#no i will not be respecting the newest game im gonna just look the other way

[diimaria]

Our boys forever 💖🌟

[crazysodomite]

i study gamedev and today's lecture was on the origins of the stealth genre... got to nerd out about constantine's mansion 😁 i mostly know abt the series from watching a friend play thru the first game but it was still very heartwarming to see it discussed! i have special permission from my prof to help and edit his presentations for future students (bc im a game history n genre nerd) and given ur the resident tumblr thief expert in my eyes, i wanted to ask what interesting facts should we mention abt the series' mechanics and their influence on the genre? what would a true thief fan like to not be overlooked in the genre wide discussion? sorry if it's a confusing question, i just like hearing people nerd out either way...

also just seeing u mention it in any context makes me very happy inside, brings back good memories :] did you know the stealth genre started with a prototype game about shoplifting? it then got bought by taito and turned into the 1980 lupin iii game!

umm i feel like im too doopid to really do thief and its mechanics justice... i dont think im a thief expert just a thief fan... i haven't played a lot of other stealth games except thief so it's hard for me to judge and compare!

one of my favorite analysis videos on thief from a person who just uploaded this banger and was never seen again...

i think nowadays the 'safe bet' is to not create anything too difficult or challenging for the player, sometimes rudimentary stealth mechanics are included to 'be an option' but stealth as an actual genre is pretty dead right now.

it's hard to imagine a game being created nowadays focused mostly on stealth, with complex mechanics and large sprawling levels without a minimap and objective marker pointing you where to go.

i think a lot of these things can be accessibility features or just things developers include to avoid player frustration. after all someone is probably going to get upset and quit the game if they spend hours walking around the map not understanding where they're supposed to go.

but in the end the levels themselves should be constructed to be able to be navigated without objective markers and minimaps. for example i rarely even look at the included map when im completing a thief level because i just kinda expect to complete the level and figure out what to do simply by exploring, listening to conversations, reading notes, paying attention to the environment, etc. though i do really appreciate being able to see which room i'm currently in on the map like in thief 2...

and i'm not even gonna lie i looked up guides for certain levels in thief because i couldn't figure out what to do, but i would rather have this point of frustration instead of a game i can just turn my brain off and press buttons at random to complete, that doesn't respect my intelligence at all. and thief games are far from perfect, especially since the devs were rushed and the company ended up going bankrupt, that's why its especially sad to not see any real thief successors or even an actual demand for a good stealth gaming experience.

there's a reason the community around thief is still going strong, developing FMs, discussing the game, creating huge campaigns, porting the game mechanics to a newer engine, etc. if the skeleton of thief wasn't good enough to warrant such a long lifespan none of that would happen! thief is so good, despite being a game literally older than me, that people would prefer to play a thief fm instead of whatever 'stealth mechanics' the newest AAA game cooked up. anyways heres my santances i hope you like them.

i would love for mechanics introduced in thief to be built upon with newer technology. for example more robust dynamic light mechanics like those introduced in deadly shadows (not pushed far enough sadly... but the possibilities are so exciting) as well as more robust audio and various other improvements that could be made if there was actual interest in stealth games anymore... i mean hell a lot of people who made FMs for thief went on to make other games (dishonored) but then those games still don't really hit like thief does.

okay im just gonna highlight some points bc i genuinely do not possess the capability to write in english. gets scared

I think an interesting comparison can be made between the light gem from thief and like, the 'detection meter' some games with 'stealth mechanics' have nowadays. What does the light gem do? It shows which light level you're currently in. There is predictability and consistency in how enemies react to you at different light levels. Your Actual Skill matters, not what perks you chose on the progression tree or what 'stealth skill' you used on your character. If you're at the lowest 'hidden' light level you are basically safe from enemies unless they walk into you and you can plan your next movement, if you're in a higher light level you need to pay close attention to enemies to not get spotted. Can you actually play the game without the light gem? I think yes, since your detection is mostly sound-based cues, and the light gem simply gives the player concrete information to play better and get predictable, skill based results. The 'detection meter' is there because most games don't really have light/shadow mechanics or robust stealth-based enemy AI. You need to visually show the player they've been spotted because in most games the sound design is not catered to stealth and you won't hear an enemy seeing you, or the level design is constructed in a way where you will be spotted by someone looking at you from across the map and not understand where that came from, etc. Frankly in most games you're not even put in situations where you can weave your way around enemies, follow them, sneak around them, etc. You can either press a button to knock them out from behind, or you 'discover' a passage that allows you to bypass all enemies since stealthing 'on the ground' is literally not possible because of the AI that like, spots you based on proximity and nothing else. Or there's like, a meter that goes up the longer you stay around the enemy before they spot you, etc.... You don't feel like you make your own stealthy way, using the tools and circumstances you've been given, and instead you just 'discover' the pre-determined 'stealthy way' intended by the devs.

Sound. I probably can't even name a game where sound matters more than in thief. Sound information is as important as visual information in thief. You can tell which specific level of alertness an enemy has simply by their voicelines. Different floor materials make different sound levels (which may not be super realistic, but it's a sacrifice thief makes for the sake of gameplay), different speeds you move at make different levels of sound, your items and arrows make sound, enemies can use sound to alert each other, etc. An enemy doesn't need to see you to be alerted, and you can hear how many enemies are in a room, what direction they are coming from, and if it's safe to come out of a room based on sound proximity. Also you can press your ear against a door to listen. I genuinely can't name another game that utilizes this.

Okay ummm.... Thief mechanics are robust enough to allow for all kinds of different playing styles. You can use your tools or you can not use any of them at all, you can knock everyone out or go completely undetected by anyone, the thief community makes up their own rulesets for playthroughs not intended by the devs at all, but those are still possible and fun to do.

Stop with the 3rd person view camera. More leaning from a corner and listening to your enemies, less 3rd person camera where you can see enemies while being completely safe and undetected. The first person view is extremely important to thief in my opinion, and adds an incredible amount of immersion. Also, thief never fucking takes away control from you to play an animation or a quick time event!!! It's infuriating when games do that !!!

Even dishonored, a game i actually really enjoyed, is still really lacking in stealth. You spend most of your time perched up on weirdly placed objects above your enemies that make it safe for you to basically teleport from place to place while being undetected by enemies. Dishonored has more of a focus on actually engaging and killing enemies, which imo is really unnecessary. I should actively avoid engaging with enemies in any way in a stealth game. In a perfect stealth game, no enemy sees or hears me at all, while i can still weave around them and pick their pockets, complete all my objectives while exploring a wide map that makes sense and is rewarding to explore, and be able to get out unscathed...

here are my new sentences 😁

[shirefantasies]

okay! im about to read your newest the hobbit post but i had a little question that might be hard to answer and if it is thats cool! i was just wondering how you seem to seamlessly get all the dwarves in character. even when the movies and stuff don't focus on them. It's like every time i read your works it's ALWAYS SO IN CHARACTER and it's so good but im so amazed with how you do it when the dwarves arent all focused on much. its amazing. im thinking of trying to write my own for them, similar to what you do kinda, but im scared of not getting their characterization right!

First off, I can’t wait to see what you write 🥰 if you do requests maybe I’ll shoot you one hehe

Ooooh well this is an interesting question for sure! Well characters/characterization has always been like a special interest of mine and it's an honor to hear I do it well! This is gonna be loooooooooooooooooooooooong but I kinda want to go into examples for them all hehe

So overall I'd say: Keeping period-accurate language and just their culture in mind is important. Trying to avoid too many contractions and colloquialism from our time and things like that. But for more specifics I think it's easy to fall into stereotypes, even in the movies themselves and it's sort of like a mix of leaning into those and going outside them in the right blend? But I'll explain my thought process for each of them by family cuz I wanna talk about them 🤔😆

Balin, Dwalin: Balin is one of the characters less stereotyped because his role is more prominent. He definitely serves as a guide and source of wisdom, but also has the background of being an "old warrior". He's quieter and more level-headed than some of the other more boisterous characters and I see him as being (healthily) protective in relationships because of his guiding and caring. Dwalin is also a warrior and that tends to come more forward, but he also loves good food and cares about people. He, too, is protective even if it's more of a rough way, and I think he likes the feeling of being needed and being able to take care of people even if he acts like he doesn't. That's a bit of a headcanon, but again, looking beyond stereotypes I guess hehe~

Oin, Gloin: Oin is mostly known for being the healer, maybe the hearing jokes. But he’s also a jolly soul and obviously quite intelligent too. I think he’s almost the most balanced between the raucous, axe-wielding mining dwarf stereotype and the more intellectual side not stereotyped for them… which is silly in and of itself! Oin is smart, funny, experienced…but he still knows how to fight and how to have a good time! Gloin is often seen as being similar to his son, but he has an even stronger sense of family values and loyalty as a father and husband. He also is shown to enjoy gambling and treasure, too, so I love imagining him as knowing all the most fun games and ways to bet!

Thorin, Fili, Kili: Thorin is the most serious one and I think that comes from the weight of everything falling on him. A big part of him wants to give in and trust or love people, but it's hard for him to add outsiders to that. Trust and respect are very important for him, and formalities and proof come before he opens up. But when you let him, he has some capacity for physical affection as we see when he embraces Bilbo. Literally and figuratively that shows him 'embracing' a new friendship. His family is very important for him and I think while he seems to feel it's not in the cards, I think Thorin deep down would love a family of his own. Fili and Kili both have teasing streaks and a mix of the seriousness and merriment. They feel a similar weight to Thorin but much less compounded with youth and their own personalities. It's more generational trauma that gets imposed on them. Fili has all his blades and is shown to be very loyal, but beyond that he is very self-sacrificial. He's giving and loving, surrendering seeing Erebor to be with his brother and even giving his life toward the canon end. As much as he teases, he has the best interests of those he loves in mind and will stand up for that. Kili is portrayed as the flirt, which is quite true, but he also is the most idealistic. The one who asks 'why not?' in the face of challenges. He can be a bit of a show-off, but he’s a sweetheart and had the most youthful innocence preserved.

Bifur, Bofur, Bombur: Bifur stands out for speaking mostly in signs and Khuzdul, but he’s also a strong, experienced fighter. I think his condition lends to him being lonelier and wanting to reach out and be included, hence him having such resentment toward the axe once he loses it! Kind of like Dwalin, though, he’s an interesting mix of wanting to seem tough but also being softer than he lets on inside. Bofur is jolly and loves to sing, dance, and have fun, but he’s also the biggest sweetheart. He, after all, is the one who tells Bilbo he’s a part of the group and that he belongs with them. He risks his own safety to help Kili in Laketown. I really think he’d be the sweetest with a family and honestly he’s just one of my favorites in the whole darn thing, I could go on and on! Bottom line is that Bofur is cheerful and musical, but also the first dwarf you’ll want to talk to for real, heart-filled motivation and kind words about anyone. Bombur is the most stereotyped character and I hate that due to the nature of it!!! 😤 The old ‘haha fat person obsessed with food’ trope bugs me because it’s just riddled with unfunny prejudices even though both of those things are valid and true. But weight as a joke frickin sUCKS and I say that as someone who’s been fat-shamed by someone who claimed to be my best friend, joked about how heavy I was and going to tip things over etc. But we see that Bombur is strong, a very fast runner and capable fighter whose weight can help him in a fight! The popular fanon/actors headcanon is that he’s married and the father of I believe thirteen or fourteen children and I love that for him 😌 he’s obviously more quiet, happy to stay along the sides and take orders, but one of his few focused non-caricature scenes is him returning Bifur’s axe like ‘here you go cousin 🥺’… just a goofy lil sweetheart I love. Basically he’s the one who does the cooking for the company but I try to give his quiet but big-hearted side more attention than just being like heehoo fat guy lol

Dori, Nori, Ori: Dori is always just put in his ‘mother-hen’ role, which is definitely part of his character! But also it is described by movie creators/actors that he’s known for being a few other things, like having a taste for finer things and being more on the gentle and intellectual side as well. One detail they mentioned was hence the silver case he braids his beard into 😆 but I think of him as being softer and more well-read as well as being one of the obviously most family-oriented. Nori gets the sort of swashbuckling thief reputation and tbh, I see it! I also often characterize him as a tease, which I think is part of why the film notes/actors mention he drives Ori crazy lol. Ori himself is usually portrayed with his writing and drawing in focus as well as the fanon that he knits! I love him for being more sweet and polite, but also with the little moments of showing his strength and rougher side. And sometimes he just feels like he has to keep up with everyone else 🥺 In general I see him being the sweetest in relationships even if he is the least mature. Also probably second to Dori in terms of preferring comforts.

Bilbo: Home is obviously a big motif for Bilbo because he’s such a homebody in the beginning and rediscovers his love for adventure. A big part of his character, then, is realizing people can be home and there is more than one definition. He’s also a bit shy and awkward being so introverted as he is, so if he doesn’t know how to say something that’ll probably show. Like most hobbits, though, he’s so sweet and resilient and has a purity at heart that the others don’t. He’s intentional in his behaviors and clever. Also, he knows quality when he sees it 😌

[iantimony]

yay tuesday is back

return of tuesday! i had two weeks in the UK which was very fun but i am definitely vacationed out - i miss my routine. longer trips like that are only fun towards the end if you have a home base that isn't just a hotel room.

listening: newest coral bones ep is very chill. it's only three songs and they're all very vibey but i think my favorite is 'seatac'. i wish they were still posting on bandcamp. alas.

SeaTac - Coral Bones

also got back into listening to the altogether - their album 'when we were kids' is very travel-coded to me for some reason, it was on loop my entire train ride from london up to edinburgh. (i'm also pretty sure brian david gilbert of all people is featured on this album haha)

Billy & Anne - The Altogether

finally, i saw st. vincent live in london this past weekend!!! it was a really good concert, lots of fun, interesting venue. she's definitely got an insane stage presence. the opening act (heartworms) was fun too, my brother and his friend weren't interested and described it as 'moody goth bullshit' and i was like well. that is right up my alley. you boys enjoy the bar im gonna go be moody and goth. it was good!

i think if i do standing room tickets again i need to invest in some platform shoes, at least two or three inches, because some of that was a struggle to see Anything ... i did manage to find a spot where i had a decent little corridor between heads to see the stage, however i was directly behind a guy in a bowler (?? fedora?? idfk) hat and his boyfriend who kept moving around and dancing (fine) and gyrating (also fine ?? i do not consider st. vincent particularly gyrate-able music but what do i know) so i also had to do some leaning side-to-side to see around them. one of her songs has a line about jumping off the london bridge and the way they both looked at each other and pointed gleefully at themselves while going "meeee" was very funny. i bet they're on tumblr, they had the vibes. hello gay guys at the london st. vincent concert, if you're reading this.

reading: i read 'when the angels left the old country' by sacha lamb in the two days that i was alone in edinburgh before my brother came! it was good, speedy read, i enjoyed the characters and overall conceit well enough. probably not on the to-buy list, i'd just rented an ebook for my trip.

some miscellanous articles from my pocket emails:

How to Coexist With a Belligerent Catbird by Caitlin Gibson (<3)

The Last Kid in Ninth Grade Without an iPhone by Liz Kreiger (this was relatable as a kid whose parents did Not let her get anything more complex than a flipphone for emergencies until i got myself one as a senior in high school and i think i was better off for it)

The Case for Doing Laundry Every Day by Rebecca Onion (insane, IMO)

watching: mostly fallow, did watch one of the dunmeshi eps that came out when i was gone with the boy yesterday and will probably watch the second one tonight.

i have Opened the jenny nicholson star wars hotel video, not yet watched, but saw in my patreon emails from friends at the table that the tablefriends did a related episode on their star wars podcast, which, i then noticed like [leo decaprio pointing meme] xeecee spotted in the credits for the cover art ?? i'm not surprised they are aware of each other but i thought it was funny

playing: fallow! completely, for once! no ttrpgs, no video games, etc. i guess i played a Lot of solitaire on my flight back from the uk, maybe that counts lol

making: i did a lot of sketching on my trip! i made a watercolor travel journal that somehow doesn't have enough pages so i'll have to rebind it but oh well. no watercolor pics for now but i'm excited to share those as i go! in the meantime, some sketches i did in the east princes street gardent, the scottish parliament, and the victoria and albert museum in london respectively:

i think once i finish the travel journal ill try to do a higher quality scan of it and upload a pdf somewhere, i feel like that will be fun.

