#so weird without toby ugh

[vbecker10]

On to my second request!

Pairing: Loki x Fem!Reader

Scene: One way or another, Loki is now part of the Avengers. Y/N isn't an agent at S.H.I.E.L.D., she works an ordinary job ( i.e. architect, consultant, or sales rep...etc.) but is friends/related to some agents.

Request: Y/N is set up on a fancy blind date to meet up with an agent her friend said was a perfect match for her and Loki is undercover for an intel gathering mission and needs a partner to look less suspicious. He's not her usual type, but she trusts her friend and decides to see it through. Could you please write about the two going through the blind date, she not realizing he is the wrong person until the end of the night. I'll leave the ending of whether or not they actuality end up dating or just stay friends up to you!

The Blind Date? (Part 1 of 4)

Part 2 | Part 3 & 4 in progress

Pairing: Loki x female reader

Warnings: none...? Loki annoying Thor, a vague history of terrible dates, mentions of mob activity (I guess)... idk I'm hoping for a bit funny at first then fluff in the second or third part

Summary: Your friend sets you up on a blind date with someone she works with at SHIELD but you accidentally end up on a mission with Loki

POV: This goes back and forth between Y/N's perspective and Loki's (and if you don't like how I call it Y/N POV and Loki POV... I don't care lol we've all had this convo before and you know damn well what I mean so here goes)

A/N: @soubi001 I love this idea!! I really hope you like this, I'm so sorry it took such a long time and I'm sorry it seems to be getting really long so I'm making it a few parts 💚 thanks for listening to me ramble about this one @michelleleewise

Word Count:

Dividers by: @harlequin-hangout

(Y/N POV)

"Oh come on, it'll be fun," Michelle urges but you shake your head then hide behind the flimsy plastic menu. "Don't you trust me?" she asks with a wide smile as she reaches across your other friend to tap on the back of your menu.

"Not even a little," you reply slowly in a serious tone.

She scoffs dramatically, leaning back in her chair as she holds her hand over her heart, "Wow Y/N, that really hurts." You stifle a laugh as she turns her attention to the woman sitting between you at the bar, "Can you believe her Jess?"

"Well... you don't exactly have a good track record with setting her up on blind dates," Jess answers, putting her menu down. Michelle rolls her eyes and she continues, "I mean, let's be honest, the last few guys you set her up with were-"

"Horrible," you finish her sentence, looking up from your menu.

"I was going to say not great, but horrible works," Jess agrees with a nod.

"Ugh," Michelle groans, clearly annoyed Jess sided with you on the subject. "Ok, so maybe there were a few duds here and there-"

"A few?" you ask quickly.

"I'll admit, Mark was definitely a jerk... and I guess I should have known Danny wouldn't be your type but they weren't all that bad. You have to give me some credit," Michelle says, not giving up.

"Let's see... Fred was an hour late with literally no excuse then he got annoyed when I didn't want to go to his place after. Kevin brought his cat to the restaurant in a backpack and talked to Mr. Pickles more than me. Derek kept eating off of my plate without asking and he took my leftovers. Toby was into all these weird conspiracy theories and thought Australia wasn't a real place-" you count each person on your fingers as Jess laughs hysterically at your string of terrible blind dates.

"I get it!" she practically yells, cutting you off before you can continue. "But seriously, this guy really is perfect for you. I promise."

"No. Absolutely not," you tell her, crossing your arms as you lean back in your chair. "You've set me up with enough weirdos. I'm not doing it."

"Just this last one," she pleads. "And if it doesn't work out, I'll never set you up with anyone ever again. Jess can be your witness."

You sigh and rub your eyes. "I'm not getting out of this am I?" you ask Jess.

She looks over at Michelle before answering than shakes her head, "Nope, doesn't look like it." She then adds, "Better you than me."

"Thanks," you say sarcastically. You can practically feel Michelle buzzing with nervous energy as you try to think of a way to avoid what is almost guaranteed to be another terrible blind date. After a few moments of silence you breath deeply then throw your hands up in defeat. "Fine... tell me what's so amazing about this guy," you tell her.

"Ok ok ok, so..." Michelle starts excitedly. "He's new to the city, he just moved here with his older brother a couple of months ago. He keeps to himself so he hasn't really made friends with anyone at work," she explains.

"Oh good, so he's anti-social," Jess comments and you can't hold back a laugh.

"What? No," she says then glares at Jess, "You're not helping."

"I wasn't trying to help," your friend smirks.

Michelle groans and looks directly at you, "Ignore her. He's not anti-social, I think he's just a bit on the quiet side. He reads a ton so you guys have that in common."

Jess interrupts again, "Unless he's into smut about fantasy characters I doubt they've read any of the same books recently."

"I read other stuff too," you respond, hitting her shoulder lightly but she raises an eyebrow at you.

"Can I continue?" Michelle asks and you both nod. "So he's super tall and he has a really sexy accent."

"Now those are two things you can definitely build a lasting relationship on," Jess comments and you cover your mouth with your hand to quiet your laughter.

Michelle clears her throat loudly and Jess avoids making eye contact with her. "Do I need to remind you that you are only engaged to Sebastian because I set you two up on a blind date two years ago?" Michelle asks Jess.

"No..." she answers sheepishly. "I'll be quiet."

"Good, now as I was saying..." Michelle's tone becomes excited again. "You're going to love him. Trust me."

You bite your lip then say, "Ok, I trust you. But if he's not totally amazing..."

"I'll never set you up with anyone ever again," she agrees to your terms with a smile. "I'll talk to him Monday at work to set it up."

(LOKI POV)

"Ah, there you are, brother," Thor's loud voice echoes through the small library. You sigh deeply, setting your tea on the small table next to you. You mutter a greeting in response but don't look up from your book as you turn the page. "What are you reading?" he asks as he settles into one of the leather chairs across from you.

"A book," you reply, "You have heard of those I assume."

"You know that is not what I meant," he says, you can't help but smirk in response to his annoyed tone. After a brief pause, you finally tell him the title of your book and he nods although you know he has never heard of it.

You continue to read, assuming he will grow tired of you ignoring him but after several minutes your curiosity gets the better of you. "Is there something you need brother, or did you truly come to the library to watch me read?" you ask, your eyes still fixed to your book.

"Peter told me you asked him to delete the dating profile he had set up for you," he says.

"I did," you confirm as you turn the page again. "I do not see how this is any concern of yours."

"You only had it for a week," he states.

"That was six days longer than I required it," you reply.

"Did you match with someone that quickly?" he asks in surprise.

You shrug, you hadn't opened the app once after the boy had installed it for you, "No and I doubt I would have. I do not need a computer to solve a problem I do not have."

He sighs, "Loki, you cannot spend all of your free time alone, hiding in the library."

"I am not hiding," you look up finally, closing your book. "And I do not spend all of my free time here, sometimes I read in the park or my room."

He puts his hand over his face and groans. "You know we are going to be on Midgard for the foreseeable future, brother," he reminds you unnecessarily. "It is not good for you to be alone all of the time. How about I ask Jane if she knows anyone you could spend time with? We could even go on a double date, that might be fun."

"As thrilling as that sounds," you say as you roll your eyes. "I am perfectly fine alone. Thank you for your concern, now if you wouldn't mind," you open your book again and wave your hand towards the door.

Before he can respond, the door to the library opens and a SHIELD agent with a tablet enters. She only takes a few steps inside and says, "Captain Rogers needs you to report to the briefing room in fifteen minutes."

You smile to yourself, hoping this new mission will occupy your brother for at least a few days. Thor rubs his hands together and stands up but the agent shakes her head. Thor pauses and she says, "Oh, actually... it looks like this mission is for Loki. Sorry Thor, maybe next time."

You chuckle at the obvious disappointment on his face as you stand up, your book vanishing into your pocket dimension with a flick of your wrist. "Well brother, it looks as though this uninteresting little chat of ours will have to wait until I return," you smirk as you walk past him.

(LOKI POV)

"Ok team," Stark says when everyone has taken their seats at the large oval table. "This is going to be strictly a recon mission. As most of you know the Sokovian mob has begun opening a large number of restaurants in Manhattan, Philadelphia and Boston. It's been confirmed that the majority of these establishments are being used as fronts for illegal gambling tournaments, money laundering and other criminal activities."

"Such a waste, cause the food is supposed to be really good," Barton says in a joking tone.

Natasha laughs while Rogers crosses his arms and gives Barton a disapproving look. Stark ignores the comment and continues, "Up until now we have been letting state and local law enforcement handle the mob as they normally would but there's been a new development that puts them on our radar. We just received intel that there is going to be a meeting between several members of the Sokovian mob family and two high ranking members of Hydra."

"That can't be anything good," Natasha says. "Does the intel give any details about what they might be meeting about?"

"No," Rogers answers. "That's why we need you and Laufeyson to go undercover as a couple on a date, so you can record their conversation." He opens a small metal case and continues, "You will also need to plant these four listening devices in various locations in the restaurant. Hill has mapped them out for you." You open the folder in front of you again, flipping to the floor plan of the restaurant. Hill added several notes and suggested locations for the devices.

"Since the goal of this mission is to plant the bugs, record their meeting and then get out without being noticed you'll both need to alter your appearance," Hill says to you and Natasha.

You stand up confidently, "That shouldn't be an issue." You hold your arms out slightly at your sides as a green glow surrounds you in a flash. "What do you think?" you ask, running your fingers through your unruly blonde curls. You adjust your dark rimmed glasses then roll up the sleeves on your deep blue sweater.

"Yea..." Stark says. "I'm not sure the professor look is quiet what we were talking about. You're still-"

"Incredibly handsome," you smirk.

"I was going to say tall," he rolls his eyes. "You only changed your hair and added glasses, you still look like you. Try becoming someone no one will notice."

