#okay but robin would absolutely benefit from having someone to just talk normally to

[gemkun]

@scrtilegii said : ' there is only so much I can explore of the universe, ' spoken with a tint of sorrow, of yearning to be heard, ' wherever I go, my fame follows me. it is a relief to me to speak to someone who will not hound me for a picture. ' ( okay but what if Robin and Mr. Ratio and she'd actually be that sort of girl who lets him ramble about whatever he likes, even if she doesn't 100% understand it? she aches to be treated as a person instead of an idol. now, yes, her song/act? sussy. very much so. but alas what does a girl have to do to earn something genuine? )

      ⸻       although   fame   is   a   pedestal   many   dream   to   achieve   ,   there   are   follies   that   come   with   even   the   greatest   of   accolades.   the   burden   that   arrives   with   rising   to   prominence   ,   is   often   overshadowed   with   the   glamour   and   riches   ,   blurring   the   hardships   when   it   comes   to   being   treated   as   a   commodity.   after   all   ,   as   an   idol   ,   you   are   your   own   product.

  marketable.   objectified.   dehumanised.

  he   nods   ,   with   a   certain   level   of   relatability.   though   none   that   compares   to   the   affected   halovian.   ❝   i   imagine   the   toll   on   you   must   be   unbearably   overwhelming   at   times.   ❞   the   optimal   solution   here   ,   is   to   direct   their   conversation   elsewhere.   for   the   sole   benefit   of   avoiding   dreading   on   the   situation.   ascertaining   points   for   aversion   ,   their   heart   —   to   —   heart   continues.   ❝   you’ve   travelled   all   this   time   and   yet   ,   it   has   all   been   for   the   sake   of   business   rather   than   pleasure.   ❞   he   asserts   ,   rather   than   inquires.

  carving   the   tome   held   in   hand   ,   fingers   creep   along   the   spine   ,   in   preparation   to   unveil   insights   into   the   worlds   beyond   the   flash   of   a   camera   and   the   delivered   smiles   to   clamouring   fans.   the   various   star   systems   and   planets   ,   veritas   had   recorded   during   his   visitations   without   the   interruption   of   duty   and   service.   ❝   was   there   anywhere   ,   regardless   of   your   attendance   to   perform   ,   that   piqued   your   interest   ?   ❞

[coffeecatsandcandles]

Can you do a Steve X reader where y/n’s parents work for the Russian government and y/n can speak but is not fluent in English she saves Steve and Robin and ends up falling for Steve?

𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫

➵ 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 | You rescue Steve from Russian guards and you start falling for him, despite not being able to understand him.

➵ 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | Steve Harrington x Russian!reader

➵ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 | 2k

➵ 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | Mention of kidnapping, blood, vomiting, language barrier, language (in English), embarrassment, drugged!Steve and Robin, I tried my best with the translations! Mostly fluff.

დ 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | დ 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | დ 𝐤𝐨-𝐟𝐢

Translations:

С тобой все в порядке? (pronounced like “S toboy vse v poryadke?”)– Are you alright?

Спасибо (pronounced like “spasibo”)– Thank you

Cкучный (pronounced like “skuchnyy”)- Boring

Красивая (pronounced like “krasivaya”)– Beautiful

It was like Bring Your Daughter To Work Day, except without the fun benefits and activities a normal boss at a normal company would provide. Just as you were finished with your school year, your father had been hired by the Russian government for a top-secret project, and before you could even say goodbye, you were in a completely new country on the other side of the world. You weren’t even entirely sure what your father did for a living, it was that confidential, but you knew one thing: you hated him for this.

This new project meant traveling to America, staying in hiding, living under a fake name, and absolutely no associating yourself with your father unless absolutely necessary. You always seemed to be talking in code, or not talking at all. You had been meaning to start learning English, and you picked up a few phrases here and there, but the second someone said something too quickly or a single word you didn’t understand, you backed out and got flustered, drawing more attention to yourself than necessary.

America did have its perks, though. You spent your days at the mall, which was a front for where your father was working. You liked watching the parents swing their children around as they walked, the teenagers gossiping at the food court or shopping for new clothes. You took note of how they wore their hair and the types of clothes they liked. It would help you fit in better.

But most of all, you liked watching the boy at the ice cream shop work. He’d shamelessly flirt with every girl his age who came in, causing the other employee to laugh at him. He was tall and lanky, with flowing brown hair nearly to his shoulders. His uniform, styled like a sailor to fit the shop’s theme, made him look ridiculous, but there was a part of you that absolutely loved the way it showed off his legs. Day after day, you’d build up the courage to go into the shop and talk to him.

The day you finally decided to do it was the most nervous you’d ever felt in your life. You repeated the phrase over and over again in your head, “One vanilla cone, please.” When you were alone, you practiced your American accent, hoping you wouldn’t give yourself away. You’d triple-checked that you had the right amount of money for the transaction.

He was dreamy, like a boy you’d see in a magazine. A kind of handsome you didn’t even think existed.

“Welcome to Scoops Ahoy, what can I get for you?” he said, a little too quickly, but you understood him.

“One vanilla cone, please.” You said, and watched as he didn’t even think twice about it. He just put a single scoop of vanilla ice cream into a cone and handed it to you.

You took out your money and started to hand it to him, but he said something and stopped you. Your heart stopped. He caught you, and you were in big trouble.

He could sense the fear in your eyes, “Hey, it’s okay.” He said, “A pretty girl like you shouldn’t have to pay. It’s on me.”

He was talking too quickly for you to understand. You hurriedly set the money on the counter and speed-walked away, the ice cream in your hand slowly melting. You looked back only once, seeing the other employee, a girl about your age with light brown hair and freckles, write a single tally on a white board with words written on it that you couldn’t make out as she laughed.

Embarrassed, you hid in the bathroom for close to half an hour, crying silent tears and wishing you were home. You hated it here. You hated that you couldn’t speak the language. You hated that you had no friends. You just wanted to be anywhere but here.

It had been two weeks since that horrible day, and you had spent this particular day away from everyone, underground with other people from your country, making time pass by writing nonsense in your journal. Some words in Russian, others in English. To anyone who spoke both languages, it just looked like gibberish.

“Morons! Hey morons!” you heard two people yell from another room. You thought you were imagining it at first, but as they continued to laugh, you knew it was real.

You followed their voices, always checking behind you to make sure no one was following. You traveled down the long, empty hallway before you finally heard a crash and a few groans of pain and laughs- sounding exactly like the people you heard before- coming from the other side of a door. You opened it, and were greeted by the sight of the two Scoops Ahoy employees on the ground, tied to a chair.

You gasped, immediately coming to their aid, untying them and helping them up. The cute boy looked at you, his face nearly beaten to a pulp. “You…” he said, recognizing you from your awkward encounter.

“С тобой все в порядке?” you asked him, then immediately covering your mouth to prevent you from saying anything else. You had just blown your cover. You were no longer an unassuming girl who hung out at the mall. You were the enemy. You were a liar.

