#right so THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ANSWERED MY ASKS SINCE NOVEMBER

[loucifersbitch]

2024 Fic Roundup

tagged by @devirnis 🫶

this year, i wrote 18 works with 72,305 words! thank you everyone who read my stuff 🥹

May

to be free | bucktommy, M, 379

Buck is alive. Four weeks ago, Tommy kissed him. Four weeks ago, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders that he hadn't even realized he was carrying. Four weeks ago, he said yes to going on a date with a man. Four weeks ago, he never could've imagined he'd be feeling this right now. Buck is alive.

The Ally and the Beast | bucktommy, E, 2.4k

Tommy knows he's late, and he feels awful about it. He so badly wanted to make it to the wedding, but the fire was an absolute inferno that would not go out. When it was finally extinguished and Tommy was given the okay to head out, he jumped in the rig with the rest of his crew, immediately asking them to drop him at the hospital. And of course they had given him grief for it, but he didn't care as long as they got him where he needed to be. When he walks through the ER bay doors and sees Evan, he's instantly apologetic. “Sorry I'm late, that fire was a beast.” But then Evan hits him with a, “So are you,” and grabs him and kisses him, and he wouldn't be able to stop the moan that leaves his mouth if he tried.

June

maybe this time (i'll win) | bucktommy AU, E, 9.6k

Evan has been quiet today. Most evenings, he’s bouncing around the kitchen, talking to everyone or sharing some sort of fact or just generally keeping everyone entertained. He’s so young and beautiful and bright and vibrant. But tonight he’s quiet, and Tommy can’t stand it. Evan came in tonight looking haggard, as if he hadn’t slept since he left the night before. There’s also a bruise on his wrist peeking out from the cuff of his left sleeve. Or Tommy notices something is off with one of his kitchen staff. He asks questions and gets more than he bargained - or dared to hope - for.

July

These Summer Days with You Feel Like My Future | bucktommy, G, 939

Tommy and Buck take Jee-Yun to the carnival for a day of fun.

September

looking out the window (the trees are getting closer, it seems) | bucktommy, T+, 3.3k

Tommy's chopper goes down, and he knows this is the end.

October

whatever the weather (just wanna be with you) | bucktommy, E, 3.2k

All the planning in the world can't compete with unexpected changes in the weather. But sometimes that's a good thing.

set, match, run | bucktommybobby, E, 3.7k

“Hey, sweetheart,” Evan answered on the third ring. Tommy groaned, the sound of his boyfriend’s voice ramping up his desire even more, his hips nearly frantic. The image of Evan’s plush, pink lips popped into his mind unbidden. Evan always looked so pretty on his knees, lips stretched wide around Tommy’s girth, tears streaming down his cheeks, chin covered in a mess of saliva and precum. “Tommy?” Evan asked, his voice laced with concern. “Are you okay?” He almost laughed. He was so far from okay, his cock unbearably hard and leaking all over the sweatpants he had hastily thrown on before leaving Harbor. “Tommy,” Evan said again, fear beginning to creep in. The only word Tommy could grunt out between frenzied thrusts was, “Help.”

patience is a virtue, evan | bucktommy, E, 4.1k

Buck and Tommy start their scene for the night before leaving the house for Eddie's birthday party at a public bar. Buck has to make it through the evening in order to get his reward at the end of the night, and Tommy makes it worth the wait.

November

wait, how do you spell epiphany? | louliver rpf, T+, 1.3k

What happened behind the scenes of 9-1-1 between Oliver and Lou? or The terrible rpf idea that came to life.

it's never just coffee | bucktommy, G, 739

Tommy Kinard, two weeks post-break up, is not doing well.

if it all falls down | bucktommy, T+, 3k

"I trusted you." Tommy would like to be literally anywhere else right now. He should be up in the sky, not trapped with an angry Evan who has been yelling at him for the last ten minutes. This is why he avoids being on ground crew as much as possible. But now they're stuck in a building that's ready to go down at the slightest movement, and Evan is really fucking angry. "Buck, please. We don't need to do this right now," Tommy tries. "Sure, okay," Evan snorts. "Because you're so good at not running away from me when things get serious."

say my name (we're still the same) | bucktommy, E, 1.1k

Buck was trying to get over Tommy, and he was doing well. But one month and two days after Tommy walked away, everything went to shit.

and homemade cranberry sauce | bucktommy, T+, 1.4k

The timer beeped, and he got up to take the small chicken out of the oven. The little baking dish of sweet potatoes needed a few more minutes, so he shut the door again. He also had fresh rolls, broccoli, and his smallest kettle full of stuffing. It wasn't a huge Thanksgiving dinner like he'd been thinking of, but it would feed him for the next 3 days. He had requested the holiday off months ago so he could spend it with Evan. Foolish.

December

devastate me, baby (it's gonna hurt anyway) | bucktommy, T+, 4k

"So, let me get this straight," Eddie started, his voice tense. "You broke things off with Buck because you - and I quote - 'were so in love with him,' and the only way it would end otherwise is with him breaking your heart. Is that what I'm hearing right now?" "Eddie -" Tommy sighed. He couldn't have this conversation yet. He was still a raw, exposed nerve. Or The one where Eddie gets to call Tommy an idiot (affectionately).

Obsidian & Oxygen (WIP) | bucktommy, E, 22k

Evan Buckley is no stranger to the kink scene. He's an experienced submissive who's been going to Obsidian Lounge for years, both with his dommes and just for fun in the open space known as The Cellar. He's been out of the game for a while, but when he comes back, it's to try something new: a man. AKA the Kink Club AU

Mistletoe and Holly | bucktommy, T+, 2.8k

There were many things Tommy hadn't expected when he broke things off with Ev- Buck. The hurt, he'd expected. The week-long pity party, certainly. But he hadn't expected to keep any of his friends that now belonged to Buck's family. He hadn't expected for anyone to check in with him a week and a half after he'd walked away. He hadn't expected to come home from a shift to a basket full of baked goods on his front porch two weeks later. He hadn't expected Howie to call him up and invite him to their Friendsmas party. And he definitely hadn't expected himself to accept.

sit still, look pretty (WIP) | bucktommy, buddie, buddietommy, E, 6k

There's something freeing about having a partner who understands you well. They know you inside and out - in every interpretation of the phrase. They rarely have to ask for clarification of what you want. They see the good and the bad and the fucked up, and they appreciate you more for it. They indulge the parts of you that other partners would shudder at. And Tommy had his fair share of partners shudder in the past. Things he didn't think twice about - a little degradation, some light bondage, impact play - had scared off more than one partner. But Evan was different. He was different than anyone who had come before, and now that they've gotten past their brief breakup, they're stronger than ever. And Evan? He encouraged every kinky whim that crossed Tommy's mind. AKA the Cuck!Tommy fic

ride with me | bucktommy, M, 1.1k

Two months after breaking up with Evan, Tommy gets a promotion at work. Evan congratulates him in an unorthodox way.

------

idk who all has done this already for sure, so feel free to ignore me sldkfjslkfj

@bidisasterevankinard @powersuitup @plotdevicetommy @louisferrignojr @carrythatwayt

@cjlouwho @aringofsalt @apartmentsmoke @dark-alice-lilith @lemonzestywrites

@leashybebes @beanarie @evansbuck-ley @beefcakekinard @livelaughlou

@thatmexisaurusrex @miriellesandthegiantpeach @rdng1230 @rosyhoneydew @cliophilyra

@mmso-notlikethat @hyperfocusthusly @comfortingevanbuckley @half-oz-eddie @desert--moonchild

@firehose118 @diazsdimples @wikiangela @epiphainie @shannondiazs

@bucksbignaturals @dadbodbuck @bucksboobs @lavenderleahy @kirkaut

@laurenttheninth @theweewooshow @hippolotamus

[nolita-fairytale]

don't want to walk alone | carmen 'carmy' berzatto x fem!reader | epilogue: november

summary: sugar has her baby marking the beginning of a new chapter for the berzatto family.

warnings: husband!carmy who comes with a warning label of his own, swearing, lots of tooth rotting fluff, marriage, no use of y/n, second person pov, she/her pronouns, the end

wc: 1300

listen to: 'lean on me' -- bill withers & 'chinatown' -- bleachers (because it's so make my heart surrender au coded) on the official don't want to walk alone playlist

a/n: well, folks! this gets us from here to the carmy as your baby daddy au. BUT i think it's time for me to let these two ride off into the sunset and go on their merry way. i have loved this story, these characters, this world since it filled my brain with a story that begged to be told, and forced me to write it because i couldn't stop thinking about it. i wrote something quite sappy in the a/n a few chapters ago, so i'll spare us an encore performance of it and just say this: thank you for reading. thank you for being a part of this story. thank you for being a part of their journey. i will pop into this world and perhaps maybe write oneshots from time to time, but... it's time, my loves. :) would anyone be interested in a behind the scenes look at this world like i did with 'burn your life down?' let me know!

part five | masterlist

November

After sixteen long hours, Sugar’s baby comes: a perfect, rosy-cheeked, healthy baby boy that sends you and Carmy rushing to the hospital. Sugar hadn’t wanted you to come till she was ready to push, and by the time you got the text from Pete, you’d sped to the restaurant, ready to drag Carmy out of there, regardless of how busy it had been. 

Besides, everyone knew what was going on – on the edges of their seats, phones at the ready to hear any and all news about the new member of the family, and more than happy to support so that you and Carmy could show up for Sugar. 

“Carm?” Sugar asks for her brother, as you and Pete hug it out in the waiting room. You can’t even tell that the man’s been up all night; the excitement and joy in his eyes overshadowing any and all fatigue. 

Carmy excuses himself from you and Pete’s congratulatory embrace, making his way into the hospital room where his sister lays, propped up on her bed, baby in arms. 

So much has changed for the both of them: his sister, now a mother, and he, an uncle. Carmy takes cautious steps forward, the reality of it all beginning to hit him. 

“Hi,” she smiles, in complete awe of her new baby. 

“Woah,” Carmy says, though completely incapable of hiding the smile that begins to form over his face. “You made that.”

“I made that,” she chuckles with an eye roll, glancing from the baby, to her brother, then back to her son. “And he’s the most perfect thing in the world. Baby boy, I want you to meet someone. I want you to meet your uncle.” 

Carmy carefully sits in the chair right next to the bed, turning his attention to the baby. 

“Can you say hi to your Uncle Carmy?” Nat coos, shifting so that she can properly introduce her son and Carmy. 

“Oh my goodness… look at you,” Carmy says, his eyes full of wonder as the sleeping baby shifts in Sugar’s arms. 

He’s not sure what to say, the words caught in his throat. He can feel it – that this is something momentous – but it’s as if he doesn’t know where to begin, lost in the magnitude of what’s happening right now. 

“Hey, little guy,” Carmy finally manages to get out, his voice stuck in his throat. 

Sugar chuckles again, letting out an exasperated sigh. 

“How ya doin?” Carmy asks, looking over at his sister this time. 

“Great. Just great,” she replies dryly, earning a laugh from Carmy, because it really has been one hell of a night. 

When she opens her mouth to answer this time, her words come out much more genuine and soft as she adds, “I am though. Really. I’m great.”

Carmy nods in understanding, his eyes searching his sister’s face for any more of a reaction. But he knows that this is a dream come true for her -- that being a mother had always been the plan. Carmy chooses to focus this time on the sleeping baby, who’s tucked his head into her chest, seeking out warmth and comfort in this strange, new world. 

“Bear?” Nat asks, as Carmy lifts his head to look at her once more. 

There’s something urgent in her voice that grabs his attention and he’s not sure what she’s going to say next. 

“Yeah?” he asks back, his eyes wide. 

“So I want to talk to you about something,” Sugar says, his voice softening even more as she looks down at her baby boy. Carmy nods once, letting her know that he’s ready as Nat continues. “I uh… well, Pete and I have been thinking a lot about this. And… I wanted to talk to you about it before we move forward with it.”

Carmy swallows, leaning in this time. 

“After we found out we were having a boy, Carm, we talked a lot… about what we would name him and… with his due date being in November… I don’t know. And look at him now, meeting him... it just feels right,” she begins, emotions welling in her voice. “We-, well, we want to name him Michael. If that’s okay… with you.”

Carmy has to stop for a moment, frozen in time as he hears the name. It’s not like he gets emotional about these kinds of things very often, but then again, this is all new to him – new to the little families they’re building; a new generation of Berzattos. 

“Uh,” Carmy croaks out, his voice stuck in his throat as he realizes he’s much more moved than he expected to be. “Uh yeah, Sug. I… it’s okay with me.”

“Are you sure? Because I didn’t know if you wanted to use the name or-,” Sugar begins to explain. 

“No, it’s-, it’s okay,” Carmy is quick to interject. “If it feels right. I mean we haven’t even-, you know, we’re not talking about… yet….” 

Sugar nods in understanding, because she knows that you and Carmy have only been married for two months now. Hell, she's your best friend; she'd know if either of you were talking about having kids.

“So,” Carmy says, his eyes suddenly feeling watery. “Guess there’s a new Michael Berzatto then?”