eating: ough i ate a lot of good food in the uk. mostly the non-british food unsurprisingly but i Did have some really good fish & chips moments. last meal of the trip especially we got a recommendation from one of my brother's friends who goes to cambridge and ouuuugh that shit was So good.

misc: it's good to be back ... now i'm back in The Grind (work) but i don't mind it. despite the jetlag i'm feeling refocused and excited to get moving on stuff again. i liked a lot of stuff about the uk (trains, vibes) but i also did not like some stuff (why are the cold meds So weak there lmfao) and overall i'm glad to e home :)

[sassykinzonline]

ok so realistically, or not realistically, thoughts on Boruto? Thoughts on the whole family thing, Naruto being the hokage, would you change anything? Thoughts on other parings? Like, narusaku, sasuhina, sasusaku, narhina, gaanaru, etc. I’m having a brain riot and need opinions😭

boruto:

i feel like it wasnt really necessary to have bio kids be the lead of the anime especially if they were just going to rehash dynamics that already happened but het. based on the newest chapter, i have to say i wish they would stop hetconning things. naruto being hokage is whatever since im sure its what the audience was waiting for but in the manga they dont just have the older gen ninja just get trapped or killed, theyre off doing their own thing or dealing with subplots or whatever. i think the recent ninja storm game handles this way better than the manga and anime do. i think you can tell kishi isnt interested in this based on how lazy a lot of the storytelling choices are. he almost had something interesting going on with kawaki but then it just kinda went off the rails. so what would i change? i would just scrap the whole thing and approach it completely differently. im not even sure i would use kids given they had a real opportunity to make it more adult, kinda like the way atla transitioned into lok.

other pairings:

i pretty much hate the majority of ships ive come across, not gonna lie. i mean i dont judge anyone for coming up with them, thats their right but i just dont get the logic behind them. particularly certain ships like sasuhina would require both of us to be completely different people for it to work, but ultimately if people want to explore dynamics that way i dont care. if i look at certain ships as people are without their fundamental traits changing then...

narusaku - this is toxic because sakura doesnt respect naruto at all. she never will because shes always seen him as a nuisance. their relationship would be her "settling" for him given his newfound status as a hero and the fame and attention she would get from that, but behind closed doors she'd probably belittle him a lot. naruto would put up with it because he doesnt have a backbone /hj.

naruhina - i mean i think hinata's a nice enough person but they have no chemistry and she also just wants/needs things from naruto so its not healthy for him again. naruto should be with someone who can protect him, and who can fight for him (like me).

gaanaru - .........................begrudgingly gaara does fit the condition i mentioned above but i feel that politically they would be a bit at odds and gaara cant fully understand naruto. but yes as a consolation ship, this is probably one of the better ones.

this is where i say honestly, painfully, if you ask me, neji probably wouldve been best for naruto besides myself. he can understand naruto's worldview, he can protect naruto, he has a personality that complements naruto. the only thing is that neji still fundamentally sees hinata as a priority so i dont know how that would play out.

i cant comment on every single ship so i'll try and just go through ones i would fix and how, and then some "crackships" i have.

leesaku (or whatever you guys call it) - lee's probably the only one sakura disrespected and then ended up respecting. his personality is such that he deals with conflict extremely well and doesnt internalize things, so he would be able to respond to sakura's shallowness and pettiness. theyre both competitive. i feel that sakura would also learn from him how to take pride in achievements, failure, and growth and build her self-esteem properly. i dont like inosaku because regardless of Lesbian Rights or whatever, sakura has consistently treated ino like shit for no reason and its not even in a "um we're awkward way" its in a "ino risks her life for sakura because shes a good person and sakura curses her out" kind of thing. lesbians should be in healthy relationships.

tenkuro - theyre both meant to be experts in a certain field that complement each other. theyre both in the middle of two extreme personalities. kankuro is a bit less of a douchebag by the time he gets older. i wouldve paired this instead of shikatema if we had to have a crosscountry couple. shikatema is gross.

hinakiba - kiba's probably the only one who treated hinata with respect their entire lives and without wanting anything in return. like weirdly enough hes the only guy i can think of except maybe choji that didnt talk shit about a woman (whether it was deserved or not) so i feel like instantly that kind of makes him a good match for someone as meek as her. hes supportive without being passive and passionate without really being aggressive. i dont know what hinata does for him because i dont really know what hinata does for anyone, but i think kiba just wants A Woman so she fits the bill.

sasudeath - if i cant have naruto give me death.

inosai is probably the only ship i actually like because they compliment each other well. again i dont care about gay/straight whatever but if ino wants to date a hot guy, let her date one. she chose one that she gets along with easily, respects her (not just respects her but he loves her proudly), and tempers her personality well. theyre pretty cute in boruto. i would keep choji and karui only because cho cho is an angel.

[spyrkle4]

Modern/College Ark AU bc why not

I can’t believe im typing this XD this game has become my newest hyperfixation 

---

-Santiago and Diana share a lot of their classes together and are basically study buddies

-Mei Yin is the captain of the fencing team and she met Diana after one of the tournaments and Diana wanted her autograph XD

-Santiago 100% teases the hell out of Di for her crush and she hates it

-Mei Yin still has her tames in the form of them being regular pets, like Wuzhui and the other raptors are like bearded dragons, Ao Yue is maybe a timor monitor, Shi is one of those large dog breeds that look scary but he’s a softie, and Xiao is still a goat that probably has a neon glow-in-the-dark collar

-The Demon King is basically this pet komodo dragon and everyone is Terrified of it like, and the rumors go crazy abt why the fencing team captain has one of those

-Nerva is from the rival fencing team and he and Mei Yin have this intense rivalry the matches between them usually get lot of tickets bc woah they are intense

-Helena is at the same college of the gang but she takes more biology classes, though she does share a computer class with Santiago

-Raia and John are present in this AU but as Helena’s cool adoptive parents that have 1 cat and 3 dogs (the sabertooth and the wyverns respectively)

-The dogs are various mixed breeds and their name in the AU are Ember, Thunder, and Venom (to reference them being wyverns in the original Ark)

-Oh yeah Rockwell is also around but as a professor, he’s Helena’s favorite professor 

-Professor Rockwell is just your good ol’ natured science grandpa that gets a little too intense in terms of lab experiments but he’s not obsessed or anything hahaha

-Diana doesn’t like him bc in her opinion he gives too much homework XD

(more under the cut)

-Santiago sometimes crashes over at Helena’s house bc his home is Complicated (he doesn’t like talking about it but his friends can tell he doesn’t like living in his household)

-He stays over so much at this point Raia and John are like “yeah this is our kid now”

-Jokingly Helena will refer to Santiago as “little brother” bc she’s taller than him and he acts like he hates it but secretly finds it funny (they’re about the same age)

-the grad students are just freshmen and basically gremlins, Trent is also on the fencing team, Rusty as well and he and Trent have a friendly rivalry

-Emilia shares one of Santiago’s classes, he is surprised that she looks up to him

-Helena @ Boris at some point: What’s with this... sassy lost child?

-Boris is probably in the same biology class as Helena that’s taught by Rockwell, she is a little Afraid of this freshman who gets way too into Mad Scientist Mode

-Imamu has introvert energy so he doesn’t rly approach anyone but his friends, bit of a mystery how they all became friends in the first place (Helena would wonder abt that bc she’s nosy)

-Skye is also here as a video game enthusiast who wants to design dinosaur survival games (oh there goes the 4th wall) and Helena, a dinosaur nerd is happy to help them

-I feel like Skye is the only person outside of the grad student friend group to be buddies with Imamu, they just vibe 

-The core four (Helena, Mei Yin, Diana, and Santiago) all do movie nights at probably Helena’s house bc they can all fit onto the couch and pet all the dogs

-Mei Yin hates horror movies bc she never knows when there’s gonna be a random jumpscare (she’s not terrified of the plot, just the jumpscares), 

-Santiago is one of those people who laughs during the scary part bc horror movies don’t scare him (and it just scares the others bc they’re like “oh god what’s happening now”)

-Helena is a big fan of animal movies (esp found family ones), Diana is a sucker for Disney Princess movies and she 100% introduced Mei Yin to Mulan (I feel like she’d enjoy that movie) 

-they all get popcorn everywhere and it drives John crazy bc he’s the one who usually cleans it up but doesn’t complain bc he doesn’t want to ruin the kids fun

-Raia probably low-key adopts all of Helena’s friends (idk she just has Mom energy okay???)

-Athena and Archimedes are the school mascots that are usually Feral if any student tries to touch them, Rockwells the one who handles them and was Genuinely Surprised that they didn’t hiss or screech when Helena approached them

-Helena had been dubbed “the animal whisperer” by the school for that

-Radar is still Helena’s pet, she still rides around on her shoulder, even in class (and that’s when people started calling her a modern disney princess)

-Helena is confused bc the gossip bc she thinks if anyone is a disney princess it’s Mei Yin (who owns like 50 animals and is cool at fencing)

-Santiago probably takes part in some of the school gossip bc he’s nosy and it’s usually wild and hilarious most of the time

[heyheydidjaknow]

I would’ve posted this earlier but, alas, I passed out early. This is a longer one, but tumblr got its act together so I can post it all in one part. You guys know where the other chapters are, and if you don’t, they’re at the end of the chapter. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go eat straight Nutella.

Chapter 10

“I’m thinking about getting some gloves.”

He looks over at you as he laces up his skates. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you nod, smiling slightly to yourself as you look your hands over, trying to imagine what they would look like. “Like, badass, fingerless gloves.”

He smiles. “Dude, those would look metal as fuck.”

“Totally, right?” Your smile widens. “With studs and shit.”

He gets to his feet, hopping onto the ice. “Hell yeah.” He drops a puck to assault as you go back to your backed-up coursework the best you can—your handwriting has gone to hell, but you are working with what you have.

You flinch at the crack of his stick, the cross of the T ending up underneath the letter somehow. A cheer from Casey tells you the rubber cylinder’s fate.

‘I swear I learned this.' You squint at the basic algebra, the pencil, crudely held in your fist, hovering over the packet. ‘Why can’t I do this?’

“How’s your pile coming along?” Another crack.

“It’s comin’.” You run your fingers through your hair. “Just… trynna remember how to do ne—… subtraction.” ‘Not debate. Negating is debate.’

He laughs. Another crack. “Man, that thing really fucked you over, huh?”

“Thoroughly.” You decide against continuing to torture yourself, having been at it for the past five hours—most of it in the library before Casey invited you to watch him practice some more— and set the large stack of homework back in your bag. “Are you actually making the shots?”

“Casey Jones doesn’t miss shots.” Another crack.

“Pardon me, oh almighty king of the ice.” You stand on your good leg, grabbing the side of the wall to watch as he went back to collect his pucks.

You two have managed to bond over a mutual respect/love of heavy metal and hockey and, seeing as you are staying out of the Hamatos’ hair for a while—not upon request, but out of courtesy—you have managed to spend a lot more time with him than you may have otherwise. Your school has not assigned Biology any big projects yet, so, until you are assigned it, you do not have anything other than your health to stress about.

“Pardon accepted.” You watch his form as he performs another slap shot.

“You…” you trail off, trying to remember what you were going to say.

“What?”

You shrug. “Dunno.” You lean your head on your arms. “I’ll remember eventually.”

He drops the second puck. “Got any plans after this?”

You sigh. “Nope. Probably gonna head home and try not to cut my fingers making dinner again.”

He takes another shot. “Then let’s go out after this. You and me.”

You smile. “What, don’t have any plans either?”

“Nah.” He drops the third. “Dad doesn’t care if I’m home late anyway.”

“True, true.” You have decided against prying into his home life; it is not your place and does not concern you in the slightest. “Where do you wanna go?”

“Wanna catch a movie? Heard there was this new pizza place just a couple blocks down if you wanna try to sneak it in.”

You snicker. “In the box and all?”

“Yes.” He grins mischievously and hits this one off the walls. Some way, somehow, it still makes it into the goal. “I bet your sweatshirt is big enough to stick the box under.”

You stick your tongue out at him. “Not in the mood for burns on top of scars, Jones,” you reprimand him teasingly. “That just ain't it.”

“Then you can wear mine under that one and—”

“Your sweat-soaked hoodie you’ve been practicing in all day?” You cringe at the thought. “Over my dead body.”

“I mean…” he licks his teeth, smile widening, “it’s not exactly like you’re in the best—”

You laugh. “So not cool!”

He puts his hands up in defense, gliding over. “I mean, am I wrong, though?”

“That is completely besides the point, you ass.” You balance on your foot, crossing your arms. “Damn. Making fun of the girl with the broken leg.”

He leans against the wall. “Man, you were dying before the crash.”

You roll your eyes. “Alright, whatever, Jones.” You lean against your hand. “How’s Johanna,” you sing.

He presses his hand against your face, pushing you away. “Annie is doing fine.”

You grin, steadying yourself on the wall. “Do you feel her, Johanna?”

“I’m gonna tell her you call her that if you don’t quit it.”

“Do you think that walls can hide her? Even when you’re at her window?”

He pushed his arm all the way out. You hop back.

“Her name isn’t even Johanna.”

“But she is Johanna,” you whine in protest, not bothering to hide your mirth. “She has the hair, the voice, the disposition. She’s an ingénue and you know it.” You have been teasing him about this for a while now: the girl in question—Annabelle Halshaw, a year below you two—had caught his eye when he had heard through the grapevine that she was the lead singer in some indie band. When he had shown you a picture and told you the story, you insisted on calling her Johanna for her golden hair and soft, sweet singing voice he had proudly had you listen to.

“She’s not.”

You roll your eyes, sitting back down as you grab your bag. “Lie to yourself all you want,” you goad, “but deep down, you know in your heart that the truth,” you put a finger up, “is apparent.”

He hops off the ice, sitting next to you as he unlaces his skates. “Whatever.” He smirks. “How’s The Don?”

You avert your gaze. “I haven’t seen ‘im.”

“Boo.” He tied the laces together. “Some girlfriend you are,” he ribs.

You go red. “Not my boyfriend. Not even friends with benefits.”

“Yeah, sure.” He sets the skates into his bag. “That’s why you already know his family.”

“That—”

“And why you’ve had him over to your place.”

“If you don’t cool your tits, I’m telling Lucy you’re crushing on her friend.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“What,” you simper, “think I won’t?”

He grabs his bag. “If you do, I’ll show her that video.”

You laugh, following him out of the rink. “You’re the worst.” You note how strange it is that he spent so little time on the ice as you two walk out, but you do not say anything about it.

“Hey, you’re the one throwing threats around.”

“Yeah,” you argue, “but my threat is clearly better.”

He rolls his eyes, pushing you again.

You two keep chatting on the way to the theatre about anything and everything, from new bands to upcoming games to the newest blockbuster horror movies. You are not personally on the hockey team, but, as his friend, it is your duty to care. Besides, you figure, it gives you something to look forward to.

The movie is fine. You convince him against sneaking an entire pizza in, you split a bucket of popcorn, and you give him shit for getting freaked out by the disembowelment scene. It is payback for him teasing you about crying during the last movie you two went to a couple of days ago.

You two stand at the streetlight.

“Dude, it’s like eight,” he groans. “It’s not even late.”

“True,” you agree. “Counterpoint: I still have another week’s worth of work to do by Friday on top of the homework I’ll have to do anyway, so unless you wanna help—”

“Forget I asked.” He pulls his hood up against the autumn wind. “Need me to walk you back?”

“Nah.” You shrug. “If someone mugs me, they’ll give me an excuse to not do my homework.”

“Murdered?

“I’m already halfway there.”

He grins. “See ya tomorrow, Y/N.”

“See ya, Jones.” You wave as he runs off.

The walk home is quiet and considerably easier than it was a couple of weeks ago. Seeing as you now get queasy whenever you get into a car, you have been limited to taking the subway and walking, which, among other things, has contributed positively to your physical strength. You know that you should probably at least try to take the bus or a cab around town to build your tolerance up, but the last time you tried, you had almost tripped and fallen from how shaky your legs were getting out. Oddly enough, you note as you go through the door, you do not have a considerably larger fear of heights than you did before, or of fire, but cars were tripping you up, even though you were the one that crashed it. You feel thankful that, at least, you do not think your fear is crippling. At least, you reason, you can still get into the car.