“What?” He said, panicked. You grabbed his and the girl’s hands, running and taking them somewhere else. They hurt him. You had to make sure he was safe.

You took them to the elevator, inputting the code your father had given you to safely make it back up to the mall, where it was completely deserted. You had forgotten it was nearly midnight, and the mall had been closed for hours.

The relief was clear in their voices as they spoke to each other, but they seemed to have forgotten you were there. Giving them space, you sat on a bench a few feet away, not knowing what to do or say. You hadn’t gotten around to having a conversation in English with anyone besides the one at Scoops Ahoy two weeks ago, and you figured you’d save yourself the embarrassment of trying again.

The boy approached you, putting his hands on his hips, “Thank you for what you did. Seriously, you’re kind of like a criminal now-“ he stopped his rambling the second he saw the confusion on your face. He was talking too quickly for you to understand and rambling too much, you lost him a few words in. It occurred to him that you didn’t speak much English, and despite being free from the torture of the Russian guards, he still felt terrible. “Um,” he sat next to you, trying to formulate what he was going to say to where you could understand him and respond, “Thank you.”

You nodded, showing him you understood. “You’re welcome.” You said cautiously. If you remembered correctly, those were the words Americans responded with after being thanked.

He nodded, and you knew your response was appropriate and correct. “Can you tell me how to say, ‘thank you’?”

You nodded and smiled. He smiled back, both of you warming up to each other. “Спасибо.” You said.

“Спасибо.” He repeated, extending his hand, “My name is Steve.”

Steve. It was so American. You liked it.

“Steve!” the girl scolded, still unsure of your intentions.

“Come on, she’s harmless.” Steve said, “If she was gonna kill us, she would’ve done it by now.”

You opened your mouth, about to say something in broken English, but Steve’s behavior abruptly shifted. He went from kind to dazed, playful to confused. Then you remembered the drugs in his system. He had a lost look in his eyes, and you could tell it was affecting the girl too. You knew how the drugs worked, you’d seen how it affected people. It wasn’t going to kill them, but it would make them vomit fairly soon.

“Come,” you said, getting up and guiding Steve and the girl to the restroom, putting them each in a stall as the drugs ran their course. Soon enough, you heard both of them vomiting, which you knew was a sign that the drugs had worn off.

You gave them a minute to collect themselves, and it was the girl who emerged from the stall first. “How did you know that would happen?” she said.

You could understand what she was asking, you just weren’t sure how to respond. “My father,” you started, your foreign accent on display, “He is a guard. I have seen it before.”

She nodded, grabbing your hand, “Thank you,” she said, “I’m Robin.”

Steve emerged from his stall. “We still need to find Dustin and Erica. They could be anywhere.”

“Dustin said he’d make a hideout spot at the GAP. We should check there first.” Robin responded.

It was happening again. Too many words, not enough enunciation. You could barely understand, and had it not been for the large glowing “GAP” clothing store sign you remembered seeing on the other side of the mall, you would’ve thought they were talking about a physical gap between the stores or in the wall.

Robin exited the restroom in a hurry, leaving you and Steve to walk slowly together behind her.

“How long have you been in America?” Steve asked, making sure to talk at a pace that was slow enough for you to catch every word he was saying, but too slow, which would’ve made you feel stupid.

“Two months.” you said. You wanted to say more. You wanted to say so much more, if only you knew how to say it. “And you?”

Steve chuckled to himself, “My entire life. Indiana is a shithole.”

You could tell by the tone of his voice that “shithole” wasn’t a good thing. You were taken back by his opinions of his home. Sure, it was overwhelming, but there were so many things about it that you loved. “What is a ‘shithole?’” you asked innocently.

Steve laughed again. “A place that is dull. Bad people, bad weather. No fun.” He looked to you to see if you understood.

“Cкучный. Boring.” You said.

“Yeah, boring.”

“Like Russia?”

Steve smiled, “Sure, yeah,” he said. You found yourself lost in his eyes. He was the first person to show you kindness since moving here. You liked him a lot, but right now, you were just happy to have a friend.

“So,” Steve started, “what would you say if I asked you on a date? Would you be able to do that? Maybe we could see a movie? That Travolta one might still be playing.” He lost you again. He tried miming a little dance to hopefully get you to recognize the movie he was referencing. “Dance?”

You shook your head and looked at the floor as you walked with him, slightly embarrassed.

“Hey, no, it’s okay,” he said stopping and turning to face you, sensing your embarrassment and trying to think quickly, “uh... you and me. Date?” he tried again.

“The fourth of July.”

“No, Jesus,” Steve said, slightly frustrated with himself. He exasperatedly ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know what he could say or do to get you to understand, so he did what felt right. He leaned in and kissed your cheek, catching you completely by surprise. If he hadn’t just thrown up or had blood all over his face, you would’ve let him kiss your lips.

“Ohhh,” you said and nodded, understanding what he was asking, “romantic. Yes. We can.”

“Yeah, yeah, romantic.” He nodded, “I better start learning some Russian then, yeah?”

You smiled, “I will learn more English. We will learn together.”

“How do you say, ‘beautiful?’” He asked. Sensing your hesitation, he continued, “Pretty? Attractive?”

You smiled, “Красивая.”

“Well,” Steve started, pushing a lock of hair behind your ear, “You are красивая.”

For the first time since moving to America, you felt complete, genuine happiness. No, it was more than happiness. It was peace. Somebody making an effort to understand you. Somebody wanting to be near you. It made your heart leap.

Maybe this new country wasn’t so bad after all. Steve could be the silver lining, the one thing that was worth all the hardships. It would take a while to get there, and it would be a long, stressful process, but if you knew one thing, it was that you could handle it if you had him.

[nova-network]

A personal ranking list for “husbandos” in the Fire Emblem series

This post will be cared about by exactly two people: Admin Annette of @imaginebluelions​, and myself. This is structured in the same manner as her own tier list, as that one inspired this one (especially with her insistence that I make it, hee hee!)

Note: I am an Awakening baby, and have not yet gotten the opportunity to play the older games yet. The placement for characters on this list who originate from games made prior to Awakening is based on the information that I have gathered about them from Fire Emblem Heroes, and from further reading about those characters. As a further note, Shadows of Valentia characters (well, the one SoV character on this list) are only based on their character in SoV, and not in the original Gaiden.

Without further ado...

S Tier:

Robin (Awakening): Robin is a very talented individual, being highly skilled at tactics and magic, and he manages to be a logical pragmatist while still being rather friendly and empathetic. He’s kind of a dork, but still social enough to carry on a conversation well and not be embarrassing. He has a clean, smart-looking appearance, without being stuffy. Additionally, in some portrayals, he and his magic come across as somewhat dark and otherworldly -- most notably in Fire Emblem Warriors, where he is capable of using dark magic in the Tactician class and gets around by levitating. His connection to Grima is emphasized, but he remains as much of a legitimately nice and helpful person as ever, and the juxtaposition between those two factors is VERY attractive. He’s Good Guy Julius. He’s like a one-man rebuttal to the Loptous cult back in FE4, showing that no, your bloodline doesn’t determine your fate after all, and even turning everything he was mean to be against Grima itself. He also may have a claim to the throne of Plegia, due to his heritage, and is thus potentially politically viable.