He takes another look at his baby nephew, joy and grief both trapped inside his chest. Carmy's overwhelmed by it all: hearing his name, what this means for the Berzattos, this new beginning. He thinks back to what you said to Sugar on your wedding day -- that this could be the start of a new chapter for all of you -- the reality of your words reflected back to him now, all in one tiny package of new life.

"Welcome to the world, buddy," Carmy manages to say, his voice soft and full.

And it's as if every single thing that's led to this moment, and every single possibility that the future may hold rush before his eyes.

“Welcome to the world, baby boy,” Sugar whispers, suddenly overwhelmed with emotions.

*

Wanting to give Carmy and Nat time alone together, you spend the first part of your hospital visit with Pete in the waiting room, as the teary-eyed man recounts the intensity of the last eight hours. You can see it in his eyes, hear it in the way he speaks, that this is a dream come true for him – becoming a father. 

Soon enough, Pete is ushering you into the hospital room, more than eager to introduce you to your new nephew. By the time you and Pete join her and Carmy, the new Berzatto is fast asleep on her chest, while Carmy sits quietly next to her. There’s an energy between the siblings, something you notice right away, and you can only imagine that this is emotional for the both of them on so many levels. 

“Hi,” you grin, looking from Sugar to Carmy, as you join him by her bedside.  

“Hi, sweetie,” Sugar greets you. Carmy smiles at you, as your hand comes up to rub comforting patterns over his shoulder and back. 

“Pete,” Nat begins again. “Carmy and I were just talking… about his name.”

“Oh yeah?” Pete asks, smiling hopefully as he exchanges a look with his wife. 

She nods, a full conversation happening between the new parents with just one look. Pete lets out a heavy exhale, smiling at his wife as Nat answers with:

“Yeah."

Carmy clears his throat, his arm closest to you squeezing you closer to him, gently leaning his head against your side in search of comfort. 

“What’d you decide on?” you ask curiously, the air seemingly tense with feeling. 

“Michael,” Sugar answers, exchanging a look with her brother this time. Carmy squeezes your hip, and as you search his face for a reaction, you can tell he's holding back tears.

“His name is Michael.”

[twig-tea]

2024 Tumblr Top 10

tagged by @lurkingshan here and @neuroticbookworm here, thank you both! This really reminds me that I need to do a real pinned post at some point.

If you want to generate your own, you can use this link! I used the link to find the posts but wrote this below because I thought reflecting on the posts would be fun.

My GL rec list (covering everything through to Feb 2024), which I'm very happy about taking first place. If you want GL recs, check that out first, and then feel free to browse my #GL recs tag.

The admittedly shady post from October calling out the director of the Addicted Heroin Thailand adaptation for (a)making weird choices and (b)defending them as artistic. But I stand by my anger about this. Censorship is not an aesthetic!

The non-novel-spoilery reaction post to episodes 1 & 2 of Love In The Big City which was also from October, but which honestly stands up for my reaction to the whole series. What a gift of a show.

A quick pitch for Akaya is in Love with Hiroko from July. This one hurts! I was so ready to cheerlead for this show and did several times, but the penultimate episode made me wary and the finale really upset me, to the point where I didn't end up writing about the finale, so I'll take the chance here: Don't make a show about two self-aware lesbians, one who has been comfortably sexually active for years and one who is super horny for her, and have them get together as adults and yet be celibate for a year out of "respect". Is the message that sex between consenting and enthusiastic adults is not respectful?! GTFO. For the record I can be respected with orgasms, thank you.

The episode celebrating the messaging in the finale of Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo from November. Glad that this is here between the previous entry and the next two, because this is a good balm for the pain. LFtCoT landed the ending and gave us all a giant hug while doing it!

The list of things I was thinking about at the end of Wandee Goodday ep3 from May. Another disappointment for me. The things this post shouts out are still things I like about this show, and reading it again is a reminder of where the back half let the first half down (not taking seriously some of the things we were told to take seriously in the first few episodes).

An early post about Love Is Better the Second Time Around from March. Another show that did not land everything, in this case because it felt like it tried to shove in a complicated conflict in the last two episodes that they didn't have time to handle. But I still love those early episodes and all of the interplay between Miyata, Iwanaga, and Shiraishi.

My clown theory for Every You, Every Me also from October, which ended up being correct! I've never been more happy to be right, I liked this reveal for the show so much.

In February I wrote this thesis about the state of Thai BL looking at data from 2022 and 2023, which I have been meaning to go back and update since I think Shan as usual was feeling the start of the wave and we needed more data to see the change actually play out in 2024. I now no longer feel (as I did in this post) that things haven't changed, I do think they have this year. But I need to crunch the numbers again to prove it to myself (and everyone else) though. Stay tuned!

In July I did a round-up post about the various theories surrounding Century of Love, and whether Vee and Vad were the same person. Turns out San did wrestle with this as I'd hoped but the show itself felt like it lost steam and copped out around this, unfortunately. At least we'll always have fox demon Offroad and grumpy old man Daou's collarbones thanks to this show.

Special shout-out to @lurkingshan because two of the posts above are answers to asks she put in my inbox that spawned project posts. Shan knows what the people want to hear!

Tagging @italianpersonwithashippersheart @benkaben @ellsieee @colourme-feral @pigglepiephi @impala124 no pressure tags and apologies if you've been tagged already!

[putschki1969]

Hi Sarah! Hope you are well! I will be in Japan on January 15th, so i can't lose the incredibile opportunity to go to the concert. I waited for the general lottery hoping that it would be aviable on the international e+ stite, but unfortunatley it seems it is not the case.

I tryed with sos japan but they are not answering me, and with bridge but they told me they are full or requests and so can't help me.

I would appreciate it very much if you can suggest me something to get these tickets. Thank you!

Hello there!

I am so sorry for the late reply. You sent this while I was travelling last week so I didn't notice the new message in my inbox. I am happy to hear that you will be in Japan next January. Of course you'd want to use that opportunity to attend the Kalafina, I totally understand.

However, I am afraid we are already at a point where it's pretty tricky to get tickets.

Ticket sales are scheduled for the following dates: ■Wakana/KEIKO Fan Club Advanced Lottery October 10, 2024, 11:00 - October 20, 23:59 ■Hikaru X (formerly Twitter) Advanced Lottery October 25, 11:00 - November 4, 23:59 ■General Ticket Lottery November 9, 11:00 - November 11, 23:59 ■General Sale November 16, 10:00 -

We have gone through all the ticketing stages and it appears like there are no more tickets left on the e+ general sale. This is actually quite surprising since I didn't expect the concert to be sold out so quickly. The venue is huge and judging from everyone's dismissive reactions on Twitter, I had assumed that not many people were actually planning to attend. Guess the mood on Twitter didn't reflect the high demand of the general public.

From what I could tell, almost everyone who applied for the Wakana/KEIKO fan club ticket lotteries won a ticket so they must have had a lot of tickets available for those. A majority of all fan club members seems to have made use of that preliminary lottery because for the subsequent Hikaru lottery, there were quite a few people who didn't manage to win a ticket. The same applies to the general lottery. I saw several tweets of people being sad that they didn't win anything during that. Unfortunately, the general lottery period was very short so it would have been necessary to contact SOSJapan or a similar service very early in advance to figure out what you needed.

The general sale was over super quickly too so there are currently no official options available.

They might have plans to offer some left-over tickets on the overseas e+ site but they haven't announced anything yet in that regard. Knowing Space Craft, they will totally ignore Kalafina's overseas fanbase so I wouldn't count on that....

I know that a lot of tickets were bought by shady resellers who are now offering them for crazy prices on some random sites but for one, that's illegal so I wouldn't recommend going down that route and two, it would be a real hassle for a foreigner to even get their hands on one of those resold tickets so meh, not the best idea.

Your best bet right now is to ask around in fandom spaces and see if anyone got spare tickets. The good news is that many people applied for more than one ticket (myself included). The bad news is that most of those people will already have found someone to give their extra tickets to (myself included).

I will ask here on this blog and see if anyone can offer a spare ticket to you. If there's no one, you will have to ask around on other sites. You should probably check out the cantaperme forum or a number of different Kalafina Facebook communities and a post on Twitter can't hurt either (although you'll have to tag everything properly so the post reaches a good amount of people).

【Request】 Kalafina Anniversary Ticket

Does anyone still have a spare ticket for the upcoming Kalafina Anniversary Live? If you do, please contact me or @red------moon directly. Thank you!

【Update】 Spare Ticket Found

Great news! @hadi-sama has some spare tickets and is offering them to fellow loyal fans who are still in need of one. Thank you so much for your swift reply! @red------moon, please be sure to contact either me or him ASAP to figure out all the details. Thank you!

[darkacademicvibes]

Hellooo! So I know you haven't posted in ages and you're probably busy or maybe not writing anymore but if you are and your requests are open... can you maybe do something for Theodore nott? If you don't write for him then maybe Barty Jr. Or Regulus or something?

Basically fem!reader is insecure and brings it up and he doesn't understand so she asks is they even love her anymore and they somehow propose right then and there? Like really tearful, and he's so hurt but he's also kind of blank about it idk and she says yes obvs, but he just doesn't know how to feel about what she asked?

Thankyouthankyouuuuu and if you aren't writing anymore that's totally understandable 🩵🩵🩵🩵

AHHHH YESSS I TOTALLY CAN BABES!!!

I'm always gonna write on this blog, lately I've really been trying to figure out my page and stuff and I just got done with exams so I've been busy, I'm sorry!!! I HOPE this lives up to expectations, I've never written an argument/yelling that turned to a proposal lmao <3

Look At Me

tw: cursing, idk I like it, he's very much sweater Theo lmao, nothing really to be honest with you

"-God, Theo, it's like you're never here anymore!" You huff, busying yourself with the dishes of a dinner you ate alone, again. The sound of his name instead of the nickname you'd always called him made him flinch. Theodore Nott had been your boyfriend since the beginning of your seventh year at Hogwarts, and you'd fought together in the war on Harry's side. Or, McGonagalls side, as Theo preferred to call it.

After Hogwarts, you'd moved in together which you'd defended to your parents as convenience. And his, well, his mother got ill quick, and then got better, and then ill again, and she'd eventually found out after he'd invited her over to make sure she was okay, and you'd come home to your boyfriends mother on the couch having tea. You'd easily slipped into comfortable conversation with your loving boyfriend and his (absolutely wonderful) mother and she'd guessed it by morning when you'd made everyone pancakes as you'd been woken up early by Theo on his way to quiddich practice.

Lately, however, he'd been home less. In fact, it began at the beginning of the year, while it is now November. You celebrated your third year anniversary of fully owning the house (thanks to his family money's help) and as that morning when you woke up, he was gone, he came home giddy, and then that night, went to bed nervous. And things hadn't been the same. You'd marked that night on your calander once you realized that was the last afternoon before anything changed.

April 4th.

Since then, he'd barely be at home, which isn't saying a lot seeing as he was a professional player for the Montrose Magpies and sometimes was forced to be away for day practices that led well until you'd gone to bed and weekend games that you always made sure to see.

He'd started getting up earlier, and going to bed either well before, or well after you. When you were wide awake, or fast asleep. Sometimes, he'd sleep in the guest room downstairs, instead.

He'd stopped with the casual kisses everytime he left the room, no longer pressing kisses to your temple, cheek, nose, shoulder, or head, and started passing by in silence, answering requests with hums, grunts, and nods. Your brother had joked he was finally going through the 'I hate my girlfriend' phase, but quickly shut up when you'd choked out a strangled breath that sounded like you'd taken a bludger to the stomach.

The thought hasn't left your mind since.

"I'm here now" Theo presses, standing behind the kitchen island, his hands braced firmly on the edges of the bench, gripping tightly. You scoff, scrubbing the pan harshly. Who invented pans that weren't non-stick? You wanted to hit them with your pan, your pan that now had bits of food and grease stuck to it.

"Theo this is the eighth night in a row I've had to put your dinner in the microwave" you give up on the pan, abandoning it on the bench and moving on to the pot you'd made the potatoes in. It was your day off, and Theo was supposed to be home at four, so you'd made a full dinner for you to eat together. A mistake, you now realized, as you didn't eat until seven when your food had already gone cold, and he hadn't come home until nine, when you'd usually do the dishes. He did them right after dinner for some unexplainable reason you didn't quite understand. Through, you were the one who grew up with supper. So you always made it and did dishes after.

"I told you not to count on me being home on time, bambino" he breathes, and you sniff, wiping your nose on the back of your wrist. He had, yesterday, but not today. "I wrote it down and left it on the kitchen counter-" a soft mew interrupts him, and you listen to the sound of him scooping up the neighbors cat.

"Pie, you shouldn't be here, your mama will be looking for you" you coo, glancing back at the soft, light brown cat. "She can stay" Theodore murmurs, cuddling the cat close. A pang of anger flashed through your stomach. That cat was getting more affection from your boyfriend then you'd gotten for most of the year. "No, she can't" your voice is snappy, and he sighs, kissing the top of Pies head and opening the back door, placing Pie outside and closing the door again before leaning against the wood, watching you.

