#see this is also so important to me because hair is so important to greasers

[made-my-peace-with-all-the-bad]

Pony learned how to style and properly take care of curly hair just in case Johnny ever wanted/needed him to help (Johnny did once. It was after he got jumped by the soc boys and he could barely do it himself because of shock and the pain in his arms. He almost felt guilty asking Pony to help him and he sorta assumed it’d look kinda bad because he figured Pony wouldn’t know how to do it right, but then Pony was sitting there and doing it really really well and Johnny felt so cared for in that moment that he almost cried (it was Two Bit who taught Pony how to do it btw))

[purecommemasolitude]

outsiders week 2024 progress report to hold myself accountable

Sunday, Nov 3 - "gang" or "Ponyboy"

already chosen the fic for this one, it's the one i've been working on for the longest (literally since at least june last year) and i am soo close to being done. there's just one exchange i need to refine because i'm not satisfied with it. but it's book-verse about ponyboy after the track tryouts the same year as everything goes down* not getting the placement he wants and finding a moment of understanding with darry about it because darry's the only one who #gets it. this fic was spun out of that one line in the book where ponyboy says soda never got the importance him or darry placed on athletics

*when i was combing the book to figure out the timeline of track/what grade he was in there was a) never a concrete answer b) a lot of things that could be interpreted in conflicting ways, so i just went with he's a sophomore who was on the track team last year and track tryouts happen in like may or whatever

Monday, Nov 4 - "gold" or "Cherry"

there is a fic already started that's hopefully going to be the one for this day, but also it's probably gonna be long and it's an exploration of musical!cherry's turmoil after bob dies seeing the witch hunt against the greasers (basically it's inspired by the fact that she takes her promise ring off after JFT and not after the break up) and i want to try and do my vision™ justice instead of rushing it so this may not be done in time we'll see. if it's not done i may extract the bit where she finds out about two-bit's jumping from marcia and just post that because it's the part closest to being completed

Tuesday, Nov 5 - "rumble" or "Sodapop"

so i have two started but incomplete fics that could go for this day. one is following musical!soda & darry at home in tulsa while ponyboy is out in windrixville. it's probably my first choice, but this one is also an i don't want it to rush and lose some of its potential in the writing process so we'll see. the other one is a stevepop fic that's largely centered around sodapop's queerness (it's basically a 5 + 1 of members of the gang realizing/revealing that they know that he's not straight. evie is in it with her and steve as each other's beards and she's the catalyst for soda's own realization that he likes men)

Wednesday, Nov 6 - "hair grease" or "Darry"

fic chosen and started for this one too! (this is what i was up until like 2:00 yesterday working on 🤪) it's musicalverse again and it's gonna follow a possible explanation for why darry's called darrel now, aka him slowly transitioning to going by darrel after the death of their parents and the reasoning and rationale for that change

Thursday, Nov 7 - "rodeo" or "Bob"

...okay for this one i truly have no idea. i want to keep it vaguely on-theme for the prompts even if i end up not following them, but the two other soc-related fics i have simmering are ones that i want to also not rush and really make sure they're the best i can get them (asian!paul exploration and marbit's journey post-book) so probably not those two tbh. two ideas that i have are snapshots of various characters reacting to his death, though i haven't picked a universe for that yet, or something following the non-character prompts for once and maybe some of the characters as kids at a rodeo? i'll be honest the only rodeo experiences i've had that i can really remember are riding the docile horses on like a real-horse carousel so basically i'd just be planting outsiders characters into that experience

it is also possible that i'll end up with nothing (midterms go crazy), in which case i'll post my backup that is semi-completed, a whooole bunch of outsiders characters recreated in this picrew

Friday, Nov 8 - "tuff" or "Dally"

this one is not only decided upon but finished if y'all can believe it. i might make some revision edits before i actually post it but this one is a product of me going insane over the course of three days and writing a character exploration of dally on the train tracks delving into his relationship throughout his life with suicidal ideation

Saturday, Nov 9 - "vacant lot" or "Johnny"

unfortunately once again no idea lads. actually i lied there is something but it doesn't follow any of the prompts very much so we'll see. following the prompts i have no idea, most i've got is maybe a short thing about johnny some quiet night in the vacant lot (both prompts in one fell swoop). maybe he's looking at the stars idk. if it's the other one, which could also function as a backup for any of the days, it's a sickfic about two-bit that's actually just an excuse to write two-bit appreciating his mom. the google doc for that one is called sick TB mother appreciation to illustrate how central that is to the fic

if you've read all the way to the end hello 👋 and feel free to send any thoughts or questions my way! i need to lock in and start hustling on these soon and interaction is always a great way to improve willpower

[inkrabbit]

I'd like to request a fic!

Fandom: Bully

Ship: Beatrice X Lola

I'd like a fic where Lola asks Beatrice to Prom from Beatrice's POV (or something similar, don't feel like you have to stick too closely to that if it is too restrictive)

Thanks! 😊

oooooo this is a ship I don't see too much of <333 hopefully this is to your liking!

Word count: 2,110

I'd like a fic where Lola asks Beatrice to Prom from Beatrice's POV (or something similar, don't feel like you have to stick too closely to that if it is too restrictive)

The sun's starting to set and they're all getting ready for the prom. In fact, everyone's probably getting ready to leave by now.

Everyone except for Beatrice.

She had hoped that Bucky would've asked her out, or maybe even Earnest, but neither boy had approached her. She thought she had heard something about Earnest thinking about asking Mandy to the dance, but she never knew what became of that. All she knew was that she was sitting in her dorm room, alone, with her textbook sprawled out in front of her and her notebook opened to a page that had notes scribbled down on it. She had a dress hanging up in her wardrobe, sure, but she would've felt more like a loser going to prom alone. Besides, she needed to study anyway so she could stay ahead. If she remembered correctly, Melvin had a higher score on their last physics test, and she needed to be above him.

That, and she also needed an excuse to not feel sorry for herself for not being asked out. She had a feeling this would happen, and she knew she would never hear the end of it from Mandy. It seemed like she would find any and all flaws to use against her. Maybe it was because she stopped letting her copy her notes? Well, if she didn't have such a nasty personality, she would've considered helping her.

Unfortunately for Beatrice, the words in her textbook don't hold her attention. She can hear the girls in the hallway, some giggling while others just calmly chat. She even heard Eunice getting ready, and she couldn't deny the pang of jealousy she felt. Why did it seem like everyone had a date except her? The other nerds didn't seem too particularly interested in tonight, instead saying that they could all go play G&G at Dragon's Wing Comics. Oddly enough, she wasn't interested in that tonight.

“You're reading again?” Lola's voice nearly made her jump, the greaser leaning against the door frame. Even she was all dressed up in a black dress, a red belt around her waist with her signature leather jacket and ribbon tie still on. She's got an eyebrow cocked as she stares at her, a bored expression on her face. “Aren't you supposed to be ready for the dance? You know it's tonight.”

“Yes! I-I mean, I know it's tonight. I just...” She trails off. She didn't want to explain why she wasn't dressed. She felt like it should've been self-explanatory. Still, Lola clicks her tongue, looking around the room.

“You just ain't got a date,” she deadpans, and Beatrice's face heats up. “C'mon. Get dressed. You'll accompany me tonight.”

“You? A-aren't you going with Johnny?” Lola scrunches up her face, pushing a lock of hair aside.

“Johnny and I ain't talkin'.” She supposed that wasn't so shocking. Everyone heard about their latest fight. She didn't know what it was, but if she had to guess, she assumed it was the same as always: Lola being caught with another boy, they yell and fight, Johnny promises that they're finally through, and by this time next week, they'd be back together and happy as could be. If that's how the dating lifestyle was, Beatrice was sure she didn't want to be involved in it. Besides, her schoolwork was too important to ever let some boy come between her and her dream.

“So, you gonna get dressed or what?” Well... she did want to experience prom.

Closing the textbook, Beatrice slides out of bed and makes her way to the wardrobe. She ignores the amused scoff from the greaser when the green plaid dress comes into view, and Lola promises she'll keep her back turned while she changes. She tries to be quick about everything, nearly falling over when her toes catch on her blouse that's been discarded on the floor.

“You ain't gotta rush,” Lola calls to her in the same bored tone. “Everyone knows you don't gotta be there on time, and it'll probably last for a few hours.”

“I-I just didn't wanna keep you waiting!”

“It wouldn't be the first time someone has.” Slipping on her flats, Beatrice sends a smile her way, snatching up her signature ribbon and tying it into her hair. She follows Lola down the hall and out of the dorm, ignoring the glances of the other girls.

“You always gotta wear that dirty old thing?” The question makes her face burn, but Beatrice tries to not close in on herself.

“Of course! I think it's cute!” she responds. When Lola stops walking, she follows suit.

“Lemme try somethin',” She reaches out, untying the ribbon from her hair and redoing it around her neck, looking almost identical to the red ribbon tied around hers. She scrunches her face up, just a bit, as she continues to fuss with it. “Well, it'll have to do, but it looks a lot better.”

And it felt too choking, but truth be told, she wasn't brave enough to undo Lola's work. Her hair was next, the greaser combing her fingers through it and telling her to stop whining whenever she would hit a knot and making her wince.

“You're not gonna be embarrassin' me at this dance,” Lola had grumbled while smoothing down her hair. “so quit whining! It's so annoying!”

It took her a few minutes, and she had even offered her her lipstick. Still, that was a step too far and Beatrice had to decline. She didn't personally have anything against Lola but... she didn't want to resemble her either. The ribbon now around her neck was even pushing it.

They walked across campus, Lola rolling her eyes when she told her that Bullworth was too cheap to rent out a banquet hall for a proper prom. Apparently, Dr. Crabblesnitch had said that the gym was big enough for everyone to be in, and had even made the students that got detention clean it up. Beatrice had assumed Derby's father would've done something for the academy, and when she had brought this up, Lola scoffed.

“He didn't want “the poor leeches” anywhere near his property.” she spits, “Apparently some of the delinquents had broken into his car and stole a whole lot of stuff. Sounds pretty exciting though, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure...” No, it didn't. But she wasn't going to have Lola call her a loser tonight. She already felt like she had by taking her hair down.

Still, it was nice to be going to prom with someone, and Lola had even thanked her when she held the door open for her. The music left much to be desired. Too loud for Beatrice's taste, and Lola still looked bored out of her mind. The main area was swamped with students, all dressed up and looking their best. It was no surprise seeing Pinky dressed up like some fairy-tale princess, a blue glittery dress that was decorated in lace, something Lola had turned her nose up at, calling it tacky. Beatrice knew it the insult was out of spite, but she wondered how deep her hatred ran for the preps. It wasn't a secret the greasers were poor, but she never knew the extent of it. If anything, she mainly heard Lola talk about Mandy behind her back.

She had seen Hal and Ricky glance in their direction a couple times, both of them eyeing her up and down before talking to one another. She felt the heat creep up to her cheeks. Were they making fun of her? Of course they were. She always felt like she was the brunt of everyone's jokes. She was sure the greasers would be no different.

“Oh look, some of the boys are here!” She half expected Lola to go join them, leave her on her own, but she instead called the two over. They weren't exactly dressed up, having only taken off their vest to reveal their undershirt.

“Didn't think you'd be here,” Ricky comments. Lola holds her hand out, letting him twirl her around. He glances over at Beatrice, though he doesn't talk to her. “So, you got a new date? Thought you and Johnny would've patched things up by tonight.”

“I don't know what Johnny's doing,” she huffs, crossing her arms when Ricky lets her hand slip from his. “I mean, I don't know why he would be mad at me. I was just asking for help on some homework.”

“Yeah, I'm not even gonna comment on that.” For the first time, Beatrice actually agrees with Ricky. She knows Lola had a “certain” way of getting things done for her. Really, it was no surprise that Johnny got so angry at her all the time. She often wondered why he stuck with her.

“So you decided to come with... uh...” Hal looks at Beatrice, his eyes (and obviously mind) blank. She wants to take offense, and deep down she does, but she still gives him a small smile.

“Beatrice.” He nods his head, turning his attention back to Lola. To Beatrice's surprise, Lola seems to perk up.

“Unlike Johnny, she actually wanted to come with me!” Well, that wasn't the whole truth, but she wasn't going to argue with her. “Don't she looks cute?”

“She looks different,” Hal agrees, though he's eyeing her neck. “Did you... did you do that? Like on your own?”

Her face heats up. “Oh, no! Lola didn't like the ribbon in my hair, so she redid it herself.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He's laughing though, his arms crossed over his chest. “It looks nice! Doesn't really... suit you...”

“She just needs some more work,” Lola assures them, and Beatrice wonders what she means about that. Did she think she was going to be dressing like this every day?

When Hal and Ricky's dates get back to them, Beatrice is once again left alone with Lola, catching the occasional surprised glance from the other students. It made her feel weird, insecure. Plus the silence between her and her “date” was weighing heavy on her. She found herself getting close to just calling it quits and leaving, but when the song changed to a slower tempo, Lola grabs her hand and leads her into the sea of students.

“Come on, we gotta dance to at least one song tonight!” she tells her, placing her free hand on her hip. Beatrice can barely get over her shock before Lola is having her fall into a casual rhythm.

They dance for a bit in silence, swaying back and forth while Beatrice constantly readjusts her grip on Lola's shoulder, and she can feel her hands becoming clammy. “I-I'm not exactly used to this.”

“I can tell. You should go on a date. It might help.”

“Ah, boys aren't exactly my thing...”

“Who said it had to be a boy? Guys can be such selfish jerks anyway!”

“Then why do you always go for them?”

“Maybe no one else has ever caught my attention before.”

Beatrice lets a beat pass by before speaking again. “Has a-anyone caught your attention lately?”

“Well, I could think of a certain someone.” She almost sounds giddy telling her, an excited smile on her face. “Kind of cute, but nowhere near as pretty as me! She does have potential, though.” That smile turns into a pout. “But she's always so busy and we rarely bump into each other. A girl like me shouldn't have to work so hard to get someone's attention. Oh, it's almost embarrassing talking like this! I could have any boy I like, but I can't have the one girl I like!”

Beatrice doesn't respond. She's not too knowledgeable about relationships. Sure, she's read them in romance books, but she doubts that fairy-tale stories like those apply in real life. Still, she wondered who Lola was talking about. Maybe one of the delinquents? They seemed like they would be her style.

“W-well, maybe you should talk to her more?” she suggests slowly, trying to recall anything from those romance books she would read in her off time. “Why didn't you ask her to dance?”

And there it is, the amused look on Lola's face like that's the question she's been waiting to hear all night. “I did!”

[socheckitout-mikey]

Can I request a Johnny x soc reader where they hide their relationship and suddenly realize they really dont want to so now they have to adjust

heya birdie! i only really write hc’s so that’s the format they’re in. also, i kinda focused it more heavily on the reader meeting the gang, bc johnny would be pretty set on her meeting them since they’re pretty much his family. i hope you enjoy what i came up with! - mae

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Johnny Dating a Soc Reader and Hiding their Relationship Hc’s:

° None of the gang seemed to pick up on the fact that Johnnycake is dating you, and honestly, Johnny is pretty happy about that. Boii get’s teased enough as it is whenever he does open his mouth, he doesn’t need to be flooded with an onslaught of attention in regards to you.

° It’s just not Johnny’s style to be propped on top of a roof of a building, yowling about how he’s together with you. That’s more of Two-bit’s style. It’s not born out of embarrassment of dating you, someone who’s in a different social class altogether, it’s more over the fact that attention tends to overwhelm Johnny since he’s a raging introvert.

° In fact, Johnny is incredibly ecstatic to have you as his s/o despite the ample amount of insecurities he has about himself and his social status. He considers himself a lucky guy to have bagged someone as amazing and understanding as you. You balance a lot of his anxieties and insecurities out with patience and reassurance: Two things that we all know Johnny desperately lacks outside of the gang.

° Johnny tends to get effortlessly embarrassed whenever the spotlight is scorching on his form. So when you had told him you wanted to keep your relationship a secret, a part of him was incredibly relieved, but not before his mind started racing madly over the negative avenues for your reasoning.

° That other part of him felt ashamed of himself, especially because he primarily thought you were doing this out of the fact you were embarrassed of what others would think of you if they discovered the pair of you were dating.

° Yet you swiftly shutdown those ridiculous avenues of thought, ensuring him that you cared for him deeply and that societies prim and proper nose wouldn’t make you change who you loved, - even if it was upturned -. Similarly to Johnnycake, you relinquished from attention, the sheer thought of all these eyes being on you both made your skin crawl grotesquely.

° And thus began the comfortable pinnacle of your relationship with Johnny Cade. There was never much pressure, the pair of you free in the lack of obligation of speaking about your relationship to anyone else. It was beautiful while it lasted.

° You see, the gang weren’t blind. Soon they began to notice a spring in Johnny’s step, how he spoke a little more, how he disappeared frequently. The amount of times he’d led the gang on wild goose chases across town to lose them somewhere along the way to yours drove him insane!

° Teasing became an ample part of his life, the gang eventually guessing that he was dating someone. And although his crimson cheeks probably gave him away, his mouth never did. But Dally was hot onto the younger boy with a knowing smirk because Johnny may’ve slipped it loose once or twice whilst the guy was drunk: Sometimes, miraculously, Dally remembered his drunk endeavors.

° And your friends... fickle they were! Figured it out two weeks into your relationship with Johnny. Though fortunately for you they were trustworthy folk, they never pushed the topic, ready for whenever you were ready to tell them on your own terms.

° It was incredibly comical when you and Johnny met one night, both wild eyed and slightly breathless. The pair of you were sat in your car, the soft drawl of the radio humming whimsically in the background as Johnny sucked the life out of his tenth cancer stick of the night.

° “We gotta talk-” the paid of you mumbled out desperately in unison, the anxiety shivering in your tones made the pair of you spooked. Now that you look back on it, you laugh.