You lock the door behind you, debating whether you feel like adding to the collection of cuts you now possess— they are self-inflicted, but not intentionally so; you stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the fact that you physically cannot use your hands to cut things. You decide against it tonight, tossing your bag on the bed as you sprawl across it, admittedly exhausted. You allow yourself a couple of seconds with your eyes closed before you pull yourself up with a groan and get back to work.

A part of you wishes that you had the physical energy to stay out longer. You are always trying to find excuses not to sleep, and although the mountain of homework and readjusting your timelines for things you missed is certainly one way to keep yourself preoccupied, it is not exactly what you would consider fun. Then again, reliving your greatest traumas while you sleep is not exactly fun either.

You catch yourself peeling at the newly applied bandages on your fingers, fingernails catching under the crudely applied adhesives. Applying bandages properly requires more dexterity and patience than you currently possess, and you are hardly going to ask someone else for help with something as stupid as that. You have lasted this long without needing too much help. People can live by themselves. You will live, probably. Well? Not your concern.

‘I should eat something.’ Your eyes strain to focus on the piece of paper in front of you, your mind wandering aimlessly as you try to impress the actual importance of finishing this upon yourself, but you find that is an insurmountable feat.

You drop your bag off the side of the bed, reaching down and pulling your shoe off, leaning back into your pillows, the weight of the day practically immobilizing you. Fumbling hands switch the lamp off, bathing your room in momentary, blissful darkness before the gravity of your decision sets in.

“Alright, me,” you breathe to yourself. “What’s it gonna be today? My folks? Bradford? What’s his face? Hell,” you chuckle, “why not all three? I’m sadistic enough, I’m sure.”

You close your eyes. “Give me your worse,” you challenge as you slip into unconsciousness.

--

Two weeks.

He had kept his distance for about two weeks. It was not as if he did not care or was not morbidly curious what the crash had done to you—his glances through the curtains did not tell him much-- but, after some debate, he had figured you needed time to recuperate before you would want his company. Two weeks, he figured, would be enough time for you to get back on your feet or, at least, for you to start wanting company.

His excuse to see you had come in the form of his brother’s newfound prideful boasting. Feigning insult was as good an excuse as any to go see you; after all, he just so happened to be in the neighborhood anyway, and it was normal to pop in to see someone if you were already just a couple blocks down, right? Sneaking away was easy enough—they would not mind his absence—and he, after much prep work, knew exactly how and why he was going to say the things he would to get in your good favor. The plan, he knows, would have gone swimmingly.

His plans seem asinine when he hears you crying.

His brothers do not cry much. He does not, either; it was a habit that they had all thoroughly bullied themselves out of when they were much younger and, if they still did, he knew nothing of it. His master did not encourage this, per se, but talked, then, frequently about the importance of maintaining a more stoic disposition and not allowing emotions to cripple you in battle. Practically, Donatello was satisfied with that explanation, having not properly cried for more than a year now. To hear the sound again, especially coming from you, was novel.

Novel, too, is how you are crying. The sound is less of actual sobbing and more of you being strangled, quiet gasps for air escaping your lips as you shake on the bed, curled in on yourself and clutching at your chest as if whatever pain you are experiencing is centered and can be relieved by something between your collarbones. His eyes, for the first time, trace the lines on your skin, your sleeves riding up your arms to reveal them to him, tears racing down and along the gash in your face. Everything about the scene, from the soft gasping of panic to your position to the heavy scarring, is completely foreign to him, rivaled only by one or two particularly hard nights when he and his brother were much younger.

He slides in through the window, leaning onto the bed. His fingers flick your lamp back on as he grabs your shivering shoulder tightly, shaking you awake as he mumbles words of encouragement. He is not sure if his help will be appreciated, if snapping you out of it was even what he is supposed to do in this situation, but now is not the time to think of that. You are in pain. He can offer you this kindness. “Wake up,” he pleads, not thinking of how this would look until your eyes snap open to look at him.

Immediately, the reality of the situation sets in, and he scrambles off the bed. ‘Why did I think that would be a good idea?’ Panic. ‘You just walked into her room like a fucking creep. See, now she’s going to—’

“Sorry.”

He blinks, looking up at you from his place on the floor. “Huh?”

You clear your throat, wiping the tears from your eye with your sleeve quickly as you bring your knees to your chest, voice hoarse. “Sorry,” you repeat. “That you… I’m not sure what I’m apologizing for, but I know I should be apologizing.”

He is completely dumbfounded.

Your eyes glance to the open window. “I should probably start closing and locking my window, right?” You rub the back of your neck, voice clearing the longer you talk. “It didn’t occur to me since I’m so high up, but if you guys can get in, The Foot can too, right?”

‘Why is she apologizing?’

You push the hair out of your face. ‘You need something, right? I—uh—need to stop saying ‘right’ so much.” You shake your head to clear it. “’ Sup?”

He hears himself mumble some bullshit out about being in the neighborhood.

You sigh. “Sorry.” You close your eyes. “I’m usually up later; I’ve been so tired lately.”

‘Is she serious right now?’ He is completely lost. ‘She was just crying her eyes out in her sleep and now she’s apologizing? Did I miss something?’ You are smiling now, eyes still bloodshot, as if the whole thing is a figment of his imagination, still shivering where you sit.

He rises to his feet, kneeling in front of you on the bed. “What was it about?”

You blink, seemingly confused. “Huh?”

“Your nightmare,” he clarifies. “You were crying. What was it about?”

You avert eye contact. “Nothing too crazy,” you shrug. “Just about the crash. Nothing too exciting.” If possible, he thinks the bags under your eyes are worse than the last time you saw him.

He takes your hands loosely, turning them palms up to look, for the first time, at the patchwork quilt that is now your skin. “What happened in it?” He runs his thumb along the lines, keeping his voice low; he remembers how that used to help when Mikey used to have fits when they were younger. Leonardo and Raphael were never good at that; they took better to being more violently snapped out of their moods, but, then again, they never had this kind of breakdown; theirs were always more driven by loathing, self or otherwise.

You pause, still not looking him in the face as your muscles relax. He remembers, vividly, how he had done something similar when you two had first met, how much better, health-wise, you looked. ‘How long has it been since then? Three months? A little less?’

You take a deep breath. “Just… family shit,” you mumble, eyelids drooping as you trace his frame loosely. “Fire.”

Your gaze is piercing as you finally look at him properly. He feels something catch in his throat as you bow your head.

“It’s my fault, you know.” Your voice is so soft, barely a whisper. “That they’re dead, I mean.”

The air is a suffocating blanket that smothers you both.

“I never told you, did I?” Your focus does not shift as it might have a bit ago. It is locked solely and intensely on him, taking in every detail of his expression. “How I died? How they died? Why I died?”

Hesitantly, he shakes his head. He thinks it best to just be quiet and let you talk. He does not think he has ever heard anyone speak in quite the same tones, ever looked at him quite the same way you are.

You take another breath. “I wanted to try my hand at baking.” You force your eyes to stay focused on his. “I was—still am—not good about sleep. I always slept bad, and never at the right times. I used to take pills for it, to try to get myself back on track.”

He sees where this is going.

“I thought I could still stay up as late as I was used to.” You glance to the side, stealing yourself a second before focusing back on the boy in front of you. “I sat down in my room, turned on a movie. I set a timer. I fell asleep.” You swallow, hands shaking in his. “I can’t smell well, either. I must not have smelled the burning.” Your lips curl in a bitter smile. “Sure as fuck felt it, though, when I woke up.”

He lets you finish.

You try to blink the tears out of your eyes. “They were asleep,” Your voice rises ever so slightly. “I fell asleep at two something. I woke up when they started yelling.” You purse your lips, face reddening in shame as your nostrils flair. “They were trying to get someone out of bed when the roof caved in above them. My door got blocked.”

You feel yourself smile.

“So,” you strain not to cry, “that, Donatello, is why I’m here and why I’m dead, and why I really do deserve to burn again.” You laugh. “Hell, my body count is rivaling some serial killers, so that’s… that’s certainly something.”

He lets go of your hands, face blank.

You lean forward, placing your hands on your knees. “I don’t blame you,” You wipe a wayward tear out of your eyes, trying to swallow the frog in your throat. “Fuck, man, I’d think less of me, too, if it were me.” You nod towards the window. “I get it if you want to leave, but I thought you might want to know why—”

He stops you mid-sentence, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you to him.

Your arms lay slack at your sides as you try to process what is happening.

He does not say a word.

You break.

You burry your face into him, tears welling in your eyes as you let out a strangled sob. You hold onto him tightly as you struggle to breathe, body shaking as you wrap your own arms around him the best you can. The sound roars in your ears like thunder, the deafening quiet of the apartment punctuated only by your own cries. He gently holds you there, resting his head on top of yours. Each sound you make sounds as though you are physically being choked by your guilt, and his chest feels as though it is being crushed by an invisible hand as he listens to your pain.

Neither of you knows how long you stay like that.

He considers telling you a story from a long time ago, about some training he and his brothers had back then, but thought better of it; he does not want to upset you any more than you already are, and being in good company with someone like him may not be exactly what you need right now. Granted, he does not know what you do need, but he knows listening to him talk about bashing brains would not help your sensibilities any.

Instead, he stays quiet.

You pull away after a while, wiping your face off again as you mumble out an apology.

“Don’t apologize.” He clears his throat. “It’s good to cry; it releases endorphins.”

You smile at that. “Well,” you giggle tearfully, “if it releases endorphins.”

He smiles back, face flushing. You look good, he thinks, even with your face all red. He knows that, scientifically, there is probably a reason, but he cannot think of it right now.

He stands up. “I’ll get—”

You grab his hand tightly.

He looks back at you.

“Can I ask a favor?”

He blinks. “Of course,” he agrees easily. “Anything.”

You glance off. “Promise not to take it weird?”

He feels his heart rate increase. “Y-yeah,” he nods.

He feels you pull him gently back on the bed. “Can you stay here tonight?”

His eyes widen as they flicker between the mattress and you. “What,” he clarifies breathlessly, “like sleep with you?”

You nod.

“In the same bed?”

You hesitate, nod again.

He clears his throat, face heating again. “Like, actually?”

“If it wasn’t actually, I wouldn’t ask, would I?” You grip his hand tightly. “I just really don’t want to be alone tonight.”

‘Oh.’ He mentally kicks himself. ‘She’s scared. Don’t make her uncomfortable.’

“It’s alright if you don’t—”

He is extremely quick to reassure you that he is more than happy—‘Bad choice of wording.’—to stay tonight until you fall asleep, but that he would not stay the whole night as to not worry his brothers.

You nod in agreement. “That’s fine.” You rub the back of your neck. “Not sure I would be good company when I wake up, anyway; I still have class.”

“Oh, right.” He nods in understanding, pushing himself further onto the bed. “Which side…?”

You shrug. “Which way do you face?”

“I usually lie on my stomach.”

“Then it doesn’t matter.” You slide your sweatshirt over your head after a bit of squirming around, tossing it onto the couch.

His face is now scarlet. “Okay then,” he mumbles, laying down on the side away from the window. ‘Is she going to—no, stop that.’

You look over at him, face down on the mattress. You can almost feel the heat coming off him. “Are you alright there, buddy?”

He nods.

You shrug, laying down under the blanket and curling into him, facing the window. “Mind getting the light?”

He reaches over, clicking it off.

You sigh in content, turning to face him, teetering on the edge of the mattress. “I’m not venomous,” you inform him teasingly. “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: of the two of us, you should not be the one who’s a nervous wreck.”

“You dunno that.” His voice is muffled by the bed.

“You’re the strong one,” you argue.

“So?” He turns his head to look at you. “I’m the guy laying in the—I’m just gonna stop that sentence.”

“It’s only bad if it isn’t consensual.” You smile reassuringly. “I invited you to lay with me, right? So, unless I make you uneasy, then we’re all good.”

He breaks eye contact. “So,” he clarifies, “you don’t mind if I move closer to you?”

You shake your head.

He hesitantly slides himself further onto the bed. “Can I move closer than this?”

“You’ve already seen me bawl my eyes out. You’re doing me a service. Move as close or as far as you want.”

He moves to press his side against you. “Is this fine?”

You nod. “Look, how about this?” You rest your arm under your head. “If you do something I’m uncomfortable with, the safe word is pina colada.”

‘We already have a safe word?’ He was not sure if he is on cloud nine or just terrified of you.

You are very confused why he looks so warm. “Do you need me to turn the AC on?”

He shakes his head. “I’m good,” he assures you tightly. Slowly, he reached an arm out and over your waist, pulling you closer. You do not seem to resist in any way, wrapping your good leg around one of his to pull him closer.

‘Conscious touching.’ He glances down at you, trying to act cool. ‘Conscious, intentional touching. She smells so nice and she feels—okay, this is not going to work if you keep being a perv.’

“Thanks,” you mumble, humming softly. “I appreciate this more than you know.”

Cloud nine. Definitely on cloud nine.

“Every time.”

You giggle.

He blinks. “What?”

“Every time,” you note, already nodding off. “Like in that book.”

‘Which one?’ “They wrote it down for a reason, right?” The longer he spends like this, the smoother he feels.

“Totally.” You smile, closing your eyes. “Just know that this goes both ways, alright? If you ever need help like this, you know who to call.”

This is new. ‘Help like this? What, like crying?’ His eyebrows furrow as he tries to understand what you mean. ‘Or he means if I ever need company in my—what did I just say?’

You pick up on his confusion. “Emotional help, I mean.” Your fingers trace the indentations in his shell absentmindedly. “I mean, I know sometimes I didn’t want to go to my family about stuff. I dunno if you have that…” you trail off, realizing that you might be unintentionally bashing his brothers. You sincerely do not want to blow this.

“I mean,” he says after a bit, “I think I get what you’re talking about.” He sighs. “You mean stuff that they’d make fun of me for, right?”

You nod.

He feels his heart melt a little. “I’ll have to take you up on that.”

You forgot how safe he makes you feel. “Goodnight, Donnie,” you mumble sleepily.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

You pass out not long after that. If he has to estimate a general amount of time, he will clock it in at about five minutes. He does not move, however, until about thirty minutes before sunrise, too busy listening to the sound of your breathing and memorizing how exactly your body feels next to his. As he slips out of the window, early morning air waking him back up completely, he wonders if, someday, he could stay to see you wake up next to him. Not out of necessity, but just because you both wanted to stay like that for a while more.

‘I hope so. It’s a nice dream to have, anyhow.’

Table of Contents

Chapter 9

Chapter 11

[yumpty-dumpty-inactive]

ahh id love a romantic matchup(s) as well if thats alright! (ik you must have a lot of reqs so feel free to just ignore this if its too much! :) )

im an infp, scorpio woman (18yrs old). im also lesbian. im short ehe~ just 5’0ft & often used as headrest and armrest ahaha. im easily flustered/i blush quite easily >< im more of a listener than i am a talker however when its a topic i really enjoy/know a lot i get excited and ramble a little ahahah tho it dies down quickly once i notice myself rambling and apologize. i apologize quite frequently even to inanimate objects when i bump into them ahaha. low social battery but would always love to listen to others talk and all!! :)) im an artist! will be going to art school a month from now (⌒▽⌒) i like playing games & can get competitive even if it is my first time playing it ahaha. my cooking skills…. are non-existent… i only know how to make incredibly simple ones & if were left by myself i would be living off of instant ramen & microwavable/oven (frozen) meals oop.. spare time i usually just either read, play, watch or nap lol (if not, then drawing ( ´ ▽ ` )). sorry if this was a long read! i really loved your writings! thank you! :)

yumpty speaks: aw anon! your so sweet! I’m glad you loved my writings :>! I read this and I just thought of a certain adeptus!! Not gonna spoil the surprise, so read below the cut!!

I match you with…

YANFEI!