"I don't understand what I've done to make you so upset, amore" he murmurs, and you snap, tossing the potato pot and the rag into the sink, taking off the ridiculous yellow gloves and tossing them onto the bench.

"You are never here, Theo" you insist. "And you go god knows where, because you weren't at practice tonight" you continue, when Theo opens his mouth to argue, you glare at him. Your voice shakes, and that makes you angrier. "No! You weren't, I called Peter, he was at home with his wife and baby son at four fifteen" you snap, and hurt flashes in his eyes. You want to apologize, but you haven't done anything wrong, not that you're aware of. You have suffered, for months, wondering what you'd done wrong. You didn't understand. You don't understand.

"So where were you? Were you with someone else, someone you can stand? Because it's pretty clear you can't stand me anymore" you toss your hands up, abandoning the gloves as you return to cleaning the dishes as Theo makes his way closer, returning to the island counter as you ramble on.

"If you were then just tell me and be done with it, because this wondering, the guessing, the hoping you aren't, the subconsciously looking for proof that you have been, is killing me" you ramble on.

"It is absolutely tearing me apart to think you don't love me anymore, trying to find reasons that would have you pulling away because surely, if you don't love me then you'd leave me, right? Except, I don't know, I don't know what I did-" you place the pot aside and start working on your plate. His is still in the microwave. "-I can't figure it out. Tell me what I did wrong, because I can't keeping going like this for much longer" you sniffle, and the sound has the guilt already drowning him shove him down deeper.

"I mean, do you even love me anymore? Because it really just seems like you're sticking around for convenience" You manage to mumble, your voice shaking as tears prick harshly at your eyes. You try blinking them back, but you have to harshly wipe your cheek with the back of your arm as the feeling of a few hot tears warm your cheeks.

A soft click sound from behind you and in your confusion, you turn, pausing at the sight. Theo is leaning heavily against the counter, his shoulders tense as the small dark blue velvet box sits open on the table.

A delicate gold ring, with agate as the stone sits undisturbed in the box, and you can feel your breath escape you because it is beautiful.

"I was afraid you would say no" he admits, gazing at you through his dark lashes you'd frequently voiced that you were jealous of. "I was afraid you'd say no, and I pulled myself away from you, and I'm sorry for not noticing how it affected you" he breathes. Almost as breathless as you.

He slowly rounds the island, gently stopping to stand beside you.

His hands land on your waist, delicate. "ragazza dolce, how could you ever doubt my feelings for you?" He murmurs, his thumbs rubbing gently over the skin of your hips. The touch makes you pause and, slowly, you melt against his chest. "You haven't touched me like this since April fourth" you start softly, gaze still on the ring, and he tenses beside you.

Fuck, you'd actually remembered the date he held you last? He knew it had been a while, he had felt horrible about his nerves pulling him away from you, but you'd memorized the fucking date he'd last touched you, and it was so much longer then he'd thought.

"You barely answer me anymore, I start every conversation, and it's either tense, or it falls through so fast i-" you hesitate. "It makes me feel like you don't see the point in talking to me anymore" his heart shattered, he could hear it, feel it- you'd felt so horrible, miserable even, and it was his fault. He'd been so wrapped up in how he felt that he hadn't even noticed you'd been miserable. Lonely.

"I'm sorry, mio caro, I'm so sorry" he murmurs, pained, his lips brushing the crook of your neck gently.

His hands gently guide you to face him, and you allow him to lift your hands, drying them off gently. "C'mon sunshine, I'm sorry, look at me" he murmurs, gently tucking his forefinger under your chin to guide you to meet his eyes. "I have been so nervous that I started pulling away, and I am so sorry you felt this way, sweet girl, I promise I love you" he assures you gently, watercolour eyes gazing into yours deeply.

"There has never been, nor will there ever be, anyone else. You are it for me, you are my Andromeda, I'm your Perseus, remember?" He pleads softly, reminding you of the last time you'd been in Hogwarts.

The astronomy tower would probably crumble if you stood in the wrong spot, still, you (almost) fearlessly ventured closer to the calm figure leaning against the wall of the castle, not for one second, caring that he was sitting in rubble. Gazing at the stars. He smiles at you as you stand beside him, and he offers you his hand, which you take as he helps you to sit beside him safely.

"Feel up to stargazing, my love?" He murmured, and you smile softly, leaning your head on his shoulder as his hand rests easily on your thigh, rubbing gently despite the dust-covered fabric in the way of your skin. "Always" you hum. He huffs a soft laugh and sighs warmly. "You remember those stars?" He asks softly, pointing out the constellation, and you nod against his shoulder. Andromeda and Perseus, the chained maiden and her lover. Her savior. Her husband, in entirety. They'd been so in love they were placed in the stars so their love would never end.

"Yeah, I remember, it's your favourite myth" he smiles, and he presses a soft kiss to your head, smiling himself. You'd remembered it was his favourite.

"If I was Perseus, you'd be my Andromeda" he murmurs, and you smile softly, melting into him. "If I was Andromeda, you'd be my Perseus" you retort gently, pressing a soft kiss to his shoulder as shouts of names, and calls of joy fill the night air.

The war is over. All is well.

"My father is dead" Theo hums. The way he says it was almost as if he'd simply noticed the time and pointed it out. He found more empathy for the roadkill the two of you had come across two weeks ago, a rabbit that had been hit by a carriage.

"I saw. Are you okay?" You ask gently.

"Yeah, I'm okay, as long as I have you, I'll always be more than okay" he hums, chuckling softly. "My mother will be okay now, she's safe" he sighs, the tension leaving him slightly.

"She is, Teddy" you smile, and as he wraps his arm around you to pull you impossibly closer, you both gaze at the sky and you do what you do best together.

You talk, and you stargaze.

You nod slowly, tears slipping down your cheeks, and he sighs softly in relief, his thumb swiping the tears away gently.

"I love you, so much. I'm sorry I let myself get in my head, I should've realized I was hurting you" he murmurs, his lips pressed against your hairline as he tucks a few strands behind your ear, his fingers trailing down your neck, then your shoulder, all the way to your hand, where he links your fingers together.

"Teddy, are you asking me to marry you?" You murmur softly, eyes gazing softly at the ring again. He hums, "will you say yes?" He murmurs softly, his thumb brushing against yours.

"I can't imagine a world where I'd consider saying no" you breathe, and you can feel his lips tug into a giddy smile against your temple. He pulls away, only enough to reach the ring, and gently hums.

"Look at me, bellissimo"

Your eyes meet his and he leans down to press a soft kiss to your lips, the familiar softness of it almost making you swoon.

"Will you, the most gorgeous woman I have ever laid eyes on, make me the absolute happiest man alive, and do me the honor of making me your husband?" He asks quietly, his lips brushing yours gently.

You smile, and nod softly, "that's a yes from me" you hum, "a big, fat, yes" you laugh, and he chuckles along with you, gazing softly at you as he slowly slips the ring onto your finger. "Good, now give me a big, fat, kiss" he demands playfully "I miss kissing my fiancé" he murmurs, and it sets off fireworks in your stomach.

You lean up and press a big, fat, kiss to his lips, just like he asked.

You giggle as he wraps his arms around you happily, tugging you closer and tapping your hip in the all too familiar signal to jump. You wrap your legs around him and he kisses you harder, his hands under your thighs.

"I have a lot to make up for" he mumbles, making his way into the living room and dropping you gently onto the couch, pulling a giggle from you.

"Remind me to tell Draco not to sit on this couch next time he comes over" you tease, and he laughs, loud, and happy, and the sound has you melting.

You have your Theo back, and he's not your boyfriend anymore, he's more, and you couldn't be happier.

[presidenthades]

Hi, how are you?

Can you tells us if we will get an update soon!

Thank you for checking in! (Also, I know you sent this Ask in a positive and friendly manner, so I’m sorry that I’m using this as an opportunity to talk about something serious. After this, any use of “you” in this post is a generic “you” for everyone reading.)

If people have been paying attention to news about the US, you are probably aware that the situation is crazy right now. I try to keep this blog centered on my creative works, so I generally don’t talk about politics here.

But I’m going to make an exception in this post, because the current US political situation is, in fact, affecting me as a fic writer. Ever since January 20, my loved ones and I have been under an immense amount of stress. The administration’s recent actions and Executive Orders have a direct negative impact on us.

Sometimes, fic writing is a welcome outlet for my stress. Sometimes, the stress is so overpowering that I can’t bring myself to look at my computer screen. Sometimes, I am so mentally, physically, and emotionally tired that I have no idea if the words I just wrote are any good or if they’re pure garbage.

I try to do what I can, even as an individual member of fandom, to resist. It isn’t much, but I try. I recently removed links to fanart that led to X and Meta, because I don’t want to drive traffic to Nazis and bigots. I have stopped buying bookbinding supplies from Amazon, because Bezos (who was awful even before this) is complicit with the other broligarchs. I signed up to offer betaing/research services for the @fandomtrumpshate fandom charity works auction, because if I’m able to help them raise even $10, $10 is better than $0 (and maybe $10 will be enough to buy a dozen eggs in this current economy).

Again, it’s not a lot. But every little bit counts, just like every vote counts. Unfortunately, not enough American people listened in November. Hopefully, more of them are listening now.

And yet, as stressful and terrifying as things are now, I am doing my best to hold onto the good things. The good things are what get me out of bed in the morning. Good things like my family, my friends, crafting, and of course fic writing.

When I finish drafting a chapter, that makes me happy. When I post an update, that makes me happy. When I get comments on AO3, that makes me happy. When I answer silly questions on Tumblr, that makes me happy. Fandom makes me happy.

I think it’s important to strive for happiness, now more than ever, as Trump’s administration does its best to make everyone so scared, tired, and anxious that we no longer have the energy to resist. So I’m going to keep writing, even if it takes me a bit longer. And I’m going to keep posting my fics, because I know it makes other people happy to read them, and it makes me happy when they tell me so.

Another bit of news that I hope makes people happy: I just finished a big revision of Compromise Chapter 14! I’m going to try to post it this weekend. But I won’t make promises, because unlike the current American president, I try to keep my promises, and I can’t guarantee anything fandom-related right now.

But I can promise this: I still love writing, I will continue to update my fics, and I always appreciate each and every one of my readers. ❤️

In return, if a fic makes you happy, please consider making the writer happy by leaving a comment. Every little bit counts.

[liminalmemories21]

2024 Fic Round Up

tagged by .... many people. Thank you!

73K of Lonestar 197K of 911 with @cecilyv

Prolific year.

January

To be at home in fragments (911: Lonestar, TK/Carlos) tumblr ficlets

April

The Knave of Clubs .... swears he'll take her part (911: Lonestar, TK, Carlos, Art Thief!AU, aka Knave IV)

There’s a way that panic can make you feel nauseous, and he has to swallow hard before he can get the words out. “Tell me what you need me to do.”

Trudie gives him an approving smile, like a teacher with a student who’s given the right answer. “You’re going to help me steal a statue.”

(I'm in love) but i do not speak the language (911, Buck/Tommy, aka @cecilyv and I start down a rabbit hole from which we have not yet emerged)

What he does tell Maddie (and Chim) is that he’s never going to push Evan; that whatever this turns out to be, it’s between the two of them.

She laughs in his face and Chim chuckles, and Tommy wonders what he really got himself into.

May

Awful quiet here since love fell asleep (911, Buck/Tommy)

A Buck/Tommy break up/make up fic that back in May @cecilyv thought no one was asking for. And then the show said, hold my beer. Our take was better.

Things don’t always work out, the first time around.

Baggage that goes with mine (911, Buck/Tommy, What Binds the Fabric Together I)

Our take on a Tommy Begins episode.

June

I'll cover you (911, Buck/Tommy, What Binds the Fabric Together II)

Gerrard comes back. The 118 tries to adjust and Buck and Tommy accidently acquire a dog.

Leave the past behind (911, Buck/Tommy, What Binds the Fabric Together III)

A funeral and too many text messages. Tommy’s dad dies and everyone...adjusts.

July

Your love is better than ice cream (911, Buck/Tommy)

An alternative meet-cute, where-in Tommy doesn’t know the 118 and decides Buck is worth it anyway. Buck is confused but figures some things out.

I hear there are great restaurants out west (911, Buck/Tommy, What Binds the Fabric Together IV)

Tommy and Buck and an open road. AKA Roadtrip fic.

August

Atlas (bound) (911, Buck/Tommy)

A behind the scenes look at how you speedrun a relationship, and what happens when the pieces of yourself that you try to hide, embarrassed and afraid, come to the surface.

Tags: The Buckley siblings have bad parents

What's with today, today? (911, Buck/Tommy)

The 118 is a library and Buck is the children’s librarian; Tommy’s the man behind on Stuffie Day at the local fire station. No stuffed animals were harmed in the writing of this fic.

September

Inside, You've Got Heaven and Earth (911, Buck/Tommy)

Tommy and Buck’s world changes in an instant. How do they recover and find their way back home?

We all want to break Tommy (at least a little), right? There is a car accident discussed herein. We’d started this months ago, but came back to it after @alchemistc asked, “What kind of patient is Tommy Kinard?” and we realized we still had a lot to say. Recovery is a personal experience and this is not intended to be medically accurate by any stretch of the imagination. So much hand-waving.