° “You first-” a unison it was once more and Johnny couldn’t help but crack a wry toothy grin before throwing his cigarette butt out the window.

° “Okay, you shoot first, Y/N.” Johnny stated in a shaky tone, his stammering long gone. You were one of the only people he felt real comfortable talking with.

° “I-I think we should tell our friends, because my friends are figurin’ it out.”

° And that night the pair of you stayed up till the early hours devising a plan on how best to break this to your friends.

° Johnny decided he’d need to pull up his bootstraps and meet your pals first, considering they were the nicest of the bunch. After all, the gang were notorious for being nasty to people they didn’t know, though laid off once they did get to know people. It was precautionary.

° And him meeting your friends went spectacularly! They loved Johnny so much and had nothing but great things to say about him. It was a bit of an ego boost for the kid, albeit incredibly overwhelming. He was still grinning in the vacant lot that night when Dally sat with the kid, fully sober for once.

° “Dal,” Johnny had hummed through the night air, shaking softly as nerves wracked his guts, “I gotta come clean about somethin’.” Did he have to say it so corny?

° “Shoot, Johnny-kid, what’s up?” Dally stated, seriousness taking him by the reins.

° And out it all came...

° Dally was ecstatic to say the least, taunting came out in boisterous fits and soon enough he’d wrestled Johnny into the Curtis house, gloating about how Johnny had snatched himself someone fancy.

° No one believed him initially, but then Johnny told them your name and when I tell you Soda’s jaw slammed onto the floor, it really did. They were so happy for him! And with happiness came the wild teasing of six boisterous boys, all eager to meet the person who’d won Johnny’s attention.

° Johnny was on edge about you meeting the gang, considering that you’d seen some of their antics in person from afar. He assured you that after awhile, they’d lay off; but for now, you’d be like that new attraction at the zoo. You hated that analogy but it made you laugh.

° You’d pretty much prepared yourself for the absolute worst, and although you were scared stiff, you sure didn’t show it. It made Johnny admire you more because you took everything the boys gave you in stride: I mean, it wasn’t like you weren’t a stranger to how teenage boys acted, after all, you did go to school with a whole bunch of em’.

° Darry was the most intimidating besides Dallas, due to his stature and height, but also because of that notorious icy look in his eye. He’d firmly shook your hand, muttering a brief “Hi, I’m Darry,” before slinking back into the kitchen to finish cooking dinner. Darry was a tough nut to crack, something Johnny had told you not to take personally: In fact, Darry really liked you from the moment you walked through the door because you were precisely what Johnny needed in a partner. You were also a good kid, something he hoped eventually would rub off on the other boys, but he wasn’t exactly expecting miracles.

° Sodapop was wild eyed and dreamy as ever, albeit just as dirty as the other boys. He flirted with you every chance he could get, eliciting Johnny to wise off to him; something that made the gang both gawk and simper like wolves.

° “What? You’ve never heard him speak before?” You’d quipped back wittily. You were also weary on how witty you were, seeing as you were typically seen as someone out of their leagues, you didn’t wanna come off as preppy, like you looked down on them. The truth was, you didn’t look down on them. After all, they were important people to Johnny, so they deserved as much respect as anyone else.

° Steve was cocky and smart mouthed, something you had witnessed all too often at school: In fact, you were pretty sure you’d been on the receiving end of his callous words more than once. You took everything he said with a grain of salt. He was also a little intense to begin with, joining in on Soda, Two and Dally flirting with you, but only in the sense to get you to be severely embarrassed.

° And Johnny was almost defensive of you, swatting away the gang and wising off to them to cut it out and leave you alone. He should’ve known better than to rise to their bait, because after all, that’s what they were really looking for; to get him going all red in the face.

° “You guys are nasty! I swear, ain’t nobody was this bad when Evie came round...”

° The minute you’d walked through the front door, Two-bit was hot on your heels, with Dally in tow, attempting to make you laugh up a storm. Well, he did, because it’s Two-bit after all: Who couldn’t that guy make laugh? His flirting would’ve been smooth if not for him having hiccupped halfway through his sentence.

° “Hey, sweet cheeks, why don’t you ditch Johnny for a real good lookin’ man like me, huh sugar?”

° “If the mirrors the one who told you that, then it’s lying.” You quipped back skillfully, more than comfortable taking on someone as wise-cracking as Two. The insult seemed to break the ice somewhat because Two didn’t take anything personally. In fact, all the boys thought it was pretty funny.

° Dally was the one that genuinely terrified you. The lines between a hood and a greaser weren’t present in him after all: Dallas Winston was as bad as they got, like Tim Shepard, and if it weren’t for him being Johnny’s buddy, you’d have avoided him at all costs. You weren’t sold short on his little show at the beginning, flirting with you, pulling on your hair like you were his kid sister or something... Dally found every way to irritate the hell out of you.

° “C’mon now, Dal! Cut that shit out!” Johnny snapped particularly at one point, but he meant business: Johnny never really wised off to anyone, so it took some guts for him to go out for Dally like that. Dally just grinned at him silly before ruffling the kids hair. “Alright, alright! Who knew you dug this one so much, eh?”

° Ponyboy, although quiet, was probably your most favorite of the gang. You really weren’t a stranger to him at school, often having some classes together with him. So it was somewhat refreshing to see someone you knew a little well in class. Every so often you’d catch the kid looking at you apologetically from the dining room whenever Steve or Two would say something that would’ve made anyone else run for the hills.

° “You know, if you keep goin’ like that, Johnny-cakes’ heads gonna burst into flames.”

° Whenever the boys got too rambunctious, Darry would pipe up from the doorway, reminding the boys that they needed to tone it down. After all, they’d promised Johnny they’d be on their best behavior, which in fact, that whole promise had been thrown out the window long ago. You’d just accepted it at this point.

° Eventually nighttime curled over Tulsa Oklahoma, and it was time for you to head on home. As soon as you and Johnny got down to the lot, he was intent on apologizing for their awful behavior, absolutely certain that you wouldn’t wanna be with a bum like him that hung out with trash like that.

° “What’re you apologizin’ for? I like em’. I mean, they’re awful, but...” You grinned at your boyfriend, linking fingers with him.

° “Did Two sneak you some booze?!” Johnny was animated, his voice cracking as it reached an octave that it hadn’t before.

° It did take awhile for the gang to accept you as Johnny’s girlfriend, but that didn’t matter to you as the cat was out of the bag: Outing your relationship to both of your friend groups was probably the best avenue to have gone down, since it was never in either of your guys’s nature to have just shown up to school one day holding hands and all that mushy galore!

° Everyone at school made a huge deal out of you guys dating for about a week until the next ‘crazy’ rumor swept their attention. Although you were still subject to some odd looks and some remarks, the pair of you just ignored them.

° The most the pair of you would do in public was hold hands or Johnny’s arm was around your shoulders. Subtle things. He got a whole ear full from the gang about how whipped he was. Johnny just didn’t dig the whole possessive thing that Dally was into. He didn’t need the whole world watching him make out with you!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

please like, reblog and follow for more!

requests: open!

[bludhavents]

the gang’s love languages

if you haven’t seen already, I did the curtis brothers in my previous post! thank you all so much for the support <3 feel free to send in requests. i hope you enjoy

steve: physical touch

- i was debating between quality time and physical touch for steve, but i settled on physical touch and feel confident in this one

- even though that may not seem like a way of showing affection, the act of him constantly reaching out to touch somebody, whether playful or not, shows that’s how he expresses himself and his feelings

- he tells pony that he likes rumbles because he has a lot of “hatred” inside of him, and beating a soc’s head in is his way of expressing that anger. not necessarily lovey-dovey, but it’s physical touch nonetheless.

- he playfully wrestles/fights with soda a lot, and i think that’s a really cute part of their friendship that we get to see often, especially in the movie. there’s also multiple times in the book where pony notices steve running in to have a pillow fight with soda, arm wrestling soda, and messing with pony’s hair

- him shoving the cake in soda’s face also stands out to me in particular because it just shows that he goes out of his way to find little ways to be closer to people, especially since that morning before the rumble was a stressful time for them all. we definitely see steve being more touchy when he’s anxious or excited.

- HE HUGS PONYBOY WHEN HE GETS BACK FROM WINDRIXVILLE which is so important because steve isn’t too fond of pony, so this hug (although short & im pretty sure only exists in the movie) means a lot when it comes to showing how he shows affection 

- on the way to the rumble when he is playfully hitting everybody on the shoulders 

- when he steps in front of soda after pony asks whether or not sandy is coming to the party

two-bit: quality time

- let’s start with the obvious: he spends more time at the curtis house than the curtis brothers do.

- this isn’t because he doesn’t have a place of his own: his mom is mentioned in both the book and movies as someone who is kind to two-bit and “would let him get away with murder”, but it’s clear that he’s closer to the boys than his immediate family, probably because of how much time he spends with them, most likely a result of mrs. mathews being a single mother who works long hours.

- when i think of two-bit showing affection, the chapter where he and pony spend the day together automatically comes to mind. the fact that he volunteered to hang out with pony all day, and the way he tries to cheer pony up and make it a good time makes me confident in this answer

-  he’s a very complex individual who we don’t know a ton about in terms of his past or his emotions, but he is memorable because of how his presence makes people feel comfortable. he’s shown us that he’s just as rough and tuff as the rest of the gang, but the way he chooses to spend his time with the gang is why he’s perceived differently than say dallas or steve. two is a lot like soda in the way they try to joke around to make the time spent with loved ones enjoyable and meaningful.

- his interaction with marcia always makes me smile. the way their energy just flowed off of one another says a lot about the way he makes connections with people: through quality time.

- him going to the curtis house just to eat cake or watch mickey shows how he doesn’t go over there to talk or do something together, he just likes to be in the presence of his friends; it’s how he feels seen and comfortable and helps others feel seen and comfortable.

dallas: acts of service

- dallas isn’t a very openly loving person: it’s easy to see that much. no time spent with dallas could make him gushy or clingy.

- his love language is very obviously not quality time: he spends too much time in and out of jail for that to work out. not to mention, he’s easy to not like. but i can tell you without a doubt that anybody who’s met dally, no matter their opinions of him, would say he’s resourceful.

- resourcefulness is key when your love language is acts of service, because it gives you more opportunities to help those around you. 

- when pony and johnny come to dallas for help, he gives pony a dry shirt (not to mention gives up his own jacket for pony to take), gives them money, cigarettes, a gun, advice, and directions. and he does it all without a second thought. he puts himself in jeopardy by helping them, and he knows it. 

- dallas and johnny’s relationship here is so important. 

- whenever dallas gets out of jail at the start of the book, he’s asking johnny who he needs to beat up. he sees it as a favor to johnny. if you want to read into this more, i imagine his thought process behind the act as this: “someone hurt you and i don’t like that because i care about you and don’t like to see you hurt. let me help by hurting them back and showing you how much i really do care about you. i can show them that i’m here to protect you.” 

- he doesn’t want to miss the rumble. why? because that’s how he shows he’s part of the greasers. he fights with them, he services them by helping take down the socs. he let’s the socs know he cares about the gang by standing up for them and standing with them during rumbles.

- him and tim are friends because they help eachother out when the other guy needs it. 

johnny: words of affirmation

- okay johnny’s was the most difficult because i had such a hard time choosing between words of affirmation and physical touch. this explanation is definitely the most detailed of them all

- he hates when his parents are verbally fighting the most. to me this is the biggest indicator that words of affirmation is how he shows affection. most people would dread the physical aspect of the fighting, but johnny expresses that the verbal part is what bothers him the most

- he talks whenever something bothers him badly enough. the night in the lot where he tells pony how hopeless he feels, they both fall asleep talking. this scene means a lot to me when it comes to johnny’s love language because it’s a plain example of how he expresses discomfort. 

- i think the thing that pushes words of affirmation to the number one spot on johnny’s list is the moment where he falls asleep while pony reads to him. it shows that listening to pony talk makes him feel comfortable enough to sleep, which is a huge state of vulnerability. like i said earlier, he also falls asleep in the lot while talking with pony. 

- pony mentions how johnny is shy and doesn’t speak up for himself a lot, and while i think trauma and personality have a lot to do with it, i also think it’s because johnny cade puts a lot of thought into what he says. he doesn’t use words carelessly because he knows how much they affect him and he wants to be careful to make sure he’s not hurting anyone else

- he really opens up to pony during their time at the church. 

- johnny is visibly bothered when dallas is upset with him on the ride back to the church. he really idolizes dallas and to hear him get angry makes johnny sadder than, for example, sodapop would be if he was in johnny’s shoes.

- johnny tends to express his anger through words and also apologizes with words, much like ponyboy.

- lastly, the letter. johnny could’ve squeezed pony’s hand when he was dying, he could’ve asked the nurse to buy pony a gift or give him johnny’s money, but he chose to write a letter. he is thoughtful and particular with his words.

(would you guys like to see a physical touch version for johnny? i was torn between words of affirmation and physical touch and i have a lot of good ideas for it. maybe i could make it into an imagine where i mention it in relation to the story. what would you prefer, or do you even want to see it at all lol?)

[beomglocks]

unlikely allies ; txt x reader

part: zero, ,,,next chapter

plot: when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in your town, you're forced to team up with a group of boys from very different social standards in your school.

genre: fluff, angst, horror i guess?, not really that scary but alright, some funny moments

w/c: 3.3K

warnings: blood, gruesome scenes (kind of really detailed), cursing, everyone hates each other, definitely some major injuries, zombies duh, everyone kinda pining for mc

︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵

"yeonjun you're late...again," your history teacher sighs. you watch as choi yeonjun strolls into class like normal. "sorry teach, i didn't really wanna come."

yeonjun is the school's heartthrob. everyone likes him, at least you think everyone likes him. you wouldn't say you like him but you can see why people would. he's an asshole but a cute asshole. he really doesn't care for his studies and treats people like they owe him something.

you roll your eyes at his answer and decide to focus on the roll call for when your name is called. "choi soobin?" you see a boy with purple hair raise his hand silently. you hear yeonjun snicker from the back of the class. you watch soobin turn around to glare at the other.

"something funny choi?" he seethes. yeonjun raises an eyebrow at soobin, leaning forward in his seat, "yeah something sure is funny."

soobin gets out of his seat and strides up to yeonjun's seat, easily towering over the boy. he grabs the collar of yeonjun's hoodie and lifts him up so that he's standing face to face.

"why don't you laugh in my face then?" soobin challenges. yeonjun looks bored, not even the slightest intimidated by the taller boy.

"ha. ha .ha." he annunciates each word mockingly, smiling in soobin's face.

the next thing you know the two boys are the floor fighting one another. "hey hey hey!" your teacher runs from the front of the class to the back to break up the fight. there's already a small crowd around them and no one seems adamant on helping break the fight up.

the thing is, choi soobin and choi yeonjun are known to fight a lot. you're not sure why they hate each other so much but every time they're near each other fists start flying. who thought putting these two in a class together was a good idea.

soobin was a quiet boy, everyone knew that. somedays he'd come dressed like the fluffiest cat you'd ever seen and sometimes he'd dress like a total greaser. he could just switch up like that; just like his attitude. he was nice, from what you knew he would always participate in extracurricular activities and charity events around the school. however, because people thought he was soft they would always mess with him. he was always able to hold his own though.

"hey break it up!" you hear your teacher shout. the two boys were in their own minds continuously throwing punches at each other. you were still sat at your desk, not really caring for fights between two stupid alpha males.

your teacher somehow manages to pull soobin from yeonjun and hold him back while a friend of yeonjun's holds him back as well. both boys have a good amount of blood on their faces so you can't really tell who won.

"you're fucking weak soobs! that shit barely hurt," yeonjun teases. he has blood trailing down his hairline from when soobin pushed him to the ground and blood on his nose and around his pouty lips. "bold talk for someone who just got their ass beat," soobin spits. he too has blood on his nose and lips but he's also sporting a cut on his cheekbone, yeonjun must've scratched his face.

"enough! yeonjun go to the nurse's room to get fixed up and soobin straight to the principal's office, you'll go to nurse after he's done, you hear me!" your history teacher orders. you watch her look around the room for someone suitable enough to escort yeonjun to the nurse's office.

you silently pray that she doesn't pick on you but seeing as you were the only one not interested in the drama, her eyes fall on you. "y/n please escort yeonjun to the nurse's office, i frankly don't trust him to actually go there on his own."

you curse at her in your mind but stand up anyways. "no problem," you force a light smile.

you and yeonjun leave the class ahead of soobin. as you're walking down the hallway, you glance at yeonjun. he doesn't look angry, if anything he looks calm. "i know i'm hot but stop staring at me," he looks down at you.

you roll your eyes at him. "do you not talk? come to think of it... i didn't even know you were in my class," yeonjun looks at you quizically but with curiosity in his eyes. you know that if you don't answer him he'll keep pestering you. "we've been in the same class for the past four years," you mutter.

you can feel his eyes on you but thankfully he doesn't say anything. while you two are walking through the halls you see a boy on the floor playing with something. "what's that kid doing over there?" yeonjun asks. he's already starting to walk away from you but you grab his sweater.

"sorry yeonjun but our only destination is the nurse's office," you say to him. he looks at you with his eyes narrowed down at where you're grabbing him. you stumble back as he yanks his arm away from your grasp, striding towards the boy. you huff following him.

"hey loser, what you got there?" yeonjun looks down at the boy. the boy turns around with confusion laced on his features. he sighs, "what do you want?" he pouts.

when you reach the boy you recognize him as choi beomgyu. the kid is smart but only when he wants to be. he's in your science class and is always messing around and not actually ever doing the work. either that or he skips class to run off and experiment with random things. he's a nice guy and you sometimes ask him for help during labs since he's probably the smartest kid in your class.