Robin is the safe option, being relatively free of angst, emotional baggage, and potential danger, despite what he was quite literally born to do. There are only two potential drawbacks to him, and they can both be mitigated. The first is that he is probably reluctant to make a claim to the Plegian throne, unless I were to push him into it, and the second is Tharja, who can be set up with some other guy and thus could end up an ally instead of a potential relationship threat.

Laurent (Awakening): Like his mother Miriel, Laurent is an utterly brilliant, highly scientific-minded individual, often striving to obtain new knowledge about the world or trying to quantify the magic he uses. In short, he thinks like I do, though he is also a lot more introverted and serious than I am -- and I think that’s a good thing, allowing each of us to understand each other without overlapping so much in personality that we would simply clash instead. Laurent often seems to be interested in practical applications of his research, too, instead of just staying with theory, so I think we could work very well together! I think Laurent would be capable of understanding me on a fundamental level that few other characters could, and vice versa. Laurent looks scholarly and refined, and he definitely is! And yet, at the same time, he isn’t a total boring stick-in-the-mud -- he can be surprisingly theatrical with how excited he can get about his ideas and innovations, and that is very attractive too!

Laurent’s supports with Noire indicate that he was very much... um, interested in her rage-breakdowns. As someone who has a tendency to dramatically lash out in a similar (albeit far less exaggerated) way, Laurent is uniquely suited to dealing with me and helping me through it, heehee! Laurent does, however, have the issue of being a politically unviable option -- he’s just a researcher, not a potential leader, so I’d have to work very hard to be able to establish myself in the archaic Ylissean government system if I wanted to go that route.

Hubert (Three Houses): Normally, I don’t go for characters who are as hostile and sinister as Hubert von Vestra, and yet there is so much about him that is absolutely my type. He is very clever, very ambitious, and very, very dramatic. He’s like a goth theater kid who went into politics instead of theater. He is very loyal, but not blindly so, willing to think critically about what is really best for Edelgard and their shared ambitions instead of just doing whatever he’s told. He’s very responsible, but not exactly honorable by Fire Emblem standards -- after all, he goes around scheming in the shadows and plotting assassinations quite a bit -- and I like that a lot. He’s fiendish, he’s devious, and yet, at least on Edelgard’s path (my preferred route by far), he’s definitely not evil, and even turns out to be quite a bit nicer than he generally lets on with his threatening demeanor. His dedication to following Edelgard’s ideals of abolishing systems like primogeniture and Crest superiority are even outright admirable, and make him uniquely suited to understanding my perspective on the world. Like most Three Houses characters, Hubert does seem to have quite a bit of trauma under the surface, but he’s a logical type of fellow, not one to need constant emotional support and coddling -- just someone he can, for once, actually trust. He’s the sort of person I could stand with instead of having to stand behind.

Also, um, I kind of want him to intimidate me. I think I would like it.

Hubert is quite possibly the single most attractive character I’ve seen in this entire franchise, but he has one single important point against him, as well, which keeps him in this tier with the others: he keeps a lot of secrets from people he cares about, and I have trust issues of my own. (And not that he’s, y’know, a creepy assassin wizard butler who has committed multiple murders. That part is okay. Welcome to Fire Emblem, I guess.)

A Tier:

Linhardt (Three Houses): Oh, Linhardt. I once dated a guy who was a lot like Linhardt. He was a biology student who legitimately considered selling his bed in order to buy a flow cytometer to put in his room because he usually just fell asleep in his chair anyway. So, right away, I can tell you that Linhardt is an excellent choice. Our interests overlap, but not so much that I would consider him competition or a threat. He’s just content to do what he wants to do. His rather lazy demeanor is a big point against him, but at the same time, this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that he’s so brilliant when he does try to accomplish something. And I think he could balance out my super driven, very Type A personality -- Linhardt can keep me in balance and prevent me from losing who I am or my connections to everything around me, because he is so relaxed. With his aversion to causing harm and the fact that he seems to be a lot more empathetic than he lets on, he could keep me from ending up as a bitter mad scientist type if things go wrong for me, perhaps better than any other character on the list. He can be to me what Byleth can be to Edelgard. At the same time, I think I could be somewhat of a motivating factor for Linhardt, so he can be the best he can be and really apply his brilliance for the benefit of the world instead of letting his mind languish in apathy.

Klein (Binding Blade): Klein is so elegant and refined! And yet, at the same time, he makes sure to treat everyone equally, no matter whether or not they are of noble birth. He would be able to recognize me for my accomplishments, for what I do and who I am, instead of just where I come from. I think Klein is another good balancing factor for me, as well -- he’s a skilled diplomat, apparently, which provides an excellent complementary counterpoint to my more blunt and aggressive demeanor. Klein can help me circumvent problems that I can’t just plow through, and I can help him take action when action needs to be taken. Klein may not be as scientific-minded as some of the other people on this list, but given that his father is freakin’ Pent, Klein is probably quite capable of understanding a lot of the things that I say and willing to listen to a lot of my interests. There is, however, one very significant problem with Klein -- his sister. I can tell you right now that I would not get along with Clarine AT ALL from the very first time we would meet, and Klein would have to handle a lot of conflict resolution and mediation. It would be an absolute mess.

B Tier:

Ephraim (Sacred Stones): Ephraim is somewhat unique in this tier list because he’s not really much of an academic type at all! He’s good at tactics and leadership, but not much else. But at the same time, he has a clean, sharp sort of athleticism to his appearance that I like a lot, and he’s very confident and outspoken without being a jerk at all. Since he does end up in charge of Renais, he’s also a very politically viable option (are you seeing a pattern here for characters who don’t come from 3H, the game where monarchy and inherited nobility are deconstructed more instead of taken for granted?). I think Ephraim would be able to listen to me and understand my strengths, while at the same time, I can understand his talents and perspectives as well. On the other hand, he probably wouldn’t know what the hell I’m talking about half the time, which could make me eventually feel kind of isolated.

Henry (Awakening): The cute one. Henry is just such a legitimately nice and fun person despite his morbid personality. He wants to help, he just doesn’t always know how, because his grasp on human morality and empathy is a bit nebulous. He’s a twisted fellow, but not a mean one, and I think I could really appreciate his curiosity and vice versa. He’s smarter than his goofy personality lets on. I think we could talk about a lot of things with each other and accept a lot of things about each other that most people wouldn’t be able to, or at least not as easily. And he is apparently a very good parent! There are still a couple of problems with Henry, though. Most importantly, he’s kind of immature, and I don’t know how much I could handle that in a relationship. Also, he’s technically a mass murderer, though this is mitigated by the fact that he’s not a bad guy, and could be mitigated much further if his willingness to take a stand against Grima gives the public a bit of a better view of him. Also, he’s not politically viable. Whee! And I’m not sure how old he is.