Tumblr mini-fics (911, Buck/Tommy)

what it says on the package

October

Star Baker (911, Buck/Tommy)

Tommy’s down bad for every version of Buck.

Absolutely no baked goods are made in the course of this fic.

Just a bit outside (911, Buck/Tommy)

Who wants to see Tommy in baseball pants?

@cecilyv wrote anything about actual baseball, I contributed bad baseball sex puns. This is the usual division of labor.

Napoleon's Battle Plan (911, Buck/Tommy)

First you show up, then you see what happens. Tommy reevaluates his priorities, one interaction at a time. AKA 5+1 Tommy and the 118 kids(fic).

November

In a Yellow Wood (911, Buck/Tommy)

It’s been three years since the break-up when Tommy saves a family and it upends his life. AKA actual kid!fic

Every song has a you (911, Buck/Tommy)

Buck and Tommy talk but do they listen? A fix-it fic that goes AU after 8.06.

Everyone gets to be angry for a while, and then talk it out.

December

A comet's misfortune (911, Buck/Tommy)

One day, Buck and Maddie’s past shows up at her door. Buck should have realized that if they’d been able to hide a kid, they could jettison an entire family, too.

Note: This took us so long to write, and had about three different versions that existed before we got to this one.

The chain I forged (911, Buck/Tommy)

Tommy gets visited by the Ghost of Christmas (or possibly hallucinates as a result of whatever was in those shots Lucy handed him last night). Either way, he’s too old for this shit.

tagging anyone who wants to play.

[formosusiniquis]

🪱 Wiggle Wednesday🪱

Thank you @paperbackribs who tagged me last week, I saw it while I was in class and immediately forgot until I saw people posting their things today. But I'm always excited to share my current brainworms

This is a scene from a fic that I pick at every now and then, so it's basically always on the brain. It started as something about Lucas and Steve and trying to explain away the slight anachronism of Steve (popular and rich) being in Nikes before Jordan made them cool (thank you Air) and it has turned into something much more about Lucas and also his Mom relating through a shared love of basketball and Steve is also there.

It’s a Friday night after the end of the world, and strangely Lucas is at a basketball game.

Or maybe it’s only strange because it’s so normal.

A Friday night in a small town and there isn’t much to do except support the home team. Only Mom won’t watch football, she calls it barbaric, so she reserves all her team spirit for November when basketball season starts. Lucas’ skin itches a little under the Hawkins Tigers shirt he’s wearing, as he’s pretending to be normal when a couple weeks ago he learned monsters were real. What can he do though? Mrs. Byers has Will on house arrest, Mike is still mourning Eleven, and Dustin hasn’t been allowed out since Will’s Lazarus act.

Maybe he’s being too sensitive. Steve is here, who Lucas mostly knows from Mike complaining about being Nancy’s stupid boyfriend. Steve is playing like everything is fine, even though Lucas knows Steve knows. He heard whispering about it with Nancy when he went to the bathroom the last time he was at Mike’s. But Steve is smiling as he paces down the court. Miles better than the other players around him, when Steve has the ball Lucas feels like he does when he’s watching a real basketball game on the couch with his Mom.

If Steve can act like things are normal. If he can sink three pointer after rebound after assist, maybe it’s okay that Lucas is wearing his Tiger green. He floats down the court and everyone cheers. But no one cheers right. When #21 Hagan gets a rebound off of Seymour’s best player, a girl’s voice screams so loud it makes his throat hurt. No one cheers that way for Steve. It’s just excitement for the game, not for him and the way he is playing.

When the game ends, Hawkins 73: Seymour 42, and the crowd storms the court Lucas stands by his Mom in the bleachers. She hates feeling the push of the crowd against her and as he gets older, and people’s hands get rougher, he’s starting to understand. He’s too old to be caught standing by his Mom though. After everything, he knows better than to move too far away from her; going to the game with your Mom is one thing, being the kid getting called out over the intercom because she can’t find you would be life ruining.

Lucas watches the thinning crowd while he waits. Parents and girlfriends crowding their sweaty players. He doesn’t want to get caught looking at any of those boys for too long now that they aren’t playing. He isn’t sure why. So he keeps looking for something familiar.

Steve is standing beside a short, dark haired man who’s got what his father calls a beer gut. He doesn’t look anything like Steve, but he’s also the only adult anywhere near him. He’s the only person at all that’s really near Steve. They’re talking excitedly about something. He claps Steve on the back and whatever he says next has Steve looking down toward the floor.

“Is that Steve’s dad?” he asks his mom before thinking about why that might be a weird question to ask her.

“Who?” The way she says it makes him sure she hadn’t actually heard the question. She’d caught a name, when he interrupted her conversation with the lady next to them, but not enough to answer. It’s a free chance to drop the issue. To say sorry, never mind, and go back to watching people move on the floor below them.

“That guy,” she slaps his hand down as he goes to point. “The guy next to Steve, number 8, is that his dad?”

“How do you know him?” The question, instead of an answer, startles him enough that he looks at her instead of Steve. Stern, he knows he doesn’t want to lie to her, but he also isn’t sure how to say that this random high school boy saved two of his best friends’ older siblings' lives.

“He’s Nancy’s boyfriend. Mike talks about him.”

If he’d just waited. He would have gotten his question answered without asking Mom. They both watch as that man says one more thing to Steve, shakes his hand, and walks out of the gym. “I don’t see Nancy here.” Because they both know he doesn’t really need his other question answered anymore.

“I don’t think she really likes sports.”

Mom sucks her teeth, a judgmental tchk that has heat climbing the back of his neck when it's not even for him. "Well that's a shame, he's a good player." There's finally enough space on the floor that they could leave. He wants, desperately, for them to just go cause something about this conversation is making him feel guilty again. "Do you want to to say hi?"

There's nothing he wants less than that. Lucas thinks if he has to go up to this guy, who went toe to toe with a monster, while his mom trails behind he'll die. Lucas thinks if he says hi to a guy who has only seen him maybe twice in the context of Mike Wheeler's house, and has to sit there while Steve blankly accepts his congrats he'll melt into the floor.

"Can we just go home? I still have homework."

And some tags to @fuctacles, @cauldronoflove, @thefreakandthehair, @stevespookington, @stevieharringtonwifeguy

@eriquin, @grasslandgirl, @augustjustice, and anyone else who wants to play!

[whatitsdecending]

Chokehold: Pt. II

Vessel x Reader x Noah Sebastian

Finding yourself in a strange predicament between two men who had once shared your body at the same time. One with a tight grip on your heart and the other you just can’t seem to let go of.

A/N: thank you for the love on the first part! I decided to continue this an actual fic, rather than it just being a one shot. I will put this out here now:

I do not know anything about Vessel than what everyone else knows, all of this is fictional and made up by me.

Word Count: 4.4k

Content warning: none, fluff for this part and some cutesy moments

—————————

Two months had gone by and it was now November. You were in the lull between tours, the time where you get to sit at home and get extremely bored. You loved being on tour since you did something every single day, even on the off days.

This time around though wasn’t all that boring. That time three months ago where Noah had introduced you to Vessel was really sticking around. Vessel had given you his number, asking you to call him whenever you could. And you did. You never missed the chance to do so, calling him the next day early in the afternoon once the buses had arrived at the next place Bad Omens was performing. It only rang three times before he answered, the croak of his voice being used after he’d been asleep peaked your interest.

From that day on, you two either texted all day until you were able to schedule a time to call. The schedule you were on compared to his was a little difficult to find time where the both of you could sit down and chat.

Getting off tour made that so much easier for you. He’d call you up almost everyday around 2pm your time, even if he was in the UK he didn’t care how late it was for him in comparison. Every call you will talk until he falls asleep, which usually ends up being around 7pm for you. You’d hear the soft snores coming from his end of the line, signaling to you he was asleep.

“Goodnight Ves, sweet dreams.” You always say before hanging up. A small smile remained on your face as you began your nightly routine, something which you’ve caught yourself doing every time.

For hours you’d talk about anything and everything, it felt much different than the long talks you and Noah would have. Usually those talks with him would end in a hookup, but nothing else. You knew what you and Noah did was just casual, no strings attached. But sometimes you wished he’d just sit and listen to you talk for hours on end, let you rant about the crew who are pissing you off on that day or about the book you’d just finished reading.

But Vessel does. And you know he’s listening to you because he’ll ask you a follow up question on something you mentioned minutes ago. You longed to be able to see him again, to have these conversations over dinner instead of the phone. Whatever piece of him he left in you on that day remained and wouldn’t allow you to let go of the idea of him.

Which is why when your phone began to ring promptly at 2pm, your heart swelled at least twice its size. You hit the green answer button on the screen, then hit the speaker button.

“Hello darling.” His voice echoed into the room from the speakers.

“Hi Ves, how are things?” You asked, turning your focus on the pile of dirty laundry in your basket.

“Oh you know, same old same old. It’s getting quite boring doing the same thing everyday.” He sighs. “I wish I could just bounce around on stage right now and kiss my bandmates.” The laugh that erupted from you was loud and hearty, earning a chuckle from Vessel. “Maybe even kissing you.”

“Oh well now you’re just out of your mind.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s impractical right now, the idea of you kissing me.” He was silent for a moment, clearly thinking of what to say.

“I don’t think so. It could certainly happen sooner than you’d think.” Now you stood in silence wondering exactly what he meant by that. A notification popped up on your phone, a text from him. You clicked it and gasped at what it was: a plane ticket to London.

“Ves.. what is this?” The shock ran through your body to the point your hands began to shake.

“I did some research and realized there’s a good amount of time between when I go back on tour and Bad Omens does. I bought you a plane ticket to come and stay with me for a while before then.” There was a tone of hope in his voice, you could tell he really wanted you to be there with him. “Y/N I really do miss you, even if we’d only seen each other once in person. Talking to you everyday has only exaggerated that feeling.”

You didn’t know what to say. Well, actually more like you didn’t know how to express what you wanted to say. Your thoughts ran millions of miles per second through your mind. What exactly did he want if you went? Would it just be absentminded fucking like you already did with Noah? Or would it be something more? Soaking up each other’s presence, completing activities the other picks out for fun. Would it actually feel like something was there rather than nothing at all?

“Yes.” After all the thought you’d put into a reply, a simple yes is all that could come up with.

“Yes?”

“Yes Ves. I would love to spend time with you before going on tour again. I think we both really need it.” There it is, slowly coming out of you the more the conversation moves along.

“I’m glad you’re on board. That makes my life a little easier now.” You could tell he was smiling on the other side, just from the cheekiness of his response. “Also I apologize for the late notice, you should probably get packing now and find your passport.” You quickly found the plane ticket again and realized the departure was for tomorrow.

“Oh you dick!” You exclaimed, running over to the closet that stored your two suitcases. Vessel laughed over the phone at the sound of your struggle, clearly enjoying the stress he just put you in.

“I’ll hang up so you can get to packing. Just make sure you text me when the plane is about to take off and I’ll figure out the best time to get you. I’ll see you tomorrow darling.” With that he hung up. You stared at the two empty suitcases in front of you, the bigger one that you only brought along for a tour. You decided it’d be smart to just pack it like you were leaving for tour, then the other one being everything else you wanted to bring.

At the point in which one suitcase was completely full, you had a moment of realization: why the hell did you just agree to go across the sea to a country you’re still very unfamiliar with, and stay with a man whom you’ve talked with on the phone way more than in person. Plus, the time you spoke in person was so minimal because he fucked your brains out.

It certainly was not your brain making the decisions today.

As you sat here staring at the suitcase, it truly put so much in perspective for you. Vessel clearly meant something more to you than you’d thought. He’s had enough of an impact on you in these past two months than anyone you’ve ever met. The universe really works in strange ways and you wonder if Noah’s little fantasy was actually just some sort of strange fate for you.

Or you were going crazy.

—————————

You stood in line at TSA in the airport, watching each person take their personal items and put them into the buckets. It was painful how long you’d been in line and each new person that goes through the process makes you wish it was you. Traveling wasn’t exactly your most favorite thing in the world, but with your job you had to do it, so at this point you just grew numb to the entire experience.

After another fifteen minutes you were finally making your way to the gate. You had enough time to get there so you didn’t rush, but the anticipation of knowing you’re one step closer to seeing Vessel made your legs move in a hurry. The gate already had a lot of people waiting, seeming like it’d be a full flight. How lovely, you thought, I see babies.

Like every flight you’ve ever been on, the boarding process was always the worst. You’d wish you could shove past everyone taking their sweet time putting their carry ons in the bins and just get to your seat, but you decided being kind and helping a few people out would make the experience more pleasant.

As you watched out your window seat while the plane taxied on the runway, you reached for your phone to shoot a text to Vessel:

Hey, the plane is about to take off. See you soon xo:)

You switched your phone into airplane mode as the plane began to shoot down the runway. The friendly feeling of your stomach dropping when the plane lifted into the air put a smile on your face. You were really doing this, some people would run away from an opportunity like this but you decided you had to run right to it with open arms. The flight might be a long one, but in the end, it’ll be worth every second.