"Ah, yes. One moment," you say then with a second flash of green your appearance changes again.

"Oh come on," Rogers says loudly. He throws his hands up and turns away from you then back quickly.

You look down at yourself and chuckle, you can't remember the last time you were this small. You crane your neck to look up at the Captain who is now almost a foot taller then you.

"What kind of game is this Laufeyson?" he asks.

You feign innocence, "I was merely following Stark's suggestion. I imagine very few people would turn their heads if I walked by as you, the pre-serum version of course."

Natasha and Barton try to contain their laughter while Stark steps between you and Rogers. "Very funny," he says sarcastically. "You get one more chance..." he warns and you nod, clearing your throat as a green glow surrounds you again.

"That's more like it," Hill says and Stark nods in agreement. You shrug, unimpressed with your current form. You reduced your usual height by nearly six inches, changed your hair color to light brown and shortened the length. Your features are different as well, your eyes becoming a dark brown, ensuring that you are completely unrecognizable.

"May I ask, what are your plans?" you turn your attention to the spy.

She smiles and takes a small device out of a pocket on her belt, placing it behind her ear. She taps the device and her face changes right before your eyes. "Its a Photostatic Veil, or Nano Mask depending on who you ask. They are nano-sized holographic cells that can change a person's features and even their voice," she explains in a flawless British accent.

"Impressive," you say with a slight nod as she turns it off. After an hour of discussing the minor details of the mission, you finally head back to your room to finish your book in peace.

(Y/N POV)

You close the door to your apartment and kick off your shoes then you walk quickly into your kitchen to set your grocery bags on the counter. You reach into your pocket and answer your phone.

"Hi Y/N," the voice on the other end greets you happily.

"Hey Michelle," you reply. You hold the phone against your ear with your shoulder as you begin to unload the groceries. "How's it going?"

"Fantastic," she says and you can tell by her voice that the date is on. "So... I talked to him at lunch today and he is definitely looking forward to seeing you this weekend."

"Great," you tell her, trying to sound enthusiastic. Maybe this wouldn't be a complete disaster like all the others, you think hopefully.

"He said he wants to try one of those new Sokovian restaurants," Michelle says. "I hear the food is amazing."

You laugh, "Me too. They seem to be all over the city all of a sudden."

"Perfect, so it's all set. This Saturday at 7, on the corner of 3rd Avenue and East 6th street," she says, pausing for a moment before adding, "Write it down, so you don't forget."

"I'm not going to forget," you mumble as you roll your eyes.

"I can practically hear you rolling your eyes at me. Look, we both know you have the memory of a goldfish. Write it down," she jokes but you know better then to argue with her.

You grab a pad and pen from one of the drawers in your kitchen and write down the time and address. "There, I made a note," you tell her. You tear off the piece of paper dramatically so she can hear it over the phone then stick it to your fridge with a magnet.

"Good," she laughs.

"So..." you pause. "Does the mystery man have a name?"

"He does," she answers.

"Do I have to guess it?" you ask.

"I'm not telling you," she says, "The last time I told you a guys name before a date, you googled him so much you could have written his biography."

"That's fair, I guess," you admit.

"Oh, I've got to go," she says, you can hear her dogs barking in the background. "I'll text you later."

"Ok, bye," you say just before she hangs up. You put the last of the items in the fridge and check your note.

(LOKI POV)

"Since Natasha got called away for a mission with Thor, you're going to need to find someone in the restaurant to use as cover. You'll be far less noticeable if you aren't sitting at the bar alone for hours. If you can, get a table as close to the targets as possible," Rogers instructs you.

"I doubt I'll have any issues finding a lovely young lady to spend my evening with," you respond as Hill hands you a small earpiece to use during the mission and the listening devices. After shifting into your undercover form, you straighten your tie and comb your hair with your fingers. Checking yourself in the small mirror you shrug, this is as good as you are going to look.

You reach for the door handle and Rogers stops you. "Remember Laufeyson, you're still on probation and this is officially your first solo mission. Stay on script and under the radar," he reminds you. "You don't want to give us any reason to reconsider the deal we made with Thor. Fury and Tony would have no issues sending you right back to Asgard if anything goes wrong."

You nod silently, not wanting to admit how well you understood the gravity of your current situation. You clear your throat then sarcastically say, "Its heartwarming to see how much confidence the team has in me."

"Just don't make us regret trusting you," he responds as you step out of the van.

Putting your hands in your coat pockets, you turn the corner from 6th Avenue onto West 3rd Street. The restaurant is visible roughly halfway down the street. When you step inside, you can see most of the tables full and the bar is crowded. The hostess walks over to you with a friendly smile and asks if you need a table.

"I'm actually supposed to be meeting a blind date here. Would it be alright if I checked to see if she was waiting for me at the bar?" you ask.

"Of course," the woman replies and you walk past her towards the back of the restaurant.

As you get closer you see several groups of friends, a few couples but only one woman sitting by herself. She is alternating between staring at her phone anxiously and looking around the room. Clearly she is waiting for someone, you think to yourself, but she is your best opportunity at the moment. You take a few more steps towards her and chuckle quietly as an idea quickly forms. You adjust your illusion so she will be the only one in the restaurant to see you as yourself and decide to go on a date, as your brother has so often suggested.

(Y/N POV)

You hold your phone nervously, seeing a new text from Michelle letting you know he was at the restaurant. You look up, scanning the large space but you have no idea who you are looking for. Suddenly your heart stops when you see Loki walking towards you with a smile.

This can't be happening, you think to yourself. Michelle worked for SHIELD but you knew she barely interacted with the Avengers or even the agents. She was on the technical side, working at least ten floors below them in the Tower. He had to be your date though, you quickly reasoned. Just moved here with his brother... really tall... sexy accent, that all sounds like what little you knew of Loki.

You look down at your phone and text Michelle, "I found him." You slide it into your pocket and get up from the stool as Loki approaches you.

"Hello darling," he says smoothly.

"Hi, I'm Y/N," you introduce yourself with a smile. You feel your phone go off but without reading the message, you put it on silent.

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Likes, comments and reblogs are always appreciated 💚💚

[bastardtrait]

bitter, salty, and a criminal. konner's just ur average man from buttfuck nowhere southern ontario. but at least he's not sucking evan's toes for approval anymore that's his husband's job

transcript:

JOHN: ...think Evan's worst habit is his snoring! JAY: Hah! Still?! I remember our trip to Sault Ste. Marie, remember grade 8, Toby? TOBY: oh my god, and you couldn't wake him up for anything. Fuck.

[SFX: Loud, muffled arguing]

JAY: Who is that? EDDIE: Ugh. It's fucking Konner Prescott. TOBY: Awesome. Great.

MCKYNSLEIGH: I. Do not. Want to deal. With your shit, Konner. KONNER: I can't socialise? Fuck. MCKYNSLEIGH: You drank before we left! You can't go one fucking day without-- KONNER: Tired of your shit, Kynz, we're already here anyway. Jesus. MCKYNSLEIGH: I'm getting food and driving home. You can take a fucking cab.

KONNER: He-llooooo, class of Copperdale two-thousand whatever! MCKYNSLEIGH: (under breath) I'm going to kill myself.

KONNER: (yammering)

SPEAKER: Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Prescott. (mutters, aside) Someone get the sheriff on standby for the love of god.

KONNER: Boys. Good to see you here. EVAN: Yeah...thanks for reaching out, Konner. It was a nice idea. KONNER: Been much too long, I figure. Time passes weird in the clink! Hah! EVAN/JAY: ...

JAY: So...you and McKynsleigh! That's nice! KONNER: Yeah. Well, someone had to do after Evan left her for... "school". EVAN: Mm-hmm. And you've been married for how long now, exactly...? JAY: (sucks teeth) Yep, interesting to see where everyone ended up....! Right...! Yeah...

KONNER: No, exactly. Gotta say, I was surprised to see you...playing for the boys' team, Evan. JOHN: ... EVAN: Well, people change. You did too. I seem to recall you calling McKynsleigh...a bitch who's fucked half the twelfth grade. (pause) But! That was all years ago. Just a distant memory now. KONNER: Right.

[winter-leftovers]

Til The End Of Eternity ||

Chapter one: Strings (1/?)

(Douxie Casperan x f!reader)

Summary: Y/n is trying to figure her life out but is going to be hard since her brother is the new trollhunter and she is plagued by dreams and feelings she doesn’t understand.

Chapter Summary: Jim is acting weird. Douxie buys guitar strings. Y/n finds a friend.

Word count: 1352

Warnings: mention of a dead animal, my summaries are awful, english is not my first language so tell me if something sounds weird ╰(▔∀▔)╯

(Season 1 Episodes 1, 2 and a little of 3.)

Song?: Enchanted by Taylor Swift

Previous — Next

Masterlist

“Good morning, Arcadia Oaks. It’s still 6 AM.”

The voice of the radio woke up Y/n of her short slumber. She had fallen asleep on top of her college books, again. She took the semester off from college for studying, or at least that’s what she told her mother after she found her sleeping on her desk last month. But if she was honest with herself she hasn’t been reading. She hasn’t even opened her books since she came home. Strange dreams were plaguing her nights; war, monsters, people she doesn’t know but love and a strange but familiar darkness that hugged her.

“Good morning, Y/n!” Downstairs she found her brother Jim making breakfast.

“I told you I could make breakfast” she laughed. Her brother was always eager to help.

“Well, I already did it” he set a plate for her.

“Thanks! Are you sure you don’t need a ride?” She asked as she saw him pick up his backpack.

“Nah, I’m good” he said before disappearing into the garage.

“Okay…Bye! Say hello to Toby!” She screamed.

“Bye!”