C Tier:

Leo (Fates): Logical but theatrical, pragmatic and cold but surprisingly nice and dedicated despite that. He’s like a proto-Hubert, for the purposes of this list. Leo is a pretty great pick for pretty much all the reasons that Hubert is, but... just less so. Also, he has a couple of major drawbacks -- I don’t want to have to deal with his family (Camus-archetype Xander and ingenue Elise would be enough of a problem, but Corrin? Well, Camilla’s okay, I guess), and like Henry, I’m not sure how old he is, either. Leo is, ironically, probably best on the Birthright path in terms of husbando properties, because now I don’t have to deal with Corrin, who I would immediately consider a threat because Corrin is a pile of naivete with way too much power for his/her own good but people like him/her anyway.

Ignatz (Three Houses): Pretty cute, especially post-timeskip. A nice person, and could be great to cooperate with in terms of that Victor Trading Co. This guy just wants to paint nice art, but his family is successful enough to hire a private military, how cool is that? He’s also pretty smart, given that he excels at Reason magic. There are quite a few problems that keep him from being higher up, though. Ignatz is full of guilt, full of art, and not much else. I’m not sure how well I could ever truly connect with him.

Alfonse (Heroes): POLITICALLY. VIABLE. More importantly, Alfonse is the nerd lord! He’s good at strategy, likes history and mythology and folklore, and strives to avoid collateral damage when he fights. He’s a rational sort of fellow, which seems to be a rarity among all the crazy people in Zenith. However: it would only work out if I am the Summoner, as opposed to it being some generic-Kiran, I’m not sure how much he would approve of the darker sides to my personality, and he’s kind of a stick-in-the-mud. And that’s saying something, because Laurent is up in S tier and Klein is in A.

Exception Tier:

Canas (Blazing Blade): Canas would be most likely placed in A. He’s a brilliant scholar, and a super cute, absent-minded dork. He’s someone who could challenge me with his intellect without me ever considering him a threat. However: he already has a wife, and is thus off-limits. There is only one possible scenario that could circumvent this barrier: me being the Summoner of Askr and picking him up and rescuing him right at the brink of his untimely death, to start a new life in Askr without affecting the Elibean historical record -- but even that has its own problems. Did his wife survive in the snowstorm longer than he did? Would he just go right back there and die if the contract were broken? How much does summoning affect the mind of the person summoned? So Canas simply gets an honorable mention.

[whetstonefires]

Hey so random ask but, I see a lot of people calling Tim drake sexist, I personally don't think he is but what are your thoughts on that.

Oof. Okay.

Technically I can’t just say he’s not, because as the product of a sexist society he, like any other dude and to a lesser extent any person, has got some passive sexist attitudes baked in there.

It tends to surface in things like, when he went on that first big solo adventure when the Robin comic launched, that started in Paris? And he wound up hunting King Snake with Lady Shiva and this one rogue federal agent, a black man, and he got very decisive. Shiva says something cutting about white men, and she has a point, in that if either of his adult companions of the moment were also white men Tim would probably have been somewhat more conscious of the fact that he was thirteen.

That unconscious prioritization that DC’s sexist narrative tends to favor? That is sexism, and also racism, and it’s valuable to draw attention to it, though not, I feel, to blame it all on Tim because quite often he hasn’t actually done anything, the universe around him has just colluded to make him look good.

(Of course this doesn’t happen much anymore, but back when he was the Main Character it did. Comics is a sexist community in a sexist culture, so of course Tim got some of that muck on him.)

But most of the accusations you see going around are about tearing him down on Steph’s behalf, and that’s...murkier.

Because honestly Tim is less sexist than most of the men in his profession. Significantly less so than Bruce or Dick. I literally cannot imagine Tim talking about a loved one the way Dick used to talk about Kori, or a new acquaintance the way Dick did a lot of the one-episode women from his ‘90s Nightwing solo series. He wasn’t bad to them exactly, he was honestly very normal and probably above average, but the incredible, controlling arrogance and casual sexualization is still hard to get through, sometimes. Almost more so for how much more it comes out when he’s talking behind their backs. And Bruce...well, Bruce and gender is an entire deal I’m not going to try to unpack here.

And I cannot see Tim ever using ‘girl’ as an insult, the way Damian does.

Tim’s interactions with the ladies on Young Justice, for example, tended to be a lot less emphatically gendered than Dick’s interactions with the ladies of the Teen Titans, or even Bruce’s in the Justice League, though there are fewer women there and less casual interaction.

And to a considerable extent this was because the passage of ten years had modernized writing norms, and to a considerable extent this was because his demographic was younger than the Titans and therefore less sexualization was expected of the writers. Young Justice built on some stuff Marvel had been doing with young teams and broke some ground that Marvel has built on even further lately. (Seriously what is with Marvel’s young team books lately they’re incredible.) But there was also that Tim as an individual cares less about gender than most of his family.

(In some ways Jason may care even less, but he also leans really hard into performative masculinity and thought flirting was a reasonable way to interact with older women as a teenager, and he’s been being written by Scott Lobdell for ten years even if I have a hard time thinking of that as canon, so his data is mixed.)

Or take the case of this young freedom fighter (/terrorist) who happens to wear Robin colors, who Tim meets at one point in Europe. Dava. The story creates situations where Tim gets a weird mind-altering stimulant transferred orally to him by Dava, and then from him to Shiva when he’s giving her CPR, and Tim rather notably doesn’t have a single narration box or speech bubble that treats these as ‘kisses’ that he has somehow benefited from obtaining.

Later he crawl-drags Dava’s knocked-out-by-Shiva body out of the middle of the bloodbath Shiva is now staging, because he’s in no state to do anything to stop it, which he hates, and while this is certainly the comic arranging things to put Dava in a damsel status relative to Tim, Tim does not at any point frame it that way.

He is really good about not disrespecting Dava, honestly. It’s an interesting storyline partly for that reason, though it’s not the only time it comes up.

Tim was constantly meeting Troubled Young Women who could kick his ass and whom he respected considerably in most senses, but whom he was able to convince that their particular approach to violence was somehow flawed and needed to be re-thought. Thereby allowing there to be Strong Female Characters but keep the balance of the world in order and not worry the readership, by placing the male lead in a subtle power position even if he had gotten his ass kicked.

It was like. An entire genre. Tied to the way Shiva kept popping in as Incredibly Terrifying Supporting Cast.

This was a major way DC was using female characters in and immediately after the 90s and tbh in some ways it was more progressive than what they tend to do now, even as certain parts of the framing set my teeth on edge.

(Compare ‘Tim on drugs manages to hit Shiva hard enough to take her down because she didn’t expect lethal force from him so he has to do CPR’ to the more recent Red Robin story where we spend a couple of pages with him laying out to her face how she came to town to fulfill a contract on him but he brilliantly out-thought her and she ate the drugged chocolates he sent her so He Wins. Bleh.)