"hey beomgyu, what's up?" you greet him. he turns towards you and smiles warmly. "hey y/n," yeonjun looks between the both of you and rolls his eyes. "what the hell are you doing with one of the baseball teams bats?"

beomgyu moves the bat behind him and glares at yeonjun, "i was just curious as to what makes it so hard-hitting. i've been craving my way into it but can't seem to get too far."

you crouch next to him, "maybe you should've picked up one of the metal ones. i'm pretty sure the wood ones only have wood in them. though i heard they're made with bamboo so," you shrug. beomgyu stares at you silently.

"y-yeah you're probably right...thanks y/n," beomgyu snaps out of his daze and pockets the butterfly knife he was previously using. yeonjun tsks, "cmon y/n, let's go i already lost interest." yeonjun pulls you along as you watch beomgyu wave and head to the auditorium.

"god why did we have to take the long route this is fucking boring," yeonjun complains. you sigh, hoping he'll shut up already. "do you ever not talk?" you ask him. you both are too busy glaring at each other that you don't see when someone bumps into you.

the person drops the pile of books they were holding in their hands. "ah shit," they mumble. you snap out of glaring at yeonjun to see a boy on the floor with books scattered around him. "shit im sorry! i should've been looking at where i was going," you apologize kneeling down to help the boy pick up his books.

"oh don't worry i shouldn't have taken up carrying so many books to the point where i couldn't see!" the boy's voice is so cheerful it makes you smile. you're glad he's not mad at you.

the boy is really cute too. his boyish features suit his face well and his hair is messy but looks like he stylized it that way. he's dressed comfortably in a huge sweater and baggy jeans with a molang keychain attached to one of the belt loops.

"where are you even going with all these books?" you ask. "i offered to take these back to the library for my english teacher, in hindsight i really should've just taken two or three not the whole stack." he chuckles sheepishly. he gets up, picking up as many as he can.

you pick up the rest and set them on top of the already tall stack lightly. "well good luck," you pat the stack in encouragement and it makes him lean forward a bit. he thanks you and makes his way down the hall once again.

you turn to yeonjun who was leaning against the wall watching you. "seeing you being nice to everyone is making me want to choke," he grimaces. "take notes choi."

it felt like forever since you arrived at the nurse's office. walking with yeonjun was really torture to you since he wouldn't shut up about how amazing he thinks he is.

once you walk in you both notice that the nurse isn't at her usual place at the front desk. "she went out to get more ice from the cafeteria," you hear someone speak. you both turn around and see a boy sat on one of the cots the nurse sets up for people who injure themselves.

the boy is kang taehyun, member of the baseball team. "hey tae!" yeonjun greets. taehyun raises his brow and moves the now melted ice bag from his wrist. "what's got you in here?" yeonjun asks sitting on the cot across from taehyun.

"i'd rather you not act like we're friends," taehyun states calmly. "but if you must know, i was practicing my swings and got a little too caught up. i barely noticed that i sprained my wrist." he looks down at his wrist which is slightly swollen.

kang taehyun was the baseball team's most prized possession. they really did cherish him because he was the ace of the team. he always scored home runs and when he was pitching, he always managed to get the batter to strike out. he was really talented no one could deny that. despite his hard work on the field, he was dedicated to his studies and was always at the top of all his classes. you wondered how he felt about spraining possibly the most important part of his body.

"damn, that must suck," yeonjun states, he doesn't sound apologetic at all and you wonder how that guy could have any friends. "im just here to get patched and cleaned up because that dickhead soobin decided this was fight club," he tsks. taehyun chuckles, "hope he knocked some sense into you." yeonjun rolls his eyes.

taehyun finally notices your presence by the front desk and motions you over to them by the cots. he's friendly but not someone you'd normally hang out with. "you don't look hurt?" he chides. you point to yeonjun, "i was asked to bring him here since our teacher didn't trust him to come here and well, actually arrive. since the nurse isn't here im guessing I'll have to stick around in case he tries to escape."

taehyun chuckles, "makes sense."

the room is quiet for a couple of moments, save for the ticking of the clock on the wall. you feel awkward being around two of the biggest names at your school. yeonjun is sprawled out on the cot and taehyun is still cradling his wrist. "uh...when do you think the nurse will be here?" you ask quietly.

taehyun looks up at you, "well when you got here it had been about 15 minutes since she left. she probably took a detour or something?" you nod looking at his wrist once again. "you should probably wrap that in a gauze, it'll help with the swelling," you suggest. he smiles at you, "thanks...uh?"

"y/n"

"right thanks y/n," he stands up and walks over to the cabinet to find the gauze wrap. in the meantime, you turn to yeonjun. it looks like he's sleeping but being in a class with him for 4 years has taught you better. "yeonjun."

he doesn't move. "yeonjun get up, i know you're not sleeping," you try. he sits up with a groan, "what do you want? i barely know you." for some reason you feel rage bubble up inside of you. you're not sure why either. usually, you were fine with not being noticed by the "so-called" popular kids but because of yeonjun, you were stuck in the nurse's office watching over him like a babysitter.

"why the hell did you fight soobin? if it wasn't for you i wouldn't be here talking to you right now," you say through gritted teeth. yeonjun raises an accusing brow at you, "were you not watching the fight? he threw the first punch for fucks sake." "you provoked him," you retort.

"it's not my fault he's dumb, god do i have to take responsibility for that too?" he groans laying back down on the cot. you eye him but decide to leave the conversation at that.

after your mini argument with yeonjun, you see taehyun return with the gauzes already wrapped around his wrist. "this is much better," he smiles down at his wrist. "glad i could help," you smile at him.

silence falls upon you three again until you hear a groan from outside. it doesn't really sound like a groan a human could possibly make, it sounds way to pained and low. "what was that?" taehyun asks. you shrug, "it might be the nurse." you walk over to the door and take a look outside.

the hallways on both sides are dimly lit and desolate. you can't really see down the hall because it just fades to black. you walk back inside the nurse's office. "there's no one out there and honestly, it looks way too cree-," you're cut off as a shrill scream rips through your conversation.

yeonjun sits straight up this time, "what the hell was that?" taehyun's eyes are wide with alarm, "that scream did not sound like a happy scream."

your eyes dart back and forth from yeonjun to taehyun. "i swear when i looked outside there was nothing," you say hurriedly. you're not sure why you feel panicked but you do. "check again," yeonjun tells you. you want to tell him 'no' or 'do it yourself' but you were the one to check first so you figure a second check done by you is only fair.

sighing, you walk to the door once again and look into the halls. for the second time, you don't see anything except for the darkness of the long hallways but you peer further and notice something.

all the way near the end of the hallway you see the nurse running towards her office. "hey i see the nurse," you call out to the boys. they make noises of acknowledgment and you hear yeonjun mumble a 'finally'. you keep watching her but you notice that she's running quite frantically to be considered normal. you don't say anything watching her run towards the office with confusion laced on your face.

that's when you see it. you see a figure running almost at the same speed as her but with more of a limp in their step. that's when you can hear the groaning more clearly but it's not coming from the nurse, its coming from the figure behind her.

the nurse makes the fatal mistake of tripping over her heels because she's running so wildly. her body slides a couple of feet from the door but she struggles to stand. she looks up at you and you can see that she has sweat and blood all over her face and her hair is unruly and matted.

"h-help me please!" she calls out to you. your heart is beating intensely. you don't know why she looks like this but you want to help. "y/n?" you hear taehyun call out to you. "what's going on out there?"

you bite your lip and decide to help her but as soon as you step out of the office the limping figure lurches forward and pounces on the nurse's idle body on the floor. you let out a horrified scream and step back. you can see the 'limping figure' clearer now and it seems to be one of the lunch ladies.

the only thing was that she didn't look the way she did when she served you breakfast this morning. her skin was pale and her veins were strangely very visible throughout her face and arms. her uniform was tattered and ripped as if a struggle of some sort had taken place. her face had deep scratches that had drying blood pouring out of them. her eyes were not warm, they seemed to be greyed out and she seemed very rabid.

you stood there, horrified, as the lunch lady tore through the nurse's clothes and body. you wanted to throw up as a bit of the nurse's blood was unintentionally launched at you. the lunch lady dipped her head down to use her teeth to devour the nurse's flesh in cold blood. you couldn't even rack up a sob.

it was like something out of a horror movie. except this was real life.

before the lunch lady could even finish eating the nurse, you watched as the nurse's body convulsed and thrashed violently before standing up on her own. her head was hung low and she seriously smelled disgusting.

you felt stuck as you watched both women stumble towards you before breaking out in full sprints. you flinched and shut your eyes tightly as you waited for your life to flash before them. it really felt like at any moment you would find yourself being eaten alive and convulsing into whatever monster that was.

but the feeling never came. instead, you felt your body crash against taehyun's on the floor. the only thing you could hear was the door slam shut and the screeching and groaning of whatever the hell those people were outside as they tried to get through the door.

you opened your eyes slowly and noticed that yeonjun was to one to slam the door shut, it seems like taehyun had pulled you inside.

taehyun groaned, moving to stand, "what the hell was that?" you shook your head, now having time to process what you saw. "she ate her...s-she- her body," you couldn't even finish explaining as you broke out in tears. taehyun ran a soothing hand up and down your back.

yeonjun moved away from the door. there was a tiny window on the door so you guys could see that the monsters were still trying to get in. "what the hell are we gonna do! if we go outside they'll tear us to shreds!" yeonjun too had tears streaming down his face. you have to admit you'd never seen him so vulnerable.

taehyun was the only one not crying. you could see tears in his wide eyes but they never fell. you figured he was trying to be the strong stable one in the group right now. "ok guys lets calm down. we don't know if we're the only people alive so we need to be careful." taehyun explains.

you do really feel bad for him right now. you know he's a year younger than you and yeonjun and him having to be the 'leader' at this moment must be tough.

he sighs looking at the both of you. "if we wanna make it out of here alive...we're gonna have to fight."

[polystyrenequeen]

Alright, I am curious. Why is Jonny Cade queercoded and what queer subtext was there in their relationship with Ponyboys? 👀

TW: mentions of abuse, violence, death, murder

also spoilers for the outsiders!! (i mean it is a 60 year old book, but still)

-------

OOH OKAY OKAY

(In all honesty, I could probably do a whole essay on this, but I'll keep it brief-ish.)

Bit of background on The Outsiders: It's a book written in the early 60s that focuses on the class divide between the rich Socs (Socials) and the working-class greasers (like, "hoods", criminals), or rather the people within each of those groups who don't feel like they fit into the binary.

Ponyboy is the protagonist of the novel. He and Johnny are both greasers and part of a gang with a few others, including Ponyboy's two older brothers and three other boys.

Let's start with Johnny. Johnny is extremely queer-coded in his own right. He's described early on as timid, shy, weak and maybe a little feminine. He's seen as the gang's "pet" and the youngest, despite being sixteen to Ponyboy's fourteen. His friends are very fond and protective of him. A lot of this behaviour comes from his trauma, being abused by his parents as well as beaten nearly to death by a Soc named Bob. However, it also falls into an archetype of stereotypical queer characters. Writing male characters in this way is a way of subtly telling an audience that they are queer. This probably wasn't done intentionally, but should be kept in mind.

Johnny's character development involves him becoming more masculine, almost. The final important act he does in the book is save children from a burning building. Ponyboy comments on the fact that he seemed braver, louder etc in that moment, all traits associated with masculinity, which is 1) a strange reaction to the situation, especially for Johnny, and 2) exactly the kind of narrative standpoint one would take to show that femininity (or queerness) is bad.

Now for Ponyboy - his queer-coding is more subtle at times, and a little different. He isn't timid or shy or scared or feminine like Johnny. (However, he does once say that he "didn't care too much for girls yet", but that his brother said he would grow out of it. This is particularly strange, considering he is fourteen already.) Early on, it's established that he feels like an outsider within his own group. He doesn't really feel like a greaser, or act like one. He likes things that greasers don't like. He watches movies, he reads, he likes to see the sunset. He considers himself different, or "other", and he feels as if he can't talk about it. His friends just wouldn't get it.

A large part of the book, in my opinion, is Ponyboy finding other "outsiders", like Cherry and Johnny. (Cherry being a Soc while Johnny is another greaser.) All three of them talked once, while at a drive-in, Ponyboy finding a particular connection with Cherry despite her not being the only girl there. They all have the same sense of feeling “other”, and not being able to talk about it for fear of being judged.

Now for Johnny and Ponyboy’s relationship, which...oh boy. Some of it is just scenes like this, which feel very queer, outright:

“‘Guess I look okay now, huh, Johnny?’

He was studying me. ‘You know, you look an awful lot like Sodapop, the way you’ve got your hair and everything. I mean, except your eyes are green.’

‘They ain’t green, they’re gray,’ I said, reddening. ‘And I look about as much like Soda as you do.’ I got to my feet. ‘He’s good-looking.’

‘Shoot,’ Johnny said with a grin, ‘you are, too.’”

Not to mention the whole chapter they spend literally just acting like a domestic gay couple while they’re on the run, just the two of them, from the police. There’s also this conversation they have while watching the sunrise in this chapter (which I’ll talk more about later once I get to the symbolism), in which they talk about being outsiders. Here are a few quotes from that:

“‘You know,’ Johnny said slowly, ‘I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff until you kept reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before.’”

“‘Well, Soda kinda looks like your mother did, but he acts just exactly like your father. And Darry is the spittin' image of your father, but he ain't wild and laughing all the time like he was. He acts like your mother. And you [Ponyboy] don't act like either one.’”

“‘You [Johnny] ain't like any of the gang. I mean, I couldn't tell Two-Bit or Steve or even Darry about the sunrise and clouds and stuff. I couldn't even remember that poem around them. I mean, they just don't dig. Just you and Sodapop. And maybe Cherry Valance.’

Johnny shrugged. ‘Yeah,’ he said with a sigh. ‘I guess we're different.’

‘Shoot,’ I said, blowing a perfect smoke ring, ‘maybe they are.’”

(Honestly, can my whole argument just be that one quote? “I guess we’re different.” // “Shoot. Maybe they are.” Queer stuff, huh?)

Later in the book, when Johnny is in the hospital, Ponyboy stresses again and again that he can’t think about him dying, that he can’t fathom a life without him. Everyone in the group is fond of Johnny, but Ponyboy acts like Johnny’s death would destroy him.

When Johnny is dying, he asks to see Ponyboy. His last words are to Ponyboy, despite Dally also being in the room. One of the other last things he does is write a letter to Ponyboy.

Johnny is also the first person Ponyboy runs to when his older brother hits him early in the book.

When Johnny dies, Ponyboy falls into denial, pretending and convincing himself that Johnny isn’t dead, because he couldn’t handle the grief. He says the reason that he doesn’t go insane with it, like Dally does, is because Johnny isn’t the only thing he loves.

This isn’t nearly all of it, but this post is already long as fuck, and I want to talk about some of the metaphors and symbols too.

Symbol #1: The hair

The is a more obvious one, as the author clearly intended it to be a metaphor, although probably not for something queer. When Johnny and Ponyboy go on the run after Johnny killed a Soc in self-defence, the two of them have to cut off their hair. This is obviously a big deal to them, especially Ponyboy, because they’re proud of their hair - it’s a symbol of the greasers, of rebellion, and it’s one of the last things they have that tie them with their gang back in the city. However, having Johnny and Ponyboy specifically cut off their hair feels like more of a symbol of them severing their ties to the greasers. They feel like outsiders within their own group already, and this is a way of showing that they’re leaving it behind, or starting to. (Shedding symbols of comphet, you know.)

Symbol #2: Sunrises and sunsets

Johnny, Cherry and Ponyboy, three characters who are outsiders within their own community, all spend time watching sunrises or sunsets. It’s one of the things that Ponyboy and Cherry bond over and talk about. Johnny and Ponyboy also watch a sunrise while they’re on the run. It’s a small thing that unites the three of them and becomes almost a symbol of their “otherness”, and thus, queercoding enters the chat. Also, the sunrise that Ponyboy and Johnny watch can symbolise the “beginning” of their relationship, as they start to see each other in a different light. 

Symbol #3: Gone with the Wind

When Johnny and Ponyboy are on the run, Ponyboy buys the book Gone with the Wind from a corner store. They read it together. The book is an idealised story of the southern, free, country life. Johnny makes comments about how the men in the book are charming and gallant and he admires them. The book symbolises both what Ponyboy and Johnny wish they could be, like happy and free and rich (and straight and masculine), and what they are, or what they’re starting to find with each other while in the countryside. When Johnny is in the hospital, he asks for a copy of the book to read. It’s one of his last requests. In my opinion, he asked for it both to remember Ponyboy and to escape to a reality where he wasn’t young and dying, to one where he was still with Ponyboy on the run, or one like in the book where none of this happened at all. The book is integral to their relationship.

Symbol #4: The poem

When Ponyboy and Johnny are watching the sunrise in the church, Ponyboy recites a poem by Robert Frost:

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold,

Her early leaf’s a flower,

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

And Eden sank to grief.

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

At the time, the two of them both say that they don’t understand the poem. When Johnny dies later in the book, his last words to Ponyboy are to “stay gold”. In the letter he wrote for Ponyboy, which Ponyboy reads later, he says that he now understands the poem.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and that poem, that guy that wrote it, he meant you’re gold when you’re a kid, like green. When you’re a kid, everything’s new, dawn. It’s just when you get used to everything that it’s day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That’s gold. Keep that way, it’s a good way to be.”

Oh boy, there’s a lot to say about this poem.

First of all, the poem symbolises what Ponyboy gave Johnny - a new outlook on life. A lens with which to see more beautiful things. Johnny said that he hadn’t really appreciated sunsets or clouds before Ponyboy pointed them out to him.

Secondly, the meaning of the poem. When you consider Johnny’s interpretation, also taking into account what sunsets and sunrises etc. mean in this book, it’s possible that the “gold” phase is Ponyboy’s acceptance of himself. Ponyboy loves Johnny. He knows he’s different, and while he doesn’t shout it from the rooftops, he’s happy with it in his own way. He finds other people like him, queer, like Cherry and Johnny.