As she started to eat her meal. She heard Jim stumbling on the trashcans.

“Ugh! Racoons”

She laughed at his screams.

-

The shifts at the music store could be slow and exhausting. A lot of parents ask her what’s the best instrument for their child like she could know. Even with her favourite music in the background the walk home felt eternal.

A small yelp interrupted her routine. She looked to both sides but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so she kept walking. She heard another yelp but this time it sounded like a…meow? She looked in the dark alley and suddenly, a set of familiar amber eyes were looking back at her.

“Wait” she murmured to herself “Al?” She crouched and extended her hand.

The cat meowed in response. Y/n remember that meow.

“Oh love, it is you! Do you remember me?”

Slowly, the cat walked out of the darkness and smelled her hand recognising her immediately.

“Hello, my little baby” she laughed once the brown cat threw herself at her, purring, just like he did the first time they met.

Y/n walked all the way home holding Al, he was as light as she remembered. She couldn’t let him go and risk losing him again.

A year ago, after Y/n went to another town for college, Al ran away. She had lost her hope of finding her a couple months back when she came home from college and heard about a brown cat being run over by Dr. Muelas.

“Jim! Jim! Look who I found!” She screamed at the seemingly empty house.

“Jim?”

“Meow?”

No answer

“Maybe he went to Toby’s”

Al licked her nose in response

—

The next morning, Y/n woke up to her brother shaking her

“Y/n! Y/n!”

“Mmh, Jim! What?” She put her pillow on her face.

“I need to talk to you!” It sounded urgent.

“Ugh! I’m up I’m up” she sat up on the bed and looked at her brother, he was pacing not paying attention to the cat next to her feet.

“Okay, okay. Last night the craziest thing happened. I was home and I looked at the…”

“You were home last night?“ she looked at her brother’s bewildered face “Keep going. Never mind”

“So…I heard a noise in the basement and I thought it was racoons but there was these huuuge things, with eyes that…”

Jim looked back at her sister and saw the confusion on her face.

“Ha! I think I’m losing my mind. Never mind. Forget it”

“You sure?” Y/n said before falling asleep again without listening to the answer.

—

While Y/n scanned a record for a band she didn’t care about she thought about her brother and the chat they had this morning, if you could call that a chat. Was her brother also having nightmares? Was he having trouble at school? Is she not doing enough at home?

“Hello” A voice brought her back from her mind.

“Welcome. How can I help you?” She looked at the man and felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.

“I’m looking for guitar strings” said in an english accent that sounded so sweet to her ear

The guy smiled and Y/n just stared. There was something about him.

“He doesn’t know how to negotiate!” A distant scream distracted her.

“Toby?” She looked out the window.

“Emmh no, my name is Douxie. Remember?” he laughed.

“Oh, yes. Sorry” she blushed “I’m Y/n…but you knew that…Sorry about that. Electric and acoustic are over that wall”

“Thanks”

Y/n couldn’t stop looking at Douxie. Every time she saw him she would get lost observing him. The way he moved and talked. There was something about him that made her dizzy but she didn’t know what it was.

“If you keep looking at him like that you’ll make a hole in him” Randy, the manager of the store laughed.

“Ha ha! very funny. You should be a comedian” Y/n rolled her eyes “There’s something about him. I think I know him from somewhere”

“Suuuure”

“Come on! Where did I see him before?” She tilted her head and mumbled “Have I ever seen him before?”

Randy sized her up for a second. He has the tendency to think she’s lying.

“He works at Benoit’s”

She looked back at him with at smile.

“Of course! How did I forget it?” She lied.

Yes, she remembered him from Benoit’s. That was the first time she can recall seeing him.

It was an afternoon, Y/n was waiting for her brother and his friend to meet her outside of Benoit’s. They just had a big exam and she wanted to do something nice for them. She was laying against a pole looking at her phone when she heard him.

“There you are! I thought I lost you” He lifted her in the air.

“What are you doing?!” She hits him in his ribs with her elbow.

“Oh, fuzzbuckets!” Douxie put her down and grabbed his stomach.

“Do I know you?” When she turned around and saw him. He was crouched down, his hands across his stomach and his face was partially covered by his black and blue hair.

She felt the world slow down when his hazel eyes met hers. She almost forgot that she was mad at him for touching her without her permission.

He seemed disappointed and that made Y/n chest hurt. She had to mentally slap herself and remind herself that this random man just hugged her from behind without her consent.

He apologized and quickly explained that he thought she was someone else. Y/n chuckled. The red on his cheeks and the big distance he had put between them made her agree that it was a mistake. He even paid for the food she ate with Jim and Toby at Benoit’s when she sat at one of his tables, which y/n thought it was too much. Her boys eat a lot.

Y/n’s ringing phone distracted them from Douxie and his guitar strings.

“Ow, mom is coming to pick you up?” He joked.

“Shut up! your mom actually picks you up” She chuckled.

Randy laughed.

“Hi, mom. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah! One of Jim’s teachers is here and I think you should come by” she whispered.

“Okay, I’ll be there” she smiled at her phone.

“Love you”

“Love ya”

“Can I help you with something more?” Randy spoke.

“No, thanks, '' Douxie smiled, making Y/n’s stomach turn. She doesn’t get nervous with customers anymore, they don’t seem humans to her, but something in Douxie made all the words get stuck in her throat.

“Thank you. Bye, Y/n”

“B-bye Douxie not Toby”

He left the store smiling.

Before she could completely recover Randy spoke again.

“You know, he came for strings last night”

“So?” Y/n didn’t follow.

He laughed “Unless he playing with a knife no one needs the amount of strings this dude buys”

She turned ever redder.

A/n: hi! This is an absolute first for me so im kinda nervous. I hope you liked the first chapter!!! If you think you can guess where this is going let me know👀

~I don’t own the characters or trollhunters :)~

[shrimplymoray]

TENA TENA TENA TENA can u write an eri x cody drabble where cody smiles at eri genuinely for the first time (and maybe praises her a lil) EHEHEHEHE thank you 🤭🥹🥹🫶🫶🫶🫶

ERIIIIIIII HIHIIIIII!!!!!!! 💜💜💜

Yes yes yes yes I will write them being cute and fluffy and everything, they are my entire world I love them I will kiss them on the forehead goodnight and bring cookies to them.

Genuine - Eri x Cody

The day started as noisy as ever on the manor. Creeps walking from side to side, doing their businesses. But a certain someone gets her spotlight in between them, with her very pink and girlie clothes, which if you squint hard enough and maybe close one it would sorta resemble what it should be: lab clothes. Eri made her way, with a pile of papers, to her "oh so lovely" Sir Cody. Her gas mask having a pink undertone and cute heart filters around her face, and her goggles being very impractical with their heart shape but when does she actually uses it? It destroys her makeup, damn it! She entered quickly the lab, receiving a groan of annoyance in return

"So sorry Sir Cody for getting late, I didn't remember if it was pink bow day, or white bow day, oopsies!" She did her apologies, but with a way too cheerful tone for Cody's liking.

"Did you at least bring the right papers this time around?"

"Yes they are right here!"

She run to the big office table that Cody did his reports, but misplaced her foot and fell, getting the papers all around

"Uhm... Teehee, I'll guess I'll have to clean up" she put her index finger on her cheek, giving a very... Anime girl style apologetic smile.

"Ugh... I hate my job sometimes... At least I can perform my test on you without you squirming around."

Eri was quick to pick the papers... To the best of her abilities, with acrilic nails so long, it was difficult, but she managed in the end.

Cody, though, was not on his best today. Maybe that helped worse his annoyance. He had a mad headache from overworking, and is now working solely on caffeine to function. Due to Eri's shenanigans, he had to rework his reports twice now, and he is getting tires pretty fast of her bullshit.

"Sir Cody Sir Cody!! The papers on your table! Do you want something to eat? Some water maybe? Or maybe you could use a nap?"

He... Didn't want to admit, but he really needed to sleep... After his reports, that is. His sleep deprivation started to make him have weird thoughts, for him at least. He never noticed how the pink Bimbo always tried to make him take more care of himself. Sure, EJ did that too before, and Toby tried, but it didn't have as much effect as her insistent way of doing it. He may be treating her a bit too badly, recently. It's not exactly HER fault she is a dumbass who doesn't know anything remotely related to how to act inside a lab, maybe she was homeschooled? Anyway, he maybe... Maybe should try being nice to her for once.

"Hey, Eri..."

"Yes Sir Cody, right at your way!!" She exclaimed with a big smile.

"no need to. Just... Thank you for taking care of me when I don't do it." He took his gas mask off, turning to look at her with a soft smile. Eri thought her heart would explode from that, and she, for the first time, was lost for words.

He... Never smiled at her. I mean, not like this at least... His sweet smile is so precious to her that she thought she would start crying.

"And... And I guess you are not so bad... You can actually be entertaining when you aren't a human hazard."

Tears were streaming down Eri's face after the closest to a praise he has ever given her. She run after him, to hug him, and she did reach him, but she hit her head on his microscope, which was way too tall for her.

"Mr Codyyy... I am the happiest girl on earth and moon and stars for being with you! Thank you so much for never pushing me away!" His sweet smile turned into a deadpanned face. That is literally all he does to her, everytime. But he noticed her head was with a cut from the sharp edge, and her forehead was bleading.

"Sure... Now go WALKING and sit on your chair so I can clean the blood"

"What blood?"

He groaned just like when she first came into the lab. It was gonna be a looooooong day...

I got a bit carried away with dialogue, you know I love then just... So much... They are just the silly little goobers. The yippies.

Hope you enjoy it!!

[jaggedwolf]

pll rewatch 2x10

Emily is So Cross! At Aria! For having her phone off!