—————————

“The time is currently 8:43 pm GMT, the temperature outside is 46° Fahrenheit. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London.” The pilot said on the overhead speakers when the plane landed, a sigh of relief leaving your body. Landing was always the rough part for you, you’ve seen too many documentaries.

Your phone came buzzing back to life the moment you turned airplane mode off, texts from multiple people popped up and lots of work emails flooding your notifications. You glanced at some of the messages, mostly just your parents asking if you’d landed yet and sending you cute messages. Vessel had sent you a heart in reply to what you sent him before take off, which you immediately sent him a text letting him know you landed.

Then the name you hadn’t seen in a while was there… Noah had tried calling you but resorted to sending texts.

N: Hey, you okay? I’m being sent straight to voicemail each time I call you.

N: Y/N you’ve got me a little worried, you good?

N: If I did something please let me know I don’t mean to seem like an asshole.

You sighed at the messages. Out of all days, he decides to talk to you today. The one time you weren’t going to be able to use your phone for a long time and were actually happy about it. You quickly shot him a text back just as the plane was being parked at the gate.

YOU: Hey I’m sorry I didn’t respond. I was DND for a while and needed some time away from my phone.

N: Shit dude you gave me a heart attack, everything good?

YOU: Yeah! I needed one of those technology detoxes today, you know?

N: I understand that completely. Whenever you get the chance will you give me a call? I miss talking to you.

YOU: Of course, but I gotta get back to my detox. Call you later xo

You stuffed your phone into your pocket deciding to ignore the rest of whatever he wanted to say. Your mind focused on what you were here for, getting to Vessel as quickly as you could. You became extremely grateful the people in this airport knew how to walk fast and weren’t stuck behind any slowpokes. The impatience you had was becoming worse the closer you got to the baggage claim, you think if these people were moving slow you’d mow them down like a damn eighteen-wheeler.

The escalators that lead down to the baggage claim came into view and as you stepped onto one of the steps, you searched the room below to see if you could spot Vessel. About midway down, you noticed him standing further back in all black, he held a small sign that said your name on it and a bouquet of flowers. The smallest gesture he could’ve ever made yet it made your heart flip-flop.

Your feet made contact with the ground and you were running to him. He opened his arms wide for you, letting you leap up and hug him tightly. The familiar warmth and his scent that you’d picked up on that day two months ago was still there, putting a wide smile on your face.

“These are for you.” He put the bouquet in your hand after you’d placed yourself back onto the ground. He had a shyer demeanor about him this time around, it seemed like he was nervous you’d actually come to London to see him. Whatever the case may be, you thought it was sweet. The Vessel you’d met was very different from the one standing in front of you. Despite the different circumstances, you actually preferred this version of him.

“Have you been waiting long?” You asked when you headed to the baggage claim that was only a hundred or so feet from the escalators.

“Maybe an hour or so?” He said with a questioning tone. “I can’t quite remember, I just sat in my car for a while until you texted me that you had landed.” His hand rested at the small of your back under the backpack you’d brought as a carry on, guiding you through the crowded area. “Which bags are yours?” You got to the carousel that was unloading the baggage from your flight and watched for your two suitcases.

“Oh, sick they’re coming out together.” You said and began to reach for them, but Vessel had already begun to lift them from the conveyor belt. “Oh you didn’t need to do that.”

He smiled down at you. “I don’t mind at all, plus you’ve had a long day. You gotta rest those arms of yours.” He started walking towards one of the doors that lead outside when he laughed. “I just realized that made no sense, I just needed some excuse to take your bags for you.” You laughed with him. It didn’t even register in your mind that his sentence made no sense, in fact the jet lag was already hitting you hard. At this point you just wanted to lay down and sleep for an entire day.

You step outside and the chill November air of London hits you like a ton of bricks. The air pierced through your sweater and left you to shiver. The idea to check how the weather would be here when you arrived completely slipped your mind while you packed yesterday, though it would be common sense it’d be cold here in November.

You shadowed behind Vessel, letting him lead the way to where he’d parked. It wasn’t too far of a walk from where the two of you had exited, you were just excited to have the heat blasting on you. Luckily you remembered not to go in the right side of the car this time around, you’d embarrassed yourself pretty bad the last time you visited the UK.

“It’s not too far of a drive to my house from here.” Vessel says as he puts one hand behind the headrest of your seat and begins to reverse out of the parking spot. You couldn’t help but watch his face as his brows furrowed a bit while he pulled from the spot, he bit at his lip with concentration. “I wanted to make you some dinner if you don’t mind. Unless you’re dying hungry then I will happily stop somewhere.” The mention of food took you back to reality, the reality where the last time you ate was at 5am your time.. with the time change you cannot remember how many hours ago that was.

“What do you have in mind for dinner?” You ask, eyes wandering out the window as all the streetlights lit up the road.

“Uhh..” He trails off for a moment, the smallest chuckle escaping from his mouth. Your head whips around to see him trying not to laugh, his hand covering his mouth as his chest heaves with every laugh he stifles. “Spaghetti.” You couldn’t help but burst out laughing, a chain reaction spreading between the two of you as he started laughing just as hard as you were. The car was full of your laughter and the snorts that you cannot help once you start laughing this hard.

You began to calm down, wiping the tears that had fallen down your face. “I have no idea if that truly was that funny or I’m just so jet lagged that everything is hilarious to me.” Vessel patted your thigh lightly as went back to focusing on driving rather than crashing from laughing so hard with you.

—————————

After twenty minutes you were pulling into a long driveway, covered by bushes that lead to a home surrounded by forest. You couldn’t see much in the dark but from what you could see, it was a beautiful older home with a lot of charm to it. There were some lights strung up around the outside, and a wreath that hung on the front door.

Vessel took your suitcases from the trunk and you followed him up the steps of the porch, letting him unlock the door and gesture for you to go in before him. The aroma of sweet cinnamon and pumpkin filled your senses, lamps were the only thing lighting up the rooms in the house but added to the calming atmosphere.

Your curiosity got the best of you the second you noticed the corner of the piano in the living room, drawing you in to see the beautiful instrument upclose. Your eyes grew wide when the floor to ceiling bookshelf came into view, expanding from one wall to the other filled to the brim with books. The piano left your mind as you moved to look at his collection, your fingers running over some of the hardcovers of books you’ve always wanted to read. As basic as you were with your favorite, you pulled The Giver by Lois Lowry out of its respective place. You admired the clear love that Vessel has given this book, some of the creases in the pages from him reading it over time and the breakage in the spine of the book.

You put the book back into the place it was originally and continued gawking at his collection. There was a stack of books on a table near the bookshelf that caught your attention, when you moved closer you realized all these books were ones you’d talked to him about over the phone. You felt that pull in your heart, the familiar tug you always felt whenever somebody remembers such small things.

“I knew you’d come in here.” His voice echoed from behind you, startling you out of your trance. “You like it?” He stepped into the room with a smile plastered on his face. “You boasted about how much you loved those books, I couldn’t resist going to the bookstore the next day and buying all of them to read.”

“I’m going to be in heaven here. This collection is what I aspire to have one day.” Your eyes wandered over the bookshelves again, still trying to process the fact that this was an actual thing he had in his home. “It’s amazing, Ves.”

He smiled softly. “Thank you, I appreciate it. I set your things down in the guest room. If you want to get settled I’m going to get started on the spaghetti.” He trailed off to the kitchen, the sounds of pots clanging and cabinets opening and shutting filled the silence of his home. Your feet pulled you away from the room you’d grown to love, leading you to the stairs where you went to find the guest room.

There were paintings hung along the walls of the hallway, each one depicting a beautiful scene. You knew you’d spend some time staring at them and trying to understand the meaning behind it, but tonight your brain was too exhausted to even try.

A door was opened and light flooded the hallway from the room, you assumed that would be the guest room. Luckily you were right because your suitcases were left in the corner of the room and your backpack rested on the bed. It was a cozy room, not too heavily decorated but also not incredibly bland that it drove you nuts. Vessel clearly had a love for the Victorian style, many antiques littered his home and enhanced the coziness even more.

There was a bathroom connected to the room, a little more modernized than the bedroom itself but still had that same feel. It was lovely. Your hands smoothed over the large porcelain tub that sat in the corner of the bathroom, a window that overlooked the forest in front of it.

You began to unpack a bit and put your clothes away into the dresser, setting aside a pair of your pajamas to change into later on. The smell of red sauce flowed into the room and your stomach twisted into a knot. You were absolutely starving and the way the spaghetti was smelling you knew you’d be devouring it.

After a little more unpacking you decided to head back downstairs to see how close dinner was to being ready and if you could help in any way. As you stepped off the stairs the sound of Vessel’s voice caught your attention, he was singing along to the music he was listening to. His velvety voice was much quieter than you've heard it while he performed on stage, but it was rather beautiful this way.

You rounded a corner and walked into the kitchen, the sight of him putting together two plates of the spaghetti and singing was something that pulled at your heart again. “I was just about to call for you, dinner is served!” He exclaimed as he set a plate down at the table. “Do you want any cheese on yours?”

“No thank you.” A smile tugged at your lips as you sat down, waiting for him to come over with his plate and sit with you. “This smells so good, Ves.”

His eyes lit up as he smiled at your compliment. “Thanks, I tried my best to make it halfway decent.” He sat across from you and stared for a bit. “I’m waiting to see what you think..”

“Oh! Sorry.” You reached for the fork, twirling a bunch of spaghetti with it and placing the food into your mouth. It was delicious, probably some of the best spaghetti you’ve had in a long time. After finishing your bite you gave him a nod of approval. “That was amazing. Where did you learn to cook like that?”

He smirked as he chewed his food, twirling the fork in the pasta. “Cooking shows became one of my favorite things to watch during Covid, so I decided to get my shit together with my cooking and learn to do it properly. Now I actually enjoy it.”

“Do you bake as well or just cook?”

“I don’t bake, it seems like fun but I’ve never really had a reason to.”

You gasped in a dramatic fashion. “You’re telling me you don’t enjoy baking brownies at 2am for no reason at all?” He rolled his eyes at your little performance, a smile on his face that told you everything you needed to know. “We can have a 2am brownie baking party. Just not tonight because I feel like I’m about to fall over in exhaustion.”

“We’ll save it for another night.” He wiped his face with the napkin. “Did you find the room alright? I realized as you went upstairs that I didn’t tell you what room..”

You raised a brow, the same shyness from earlier was back. “Ves?” He glanced up at you and hummed a response. “Are you nervous that I’m here?” He hadn’t expected that question, so as the expression on his face went from shock to slight embarrassment, you could tell his brain was moving a million miles a second.

“Well… erm- to be honest I don’t have many guests over. Only my bandmates come to visit but they only ever stay for a day or two.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “This kind of company is new for me. Especially for how long you’re staying…”

“I’m a wonderful guest.” You placed your hands underneath your chin and put a big smile on your face. “Just ask anyone who has let me stay in their homes for a while.”

“Alright get me that list and I’ll make some phone calls.” Vessel chuckled, standing up and grabbing your empty plate. He walked over to the sink to start on the dishes, turning on the music again and humming quietly.

“Do you want a hand?” You asked as you stood from the table.

He shook his head and turned to look at you. “I’ve got it, you should go get some sleep Y/N you look exhausted.” He turned back to the sink and you watched as his arms flexed each time he put some force to scrub the dishes.

“Alright..” You couldn’t lie, the jet lag was hitting you hard at this point and the lack of sleep you got the night before has made itself very known. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight!” He responded as your feet shuffled back upstairs to your room. It was very quiet up there adding even more to your exhaustion. The set of pajamas you’d laid out before had quickly replaced the clothes on your back and you tossed them to the floor, making a mental note to clean that up tomorrow.

You turned off the lamp in the room and was comforted by the darkness that encompassed you. The sheets were silk and the comforter was heavy, it reminded you of the ones hotels always had. You slipped underneath the covers and laid there for a bit with your eyes open. Eventually you glanced at the clock on the bedside table, 11:24pm it read. You sighed and laid back against the pillows, sleep pulling at your eyelids and drawing them shut.

[fics-n-stuff]

"I love you, dads"

Pairing: Eddie Munson × Steve Harrington (but not really, this is more a story about them and their daughter (and son))

Summary: Sophia can't bring herself to call her adoptive parents, Steve and Eddie, "dad" for a long time. Same universe / continuation of The Interview (and the year and a half to follow)

Word Count: 1.6k

A/N: I asked you guys to give me prompts for rockstar!Eddie teacher!Steve pt2 back in November and none of you gave me anything so this is what you get because it's all I could think of. It's been sitting in my drafts for a while because I don't love it and was hoping to think of something better. Next time you ask someone for a pt2 and they ask for prompts to use, SEND PROMPTS!!

Sophia didn't call Steve and Eddie "dad" for a long time. The dad that she'd had for the first eleven years of her life was wrapped around her heart, tangling the word up in complicated emotions. She wasn't sure that she ever wanted to see that dad again, but it felt wrong to give his title to somebody else.