However, the poem’s whole meaning is that nothing gold can stay. That’s the message we’re left with, even with Johnny’s insistence of “staying gold”. It could honestly be referring to an array of things - perhaps Johnny himself, or life in general (given the amount of death in this book), or youth. Obviously, this whole post is about the queer undertones in the outsiders, so one could argue that it’s about a queer youth experience, especially in the past - finding someone like you, someone you love, but it not lasting forever, and it being especially difficult to find again, given the circumstances.

In the end, Johnny dies, but he leaves Ponyboy with all the things that remind him of him - sunsets, sunrises, Gone with the Wind, stargazing. And ultimately, I think that’s the “gold” that the book is referring to.

[laterzgators]

Sodapop going to see y/n at school play/musical Headcannons!

Thanks to @hey-there-angels for the suggestion!

You kept it quiet when you got your casting list back from the school and saw it posted outside the school auditorium.

You were a main role and got to sing and loved doing that but you were a bit embarrassed because you weren’t really a soc and that’s what socs did. You weren’t a greaser either but you stayed on their side more.

You weren’t gonna tell Soda about it at allll! He had no clue you could sing or act or even liked that stuff.

He’s super supportive but you wouldn’t tell him it was a bit embarrassing for you.

So you got to the Curtis house that day all quiet and not talking about it and being your usual self.

Weeks pass by and you are studying your lines and the songs you sing but still hadn’t said anything to Soda.

It was 3 days till show time and that’s when you had passed by the auditorium to see Pony looking at the cast list and he made a face when his eyes directed towards your name. You sprinted as fast as you could from there to make sure he wouldn’t confront you about it.

When you got to the Curtis house that day you were doing your homework with Soda and him being confused as to what you were doing since he wasn’t very bright as much as he tried.

That’s when Pony opened the door and saw you and said so loud, “Y/n? I didn’t know you were the main role in the school play I didn’t even know you liked that stuff.” He said to you smiling.

You in the other hand weren’t you were a bit embarrassed and had a confused look on your face. May I add the whole gang was at the house at that moment 😪✋

They all turned to you and you looked so RED... “Y/N I didn’t know you liked that stuff what are you a Soc? Haha” Dally had said and you were just frozen up in embarrassment.

“Y/n darling that’s great! Why didn’t you tell me? You know I would be proud for you love!” ☺️🥰 Soda told you that and you felt a bit relieved that he was okay about it.

“Oh I don’t know...you guys didn’t know I liked singing and acting and what not so I thought it wouldn’t be important...”

“Well I’ll tell you what all of the gang and I will go to see you on Friday okay?” Soda said. You only nodded and smiled.

The day finally came and you were more than nervous but you were also excited so you just waited for the curtains to come up and for you to do your best.

When you stepped on that stage and started singing, you looked around to see Soda there smiling at you. He had never heard you sing so was in pure awe of what his girlfriend could do. You smiled to yourself mentally and continued on.

The rest of the musical went on until finally curtain call came and you were last to be bowing.

People had thrown roses and chocolates and teddy bears and you smiled and the curtain closed.

You changed your clothing and fixed your hair and finally went into the lobby/ office of the school to see the guys.

When you did you had seen them all smiling at you and congratulating you and finally Soda gave you a grand hug and gave you a bouquet of flowers.

“You were absolutely stunning y/n. I’m so proud of you my love.” He hugged you once again and finally the night ended better than you expected

———————-

Thank you so much again for the suggestion! I love Soda so much and this was so fun to write 💖💖💖🛼🛼🛼

[blueberrypossum]

Another Night hidden within the Stars

(GN)yokai cop x Dastardly Danny

Hey yall! I've had the wonderful opportunity to collab with @greaser-wolf and man has it been a wonderful experience! You are truly a lovely person and thank you again for the drawing!! This was super fun to write, with Danny and how he talks he's a challenge that I loved taking on. Hope you all enjoy!!

This story is gender neutral, but with it being fancy I will be putting tux/dress so then you, the reader, can wear whatever you want on your date with Danny ( also suspenders will be in the tux category and dress suits will still be in dress, hopefully that is okay with everyone because I do want to put detail into your outfit).

⚠️WARNING⚠️: There are cuss words and also mention of sexual content along with yearning and making out!!!

Word Vocabulary:

FC- favorite color

Take a powder- Get lost or lay off

Crumb-A jerk, no fun

Eager Beaver- Someone who excited about something 

Cut a rug- Dance with me

Dead Hopper- A bad dancer

Jive dancer- A talented dancer

You could feel yourself slowly growing impatient as you waited outside of the restaurant, your foot tapping against the concrete with a jittery rhythm. Dastardly Danny was never the late type, he would make the joke of being fashionably late whenever he and the rest of his crew had a runin with trouble, but you knew by now that he would make sure his schedule was clear the days you would meet up. Especially after the time he and his friends literally rode to the place you were meeting up in a snail cop car, a sheepish smile curling against his mouth. 

You remember the awful paperwork for that one.

The night of the Hidden City glistened around you as you leaned against the building, your hands rubbing up against your arms to create some friction of warmth. Even with the outfit you had on, the nights were slowly getting chilly due to the change of seasons above. 

The bag you held against your side started to vibrate and for a second you thought it was going to be that purple wearing rat, telling you that something had happened or that he was going to be fashionably late, but it was actually your boss from the police station. You cleared your throat before you clicked on the answer button.

“Yes, chief?”

“Hello Y/N, I was seeing if you would be free tonight to work an extra shift?”

You balled your empty hand into a fist as you jumped from your spot against the building, your eyes glaring to the side as if you could see your boss there, looming over you with a smile that practically said: “ If you don’t say yes to this then I will give you paperwork that is stacked so high that the humans above can see it.”

You let out a breathy sigh as you explained, “I’m sorry, chief, but I have plans tonight and I really cannot cancel them.” You turned on your heel so that your shoulder was leaning against the wall instead of your back.

You could hear the anger and frustration behind his voice, “Are you sure that whatever is so important cannot be rescheduled?”

“No, it cannot.”

You almost jumped right out of your body as a voice behind you answered for you. Your face started to blush against the amber lights of the restaurant as Danny was now leaning his head against your shoulder, a wicked grin on his face as he continued to talk.

“Sorry there, chief, but being a cop can be a real pain in the neck, so take a powder and let me and the dame have our night, alright?”

You opened your mouth to apologize to your boss, to say that your boyfriend had just had a little too much to drink and was now saying whatever came to mind, but the tall rat’s hot breath against your neck made you stiff as a board. You swallowed and suddenly you felt parched as Danny took the phone from your hand and hung up on the chief of police and placed the phone back into your bag. 

“Ya know you can get lockjaw if ya keep that mouth open for too long,” he chirped as he took your hand into his. 

“You’re….You’re late,” you stammered out, your mind foggy with the possible fear of losing your job and also how Danny’s suit was cleaner and seemed to cling to his body tighter than before. 

He bent himself over and kissed your hand as he looked up at you with hooded eyes.

“Actually, love, I still have about two minutes. Would ya like me to walk away and come back and get ya flustered all over again?” 

“Oh hush up, you could’ve gotten me fired and he could've figured out your voice,” you commented, your heart almost futtering out of your chest as his lips met your hand. Always so formal, strange how a gentleman could also be a thief. 

Danny rolled his eyes and let out a ‘tch’ sound as he took in the sight of you. Your outfit was glistening against the fallen lights of the town, the color bringing out the color in your eyes. Danny was surprised that he still had his balance as he took a step back. No matter how many times he lays his eyes on you, you can always somehow leave him breathless.

He intertwined his arm with yours as he chuckled out, “Yer boss is a bloody crumb, darling, and if he could recognize my’ voice, toots, then there would be more criminals in yer holding cells.”

“You know I can just turn you three in and get that raise, right?” 

“Ah but you would never do that to us, especially me, sweetheart,” he purred as took your chin gently into his hand and kissed you. All the stress that had built up within your body for the past few days melted away as he pulled you in closer to the kiss, your knees almost going weak as you felt him smile against your lips. His hand was careful against your cheek, as if his destructive and dangerous life would break you, even with you being a cop. His whiskers tickled your face and you couldn’t help but giggle into the kiss, causing Danny to bring you closer to him at the sound of your happiness. 

After the kiss, he planted one against your cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. 

“You look ravishing tonight, ” He purred as he led you over to the door, his arm already extending it to open it for you.

You let out a sigh as you pushed the fabric you were wearing down to wash out the wrinkles.

“You don’t think it’s too much?” You asked as Danny told the hostess the fake name he placed for the dinner reservation. As the hostess turned around to grab a few menus, Danny let go of your arm and ever so slowly danced his hand from the nap of your neck, down your spine until it planted itself onto your tailbone as he whispered into your ear, “Oh sweetheart, if we weren’t in this restaurant, I know exactly what I would be having for dinner instead.”

He smirked as a pretty shade of red crossed your face and even tinted the edge of your ears as the hostess turned back around and told you both to follow her. Danny had to practically drag you since your mind was nothing but a haze of embarrassment and desire. 

The tall rat yokai pulled your chair for you and you thanked him as he pushed you closer to the table and took a seat himself.

You took in the sight of the restaurant with a look of awe. The eating house was colored with wine and gold and the building was buzzing with life of friends and family and lovers just like you and him. You both had made sure, with the help of a worker there, that no cop or detective had placed a reservation at the restaurant, so no more looking over your shoulder or horror stabbing you in the gut when you watched yokais whisper and look over at you. 

Danny watched as you took it all in, an almost lovesick expression crossing his face. Everytime you both went out he would remember the first time you both met, with your pistol shoved into his face. Dating a cop was something that never crossed his mind, he always thought he would date a thief such as himself or maybe a regular citizen of the Hidden City. But, when you first chased him, screaming his name at the top of lungs, he knew it was love at first sight. 

He did hate the secrecy though, even with the thrill of getting caught was something he got high off of, he did want to show you off to the world, he wanted to take you out everywhere without any of your coworkers finding you. At least you both got to do this, and he knew how to mark you as his. 

The option of you quitting your job raged inside his head, the sheer thought of it made him mad. He would never let you give up your passion, how hard you’ve worked for your position at work, even though you said you would be fine with it, he wouldn’t be, and knew that you secretly wouldn’t be either.  

“So, I heard about that heist you did a few days ago, how did it go?” You questioned as you laid your head in your hands, your elbows supporting your weight. Danny let out a gust of air as he also leaned in, taking in the breathtaking sight that was you. 

“Don’t even get me started, sweetheart. Leonard is doing the chores for the rest of da month for the stunt he pulled during it,” the rat groaned and soon a waitress came up and Danny ordered one of their expensive wines, once she walked away, you raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Wine, huh? That heist money really working itself off, isn’t it?” You played at him and he let out a low gruff as he smirked at you. 

“Only using the money for good, right?”

“Oh and I’m considered good?”

Danny gave you a hungry look and for a moment you thought he was going to get out of the chair and eat you up in one bite, but all he did was bring his hands together  on the table as he leisurely spoke. 

“Of course.”

Oh titans above how was I so lucky to land him.

You both ordered your meals and continued to have small talk. One thing you both decided to agree on was that Danny would talk about opposing gangs that were doing heists and robberies and then would tell you about them the next stop they were going to, with this you were given praise and extra cash at work and giving The Mud Dogs less competition in the playing field. It made Danny warm inside to see you have an interest in his job and it made you bashful when he would compliment you on your job.

In the background of your conversation was the beauty of musicians playing their hearts out for those who were out on the dancefloor, the restaurant was flooded with intoxicated laughter and the tapping of shoes against the wooden floor. The wine was slowly getting to you after the third glass and you couldn’t help but to start giggling after every word you said. 

After the waitress took your plates and left the check, you and Danny had to fight over who would pay. 

“You paid last time, I'll pay it,” you ordered as your fingers tried to swipe it from his hands, but he was a lot quicker than you and he let the bill twirl in between his fingers as he stared at you. 

“Not a chance, eager beaver, the deal is that you bring your decked out self and I get to gawk at ya until I need to pay the bill,” he insisted and was about to pull out his credit card before he felt your fingers touch his and soon the bill was gone from his hands and all he could do was glare lovingly at you as you giggled in your seat, the piece of paper shoved under your hands. 

“Yer not gonna give up, are ya?”

“Isn’t that what you like about me?”

His eyes traveled over your body slowly, hardly an ounce of urgency in them as he took in every inch of you. The curve of your waist, the way your outfit was flushed against your body like water to paper, how there were still love marks on your chest and barely above your neck from your last visit with each other. Desire was blazing through his eyes as they finally met yours. 

“Oh sugar pop, there is a whole list of things I like about you,” he growled and he took pride in the way you squirmed in your seat.

He eyed the dancefloor and then back at you and gradually got himself out of his chair until he was next to you, his hand extended out. 

“How about this: You cut a rug with me and you get to pay, deal?” He asked. You looked down at his extended hand and then back at his smug look, wondering if the wine had somehow gotten more to him then you. 

“Oh please, you know I have two left feet. If we danced your feet would be sore for weeks from me stepping on them,” you joked out, but he didn't move. 

“If ya were a dead hopper, I wouldn’t be askin. That or else I get to pay the bill,” he challenged. You didn’t know if it was the pride you held or from the extra glass of wine you swigged down, but you took his hand and let him lead you to the dancefloor. 

The music buzzed through your ears as you held tighter to his hand. You had fought bad guys, you had been in blazing shootouts, you’ve seen life be taken away right in front of your eyes. But dancing seemed to be the hardest challenge to muster up courage to master. Danny gave your hand a reassuring squeeze as he took you both to the middle of the dancefloor. 

He took the hand he was holding and extended your arm with his, while his other arm went around your waist, bringing you almost dangerously close. You could smell the alcohol on his breath and his cologne drained through your nose. 

“Danny, what if we get caught? Everyone can see us,” you whispered. Many eyes were peering at you two, some just being distracted by the new movement you both caused and others eyeing the rat as if they recognized him. Fear started to snake itself around your body, almost trapping you once again in that constant fear of being discovered. 

But, the love of your life gently tapped his nose against yours as he shushed you so quietly that you could barely hear it. His calming scent and even breaths washed over you and you felt yourself relax. No one has ever made you feel like this, no past lover, no family or friend, Danny wasn’t just a breath of fresh air to you, he was a whole new world to you. 

“Hey, just let me show you off for just a few minutes, just this once, doll. Then we can go back to being Romeo and Juilet, I promise,” he purred and you silently nodded as he swept you off your feet. It almost seemed that the musicians took notice in the new lovebirds and the music picked up to match the tense and eager atmosphere, even the yokais around you took hints and their own moves started to change. 

Both of your dance moves were slow at first, the rat yokai letting you get used to him taking the lead, with his quick feet and swirls and twirls, you were a little shocked at how well he was. He held onto you though, taking in your cautious swings and how your eyes were on your feet instead of up. Danny knew he was selfish for asking this out of you, he knew that you didn’t want to embarrass yourself in front of him. But the way you looked on the dancefloor was almost bewitching. Your tux/dress flew silently around you, the tone of your (FC) shined against the spotlight that twirled overhead, and your eyes almost seemed to glow in the scarlet and golden room, outshining and blinding anyone else around him.

He knew then he was deeply and terribly in love with you.

“My eyes are up here, toots.”

“So is that sarcastic mouth of yours.”

“You really do crack me up, dollface.”

He then let go of your waist and swept you away from him, the only thing connecting you two was the interlocking of your hands. Starlight seemed to bounce off you because he quickly brought you back to him, a little noise escaping your mouth as it felt as if you were dancing on air for how light he made you feel. He was behind you now, his mouth dangerous close to where your neck connected with your shoulder. His breath created goosebumps across your body as a feather kiss was placed against an old love mark he had given you days ago. Your heart seemed to go crazy within your ribcage as he twisted you around, your chests once again flushed against each other’s. Danny took several steps to your side and you quickly joined him, the wine and your wit gradually giving you confidence and soon you both were laughing, as if there was no one else in the restaurant, in the city, in the world. 

He took notice in your new found bravely and he swiped his arm under your rump and lifted you up, his smile growing wider as a flood of giggles escaped your mouth as you looked down at him. 

“Hey look! I’m finally taller than you!”

“Aye, don’t get used to it!”

He brought you back down and in one swope he dipped you, his strong hands holding you firmly as your back bent against him. It almost felt like a dream, a wondrous and unbelievable dream that you thought if you made one wrong move, you would fall out of bed and this would no longer be real. But the way he effortlessly pulled you back up and looked into your eyes with a lopsided grin, you knew that this wasn’t just a dream, it was a dream come true. 

The song smoothly started to transition over to a much more tamed and kinder music that had everyone’s swaying hips go slower and closer. You were still giggling as Danny brought you against him and suddenly it was very cozy between you two. 

You let the melody consume you as Danny lightly drifted you throughout the dancefloor, his face ever so slowly getting closer to yours. His hands were roaming your back as he brought you ever so closer to him to the point you both were barely missing each other’s toes. Suddenly it seemed like you both were spinning around each other until his lips barely slipped over yours. 

“Look who’s become a jive dancer,” he said silently against your lips and a little groan escaped your lips at just hearing him talk to you like that, every word he ever whispered to you in private with no wondering eyes would burn you to your core. 

“I had a good teacher,” you joked back as your hands wrapped around his neck, your nails every so slightly digging into his fur. You felt him lose his breath against your face and his own fingers dug into your lower back and suddenly it felt as if you both weren’t close enough. You both were never close enough. 

“Have I mentioned how ravishing you look tonight?” He asked as he leisurely twirled you and brought you back to him. 

“Maybe. But it's nice to hear it from such a dreamboat like you,” you said against his lips and he dipped you once again, but you barely made it pass his shoulder as he pushed his mouth against yours. A whirlwind of emotions surfaced throughout your body as your hand came up and caressed his face, your stomach dropping to the floor and your heart traveling up your throat. 

