infinite number of futures for the characters. And that feels worth mentioning.

And, even if Lisa wanted us to never write fanfic again, I feel like we’d still have the right to write it, and we should probably write it more actually. I had a friend growing up who was on the secret underground Vampire Chronicles mailing lists Anne Rice disapproved of. I think this is badass.

Here’s where the fae queen would try to tempt me… they’d remind me that my favorite characters aren’t always featured as heavily in fanfic, and that sometimes they’re featured in ways that don’t vibe as much with what I love about canon. That I am more likely to get the characterizations I want from Eternal Canon. And I admit, I am very likely to click backward when I see stories where August is flattened to an uncomplicated villain, Sara and Felice are solely Wilmon’s cheerleaders/flatterers, and Good Mom Linda vs Bad Mom Kristina plays out with No Nuance. Among other things! Like, yes, sure, I know there would be a great temptation for me even just to see more incredible acting from my kids Frida and Malte. I do like watching what they do with their faces and body language. You’ve got me there, fae queen…

However! I am still not ready to surrender to the fae queen and give up fanfic just yet. Because the reality is, we’re all writing fanfic to express our relationship to the text and wrestle with it a bit, and that includes me. Getting to explore August’s continued recovery, and his relationship to family and friendship with Nils, is something that mattered to me. I enjoyed figuring out the balance of writing Nils in his early 20s, and figuring out what it would be like for him to openly date boys and have a boyfriend, while still not having him be like… a gushing hopeless romantic of a person who makes Pinterest boards for his wedding? And then thinking about another story I haven’t written yet, connected to that fic linked above, where Vincent ends up being the first to get married but also the first to get divorced, and his daughter has ADHD too and he’s seeing so much of himself in her, and he confesses late at night to Nils and August that he’s worried he’ll fuck her up the same way he got fucked up by his parents. And then, in the story I’m writing now, I found an opportunity to write Linda as like a full-on human who sometimes wants things for herself independent of her kids, but also that’s really fraught for her, for reasons. Also I want to explore Sara as a grown up—sometimes strong and sometimes vulnerable—and have her break free of toxic capitalism, because she’s gotten better at her relationships to people but she’s fallen into the “work should be your life’s calling” fallacy and her bosses are taking advantage of her. I have a lot of things I want to write. And those things matter too, even if I’m not always sure who the audience for them is, and even if I wish sometimes that they were fics available for me to read that I didn’t have to write myself.

So the fairy queen can go skipping off to play with some other mortal for now. I’ve got chores to do and a heatwave to avoid anyway.

[officialvoiceofgenerationx]

I had my adolescent girlhood in the early '90s when I was in my early 20s. I was married at the time, which is weird. I'm not sure how that happened. I was drunk 24/7 for a few years and then I realized I was about to be married and I decided I should lay off the booze, with the result that I went into a major depressive episode that lasted a few more years. Really, the marriage never had a chance.

I treated my depression with depressants - a lot of pot, of course, and we had a connection in the medical field who hooked us up with painkillers - Vicodin and Percocet, mostly, and this cool new drug called Xanax. When we weren't fighting, we were sitting on the sofa staring off into space and Nickelodeon was part of our cable package.

I discovered Clarissa Explains It All and was totally in love. I also got really into My So-Called Life and The Adventures Of Pete And Pete. I found Sassy magazine, which got problematic later, but it seemed pretty cool at the time. I didn't get to have an adolescence when I was an adolescent and my late teens were pretty chaotic - I never knew where I was going to pass out or what was going to happen. The marriage wasn't good, but we did have a somewhat stable place to live and it was fairly quiet - between the drugs and resentments, we didn't talk much - so I was able to just dig into adolescent culture and Clarissa was there to explain it all.

The episode I attached is available to watch for free. They all should be - it's a fucking 30-year-old sit-com, for shit's sake. And it's about as representative of the show as it needs to be. The family takes a break from TV, which makes them all miserable - the show doesn't explicitly state that TV is the only thing that makes it possible for them to tolerate each other, but there it is. The mom starts smoking again - all of our parents smoked, for fuck's sake - and then quits. Happy ending achieved.

Clarissa Darling was a normal TV kid - her family was well-off and they lived in California. There was no abuse, all problems were solved in 22 minutes and there was a laugh track in case you didn't get the really lame humor. I am not pretending that the show was ground-breaking or deep - it was a sit-com on Nick. Still, it was fun. Clarissa broke the fourth wall constantly, directly addressing the audience. They touched on the topics that the writers wanted to believe were important to teenagers and it was a fun, cheesy, day-glo diversion from reality. The Adventures Of Pete And Pete was a lot weirder and My So-Called Life touched on weightier topics - I couldn't find those shows for free either. When none of those were on, I had the latest copy of Sassy to fill the gap.

Eventually, we had to give up cable because we were broke. Sassy got taken over by a different publisher and stopped being cool. I found someone who was able to give me the active abuse I wasn't getting from the marriage and had an affair. We separated in '95 or so - got divorced a year or two later. I started doing meth on top of the other shit and eventually returned to alcohol. Somehow, I survived.

Mostly, I focus on the older Gen Xers - those of us who were born in the late '60s and through the '70s. The subjects I'm on about here were made for younger Xers and the up-and-coming kids - Xillennials, I guess. Still, the relatively cool teen fodder of the '90s had some affect on me. I was able to take a break from the truly toxic shitshow that was my life and pretend that acne was a really important problem for a little bit. It was nice to pretend I was a twelve-year-old girl who had friends and a family that cared, even if it was fake as shit.

Clarissa, So-Called Life and Pete And Pete really should be available for free streaming. I'd love to bore the shit out of my 14yo with some truly lame old TV. That kid has had it pretty easy.