Steph stands out for hanging around instead of being a one-off appearance, and for not really rethinking her life in response to Tim much at all, while also not being a villain.

The crux of the issue is, Tim slid into talking down to Steph on a semi-regular basis, especially when trying to get her to stop vigilante-ing, which he’s getting backlash for some twenty-odd years later, mostly by people blaming him for her narrative deprioritization because it’s more satisfying than blaming DC.

And a major form this takes is declaring him generally sexist.

And the thing is, I’m sure his unconscious view of himself as more competent to make judgment calls because Main Character Demographic did play into the way he approached those conversations! I have never met a dude with any self-confidence whatsoever for whom that wasn’t a factor. Sexism, like racism, is the air we breathe, you have to actively extricate yourself from it and even then it will crop up at odd moments.

Classism played into it, too--especially once he knew she was a C-list villain’s daughter; there was that sense that often crops up in Batman properties that not only does greater access to resources make it safer and less self-destructive for the moneyed class to go vigilante-ing, noblesse oblige means it’s also somehow more just. The old ‘the outsider has a more objective approach’ canard. This was even more subtextual than the gender stuff, but I’m sure it was there.

Intellectual elitism is sort of a subset of both that and gender issues--Tim knows he’s smart, it’s the core of his pride, and Steph is not as smart in the same ways and has not had the same educational opportunites, and there are definitely moments of high-handedness tied to this.

And then there was the territorial aspect; it was official Bat policy to discourage all other Gotham vigilantes, usually in a much more absolute and commanding way than Tim ever tried, not to take them in and train them.

That might have been an option for Bruce if he’d wanted to, but it wasn’t really on the table for Tim unless he wanted to stage an intense campaign to totally disrupt his own life in order to bring this person who introduced herself by hitting him in the face with a brick after he mistook her for a villain into private Bat training and spaces. They’d known each other for a while and been having this argument in various forms most of that time, before they ever dated.

Please also remember that the last time Tim wanted to take a troubled blond under his and Bruce’s wings and show them the ropes and make sure they could do this safely as part of a personal healing process that would help everyone, that person took less than a week after starting to show signs of instability to have a complete psychotic break, beat him into the ground, build a brick wall in the Batcave to keep him out, lock down the computers, and start killing criminals with the knife-hands he added to the Batsuit, while failing to prioritize civilian safety.

This was not that long before Steph’s debut. If I were Tim I would not trust myself to sponsor further new team members either!

All of these things besides the Azrael trauma are directly from Bruce, who is often way more emphatic and more of an ass about them. Robin was mirroring Batman (consider the way he talks to Selina sometimes egad, sometimes it only doesn’t look awful because she’s playing along) and following Bat-policy; it is totally nonsensical to hold Tim accountable for this and not Bruce.

It’s also important to note that Tim wasn’t significantly less condescending to Anarky or the General, who were white guys around his age with roughly his class background whom he was trying to talk out of villainy, and honestly Lonnie’s motives were baller. (The original Anarky was a hacktivist based on a design somebody drew up for the third Robin, but Tim got made instead.) Tim’s entire character design back to his first appearance holds that when he’s trying to talk someone into something he tends to fall into a lecturing approach.

This can be very annoying! The first time he did it to Nightwing he got grabbed and shaken and snarled at. And of course it’s worse when he’s talking down a demographic slope, rather than up one.

I am very aware of how fucking annoying it is when guys do this, even if it is their normal mode of interaction. I have come very near to punching faces over it, when it’s really bad.

Tim doesn’t usually approach that line, but the problem is his writers didn’t seem to know the line was there, so if you’re reading some of his interactions with Steph from the perspective of having that chip on your shoulder already, especially if you’re not immersed in the narrative’s assumption that he is The Main Character, especially now that language norms have shifted slightly so wording that was considered neutral in the 90s is now obnoxious, it can ironically make a deeper impression than the much more blatant and decided sexism going on all around him.

So that’s my take on the situation. Tim has some mild passive gender prejudice which he has never taken enough notice of to seriously compensate for, made more visible by being in a deeply sexist world and by being kind of an annoying person sometimes, and this has been blown wildly out of proportion by people who feel that he and Steph are in competition to be The One Who Was Not An Asshole in that relationship.

This is not a winnable competition. They were both assholes sometimes, and even if you could prove Tim was a terrible boyfriend/person it wouldn’t validate all of Steph’s behavior--she was often forced to behave very badly or stupidly, because back then one of her major narrative functions was as a stick for the writers to hit Tim with.

And the thing is. If you’re going to exculpate Steph of awful behavior because it was ‘just’ the writers being sexist, let alone let Dick off the hook on similar grounds, I think it’s really unfair and messed up to then turn around and hold Tim-the-individual accountable for sexism that mostly wasn’t even situated in him so much as baked into the narrative, though to his benefit.

Like. When sexism (or other -ism) benefits people in real life it can be useful to draw their attention to their systemic advantages if they seem not to get it, but drawing Tim’s attention to his narrative prioritization would be extraordinarily meta (lol somebody write that fic). And in neither situation is it productive or fair (though I do know it is so so tempting) to treat the very existence of someone’s privilege as an offense they have personally committed.

They literally cannot help that. That’s how systemic works.

[stoven-harrington]

Where did the time go (during the summer I spent with you)?

Steve Harrington X OC

Hey this is my first story I'm writing about my favourite boi Steve Harrington. I hope you guys enjoy it😍😍

Also shout out to the story Time Flies By by @harringtown for inspiring me to write this fic. She's really amazing so please check out her other fics

This happens a year after season 3, so Steve is now 20.

Steve Harrington AU in which Steve is dragged into 2019. With him here in the new modern world, going back to 1986 just might be possible. Time travel, new friends, old friends, with so much at hand, love shouldn’t be on the table. But life doesn’t always go as planned.

Chapter 1:  A Normal day with a side of concussion please

I came to visit my aunt’s place in Hawkins to house-sit for her over the summer break. Of course, this wasn’t my ideal summer plans (those included going to beaches and seeing my friends) but I knew that Auntie Maria needed someone to watch over the adorable pitbull Nico. I haven’t seen his dopey face in forever and I miss that fur ball. Walking up to the door, I barely had the chance to knock on the door before it busted open and Auntie Maria’s hand reached out and dragged me inside, pulling me into a hug.

“Oh thank god you’re here!” Her hair was a mess, eyes crinkling in happiness, her clothes slightly sloppy as she smiled at me. “God, it’s been forever since I last saw you! And I know who also missed you.” I hear the dog tags before I see the grey fur. Nico comes rushing and jumps on me, making me fall to the floor in a mountain of his kisses. A giggle pours out of me as I try to get up without Nico trying to jump on me again.

“Hey Auntie Maria, hi Nico. How’s my good boy? Did you miss me? Did ya? Did ya? I missed you!” His tail kept wagging a mile a minute as I pet his belly. Auntie Maria laughed at the both of us while pulling out her Polaroid, snapping a picture before I could protest.