He separated himself from you for just a second to bring you back up on your feet before attacking your lips again, one of his hands on the nap of your neck to tilt your head more up. 

You were aware of the suspicious and judging eyes that fell upon you both, but for the first time, you didn’t care. He made you worry less, he gave you such an intoxication that not a single bottle of alcohol could ever get you as drunk as he did. The aftertaste of wine drifted onto your lips and you moaned into his mouth, grinning evilly as he shifted in his spot. His tail soon curled around your waist so that his other hand could go to the side of your face. 

He detached himself from you for just a second to say, “ Ya better pay that bill before the only thing yer wearing is that smile.”

The world seemed to freeze before you as your hands slipped off of him and walked him over back to the table, the bill trembling in your hands as you paid for it, all while feeling Danny’s hand place itself lower than your back. You can feel sweat slowly start to build over your body as he opened the door for you and followed you out the door. 

And before you knew it, you were back at your place, and once Danny closed the door behind you, he pounced, as if he wasn’t the rat, but the cat. His hands traveled over your outfit as if it burned his hands and couldn’t keep them in one spot and his kisses were slow and teasing, causing you to squirm under his touch. You couldn’t breath, you couldn’t hear anything, all you felt was the buzzing against your fingertips as they dug into his chest, your hands had already done the work to undo his tie and his undershirt. 

The door met your back and Danny was panting against your lips, his mind had gone completely blank except for you, he only thought about you and this moment, how it might be days until he saw you again. The thought of not seeing you stabbed him in the gut, and he’s known that feeling before, and it’s not a good feeling. He missed hearing your laughter, he desired to see your glistening eyes look at him, he wanted to be with you. It drove him nuts, no, it drove him insane at the thought of it. That once he woke up from your bed, he would have to sneak out early so that no one would see him leave your home and would have to race back to his apartment instead of laying with you and getting to wake up with you in the morning. He’s never been here when you woke up, he’s never been able to see your eyes flutter open and for the first thing for you to see in the morning was him, he’s never been able to see the morning light shine against your features as if the sun was trying to capture your face. He’s never been able to share the first cup of coffee with you, to see his pjs shirt draped over you like a blanket as you watch the morning go by, as he would watch you with loving eyes. And that’s what drove him to kiss you harder, that’s what pushed him to pull your head back and for him to replace your old love marks with new ones, it’s what forced him to savor every second of this, to cherish what you give him tonight, he would cherish every damn second you gave to him in secret. 

[ladylillianrose]

Episode 16 thoughts

Serkan being all concerned and confused at Eda lovingly reaching for him. Also I cannot with his facial expressions/eyebrows lmao

Serkan you're going to have your hands full keeping her awake lol (speaking from experience, you get pretty cranky and snarky when you've had a concussion)

Bless you doctor, you are clearly team Edser. Let's introduce you to Seyfi and Sirius

We need more Ceren Engin and Piril together!

Serkan don't deny that you want to spend all day with her

Engin honey you are so bad at lying it's adorable.

Oh Serkan love, having her this close and yet not is going to hurt so much.

Aydan yelling at Seyfi and Seyfi running off 🤣🤣

Someone should keep track of how many times Serkan has to tell Eda to not sleep.

"I would give everything to stay in this moment forever" *swoon*

Romantic Robot is my favorite nickname 🤖❤

Lol Serkan being haunted by the song.

Oh no, no too quick that she remembers! Serkan knew it wouldn't last.

Engin wearing jeans 🔥🔥🔥

Okay I take back what I said, Piril is a way worse liar than Engin 🤣🤣🤣

Lmao so much like their behavior early on in their relationship

Oh Serkan you giant liar!!! You want nothing more than to spend the night with her.

Eda you don't really want a "normal life"

They're going to be tormented by soooooooo many memories from that night!

Uggghhhh they're just so domestic and perfect together 🥺🥺🥺

Making her coffee 🥺🥺🥺

Oh yeah no one is going to make it through this night not tormented by memories

Fifi with the tarot cards lol

Thank God Eda is so smart and knows that there has to be a reason for the breakup because they both still love each other❤❤

Lmao the "depression cardigan" as Kerem called it🤣🤣

Lies you would so not go to the same levels you are for another employee! Similar but nowhere near these extremes

That face when he saw Efe's name!

"What remains in your life for a long time?" Yowch savage Eda!

Cranky surly Eda lol! This is basically me when my husband has to wake me up.

Lmao the music!! He’s so damn pleased with himself 🤘🤘

Uggghhh Serkan you both are hurting so so much!😭😭😭

Ooo Ayfer is going to murder him

Aydan's face at the ring and Serkan fiddling with it🤣🤣

Oh Eda you have no idea how justified in his mind the break up is.

Serkan is 100% right to not trust Efe! Omg hiring a detective yesssss!!!!

Selin, Eda and Serkan are none of your business!!!

Lmfao Engin listening to Piril over Serkan

Oooo I want to rent the café next to the flower shop

What is Eda wearing??? It's like she stole the linebackers fraternity sweater vest 🤣🤣🤣 Can we call it Eda's "depression sweater"?

Efe bringing her ice cream and Serkan being jealous

Jealous Serkan 😍😍😍

Ceren is an incredibly competent lawyer, Selin's jealousy is ridiculous

Yes Serkan wanting to keep Ceren!!

No no no you don't move Eda out of the building! 🤬🤬🤬🤬

Where are Erdem and Leyla to just lock them in a room together! (not one that will make Eda claustrophobic)

I'm glad Ferit refuses to sell to Selin. He’s coming into his own working for them

Oh no you won't get what you want Efe!!!

Piril giving Eda hope of Serkan's feelings, by telling her he knew where she was at the beach 😍😍😍😍

Eda go talk to Engin, he'll spill the beans!!

Leyla remembering Piril's birthday 😍😍😍 And saying she remembers those who are important to her.

I love Leyla so much!!

Ferit did right telling Ceren and offering advice.

Lmao Alptekin trying to arrange a boys night

Serkan you are terrible at watching Eda and not getting caught lol

Efe is missing the leather jacket to look like the "bad boy" with the wat his hair is and in that white t-shirt lol

Oh no Engin is going to be in so much trouble for forgetting Piril's birthday

"Have I ever asked you for something?" "Engin, you ask for something every day" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Oh yes Serkan always wins

Oh no Efe did not just call Eda honey. That's Serkan's thing!!!

And there's the leather jacket, 100% the bad boy greaser look on Efe

Lmao Alptekin taking the "good controller"

Uggghhh these two and their rings 🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭

Yaaaasss Karaoke night with the girls!!!

Erdem moved out!! And is sleeping in the office oh Erdem

Lmao the boys wearing team jerseys

Wow Leyla 🔥🔥🔥

I miss doing Karaoke with my friends 😭😭😭

Alptekin you can fix things by telling Eda the truth!!

The boys are so ridiculously competitive

I love Piril's voice

Oooo Engin you are so dead!!

Lmao Leyla drunk on the phone with Serkan 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Erdem singing and cracking that hard exterior of Fifi's

Oooffff poor Engin

Serkan watching Eda sing about her heartbreak 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Good girl Eda don't back off! Find out the truth!

Aydan is so backed into a corner feeling like if she doesn't try to leave the house she'll never get to see Serkan

Drunk Eda trying to pair everyone off lol

Don't even try Efe, she is not yours!

How could you say no to him *swoon*

He just wants to love her and take care of her 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Lmao post girls night hangovers

No Eda nooooo come on you know better!!

Lmao at Leyla and Erdem hangovers

Oh Serkan finding a way to help Ayfer and Eda without directly assisting,

Lmfao at Serkan throwing water on Engin to wake him up!!

NOOOOO not Efe! Serkan!!!

Yes put the pieces together Serkan!! Secret partner is Grandma!!!

Don't you dare take credit for it Efe!!

Aydan doing therapy 🥺🥺🥺 And being so upset about Eda because she loves her and has a strong bond with her

Okay so Efe's secret partner is a man, who could it be???

He never has been able to say no to her 🤣🤣🤣

He loves seeing her so passionate about her work!

Oooooo direct challenge!!!

Eda not willing to go to Aydan for coffee, but willing to help her with her therapy stuff

Ferit supporting Ceren 😍😍

Eda has a point about Ceren and Ferit, but Ceren also has a point

Lmao at Eda's condition for helping Aydan.

"Did she hurt you?" "Not as much as her son" damn Eda!

[alri-xo]

Ship of Dreams (Titanic 1997 AU) | Chapter 2

Gif not mine.

A/N: Hi guuuuys so like this is chapter 2... Took me a long time to make this because this week has been a pretty rough for me personally and I genuinely feel like I needed to edit this chapter so much to deliver all the feels and stuff... Hopefully...

Pairing: Alexander Pierce x Reader, Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier) x Reader

Warnings: Again, age gap, language, rich people being rich people...

The Titanic finally hit more vast waters, gliding through the sea as it head out farther from land.

Bucky and Steve ran down the corridor, the enamel white walls serving a backdrop for the people cramming its sides as they tried to find their way inside.

They weaved through the people to find their quarters, they passed by many people of many walks of life. Like a Chinese man holding probably an English to Chinese dictionary to figure out what the writings meant, children getting lost and the like.

They finally found their room, its painted door looks welcoming, at least to people like them.

"This is it, Steve..." Bucky says as he opens the door, Steve following right behind him as he places his stuff on the top bed of the double decker laughing, "Who says you take top bunk?"

The two other men looked at them, as they didn't look like the original booked passengers. The chocolate man shocked as he looked up from his book and the other leaned against the steel framing of the double-decker.

Bucky neared to the man reading the book and shook his hand, as his face also painted a shook expression, "James Barnes... People call me Bucky..." he greets. He just remained silent as he his eyes gawked at him, then to his friend.

"Where the hell is Ivan?"

💎

In contrast, Y/N was at first class and not just any first class part of the ship. The grandest suite of the ship.

It had the most ornate wood carvings painted in gold at the sitting room, a wide bedroom, and it had a curtained canopy with red velvet and gold tassels, and it had a place for lounging and eating, overlooking the ocean and the sun striping light onto the furnishings and plants, serving up a tropical vibe.

They set their multitude of luggage to get settled in their temporary home. Y/N had an eye for the arts. Paintings of different mediums littered the room waiting to be hanged... Paintings by Monet and Picasso were there, as Alexander thought they were a waste of money.

Y/N rolled her eyes and she entered her room with their maid and her only friend, Carol... She has known Y/N for a good year now, but they have grown to be very close.

She made Y/N feel like a normal girl with real feelings, and not a girl wearing money for show like her mother is.

She helped Y/N ready her quarters, boxes of jewelry and even larger boxes of garments are to be organized. Upon entrance with her friend and mistress, the scent of fresh paint and a new matress fills her nose.

"It smells so brand new... It's as if they made it just for us..." she chirps happily to Y/N, making her smile, "Tonight, when I crawl into the sheets, I'll be the first!"

Y/N smiles bigger looking at her, but it only lasts for a moment. Alexander is at the doorway, looking at her like she's but prize that he won, "And tonight, when I crawl in the sheets, I'll still be the first."

Carol goes cold in fear, as she knows what Alexander can be to Y/N. She is no stranger to his passive aggressive behavior towards her or Y/N. She turns on her heel, "S'cuse me, miss..."

It's now the two of them in Y/N's room... Y/N turns her back to him as she faces the mirror as seeing him draw nearer to her.

He hugs her from behind, but her expression is bleak, "The first and only... Forever..."

All she could think of was her life. Her future with this man she doesn't even know well, claiming her as his because of her mother's terms. Also, a man twice or maybe triple her age?

His scent of cigarette and faint alcohol filled her nose as he kissed behind her ear and on her shoulder. She kissed his cheek back reluctantly, to show her devotion. Empty devotion.

💎

Reader's Point of View

Me and mother decided to explore more of the ship, as Alexander insisted. However, where ever she went she had something to say.

It was close to dusk, but a person like me rarely make the sunset grace my vision... Mother forbid it, saying I have more important things to do... And... Staring out into the open, admiring the view is not what a good wife is.

We went down the elevator to the entrance of first class, the reception area with prominent people that my mother and I know.

They know me, but I don't really care as much as she does.

A woman comes in to the entrance, a suitcase in hand, "Well, I wasn't about to wait all day for you, sonny... Now, do a lady a favor and carry those for me, please..." she asks politely, the feathers on her hat dancing in the air as she moved.

She gave mother a small smile, and mother reciprocated one... One for show... However, mother envied this woman for her looks and undeniably beautiful figure.

No corset can imitate the curves she had... Even if mother had a corset made by the finest corset maker. Nothing.

She is Natalia Romanoff, but people call her Natasha or simply, Nat. She came from a poor background, but struck luck some place west. She was someone mother called 'new money.'

We set off after our last stop, with nothing in front of us but ocean. The ship was unstoppable at this point... Neither is that wedding.

💎

Third Person Point of View

The creamy glow of the afternoon filters on the grand ship. Every bit of floor illuminated by the setting sun. Bucky and Steve made their way out of their quarters and out to the open deck, as they looked over the rails that kept them safe in the ship.

Bucky looked down at the ocean. The glassy blue sheets splitting in two as the ship glided across like a fine blade.

The captain of the ship smiled. His beard full and his hair neat under his hat, blue eyes as blue as the ocean he driving on.

He turned to his companion of dark hair, slicked back as his blue eyes as crystal clear as the water that hits the shoreline.

"Take her to sea, Loki... Open her up..." he says as his companion nods and obliges.

"Yes, Thor... And may I remind you, Captain..." he begins emphasizing the title, "You should stir her not me..." he chuckles.

Thor rolls his eyes playfully at his brother, watching him leave then watching the sunset glow in front of him.

Below the decks however, work is being robust. Men covered in soot as the doors blazed bright flames as they added more to make the ship pick up.

The shipbuilder watches the engineers and greasers work their magic, seeing everything move accordingly and how he wanted it. He built the beauty they are working in and he is proud of it, it's exactly what he wanted.

The propellers under water pick up pace as more energy was introduced to the ship. They chopped through the water making it glide faster.

On the deck, Bucky's hair was blown by the wind, the scent of fresh air and sea filling his lungs as a big smile on his face appeared. Steve was holding on to his hat as he looked into the horizon.

Captain Thor Odinson looks at the same view, as if feeling triumphant and free. The massive ship his steed as his brother looked through the glass as they rode above the deep sea.

Steve smiles, looking at the water and asking Bucky to do the same, they spot two dolphins running with the ship. Their forms going up and down, above and under the sea as a pod of dolphins appear near the front of the ship.

Steve then stares through the horizon, the sunsparkles on the ocean beam warm light like gold under the slow setting sun.

"I can see the Statue of Liberty from here..." he grins happily as the wind in his face blows, "Very small, of course..."

Bucky smiles back then stands higher near the hand rails that keep them prisoner in such paradise, "I'M THE KING OF THE WOOORLD!!!"

💎

Reader's Point of View

The next day came like a fast turning of a page. My first night in the ship was pleasant, as if the waves rocked me back and forth on its calm waters. The scent of everything new made it feel even nice, knowing that all of it can be as comfortable as can be for me.

We were having a meal with two of the people who are the most important passengers of the ship. Tony Stark, the person who named the ship RMS Titanic, the ship builder, Bruce Banner.

They collaborated, Mr. Stark had the vision and Mr. Banner did the mission to make the Titanic into a reality.

"She's the largest moving object made by the hand of man in all of history..." Mr. Stark begins to say, "And our master ship builder, Mr. Banner here, designed her from the keel plates up."

He looked down and smiled shyly, not wanting the attention, "Well, I might have built her, but it was Mr. Stark's idea... He envisioned a steamer so grand in scale and so luxurious in its appointments that its supremacy will never be challenged... And here she is..." he says slapping the table proudly, "willed into solid reality."

Natasha looked at the two other men and cocked her brow "Why are ships always being called 'she'?" She asks jokingly, "Is it because men think half the women around have bigs sterns and should be weighed in tonnage?"

I smiled as they laughed, mother being quite amused of Natasha's words, "Just another example of men setting the words their way..."'

Admittedly, Natasha is witty and fun, but she is not everyone's cup of tea. Especially with my mother and her group of friends.

The waiter approached our table and thankfully, he had matches. I lit my cigarette and placed the thin end of its holder, savoring the smoke down my throat.

"You know I don't like that, Y/N..." my mother tuts quietly, making me look at her and glare. I blow smoke as she backed away slowly.

"She knows..." Alexander mumbled, taking away the cigarette and stubbing it out on the ash tray, as he said our orders. What he wants, I'll also get. As if I had a choice sometimes.

"So, you're gonna cut the meat for her too, Alexander?" Natasha asks smirking.

Alexander ignored her question, turning to the other men at the table and at my mother. In all honesty it might be the only thing that is left for him to do to me at this point.

They discussed about why the Titanic was named as such, being synonymous with everything that is big and grand, but secure and safe. Me being bookish and a person who is as educated as everyone on this table, it made me want to bring up something big.

"Do you know about Dr. Freud? His ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of interest to you, Mr. Stark..."

Mr. Banner choked on his meal, holding back a laugh and it made mother glare at me.

"Y/N what has gotten into you-" I cut mother off as soon as she heard my chair creak on the floor.

"Excuse me..." I muttered as I walked away and out.

Natasha's Point of View

Well, that was rough.

Katherine's eyes widened, mortified by her daughter's actions. Definitely not what a mother wants to see in a daughter like Y/N.

At least for Katherine.

Also, as a wife for a man such as Alexander is such a leap. She seriously could've gotten any man for her daughter. Someone her age, perhaps? Not someone who could possibly be dead after the wedding night...

Oh, I'm just teasing...

"Seems like you got a pistol in your hands, Pierce... Think you can handle her?" I asked nonchalantly... It is reality what I'm saying... Since when did I fake it like the other women on first class?