I chose our law-loving adeptus because you two are literally PERFECT for each other!! She loves how short you are and teases you lovingly about it lol. She also showers you in compliments and cheesy pickup lines just to see your adorable flustered face! She absolutely ADORES how you listen! She loves babbling on and on to you about her newest case, or about the rules of the Liyue law! She loves that you listen, and that you actively listen, sometimes even putting forth your own ideas! You don’t just sit there with your chin on your hand going, “Uh huh, yea, mhm.” You look like you’re actually interested in what she’s saying! She loves listening to you ramble on about topics that interest you, and always tells you to continue speaking when you start babbling out apologies :)!! She thinks you apologizing to everyone and everything is SUPER cute, but if you apologize for a mistake that wasn’t your fault, she’ll take the blame. She understands your low social battery and is respectful of it, and will not push you into anything without your consent. She also LOVES your art!! She thinks it’s super cool, and you often draw her <33! She loves having game night dates with you, in the comfort of your home with each other :>!! I think she’d also be a competitive game player, so fame nights are definitely fun! She cannot cook for her life either, so you both have become regulars at Wanmin Restaurant LOL. She loves reading, playing games, watching shows with you, and napping with you :>>>!! Overall, it’s an adorable relationship <33

[jubberry]

ship tag game-

Rules: Answer with gifs then tag five people!

1. favorite ship?

Well these two has my heart rn.

2. first ship?

It really is about drinking your respect women juice for me. I really loved the dynamic between these two, and I loved how they played off with each other and helped each other grow.

3. first ship you were crazy for?

LOOK IM FUCKING OUTING MYSELF RN BUT YOUNG ME RLLY LOVED THESE CROSSOVER SHIPS

and hiccunzel was the first pairing (and this crossover community in general) where I really made friends and built our own community. It was nice because it was really just a very creative space where anything goes, and it was really cool to just edit and stuff and talk about hcs or potential stories with characters that have never met.

For this pairing, I just really love the whole nerdy friends to lovers relationship, and the trope of the dragon + princess in the tower. It was just a lot of fun.

4. newest ship?

I can't find any gifs of them cause idk the name of the monster, BUT WTF WAS GOING ON WITH THESE TWO.

5. Ship You Like But No One Else Does?

I SHIP THE MOST OBSCURE BULLSHIT PAIRINGS but i do think these two would be so cute. People mostly dont like them cause no one knows they exist. I honestly have more obscure pairings but they dont have gifs so I cant share (in fact...... this was my old gif... so technically.......... they still have barely any content)

6. ship you wish was endgame?

I honestly just wish Miranda was bi. Shep and Miranda has soo much amazing chemistry, I just love how they feel like theyre on the same level. I think Miranda is an interesting character in general, and contrast with her issue with perfection + Shep as a construct, if she is a person or not, would be a nice discussion. It would be an interesting dilemma to delve into, esp in a hurt and comfort, romantic relationship. I really think jennifer hale and miranda's va had soo much chemistry and theyre such a missed opportunity.

And I just want shepard to have an ice queen wife!!

7. Ship You Wish Had More Screen Time?

I wish That never happened in general and honestly made me stop watching cause I hated it so much. These two are sooo sweet and they deserved more time together.

8. Ship You Want To Have More Screen Time?

Hope i see more of these two being soft

9. Ship You Wish Was Canon?

LOOK you cant expect perfuma to make her a cactus crown and huntara wearing said crown and expect me not to love them. That is the cutest shit and these two had such a great episode together, it wouldve made a LOT of sense for them to be with each other at the end.

10. Ship You Want To Be Canon?

They really should have been a polycule and I am just gonna go off on the fact that thats exactly what happened at the end of the season.

[bangtansfavwriter]

🌷jimin having a crush on you🌷

(with a hint of smut & angst, still v fluffy 😌)

- a complete flirt or a complete shy bean, there's no in-between

- introduces you to his friends, his family, the staff, the ahjussi at the convenience store....

-will touch you a lot, so expect koala hugs on any given occasion

-you will stare at his lips a lot, unconsciously, which you'll notice when jimin looks like ar u like this : 👀🤭

-very very caring, the type to sprint across the city to be with you when something's wrong with you

- you guys would talk in person, on the phone, over text... actually a clingy one and he doesn't even hide it

-showers you with affection

- "you're so lovely, lovely, lovelyyy~"

- ur entire support system and personal hype man

- you know that will smith meme with his wife? that's jimin with you basically

- you two are completely emo when he has to leave for tour, but thank god there's skype

-gets emo again when you have to hang up

("good night, good night! parting is such a sweet sorrow." - "jimin, did you... did you just quote shakespeare on me?? minie, we're gonna talk tomorrow, don't be sad!"- "😔😔😔😔😔😔😔" - "nooo minie😭😭😭😭😭" - "noooooo im happy, look ☺️☺️☺️☺️" - "ok good 💞" - "........(😔)"- PARK JIMIN" - "👼🏻")

- stalks all your social media when he's on tour but will never tell you, accidentally like your pic from like 42 weeks ago and screamed so loud hobi fell out of his bed

-you sent him a screenshot of the notification you got with a single "?" and jimin welcomed the sweet release of death (he left you on read and prayed you would forget about it)

-stops by at your place when he's back in the country and gives you a hug so tight it lowkey feels like u guys made out, FLIRTS and you're like "what are we?" and he's "what do you mean? :))) we're friends ofc :))))))" [libras.]

-also, he often invites you to dance practices and is extra flamboyant meanwhile

- "y/n, have you seen the flip? it was good right?" ( boy's got a big fat praise kink tbh)

"you looked so cool, minie ~'

*gets shy, hides his face, jumps through the room*

(& you'd ask yourself if this the same guy who stripped at MAMA)

- his duality is no joke, even in your guys' relationship it would be confusing as hell sometimes, yet exciting because he shows you different sides : childlike and carefree / serious and seductive

- lots of cuddles and giggles together

- goes above and beyond to make you happy and ready to cut a bitch when you're upset

- could charm your pants off, hypothetically speaking, but he's also shyyy mostly bc he's scared you might not like him the same way

-at the dorms he would get into this mood where he would do dramatic monologues about his feelings which would put shakespeare to shame tbh

-they almost always end up with him imagining that you might go for someone else

-one day the boys would encourage him to go for it and he'd muster up the courage and be like "fuck yeah im gonna confess" and then loses courage when yoongi said "do it before someone else does it" and everyone would be screaming bc they just got jimin to shut up about you and were about to end the daily tortured hero vibe jimin had lately by tricking him into confessing (& jimin spent days giving yoongi a look that straight up said "et tu, brute?")

-jimin spent the days after that contemplating if you would actually date him or if you would go for someone else

-he'd be all pouty and would also be touchier than usual, bc he would this physical contact as some sort of reassurance, in a way

-you couldn't quite understand what was going on with him but you reciprocated in every scenario and he was very pleased with that

-when you guys would chill on a sofa and watch tv, he'd lay down and rest his head on your lap and wouldn't say anything and continue watching TV, but he'd still wait for your reaction and sigh happily when you started playing with his hair

-he'd do these little tests to gauge your reactions and to see how you act towards him

-he'd ask a lot about how you feel about relationships and respect and all that, he'd also test you... physically. and by that I mean the sensual hugs, light touches on your thigh and and the looks you'd share meanwhile... the first time you two had dinner with the guys in a restaurant with dim lights. when you felt his hand on your thigh, you looked at him with a raised brow and this lil shit deadass SMIRKED at you but you knew that 2 can play this game and smirked back and moved his hand slightly up and jimin's soul almost left his body. "what are we, y/n?" he whispered to you. "you tell me", you whispered back, with a cunning smile on your lips. you excused yourself and got up from the table and jimin jerked that moment, as you put your hand on his thigh when you lifted yourself up. (jk to nj: i don't know what is going on there but I bet it's disgusting, nj: no, don't be like that, sj: no, he's right)

-jimin and you (and everyone else, for that matter) entered a weird stage where you legit didn't know wtf was happening between you

-everything moved fast and yet you didnt know if you guys were going somewhere with this but jimin sure acted like your boyfriend yet didn't go beyond flirting

-and this was getting tiresome for you, but you were still hoping tbh, but you thought that maybe... maybe you were just a welcome distraction for him in all his hectic schedule. but deep down you knew this was your insecurities speaking, but sometimes it got the better of you.

-and things took an ugly turn when jimin tested you again, but in the most stupid way you could ever "test" someone... you've guessed it..... through jealousy.

- that was bc jimin himself got jealous when you were hanging out with yoongi, mostly bc he also remembered what yoongi once said about someone snatching you away from him

-and jimin absolutely hated this situation.... he knew this was irrational and that you could hang out with whomever you wanted & yoongi's obviously like a brother to him..... but jealousy is a very ugly feeling that makes you feel ugly things

-and jimin didn't want neither yoongi nor you to see this side of him so he didn't say anything. he didn't speak to neither of you. was it a good solution? hell no & he knew that. but he had to deal with his temper somehow... he cut you short whenever you tried to talk to him, saying he's busy and such, but you knew he was lying to you for some reason but you still were patient and did your best not to drag him to hell and back for lying to and ignoring you, as he stopped texting you as well. he didnt speak more than necessary with yoongi who only kept his mouth shut bc they was another matter involved. jimin had the idea for this "last test" for you when a new staff member got flirty with him, during a bighit party. you were there, too, in the same room, to be precise and jimin knew this and saw a chance coming, as you were talking to yoongi again who glared back at jimin who intensely kept staring at you two. so this new + drunk staff member came along and started talking with him.... and giggling so obnoxiously that yoongi and you rolled with your eyes at the same time and started laughing when you realized it. jimin wasn't listening to anything in the first place but when he saw you two laughing, he had a snap decision, turned to the staff member and coyly smiled and started flirting. you watched the whole play & jimin knew it, so he added some light touches and nudges here and there and you could feel getting more upset with every minute of this shit-show you were witnessing. yoongi put his hand on your arm and turned you away from jimin and his bimbo and face him instead. you could feel your blood rush to your head which was also apparent to yoongi who consoled you, as he knew of your feelings. jimin mistook the whole situation once again and went for the worst move.

you saw yoongi's glare and turned around only to see jimin holding his little plaything by the waist and them swaying around together. the other members noticed too and namjoon took the lead and quickly moved jimin away from dispatch's newest headline in the making. you turned to yoongi again and said "i'm going home, yoongi, thank you", with a sad smile on your face, and left before he could answer. yoongi quickly rushed out after you, knowing damn well that you'd go home and cry. he managed to catch up and pulled you into a hug, away from all the noise. "that boy is an idiot, but he's so in love with you, trust me on that. he's just being stupid right now", he said patted your back and lowkey contemplating dissing jimin in agust d 2, when he heard the muffled sniffs coming from you. "Ohhh, yoongi-hyung, y/n, getting cozy, aren't we?" you heard jimin saying behind you. yoongi was about to yell at him, but you were quicker to turn around and BLASTED him, bc how tf does he dare to say something like this after what he just pulled inside and how tf can he be so rude to yoongi and most importantly why tf would you listen to him after blatantly ignored you over the past weeks??? jimin went silent after your rant and let his head sink. "i'm sorry..." he said, "i'm sorry to both of you. i don't know how to explain it... but i felt angry when I saw you two so close. i know it's stupid and I know that you guys can be friends, obviously... it's so irrational and I don't even know why i did that earlier. i guess I wanted you to feel what I feel when I see you close with another man, y/n...". this voice got hoarse the more spoke and you knew that he too was about to cry. you knew he was regretful. it didn't justify that he was a dick to you, but you could see where he was coming from and understood that this feeling can make you do irrational things. "jealousy," yoongi said with a stern voice "is a really ugly trait, jimin. you should have known neither of us would ever go behind your back. for your information, y/n confided in me. your best friend is in love with you and you, dumbass, are too blind to see it. -(jimin's head shot up)- I'm gonna leave you two to it now, but jimin, I assure you I will kick your ass if you hurt y/n one more time." and he left. jimin looked at you apologetically, then hid his face behind his hands and took a deep sigh. "I really am a dumbass, huh..." - "yeah, you are" you replied with slight smile on your face and you took some steps towards him, he looked up at you. "y/n, I might be dumb and selfish, but I really hope that you can forgive me... one day. I was jealous of you two and I got insecure. I shouldn't have done what I've done and I can only apologise.... i'm really sorry about everything." (he let his head sink)

you were now standing right in front of him. "jimin, look at me." (he did.) "you really are a dumbass" (he got pouty) - "I thought we had already established that, y/n" - "getting smart with me, minie?" you asked and laughed when he looked at you with with huge eyes and a beaming face after he heard his pet name. he shook his head "I'm the dumbass, remember ?". You two laughed and you threw your arms around his neck and kissed his cheek while he buried his head in your neck.

"be my dumbass, minie."

💕

epilogue:

yoongi: "so how did you solve it again?"

you: "i called him dumb like 3 times and now we're dating"

yoongi: "nice"

jimin: "..."

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

oohohoho you just opened the deepest can of worms on the planet

-mod dave, who wrote a fucking ten mile essay

first off, addressing the second anon, no theyre all humans. h., half humans at least. cause yall know me i fucking love my humanstuck aus off my ASS

(that would be funny as hell though. a troll from space walking into a camp on earth going “I AM THE SON OF ONE OF YOUR EARTH GODS. BITCH” like... holy shit)

so first things first their parents. im gonna lay this out, the beta kids and trolls are all greek (EXCEPT sollux hes roman cause his parent has no greek equivalent), and all the alpha kids and trolls are those gods roman equivalents (,,EXCEPT dirk cause he kinda balances sollux being roman out). i havent figured out how thatd happen like 16+ times yet cause in the percy jackson books theres only ever been one instance of two siblings of the same godly descent being greek and roman respectively in HISTORY so like.. i guess th. i guess thats just not a problem in this au

anyway this gets really long so im gonna talk about the beta kids and trolls cause i havent elaborated on the alphas at all ((peep the tags if you wanna see their parents though))

johns the son of zeus, rose is the daughter of athena, dave is the son of apollo, and jade is the daughter of demeter. they were all raised in their respective states, all had to come to new york for various reasons. jades been there the longest, shes been there 9 years and shes been on a couple quests. her biggest accomplishment so far is how she protected the camp from this big vicious angry hellhound that got past the barrier. naturally the girls fluent in Dog Training, so she steps up and instead of trying to kill this thing, she reaches out and tames it as fast as she can. it ends up actually working, and ever since that day she, her cabin, and the camp have a whole bodyguard sleeping right outside the demeter cabin! hes her steed in battle and hes a Very Good Boy. and his name is becquerel

johns the newest kid at camp, he has no idea who he is or why the fuck his school got attacked or why in the hell those anemoi thuellai were so fixated on him or HOW in the hell he absorbed the lightning one threw at him and ended up fine,,, hes just a big mess right now. a big enough mess that when he got claimed by literally zeus, no one else was around, he shrugged it off as some basic magical happening, and he stayed in the hermes cabin far longer than he should have cause no one! fucking knew he got claimed! by zeus of all people! dumbass. he ends up figuring it out though. like an off-hand mention about how this “weird lightning thing appeared above my head a couple weeks ago, haha weird right?” once he figures it out he realizes “hey i might be able to fly” so he sneaks off into the woods to try it. he succeeds fairly quickly but god almighty everyones face the one day the dude just yote himself off a small cliff without warning,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

dave and rose are really tight, theyve been there roughly the same time length, and since their cabins are across from each other they just bother each other all the time. daves the resident Doctor even though he really doesnt look it cause hes got the apollo powers. apollo is the medicine god. so if you wound your stupid ass in battle daves in the ER room patching you up with his glowy hands. rose on the other hand is a very good strategist. shes one of the only athena kids ever recorded to actually have a power - telekinesis. she has no idea how she developed it, she thinks its from birth, but it freaks her out. shes training it though.

so the beta trolls, are also all human(ish). aradias hades kid. but i pulled a pjo trope on her based on one of my favorite characters (im not saying for spoilers, but if you recognize the situation, You Probably Know Who Its Based Off) and aradia died. her mom, the handmaid, had been pulling some Shady Ass Shit and ended up getting herself killed, but aradia tried saving her and ended up going down with her.