Steve and Eddie didn't mind. They never pushed or questioned it. When she had asked, one day when she was fourteen, if it upset them that she always addressed them by name, they had both smiled and told her that they didn't mind at all.

"Do you mean it when you say you love us?" Steve had asked.

"Of course. Of course I love you guys." She replied.

"Then it doesn't matter what you call us. We're family and we love each other and that's all that matters." He said. Sophia had tried to hold back her tears, but when Eddie snatched her to his chest for a tight hug she couldn't stop the few that slipped out.

She referred to them as her dads when talking to other people sometimes. At school, everyone knew that she was Mr Harrington's daughter, though she had kept her original name after the adoption. She said "my dads" when she talked about her home life with friends, or "my dad" when she was talking to someone new and didn't feel in the mood to have to explain who Eddie or Steve were if she referred to them by name. If anyone asked her "is that your dad?" she just said yes and didn't bother with the nuance. She knew, in her heart, that Steve and Eddie were her dads, she just couldn't call them that.

Darcey called Steve and Eddie dad. It made Sophia feel guilty sometimes. She had been with them for three and a half years when the eight year old boy had joined the household. Darcey was sweet and had been hopping from foster home to foster home since he was four. He didn't have the same complicated feelings about calling Steve and Eddie "dad" as Sophia did, and he started doing it only a few months after his adoption was finalised.

"Just because Darcey calls me and Steve dad doesn't mean that you have to." Eddie had told her, having noticed her guilt and pulled her aside one day. "We know it's complicated for you, and if you never called us dad that would be fine with us. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know, it's just… if Darcey can say it after less than a year and I can't say it after almost four then… I don't know, it feels like a problem with me. Like, do I not love you guys as much as he does?"

"Oh, pumpkin, that's not something you ever have to worry about." Eddie comforted, brushing a hand over her cheek before wrapping a hand around her shoulders and tucking her into his side. "We know you love us, a simple word doesn't change that. When you call for me and you say Eddie, and when Darcey calls for me and he says dad, I answer the same way because you're both my kids and I don't care what you call me. Well, as long as you don't call me anything mean." He finished with a joke, and Sophia chuckled.

"Thanks, Eddie." She mumbled with a slight smile.

"Anytime, Soph. Come on, let's get a snack."

Eddie was on tour when Darcey got his autism diagnosis. Steve and Eddie had both been pretty sure that he was on the spectrum since back when they were fostering him, before even filing for adoption. Neither of them said it but they had suspicions that that was likely a big reason that he had bounced between homes so much. Steve was particularly frustrated he hadn't been tested before he came to them because from the stories that Darcey told of previous foster families it was clear that his needs hadn't been accommodated in those homes.

Sophia was good with her brother. She was protective of him, but not in a way that stopped him from making his own decisions. She liked helping him with his homework, the two of them sitting together at the kitchen table in the afternoons, and she often caught Steve looking on at them fondly as he cooked dinner. 

When Sophia was sixteen and Darcey was ten, they spent summer vacation bouncing around Europe following Eddie as Corroded Coffin went on tour. Darcey had hyperfixated on films and cinema in general and had started making his own little movies, so Sophia found herself starring in a series of short films throughout the vacation. Darcey filmed a lot of home videos too, and at the end of the vacation they had all sat down in the living room to watch the memories that he had captured.

Sophia struggled with her college applications. There was no use turning to Eddie, he never even thought about applying to college, so she had gone to Steve. He had grimaced and groaned.

"You know, I don't think I'm gonna be the best help with that." He'd said. "My applications were horrible, it's a wonder I got accepted anywhere."

He had instead called in reinforcements in the form of Aunt Nancy, who worked through Sophia's applications with her, encouraging her ambitions. Steve and Eddie had thrown her a party when she was accepted into her top choice college. Steve even baked a cake and everything.

It was Eddie who took her shopping for a prom dress. They spent hours shopping, Sophia trying dresses on and stepping out to get Eddie's feedback. He was surprisingly involved and enthusiastic with the whole process, and when she found the dress that she wanted he had grinned wide and planted a kiss on her forehead. When prom night came, he and Steve had spent so long taking photos that Sophia was worried that the limo her and her friends had hired together would actually leave without her.

When the time came for Sophia to start college, Steve and Eddie insisted that the whole family go to drop her off. They helped her move into her dorm and got a nice lunch together. Darcey helped her arrange all her trinkets on her desk in a way that he deemed acceptable, and Steve tacked all of the photos that she had printed out on the wall neatly. Eddie didn't do much but talk, but that made it feel more normal.

"Alright, well, I guess you really are all grown up." Steve said, looking over the room one more time as they got ready to leave. "Don't be one of those people that never changes their sheets, okay? You have three sets of bedding, you changed them every two weeks."

"Okay, Steve. I'll change them every two weeks." Sophia chuckled.

"We're gonna call you all the time. You're not even gonna miss us." Eddie smiled.

"You'll be home for Thanksgiving, right?" Darcey questioned, and Sophia nodded.

"Absolutely I'll be home for Thanksgiving. You think I'm gonna miss Steve's Thanksgiving dinner? No way!" She replied, pulling her little brother into a hug. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Promise?"

"Promise. And hey, if you get stuck on your homework just text me, yeah?"

"Okay."

"Good." She smiled.

Darcey shuffled aside and Sophia looked up at Steve and Eddie, who were both smiling at her with such immense pride in their eyes. She flung an arm over each of their shoulders, pulling them close as they both hugged her back.

"Thank you so much for coming to drop me off." 

"Don't sweat it, kiddo." Eddie said.

"We wouldn't have had it any other way." Steve added. "We love you, Soph."

"I love you too, dads." She muttered, and she felt it. Neither of them said anything, but both Eddie and Steve held her just a little bit tighter. 

"We're always just a phone call away." Steve smiled when they pulled away from the hug, eyes shining with unshed tears as he gently cupped Sophia's cheek in his hand. She nodded in acknowledgment, holding back tears of her own.

"We'll call when we get home." Eddie said. "See you at Thanksgiving, pumpkin."

"See you at Thanksgiving." She echoed.

Her family left, sending her off on the next chapter of her life with all the faith in the world that she could accomplish whatever she set her mind to. They hopped back into the car for the drive home, Steve behind the wheel, but didn't start driving right away.

"What's on your mind, sweetheart?" Eddie asked softly.

"We did that." Steve replied quietly. "We raised that wonderful, cleverl girl in there." 

"Yes we did, Stevie."

"She called us dads." He squeaked, a couple of tears finally falling as he smiled. Eddie smiled back, wiped away Steve's tears and kissed him on the nose.

"Yes she did." He nodded. "Because that's what we are."

"Dad, why are you crying?" Darcey asked from the backseat, taking off one side of his headphones and looking up from the video he had been watching.

"No reason, honey." Steve replied and sniffed quietly. "I'm just proud of your sister is all. Happy tears."

"Okay." Darcey nodded and went back to his video. Steve wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath, finally starting the engine.

"You're a good dad." Eddie commented.

"You too." Steve replied. He started the car and pulled out of their parking spot. "I'm proud of us as well."

[cacoetheswriting]

I am loving Pearl so far, beautifully written, but WAIT because I have to know what the letters said 😭😭😭

thank you, anon! <3 i appreciate your sweet words 🥹 and thank you for asking, it inspired me to actually fill in this gap - hope you enjoy!

content warnings: best friends to lovers, slow burn, mutual pining, mature themes, adult language, death of a parent, topics of grief, emotional hurt / comfort, self-doubt / insecurities - unedited - if i missed anything, pls let me know!

pearl masterlist

November 19, 1984

Eddie,

Sitting back in my dorm feels almost surreal. Everyone around me is going about their lives as normal, and I know I can’t be mad because obviously to them nothing’s changed, but how am I expected to join in normality? To just pick up where I left off at the start of the month?

You know what my chem professor told me? ‘We’ve all lost someone. The trick is to not make it your whole personality.’ In a way that makes sense to me. It’s logical. I can’t let my dad’s passing define me. And he obviously would want me to move on with my life. But Eddie, my heart bleeds. 

This grief… This grief is swallowing me whole. This grief has embedded itself into my core being and on most days, it’s fucking consuming me. I lost a parent, a protector, a friend. There are memories I’ll never get to make because he’s gone. I really lost a piece of myself. How come no one seems to get that?

You get that, right Eddie? I know you understand. You always understand.

I miss you. I miss my dad.

P.S. Excuse this tear stained paper. It’s a mess. I’m a mess.

P.P.S I’m sorry for running off on you the day of the funeral. It was just… a lot.

November 22, 1984

Eddie,

Nothing makes sense anymore. (Also, I know I just wrote you, but I haven’t sent that letter yet so you’ll get both together and can respond to them as one.)

I’m trying to catch up on the material I missed and the words blend together before my eyes. Well, I only have myself to blame. My mom offered for me to take the rest of the semester off and start fresh from the new year, but I thought the distraction would help. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I’m so sad all the time. And you know what the worst part is? Aside from the nightmares and this restlessness I’ve felt since the funeral, I just can’t stop thinking about you. What is Eddie doing, who is he with, does he think about me too?

Well, do you? God, this is fucking stupid. I know you do ‘cause you fucking call me everyday and I can’t bring myself to answer or call you back… Stupid…

I also think about our last moment together often… Actually, please ignore this letter, Eddie. Don’t respond. Like I said, nothing makes sense anymore, including my thoughts.

I miss you.

November 27, 1984

Eddie,

I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring your calls. I’m sorry I’ve had my roommate make up stupid excuses for me, that’s so lame. Most of all though, I’m sorry I haven’t called you back. 

You’re trying to be there for me and I’m pushing you away. That’s shitty of me and really unforgivable. But the thing is, I think I’m doing it because I know you’ll always forgive me. That’s even shittier of me. I’m awful.

You deserve a better friend, Eddie Munson. You deserve the world and I only wish I could give you that. Instead, you’re stuck with a girl who runs away from uncomfortable situations and hurts you in the process.

I wish I could go back to the day of the funeral and change

November 30, 1984

I spent the entire day listening to my mom cry over the phone — tell me, does it make me heartless for not shedding a single tear? Thinking now, this is the first time I haven’t cried since the funeral.

Anyway, I’m failing the semester. Surprise, surprise.

Also, Jonathan and Nancy came to visit. Why didn’t you come with them? God, why am I such a loser? Won’t speak with you over the phone, but gets mad when you don’t take time from school to come see me. I’m sick of myself.

P.S. Thank you for regularly doing the groceries for my mom and helping her around the house. You have no idea how much that means to her, and to me. I love— Thank you, Eddie.

December 4, 1984

It’s been a month since my dad died.

The grief hasn’t surpassed. If anything, it’s gotten stronger. My roommate has to force me to do basic human things like eat and sometimes even shower. She’s really been my rock here these last few weeks. You’d like her, I think. She couldn’t be more different than you in style, but she’s funny. 

I know you probably don’t have a high opinion of her now, considering she’s helping me avoid you, but—

I should really call you back. I’m sorry.

December 10, 1984

I haven’t sent a single one of these letters. You’ll probably never read them and know how truly awful I feel for ignoring you.

Eddie, how come things have gotten so complicated? You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s all on me. I wish we could go back to that day at Lover's Lake when you played your guitar for me. That was bliss.

I miss you, my Bobby McGee.

December 14, 1984

Eddie, you didn’t call today.

I shouldn’t be surprised. Not like I’ve given you a reason to call.

I wonder if you’ll even want to see me when I come home for the holidays. Probably not. That’s okay though. That’s okay…

December 19, 1984

Eddie,

Perhaps I’m saying this a little too late, but I appreciate you. Thank you for being my best friend and the entire reason why I know I’m going to be okay.

I think I’m in love with you. No. I know I am.

And I’m going to give you all these letters. Hopefully, you’ll read them in front of me so I can see your reaction when I say:

I love you, Eddie Munson. 

I’m coming home for the holidays. I’ll come see you and I’ll apologise. With any luck, you’ll forgive me for being a cold-hearted bitch. With any luck, although I probably don’t deserve it, you’ll be my person again.

I'm yours, forever.

thank you for reading <3

& tagging some cool people that expressed interest in this lil series: @cactusangie , @spenciesprincess , @capitanostella , @ashlynnkennedy , @ms1oftheboys

pearl masterlist

[kenobster]

I never know how to answer these when they appear in my inbox, but I do appreciate them, so have some mass answers to these asks now. XD

Thank you very much, anon! I don't know who you are obviously lol XD but I'm sure I would send it back to you if I knew 😍 Since I can't, everyone reading this, I hope you have a fantastic day and that you are cheered up and living your best lives. 😊

@fangeek-girl BOOPS YOU ON THE NOSEEE BACK 🐱🫵😈 (that means I think you're lovely.... OP said so, sorry, I don't make the rules 🤷)

@willameena and @fangeek-girl again!! What if I attack you???? What if I think YOU'RE wonderful!!!! What then?!?!?!?!?