"I guess I should mind what she's reading from now on..." he grins half heartedly as she follows Y/N out.

Jolly good show... Jolly good show indeed.

💎

Bucky's Point of View

"Look, daddy... Look at the birds!" The little girl says happily looking at the seagulls flying above the ocean, her father supports behind her as she is seated on the metal railing.

The energy they give off reflects on my ongoing sketch. Innocence and certainty, wisdom and care. A different aura from what I used to draw while I was some place else.

Steve looks over my shoulder, seeing what I have came up with and gave me an appreciative nod. He taught me how to draw and sketch, and now I am as hooked to drawing as he is.

Our two roommates hung out with us breathing the fresh air and the scent of the ocean. The bliss stopped when we heard the scent of dog poop in the air.

We looked up to see that the ship staff brought the dogs from first class to take a shit on the deck for third class, and with one of them having the most wrinkled face it would pass as something not of this earth.

"That's totally normal here... First class dogs come down here to take a shit..." One of them says, making me and Steve laugh a little...

"Yeah... Tops the scent of the room next to ours every night..." his friend says making him laugh, "Well, maybe the stink of the money they all have too..."

The guy from the staff glared at him, making them stop laughing as he left with the dogs.

I shrugged, "That's when we know where we rank in the scheme of things..." and Steve nods in agreement.

Then silence filled the air for a moment, the sound of the water and the squawking of seagulls in the horizon was our music.

"I'm Sam Wilson... This is my friend, Peter Parker..." he says stretching out his hand to shake mine and I shake his.

"James Barnes... Bucky for short..." I greet back, but his face paints curiosity, "Short for Buchanan..."

"Steve Rogers..." Steve greets as he exchanges handshakes with Sam and Peter, as I focus back to my drawing, the final strokes left.

I close my leather sketch pad and slip my pencil inside of it with a sigh. Surely, this ship is a work of art as everyone says it is... It's no lie...

I looked up to look around and I see her. Oh, she's an angel....

Who looks like that amongst all the people here? She's made by the gods.

She glowed under the sun, her dress shines and ripples in the wind. The silk on her skin hugging every curve and edge she had perfectly as her eyes looked over the railing.

Her cheeks flush as the heat made them redden, sun kissed. Her (y/h/c) hair in a neat updo with tendrils romantically falling freely framed her gentle face.

She looked at me, her (y/e/c) eyes sparkling and dolly, but expressive with a sense of distress for someone who had the world wrapped around her finger. Then she looked away again at the horizon.

Then all of a sudden, an older man approaches her... Her father, perhaps? Then he wraps his arms around her, but she tries to push him away.

Oh, he's her lover... But, they bicker a little as the man continues to try and persuade her.

I wish I could've looked at her longer. I was, but I wish she could've looked at me just as long.

"Oh forget it, Barnes... You'd rather have angels fly out your ass to be next to the likes of her..." he says making Peter and Steve laugh. I ignore them as I focused on the lady at first class, now storming back inside to her little world to live her little life as a first class passenger...

When will I ever see her again?

<- Previous | Next ->

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and I do apologize that it's long with no page break. Once again, I hope I did this justice and I hope y'all stay safe. ily

-Alri

Taggies 💕 (DROP ME AN ASK IF YOU WANT IN)

@witchymegg @amisutcliff @luna4501 @likeit-or-leaveit @underworldqueen13 @theaussiedragon @vhsbarnes @uglipotata72829

[moviediary]

Grease 2

So, this movie kind of slaps in the worst way ever. You have to watch it with the knowledge that it’s terrible, it makes it a lot better. The songs are pretty underrated, a lot of them are low key bops and I would probably listen to them without watching the movie. It’s a product of its time so of course it’s aggressively heteronormative even though the main guys are very queer coded just like most 80s movies. The main girl is a fine singer, but her character is kind of boring and really just an ass most of the time. She also has no business being in a movie about the 50s (or maybe the 60s it’s not very clear) she is so obviously a quintessential 80s chick from her hair to her leather pants, she’s basically Sandy’s makeover as a person. In my opinion the main love interest could have done a lot better. He spends the whole movie doing the reverse of the first movie, going from geek to biker??? Yeah, they all ride motorcycles now, but they’re still called T-Birds which really doesn’t make sense but nothing in this movie really does. Oh! And Frenchy is in it, she came back to high school to complete her chemistry credits?? The whole movie is a mess but honestly, I enjoy watching it. I’ll watch it again, I already have.

Basically it’s the first movie but gender swapped and with a talent show and biker gangs.

The T-Birds really make this movie, they’re the most interesting characters in it. Their leader Johnny is funny and likeable despite being a dick, he has very obvious vulnerability and growth during the film which makes the audience not hate him. His goons are hilarious, they have some of the best lines in the movie and I actually laughed out loud at some of the shit they said. I could do without the gratuitous sexualization of high schoolers but what can you do. I don’t really understand why they have beef with this 20-person biker gang of full-grown adults that apparently have nothing better to do than antagonize 4 teenagers but hey I get it they need a common enemy. I also get that they were going for anger and jealousy when Johnny looked at Michael every time he was being his sexy mysterious biker persona but maybe they should have told him that because that definitely isn’t what’s coming across in his face. He has the biggest man crush I have ever seen I swear.

Michael, who is apparently Sandy’s cousin even though he’s British and she was Australian, really drives the story; everything happens because he wants to date Stephanie even though the only real conversations, they’ve had are just him being nice and her being a dick the whole time but I guess she’s pretty? So he becomes a biker to be what she wants because she wouldn’t date a hot smart guy with a British accent, no way he’s a loser. I guess. So instead he spends the whole movie trying to live up to her standards which is more than a little infuriating but lets be honest the plot isn’t really why you watch this movie. It really only starts happening in the 3rd act anyway, most of it is taken up by talent show hijinks and motorcycle themed music numbers. And a surprising amount of bowling. I wasn’t expecting the coolest kids in school to have their own bowling league but that bold choice did lead to a very confusing but fun musical number in which we see that Johnny sings high sometimes because he’s basically Danny in even tighter pants (somehow) and Paulette (a pink lady played by Judy Garland’s daughter) has an amazing voice that doesn’t get used enough in the songs.

There’s a lot of odd running gags in the movie that really don’t need to be there. Rhonda’s obsession with her “huge nose” even though it’s really not that big. The random teacher that had a nervous breakdown and keeps almost dying. The teacher whose whole gimmick is that she’s hot and maybe sleeping with her students? But definitely sleeping with the substitute teacher. The fact that Johnny’s right-hand man’s name is Goose? A reference to a movie that hadn’t even come out when this movie take place? I think anyway, like I said it’s really hard to pinpoint when this movie is supposed to take place. Also the T-Birds are on the football team I think? Or they’re running drills during PE which also doesn’t make sense with their characters. I don’t know man the whole movie is so strange they say stuff and then never bring it up again.

The ending is where I think the movie really lets you down. After a very weird talent show scene Where Steph has a very boring song and is all sad because she thinks Michael is dead, they have a party. And the party is a Luau and it’s quite possible one of the whitest things I’ve ever seen its so embarrassing. They have a long song about how they’re having a Luau and then they have a bunch of shirtless guys carry Steph and Johnny into a pool on a big throne/raft thing? And then the biker gang bursts in because they have nothing better to do and everyone’s screaming and throwing things it’s very chaotic. The continuity errors in this scene are absolutely outrageous. Then Michael shows up out of nowhere and Johnny literally quivers when he sees him (yeah he’s straight) and he singlehandedly kicks out all those hardened criminals. Then there’s a very long and awkward moment where they initiate Michael into the T-Birds even though school is basically over at this point and then Steph and Michael make out. One of my most hated scene tropes in movies, the very intimate confession and make out in the middle of a crowd. And then finally we have the last song of the movie in which Steph and Michael start off with a duet and their voices sound terrible together (it’s a sign and I refuse to believe otherwise) and then everyone else joins in and they try way too hard to tie up all the character’s storylines even though as the audience you weren’t really all that invested in greaser number three and pink lady number three’s sex life and most of these things didn’t really need to be sung out loud they were pretty minor parts of the movie. And oh, okay, everyone now ends up in a relationship even Paulette’s younger sister who I thought was in like, middle school but now I guess she’s dating the dumb guy from the T-Birds but they’re all seniors?? Okay…yeah, the ending fucking sucks it’s the worst part. The song is long and boring, and the choreography is bad but then they recap a bunch of the better songs during the credits and it’s all fine again!

Overall, the movie isn’t nearly as bad as I’ve heard other people say, I’ve seen much worse. And the thing is, the bad parts are kinda what makes it great in the first place. It’s kind of like when they made mean girls 2. It’s not really a sequel because non of the actually important characters are in it (except for Frenchy but she’s only there for like 10 minutes tops). It’s a cash grab but not the worst one. The songs are fun, and the characters are pretty fucking funny if you ignore how weird it is that they’re all like 30. I’d say watch it if it’s free to stream, don’t rent it. I probably get more out of it than a normal sane person because I read into character’s and their emotional connections way too much I basically am rewriting it in my head. I doubt anyone would be interested but I definitely broke down all the characters and their motivations and tried to figure out their actions, also known as me trying to create queer characters off of very unstable reasoning. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway, the people in this movie are pretty hot and most of the songs kinda slap so even if the plot is questionable other things make up for it.

As of now this movie is available for streaming on Amazon prime.

Final Verdict:

On my scale 7/10

Actual good movie scale 4/10

[justjessame]

A Little Ass and A Lotta Sass Chapter One:  Unimpressed Doesn’t Begin to Cover It

"Little pig, little pig-let me in," I heard a gruff voice call from the gates with an accompanying metallic clang and rattle, as I was taking my little sister Judith out for a walk. Rolling my eyes, I let out a huff of breath and started back to our house.

I passed Dad as he was rushing to the gates, he paused long enough to kiss my forehead and hers. I smiled at him in encouragement and continued toward the house. Negan. The murderous psycho that killed two of ours wasn't supposed to come by for another couple of days. I wasn't surprised. Clearly he was an asshole.

I hadn't been with the others during the mission to flatten the Saviors. Dad had decided that I was more helpful to them if I stayed in Alexandria and kept morale up, while also taking care of Judith. That was fine with me. Not that I was afraid of standing up for our people, but honestly, usually my mouth tended to get ALL of us in more trouble then we started with. My only excuse, and one I was careful not to use too often, was that I'd been an only child for my first six years of life. Dad and Mom had spoiled me rotten, and by the time Carl came along, well it was way too late to reign me in. My mouth at least. Mom had called me "Sassy Pants".

Bouncing Judith in my arms, kissing her silky blonde curls, I considered whether I should rush inside and stay far away from Negan and his minions, or settle on the porch in one of the white rocking chairs and watch. Dad would probably want me to hide, with Judith, inside. Unfortunately, I rarely considered what Dad would want. I mean, I kind of wanted to see how horrific this dickhead was for myself. But I didn't want him or his people to see Judith. I rushed into the house, carrying her upstairs, and was happy to see that she was clearly ready for a nap. I grabbed one of the baby monitor's receivers and pushed it into the pocket of my skinny jeans. I had it turned loud enough to feel the vibrations, just in case she woke up in the middle of the unannounced visit.

Rushing back downstairs, I opened the front door and sat down on the top step. This would give me more options to run, if I chose the chair, jumping over the banister might break my damn leg. As I sat, I considered what Carl had told me about the night Abe and Glenn had died. The night Negan stole Daryl away. The night he nearly forced Dad to cut my baby brother's arm off. I'd felt so much rage and pain since that night. Losing so much, especially when I saw how fucking broken he'd made Dad. Nothing had hurt him so much that he lost sight of what was important, but now? Now he was almost a husk.

Things had been tense, not just in the community, but in our house. Michonne and Dad seemed almost on pins and needles around one another. Carl looked like he'd rather do nothing other than storm the gates and take Negan's head himself. And little Judith was picking up on the entire mess and making her sleep less restful. Me? I felt like I had when we first learned that the dead walked. Like nothing could get fucking worse, but then God laughed and considered that thought a fucking challenge.

I heard that same gruff voice give an order that made little sense, until I caught a glimpse of Dad walking beside a tall man in a leather jacket, barbed wire baseball bat on his shoulder. Negan, I thought, and then my eyes caught the reason for the order. "You don't look at him, you don't talk to him, and I don't make you chop anything off of him." Daryl was creeping alongside one of the minions. He was dressed in the dingiest sweats I'd ever seen, looking far worse than I'd ever seen him look before. Saviors? I snorted to myself. Sure.

I watched, trying to decide if Negan looked as scary as everyone felt he was. He came closer and more in focus, and I tilted my head. Dark hair, slicked back like an old fashioned greaser, a little gray brushing here and there. His face was far more salt than pepper, but his scruff looked too perfect, deliberately careless. The leather jacket was more fitted than I'd imagined. The bat was less intimidating, but then again, he wasn't playing a disturbing game of "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" with me. The rest of him looked like most of the men in my life, just far cleaner than I thought he'd be.

"And what do we have here?" He whistled and I saw my dad flinch. Shit, guess I'd been too far inside my own head to realize they'd grown closer and now the asshole had his attention focused on me. "Shit, Rick, who the fuck is this little beauty?"

I rolled my eyes and stood, crossing my arms across my semi loose wine colored v-neck t-shirt. I really hoped he didn't think I was going to fucking kneel like he'd made my family before he killed two of them, because that shit was NOT going to happen. He'd asked Dad to tell him who I was, so I didn't feel the need to answer. Dad was looking at me like he'd wished I'd gone all the way inside, but I could also tell he was happy that Judith wasn't with me.

"My daughter," I wanted to scream at the quiet defeat I heard in Dad's voice. "This is my daughter, Callie."

"Fuck, Rick, if you'd brought her along to negotiate, you'd made it out far fucking better than you did." Negan hadn't taken his eyes off of me, rather off of my body, since he'd caught sight of me. "Your wife must have been fucking gorgeous." He walked closer to me and I stood my ground. "And shit, she's lookin' at me like she doesn't fuckin' care who I am." His dimples grew deeper as he shot me a smile that might have been charming if it wasn't attached to a fucking psychopath. "Damn, darlin', you gonna say 'hello' to your new leader?"

I raised an eyebrow and smiled just as deeply. "Sure," I looked at my dad and said, "hello, Dad!" And gave him a little wave.

Negan gave a bark of laughter and stared up at me from his position on the bottom step. It wasn't a far tilt of his head since I'm so goddamn short. "Fuck, you've got a fucking sassy ass attitude don't ya." I stared at him full on, refusing to be charmed or intimidated. "Shit, I swear to fuck your fucking mouth is making my dick hard." I rolled my eyes, breaking contact first, but honestly what the hell?

"That sounds like a very personal problem." I answered, and squinted at him. "Since, I'm guessing that bat on your shoulder is your compensation for the inadequate one in your pants, I don't think you'll have a problem working through it."

Another loud laugh and I could fucking swear his eyes were twinkling at me. Shit, was this fucking foreplay for him? "Hot damn, you got a firecracker here, Rick the Dick!" He winked at me and turned back to Dad. As they walked away, I moved into the house thinking that I could last a fucking lifetime before I had to deal with that dickhead again.

The visit was terrible for so many reasons. They took our weapons. They took comforts, like mattresses and furniture. They took so much, and for what? For power? Because they could? When Carl tried to fight back, I was upstairs holding Judith. She could sense the tension in the air, I swear, and she'd become fussy. When I heard the shots, I clutched at her tighter, wondering if today would be the day that everyone died.

It wasn't, but we weren't safe. Luckily they'd left the food. Apparently Negan wasn't as complementary to the other women, at least not poor Olivia. It was more than certainly better that I'd stayed inside. If I'd heard him make the obscene comments about her weight, I wouldn't have been able to hold my tongue. Or my knife, to be fair. I hated when anyone shamed someone else for a perceived shortcoming. Fat shaming, slut shaming, any type of shaming was fucking wrong.

I heard Dad and Michonne discussing retaliation. Numbers, Dad says, are the issue. Savior numbers are far more vast than they had planned for, and he completely shoots down her idea of utilizing Hilltop. He urges her, and all of us to just learn to live the way we have to now. It's our new reality.

A FEW DAYS LATER

I look all over for Carl, wondering where the hell the kid got to. Dad and Aaron are off trying to find supplies to satisfy their new overlord, and for once I cannot fucking believe that I've become Mom and lost Carl. Shit. Carrying Judith with me, I look from street to street, going all the way to the front gate and seeing nothing. I swear to fucking God, I think I am going to ring my brother's fucking neck.

Hours pass, with Olivia visiting me and helping me keep Judith occupied. We talk about the things we miss from before, something I try really hard not to do when the rest of my family are around. It's too painful, and it almost seems ungrateful seeing as we have all this.

"My cell phone," I nearly moaned. "I swear, I used to threaten to throw the fucking thing in a ditch, but I'd kill to have it back, along with the people I used to text and call." I sober at the thought.

She smiles at me. "Starbucks," her eyes closed thinking of her daily dose of overpriced caffeine clearly. "All the complicated orders and my name misspelled on the cup." We giggle, Judith starting to yawn.

"I'll be right back," I say, picking up the toddler and jogging upstairs to her room. I put her carefully in her crib and smooth her curls. "Sleep tight, baby Jude." I whisper, kissing her forehead as she closes her eyes and drifts off.

I'm coming down the stairs when I heard voices. Thinking it's only Carl, I call out, "I swear to fucking God, I'm going to strangle you." As I clear the bottom step, I'm confronted with a leatherclad chest, and fuck, fuck, fuck more laughter.

"Strangle me?" Negan places his leather gloved hand over his chest as though I'd wounded him. "Fuck, I never thought I'd find a threat so fucking sexy." His voice was low and I rolled my eyes again.

"Not you," I growled, seeing my brother standing by Olivia, "him." Carl didn't have his bandage on and I returned my attention to the asshole blocking my path. "What the fuck did you do to him?"