“Awww just look at you two. So cute. Ahhh I wish I didn’t have to go so I can spend time with you both but you know? Work is work. Hey where’s your friend? I thought you guys would come together?” I finally stand up and look back at her.

“Nah, Saint said they’ll be here in a week or two. They got stuck with a project but they said they’ll head over after its done.” She nods absently while petting Nico.

“Alright, well at least you won’t be alone with Nico the whole summer. Oh, and if you need help or anything Joy said she’d be happy to lend a hand on anything okay?” I smiled hearing Joy’s name. That lovely little Filipino lady was one of best highlights of this place, besides my aunt and dog of course.

“Oh I like Joy, she makes the absolute BEST food. Her sinigang* is to DIE for and UGHHH I just love her.” She laughs as she grabs her phone.

“Yea she’s the best neighbor I could ever ask. Make sure to say hi to her when you see her and hey, maybe you could even help her out with gardening and stuff. Her son isn’t coming over this summer because of his job so it’s just her and Marcus.”

______________________________________________________________

Auntie Maria didn’t really have a lot of time to talk but she did mention that she stocked the house with food for a month or two and that I could use anything in the house as long as I didn’t use her weed (this is one of the reasons why I love Auntie Maria). She also said I could get a job if I wanted to earn a buck, but I figured I’d be busy exploring the rest of the town I haven’t seen and whatnot so whatever. Besides, I earned a lot from my job at home so I was well off for the summer. She parted ways after hugging me and Nico and drove like the speed demon she is as I waved her off. Nico whined a bit until I took him for a walk and briefly said hello to Joy and her husband. There wasn’t really a lot to do after putting my stuff away and before I realized it, it was night. Saint texted me about their project and I filled them in on my short day while making myself some fried rice.

Benefits to house sitting for Auntie Maria: I have 3 choices of bedrooms. She never told me why she had a lot of bedrooms other than giving the regular ol’ excuse of “guest rooms”. I always felt like she was lying about it since I would find items in the rooms that I knew didn’t belong to her, but it was her business and I wasn't gonna pry. Picking at random with a metal bat in hand (Auntie Maria still kept my softball equipment from high school since mom was gonna throw it out), I walked into the bedroom furthest from the stairs on the second floor and laughed at Nico hopping on the bed before me.

“Hey you punk, I was gonna sit in it first!” He barked in response and quickly got comfortable as I placed the bat next to my side of the bed and got under the sheets. It wasn’t long until he scooted himself by my feet and soon after, my eyelids started to droop. Sleepiness was creeping on me as I whispered, “Night Nico.”

________________________________________________________________

It was supposed to be a typical night for Steve: he was expecting to walk around the forest lake in peace while he gathered his thoughts on what college to choose. He did this every so often away from his children rugrat-group of friends, especially his favorite, since he wanted them to care for themselves and not him. At that point of the night, he’d get get closer to the lake and try to skip rocks, watching his rocks just sink into the water. After that, he would head back to his car and go home, sneak into his room and knock out.

But this wasn’t supposed to happen: getting snatched by some slimy creature and squirming out of it but not before the creature cut him with its claws(?). Steve barely had time to think as he fled to his car, not realizing the big gash on his leg was starting to bleed. Could he make it to the car? Why couldn’t he just have a normal night? Was it really that hard to ask for?

“Shit! Just one time!” He exclaimed

He was trying to grab the walkie and bat he left in the car to warn his friends but as his fingers brushed the car door, the claws came back once more and grabbed his ankle. Steve struggled to get the creature to let go by kicking, however, the creature learned its lesson and grabbed both of his legs as they went through a slimy portal of a tree. This had to be the end for him, what else was there to live for? He hadn’t even found a girl he liked aside from Robin since she just don’t swing that way. Man, this blows

Expecting to see the upside down and the creature’s mouth above his face, he was pleasantly surprised to see neither of those things and instead was just lying on the ground of the forest again. Fuck that, if he had a chance to get away, he was taking it. Without a second to spare, he jumped up and looked down at himself.  The stupid creature ripped his jeans and he finally noticed the bleeding.

“Dammit, and these were my favorite pair and I’m bleeding all over…” Just then, the growl of a creature nearby jumped him back to his senses. He recognized the sound was unnatural and tried to strain his ears to hear what direction the creature was hiding in. The growl came closer and a rustle of leaves tipped him that the creature was on his right and he sped towards his left, hauling ass without second guessing himself. He couldn’t hear the creature anymore because of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears but he noticed houses starting to take form in his field of view and ran towards the closest. Someone just had to be up right? There's always one person who can’t sleep right? God, he prayed for an insomniac, someone to let him in.  

That was short-lived however because while he was so focused on getting to the door, he didn’t notice the stupid rock in his way and tripped, hitting his head on yet another stupidly placed rock and knocking out in the progress. He didn’t even see the light turning on in the house in front of him or hear the creature creeping closer. Talk about having a shitty night.

  *Sinigang*= a Filipino soup that can be with either pork or chicken, spinach, tamarind, ginger and others. The soup is really good if you have the chance to try it, do it. Doesn't hurt to try something at least once right?

This story is on archive of our own and has more chapters there but I will post the rest of the chapters

Part II

[hunnywrites]

Sixteen Candles: Part One

Summary: It’s the day that Vivian has been looking forward to nearly her entire life: her sixteenth birthday. But between her sister’s wedding overshadowing her big day, and praying that her crush Billy Hargrove will finally notice her things aren’t going too well for her. If she can just survive the under the sea dance at her school and avoid the really weird and creepy Tommy H her night might be salvageable. Maybe. 

Pairing: Billy Hargrove/OFC

A/N: I’m cracking under the pressure and writing one of the 80′s teen movie inspired fics for Billy. I meant to get this up a few days ago on my birthday, but we all know I’m horrible with deadlines. This is gonna be a mini fic, probably around six chapters in total. And I’d say it’s an AU. I hope you all like it! We get to see more of Cheryl Burns from Arcade Dreams which I’m pretty excited about. 

Vivian’s house was chaotic on a good day. Weekday mornings went by in a tornado like blur as she and her older sister Carol got ready for school and her parents readied themselves for work. If it wasn’t Carol and Vivian arguing over who got to use the bathroom first, it was Vivian yelling at Carol for using up all of the hot water and borrowing her clothes without asking. Their mother had given up on cooking her family a big breakfast once both of the girls had started high school, and now the two sisters all hurried around the kitchen dodging each other while fixing themselves a bowl of cereal while their father practically choked down some dry toast and coffee. That was a normal morning. This week had been been anything but normal.

Vivian’s older sister Sarah was getting married in two days. The only catch was that Sarah her fiance Kevin lived in Florida. Which meant that all wedding planning was taken over by Vivian’s parents. Which meant that their household had gone from chaotic to nuclear war zone. The phone was constantly ringing. If it wasn’t a florist or a caterer or someone that was calling with questions about the wedding, it was Sarah calling nearly in tears over how scared she was that her wedding would be anything less than perfect. 