Poor Aria, getting interrogated by Spencer and Emily over a kiss she did not even initiate and technically revealed to only one of them

Ahahahaha the cereal full of As.

Best A message: THE WEAKEST LINK IS THE EASIEST TO BREAK! SNAPPING YET?

Interesting of A to explicitly identify one of the Liars as a weak link and to pick Emily.

It plays well with Emily's fundamental desire to not be a burden. Good tormenting strats.

Hanna watched the Royal Wedding, Ashley is disappointed she'd skip the college fair

Aria directly confronts Jason over the photos of her sleeping and while you could maybe let the "Ali took them" excuse fly, the idea of framing them to give to her is so weird and creepy??

It makes me less likely to believe the first claim, especially with the NAT reveal later

Hanna says Emily "sits by the pool hoping someone will push her in" since she's not actually allowed to swim at practice. I'd hope Paige swims up to chat with her, but we're still close to S1 now...

Neither Spencer or Hanna want to go to the college fair with Emily. She does not even ask Aria, possibly because she knows Aria will spend the whole fair mooning over Ezra or because she doesn't see her again

Emily stares longingly at a group of girls from the swim team talking about hanging out at one of their houses before a meet, and reaches peak sadness such that locker frustration makes her cry :( :(

Does Emily not have friends on the team? I worry about her.

Jackie tells Ezra "You know the student body better than I do" lmao

Why does everyone, including Aria herself, blame her for Jason kissing her?

Whenever Ezra goes "Ms. Montgomery-oh, I mean Aria" it's so gross to me because this is not that kind of school, we've seen Ella, Coach Fulton, and that one history teacher all call students by their first names, stop being fucking weird Ezra

N.A.T. = Nos Animadverto Totus = We See All = group of creepy guys spying and filming high school girls around the town

Teenage boys would put that in the yearbook and think they're sooooo funnny and sooooo clever for getting away with it

Toby does a little flinch when Spencer mentions the videos and she doesn't notice at all

Hanna doesn't know what "Pollyanna" is, Mona relentless makes fun of Hanna's to-be step-sister until she realizes the girl is hella rich, then she relentlessly sucks up to her

Ughhh at Jason going "You're not still scared of me?" at Aria, thus obliging her to say no

Aria's positive reaction to the framed photo is odd, they still feel creepy to me.

When Spencer and Toby see Aria talking to Jason, Toby goes "Shouldn't we go talk to her?" and Spencer's like no I have already realized she'll listen to Ezra over me

Won't that come into play again

Poor Emily can't even have her first ever massage without A literally mocking her about having their hands on her throat :( :(

A seems quite interested in making Emily physically vulnerable

Mona says she hopes Caleb comes back soon to improve Hanna's mood and you know that's a damn lie

Ella notices Spencer talking to Ezra in his car, which is more attention than she pays her own daughter

Jenna/Garrett relationship very odd

Kate goes full evil speech in her phone call to Hanna

Aria comments on trying to understand Ali even after she's gone, and I do think that's why she wants the box of Ali's stuff. Emily would've wanted it to be close to her; Spencer would've wanted it to solve the mystery; Aria, I think, is open to the possibility that there is more to be learned about Ali and who she was

Ella elucidates to Aria exactly why Ezra/high school student would be goddamn fucked up, where there is literally nothing incorrect about what she's saying, and the show is going to end on the goddamn Ezria wedding! ugh

Aw, Spencer makes Emily a cup of tea. In a just world this would result in Spencer sleeping over with Hannily to escape her own house for a bit.

Spencer is so worried about Aria getting mad at her, it's like, permeating her physicality here, but of course Aria does not mind.

Aria does not even blink at Spencer listing Aria being really tiny as one of her reasons. I think narratively we're supposed to believe Aria is riding the high of Ezra being willing to go public, but in my heart this is a full Sparia moment where Aria finds Spencer Spencering all over the place endearing.

Garrett shows up to Jason's house with a six-pack of beer. In a less cowardly show they'd fuck about their secrets.

[maraczeks]

tww s7 thread pt 7

[witchy-jadda]

rott spoilers ahead

so i’ve given myself some time to think about everything and try to process it all and here are some of my thoughts on trollhunters: rise of the titans...

- straight off the bat, i loved the intro. opening with blinky telling the story of what happened up until this point was incredible. i would have loved if they had circled back to this though (i saw someone else say it should have been him telling the story to jim and claire’s kids and i loved that idea!)

- i also liked that they didn’t waste time at the start, instead they just jumped right into the action which was fun.

- honestly, i thought jim’s plotline throughout the movie where he basically thought he was useless without the amulet was just really not fun to watch. i understand why it was there and it played into the climax but i really did not find it one bit necessary seeing as i felt that we have grown beyond that. i felt it was overused. we’ve been there before and jim is aware that he’s the trollhunter, amulet or not.

- douxie being so soft with nari was genuinely one of the most heartwarming parts of the movie. i feel that we were really robbed of so much potential with douxie in this movie though. we didn’t see nearly enough of him. it seemed that the writers were picking and choosing when to remember how powerful he is. switching with nari and connecting to her are two examples of when they actually used his power, but aside from that they just disregarded it a lot.

- and speaking of forgetting how powerful people are... i’m genuinely so hurt and let down over what they did to claire. do they not realise how powerful she is? did they just forget about her character arc? it sure felt like it. she got to use her powers a few times (connecting to nari, portalling the titan, etc) but mostly it felt like she was saying she was spent and therefore unable to do anything. she is so strong and so powerful, and that’s just so empowering - especially for young girls. and then it kinda felt to me that rott was reducing her to basically nothing more than jim’s love interest.

- okay another quick note, it kinda felt to me that krel’s potential was also pretty wasted? he barely did anything and i just think he deserved more too.

- ew okay i don’t even want to think about it but i know i can’t discuss rott without talking about the mpreg thing. seriously, what the fuck was that? at first, i thought it was going to be a joke. i thought aja and krel were gonna wind steve up and see how far they could go with making him think he was pregnant just for a little bit of comic relief. but then he was actually pregnant. and so i laughed, because even though it was dumb it was kind of funny. weird and unexpected, but kind of funny. but by the time the movie was over it just didn’t sit right with me. looking past the fact that it was just more of them making steve’s character into a joke, i couldn’t see the logic in giving so much time to that subplot when other characters (claire, douxie) and other relationships (claire and douxie’s friendship) were sidelined. maybe if he had gotten a whole season the mpreg thing could have been included as comic relief or whatever, but with such limited time i really don’t see the point of wasting so much time on something so pointless. 

- speaking of steve, i need to talk about creepslayerz... they really deserved more :( like i get that eli literally helped steve through child birth and then named one after him which was lowkey adorable but i loved their friendship so much and i was really hoping to see more of them. i was kind of hoping they’d get to do more as well. look i gave up on hopes of a romance long ago (even though i still really wished it would happen) but i hoped that at least we’d see some more of their friendship.

* by this point my brain has decided to forget absolutely every point i wanted to make... cue the brain fog (we don’t like her) and allow me to take a moment to read back and try to find my point again *

- i don’t think i can stress enough how much i loved the visuals in this movie. holy fucking shit it was just phenomenal. like wow. the art was absolutely fantastic and i’m really hoping for another the art of... book because i love the art of trollhunters and i feel that they could do with updating it to include the newer stuff. but yep, the animation quality was incredible and i don’t have a bad thing to say about it because just wow.

- speaking of art... a moment of appreciation for character designs. just wow wow wow. we love to see such intricately designed villains. we love to see growth in our other much loved characters. and the locations too? fantastic. beautiful. amazing. loved it.

- another moment of appreciation for jim. the hair. the scars. the injuries. the winter jacket. the fact that he looked a little older.... loved it. loved it, loved it, loved it. i cannot wait to spend hours pouring over reference pictures to draw them all.

- and claire... her armor being weathered and worn. her eyes!! her hair looked great as always. i just love her...

- nari nari nari... my goodness, her magic is so beautiful. i wish we got to see more.

- also, the jlaire moments were very cute. their kisses? so soft. they literally love each other so much. i adore them.

- what happened to the babies from the darklands btw? is not enrique just chilling in the lake’s house with a ton of babies? 

- barbara deserved better. i would have liked to see her and strickler happy.

- on that note, why the actual fuck did they think a few explosives would win against magic?? literal ancient magic and these dumbasses were like huh i guess we should blow it up. i’m sorry, what?? y’all are stupid.

* currently trying to think of every possible point that isn’t to do with the ending because i really don’t want to think about that yet *

- the whole thing with archie and charlemagne felt super unnecessary. like usually characters sacrifice themselves and it’s like sad and you can see the reasoning and stuff. but they literally could have gotten out. i really did not vibe with that. it felt like they just did that to leave douxie with no one.

- that trollmarket was beautiful though.

- speaking of trollmarket... they really restored the heartstone just like that? are you joking? i was not impressed at all. the heartstone was dead and gone, could not be destroyed. did they just forget that? half the shit in wizards wouldn’t have happened if the heartstone could have been restored. very pissed off by that. it was dead, that was it.

- okay back to jim... love that he pulled the sword from the stone. it was cute that it was a group effort, kinda would have preferred if it was just him but that’s just a me thing. and maybe me and my daylight tattoo are biased here, but excalibur is not half as pretty as daylight.

- not gonna lie, jim yelling come on trollhunters! kinda got me. i was very emotional watching this.

- i think the most in character jim moment of the whole movie was when he dropped excalibur, he didn’t have his armor, he was all alone and he decided to make a fist and fight the wizard/god with literally no weapon or means of defence. i don’t think y’all understand how much i love this dumb self sacrificing selfless boy. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, he is literally one of my most favourite characters of all time. i love him with all my heart.

- the armor!! wow wow wow. that was a fucking cool scene. beautiful.