Negan stepped back slightly, frowning at my tone. "Me? I didn't do shit to him. He came at me, shot more of my men. Fuck, your people, your fucking brother can't seem to get this shit through your fucking heads." He was leaning forward now, regaining the intimidating image that may make someone else cower, but he clearly didn't fucking know me.

I brushed past the overbearing asshole and pulled Carl to me. "Are you alright?" I asked, cupping his face in my hands, even if he was taller than me. "Where's your bandage?"

"Why does he need it?" Negan's voice demanded behind me. "He looks more badass now than he did with the fucking gun he tried to shoot me with." I rolled my eyes and then focused on the terror in Olivia's face. Oh for fuck's sake.

"And her?" I asked, releasing Carl from my grasp and turning to face Negan with my hands on my hips. "What did Olivia do to make you upset her?"

He grinned, dimples trying to distract me by coming into play. "I may have teased her a little. I apologized and even offered to fuck her after she slapped me."

I had to fight against rolling my eyes again. More time spent around him and I'd know what my own fucking brain looked like, enough to detail all the fucking wrinkles. "Do you think that's charming- or?" I squinted up at him and watched him process what I was insinuating about his desirability.

"I'm Prince Motherfucking Charming, darlin'." He winked at me and leaned closer. "For you? For you I'll be anything you want."

I lost the fight against rolling my eyes. "I suppose I should thank you for bringing my brother home. Dad isn't here, he's on a run to get you and your savages more supplies." I make it sound cheery, waiting to see if he noticed that I should thank him, but I didn't.

"Yeah, uh," he looked toward Olivia and I could see he was confused about her name. "She told me about Rick. I think I'll wait for him."

I glared up at him. "Fine. There's a porch right outside, make yourself at home there." Southern hospitality it wasn't, but I was trying to keep him far away from Judith.

He shook his head and started to wander through our house. I shot a look at Carl, televising that I was going to totally fucking ream him over coals for this. He had common sense to look a little bit ashamed.

"Olivia," I said, looking at the woman that Negan had been so rude to. "Why don't you head back?" I walked her to the door, once out of his earshot, I grinned at her. "You really fucking slapped him?" She nodded, a smile forming on her own face. "Way to fucking go, girl!" I hugged her goodbye and walked back into the living room.

Negan was taking in what was left of our luxuries. "Making yourself at home?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "Don't get too comfortable, I'm sure your minions will be around to collect you, after all you have complete power over everything. They probably can't go potty without your approval."

He turned to me, dimples in full bloom. "Darlin', what the fuck did I do to you to get your panties in such a fuckin' twist?" I noticed he'd placed the bat down, near enough for him to reach it, but down as thought he really was at home. "Your dad did all this, sweetheart, not me. Why don't you be a lamb and make a little lemonade?"

"What?" I asked, looking at him like he'd lost his fucking mind. "Before the world went to shit, did someone give you a proper diagnosis? I mean, you're fucking insane, right? Like hard to pronounce, long latin worded, diagnostic insanity." He was still grinning. "Does being insulted and smacked turn you on?" For fuck's sake, what the fuck was wrong with him?

"No." He answered, sitting on the couch and putting his feet up on the coffee table. Boots still on his fucking feet. "I'm not certifiable." He turned his head to stare up at me. "And as for turning me on? Oh, sweetheart, that's gonna be a LONG conversation for you and me real fuckin' soon." His dimples mocked me and I glared at him. "Now about that lemonade-"

"Get your fucking boots off the furniture," I demanded, glare still firmly in place. "As for the lemonade? We'll see." I pointed at his feet.

He was there for HOURS. He did take his fucking boots off, then he moaned at the feel of the carpet on his bare feet. Moaned indecently, by the way, as though he thought that would somehow make me swoon. I made his fucking lemonade, only because we had the supplies for it readily available. Not because he requested it. He wasn't my God for fuck's sake.

Carl had disappeared upstairs, I hoped he was keeping Judith company because I didn't want the idiot to see her. But of course, he wanted a fucking tour. And he found her nursery. He'd picked her up with more tenderness than I expected him to be capable of, glancing at me as he kissed her head and talked quietly to her.

"What?" I asked, as he alternated looks between the two of us. "Seriously, what are you doing?" I was about to reach for her and take her away from his grubby paws, but he just held her gently and actually fucking rocked her in his arms.

Another kiss on her head and he smiled at me. "You two look nothin' alike." I sighed, I was NOT going to explain Judith's parentage to this idiot, no more ammo for him against my dad. "Course, you don't look like your little brother either."

I smirked, no I didn't. I looked like my paternal grandmother. The auburn hair, the green eyes, my tiny stature, and from what Dad told me, my sass had come directly from her. "So?"

He shrugged and started toward the door with Judith still in his arms. "Nothing." He answered, walking away.

He drank so much lemonade that I thought he must want to have that sour taste on his tongue for days. Then, as though holding us hostage with his presence was his only goal, he took Judith out to sit in the rocking chairs and held fucking court waving to the neighbors like he owned the fucking place.

I heard him say something that made no sense to me, but Carl understood. Then he offered a chilling thought, and I wondered if he were serious, or if this was one of his games. "Maybe I should just bury you both down there in the flower beds, then me and your hot as fuck older sister and this sweet angel in my lap could settle in the suburbs." He chuckled and kissed Judith's nose, staring at her sweet face asking, "What do you think about that?"

[thatcomesandstaysfire]

So I know I missed the Catching Fire rewatch (and The Hunger Games rewatch...oops) but I finally have a chance to sit down and watch CF. I’m just gonna put every little thing that pops into my head here...sorry in advance

- That depiction of her ptsd? *chef kiss* 

- It’s kind of dumb that they set that first Gale kiss inside the fence. I just remember my reaction reading when Snow said he knew about the kiss that took place outside the fence. Like, oh shit how much do they know? Is there anywhere that is safe?!

- Haymitch would be good at baseball

- Peeta’s Glow-up yall! Too bad they put him in some of the stupidest outfits

- Donald Sutherland and Jennifer Lawrence are soooo good in the office scene

- I kinda wish they included her mom drawing her bath and adding the dried flowers. 

Peeta: That was nice acting

Katniss: You too

Peeta: bruh

- when that peacekeeper realized the door was open

- seriously what is that sweater, peeta?

- oo yay their favorite colors

- its scenes like ^ this one, or any direct quotes really, that make me disconnect a bit because Jen (especially) and Josh are NOT Katniss and Peeta for me. Idk dude

- district eleven guts me. so well done! and when Haymitch hugs and katniss, and says it will be alright, but all she can see is the older man’s corpse being carried away!! perfectly sets up how helpless and dangerous it all is. 

- “Will you stay with me?” “always” still a little salty we didn’t get this scene after the tour when she injures her foot, and we get the “I didn’t quite catch it.” The pay-off from that in Mockingjay made me flip, it hurt so bad. 

- Honestly still salty about how many Everlark they cut. 

- “Everyone wears [their hair] like this now, Grandpa” Do you think the did this to deliberately call out crazed (superficial) fans by saying they’re just like the capitol. We’ll wear your hairstyle and obsess over your love story while ignoring the real message. 

- Caesars FACE during the proposal! Stanley Tucci was excellent casting

- ooo gales grumpy

- Cant get over that random capitol extra that touches Jen’s shoulder during the party at Snows mansion

- “All mahogany” brilliant

- I wish they’d kept peeta’s original line from the books when they’re told about the liquid that makes you puke. “You go along, thinking you can deal with it, thinking maybe they’re not so bad, and then you-” which leads to the “maybe we were wrong, katniss” It’s such an important moment! But in the movie, Peeta’s line “there are people starving and twelve and here..” doesn’t have the same revelation or same rebelliousness too it.

- Phillip Seymour Hoffman does a great job, but the whole characterization of Plutarch in the movies is way off for me. 

- This movie is really dropping in a bunch of small pieces of fan service that were lacking from the first one. The Hob gets mentioned, and now we see Ripper. Not like only-movie viewers will get that. 

- I wish we had Peeta protecting Katniss from seeing Gales whipping like in the books. Peeta’s kindness and self-less love for Katniss are perfectly communicated through that entire event, and in the movie, we only really get a glimpse. 

- I HATE that they made Ms. Everdeen basically incapable of healing and had Prim take over. I get it, Prim is underdeveloped but you don’t need to take away one of the few things Katniss admires about her mother in order to make Prim more likable

- aw puppy dog peeta 

- oof I am not a fan of Willow Shields acting. It’s so flat. 

Katniss: What do you see

Prim: o_o hope 

- I will never not be mad at haymitch for the “thousand lifetimes” line

- Ugh! I know that gale kiss before the reaping was supposed to communicate (I guess?) that Katniss chose gale and shes saying goodbye or whatever, but ugh i hate it. It is unnecessary

- That one slip of paper in the bowl still kills me. I remember people laughing in the theaters. 

- aw effies face

Prim: o_o Katniss! Katniss

- white t-shirt, black jacket peeta. unf he looks like a greaser. One of the few good outfits they put him in.  

- Sugar cube scene - FLAWLESS. I love Sam Claflin

- Jena Malone is exactly how I pictured johanna

- Also “Katniss’” reaction to Peeta agree to unzip, hilarious, but that is all Jen. 

- Wiress, Beetee, and Mags are also really good casting 

- PEETA WHAT ARE THOSE PANTS?? (you all know they ones I’m talking about)

- The Rue painting? the Seneca beard on the dummy? the bow? Excellent 

- “If it wasn’t for the baby”..... then that smirk! Then haymitch’s lil cheers! its soo good. Also josh’s little trot up the stairs in his little white boots? hilarious.

- Haymtich’s nipples...that is all

- “remember who the real enemy is” 

- Pissed we didn’t get an everlark quick during the breif “see you soon” scene before the quell

Snow: Look at them holding hands. I want them dead

Plutarch: Be Patient

Snow: bitch what did you say to me

- NOOO CINNAAA

- Goddamn that entrance into the arena! the way its shot is so disorienting and overwhelming. Well done Francis. 

- Peeta’s got a kill under belt folks! 

- “Gods it’s hot” yes you are

- Finnick you cheeky bastard

- What i wouldn’t give to be Finnicks elderly backpack

- That snotty kiss after the force field. Katniss trembling. Finnick’s look of realization. I do wish they included the line about “It’s probably her hormones” though. 

- Its a SPILE!!!

- the gasping, moaning and groaning when they’re drinking water/when they’re treating their boils from the fog--- so suggestive, i can’t 

- Peeta ended quite a few monkeys, how can yall say he’s weak

- Peeta easing the morphing while she dies is a very well done scene and it is shot beautifully, but it would’ve been so much better with the direct lines from the book. It's so much gentler and lovelier. 

- Where is the green ointment? Where are the childish shenanigans??

- Katniss and Wiress are CUTE!!

- missed out on yet another everlark moment after the cornucopia spins

- YYOO the jabberjay scene is so intense! And peeta pushing his head against the force field, look so helpless to get to katniss breaks my little heart 

- BEACH SCENE!!!!

- Lol plutarchs little “make yourself comfortable” while we know he’s off to his hovercraft. 

- See you at midnight----So that was a lie 

- Just a comment but Jen’s hair in every scene in the arena looks so good. 

- “REMEMBER WHO THE REAL ENEMY IS” she’s got it folks

- Snow is STUNNED 

- Jesus motif - katniss is legit T-posing in the hovercraft claw

- the scene katniss attacks haymitch and then being subdued is perfection. THE DRAMA

- that extended closeup at the end, where we see the RANGE of emotions that crosses her face, i just, Jen is really talented. 

Verdict: Haymitch’s nipples 

But for real, CF is my favorite movie in the series. It’s not perfect, but as a movie ADAPTATION, it's pretty great. 

[softforcal]

Writing Tips

I get a lot of asks about tips on writing so i figured i’d just make a huge ass post for ya’ll :)

this shit covers: character, plot, motivation, past vs present tense, 3rd vs 1st verson, oneshots vs multi chapter fics, moodboards for character building, dialogue, oc’s vs reader inserts, face claims, the grocery store test, the meme test

Character

okay i want to start by saying: i used to write imagines so writing in character was like MY THING for like 6 years so i have a LOT OF PRACTICE with watching something and picking up on characters and i’ve spent THOUSANDS of hours watching shows. so like, i’ve spent a lot of time on this you know? so don’t feel bad if you have a life and havent had as much practice :)

so at the moment, i’ve been doing character mood boards to help figure out a character? but the thing about that is im picky about face claims and it can be hard so this is an easily skippable option and i’m not even sure if i enjoy it yet you know?

so first: i think of a story. i think of the type of OC that’s involved, i think about what they’re like, (i sometimes find a face claim), i give them a name

for me, as soon as they have a name and sort of a face in my brain, they take on a life of their own. a character knows when you’ve found the right name and face for it and it comes alive when you do. like for me, Birdie was originally ‘Cherry’ but she was like ‘bitch no’ and wouldn’t let me write her until i found her name.

to be honest. i don’t plan things. like. when i write, the character just takes over. i have no control. they do what they want. fucking Valentina and Harry in Trouvaille, i had a whole angst scene for them and these assholes decided to go on the terrace and tell each other they like each other instead and then the story just ended. like. i had a pLAN and they RUINED IT.

you can’t be afraid if letting your characters do what they want to do. when you plot, a loose outline is good but i just throw my characters into a situation and see where they go.

like for my final gang au chapter, did i want Michael to leave town? no. but he needed to take Dove and get the fuck out of there you know?

i don’t make playlists really, sometimes certain songs stick to people, like one of my characters, his song right now is Girlfriend by Anderson East and that song was sort of inspiration.

I don’t know where my inspiration comes from. obviously i write a FUCK ton so let me see if i can explain a few past stories and where they came from.

Gang AU was born from a post by @hereforlukescruff​ about the song ‘Or Nah.’

Cromulent was based off a tumblr post about enemies fake dating

Wild one was legit just me figuring out how to work all of @glitterprincelu​s fav things into one fic

Floral was based off of looking at my favourite tattoo artists floral tattoos

Trouvaille was originally pompous New York! Calum but as i developed it, it was Harry and i couldn’t stop him from pushing Cal out of the way and being like ‘this is my apartment you wanker get the fuck out of here and let me smoke and paint in peace.’

Noise was originally based off an idea by @palliddark​ that i was blessed enough to receive, she also had influence in Cromulent because months ago she requested a post about the boys recording having sex for a song.

So i think what we’re realizing here is a lot of it comes through interacting with other creators. one of my new pieces is based off of 2 5sos songs and one is based off of a person in Love Island. so inspo can hit from anywhere

the fic im working on now came from me talking to @harryforvogue​ about the new Gucci ads Harry did.

i started a Greaser Cal that i dropped cuz im a whore, but it was inspired by @calsangel​ and hopefully it gets completed sometime soon

like. talking to other creative people is just a breeding pool for ideas. people you trust and love, people who you can bounce off of. listen for stories in music, study people and characters and who knows where it might lead you :)

i hope this helps. but yeah. my number one piece of advice: talk about writing, talk about stories, talk about the guys you want to write about and inspo WILL hit.

also to all the people i have tagged i hope you know how much you guys mean to me. like. i really appreciate all you guys do and how much support you’ve given me and continue to give me. i hope i can offer the same support in return and i love you all with my whole heart.

****** Moodboard and Character (final thoughts)

So basically since i wrote that OG advice, i’ve begun to realize: moodboards are a good tool because if you can easily come up with 9 pics for a character they’re pretty well thought out. 

for example, my easiest moodboard to make was for Birdie in my gang au

Birdie: likes scrunchies, reading, classic stories, ice cream, bubblegum, lollipops, acrylic nails, having her hair in a bun

my worst moodboard was for a character named Annabelle from Noise

i started and was like... who is Annabelle: she’s blonde... she uhhhh is doing psychology?

and that’s all i could get because Annabelle was a mostly dialogue driven character with no actual mentioned likes or dislikes, in my eyes, Annabelle was not a well thought out character.

so moodboards can help because they show you how well you’ve got your characters figured out.

******

Plot

so plot is tough. i tend to gravitate more to character driven plot because characters are my #thing. i’m going to start by going through some of my plotlines and going over the good and bad and hopefully have an answer at the end of it after picking apart my writing. should be FUN.

long fic plots

Noise plot: Annabelle gets a new neighbour and he keeps fucking girls and waking her up and they have banter, he’s a hothead and invites her to psychoanalyze him and it leads to some tension but he is soft for her right away and they a little awkward with each other but finally give love a try.

Floral plot: would renowned tattoo artist Calum chooses a new apprentice, socially awkward and anxious Lily, they’re attracted to each other but the confines of a boss and pupil relationship are tight and evident, creating tensions. Calum struggles with being professional while falling for the cute apprentice, especially when pressure is put on them by their friends, after slow burn and anxiousness they finally get together.

Cromulent plot: Calum has a new PR relationship with Chlo and he hates her, he thinks she’s fake and does everything he can to piss her off, finally deciding to fuck with her emotions by being a GREAT boyfriend which ends up hurting her and he realizes maybe she’s not so bad after all, things are a little confusing but they finally sit down and talk it out and address some of Calum’s insecurities about her past relationships and PR stunts, they agree to give love a try.

so, from these 3 long fic outlines we can see i usually go for character based turmoil which works well for fics between 10-15k (or longer, Trouvaille fits this format and it was 19k) I just think, relationships take time and people struggle to figure themselves out enough to enter a relationship. if you have some fiery characters and banter (Cromulent and Noise) or perhaps awkward anxiety and tip toeing (Floral and Trouvaille) shit works out you know?

for smaller oneshot fics plots can be easier and more situational i think.

Movie Snack plot : Cal goes to Luke and his GF’s place for movies and Luke gets bored and eats the reader out in front of Cal which leads to sex.