Tonight would be a slight reprieve though. Her parents were driving a few towns over to pick Sarah and Kevin up from the airport, and wouldn’t be back until the middle of the night. Their mother had absolutely forbidden them from taking any calls regarding the wedding. They’d been instructed to take a thorough message on the notepad their mother had left on the fridge and that was all. “I want homework done as soon as you get home. There’s leftovers in the fridge so no ordering pizza. I want you both in bed by ten and absolutely no friends over.” their mother had said. That last part had been mainly for Carol. She’d been known to throw a few impromptu get togethers anytime their parents were gone for the night.

Vivian never really minded. Even though she and Carol got along as well as two alley cats, Vivian always covered for her. Regardless of the fact that Carol’s boyfriend Tommy was an absolute weirdo and Vivian always spent most of the time hidden in her room to avoid him, there was one reason that she was so willing to look the other way when it came to Carol’s parties. Billy Hargrove. 

The crush Vivian had on him was absolutely shameless. Just like every other girl at her school, Vivian had it bad for Hawkins’ resident bad boy. They definitely weren’t close or anything. They barely interacted. If Vivian was ever brave enough to leave her room when Carol had friends over he might say hi or give her a nod in the halls at school if she could work up the nerve to say something to him. Of course Vivian had it all built up to much more in her mind. Countless times she had fantasized about saying a flirty hello to Billy in the hall, and that nod would be followed by him sauntering over, taking her in his arms and kissing her so hard she’d forget her own name. 

But there was one other thing getting in the way of Vivian’s fantasies ever becoming a reality ...aside from the obvious of course. Cheryl Burns. Cheryl was Billy’s pseudo girlfriend. They weren’t quite friends with benefits. They weren’t really even friends. But they both hung out in the same circle, they were both freakishly attractive and Billy was of course more than willing to pretend to be Cheryl’s date every once and awhile in exchange for...well, Vivian didn’t really like to think about what those two were most definitely doing. And it wasn’t like Vivian wasn’t attractive. She was just painfully shy and awkward. But those two things definitely didn’t work well with trying to get a boy’s attention. 

Which was why she was stuck up in her bedroom and watching down on Carol and her friends wistfully from her window. The usual crowd was there. Tommy H had brought a twelve pack of beer, Nicole had brought some guy along (Vivian was pretty sure his name was Curt), and Cheryl was placed delicately in Billy’s lap. It was still warm outside. The weather was somewhere between summer and fall, so Billy could comfortably lounge out by the pool in a pair of jeans a light blue button up shirt. Vivian wanted to rip the buttons off with her teeth.

She shook her head wildly to get the image out of her mind and reached for the pale yellow phone that sat next to her bed. She quickly dialed her best friend’s phone number, her leg bouncing nervously as she waited for her to pick up.

“Hey, Viv-”

“He’s here.” Vivan hissed, keeping her voice down as if somehow the group outside would hear her. 

“...Who’s there?” Robin asked. 

“Billy! Carol invited them over since my parents are off picking Sarah up.” Vivian explained, looking down once again at Billy who still had no idea she was even home. 

Robin sighed loudly on the other end. “Viv, I really don’t get this whole Billy thing. I mean aside from the obvious reasons. The guy’s a total douchebag. He’s like the douchiest of douchebags. And I’m pretty sure he uses more hair product than you do.” Vivian rolled her eyes at the joke.

“Okay, so he’s not exactly Prince Charming,” Vivian agreed. Robin let out a snort. “But he’s not that bad. I mean he’s like mysterious. Dangerous.” she explained. Try as she might, Vivian had never really been able to explain the appeal of the whole bad boy type to Robin. She always just looked at her like she was speaking some foreign language. 

“Can you even hear yourself?” Robin laughed.

“Oh shut up,” Vivian said with a sigh. “Robin, this is the worst. He’s in my backyard and I’m up here like some sort of peeping tom.”

“I gotta be honest, Viv. That’s pretty pathetic.” she teased.

“I know.” why couldn’t she just go downstairs and talk to him? He was just a boy. Vivian told herself it was because she didn’t want to hear Carol bitching at her that she was trying to scare her friends away or she didn’t want to deal with Tommy and his flirting with her (if you could really even call it flirting). But she was a chicken with a capital C. I’m totally gonna die alone, she thought with a groan.

“Look,” Robin began with a serious tone. “He’s right downstairs. He’s not dating Cheryl. You should just go ask him out. Bite the bullet. I mean, it’s not like you’ll die if he says no or whatever.” it had always driven Vivian crazy how Robin could have such a casual attitude towards everything. She didn’t think there was a thing out there that could scare Robin. Well, except maybe one thing. 

Vivian crossed her arms. “I’ll ask Billy out the day that you ask Tammy Thompson out.” 

Robin was silent for a moment and Vivian could practically hear Robin rolling her eyes dramatically. “...Touche,” was all she said. “Listen, I’m changing the subject now. What do you wanna do tomorrow?” 

Tomorrow was Vivian’s sixteenth birthday. Something she had been looking forward to practically her entire life. A girl’s sixteenth birthday was a big deal. A right of passage. She’d finally be able to drive. Initially she had a whole plan laid out. Her entire day had been scheduled from morning until night. But then Sarah called to announce that Kevin had proposed. And then they decided they’d be getting married the day after Vivian’s birthday.

Then there was the under the sea dance at school. Hawkins High was trying to put a fun spin on their homecoming dance or something. It had been announced on the school’s morning announcements about a week ago. And Vivian had no intention of going. She and Robin never had any interest in those sorts of things. Carol definitely would, but Vivian wasn’t exactly bummed out over the idea of her sister missing out on any birthday plans she had. 

It just so happened that Kevin’s parents would be flying in on the night of Vivian’s birthday, as well as her grandparents. So her parents gave her and Carol a choice; either go to the dance or have dinner with Kevin and his parents at Enzos. Vivian decided the dance would be the lesser of two evils. 

“Ugh, I don’t even know anymore. Maybe we can catch a movie or something? I think Red Dawn is still out. Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. They probably wouldn’t have to stay at the dance long. Carol wouldn’t rat Vivian out for ditching solely on the principle of Vivian constantly covering for her. And it was better than spending the night trying to explain to her grandpa how the new TV worked for hours on end.

“I do love me some Swayze,” Robin joked. Vivian let out a snort. “If that’s what you wanna do, birthday girl, then that’s the plan. Listen, I gotta go finish some biology homework. Try to stop stalking Billy, okay?”

“I’m not stalking,” Vivian argued before sighing. “...I’ll try my best. I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“You know it. Later, dork.”

Vivan smiled and rolled her eyes. “Later, dweeb.” 

She could still hear the sound of Carol and her friends hanging out by the pool, so Vivian decided it would probably be safe to head down to the kitchen. She could see from the top of the stairs that the small light above the stove was on, but she assumed Carol had left it on so she and her friends could see to get in and out of the house. She definitely wasn’t expecting to see Billy rummaging through the fridge. 