so handmaid gets sentenced to the fields of punishment in the underworld, and aradia gets sentenced to elysium, heroes paradise. shes like “no i want my mom to be okay” so they take that away from aradia and they put them both in the fields of asphodel, the neverending grey space for Not So Good But Not So Bad people. her mom becomes a shade (shadow spirit, no human resemblance), as all people do, but aradia. doesnt? and she gets dunked in the fucking river lethe and if you dont know what that does it erases your memory. so she just. comes out of the river like “hello? wgat tae fukc goin on??” but she still remembers one thing. there was an “a” in her name.

tavros is the son of hermes, hes just kinda taken on the role of backup counselor for when the actual cabin counselor is out. hes in a wheelchair, but he also has prosthetic legs for when he needs to actually stand up and fight. hes really good at it too. also catch him in winged converse cause he Owns Those and Uses Them To His Advantage. hes trying his best to keep focused on the camp, cause aradia was his childhood friend, he misses her a whole lot, she never got to camp in the first place. and to his knowledge, shes still dead.

sollux is a janus kid. thats a problem cause janus is roman, and this is a greek camp. he grew up with dave, he showed up with dave, hes been at camp as long as dave. but hes been unclaimed since he showed up so he thinks hes unwanted by whatever parent he has. he knows hes a demigod, he got through the camp barriers, so what the fuck is wrong with him? he also feels shitty cause hes shit at the greek lessons, he cant read a lick of it which literally every demigod without exception should be able to do, he cant name any gods- well, he can, but.. he gets their names mixed up. why does he keep calling poseidon “neptune”? and he has a much, much different way of natural fighting than other kids. they slice, he jabs. he wasnt taught to jab. 

karkat is an aphrodite kid with vitiligo, and to make matters worse, hes ace and on the aro spectrum. to make matters WORSE, the aphrodite kids are kinda notorious for being really shallow, really materialistic, and really mean. karkats been dubbed the “runt” of the cabin, he gets made fun of for his spots to the point where he uses make up and magic to conceal them. worst of all? hes the kid of the goddess of love, for fucks sake. being reminded that “loveless people shouldnt be able to stay in this cabin, mom must have made a mistake claiming you” is kind of.. a blow to the self esteem. long story short he hates aphrodite for claiming him, and would have rather stayed in the hermes cabin. but he eventually goes on this big quest thats vague as fuck right now but Its The Main Plot, he ends up proving to himself that hes worth something and that his siblings are wrong, and my FAVORITE LINE IN THE WHOLE THING i came up with is HIS when he deals a final blow to some big monster: “REMEMBER MY FACE THE NEXT TIME YOU REINCARNATE. MY NAME IS KARKAT VANTAS, I’M THE SON OF APHRODITE, AND LOOKS CAN KILL.”

nepeta isnt anywhere near developed as others are unfortunately, shes a daughter of ares and shes really really good at hand to hand combat. shes small but she leads groups of people in things ranging from camp volleyball games to actual literal wars. shes a tough little shit

kanaya isnt really developed either, i have yet to figure out most of her powers too actually, shes a daughter of iris, the rainbow goddess though. (blatant reference to both kanayas vampirism and. h. her. sh. es ga. gay) ONE THING SHE CAN DO THOUGH is iris message at will without water or drachmas so really shes just everyones go to cell phone and its fucking hilarious cause people just come into the cabin like “KANAYA I NEED TO TALK TO [X]” and shes like “You Better Fucking Pay Me I Am Not Your Personal Cell Phone”

terezi is the daughter of nemesis and she has this really peculiar power she hasnt really gotten the hang of yet. she has synesthesia, so while she cant see she can smell and taste the colors of her surroundings and its really helpful. sometimes though she gets messages from her mom. they dont even come as dreams half the time, they come as almost a different plane altogether. tez has the power to literally tip the scales, pretty much. and when she gets like that, she can see. shes not on earth though, shit on earth stops when shes like that. shes just kinda In Her Own Head, i guess? and in her head she holds the two scales in her hands. she is the arms of the scale. and depending on which one she lifts up, she can literally alter the fate of the battle or happening thats going on By Herself. once she chooses she just whooshes back to real life though and nothing has changed. the only downside? it takes a LOT of energy and cant be exploited for little things. her one thing on her bucket list is to tap into said powers while getting something from a vending machine so like three things will fall out but it hasnt happened yet and shes upset

vriskas a daughter of tyche, the luck goddess, come the fuck on you knew i was gonna, i havent really elaborated on her either and im upset about that. but hey now you get a break from all those fucking paragraphs

equius is a hephaestus kid, and he kinda stays in the background. hes a range fighter, he spends a lot of time in the forge, and even though its been a project looooong since forgotten, hes been excavating the tunnels under cabin nine for years. by himself. he has no idea where they lead, but dammit hes gonna find out where. he has no idea about a certain bunker in the woods though...

gamzees just there for a fucking laugh tbh hes a son of dionysus and i love that cause hes the god of wine and parties and insanity. usually gamzees just zoning out somewhere hes Not supposed to be, and hes not affected by the maenads FUCKED UP BULLSHIT that goes down the forest sometimes. also hes so fucking scared of tavroses wing shoes he tried them on once while he was high and JESUS CHRIST

eridan is the son of kymopoleia, a SUPER obscure goddess. lets just say dont fuck with eridan cause his mom is the goddess of violent sea storms,

and naturally, feferi is the daughter of poseidon. cause who the FUCK else would she be the daughter of. WHO. NAME ONE GOD

OH AND JUST CAUSE I FORGOT CALLIE AND CALIBORN ARE SATYRS IN THIS AU. CALLIE HAS PAN PIPES. and caliborn still has a gun

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

im supposed to be working on uh literally anything else but instead i gotta get this outta my brain

tl;dr: slag is causing the Psychos to spread across the galaxy bc the Calypsos are using it to both brainwash their cultists and give them ‘special powers’. i mean, its not just slag, it’s eridian ruins/tech, too, but the Twins are utilizing slag the most. which explains the slagfalls and also the processed eridium everywhere still. im hoping sirens will help us cure this- starting with Krieg because slag/Psychos have some sort of connection to the other dimension, just like Sirens, but more messy. also this insanity from the slag/Psycho-ness is literally Mayhem and us fans are taking part in it- we’re the cult irl. plus, this game is gonna be about love and the relationships we have with the people we care about and that’s all the roses mean because i’m feeling s o f t tonight. tomorning. whatever maaaaan

“… among their fractured ramblings, it is tempting to try and find a deeper meaning…”

“[their madness] defies attempts at explanation or containment. from an isolated region of a single planet, to a nearby moon, to systems throughout every human colony, madness is catching…”

you can’t tell me this isn’t just BEGGING for us to figure it out

so, for my own sake:

i have a theory.

i kinda sorta hinted at this with my destroyer theory but i REALLY wanna go all out in this because i think this is actually something to think about… mostly because ive seen A Scene… and i wants to talk about it, vh. i wants it

now im gonna `lol` ignore everything about my lost legion eternal theory and start entirely from scratch. it’s also 1am here for my apologies if this comes across as incoherent because wow i should be asleep but fuck it i got research to do

so it all starts with psychos. i mean i guess it does. it’s gotta right? i brought in pictures it must

anyway

the guide admits that the first psychos came from Dahl’s prison colonies

the ones abandoned on pandora, now ive kinda talked about this b4 but imma talk about it again bc uhhh fuck it? why not.

so we know a lot of the bandits left on Pandora mutated because of the eridian ruins/the key. this is referenced mostly in sledge’s mine

its like world-wise called headstone mine but i never remember that. SLEDGE’S MINE

notice that line “most went crazy and many were physically mutated as well”

so i think it’s safe to say whatever they found in there started causing psychos to appear on pandora

im saying that i think eridians are the cause of Psychos across the galaxy

i have a lot more proof for this so please sit back and enjoy the ride because i think its really really cool

so lets look at hector’s logs from the newest dlc

“one of my boys found a shiny alien trinket”

“a few boys went rabid already, had to put them down”

now idk if there’s a connection here, but it’s interesting that both times, people who found these eridian artifacts started going crazy soon after

shit i mean even tannis begins to go off the wall after her and her dig team start investigating the eridian sites. although if that is because of the horrific incidents that befell her and her team or the ruins idk for certain. i’d bet its the shitty incidents tho

there’s more to this, hang on…

alright, so, lab rats? they’re pretty cool right?

we all like lab rats! personally, chase is my favorite, but adam is hilarious. that final season, huh? pretty wicked… wasn’t really a fan of the island setting but you know what, to each their own. it’s cool they actually progressed the show instead of staying stagnant. that got my respect even if it moved in a direction that wasn’t my cup of tea.

anyway Q U O T E S:

“Hyperion opened my eyes. i didn’t want it!”

“needles in my eyes!”

“don’t you look at me!”

“i can see! i don’t want to see!”

so there’s obviously something ~fucky~ going on with the lab rats and whatever it is they can see from the hyperion experimentation. we know hyperion had a hard-on for slag experimentation and you know i wouldn’t even be shocked if they were injecting these rats’ eyes with slag.

the best part is their reactions when they’re phaselocked. Unlike most enemies, the lab rats will only react to maya’s action skill, and none of the other VHs.

vs something like a marauder:

who has all these voice lines for Zer0, Axton, Sal (merc), AND Maya

the lab rats will only ever respond to being phaselocked.

and what do they say?

“i see the universe!”

“i see infinity!”

“it’s beautiful!”

 (now weirdly enough i was told on the tv tropes for bl2 that the lab rats will say “I see it more!” when phaselocked by maya, but i couldn’t find a source for that. couldn’t even find it in the files i extracted from the game. i checked an online video just to double check because you know, my extraction could’ve been off, but it wasn’t there, either. even phaselocked one a bunch as maya and i couldn’t get it to proc. so, idk where that info came from, if someone could give a source/proof that would be awesomesauce.)

sooo what do other enemies say when phaselocked? usually… they just see blue. so nothing quite as interesting as infinity.

so wtf is up here? 

im thinking the experiments hyperion performed on the lab rats are letting them see the dimension maya locks them in. i mean, tbh, i think they can see into that dimension whenever they open their eyes, but maybe maya’s phaselock makes sense of it for them. because they seem to be in indescribable agony outside of it

but the lab rats aren’t the only enemies that only react to being phaselocked

turns out the psychos only react to phaselocking, too

they also have some fun lines:

“I can see forever!”

“I’m home!”

“I’m inside… I’M INSIDE ME!”

with some other nonsense thrown in for fun

so idk, just taking a look at this, it’s clear the psychos and lab rats are seeing something that the other bandits just aren’t seeing. most reactions are demands to be released or that they’re flying, or just straight up confusion as to what’s happening.

is that the side effect of their exposure to slag/eridian tech? yeah, imma bet on it. their mind machines probably broke because they saw something they weren’t supposed to (possibly into the other dimension. the one maya phaselocks them in) without proper ‘protection’ and thus went batshit. like maybe sirens are protected from the craziness of the other dimension because they’re ‘chosen’ or whatever. iunno.

i do think it’s most interesting that the psychos seem familiar with whatever they’re seeing, calling it ‘home’ and well… themselves. 

so why in the fuck am i talking about all this? because i think it ties straight into bl3.

let’s bring back lab rats and their experiments

you know how hyperion was supposedly injecting their eyes with slag? and it caused them to shoot those weird blue lasers out?

what happens to the destroyer’s eye in tps?

yeah we inject this bad boy with slag

“i only juice the eye with a little bit of slag at a time”

which ends up causing a singularity around the eye the second time you do it

“if this slag stuff is powering the laser, we need to force as much of it as we can back into the eye. the increased power will trip a failsafe and let us shut everything down”

oh, increased power? you mean like how Sirens get increased power from absorbing eridium? that kind of increased power?

we know in bl1 the Destroyer seemed to have something like slag in it- those glowing pockets on the tentacles that explode into purple goo

even its attacks are like purple liquid. which, you know… would be quite similar to slag (tho tbf, these attacks actually hurt instead of applying the debuff)

and boy does the destroyer not like it

“warning. space-time instability detected.” after injecting the eye with too much slag. but… why? it got too powerful? are its powers directly connected to the other dimension and by increasing it’s strength a bunch we created some sorta link between our dimension and the other one? 

i mean given the other dimension allows for teleportation and shit, im not surprised there’s a space-time instability!

i mean we’ve all seen it do the eye laser thing, and the tentacles, and the purple goop. but causing space-time instabilities… that’s new isn’t it? kinda like how Sirens get new powers after they absorb a bunch of eridium???

so i wanna take a guess as to what the destroyer is

we know its ‘immortal in its own realm’ but when it’s taken an actual body that we can kill it, so odds are, it never actually died in bl1 OR tps. i imagine the Destroyer we see in bl1 is just a small fragment of it, and that it’s consciousness can be spread out across hosts. *EDIT: actually the lovely @automata-systemata-hydromata reminded me that you can find the destroyers brain in Helios. The other stuff I left in should be fine tho I thiiiink (thank you!).

and that, y’know, is cool and all, but what IS it??

Jack uses slag to give it a power boost, but it doesn’t seem to be happy about it when it happens. in fact, it even seems scared.

to be honest, all we know is that the eridians locked it away for some reason

idk im just spitballing here, but what if the Eridians were the creators of the destroyer? not intentionally, or maybe it was the result of one hell of a slag experiment/exposure to the other dimension/eridian tech, but we’ve seen what slag/exposure to eridian stuff does to humans… makes them go crazy, makes them start mutating. i mean, look at badass psychos. look at goliaths.

i mean shit even think about bloodwing. she goes wild, attacking the VHs and not listening to mordecai’s instructions despite their bond

she grows to a huge size and gains a whole shitload of new powers she didn’t have before. including fucking fire breath (which we’ve seen in burning psychos)

you know these dudes

i go into all this eridium/slag mutation stuff in SO much more detail in this post here, so if you’re interested in mutations, read this!

so what if the destroyer is just one HELL of a mutated eridian/alien and it plus all the eridium was locked away forever in the other dimension to keep this from ever happening again? because god, i wouldn’t want that to ever happen again, either, and i guess locking away the eridium (you know the stuff used in all these hyperion experiments) would be their best bet at ensuring it. also maybe just… locking away anything with eridium for that long probably isn’t the best idea… maybe that’s why it’s all tentacles and death. maybe they just locked someone away in a Vault as a prison and then leaving them with all that eridium caused them to mutate wildly out of control. kinda like the FEV. 

i mean we know ‘slagged psychos’ look like this 

i wouldn’t be surprised if we gave them enough slag/time they’d end up mutating even worse. and the destroyer was left in the vault for hundreds of years.

so wtf is the connection here with Sirens? there’s gotta be one, right??? is slag experimentation the first rung on the ladder of volatile science to achieving siren-hood? like you’d have slag/eridium experiments/mutations -> the lost legion eternal -> actual Sirens. maybe if sirens take in too much eridium they become something like the destroyer. now that’s fucked up to think about.

maybe it’s better the twins took lilith’s powers away from her…

oh, speaking of mutations and burning psychos and hyperion experiments, you know what we haven’t talked about yet?

Krieg. 

let’s talk a whole lot about Krieg, because he is super important

krieg is important for a lot of reasons.

u know what his teaser trailer was named?

yeah i don’t think that’s coincidence one bit

ahhh Mayhem.

“deep beneath pandora, an experiment has escaped”

we know krieg is a hyperion test subject, dr samuels confirms this (and apparently contracts insanity as well at the end of the Crawmerax DLC)

also we know some other tests going on at the WEP from the quest Doctor’s Orders:

“this vault key didn’t make eridium come outta the ground for nothing, right?”

and there’s this one very very very interesting line by Tannis at the end of the quest:

“the spread of slag poisoning” yeah call it that DUMB name tannis, im gonna call it what all the kool kids are calling it: ~Mayhem~

so… Krieg.

what’s so special about him?

well… he gives us insight into what the hell is actually going on inside the heads of some psychos.

so idk about you guys but i always took this as a poke at Maya and Krieg, but i realize now that this is talking literally just about Krieg. it’s about his body holding both sides of himself.

krieg does appear to be like lucid behind the psycho controlling his body, which, idk about you guys, but for me that plants some pretty horrible mental images of all the psychos in-game who probably have similarly exasperated people behind them who are getting murdered because they can’t control themselves anymore.

and idk i wrote this whole post about how maybe the slag experimentation is turning people into hosts for the destroyer’s consciousness and that could explain all the wacked up psychos and shit. but tbh im not gonna talk about that today

just about slag experimentation/eridium exposure. we know what it ACTUALLY does and that’s mutate the hell out of things and cause insanity.