@fangeek-girl agaiiiinnn 😍 lmao babe, there are not enough sunflowers on planet earth to send you 🥰🌻🫶

Also sidenote, I've had Sunflower by Post-Malone stuck in my head for about three weeks now. So watch out or I'll serenade you lmao

now @willameena again hehe XD I love all of these, but my favorites are definitely the ones that tell me to only pass on if I'd like to. Very much love and positivity felt, thank you friend. Back at you! 🫂💞🫂

Lol, so either one anon was concerned that I wasn't getting asks around November 13 to 14, 2024, or my followers REALLY love me😂 Either way, thank you anon(s)!!! YOU'RE wonderful. ✨ And I hope the abundant acts of kindness featured here maybe cheer YOU up if you need it. 🥰

@starwalkertales "I would die for you" but would you accept the fact that you're wonderful, too, for me? would you smile for me? would you smile right now for me???? 👀❤️👀❤️👀❤️

WHAT A GIANT HEART FOR SUCH A SMALL KENOBSTER! Thank you, anon! 🥹

❤️

[haetaedalkoo]

Regarding This:

https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/757989106375655424/to-counter-all-the-taekook-were-distant

I have this:

BTS left Seoul on November 12, 2019 to Helsinki for filming Winter Package 2020 and came back to Seoul on November 16, 2019.

Towards the end of Winter Package 2020 we saw JK giving his gift to Tae. Right? He also gave Tae a letter and the letter he had written for Tae was composed of literally 11 words and everyone was like why the fuck is the letter so brief for? and JK answered:”The closer you are, the shorter the letters.”

(The letter:”Dear V. A-yo. Who’s the bear? V. The end! lol.”)

And even HYBE editors wrote “It’s embarrassing to go on when you are super close!”

I don’t know how and I don’t remember clearly how, but back in 2020 when In The Soop episode 6 came out on September 23, 2020 I kinda found out by going through multiple things like Tweets, articles and posts on IG and Weverse and comments that it the episode was most likely filmed on May 31, 2020. The conversation that JK and Tae had in the show I mean happened on that day.

How come you become distant from November 2019 to May 2020 when the “Distant TaeKook” narrative had been circulating around (Thanks to BigHit) for a long time before November 2019?

The whole thing is a fucking show and badly written. Full of plot holes, because you cannot always fake everything!

Even HYBE script writers slip in this case!

(Super Close TaeKook: November 2019, Distant TaeKook: May 2020, First official on-screen separation: Late 2015).

At least hire better scrip writers because some of us use our brains!

I agree, anon. You know what would be better? If there were no scripts at all, just some natural, spontaneous moments.

If it weren't for moments where the company and/or staff had actively separated 🐰 and 🐯 on-camera then the narrative that 🐰🐯 have become distant even in the span of a few months (because if I'm being honest, relationships can be quickly severed as much as they can be forged in a short amount of time) would actually be quite convincing considering that two people who have a closely knitted bond have suddenly become cold and distant with each other.

But we have. We Taekookers have witnessed those moments since 2015. Not only that but moments off the company camera and/or behind the scenes say otherwise. We don't call taekook moments 144p Microwave Content for nothing 🤷‍♂️ The Distant Taekook narrative will never make sense to me, and as a 2016 ARMY and Taekooker... well... trenches, man.

It still baffles me that to this day, BH would still use tactics such as mistranslating English subtitles and putting strange, out-of-place cuts on their shows (take for instance the preview for Are You Sure: Jeju Island Trip)

(I'm not sure if this ask is really meant for me but I'm still giving my thoughts on this one)

[bruceandmary]

I'm still processing what happened last night. I was more nervous than I could remember in years to the point that I was shaking a little, but it was all worth it in the end. That's because I got to meet Christopher Paolini at the release event for "Murtagh."

I've loved the Inheritance Cycle ever since my parents gave me the first two (and only, back then) books in a box set on Christmas Day almost 17 years ago. They were the first full-length fantasy books I had ever read and I devoured them. When Brisingr, Inheritance, and The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm were released, I got them as soon as I possibly could. The moment Murtagh was being announced, I was over the moon. Then in July, I got the stunning news that his book tour would begin at a Barnes and Noble in New Jersey, my home state. I couldn't believe it. This was a chance I never believed I would get. I reserved the book, put in for time off, and counted down the days until November 7th finally arrived.

When I got there last night, I was amazed at how many people were already there over an hour before the event started. There were kids younger than I was when I started reading the series and adults far older than I am now. I went straight to the registers, picked up my copy with its Zar'roc pin, then found my way to a good spot. From there, the building filled up until almost everyone was brushing elbows. Right at 6:00 PM, Christopher Paolini came in and immediately brought down the house. I was cheering, but also utterly in awe at being able to be there. The talk he gave was funny and heartfelt and I learned so much about him and the Inheritance Cycle I had never knew before. He then turned the mic over to Gerard Doyle, who's done the reading for every single audiobook. It was incredible to hear what Murtagh and Thorn sounded like. Afterwards, Christopher opened the floor to questions and I was able to have mine answered.

When the Q&A was finished, it was time for the book signing. I ended up waiting over an hour before the block my number was called because, in addition to the personalized copy, Christopher would be signing as many back copies as a person wanted, but it was worth the wait. It took another twenty-five or thirty minutes before I reached the table. I spoke a little of the ancient language and he responded in it with a smile. The only copy I brought aside from Murtagh was Eragon, still in its original dust jacket. While signing them, I was able to briefly ask him another question and he answered me again. It was a moment I'll never forget. I was then able to get my copy signed by Gerard Doyle.

By the time I reached my car, I was literally shaking from excitement. When I got in, I focused myself so I could get home and drove off.

So far, Murtagh has been beyond my wildest dreams from what I expected. I'm about 120 pages in and it's had twists and turns that leave me utterly stumped as to what will happen next. The black and white illustrations are incredible to look at and I plan to translate the map as soon as I finish the book. But none of that compares to what's on the title page. For the rest of my life, I'll be able to open to it and the title page of Eragon to see Christopher Paolini's and Gerard Doyle's signatures there. When I see those pages, I'll be reminded of a night that will mean more to me than anyone will ever know.

Thank you, Gerard Doyle.

And thank you, Christopher Paolini.

Atra esterní ono thelduin.

[thegeminisage]

i just read broken road and i enjoyed it immensely. i just see it differently (not exactly negatively) now knowing you once(?) shipped sam and dean. does that have any influence into it🤔 just simply wondering not interrogating u. i’m interested in that essay even

(prev ask)

ok, my essay is under the cut. it's very, very long. everybody please consider this your warning for inc*st ships if you'd rather not get into it

first point: actually, broken road was not in any way secretly influenced by any previous love of sam/dean, if that helps you any. i wrote it in post november 5th mode and you better believe i was not remotely capable of thinking about anything else. thank you for enjoying it! it's very very special to me and the time i spent working on it and posting it are genuinely some of my fondest memories. cringe <3

second point: to just honestly answer your question, since you're not interrogating me and not being an asshole (thank you and i'm not saying that sarcastically, i have gotten sooo many rude asks about this), my answer is, "eh." my favorite was sam/dean/cas (once he started being on the show) because i'm a cas girl first and foremost. and if i come across a fic where the premise looks good i might check it out, but i basically never actively seek it out bc my preference rn is strongly for destiel.

(that said i do like sam and dean's relationship a lot as brothers or as...whatever else, i'm mostly neutral as long as we don't leave cas out of things, AND i'm perpetually bitter about sam getting left out in the cold, so if i wanna read good sam fic, sometimes people who ship him with the other main characters will do a better job than making him the perpetual longsuffering butt of the slash joke. same goes for early seasons spn fic: sometimes the sam/dean writers just do a better job. i very rarely get the hankering though because i like late seasons, such as season 13, who is my best friend. i think sam got pushed to the side SO STRONGLY that sometimes people sometimes subconsciously associate him being written well or mattering at all to dean beyond functioning as dean's accessory and/or proof/the catalyst of dean's traumatic upbringing with w*ncest. because otherwise they see him as a minor character (?!?!), and why are you bringing this minor character up so much if you're not secretly shipping him with dean, The Main Character? god, does anybody remember when SAM was the main character?? sorry there is truly not enough punctuation in this paragraph.)

now for the actual essay: i do get a little irritated/confused with how much pearl-clutching people do about sam/dean. like, this is EASILY the most harmless of the "problematic" ships. they're consenting adults, barring some tropes and genres i would not like to read nor discuss. and before cas came into the scene (and sometimes even after) we got baited just as hard for the two of them. it was weird and unsettling because the nature of inc*st is that it's often weird and unsettling. their dynamic is unhealthy and codependent and that's part of their appeal in whatever form. people who get the heebie jeebies because it's "problematic" are missing the point. there are also weird and unsettling vibes between dean and john, because that was part of the abuse. that actually played into broken road way more than any sam/dean stuff. he was a bad father and he made dean his backup wife and there was probably some emotional inc*st happening CANONICALLY. we all watched that in the show right?? but for some reason talking about that is fine and talking about whatever sam and dean have going on gets you put on block lists. because sometimes sam/dean fics are just for fun and whenever we talk about john we have people in fics punching him out or killing him. like we have to point our fingers at john and go "THAT'S BAD" loudly enough to ensure everyone else that we're above moral criticism. it's like. weirdly thought police-y. (and tbh, that's part of what inspired broken road - i was looking for nuance re: john and couldn't fucking find any because of this weird black-and-white mentality fandom has developed.)

and it's so hypocritical sometimes! i remember deancas stuff used to have "w*ncest fans dni" banners all over it, in the guise of protecting and standing with survivors, but when actual survivors would say things like "actually those banners just remind me of everything all over again" they would mostly get ignored?? it was so performative, like this kneejerk reaction of promising everybody YOU know what's bad so you won't get ostracized. my tastes don't usually run very dark so most of the sam/dean i wrote or read was way less unhealthy than, say, whatever lestat and louis have going on in iwtv. but nobody's making blocklists of iwtv enjoyers because that would be insane? there's just a little bit of cognitive dissonance happening i think.

like, obviously, yes, in real life inc*st pretty much always speaks to something having gone extremely wrong in someone's life and a dynamic being extremely unhealthy at best, but in fiction it is possible for it to be consensual, even if it is a little fucked up or the people involved are a little damaged.

(warning for discussion of rape fic from here down) i'm not actually totally anti-censorship though. i do firmly believe there are some types of fiction people shouldn't write! i wouldn't read parent/child anything, or any kind of rape fic unless it's tastefully engaging with the aftermath of something like that. sam/dean just seems so, so tame to me in comparison to some of the other stuff fandom has come up with. in 2014-2016 people used to write a thing called hydra trash party, which was just porn of bucky barnes being gang-raped by hydra agents. ie nazis. and half the time he was headcanoned as jewish. like??? can you even GET more tasteless than that??? i hated that shit (and i still do, deeply). i talked about how much i hated it all the time and people would come after me like "well who are YOU to censor other people? what if the authors are survivors working through their own trauma? you can't ask authors to disclose that kinda stuff if they want a license to write graphic nazi rape porn!" i got literal hate mail about it. equal but opposite energy of those dni banners - both people claiming it was "about survivors" to justify doing, uh, whatever they wanted. it's just fucking wild to me that in less than a decade my stance of "i don't care what people write if everybody is a CONSENTING ADULT," while not changing at all whatsoever, moved from being too prudish to being too problematic.

another side tangent (sorry, you did ask) is that i was a slash writer on FFN in the video game and anime fandoms during the late 00s (ironically, quite a lot of straight men there) and holy mother of god...the kind of shit comments i would get for putting two dudes kissing in the same fic, even though it was PLASTERED with disclaimers. i felt like the mob was after me sometimes lol. and that's sort of the way i felt once those w*ncest asks started. i remember back in the peak of post nov 5 stuff if i like, reblogged art or gifs from certain blogs people would write in to tell me that person was a sam/dean shipper so i'd take down my (gen, non sam/dean) post. i felt paranoid (and still feel paranoid) reblogging GEN sam & dean content because i'm worried people will take it the wrong way. i actually deleted one from my drafts earlier today - i'd been thinking about it but then i got your ask and decided against it, lol. what a way to live! especially in fandom, which is (and i hate to politicize it this way but it's true) a queer-adjacent space that's supposed to be free of the kind of judgment you'd get for not being a normie irl.

on FFN, one of the many pairings i wrote for actually involved an underaged teenager and and an adult. but as i was the same age as that teenager at the time, and had a crush on that adult character and toootally wanted to marry him, i couldn't see what was wrong with pairing them together. like i quite literally did not know better. it's a pairing that actually disgusts me now, lol. if people now could send me asks about what i did back then to try and "gotcha" me (they can't because it's all been deleted) i'd be really pissed about it, because you can't continue to punish people after they've learned and grown. everyone's been so terribly kind about broken road, and there's this real fear of losing or tainting something so special and wonderful just because people have a problem with the fics you read or wrote a decade ago. it sucks. i do think there's a line (like, maybe don't write nazi rape porn, also whatever was going on with that j2 haiti fic), but i also think we've got to try at least a little not to reinvent puritanism on fandom websites of all places. that's wack.