Road Trip plot : Luke and reader are dating and on a road trip they’re horny but end up having to share a room with Cal who has always had a thing for the reader, smut ensues. 

Stay Still plot : Tattooist!Cal is the readers fuck buddy and she goes to get her tits pierced, ending up with Luke as her piercer, but Calum shows up and angst leads to smut.

so yeah, for smaller 1-5k little smut pieces it can be more relaxed, smut is just smut, not love, and sex is a hell of a lot easier than love you know? 

yeah, so that’s all my plot advice

*********

3rd person, 1st person, what the fuck person

when it comes to HOW you write your fic (what person, what tense, etc...) that’s up to you. it’s honestly whatever you feel best in. i’ve dabbled with a bit of everything. you just have to find what feels the most natural to you :) that’s the only advice i can give on this because no one thing is better than the other, it’s up to you.

one tip for 3rd person i have is to generally focus on one character. i’m a fan of doing the thing where for example, in Cromulent, we focus on Calum and why he doesn’t like Chlo. if we switched to Chlo a lot it would take away from the unreliable narration and bias Calum has. the good thing is to stay with Calum and be angry at Chlo and realize with Cal that she’s not so bad.

but that’s just me.

you can do switching when characters are together or on a phone call, like if you’re with Calum but he’s calling (for example) Chlo and then you want to see her reaction you can do

Calum groaned, staring at the ceiling, “bla bla cal saying shit”

“bla bla Chlo answering” she held the phone tighter etc...

and just like that you’re now with Chlo not Calum. 

*********** OC’s vs Reader Insert

i’ll be real here: for some reason, i feel like reader inserts are more read on tumblr and i started out doing reader inserts to build a following. 

personally, i prefer writing OC’s because you can go more in depth with EVERYTHING. 

it’s honestly up to you what you want to do. i’ve decided to do my short smuts at reader insert and longer fics as OC but it’s whatever works for you at the end of the day.

***********

Dialogue

I’m a fan of dialogue driving story, Noise was so much fucking dialogue it’s insane. finding your characters voice is important and sticking with that makes a huge difference. if you’re character can kind of be seen based JUST on what they’re saying, thats a good sign.

i hate to say it but imma say it: when doing 5sos it’s important to know they’re Australian. some countries have different mannerisms and such, for example, i’m Canadian but i can’t have Calum out here saying “it’s a nice day eh?” you know? so, i would advise to try to get a handle on accents and word choice specifically to make them more believable. as is said in the iconic movie Tropic Thunder 

***********

Motivation

so this is probably one of the biggest issues writers are facing and i’m about to get REAL AS FUCK.

on tumblr, it can feel like once you gain a following you CONSTANTLY need to be pumping shit out for them.

back in the day, i was posting a HC a day and a lot of it was for hogwarts!5sos. it felt like a job, which wasn’t anyone elses doing per se, i just think a lot of fic writers get caught up in this pressure whether it’s imposed by anons or not (im lucky that i’ve never had anon pressure and i’m very grateful for my amazing followers tbh)

Tumblr is not a job. if you’re writing, write for you. you are blessing tumblr with you’re writing. please don’t feel pressure to put stuff out or write a new chapter or anything.

if you ever feel like you’re under a lot of pressure, take a few days away, find the root of your writing joy. always do what you want to do. if you have to turn off asks to feel sane, do it. if you gotta block mean anons pressuring you, do it. you don’t owe anyone anything.

your writing is a gift graciously bestowed on this hellsite and this site shouldn’t make you feel pressured to write and give content FOR FREE. it shouldn’t make you lose your passion and make writing feel like a chore or job.

motivation can be hard. i’m a fucking psycho so don’t use me as a base for what you should be doing. i put out a fic a week which i really shouldn’t be doing, it’s not practical. but i can type fast as fuck and writing 1 or 2k in 10 minutes is normal for me so don’t use me as an example you know.

go at your own pace. write what you love. write au’s or for the characters you love and hopefully the rest will come.

******** Multi Chapter vs oneshots

ok more realness, pros and cons of each

oneshots:

pros:

-its one and done, no need to worry about putting out more

-they can be fun

-it’s all in one place which a lot of readers like

Cons:

-can be long af

-take longer to write since a oneshot is probably like 10+k depending on who you are as opposed to perhaps 5k chapters of a multi chapter fic 

Multi Chapter

pros:

-people are excited for more

-cliffhangers are fun

-people interact with you more about chapters to come

cons:

-more pressure to put out new chapters

-with each new chapter you’re probably losing likes because people get bored or forget about it because people sometimes don’t have the attention span or whatever to continue reading whenever you update

-usually tend to be longer than a oneshot (5k chapters means that in 2 chapters you have probably surpasses a oneshot length of 10ishk)

So i will be real. i prefer oneshots. i adore my gang au which was long as fuck and super multi chaptered but it’s tough to see the likes go down and down. plus, i wrote all of Penumbra (the main multi chaptered part) before i started putting it out so i had no pressure to write more cuz that shit was done before i started posting.

which does help. if you want to write the whole thing before you start posting it takes off the first con but you’re still left with the other 2. 

**********

Face Claims

i feel like for some characters they’re born without a face claim but i totally get it if you want to use a face claim before you even start. finding face claims can be hard so you have to get ready to go creep on insta and look at models and figure out who you like. a lot of insta models follow each other so once you find a model you like, look through their following list or recent likes to see other models.

another thing you can do is go for brands or photographers who link their models. Fashion Nova for example, if you’re scrolling through and like a girl the link is there. and the same goes for some photographers. there’s a lot of accounts that are just for hot girls with links to their instas so (even if it feel weird) you should go check those out :)

******

The Grocery Store Test

next, for making characters, i think for me name is a big part of it. once a character finds their name that character comes alive in my mind. i was thinking about this yesterday and i said to myself, ‘you know you have a good grasp on your character when you can imagine them in a grocery store and know what they’d do.’

for example:

Birdie (from Gang AU) would go look at nail polish and candy, Luke would legit have to put her in the cart to get her out of there and if there’s a book section? good luck man

Valentina (trouvaille) is just gorgeous. she and Harry would go and he’d push the cart and she’d have a nicely written notepad of things to get and she’d look so pretty, head bowed, crossing things off, and Harry would be such a melt for her. he would crash into things cuz he’s so busy paying attention to her. she’d be a fan of picking up boxes and reading out nutritional values just to point out to Harry that eggos are not good for him.

so, Valentina and Birdie are probably my best OC’s if i’m being honest and because of that, these were easy.

now, take a character i didn’t work on as much and suddenly it’s different

Annabelle (noise) never really talked about anything but school and shitting on Calum so, i mean, i guess i can think of what she’d do in a store but.. like, i’d have to think about it you know?

so to me, we can see the difference between a fully fledged OC and one that needs to be worked on.

but, Noise still got a lot of likes so i dunno, i’m just self critical i guess.

i think, when it comes to characters, everyone has flaws. Annabelle is too critical of Calum and has a stigma about wealth, Valentina… she’s flawless not gonna lie but she’s a little too afraid of stepping on other people’s toes and she should probably be less anxious, Birdie is way too sentimental and cries over everything, plus she’s way too trusting and naive at times.

it’s balance. but once a character is born in your brain, you just gotta give them love and hopefully others will as well :)

*****

The Meme Test

my most recent advice is: if you can meme a character or dynamic between characters, you know you’re gucci. imma leave a meme here for a fic i’m working on and ya’ll will have no clue what it means but whatever it’s a point

*****

so hopefully this has answered any questions you have. this is all just my opinion and if you disagree with what i’ve said thats chill. at the end of the day this is what works for me and i urge you to find what works for you. there’s no one clear way to write.

good luck writer bubs :) 

[sofhyuck]

Greasy Baby

Genre: fluff, greaser!hyuck

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N this au stems from some enlightening conversations with @cinanamon who is graciously allowing me to use some of her ideas, this one’s for you bb ;))))

greaser!hyuck is...a lil shit to say the least

like ye he’s a handsome boi i mean,,,imagine him in a leather jacket,,,hair gelled back,,,yes pls

but he knows him and his group of bois (dreamies hello) are hot shit and he’s not afraid to show that he knows it

him and the dreamies are always seen cruising around town,,, harassing hollerin at the ladies from the inside of hyuck’s beat up mustang (is that a time period correct car??? idk and idc to look it up lol)

he never actually physically harasses anyone, it’s all fun and games (for them at least don’t accept cat calling kids men ain’t shit)

there’s just...nothing else really for them to do around town

the only forms of entertainment come from the drive in theater and the soda shop that all the kids hang out at after school

he attends his local university since him and the gang come from a small town and didn’t really care to leave or have the grades to go to a better school

and you...well you don’t really know why you decided to attend a university in such a dinky little town

maybe it’s because you wanted a change of pace from the city, and maybe it’s because it’s your mother’s alma mater and you spent a few of your summers there

but somehow you find yourself at the school

the only problem is,,,everyone who attends the school grew up in the dumb town,,,meaning everyone already knows each other and has their friend groups and cliques

leaving you to fend for yourself and kind of live as an outsider

sure you make acquaintances in your classes but,,,it’s hard for you to make solid friends when everyone else already knows everything about everyone else 

so you’ve been living your life on campus, smiling at the acquaintances you’ve made when you pass by them on the street, but you never really hang out with anyone after school

your sophomore year you got a job at the soda shop bc college ain’t cheap and they were hiring

surprisingly enough you made close friends through the job, your coworkers went to the same uni as you and the clientele were also in some of your classes

so you began to actually go out more (when you weren’t working obvi)

on day you were on campus walking to your next class and you saw one of said new friends

but while you were distracted with waving to them you bumped into someone and woop guess who????

you guessed it our boy hyuck with the rest of 00 line walking past

he was bouta pop off but then he sees it’s you the cute lil waitress from the soda shop that he’s lowkey seen around and been crushing on for a few months now

so when he sees you stuttering out an apology bc boi is brighter than the damn son and took your breath away

he just smirks and lets out a lil chuckle and just says ‘don’t worry about it sweetcheeks’ with a wink and then he’s off

you stand there for a moment in shock bc like obvi you know who he is even if you’ve only been around a few years who tf doesn’t know hyuck and co

and ofc your friends all saw and were like...b don’t even worry about it he just be like that sometimes ya know

and you’re like yea u right and forget about the whole encounter

but guess who doesn’t ohohoho it’s mister lee donghyuck himself he be thinking about it the rest of the day bc wow you’re even prettier up close huh

and the rest of dream are like...mmhmm ok mr. lee not sus at all we’re on. to. you.

so guess where hyuck ever so casually zooms off to after his classes are over????

oh boy you guessed it right off to the soda shop but oomph poor bb you’re not actually working that day and bb is sad :(((( meanwhile his boys are just laughing at him bc omg hyuck is so w hi p pe d

so now bb is going to the shop every moment he can until!!! finally!!! you’re working again god bless!!!

as soon as he sees you’re working baby sits bolt up right and starts fixing his slicked back hair that he had totally not been running his hands through out of nerves

the other boys weren’t there bc??? they have better places to be than at the soda shop for the 50000 time that day even though chenle and jisung had been there earlier just to laugh at him

but now holy shit you’re coming over and you look so cute in the dumb poodle skirt they make you wear as a uniform with your hair placed in a high ponytail

meanwhile you’re sw e a t i n g bc shit it’s hyuck and he’s still a handsome ass boy and you have to serve his table n ow f u c k

so you sidle on over and give him your usual spiel asking what he’d like to order n shit

and this boy omf remember when i said he was annoying?

well yea he fucking goes ‘are you on the menu bc I’d certainly like to have a piece of you’

and you’re like...boy tf oh my god i want to SLAP him 

but you grin through it like ha ha...funny ok...our specials for today are...

hyuck ain’t listening anymore bc he’s busy mentally kicking himself bc??? really hyuck??? you’re trying to make her like you wtf were you t h in k i ng

so he just points at some random thing on the menu, his head hanging in shame

and yea you’d think it was cute if he hadn’t just gotten on your damn nerves

but, alas, you have to continue serving the boy who had ordered literally just a fried egg but you know who were you to judge

he eats the egg rather quickly and then just...sits there...not doing anything...and you don’t know what to do like you can’t kick him out he did order something and it’s not particularly busy

meanwhile hyuck’s head is spinning trying to think of how to woo you after completely embarrassing himself earlier

after like an hour passes you head over to him, ready to ask him again if he wants anything else to eat 

but as soon as you get to him he jolts upright scaring the shit out of you and he’s like fuck sorry i didn’t mean to scare you 

and you’re like it’s fine now seriously do you want anything else-

but he cuts you off and suddenly...lee donghyuck?? is grabbing onto your hand??? and rapidly apologizing to you for being so Gross earlier

you gotta shake the boy off of you and honestly,,,he’s really endearing like aw he’s so embarrassed what a bb

when you get out of his grip you’re like bro it’s ok tbh i get much worse all the time

suddenlt hyuck is ready to f i g ht like who tf??? i will square up 

in your head you’re like,,,bitch ik you catcall don’t even try...but in reality you’re like mmmhmm sure ok you couldn’t hurt a damn fly

hyuck is angery now like wdym im tough >:( don’t you see my leather jacket and cool hair and car???

and you,,,oh you little reader pat lee donghyuck’s fUCkiNg head and now he is blushing oooooh

in a smol voice he asks for his check and leaves you a v generous tip despite your protests

and by that time his confidence seems to come back bc he winks and tells you he’ll be back

you giggle and give him a lil wave bc...wow lee donghyuck is just a cute shy lil bb hehe

and now hyuck is coming in every day,,,sometimes with his boys,,,sometimes alone but no matter what he’s always sure to, in a respectful manner, flirt with you and chat you up while dream just look on in amusement bc, again, hyuck is wh i p p e d

y’all just kinda...live like that for a few weeks but it’s v clear to e v er y body that there is shit going down between the two of you

like at this point hyuck’s hanging around campus with you too so like,,,everyone and their mother knows at this point bc,,,like i said earlier,,,everyone in this damn town knows everything about everyone

so ya’ll are stagnant, hyuck flirting, you laughing and sometimes flirting back

until one day ohhh boy there’s a new boul in town and he is not ashamed at all

and by that i mean he’s the biggest fucking asshole to ever step foot in the town, thinking he’s hot shit and everybody wants him when everyone hates his g u t s

and this boy has been hanging around the shop, livin his life, waiting for his moment to strike

but uh oh he made a mistake bc the first person he attempts to come on to...is you

and hyuck has been there bc he knows this guy has been hanging around and he wants to keep an eye on you his girl

it was a good thing too bc... this boul is going all out

tugging lightly at your skirt when you come to take his order while he uses the same cringy line hyuck used on you that first day

and hyuck knows you’re a big girl who can handle herself which you make very clear by firmly rejecting him with a smile plastered across your face

but...boy does not and will not let up

and you’re getting more and more frustrated and hyuck can tell esp when you keep throwing exasperated looks in his direction w the occasional eye roll

he would laugh but he’s too busy trying not to flip his shit

until boy fuckin just goes to grab your ass and you immediately move back, ready to reprimand him

but all thoughts are brushed aside when a loud crash sounds followed by heavy footsteps

hyucky had stood up so harshly that his chair had fallen over but he hadn’t even bothered to fix it bc he immediately stormed over to you, loosely wrapping his arm around your waist and pulling you into his side 

he is m a d like you thought he couldn’t fight before but now he looks like he could rip a guys head off and you lowkey find it hot but that’s not what’s important right now

the guy is like oh woops sorry bro didn’t know she was taken but hyuck is not having it going off about how you shouldn’t treat anyone like that period no matter if they’re in a relationship or not

and yes hyuck and his friends had been the same way a few months before but meeting you changed his way of thinking and his friends as well

bc the idiots had never had any female acquaintances before but now they have you and you’re like a sister to them except for hyuck obvi bc he’s in looove

anyway back to the matter at hand i swear i keep going on tangents soz

you have to calm hyuck down before he actually punches this guy in the nose and the guy throws some money on the table before booking it out of there bc he’s high key scared rn lol puddy

your boss comes out and is like...y’all good? and you’re like uhhh yea mind if i talk to him for a minute? n he’s like ya sure whatever

so you pull hyuck over to a back room and you’re like,,,bro,,,wtf you good now??

but hyuck is on a roll now and just flat out says ‘i’ve liked you for a while now so will you do me the honor of being my gf?’

you ??? for a second before snapping himself out of it and you’re like ??? hell yea boi tf???

so now y’all are dating woo!!!

he makes sure to come to the shop whenever you’re working

at first he even would miss classes but you were not gonna have that oh no education comes first kids >:(((

and he was like ugh ok fine but he always managed to get other dreamies to be there when he couldn’t just so he knows you’re ok :(((

you get really close with the other dreamies tho so now you’re all one happy family

even when hyuck isn’t at your shift he makes sure to pick you up afterwards

waiting outside, leaning against his beat up mustang …leather jacket on…waiting for you to come out…and when you walk up to him he grabs you by the waist…pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead…before opening the door for you…driving off to who knows where…but neither of you care as long as you’re together…

sometimes you go to the drive in and cuddle up in the backseat making out for the duration of the movie hehe

you climb onto his lap and sometimes you can hear the people in the next car wooping and hyuck just gives them the finger before bringing his hand back to settle on the back of your thigh

ahem anyways enough of that

other times you just,,, drive around,,, windows down,,, blasting music and laughing,,, just living your life as two college students should hyuck’s hand resting on your thigh shhhh

you always stop at the same dingy diner that’s hidden away on some side road

(shout out to steph for this next part love you bb uwu)

and hyuck always rummages through his pockets  for change to buy you a drink, even when you say he doesn’t have to and you know he doesn’t always have the most money he says he wants to

trips to the diner are always followed by sunset drives where you have to remind him to watch the road bc  he finds it so much fun to smiles t you and try to kiss you while driving and you scold him that he’s going to die one day, him saying it’s better to live hard, die young