Krieg is like… the poster child for slag experimentation/eridium exposure

soooo why does slag experimentation make people go insane? could be any number of reasons, but tbh i would bet it has to do with that other dimension somehow. because eridium isn’t a normal ‘our dimension’ element. it came out of a vault. from a different dimension. and who knows the long-term effects of that shit.

i personally had a theory that the 4th dimension had something to do with time and that only Sirens are able to harness this power, but then i have no idea how to explain angel and amara’s powers through that lense, so eh. fuck it. just seeing an upper dimension would make you go crazy anyway, so let’s not bring any time shit into this because that’s just asking for trouble. 

either way

i think that sirens are able to make sense of that other dimension. they have some sort of command of it/some sort of tie to it that allows them to not go crazy the instant they interact with it, unlike psychos. unlike lab rats. unlike Krieg. it’s like… eridium is our window into this other dimension or some shit and Sirens are (literally) able to process it, while it just fucks over anyone else who tries to interact. ~kachow i just introduced parallels~

and tbh i think we’re going to use Sirens to help cure this plague of insanity going around the universe. probably starting with Krieg. i mean, the only time he’s able to get even an iota of control is when he sees Maya. “Turn around pretty lady!!” like… that’s HUGE for him. and Maya’s a Siren. im not saying the power of love isn’t strong… but maybe the power of Sirens is stronger. i’d love if tannis helped us out with that. maya, too, if she really did learn more about sirens on athenas. 

this all ties into borderlands 3 for 2 reasons:

1. Mayhem being both the tagline for this game and Krieg the Psycho’s DLC pack is not a coincidence

2. The calypso twins are going to be using slag to both brainwash people into becoming cultists and give them special powers

`breaks fingers` this is the real meat of this theory, all that other stuff was just getting you READY for this

let’s put the Mayhem stuff off to the side for a second and just focus on the Calypso twins.

We know they’re promising their cultists special powers and free brainwashes (lol)

we’ve seen that one concept art from the museum of mayhem with the giant slag pool

we know enemies are STILL dropping refined Eridium even though it seems like all manufacturers have stopped creating slag weaponry

and we’ve seen the slag falls in a bl3 promo material already

oh yes

okay so i said right at the very beginning of this document that i’ve seen A Scene that i wanna talk about and oh baby this is it

This Scene right here

look in the very back there

look familiar???

~it shooouuuuullld~

yeah this is it!!!

so what i think is going down: anyone who’s not already insane is sorta ‘baptized’ as their entrance into this cult in the big ol slagfall. maybe the twins have a way to induce slagged cultists so they can have elemental affinities. not sure about that.

regardless

the twins are using slag to drive people insane (turning them into psychos) as a form of brainwashing to force people to join their cult.

so that’s the special powers and the free brainwashing and the slagfalls down.

let’s talk about why exactly we’re seeing enemies drop bars of refined eridium even though hyperion stopped making them. because the twins are making it!! it makes sense why there’s no slag guns still, even if it still exists in-universe: of course no manufacturer is going to contact an insane bandit cult just to get their hands on slag for their guns. 

there was a 7 year dry spell of eridium production so there was no slag to go around, so companies started phasing it out of their guns and replacing it with nuclear. 

but the twins have recently started production again. they’re obviously not using it in their guns, or selling it to other manufacturers. so wtf are they using it for? it’s gotta be important, it’s holy holy holy.

special powers and brainwashing!

and the refined eridium is back in circulation, so enemies are still dropping it. see? solution acquired.

as for psycho-ness spreading across the universe? it makes sense. not only are the twins using their slag to brainwash people and turn them into psycho cultists, but people are also being mutated by the eridian ruins/vault keys/vaults on the other planets and being driven insane. This craziness is quite literally Mayhem.

Mayhem is coming, indeed! 

now let us talk about what the fucccck gearbox is doing with all that Mayhem stuff in the trailers and shit.

sooo WE are the cult surrounding this game. as the fan base. 

do u think it was coincidence that they made ‘ECHOnet’ Streamers the leaders of their big bad cult and then also immediately introduced, in real life, the Twitch ECHOcast extension and invited a bunch of streamers to play their demo? they knew exactly what they were doing. Giving away a free cultist psycho mask to everyone who preorders a console copy of the game? that’s intentional. everyone who preorders the game gets a ‘gold weapon skin pack’? yeah! you know what gold weapons represent in-universe? higher standing in the cult!! gearbox is making commentary on how we are all just like the cultists!

AND THEY ARE TOTALLY RIGHT

all the trailers having something to do with Mayhem? ‘Mask of Mayhem’ ‘Mural of Mayhem’ ‘We are Mayhem’ ‘Mayhem is coming’. We’re all insane cultists because we’re all absolutely fucking rabid for this game and they KNOW IT.

…

oh also we’re all in love with each other lmao. 

in all seriousness, i think the game is going to focus a lot on the relationships we have with the people we care about- our found family, our romantic interests, our friendships- and that’s being expressed through the roses. 

i think that’s why all the characters are shown in the roses on the cover art. why the roses are so prominent in the So Happy Together trailer. why Zane is sitting at a bar with a rose between himself and his clone (as a joke, but still, it’s the intent). 

red roses are, like, the most obvious way to show your affection to someone. and we know the bl3 Vault Hunters are going to find family in each other in this game. that we’re going to watch the calypso twins’ relationship become warped as the game goes on. hell, we’re probably even going to have a whole plot about tina and mordy (and talon) and brick being a small family together, and maya and ava being one as well. plus ellie and vaughn have gotten together since commander lilith. shit, guys, even claptrap is building himself a girlfriend.

this game’s about love, guys.

anyway i have been working on this since 1:30am. it’s currently 6:06am. i am very tired and very wired and those never mesh well. im gonna go eat some motherfuckin pizza.

edit: i missed the obvious connection the first time around: of course we’re going to cure Krieg, he loves Maya. and this game is all about love.

that and/or one or both of them die and gearbox hurts us right in the softest parts of our hearts.

edit 2: also yeah at some point in the near future im writing that Hyperion-Twins theory because as much as i love Atlas, i have ~seen some things~

[chungledown-bimothy]

Lost Ourselves in the Bright Lights

Hello hello hello! About a month ago, a LOVELY anon gave me a multitude of prompts. One of which was “Virgil and Logan are at a concert. Virgil cause he loves the band and Logan because he brought his brother (Patton or Roman) and at first Logan Hates the whole thing but then he sees Virgil and Virgil is singing along and he thinks virgils beautiful and that’s how they meet”. 

Here’s to you, Prompt Anon. <3

Warnings: some swearing, some sexual innuendos/suggestiveness, but nothing anywhere near explicit. 

Pairing(s): analogical, logince as brothers, patton is logan and roman’s dad. very brief virgil and remy as friends.

Word Count: 3701 (a Big boy)

Tag List: @ren-allen @ilovemygaydad @ccecode @emo-sanders-sides-loving-unicorn @bloodropsblog @funsizedgremlin @raygelkitty @roxyfox23 @thomasthesandersengine 

"I understand that you want to go, Roman, but what does this have to do with me?"

"Because, Logan, dad says I can only go if you come with me 'to keep me out of trouble,’" Roman begged.

Logan sighed. "That's not fair to either of us. Aside from the fact that we graduate high school next month and are capable of keeping ourselves safe, now I must choose to either suffer through an evening of mediocre music played far too loudly to be safe or prevent you from seeing your favorite band."

"That's what I told dad, but he wouldn't budge! Please, Lo? I'll do your chores for the next two weeks if you come with me."

"Okay, I will. Don't expect me to have fun, though."

"I have a feeling you're gonna have a better time than you think, little brother."

"How many times do I have to tell you? Not only are we twins, but I am taller than you!" Patton stood in the doorway with a soft smile, listening to his sons bicker. He knew full well that Roman would have been just fine at the concert by himself, but something told him Logan should go with his brother, and all of the best things in Patton's life had started with that same feeling.

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

"Why is it already so loud?" Logan complained.

"It's called hype, calculator watch!"

"It is obnoxious. Enjoy the concert; I'll be at that table. Come find me when it's over."

"God, you're such a nerd. Did you even listen to the playlist I sent you, so you knew what to expect tonight?"

"Are you referring to the playlist entitled 'Mayday Parade Owns My Sad Gay Ass'? If so, no. All of this genre sounds alike, and the name itself is absurd, bordering on oxymoronic."

"You're absurd and bordering on oxymoronic!" Roman cried.

"I'm certain you don't know what that word means. Regardless, you're wasting your time here with me; it appears that what is colloquially known as the 'mosh pit' is filling up, and I know how much you wanted to be there."

"Good looking out, Lo! Mayday's going on soon anyway. I don't know how you think you're gonna be able to read once they start playing, but I hope you enjoy your book."

"Go have fun. It's what we're here for, after all." Logan smiled briefly before turning to the e-reader he brought, loaded with the newest Song of Ice and Fire novel. It wasn't long before the band started playing, and, loath as he was to admit it, Roman was right. Between the flashing lights and the ear-splitting volume, focusing on a book was simply impossible, so he decided to indulge in an exercise in observation, or 'people watching'.

Logan Sanders did not believe in fate or kismet or providence or any term one could use for that sentiment. He believed that the universe is cold and indifferent, and that even the most serendipitous events are simply chance. But, for a split second, after about fifteen minutes or so, he believed all of it when the spotlight paused its sweep over the crowd, illuminating the most beautiful man Logan had ever seen. He was a lost Bernini sculpture brought to life, soft lines belying a quiet grace and strength. Lost in the music, he was swaying and singing along, and he was radiant- purple hair and sharp features glowing in the light.

Logan Sanders certainly did not believe in love at first sight; he didn't even believe in love at all. In that moment, however, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he needed to meet this man, that he was special.

And that absolutely terrified him.

He tried to keep his eyes off of him, he really did, but it was impossible to look away for long. So when the band took a break and his mystery man went to the bar to get a drink, Logan knew it was his chance.

"I apologize if I'm being too forward, but I couldn't help but observe you in the crowd tonight, and you are stunning."

"I wondered if you were going to come talk to me. What were you trying to read, before it got too loud?"

"I- I'm sorry, what?"  The man was even more handsome up close; dark eyeshadow and lipstick contrasting what Roman would call 'killer contour and highlight'. The overall effect was truly striking, leaving Logan speechless for the first time.

"A guy dressed like a teacher at a Mayday concert trying to read and clearly wanting to disappear into the walls? I'm sure most people, like you wanted, didn't notice you, but I'm not most people." He smirked, looking Logan up and down.

"Clearly." Logan replied, returning his 'elevator eyes', if he remembered the colloquialism correctly, and finding his voice again. "My name's Logan."

"Virgil. You obviously don't want to be here, so why are you?"

"Correction- I didn't want to be here. My brother loves the band, and our father insisted I accompany him."

"Past tense? What changed?"

"You're an intelligent man, Virgil. You tell me."

"You've licked your lips twice while we've been talking, and your breathing is uneven and shallow. And I'm fairly certain that if I do this," Virgil stepped forward, getting as close to Logan as possible without touching. "Your pupils will dilate and your breath will catch. Just. Like. That." He finished, whispering.

Logan looked up at him and noted the same physiological responses. "That's not what I asked, now, is it?"

"No, it isn't. What do you want, Logan?"

"Once again questions you already know the answers to."

"Once again, you're not answering them. Maybe I just want to hear you say it."

"Maybe I don't want to give you the satisfaction."

"Now that's just not true. If satisfaction wasn't on your mind, you wouldn't still be standing so close to me." Virgil leaned in and tilted his head, daring Logan to make the next move.

"What do you want, Virgil?" Logan whispered, eyes locked on his lips.

"You. All of you," Virgil confessed.

"Then take me." He barely got the words out before Virgil closed the gap between them.

Logan was no blushing virgin; while he hadn't had a relationship per se, exploring one's sexuality is a traditional part of the high school experience. He'd never been kissed like that, though. Like the answers to the world's most profound questions lay between their lips, and then oh. Virgil's hands were on his hips, pulling him even closer.

Logan broke the kiss, panting slightly. "We… we shouldn't be doing this here."

"You're right. Come back to my place? It's not far from here."

"I want to say yes, but…"

"You can't." Virgil stepped back, and Logan's heart metaphorically dropped when he saw the sadness in his face.

"If I were here alone, I absolutely would, but I promised I'd keep an eye on my brother."

"I get that, and I respect the fuck out of you for it. Here, put your number into my phone, and then come dance with me."

"I'll gladly give you my number, but I can't dance."

"Well, you're in luck, then. There's only one rule when it comes to dancing."

"What, pray tell, is it?" He asked, not looking up from Virgil's phone.

"Pick a partner who knows what he's doing." With a wink, Virgil took his phone back and led Logan to the dance floor.

The rest of the night was a blur of pounding bass, stolen kisses, and hands everywhere.

All too soon, the show ended, as all things must. With great reluctance, Virgil and Logan parted ways with a promise to meet again soon. Logan wasn't above admitting that while he didn't want him to have to, he enjoyed watching Virgil walk away.

"Ooooh, who was that, Lo-Lo?" Logan jumped, not having heard his brother's approach.

"Oh, that was, uh… that was no one."

"Falsehood, as you say so often. You were all over each other! I'd never seen you like that before. You like him!"

"Preposterous. I don't know him. And, as you said, my behavior was entirely uncharacteristic. I don't know what came over me."

"You stopped thinking with your big brain, and apparently your little brain has game. Please tell me you got his number."

"I don't understand; I only have one brain, and it is the average size for an 18-year-old male. Regardless, I did not get his number, but I gave him mine."

"You're gonna have to look that one up yourself- I'm not explaining it to you. Going off of how he was looking at you, I guarantee he'll call, and soon."

"I… honestly don't know if I want that or not."

"Trust me, you do. Come on, let's go home."

"That is the most rational thing you've said all day. And please don't say anything to our father about this. He'll be insufferable."

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

Virgil woke up the next morning with dreams of dark eyes and a sharp tongue dancing through his mind. Some of them, though, were memory, not fantasy, and that realization brought his thoughts to a grinding halt, leaving just one behind: oh fuck.

In an instant, the night replayed in his mind's eye. The music, the dancing, the cute guy looking miserable and trying to read, the flirting, the kissing, the proposition, being turned down, the dancing. The only things he didn't remember were what possessed him to be that bold and the guy's name. He grabbed his phone and saw that the guy put his name, Logan, in with his phone number. One mystery solved, and he knew he wouldn't be able to solve the second alone.

[V]- 911 im fucked

[Rem]- i assume not in the good way?

[V]- no, im texting you with a dick in my ass.

[Rem]- 1) we both know you aren't a bottom 2) watch the attitude, babe. you sent the 911. what's up?

[V]- well i met a guy at the concert last night

[Rem]- FINALLY. was he any good?

[V]- we didn't fuck

[Rem]- no offense doll, but why are you telling me about him then?

[V]- i have his number, but i wasn't really me last night. i was smooth and confident. what happens if we meet up and he hates actual me?

[Rem]- then he can fuck off? i don't get why you're buggin about this

[V]- because im me and need a common sense filter sometimes

[Rem]- you're welcome, girl. now hit him up and lmk how it goes, mmkay?

[V]- ofc

----

Logan's alarm went off the next morning at 7:30 as usual, but, for the first time in years, he was tempted to turn it off and sleep in. A single thought, however, floated to the front of his mind, and he was wide awake. Virgil. The handsome stranger who, with a smirk and a kiss, made Logan question everything he thought he knew about love attraction as well as himself. What happened to me last night? I'm never that bold, that impulsive. It was completely irrational, not to mention possibly dangerous if I'd taken him up on his offer like I wanted to. Dear Newton, I wanted to. Well, I'm not going to solve anything just laying here, and Crofter's helps solve any problem. Breakfast time.

A few minutes later, Logan was in the kitchen with his Crofters-smothered English muffin and a steaming mug of his favorite tea when Patton came in.