- jim getting stabbed or whatever with that fucking spear thing nearly killed me.

- okay here goes... toby. my sweet toby. jim and toby’s friendship is one of my absolute favourites ever. my goodness. and toby getting in the van and going to save jim was incredible and such a toby thing to do. of course he would think of doing that.

- but like seriously... claire and douxie are so fucking powerful and they were both just like lol i guess we can’t do anything to help jim? i’m sorry what?? don’t tell me that claire wouldn’t go full on black and purple eyes and get herself up their to him. i just... i’m so bothered by the fact that they were sidelined y’all :|

- also, do not seriously try to tell me that aaarrrgghh!!! would let toby go on his own. he would have went with him. he would have followed him.

- literally as jim was falling the first thing that went through my mind was oh aaarrrgghh!!! is gonna run up and catch him.

- and while we’re on the topic of aaarrrgghh!!! why tf did they have such a build up that something was going to happen to either him or blinky for literally no reason? wtf

- aaarrrgghh!!! would not have let toby go alone!!! if he had been there, he would have protected toby, he would have saved him and none of that mess of an ending would have happened.

* ugh here’s the bit i was dreading... the ending *

- first off, i am choosing to ignore it.

- time stone? really? we’re... we’re gonna do this? literally one of the most original things i have ever watched is now - at the literal last possible minute - rip off another movie?? really?? whyyyy???

- i literally cannot express how much i hated it. it was so fucking unnecessary.

- he didn’t need to go back that far!!!

- i’m actually trying to block this out but i suppose i have to at least touch on it. jim would never ever put that burden on to toby. he just wouldn’t. before even looking at all of the other issues with toby getting the amulet, i need to say that. it just wouldn’t happen. he struggled so much with being the trollhunter, he wouldn’t put that on toby. 

- also toby literally never wanted to be the trollhunter?? he never wanted the amulet? he wanted to be a duke and have his war hammer and go on adventures with his best friend and his wingman and eat mexican food.

- okay so um i guess they all just forgot about unbecoming? cool cool cool.

- seriously though, was it not established many times that jim literally had to be trollhunter? and if he wasn’t it would be draal and everything would go to shit? did they just forget about that??

- having jim just decide to give toby the amulet literally takes away from the entire meaning behind jim getting the amulet and becoming the trollhunter. the amulet chose jim. merlin chose him. out of all of the creatures in the world, it had to be jim. he can’t just give that to toby!!

- and as much as i love toby, he would not last a day as trollhunter.

- and that’s not even beginning to mention all that jim erased by not becoming trollhunter. no father son relationship between him and blinky. they didn’t stop steve from picking on eli so no steve redemption and no creepslayerz. is he just going to allow enrique to be taken? toby will not have the same incentive to go into the darklands to save him if that’s the case. strickler will not show any sort of sentiment towards toby either. and then the big one...

- IS THAT FUCKER REALLY GOING TO ALLOW CLAIRE TO NOT GET HER POWERS??? WHAT???

- if jim isn’t trollhunter and the whole thing with enrique doesn’t happen then claire will never get her shadowstaff. let’s be real, strickler probably wouldn’t even need angor rot with toby as trollhunter. somehow i can’t see him making it that far...

- if claire doesn’t have her shadow staff then the whole thing with morgana won’t happen. she won’t destroy the shadow staff and then she will never develop her powers. would jim really rob her of that?

- okay i can’t do anymore, it’s too much for me now...

- i touched on this already in a separate post but i gotta say it again... i did not enjoy the destiny is a gift bit at the end. first of all, jim having toby find the amulet literally takes the meaning of that speech and his destiny away instanty. and second, i just could not stand hearing emile hirsch say the words that belonged to anton yelchin. it was just uncomfortable.

aaand i think i’m done. maybe i’ll have more later but i have a headache now from all of this.

[quiteshocking]

ok so is no one gonna talk about how weird monsters are in deltarune

ok so this post is gonna be garbage and no one’s gonna see it but i swear i’ve never seen anyone talk about this??? monsters make no freakin sense in deltarune like literally at all??

(sorry ahead of time for clumsy sourcing i don’t wanna hunt for screenshots rn)

like monsters have always been a lil confusing with their biology even in undertale, what with monster food supposedly not passing all the way through the body (grillby’s) yet monster kid talks about wetting the bed (umbrella trail) and sans is handing out toilet paper tickets (shyren fight), which is continued in deltarune with the contradiction between apartment kid’s “~does it hurt to be made of blood” and susie’s “~everyone bleeds” but like. usually i’d be saying yeah whatever, weird monster biology, it’s fine and hand-wavy because they’re made of magic right?

oh, except they’re not. not in deltarune.

toriel cooks not with fire magic, but with normal mechanical means, as shown by the differing description of her stovetop between games. most significantly, noelle talks about how she wishes the light world were like the dark world, where “~everything can be healed with a little spell” when considering which world she prefers, and yeeah?? clearly the overworld doesn’t have magic???

so what in the great dog’s name are they made of in deltarune??? how do they function??? they obviously didn’t just change to be organic judging by apartment kid and the very existence of sans. how does a skeleton walk and talk without magic?? if they do have magic/are made of magic, why can’t they use it??? like if they could heal like they can in undertale rudy noelle wouldn’t bring up magic healing as a wistful implied solution, seeing as it didn’t save him in undertale (judging by asgore’s old alarm clock dialogue, paired with xbox sans bringing up the “antlered girl” showing that it wasn’t just asgore outliving him due to immortality since noelle is apparently still around).

and also darkners don’t have souls?? or are human-level souls the standard for monsters now and darkners have monster-like souls?? queen seems to think all lighteners have determination (speech about the knight), is that true and monsters just have way less or do they have humanlike souls in deltarune?? if so, why is kris’s soul the one that always seals the fountain? (if not i’m assuming it’s that human souls can persist outside the body EVEN after death (waterfall history) implying before death is also a possibility so susie can’t just eject her soul like that lol)

why are monsters able to use spells and bullets in the dark world but kris only has acts??? both monsters and darkners can use magic in the dark world, but not kris. ugh my head hurts

honestly i’ve had a sort of crack theory in my head for a while that monsters are descended from darkners, which is why they can use magic, but obviously that makes no sense for like every reason. but dude. still won’t leave my head

like, what’s most significant is this change was made at all. they could’ve still been chilling, baking fiery pies and intimidating fellow students with axe-bullets. although toby did say in the 6th anniversary stream he was originally considering making everyone human but didn’t for multiple reasons (i forget his exact wording), so maybe this is all just a holdover from that in an effort to make deltarune’s light world boring/make the dark world more fantasy-like in contrast

yeah i’m probably just over-analyzing but what’s new

[fictionalreads]

This Is Us Season 6 Episode 14

Past Kevin

Kevin always had all the hoes (it’s a joke tumblr, just a phrase. Don’t come for me)

He gave them all up for Sophie.

Present Kevin

Kate said Pearson Kryptonite.

This cousin guy is weird.

Randall trying to put a stop to the crap before it begins. Like he knows it’s a lost cause, but he still does so he can later say he at least tried to help his brother.

LMAO Arielle, laying it on a bit thick to just get rid of the cousin. I think he’s not the persistent type so you could’ve been more subtle.

Kevin is like “uh my ex wife is talking to the woman I brought as my plus one, must intervene”

DAD!Kevin is my favorite Kevin.

The easy coparenting is what I live for.

This is awkward.

This explains her outfit.

Uh…. He was your husband. I feel like it’s something he should’ve known. I mean I know y’all were kids but still.

This would be like the third time y’all would be together. Don’t do it. I’m tired of the cycle.

Ah shit. She divorced. It’s probably gonna happen.

No, go to your separate rooms. Wait he had to at some point cause he sees the other two at some point tonight.

Ugh. They kissed. Are they really doing this again?

Wait was the bra that Beth and Madison found pink? I thought it was black.

Sophie, it’s not his fault that you couldn’t move on without thinking about him.

That’s lowkey creepy. To admit to some random stranger at least.

Not flattering Kevin. Creepy.

Oh wow so she wasn’t even in his room last night, he had it and put it on his table.

Nicky. I love him. He’s adorable.

LMAO HE SAID NO YOU DONT YOU DO NOT DO THAT TO ME😂😂 Put a stop to that conversation real quick.

Kevin is like “I have no clue what the fuck you’re talking about what is that?”

I love Cassidy and Kevins dynamic. I like that they’re best friends. I don’t think I would’ve minded them being more, but I’m also cool with just best friends.

BETH! 😂❤️

Kevin is like what does this story mean Randall. How does it help me. Honestly I’m wondering where he’s going with this too.

I feel like Randall had no clue what to say so he just started talking and hoped he could come up with something by the end of it.

So I know I’ve been hating on Sophie and Kevin this whole time but honestly I don’t hate them together. I hate the endless cycle of them. The get together, the good times, the waiting from Sophie, the Kevin mess up, the heartbreak, the pining. So if they get together, they better stay together or I’ll be pissed.

,,,, JUST WHEN I THINK THEY CANT MAKE ME FEEL MORE THEY DO THIS that was too cute

Miscellaneous

I’m assuming the wedding is no longer considered flash forwards, instead it was a time jump.

I like Philip. But of course I still miss Toby.

WHERE ARE MY FUTURE SCENES DAMNIT

[bigscaryblueberry]

(OK, I think I feel ready to elaborate now... Major Chapter 2 spoilers, as well as some spoilers for what I’m planning on my blog, under the cut. Please do not read it if you haven’t played through Chapter 2 yet. And if you have played through Chapter 2, I will ask you to proceed with caution if you liked the antagonist of the chapter, as I have some... Criticisms.)