and man, i know i said it already, but i just keep coming back to w*ncest being SO TAME? like it doesn't compute that someone would get icked out over CONSENSUAL sam/dean and meanwhile ship for example rowena/ketch like he didn't torture her or sam/lucifer because they like mark pellegrino like lucifer isn't sam's fucking rapist. and not even get "in trouble" for it. it boggles the mind.

and like, idk. i initially got my hackles up at your ask because it's 1 of a million, and i could dodge the questions by taking down the one sam/dean/cas fic on my profile ig, but that fic is how i met a good friend of mine and she'd be sad if i were to take it down, so i don't want to have to, and i shouldn't have to. you know??

my final thought: i've been writing fanfic for 20 years. 20 years ago when i started writing fic sam/dean would have been unacceptable because it's two men. 10 years ago it was fine because they were the ONLY two men, and every woman in supernatural got bullied off of the show, and people writing het got hatemail. now it's unacceptable again because of the inc*st. 10 years from now, who knows what will happen? so i try to base my morals on what i feel i can live with as a person rather than what a bunch of people on the internet (i'm not including you in that) tell me what i can or can't do, or should or shouldn't do.

i really hope this answer doesn't like, ruin broken road for you, or anyone else. i don't think of myself As A W*ncest Shipper at all, but neither do i deny that i used to be, and i certainly don't have any problem with (again) keyword CONSENTING keyword ADULTS in fanfic now, even if they do happen to be siblings ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i just hope that like someday we find a middle ground where we can live and let live but also have enough sense not to write nazi erotica. if that's problematic of me, so be it 😔✊

[lord-of-dragons-2007]

(Reefside 2004)

"Ah ha! I found it." Haley exclaimed as she found what she was looking for,

"Let's see; Kim, Jason, Rocky, . . .Here it is Billy Cranston." Hayley said as she was scanning Dr. O's little black book that held numbers for past rangers; Hayley went over to the phone and dialed the number in the book,

"Hello?" came the voice on the other end of the phone,

"Hi, you may not know who I am but we share a mutual friend and he is in colorful trouble and I need your help." Hayley quickly explained in a cryptic way,

"Hmm, I understand . . . you can fill me in when I get there, where are you?" Billy asked,

"I'm at Tommy's house in Reefside." Hayley answered,

"I'm in Angel Grove, I'll be there in about three hours." Billy explained,

"Ok, I'll hold down the fort while you get here. Is there anyone else I should call?" Hayley asked,

"If you can, Kimberly Hart is in Reefside; she would want to know." Billy instructed,

"Ummm, she's kinda involved with is mess too." Hayley explained,

"Hmmm, I see. Right off hand I don't know who else could help us right now, just hold things together till I get there." Billy said,

"Will do and thanks." Hayley replied,

"Anytime, see you soon. Bye." Billy said as he hung up the phone,

"Bye" Hayley said as she hung up the phone.

"Man I hope that Mesogog doesn't attack while the team is away." Hayley thought to herself, as she made her way back down to the ranger command center to try locate where the ranger team had gone.

(Angel Grove 1993)

The dino-thunder teens had been wondering around Angel Gove for quite a while now, a few hours had passed since they made the discovery of landing in the past. Not just any past but their teacher and mentor's past,

"Well makeshift compass boy where do we go now?" asked Conner,

"Conner give it a break we're in town, its not like I know my way around Dr. O's hometown." Trent defended as the teens made their way to what was presumed as the famous youth center that Dr. O had always talked about,

"Hey guys isn't this the youth center that Dr. O was always talking about?" Ethan asked,

"Lets go inside and get something to drink, I'm dying for a smoothie." Kira suggested to the four teens standing around,

"Ok let's do it." Conner said as the four teens started to head inside the building when suddenly their bodies turned into their respective colors and where zapped out of the area.

(Angel Grove 1993)

Tommy, seeing as his adult mind was in his teenage body thought it was better to go to school first and ask questions later when he was free to do with whatever he saw fit,

"Man, what am I going to do? I mean sure Hayley knows what happened, but can she really help us out of this one?" Tommy thought as he slowly walked off to school,

"Hmm, November 18, 1993; why does it seem so important? I mean of all days I could have traveled back why this one?" Tommy wondered as he started to think back to what the meaning of this particular day, but before he knew it he was already at school,

"Oh well, if the events of the past continue as they have then meaning of this day will reveal itself in due time." Tommy thought as he entered the front doors of his old high school.

Kim was much on the same train of thought as she walked to school,

"Well if experience has taught me one thing on this matter its this: just go with it till someone back home finds a way to get me back." Kim thought as she walked,

"Uhh, I cant believe how fashioned challenged I was at this age." Kim shuddered as she looked down at what she had picked out for the day,

"Well the good thing about time travel is that whatever happens in past stays in the past." Kim thought trying to comfort herself,

"For now I just have to hold it together and act like my teenage self." Kim thought as she put her worried mind at rest to try and muster up an act to convince everyone of her past that nothing is out of the ordinary as she walked through the front doors of her old high school.

(Ranger Command Center 1993)

Immediately, four teens landed and fell to the floor in a darkened room that was surrounded by computer consoles all monitored by a little robot,

"Ooof!" all four teens called out as they hit the floor with surprise,

"Ay yi yi yi yi yi!" Alpha 5 cried out it distress as he saw how the rangers landed and scrambled to try and help them up. As the four teens slowly got up from the floor they were in awe in what they saw around them,

"GREETINGS HUMANS, I AM ZORDON AN INTERGALACTIC BEING TRAPPED IN A TIME WARP." Zordon said as his head was zapped into the energy tube,

"PLEASE DO NOT BE AFRAID; YOUR POWER SIGNITURES ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN THAT OF THE RANGERS THAT I KNOW FROM THIS TIME. TELL ME WHO ARE YOU; WHERE ARE YOU FROM." Zordon asked as the four teens looked between Alpha 5 and Zordon in confusion; not really sure if what they saw was true or a dream, but they decided to go with it anyway,

"My name is Conner McKnight and I'm the red dino-thunder ranger." Conner answered,

"My name is Kira Ford and I'm the yellow dino-thunder ranger." Kira answered,

"My name is Ethan James and I'm the blue dino-thunder ranger." Ethan answered,

"And my name is Trent Fernandez and I'm the white dino-thunder ranger." Trent answered,

"And we're from a city called Reefside in the year 2004" Conner finished,

"Is this all of your team? its only the four of you." Alpha spoke up,

"There are six of us, the fifth member of our team, Dr. Oliver is our black ranger; and the other Hayley, is not a ranger but our tech advisor." Conner answered, Zordon was silent but obviously contemplative to the explanation the rangers were giving,

"HMMM, THIS DR. OLIVER; COULD HIS FULL NAME BE DR. THOMAS OLIVER?" Zordon asked,

"Yeah how did you know? And " Kira asked,

"BECAUSE YOUNG KIRA, IN THIS TIME PERIOD WE KNOW YOUR DR. OLIVER AS TOMMY OLIVER." Zordon explained,

"RANGERS IF I COULD TROUBLE YOU, YOUR PRESENSE HERE INTREGES ME; COULD YOU TELL ME HOW YOU CAME HERE TO BE?" Zordon asked, the four rangers recounted the events of the past few days. Everything from the premonition dreams to being teleported to the command center,

"HMMM, I HAVE BUT ONE MORE QUESTION FOR YOU RANGERS." Zordon said,

"What is it?" Ethan asked,

"WHERE ARE THE DR. OLIVER AND KIMBERLY HART FROM YOUR TIME PERIOD? IT IS IMPAREITIVE THAT WE LOCATE THEM." Zordon asked,

"We don't know, like we said when we came to they where no where to be found. Why?" Trent explained,

"BECAUSE TRENT, IF THE TWO TOMMYS OR KIMBERLYS MEET, THE EVENT COULD CREATE A CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT COULD UNRAVEL THE FABERIC OF TIME AND SPACE AND DESTROY THE UNIVERSE AS WE KNOW IT." Zordon explained,

"Ay yi yi yi yi yi! What are we going to do Zordon?" Alpha 5 cried out it distress, as the four teens looked at Zordon with utter fear in their eyes,

"CALM DOWN ALPHA, FIRST YOU NEED TO SCAN ANGEL GROVE AND THE ADJACENT AREAS FOR A POWER SIGNITURE SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE DINO-THUNDER RANGERS THAT WE HAVE HERE." Zordon explained,

"Yes Zordon I'm on it." Alpha 5 said as he began typing away at the computer consoles,

"AS FOR YOU RANGERS, I NEED YOU TO STAY HERE FOR NOW; WE CANT RISK YOU ALTERING FUTURE EVENTS ANYMORE THAN YOU HAVE ALREADY." Zordon ordered,

"ok, but is there anything we can do?" asked Conner,

"FOR NOW RANGERS, I'M AFRAID NOT; THERE IS A BUNKER DOWN THE HALL AND DOWN THE STAIRS, THERE IS A TELEVISION AND SOME PRIVISIONS THERE." Zordon said,

"so you want us to just sit around watching tv in hopes that we can go back to our time?" Ethan asked sounding a little agitated,

"I SENSE THAT ALL OF YOU INDEED WANT TO DO SOMETHING MORE PRODUCTIVE WITH YOUR TIME HERE, BUT WE CANNOT RISK ALTERING THE FUTURE THAT YOU KNOW; I AM DEEPLY SORRY THAT IT MUST BE THIS WAY RANGERS, BUT FOR YOUR SAKE I NEED YOU TO REMAIN HERE UNTIL ME AND ALPHA CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO IN THE MEAN TIME." Zordon explained,

"Ok, but you'll call us when you need us right?" asked Conner,

"You need'nt worry rangers, Zordon and I do not intend to keep you here indefinitely, just until a temporary solution can be had. For now rangers just take a breather from your ordeal." Alpha said as the robot ushered the teens out of the main chamber into the bunker where they could relax and not be found out by the current rangers if they needed to be in the command center.

After the four teens left Alpha continued scanning for Dr. O and Kim's signal,

"Tommy seems to have picked and mentored a nice bunch of kids." Alpha surmised,

"YES HE HAS, I COULD NOT BE MORE PROUD OF HIM AT THIS MOMENT ALPHA. TOMMY OLIVER I AM SURE HAS BECOME A FINE MAN." Zordon concluded,

"I've found the signals Zordon . . . ay yi yi yi yi yi!" Alpha said,

"WHAT IS IT ALPHA? DID YOU FIND THE TOMMY OLIVER AND KIMBERLY HART FROM THE FUTURE?" Zordon asked,

"Yes but the signals are on top of each other ay yi yi yi yi yi!" Alpha answered,

"ALPHA CALM DOWN BRING UP THE MEETING ON THE VIEWING GLOBE." Zordon instructed as the robot complied, what they saw next made the old wizard look shocked.

(Angel Grove High School 1993)

Tommy had done a good job not letting anyone on to the fact that his adult mind was in his teenage body, he had come close to showing his hand in his science class when he had breezed through the class knowing every single question the teacher asked. School was now over and he was heading to his locker to collect his things in preparation of being stuck like this for a while,

"Hey Tommy, how's it going bro?" a voice asked behind him, it was Jason Scot his best friend,

"Hey man, nothing much just getting ready to home for the day." Tommy answered,

"Are you feeling ok? You were acting strange in class today and from what I've been hearing from everyone else is that you've been acting strange all day. You wanna tell me what's up?" Jason pressed; Tommy looked down in defeat and decided to come clean with Jason to a certain extent,

"Listen, this is one of those times when I cant tell you the full story but I need you to trust me when I say that I'm ok. Can you just play it off like nothing ever happened." Tommy explained,

"Sure but you are going to tell me the full story some time right?" asked Jason,

"Yes but some day." Tommy explained,

"Look right now I have to go." Tommy said,

"Ok, you take care of yourself bro." Jason said,

"Always do bro, later." Tommy said and with that he walked away from his friend.

Meanwhile on the other side of the hall Kimberly was going through the same affair as she was trying to get her things and make her way home in case she had to stay in this time period for a while as well,

"Hey Kim, hey what did you think about math class today?" someone asked behind her; it was Trini Kwan,

"It was ok, kinda easy." Kim responded without thinking about her answer,

"Hmm, ok who are you and what have you done with Kim?" Trini asked as Kim looked down as she decided to come clean with her friend,

"Ok Trini look, something is going on and as much as I would love to tell you the whole story I just cant and you need to trust me on this when I say I cant tell you now and I need you to play it off like everything is fine." Kim explained,

"Well ok, but you will tell me about this right?" Trini said,

"Yeah don't worry but I cant tell you now." Kim said,

"Listen I gotta go, I'll see you around." Kim said and with that Kim left her friend in the hallway confused.

(Mysterious Island Lair 2004)

"Zeltrax begin your attack with that monster of yours, lets see how tough he really is." Mesogog commanded,

"At once my lord." Zeltrax responded as he bowed,

(Moon Palace 1993)

"Uhh, what happened?" Elsa asked as she slowly came to,

"Wait I remember now." Elsa said as the previous events came back to her,

"Oh damm, I was set up; damm you Zeltrax." Elsa cursed out,

"Ohh who's down there?" came a gruff voice as Elsa scrambled to find a place to hide for the time being until she figured out what to do next.