"Hey, kiddo! Did you have fun last night?"

"Erm, yeah. More than I initially anticipated, in fact."

"That's great! Did you make any new friends?"

"I don't know what Roman told you, but it was nothing, and nothing will come of it, so there's no point in dwelling on it."

Patton chuckled. "I haven't seen Roman since you guys left for the concert. He's still sleeping." Logan blanched, realizing he'd given himself away. "Now, kiddo, wanna tell your old pop about this 'nothing'? Seems like it's weighing pretty heavily on your mind; maybe we can talk it out."

"It really is nothing, dad."

"Hmm. Well, if you don't want to talk about it, how about I guess, and you let me know if I'm right?" Realizing he wasn't going to be able to avoid the topic, Logan nodded. "Awesome. Okay, so, you're all out of sorts and insisted 'there's no point in dwelling on it', so it's a problem you don't think you can solve. The last time I saw you like this, you were 14 and had the biggest  crush on that boy… what was his name?"

"Gabriel," Logan muttered, embarrassed.

"That's it! I knew he was no good for you. Anyway, I think this is about a boy you met last night. Now, you're my little boy, and I've been to enough concerts to know that I don't want to know the details, but to throw you for a loop this big after one evening, there must have been a real connection. Am I on the right track?" Logan nodded, impressed and embarrassed by how accurate his dad was. "Thank you for being honest with me, Lo. I know feelings are messy and can be scary. I was absolutely terrified when I met your mother."

"Dad, we don't need to- this isn't-"

"It's okay, Logan. Yes, she's gone, but she's still part of us. I know how much it changed all of us, especially you, but you can't shut out all possibility of love because ours didn't work out. I won't pretend it didn't hurt like heck when she left, but I wouldn't trade what happened for the world; that pain was nothing compared to the love I have for you and your brother or how happy you both make me every single day." Patton reached across the table and wiped a tear from Logan's cheek. "The boy you met last night. He's special, right?"

"Y- yeah, I think so. He brought out a side to me I didn't know existed."

"Then go for it. Take a chance."

"I… I think I would if I could."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have any way of getting in contact with him. I gave him my phone number, but didn't think to get his."

"He really did a number on you, huh? Well, look at it this way: it's out of your hands. What happens next is up to him. I know it's hard, but really all you can do at this point is to try to put it out of that brilliant mind of yours. Hey, do you wanna watch that Sherlock show you love so much with, uh, what's his name? Scratch-and-sniff Cabbagepatch?"

"It's Benedict Cumberbatch, and you hate BBC Sherlock. I've been trying to get you to give it another chance for the last year."

"That's what I said. Bumblebee Anglerfish."

"Getting further away. Benedict Cumberbatch."

"Burgerking Capncrunch."

"Never mind. You're clearly trying to distract me from the Virgil problem. Thank you, dad. I love you too."

"Virgil, eh? Nice name."

"Oh sh-"

"Language!"

"Sorry, dad."

"It's alright, kiddo. Come on, let's see what all the fuss is about Bandersnatch Cuttlefish."

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

As difficult as it was to decide that he was going to message Logan, actually typing and sending a message was infinitely worse. "Hey" was too vague. "Is this Logan? It's Virgil from last night" implied that he thought Logan gave him a fake number, which he didn't. "This is Virgil. What's up?" could be interpreted as a booty call, which it wasn't. After an hour of staring at his phone, he took a deep breath and sent a message.

[To:Logan?]- Hey, Logan, this is Virgil.

Now all he could do was wait. He hated waiting.

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

Patton and Roman, worried about Logan, did all they could to keep him distracted, but nothing could stop him from checking his phone at least once every 5 minutes. It was shortly after 3pm when it lit up with a new message.

[Unknown Number]- Hey, Logan, this is Virgil.

"Umm... Roman?" Logan called across the house.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come here? He just messaged me." He'd hardly finished his sentence when he heard a thud and Roman's footsteps, running to join him in the living room.

"I told you he would! What did he say? What are you going to say?"

"That's why I called for you. Here, take a look and tell me what I should do. I don't have any experience with this, and reading the message gives me an odd feeling in my abdomen."

"Those are butterflies, calculator watch! Wow, you really like him, huh?"

"I assume you mean metaphoric butterflies referring to the influx of dopamine, norepinephrine, and testosterone released when one is experiencing attraction, as it is impossible for any lepidopteran to survive, let alone reproduce, in the human digestive system. And yes, I believe I may have... feelings for him that are far stronger than the briefness of our acquaintance should allow."

"Oh my god, you are insufferable. Now, let's look at the message. Simple, to the point. He's as nervous about this as you are, Lo."

"How could you possibly know that from just 5 words?"

"Science is your thing, love is mine. I also literally just got a 5 on the AP Psychology exam. You want my advice, here's what I've got."

"I apologize. I asked you for advice; questioning that advice was bad form."

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying, he's nervous. I think your best bet is to match his tone. Don't try to pretend you aren't nervous, too. I won't tell you what to say, just that you should be completely honest. In any relationship, but here especially. You're afraid he won't like you; if you keep your messages legit, he'll get to know you, and I'm sure he'll love you."

"You can't know how he'll feel about me, but I appreciate the advice, and will certainly take it."

[To:Virgil]- Hello, Virgil. I wasn't sure you'd reach out, to be honest. The reply came almost instantly, which he wasn't expecting.

[Virgil]- I wasn't sure I would, either. Do you… wanna get coffee or something some time?

"Oh my god, I ship it so much! Y'all are so cute I can't even!!" Roman shrieked, scaring Logan so much he fell off the couch.

"E equals mc scared! Why did you feel the need to scream like that?"

"You guys are so precious. Clearly, you aren't the only one who was uncharacteristically bold in the face of new love. You're going to say yes, right?"

"It would be foolish of me to decline, given the emotions I've felt over the last..." he checked his watch, "approximately 21 hours."

"Take him to Jimin's cafe! Now that he's got a boyfriend, it's all domestic and cute. The perfect romantic location for a first date!"

"You mean the cafe where the barista put salt in your soda?"

"Okay, technically, yes, Jimin did that, but I was flirting with Taehyung. I deserved it, really."

"Despite my better judgment, I'll propose we go there, but only because I'm at a loss for an acceptable alternative."

[To:Virgil]- Coffee would be excellent. My brother's friend runs a cafe downtown- Bulletproof, I believe it's called. I've been reliably informed that it is a common first date location; are you available tomorrow, by chance?

"Oh my goodness, Logan, you are a disaster. It's obvious that you need me to teach-"

[Virgil]- haha yeah, I know Bulletproof. Really good coffee. Would 11 tomorrow morning work?

"Never mind. Clearly, he's into your nerd vibe, for some reason. Alright, I've gotta leave before dying of loneliness. Good luck in your romantic endeavors, brother dearest."

"Clearly you are not distraught enough to abandon your propensity for hyperbole. Thank you for the well wishes, and I truly hope that you will find someone to satisfy your romantic inclinations soon. You certainly deserve it."

"Ew, gross. Mushy Logan is weird. I'm leaving." With that, Roman stood up and left the room.

[To:Virgil]- 11 tomorrow would be perfect. I look forward to seeing you again.

[Virgil]- same. See you then :)

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

It was 10:55, and Logan was sipping an Americano, so lost in his thoughts and anxieties that he didn't hear the bells on the door jingle when someone walked in. He was startled back to reality by a barista's cheerful "annyeonghaseyo!", the cafe's standard greeting for customers, and looked up to see him. Virgil. His heart started racing as he took in the more casual look, leather pants and tight t-shirt swapped for ripped skinny jeans and a hoodie with purple plaid patches and no makeup, except for some dark eye shadow.

As Virgil got closer, Logan stood to meet him.

"Hello, Virgil. It's, it's nice to see you again." Logan's heart, already beating faster than was strictly speaking healthy, started pounding when Virgil smiled and blushed.

"You too, Logan. I, um, I'm gonna go order a drink. I'll be right back." Logan tried not to stare as Virgil walked away, but it was an exercise in futility.

A few minutes later, Virgil returned, drink in hand.

"May I ask what you're drinking?" Logan asked, internally cringing at the banal attempt at conversation.

"It's a caramel macchiato. Usually I'm an Americano kind of guy, but that barista recommended it and made it sound really good, and he was totally right."

"In that case, here's to finding pleasure where you don't expect to." Logan raised his mug in a half-toast. Virgil raised his in return and smirked; only then did Logan realize the double entendre and blush.

"So we're back talking about pleasure, eh?"

Logan cleared his throat. "Perhaps this is not the appropriate venue for that conversation. May I suggest space as an alternative subject?"

"VIVA LA PLUTO!" Virgil shouted, immediately looking down and blushing. "Sorry. Impulse. I'm clearly still bitter about some things."

"No, no. I completely agree. August 2006 was a dark, dark time. Viva la Pluto indeed."

They spent hours in that cafe debating, joking, and flirting. This time, Logan accepted Virgil's offer to go home with him.

[fuckingthefictional]

My safe haven.

Reggie Mantle x reader

M a s t e r l i s t

Part 2 is here

@melton-my-heart for you!

It took a good few weeks to get out of the NICU

So when the doctor gave you the all clear, you and Reggie immediately went back to his place.

She was still tiny, and still had her health problems but you still did little family activities

I mean after all it was the summer break and you’d decided that being cooped up would be the worst thing to do.

You made sure that Haven got her shots and got vaccinated with all the necessary injections

Literally one of the first things that happened that summer was Cheryl turning up and demanding a family night with movies and junk food.

You agreed immediately because who tf would turn that offer down?

Cheryl finally held Haven for the first time my HeArt

And she was crying happy tears and just rocking Haven gently while whispering sweet, loving things to her.

“Aunty Cheryl is always going to be here. I’m always gonna love and protect you. Your Momma and Papa love you so much- and we’re so blessed to have you in our lives.”

Cheryl ended up sleeping over that night.

Mrs Mantle managed to take a precious photo of you, Reggie, Cheryl and Haven (in her Moses basket) sprawled across the sofa.

The next day you decided whY nOt Go tO pOps? Because who doesn’t like Pops?

Of course Reggie invited Moose as well

You kept Haven in her stroller with the rain cover on, just to make sure that she was safe from any possible germs.

Of course the CoRe FOuR were sat in a booth, sipping on milkshakes- doing fuck all

As soon as Archie saw Reggie and Moose he awkwardly slipped away from his booth and made his way over

Boi you know Reggie’s hand would tighten around the pushchair handles

Because nobody👏comes👏close👏to👏his👏baby👏girl👏without👏his👏permission👏

“Where’ve you been man?”

“Y’know looking after a baby...being a parent?”

“Oh well...the football team is missing your work as captain.”

“Yeah well, I have new priorities.”

And obviously because Archie was over at your booth, Veronica and Betty followed him over like a pair of lost puppies.

Veronica was probably completely ignorant 🤷🏻‍♀️sorry I don’t like her tbh

“Ew what’s that thing up her nose? It’s kinda ugly-”

“don’t touch her Lodge That’s her nasal canula, it administers extra oxygen into her system.”

Everyone on your table was glaring at them

YiKeS

“oH...uM i’LL bE gOinG.”

Tbh I feel like Betty would be a little more informed considering she has a niece and nephew

“I’m so sorry for her attitude and behaviour. But seriously your daughter is beautiful...congrats.”

“...thanks Betty...”

Pops treating you to burgers and milkshakes on the house as a congratulations to the newest arrival in Riverdale.

“So when do you think we could start feeding her fries?”

“Reggie...wtf?”

“iM jUsT sAyiNG.”

Reggie. Mantle. Is. The. #1. Dad. Fight. Me.

Like Haven starts whimpering? Pacifier is at the ready and so is her bottle.

Haven’s cold? Blanket at the ready.

Haven’s having trouble getting to sleep? Reggie is ready to rock her pushchair.

Haven wants love and attention? BITCH HE READY WITH THEM REGGIE MANTLE CUDDLES AND LOVE.

Basically everyone is in awe at the little family.

Like let’s be honest- nearly everyone had their doubts when the news of your pregnancy broke.

“I feel so bad for that baby.”

“She’s better off aborting it.”

“Their lives are fucked then.”

“Bet it’s not Reggie’s. His pull out game is strong af.”

“Slut.”

“Whore.”

But damn you proved them all wrong. You gave birth to a preemie, watched her narrowly escape death, raised her in a loving environment (despite all her health issues)

Oh and you still got top grades.

So after Pops, you all went back to Reggie’s.

The guys played video games

AND YOU KNOW REGGIE HAD HAVEN ON HIS CHEST WHILE SHE WAS HAVING A NAP AND HE WAS PLAYING COD OR FIFA WITH MOOSE.

BECAUSE SKIN TO SKIN AND KANGAROO CARE!1!1!

You and Cheryl were baking and having a gossip and catch up

*cough* wedding planning *cough*

“You better make me maid of honour.”

“Of course- also Godmother.”

Cheryl was sh00k

“You want me?”

“Yeah, I know you’d protect her and love her if anything happened to Reggie and I.”

“I-I don’t know what to say- thank you so much.”

“Never doubt your worth Cheryl. You’re so important.”

Happy Cheryl is the best Cheryl.

“So what’s this I hear about you and a certain Toni topaz?”

*que egg dropping on the floor and big blushes.*

“How did you know about that?”

“Cher It’s obvious!”

Like a week later Choni is happy and sailing

Reggie and Toni have a silent respect for each other so he doesn’t particularly mind Cheryl bringing Toni over

Holy shit I have this headcannon that Reggie can play guitar and every night he sings to Haven

Just daddy!domestic!reggie

I love it so much!!!!!!

[maddogmitch]

A Tropical Adventure

Hey guys here is my @smitecreatorday content, it is a lovely fan fic involving some of my favorite gods and goddesses hope you all enjoy and happy creator day!

It was vacation time on the battlegrounds of the gods, the fifth annual of such where all the gods take two weeks off from the battlefield to go back home to their respective realms. This agreement was made so none of them can be overworked and so everyone is relaxed and healthy for the return to the battlegrounds they all love.

Most gods travel back to each of their respective realms to relax but there are some who like to travel to the other realms to see what it is like there. This is the case for the gods Awilix, Xbalanque, Sobek, Apollo, and Ne Zha. The five decided they were going to take a trip to the newest realm to join the battlegrounds, the Polynesian Realm that way Pele isn’t on her own for the first of her many vacations.

At each respective camp each god got prepared for their trip they were all told it would be hot and sunny in this land so to dress appropriately. At the Mayan camp both Xbalanque and Awilix where just finishing packing up there respective clothes. Xbalanque was bringing his fire dancer outfit he got last year in hopes of impressing the lovely Pele with his tricks. While Awilix was saying goodbye to their fellow Mayan gods and telling Ah Puch that if he damages any of his nails while she is gone she will never do them again.

Over at the Egyptian camp Sobek was just finishing up his packing for the trip. He had a little regret due to turning down an offer to spend the vacation with Ao Kuang in his castle. He felt bad for saying no since everything was going great between the two but he wasn’t used to this kind of romantic interest from another god or goddess, the most attention or interest he got was from his mother. But he needed space and Ao Kuang accepted that.

At the Greek camp Apollo said his goodbyes to his twin sister wishing her good luck on her hunt and told her his plans. He knew it annoyed her when he kept going on about himself but she was kind enough to always be there for him. He gave her a hug and asked her if she could bang him a buck or something on her hunt as the meat here on the battlegrounds has gotten old and he missed the taste of Greek food.

Finally at the Chinese camp Ne Zha grabbed his swim shorts and staff as thats all he knew he needed before leaving his tent and running into Ao Kuang. The two relationship with each other has improved greatly since he defeated the Dragon King.

“Oh Kuang, what brings you to my tent i figured you be off to your castle by now?” The Lotus Prince asked

The Dragon King frowned a little as he felt embarrased to ask someone he once considered his mortal enemy “I have came to ask you a favour Ne Zha but you must not tell anyone i asked you to do this” he said with a bit of hesistant

Ne Zha was curious and asked “What does the great Dragon King need me to do?” he said with a smirk

Ao Kuang hesistated a bit before he asked “I know you are going to the Polynesian realm with Sobek and the others, and i was curious if you could make sure he stays safe while there”

Ne zha immediately replied “Of coarse i will watch out for your boyfriend for you, we may have once been enemies but im not gonna let anything harm that precious boy. The camps been a whole lot more fun since you began seeing him. I would be an idiot to let that end”

Ao Kuang breathed a sigh of relief “Thank you my friend, good luck on your travels” he said as he left towards the portal.