Vivian stopped short in the doorway and let out a small  “Oh.” when she saw him. There was a brief moment when she was deciding whether to go back upstairs or not, but before she could decide, Billy spotted her. 

He did somewhat of a double take when he saw her. Almost like he was making sure he wasn’t just imagining seeing someone in the doorway. He flashed a slow, easy smile her way and Vivian nearly gulped. “Hey, Viv.” nearly everyone she knew called her Viv. And yet somehow no one else managed to give her that tingly feeling that shot up her spine like Billy could whenever he said her name. Robin was right, she really was pathetic. 

“Hey…” she shifted awkwardly, not moving from her spot in the doorway. Say something you idiot, she scolded herself. You’re alone with Billy Hargrove in your fucking kitchen. Say something! 

Thankfully he beat her to the punch. “Nice shirt.” He said, nodding to the oversized Tank shirt she was planning on wearing to bed. The three headed hellhound that adorned her shirt was almost looking up at her judgmentally. 

“Hmm? Oh! Thanks! Yeah, uh my dad took me to see them a few years ago as a Christmas present.” she’d definitely gotten her taste in music from her dad. Back in the day he’d followed the Grateful Dead whenever they toured and he joked that he had the Kiss logo tattooed on his ass. Vivian kinda didn’t believe that one though. There was no way her mom would marry anyone with a tattoo of anything on their ass. 

Billy raised his eyebrows and let out a chuckle. “Your old man is definitely cooler than mine,” he pulled out a can of Coke and held it up in offering to Vivian. She gladly took it and mumbled out a thanks before taking a long sip. Billy watched her quietly for a moment before nodding his head towards the patio. “How come you’re not out there with everyone else?” 

Vivian rolled her eyes in a way that she hoped came off as casual. “Carol always says I’m trying to steal her friends or whatever.” she said with a shrug. That was the nice version. “Don’t think that you’re cool by association just because you’re my sister. You’re definitely not.” Carol had said once after Vivian asked if she could tag along to some house party Carol had been invited to. So Vivian gave up trying to hang out with Carol after that. Tommy and Carol would give her a ride to school and a ride home and that was about the extent of the relationship. 

“Yeah,” Billy said. “She can definitely be a bitch when she feels like it.” 

“You’re preaching to the choir,” Vivian said with a snort. She bit her lip when Billy let out a small laugh. This was it. This was her chance. There wasn’t anyone else around. She should just ask him to the dance. Robin was right, what was the worst that could happen? “So um...are you going to the dance tomorrow night?” she asked, trying to keep her voice sounding as calm and  casual as possible. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she was sure Billy could probably hear it. 

He made a face. “Probably. I’m pretty sure Cheryl’s gonna drag me along,” he rolled his eyes. Vivian’s heart dropped down into her stomach. Of course he was going with Cheryl. She would never miss an opportunity to flash off whatever sort of relationship they had. Cheryl would never pass up on making the other girls from school jealous. It was what she lived for. “What about you?” 

Vivian was so shocked he asked that she almost didn’t respond. She cleared her throat loudly before giving a small shrug. “Yeah. It’s either that or a rehearsal dinner for my sister’s wedding,” she rolled her eyes. “I mean, you’d think they’d let me skip out on both since it’s my birthday and all…” 

“Oh yeah? Well, happy early birthday. One year closer to the sweet release of death.” Vivian felt her cheeks grow hot at the way Billy grinned at the snort she let out. She was grateful that the kitchen was dark and he couldn’t see how red her face probably was. 

“Thanks...um, I have homework I gotta finish up so I should…” she jabbed a thumb in the direction of the stairs. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

Billy nodded, a faint smirk on his lips. “Sounds like it. Later, Viv.” 

Vivian let out a sort of quiet, strangled, nervous laugh before turning around and all but bounding up the stairs. She sighed loudly once her door was closed behind her. “God, I’m such a fucking idiot,” she scolded herself. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” She repeated in a mocking tone. She threw herself dramatically down onto her bed. 

If Billy thought Vivian was a total loser after that interaction he’d been gracious enough to hide it from her. So much for small miracles, she guessed. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach that later when Billy was driving Cheryl home he would bring up Vivian’s pathetic attempt to ask him out. The thought of them laughing at her made Vivian let out a loud groan. 

At least tomorrow was her birthday. She would wake up to the smell of the blueberry pancakes her mother always made for her birthday, her dad would crack his “boy, you sure are getting over the hill, huh, sweet pea?” Joke he cracked every year, and when she came home for school it would be time to open presents before Sarah, Kevin and her parents headed off to meet Kevin’s parents. If she focused on that then her run in with Billy didn’t seem so bad. 

Only that’s not exactly what ended up happening. Vivian woke up to a morning that wasn’t quite as chaotic as usual. It was so quiet that Vivian felt like something might be wrong. She’d almost wondered for a second if somehow she’d woken up late. There were no pancakes. No birthday jokes. Instead her father was running around an otherwise quiet house like a headless chicken. “Has anyone seen my briefcase?!” he called, poking his head into each and every room he walked by. He barely passed a glance in Vivian’s direction. Weird, but Vivian was willing to accept that he was just distracted. 

Her mother was in the kitchen with Sarah and Kevin. “...Morning.” Vivian said wearily as she walked in. Sarah was the only one that looked up. 

“God, Vivian what did you do to your hair?” Sarah gasped. Vivian frowned, reaching up to touch her red hair. “Who let you cut it? You’re a bridesmaid!” her sister’s face was growing more and more red by the second.  “We’ll have to put it up. This is completely unacceptable. Mom, did you approve of this?” Kevin  didn’t even bother to look up from his newspaper. Which was typical of him. He practically wouldn’t speak unless Sarah told him it was okay. 

Vivian’s mother rolled her eyes. “It looks fine, Sarah. Leave it. Vivian, do you want toast?” 

Vivian blinked a few times, wondering if maybe she was just dreaming. Or maybe they were trying to pull some sort of prank on her. “Um...no. I’ll get cereal I guess if there aren’t pancakes…” she said, looking carefully at her mother.

Her mom let out a snort. “Not unless you’re making them. Okay, I have to get going. You’ll get a ride with Carol?” she asked, turning to look at Vivian. She could only nod. “Sarah, you have to meet with the florist in an hour. I’ll be home at five.” she shot Sarah a pointed look before walking out. 

Vivian opened and closed her mouth a few times. 

“Jesus, what crawled up your ass?” Carol asked with a dramatic eye roll as she walked into the kitchen. She looked at Vivian’s pajamas and scoffed. “And will you get dressed? Tommy will be here soon and I’m not waiting for you. If you’re not ready by the time he gets here you’re taking the bus with all the other dorks.” 

Vivian looked at her sisters. Carol was shooting her a dirty look while Sarah looked at Vivian and her hair with a nearly disgusted look. She silently spun around, heading up to her room, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it.

“I don’t believe this...they fucking forgot my birthday.”