(OK, so first of all, it was great to see Spade King again! His personality felt very close to how I interpreted him, too! Like, it wasn’t just Spade King... It felt like it was MY Spade King. It made me so happy... But that aside of course, with it being revealed that Card Castle physically became the classroom and therefore “disappeared” upon closing the fountain, not just teleporting you back to the Light World, that puts a huge wrench in everything I’ve done on this blog so far, purely because my blog took place in Card Castle’s basement after the fountain was sealed. So, my solution... Unfortunately, it might just have to be the old “it was all a dream” cop-out. I know, I know, it sucks... No one likes this trope, and I don’t like having to do it. But it’s the only way I think I can progress logically without having to reset the whole blog and start over from scratch, which I never ever want to be forced to do. And if it’s any consolation, Spade King’s character development will remain intact from the memories of his dream, and his previous answers will not be retconned either (although answers involving other things that happened after his imprisonment, such as Lancer giving him salsa and being allowed to brush his teeth while caged, will also just be part of his dream). He will lose all gifts given to him, sadly, but that can’t be helped.)

(That being said, I am still confused by this revelation, since some dialogue in Chapter 1, particularly from Seam, implies that Card Castle and its inhabitants existed and lived their lives before the Knight came and created the Dark Fountain. So I don’t know what this implies, or how it will affect my headcanons for Spade King’s past... I will have to think about this for a while.)

(Now, the... More unfortunate thing. I was naive in assuming that “the Kanotynes card queen designs are unused” meant that card queens wouldn’t be appearing at all. Because lo and behold, the elephant in the room... Queen. She’s... Weird, really. Not really a true spade. She has a human nose, no belly mouth, and her eye isn’t even spade-shaped! And she’s a robot. So I guess she’s not truly a Spade Queen, but she’s still clearly meant to be similar to them, somewhat... This... Really made me upset, actually. She’s basically the embodiment of everything I was certain Toby Fox WOULDN’T do for the Queen that Jevil spoke of, and yet here we are... And adding insult to injury, Lancer calls her Mom at one point. I don’t understand how she could be his mother, considering everything I just mentioned about her... And she doesn’t even live in the same Dark World location, and would apparently turn to stone if she was in Card Castle instead since that is not her native area. So how the hell...? Man. This has got me really stressed. I had a whole divorce backstory for Spade King, involving my own Kanotynes-based Spade Queen design with a vastly different personality, and now that’s potentially all going down the drain, unless Queen is intended to be separate from the playing cards and not Lancer’s real mother. Or, if Spade King and this canon Queen are also exes, then maybe I could salvage some of my original idea, but... It’s so unclear right now... Ugh, I really just hate this character so much. I actually feel somewhat betrayed by Toby, I trusted him. I thought his worldbuilding and characters would be so much better than this. And I don’t want to make an AU over this, not when I was so adamant on staying true to canon. But I thought I was going to like the canon, so what am I supposed to do? I’m really confused, and honestly heartbroken too. Apologies to anyone who enjoyed this character. Maybe if things turn out ok, then she could grow on me. But as of right now, I just didn’t like it... I’m sorry if my criticisms seem harsh, but I want to be honest about my opinions.)

(Overall, I’m still trying to sort everything out right now, so it may take some time. It might also take a while for me to get back to answering asks, even before I put my timeskip into action, and I might not answer quite as many of the asks in my backlog as I originally planned before the timeskip, as now I think I’d rather save most of them for after the timeskip instead, depending on the context of the question. Apologies for the inconvenience, I hope you understand.)

[jbhostaskblog]

Hey, redacted, Schmitty! What’s it like working with each other? do you guys get along?

((they’re answering separately because together, they would just be unbearably awkward. also im putting this under a read more, tw for mentions of the simulation and implied kidnapping))

Schmitty: Uhh... (deep breath) aw jeez, this is... (sigh) I. We don’t really WORK work together? We did uh... once, but... that was under that- god fucking AWFUL streaming service!  (sighs)  I uh... listen, the deal between me and Bla- [REDACTED] is... it’s complicated, ok? He... he’s creepy as fuck, THATS for sure. He keeps telling me all these facts about bones and shit and how “hey Schmitty, you should check out my tied chicken bones necklace collection!” LIKE- (stammers) what the fuck even IS that?! ...But I- it’s not like I HATE it- it’s just- its scary, ok?! Its fucking scary, didn’t help that I was in that- HOTEL. I- I just...  I dunno. It was wrong place, wrong time, and... I dunno what I should do. Cookie doesn’t really mind his deal. I just... (sighs) I know he meant well, keeping me in that... nightmare palace, but... I just hope he gets better, honestly. I know how much shitty parents can fuck you up. I dunno, maybe... maybe someday we can try again. Try, yknow, actually hosting together without having some stupid streaming service breathing down our goddamn necks. (chuckles) That would be... nice.  [REDACTED]: OH, Schmitty??? Uh... (chuckles) funny story there, Booloo... you’re gonna wanna sit down for... this one.  So it was like- idk, 2015 or something, cringepipe had just like, attacked me in a supermarket, knocked me out, next thing ya know, this weird looking turtleneck dude is like “HEY. WE KNOW YOUR GRANDPA OR SOMETHING, MAKE TMP2.” Which like, usually, I’d SOOOO be on board for that! Its Trivia Murder Party? MY show??? TWO??? Holy crap, that would be SICK! But like, this tutleneck guy- UGH, he wanted to control EVERYTHING about my show!!! And its like, hello, I am the HOST, I make the RULES here! I guess they were, like, sick of that, so they kept cryogenically freezing me in my OWN hotel, smh! So uh... cut to a few months later, cringepipe is talking about Schmitty, and I’m like HOLY CRAP??? SCHMITTY QUIPLASH!?!?!?!?! I was like, SO happy! But then I was like, less happy when I realized it was because they kidnapped him too...  I had heard of like. The simulation stuff. And that... me and Glargie and Toby and Lena... we were lucky, I guess. And... Binjpipe, they... they had plans for him. That involved that simulation. So I uh... I... I convinced that weird turtleneck dude to let Schmitty be a part of my game!!!  ...It was... it was a weird time, tbh. I won’t deny that. We were both... like... SUPER tense. And like, I can’t blame him, he had a lot on his mind!  ...But uh- in terms of doing a colab again... I mean, I’d be rlly open to it, tbh! But uhhh... yknow, I’m bad at making the first move. (awkward chuckle) 

[moving-wright-along]

bury me in your mind

this started as a sort of high school AU but it just turned into a whole nother beast. its a little over 4k words. i apologize in advance. Ticci Toby x a gender neutral reader warnings: mentions of violence and a fuckload of cursing. kinda angsy? but only towards the end

Toby hates high school and he hates every stupid fucker in the whole damn building.

The only exception to his burning hatred is you.

His English class is the only class that keeps Toby sane throughout the day, because it’s the class he gets to sit next to you. People naturally steer away from him once they notice the occasional twitches and jerks of his body, like their tiny brains have an alarm that goes off whenever they see anything that might not be ‘normal’. Toby decided a long time ago that it was probably for the best, and started to avoid everyone else as much as they avoided him. Yet on the first day, you sat beside him without being forced, and with plenty of other seats available.

At first he thinks you’re weird, but you don’t try to talk to him and you don’t flinch or lean away from him when he twitches, so you’re cool in his book.

Toby starts admiring you after about a week into the semester. He’s sitting in his seat, minding his own fucking business because he’s apparently one of the only people in this whole town that can, when some dumbass jock comes up and starts throwing out insults disguised as ‘friendly’ questions about his conditions. Toby immediately has to shove down the urge to sucker punch the idiot in the nose, but he promised his mom to try not to get into fights this year. And hell, he’s a mama's boy at heart still so he’s trying to indulge her. But goddamn is it hard.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” It takes a moment for Toby to register that you were the one that just spoke up.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than insult people over things they can’t control and be fucking annoying? Get a hobby.”

And- Wow, Toby really hopes he’s not as slack jawed as the other guy is, cause he looks like an idiot with his mouth open like that. The guy tries stuttering something out but it's drowned out by several people laughing and a few of the guy's so-called friends jeering him because 'damn dude, the quiet kid just owned your ass’. The teacher steps in and everyone quiets down, their attention thankfully taken off your corner of the room. 

Toby has the decency to stutter out a quiet 'thanks’ that you just shrug off. You instantly became way more than just 'cool’ in Toby’s book.

He wants to say so much more than thanks, like how you’re the first person to stand up for him besides his sister in a long time, and how pretty he thinks you are, but he keeps his stupid mouth shut and his head down. The two of you don’t talk again until a few days later. 

There’s a substitute teacher that day, but they’re clearly not very good at their job considering the class is way louder than usual. Toby grits his teeth and just tries to focus on his worksheet, resisting the urge to clap his hands over his ears. Every noise- every high pitched laugh, every pencil thrown across the room, every scrapping of chair legs on the floor- seems to send him further towards a total breakdown, every one of his senses completely overloaded. He jumps when he feels a soft poke on his arm. You hold out your other earbud to him. 

“Wanna listen?” You ask. He stares blankly for a moment, and he guesses that he waits too long to reply because after a moment you roll your eyes and hold out your hand a little further. 

“Come on man, I don’t bite unless I have to.” You smile a little, and it takes him a second to realize you’re joking. He’s quick to react after that. 

His heart pounds hard as he takes the earbud from you and jams it into his ear, trying not to think about your fingers brushing together for a split second. He spends the rest of class silently noting the titles and lyrics of songs on your playlist as they pass. He ends up listening to those same songs when he gets home, his mind replaying the encounter over and over. 

The two of you could almost be considered friends after that. You share your earbuds with him frequently, you lower your voice and whisper comments or jokes to him occasionally and he always has to bite the inside of his mouth to keep from snickering too loud. At first you only talk about assignments and whatever book your class is reading but soon you’re talking about all kinds of things.