At the Portal to the Polynesian realm they all met up, each one of them greeted each other with hugs and chatter as they all patiently waited for Pele to arrive. Ne Zha stayed close to Sobek making sure to keep his promise to the Dragon King to protect him if any danger would come up. He knew it would be all in vain though as Sobek was more than capable of protecting himself and others when danger arose. But he liked having some sort of responsability on this trip.

As the gods talked among themselves a loud bang came roaring through the battleground, they all feel silent than the ground began to shake violently. Ne Zha senses some form of danger ready his staff and stood infront of Sobek to do his best to proctect him. Than out of the ground at the entrance of the portal something began to emerge from the ground.

It was Pele, the gods all let their guards down as the goddess of volcanoes began to speak “Welcome gods and goddess to the Polynesian realm!” her voice echoed throughout the battlefield in a defining roar.

Awilix couldn’t help but chuckle “You just love making grand entrances don’t you?” she said holding back a bit of laughter

Pele looked over to the goddess of the moon and replied “There is no fun if you just show up, gotta add a little fire to it” she chuckled “Now come on everybody no time to waste lots of sun and fun to be had in my great realm”

She went through the portal first and the rest of the gods sprinted with exitement towards the portal as they stepped through they all gawked in amazement. The Polynesian realm was not like any of them have ever seen before. It was a large island with palm trees lining the beach, up towards the centre of the island there was three cabins which all were made out of mixture of wood and straw.

Ne Zha couldn’t stand the silence any longer “What are we just standing around for? Lets start partying!” he shouted as he bolted down the beach.

The other gods shouted and began to chase him as well all except Xbalanque who waited for Pele to return. Some of it because was because he liked it while the rest was he knew better than to just leave without the hosttest. She arrived shortly after and smiled as she saw Xbalanque. The two walked down the beach to catch up with the others talking away.

All of them changed into their bathing suits and began to swim and have fun on the beach, Xbalanque changed into his fire dancing costume. Awilix couldn’t help but poke fun at him “Trying to impress the new girl Xbal” she said with a smirk.

Xbalanque couldn’t help but blush as he answered “What no, i am simply getting ready for the show i am putting on tonight. It has nothing to do with Pele”

Awilix laughed “Xbal you know you can’t lie to me its all over your face, as well as i been noticing how you look at her as well as act when she is on the battlefield. You are smitten with her and most the Mayan camp knows” she said with a smirk

His face stopped blushing to shear fear “The whole camp knows have i been that obvious?” he asked thinking that he really hasn’t acted that different in battle than normal when Pele is around.

Awilix nodded as she gave him a hug “Don’t worry Xbal just be yourself and im sure she will grow to like you as did every other god who has met you”

Xbalanque smiled and began to prep himself for tonight nightfall was coming soon and he knew that this is something that needed to be done right in order to pull off without any mistakes. He began twirling the boa’s in proper fashion and making sure they were all tied perfectly together.

Meanwhile Ne Zha was having a blast playing water games with Sobek and the others. He took his staff and was moving the water in big waves and hitting the other gods with them. Apollo took advantage of the warm sun and began to work on his tan as it had faded dearly since the last vacation and he felt it would be wrong if the Greek god of the sun had a weak tan line. But this didn’t last long as one of the waves Ne Zha made came and hit him on the beach, at first he was furious but than he got an idea on how to get some payback.

He got up and walked away from the other gods for a bit, he took out his lyre and began to play it. He was hopping this music would attract something that could assist him in his little plan, something preferable big. His hopes where answered when a whale emerged from the depths of in the distance singing along with his tunes. This was a first an animal from the sea of this size has been attracted to Apollo’s music so he was in a bit of shock that his plan actually worked. Normally his uncle would prevent such things from occuring as Apollo had a history of playing tricks on his siblings and cousins.

But this wasn’t Poseidon’s realm, this realm was ruled by a different sea god so it worked. Apollo began to make his way towards the massive beast hopping it could understand him and he could understand it.

As he approached the beast spoke “Why did you stop that lovely music young god?” the sound coming from a hole on top of it’s head which shocked Apollo.

Apollo replied “I am sorry it stopped but i need a favour from a majestic beast from yourself. My friends and i are not from this realm, we are guest hear under the invitation of Pele. They began playing in the water and one of them decided to start creating massive waves, one of which disturbed me and i was hopping you could assist me in getting some revenge on them?” he asked petting the beast head.

The beast turned and saw the other gods and remained silent for quite a bit before replying “I will assist you on two conditions young god. The first is you play me more of that music every night till you leave, the second is you request your friends to keep it down after the matter as they have awoken many of the creatures of the night”

Apollo smiled as he replied “I can do both kind beast, i will play my music to you at your request of time each night. As well as make sure my fellow gods keep the noise down as to not disturb the creatures of the night” he than put the beast head and began telling him his plan.

Back at the beach Sobek began getting Ne Zha back with better waves than what his staff could create, he was having more fun than he has ever had in a long while with the young god. He created one last wave when he felt movement in the water from the distance. He couldn’t quite make out what made it and brushed it off as a fish in the distance, he than created another wave and knocked Ne Zha flying backwards.

Ne Zha was laughing when he began to sense danger approaching, a massive beast of some sorts. He turned and began to focus his eyes and saw a massive sea beast emerged from the sea and splash down causing making a large wave. Ne Zha swam back to the others shouting and screaming about the oncoming wave.

The other gods didn’t quite hear what he was screaming about and turned to see the massive wave, they all began to swim out of the water and onto the land. Ne zha quickly grabbed his staff and began making waves back at it hopping it would at least slow it down or stop it entirely.

That’s when Sobek noticed someone on top of the wave seemingly controlling it form up there. He couldn’t quite make it out but he quickly did a headcount of the gods and knew right away who it was. He quickly shouted at Ne zha to get out of the water its no danger and told him to look at the top of the wave.

Ne Zha hearing Sobek’s call listened and saw the greek god on top of the wave riding it as it came crashing down just on Ne Zha. Apollo gracefully came down from the top and said “That’s for ruining my tan time, and as well as making pathetic waves dude”

Ne zha emerged and began laughing “That was awesome! How’d you make that wave so huge?” he asked with glee

Apollo smirked and than explained what he did and told his fellow gods to keep the noise down as they were waking creatures of the night up. Pele laughed knowing which beast Apollo had soothed and told him to make sure to keep his promise as that is not one beast you want to cross.

Night has come to the island and most of the gods were sitting around a fire chatting away with each other. Sobek thanked Ne Zha for warning him of the incoming danger and praised him for his courage. As they were chatting away the fire suddenly went out, than drums could be heard starting to beat. Pele began to grove to the beat of the drums.

Thats when tiki torches lit up around Xbalanque, he was in his fire dancer costume and he began to put on a show with his lit boas. The gods were amazed and watched in awe as he danced with the fire around him. Pele stood right up impressed with how cool and collected the god was with the fire and dance.

She began to approach him as he was dancing, Xbalanque kept his cool and let one boa go so low it lit a ring of fire around the two. Pele was very impressed by his showmanship and began to dance with him in the ring. The two were insynch with each other. The others looked on in awe as the beat got faster and faster, as the beat got faster so did the two.

Xbalanque than shot the two boas into the air and jumped with them flipping through the two as they moved so close to his body, he than landed and caught the two boas. A big blast of fire shoot out and the beat stopped.

The gods began clapping and cheering at the spectacle they just watched, Xbalanque was still down catching his breath hooping this was enough to impress the goddess of volcanoes. Pele began walking up to him and helped him up.

“You got some serious moves, i haven’t seen a show like this in a long time many of the mortals under my watch put up a show quite as you did. It was absolutely amazing. To quote a friend of yours ‘You move like a jaguar’ and like a true professional” she said with a smile still holding him.

Xbalanque was at a lost for words he didn’t know what to say, his body was heating up as this is the closest he has gotten to Pele without her trying to kill him on the battlefield.

He finally managed to find his words and said “Ever since i saw you Pele, it has been nothing but a non stop beat in my chest. Even on the battlefield i am amazed by your skill and shear beauty, you are nothing short of perfection and no matter what i do i can’t get you off my mind. So when Awilix asked me if i wanted to go with you guys to your realm i took it as my oppurtinity to show you how i feel for you. Sorry for the pun but you make my heart want to erupt right now from you touching me”

Pele couldn’t help but blush, she was fairly new to the battlegrounds and had never received such compliments from another god. She took notice of Xbalanque when she met Awilix and Chacc, she felt something for him but didn’t know what but now she knew. She didn’t hesistat as she leaned in and kissed the Hero Twin and held him close.

Xbalanque was caught of guard by this but eventually held her as he began to kiss her back. All the gods minus Ne Zha who hurled a bit at the sight cheered them on with laughter and happiness. The two stopped kissing and both said “Let the celebrations begin!”

Awilix stood in the background happy with what she did to help her friend, she knew right away that this was gonna be a vacation to remember, and she was right as this was only the start to their tropical adventures.

[honeykngdom]

Umm so now that anon brought up older sweetpea, ur gonna need to pop out some hella good headcanons about him :-)

bruh I have so many okay hold the fuck up we’re actually going to recieved a headcanon request and DO IT ON THE SPOT FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. 

YEAH ITS GONNA BE ABOUT CAL AND SP BC THAT’S WHO I WAS TALKING ABOUT IT IN MY IM’S WITH MY HOMIES, LETS GO SISTERS. 

so after high school, sweet pea and cal had to part ways due to circumstance. sweet pea, being the devoted young man he was, was unable to bring himself to apply anywhere out of state, whereas calliope still had a tight hold on York and was desperate to venture on from Riverdale. it was a heartbreaking decision, being in another country completely without any friends she had made, and alone once again. and she hated it. and she wanted to call him every day but couldn’t. she dated once - he was second year, but decided to change his major and needed the psych course for his co-op down the line. he had pretty blue eyes and a warm smile. they had coffee twice, and he kissed her before she left the car. it was very sweet, and soft, and while cal enjoyed it, it wasn’t what she was looking for. not the same passion, or aggression, or need. she used pea as an excuse for a few different boys that approached, and after the second week, she decided that pea wasn’t going to stop some of them, so she had resorted to bringing her RBF out and put headphones in. to avoid falling into old habits with her very 420 friendly roommate, she spent most of her nights in the library or at the gym. 

sweet pea took over cal’s position when she left; he started busting his ass being their newest bartender to haul in more women. and he did - of all ages, women would flock to his bar and lean forward, pressing whatever assets they had against the counter top with smirks and lusting eyes. he was uncomfortable at first; sure, women had always been a fan of him, that was no surprise. but it made him feel guilty. but when pea could afford an entire new wardrobe, pay his bills, keep the heat on in the trailer and keep gas in his bike for up to a whole week. so he started to wear his cropped sleeves, and went with fangs to their campus gym for runs and ass crack of dawn weight training. the glute pumps certainly benefited his tip jar - the routine stuck. he decided to major in business, mainly because cal had mentioned (all of one damn time, mind you) that he could probably run a business better than anyone else in the southside. fucking bet.

cal’s just graduated with a major in psych, with an econ minor and a degree in social services. her dream is to become a youth outreach worker; she wants to help work to prevent the increase in youth criminal activity by helping at risk youth. being with sweet pea had given her more than enough passion to want to help - hell, she had been an orphan herself. in and out of the foster system, group home to group home, etc. despite struggling to make just the bare necessities for himself, he had happily taken her in multiple times when she needed a place to go. fp had been that hand to steer him in the right direction - she wanted to do that, but with more kids. as many as she could, give them the drive and the hope to do better for themselves. give them the resources and guidance and offer them what they need. most of that in the area involved volunteer work at a local community center in the village, while working full time in an office as a receptionist. there’s a hot student support worker from a local foundation in the area that comes in three times a week, and he’s always chatty. his name is chris and he has a mischievous glimmer in his eyes when he leans forward and says she looked stunning; so she agrees to dinner (for the first time in four years) and goes on a date. she wears a tight red dress, modest, but the way it hugged her perfectly sculpted hips and ass was sinful. they hadn’t even made it through her door before he had her zipper undone and she moaning into his mouth; that was the first time she had gotten any since the day she left riverdale.  

your boy sweet pea? he started putting savings away when he was sixteen, and got his degree in business management and psych. he took out a loan with the serpents, bought out the wyrm and is in the progress of revamping for the younger gen. tall boy and FP were seriously impressed with the mans hustle, and so when FP finally retired, the gang was left to Sweet Pea and Jughead. Now, Jughead didn’t want to be the leader, or poster boy for the serpents, or even the main influence. But he was still very passionate about advocating on behalf of them, and in a way worked as a more giving, far more kind version of penny peabody. offering mediation and ensuring that everyone stays out of trouble in the background, while sweet pea became the voice, being as respected as he was. sweet pea stands at six foot five, and over 200 pounds of gloriously lean muscles. teddy and fangs are his main event planners and bar keeps, while he ensures the books stay balanced, the bar keeps to health code standards, and offers a safe haven to southside kids with no place to go (his heartstrings pulled when he saw a fifteen year old sleeping on a park bench and he thought of toni, maybe even cal.) sweet pea turned the upstairs area into individual rooms with two beds in each for those that couldn’t get home in their drunken states or didn’t have a place to go for the time being. he has an apartment in the southside in a relatively newer building (it’s pretty big compared to the trailer lbr). a new girl came to town, and happens to stumble upon the wyrm thinking it was just another bar - sweet pea liked her fiery spirit. she stayed for a few drinks, played him in a game of pool, and he later invited her up to his office. it’s been just over a year now; she stays at his place four nights a week, because she works as a nurse and tries to get overnights on weekends. 

fangs and sabine are getting married in a week and cal’s super excited for her best friend, but is also nervous. sweet pea would be there. they hadn’t spoken in years. not a single text, not a single call. and she was scared at the person she had returned to would remind him of why it was better that they had parted ways. he didn’t need to know she still thought about him every day, and still has every photograph saved on her laptop. but then her body warms at the thought of seeing him. to see if he had kept his curl, or if he had cut his hair. did he still wears so many god damn rings? so the day she lands and makes it to the boys house, she changes into a pair of ripped jeans and heels and walks her ass straight to her favourite bar 

he caught sight of the blonde hair from his office upstairs; curious, he stepped outside and looked down at her while she talked eagerly with teddy. after five minutes of wondering, he joined them on the main level; sensing his arrival in the quiet bar that tuesday afternoon, she caught his eyes and then paused, turning to face him fully. her hair was just as long as always, and maybe a little tamer, not as wild, but her eyes - those fucking blue eyes still wrenched his gut and gave him butterflies. her features had sharpened, complimenting the equally pointed RBF she had perfected over the years he was sure, and her body - well, sweet pea vividly remembered what he happened to favour the most about her body. his cock twitched in his pants, but pea remained collected. 

his hair was also still long, but it was pulled back now, held into a bun in the same way Teddy’s was. he had covered most of his right arm in tattoos, and she imagined they covered most of his shoulders and chest, too. his body had filled out, stretching his shirt snugly around his arms and chest. the way he says her name still makes her heart skip a beat and makes her want to destroy all her walls again. they shared a beer, he offered to take her out for lunch at pops - she agreed. they spent the day revisiting all the places they used to hangout. apart from pops, there was the quarry, sunnyside, the ruins were southside used to stand, and finally back to the wyrm. they split a couple of drinks, play some pool, and she joins him upstairs to hear more about how he had been. 

the pair had been actively avoiding getting too close throughout the day. hands were shoved into pockets, shoulders ever so lightly brushed against each other as they walked every once and a while, and they were able to return back to the kids they used to be. after a few hours, it were as though no time had passed at all. 

so you can imagine cal’s surprise when another blonde enters his office and calls him baby. 

Calliope Hobbs was one of those women that always got what they wanted, and worked hard to have it all. Sweet Pea would be no exception.