Toby notices a lot of little things about you around this time. You sit a little closer to him than before since your earbuds don’t reach that far, and you spend more time zoning out and doodling in class than you do paying attention. You say you hate english but he’s starting to think you just say that to have something to complain about, because you’re not nearly as bad at it as you claim to be. 

Unbeknownst to Toby, you notice things about him too. He shies away when you get a little to close and his breath hitches when you poke at him or whisper to get his attention. Everyone seems weary or even scared of him but you quickly find out that he’s… kind of a dork. He likes to read and loves sci-fi and adventure stories and he blushes when you discover that he likes the occasional romance as well. He talks a lot when you get him going about a topic he enjoys and then gets bashful when he realizes just how long he was talking. He lives close to the woods and he loves being outside and has a strange amount of knowledge about the local flora and fauna. He apologizes too much and keeps his mouth shut tight when other people are around and his voice is naturally kind of soft even though he has a tendency to be louder than he thinks he is. 

You like him. He’s sweet. 

Toby still struggles with people in other classes and in the halls every-fucking-where else, but at the very least he has English with you. 

The year passes quickly. Toby gets you a Christmas gift after the holiday break is over- a pair of new earbuds because you had texted him complaining about your current ones giving out and you feel bad because you didn’t think to get him anything. You buy some random candy since you don’t know what he likes and give it to him the next day and even though you feel like an asshole for not giving him a real gift he smiles at you like it’s the best thing he’s ever received and you silently vow to get him something better for his birthday.. 

You buy him a box of Valentine's chocolates but chicken out before giving them to him so you just lie and say that you got them from your mom and you share the kind of gross candies in the back of class and try not to let the shame show on your face. He gives you a pink frog plushie with a messed up eye and claims he got it because he thought it would make you laugh and it does. You really wish you’d just given him the stupid box. 

You’re getting ready for bed a few days later when you get a text from him. You raise an eyebrow as you cross the room to your phone and look it over. 

‘Need to get out of the house for a while. I was gonna wander around in the woods like a dumb teenager, wanna come?’

You roll your eyes. You imagine that if you looked out the window right now you’d spot Toby outside your house already. Your friend knew you had a hard time saying no to him and abused his power to no end. 

'its a school night dummy.’

'and almost midnight’

‘Yeah… Anyway, how’s that science project that’s due tomorrow coming along for you?’

Shit. You totally forgot about that. 

'asshole’

‘Haha. You could always skip and finish it tomorrow.’

'ugh’ ‘you let me forget on purpose’

‘You have no proof of that.’ ‘I’ll buy you an energy drink and snacks?’

'open with that next time. omw’

At least you were right about him already waiting for you. Toby grins at you a little and you punch him in the arm lightly once you’ve successfully climbed out of your window. True to his word, Toby buys you a Monster and teases you about your flavor choices. 

“The original monster is fucking gross-” You say, scrunching your nose up at the very thought of it. 

“It’s- It’s not that bad! You’re j-just a baby.” Toby argues back as he wanders down the aisles, grabbing whatever snacks and candies catch his or your attention. 

“You’re not even supposed to drink Monster, loser.”

Toby shrugs, ducking his head and hiding his smile behind his hood. You wish he’d smile a bit more openly. 

Toby pays the gas station attendant for your haul and the two of you start walking in the same direction as his house, wandering past it and into the nearby woods. You’re a little freaked out walking around the dark woods at night, but Toby seems totally at home. Although, he practically grew up in these woods, so you suppose it’s only fair. 

“Why the fuck is it so cold? It’s spring.” You complain. You thought it’d be warmer and you’re practically freezing in your long sleeve shirt. 

“It’s barely March.” Toby retorts. 

“Whatever.”

“Wanna wear my jacket?” Toby offers, although he pales when you look up at him and he turns his gaze away. The dark hides his expression, but it’s pretty easy to tell that he’s embarrassed. 

“Sure.” You answer, trying to sound casual. Before you know it you’re wrapped up in his jacket. It’s already a bit too big on him cause he’s way skinnier than he should be so it hangs off your frame and covers your hands. It’s nice, though you try not to think too hard about how much you enjoy wearing it, or how it smells like that awful body spray he uses that you can’t seem to complain about.  

“You sure you’re not cold, though?” You ask.

“Eh. C-CIPA stuff makes feeling temperature we-weird anyway.” He shrugs. You forget sometimes that he doesn’t feel pain. The following silence is awkward and you’re still trying not to focus too much on the fact that giving someone your jacket is an inherently romantic gesture, so you decide to bully him a bit to take your mind off it.

“Where’d you even get this thing anyway? Who in the right mind sells a brown jacket with striped sleeves and a blue hood?” You ask and he snorts. You’ve made it clear before through teasing just how silly you find his jacket’s design to be. Toby rolls his eyes.

“W-Wasn’t always a blue hood. I fell out of a tree once and ripped the original h-hood on the w-way down. Lyra just took the hood off-off one of her old jackets and s-sewed it on.”

You roll your eyes and chuckle. He’s the only person you know that would have a story like that. 

The two of you wander around together and talk, and as you walk you wonder what his reaction would be if you just reached out and held his hand. Too bad you’re too much of a coward to try. 

As if on cue, Toby pauses in his tracks and reaches out to grab your sleeve. He tugs you gently in a different direction. 

“Come on. T-This way.” 

“Where’re we going?” You ask. 

Toby glances over his shoulder at you, and you notice a hint of a smile across his face. 

“There’s this o-old tower th-thing close by. I like hanging out there sometimes.” 

Toby leads you into a clearing, and you find yourself in front of a tall red tower. 

“What is this thing?” 

“D-Dunno. I guess it use-used to be a climbing wall or something.” 

You stare at some of the graffiti on the outer walls as Toby walks around to the other side. 

“Come on!” He calls. You follow him around to the back of the tower and find that one side is open, allowing access to the inside. Caution tape and trash litters the ground inside and Toby is halfway up a ladder to the top. 

“We’re climbing up…? This looks rickety as hell, man.” 

“It’s fine,” Toby assures, pausing at the top to turn and look down at you. “I’ve climbed this thing pl-plenty of times.” 

“I dunno…” 

“Come on. D-don’t be a baby, it’s fine.” He teases and makes himself comfortable on the top of the wall. 

“That’s exactly what the guy says to the girl before something really bad happens in a horror movie.” You argue, though you can’t fight back a smile as you climb up anyway. 

“We’re not in a ho-horror movie though.” Toby says, taking your hand and helping you sit beside him. You sit close to him and your sides press together. You feel a surge of pride when you remember that he used to shy away from you a lot when you first met, but now you can casually touch like this with no issue.

You open and share snacks together, and you let Toby take a sip of your drink to see if he likes the flavor or not. You watch him raise it to his mouth and your brain screams something at you about an indirect kiss and you quickly shove that thought aside and stomp on it.

Sure, Toby is cute and he’s a good friend, but you don’t like him like that. Definitely not. Would you kiss the crap out of his stupid adorable face if you knew it wouldn’t scare him off? Of course. But that doesn’t mean you have some kind of lame crush on him.

“Ca-Can I… tell you something?” He starts, seeming a bit bashful all of the sudden. Your heart kicks into overdrive. Oh fuck, okay, maybe you we’re lying about not having a little bit of a crush.

“Of course.” You say, trying not to let your voice waver. He hesitates.

“U-Uh. N-Nevermind, actually! Heh.”

You raise a brow.

“Oh come on, what was it?” You ask.

“Ju-just!” Toby looks a bit panicked as he fumbles. “Um. Just thinking about th-that book I’m reading. I think I already told you about it though. D-Did I tell you about the main character and his friend’s fight?”

Even if you didn’t know Toby that well, you’d still know he was lying. He’s a pretty bad liar. Your heart sinks a bit but you don’t push the subject.

“Oh, yeah you did.” You say, a little disappointed. Toby rambles for a few minutes about his book and conversation continues easily enough.

“Oh!” Toby jumps, and suddenly turns to you with a big smile. “M-My sister is coming over this weekend!”

“Lyra, right?”

“Y-Yeah. She’s coming to visit f-from college.” He says, and he looks really happy. “Y-you should come over and meet her. She’d l-love you.”

That sentiment makes you feel warm inside. Toby speaks very highly of his sister, so you really hope she likes you.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” You say and Toby beams at you.

“You seem excited.” You smile and nudge him with your elbow.

“Y-yeah. She goes to school kind of far away, so it’s been a while sin-since I’ve seen her.” Toby looks away, his tone becoming a bit more serious. “F-for a long time I felt like Lyra w-was the only per-person who really cared about me… W-well. Until I met you.”

Your heart melts a little and you can’t resist letting your head thunk onto his shoulder. Toby stiffens, but makes no move to stop you.

“She sounds great, I can’t wait to meet her.”

Toby hums, and you sit together for a while longer until you realize it’s almost 3 am. You carefully climb back down the ladder, Toby following and you watch as he jumps down the last foot of ladder and lands on his feet with a soft thunk. You’re about to walk off before he catches your attention again. 

“Oh! I-I almost forgot,” He says, then starts examining the walls, as if looking for something. “H-Here it is.” 

You approach to see what he’s talking about, and you find a low section of wall with Toby’s name messily carved into it. 

“Wanna carve something too?” He asks. You hum an affirmative and Toby withdraws a small pocket knife from his jean pocket and hands it to you. 

“I’m not gonna question why you have a knife.” You say, chuckling tiredly as you knelt and began carefully carving. 

“F-For protection, obviously.” Toby says, his tone teasing. “One of u-us has to keep us safe. Since we’re in a horror movie now.” 

You roll your eyes and finish up your carving, moving aside so Toby could see it. You carved your own name underneath his, adding a plus sign between them. You watch him flush slightly, trying not to blush yourself. 

“Now everyone will know we were here together.” You say, justifying yourself as you passed his knife back. 

He walks you home and you reluctantly give his jacket back once you’re in your driveway. You’re about to climb back through your window when Toby speaks up.

“U-um…” He starts. You look back to see him rocking on his feet. He steps forward, and hesitates for a second before pulling you into a quick hug.

“T-thanks for hanging out with me. A-And-and for being my friend. Bye!”

Toby lets go and runs off before you can say anything back. You find yourself grinning from ear to ear as you slip into bed, quickly unlocking your phone and opening his contact.

'you’re welcome, loser <3’

You skip school the next day like Toby suggested, convincing your mom of a killer headache when she comes in to see why you’re not up. You imagine the eyebags from your lack of sleep help your case pretty well since she doesn’t make a fuss about it. You finish up some neglected work and waste the day away. It’s Friday, and you know Lyra is supposed to come into town today. You figure Toby will message you later about plans to meet up.

So you find it strange when you don’t hear from Toby at all that weekend. You feel a little down about it, but maybe Lyra just didn’t feel like hanging out, and he was probably busy with family stuff, so you don’t question it.

When he doesn’t show up to class on Monday, you figure he’s just spending more time with his family. Then, when two more days go by without seeing him or getting a text back, you worry that he got into a fight and got suspended or something. You’re properly freaking out by the time the week is up.

You’d only been to Toby’s house once before and that was only when all of his family was out of the house for the night. Other than that he was always kind of weird about you coming over. If you hung out outside of school it either had to be at your place or somewhere else. And now here you were, marching over to get an answer. 

You notice a car in the driveway and hesitate. You didn’t want to risk interacting with his dad. Toby never told you any specifics, but he seriously hated that guy. You look up at Toby’s window and notice a shadow move across the curtains. He’s in there. 

You don’t want to recreate a shitty teen movie and throw rocks at his window, and if texting him worked then you would’ve gotten an answer days ago. Using the railing of the porch, you haul yourself as quietly onto the roof outside his window as possible. Fuck, you really hope it’s him in there and not one of his parents or something. Gently, you knock on the glass. There’s no response for a minute, and you’re about to knock again when the curtains yank back and scare the shit out of you. You’re met with Toby’s shocked face on the other side, as if you both were equally startled by one another. 

“Uhh… Hi?” You say weakly. Toby struggles to yank the window up and drags you inside. You stumble into his bedroom and his hands grip your biceps hard. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He hisses. 

“I was worried about you!” You snap, keeping your voice as low as his. “You’ve been out all week and you never- replied…” 

Your anger completely melts away when you finally get a good look at the state he’s in. His arms and hands are bandaged up and his face is marred with little scratches and a nasty bruise beneath his eye. He raises an eyebrow like he has no idea why you’re looking at him like that. His breath hitches when you absentmindedly reach out and place a hand on his cheek, just below the bruise and rub a bit with your thumb. 

“What happened to you?” You ask, softly. Toby suddenly jumps back, like your touch burnt him. His arms wrap tight around his chest and he avoids your gaze and you try not to be hurt by that. 

“C-Car accident.” 

“You were in a fucking car accident?!” You whisper-scream. 

“I’m fine.” He insists. He doesn’t look fine to you at all. “S-Sorry I did-didn’t tell you. Ph-Phone’s been turned off for a few days…” 

He glances at his nightstand and you follow his gaze to his phone, connected to the charger but the front is completely shattered. He probably just didn’t want to look at it. 

Toby stays silent for a moment before speaking up again. 

“Are you mad at me?”

“What? No- God no, Tobes, I was just worried. It’s okay, really. I’m sorry I freaked out and climbed onto your roof and knocked on your window.” 

Toby finally grins a little at your remark, but it drops off his face quickly. 

“…You should go. I don’t want my parents to know you’re here.” Toby herds you towards the window, and you go without any struggle. All you wanted was to see that he was okay, and you supposed you got your answer. 

“Alright, alright, but you better text me later, okay?” 

Toby smiles a little again, but it looks forced. 

“Y-Yeah. I’ll try.” 

You head back home, and you don’t get any texts. You spend the next few days in silent frustration while you’re still ignored by your friend. Maybe something else happened that he’s not telling you about? Sure, a car accident is traumatizing, but he seemed more or less okay? There has to be some other reason he’s avoiding you. 

All it takes is a quick scroll through your local news site to find the obituary. Lyra Rogers. Your hands freeze on your laptop’s mouse in silent horror. Holy shit, his sister died in that crash. You’re suddenly overcome with sadness. Toby talked about Lyra a lot- about his cool older sister in college a few towns away who always looked out for him. You never got to meet her. Fuck, no wonder he’s been so distant. 

Every ounce of frustration leaves your body and you slump over. You just accept that you’re probably not going to see your friend anytime soon. You consider giving him your condolences, but you don’t want to risk bringing it up and hurting him more. Besides, Toby’s never been one to want people’s sympathy or pity. You suppose he’ll reach out when he’s ready.

The next few days are sporadic. You get an apology text from Toby and he updates you about his condition, though he’s vague and only mentions that he’s going to see a doctor. You don’t get much else. English class is boring without him. Toby goes completely silent again. 

You figure he just needs time to himself to heal, but you’re constantly worried about him in the back of your mind. One morning you’re passing through the living room while getting ready for school and you pause in front of the TV, your mother having left it on the news. Your heart stops mid beat in your chest. 

Brutally murdered… fire… missing…

You feel bile rise in your throat and you slap a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from being sick, backing away from the TV. Tears flow down your cheeks. There’s no way this is real, right? Toby wouldn’t do that. Your Toby wouldn’t do that. 

You quickly retreat to your room, ignoring your mother's shout from downstairs. You whip out your phone, foregoing your text messages and going straight to calling him. You need to hear from him, you need him to tell you that it was all a lie and that he was innocent. 

Your first call goes unanswered, but the second goes through after two rings. You gasp a little and listen hard for a moment. You think you can hear breathing, the distant crunching of leaves. 

“Toby?” You ask. The call ends immediately. The rest of your calls are unanswered. You resort to texts after a few minutes, hoping that he was at least reading them. 

You skip school the next few days- you don’t want to hear what anyone else has to say on the situation, no one knew Toby like you knew him, and you can’t guarantee that you won’t lunge at someone for bad mouthing him. Although, you never thought Toby would kill someone either, so maybe you didn’t know him that well after all. 

Your life feels like it's falling apart. You’re like a carnival ride violently swinging back and forth between the five stages of grief, jumping around like it’s fucking hopscotch. 

You push yourself out of bed that weekend in a strange rush of determination. You were just making yourself more miserable by sitting around and wallowing in bed all day, you’re driving yourself crazy like that. Pushing past the want to just lay down again, you get dressed and decide to go on a walk. Maybe fresh air will make you feel better. 

Without even trying, you somehow end up close to Toby’s house. For a second, you consider going up to the door and knocking, maybe talk to his mom a bit. You’ve never met her before, but Toby seemed fond of her. Maybe she’d let you, you don’t know, take one of his jackets to remember him by? Or was that way too weird? 

You realize with a sinking feeling that Connie Rogers lost her daughter, son, and husband within the short span of a few weeks. She most certainly has more important things to deal with than some kid showing up on her door and asking to rifle through her son’s stuff. Maybe you could talk to her sometime, but not now. You push past and walk into the woods behind their house, wandering around until you somehow end up at the tower you visited with him only a few days ago. 

You collapse into a heap and slump against the wall. The floodgates swing open and all your emotions come rushing out, and you let them. 

You scream and cry without having to worry about anyone hearing you. You sob uncontrollably for a few minutes, then you curse Toby’s name and yell at him for tricking you into being his friend- then your brain makes you imagine what his face would look like if you had said that to his face and then you’re just sad again. You shrink in on yourself, crying and saying that you didn’t mean it. You don’t know why you bother saying anything to him out loud anyway, it’s not like he can hear you. 

You wish he was dead, that they’d found a body after he escaped. At least then you’d know where he was. Then you could go to his grave and punch his headstone, or you could just sit there and talk as if everything was normal. But there’s no body, so there’s no grave. Knowing that he was likely alive out there somewhere is somehow more painful. 

“You stupid jerk.” You say between disgusting, hiccupping sobs. You wipe at your face with your sleeve, trying to calm yourself.

If only you knew he was hiding up in a tree, a measly few feet away at the edge of the clearing, clutching at his chest as if it would keep his heart from clawing its way out.

[piracytheorist]

Same ROTT anon. Hello! Yeah, the plot was certainly something. SPOILERS ABOUND! I just didn't understand why Jim went back in time and reset the timeline so that now Toby is the Trollhunter when Jim being the Trollhunter shaped the series. LIKE UNBECOMING WAS AN ENTIRE EPISODE DEDICATED TO SHOWING JIM THAT HE WAS INDEED DESTINED TO BE THE TROLLHUNTER. It felt so disrespectful to me as a fan of all 3 shows that the staff decided to erase all the character growth and development we were invested in just so what? And one more thing... Douxie becomes a MASTER WIZARD by the end of Wizards and he has this whole tender moment with Merlin and that amounted to NOTHING in ROTT. Sorry for venting. I did try to look at the positives but ugh. Idk what to think about the film.

No problem, vent away! You're definitely right in what you say. I wasn't that invested in Jim's story myself, and yet even I felt that his decision to, well, choose not to be the Trollhunter was weird. That changes the entire timeline of the show. Why did he do it in the first place, when he spent the entire movie mourning the fact that he's not the trollhunter anymore? Will he have the same relationship with Blinky and Arrgh in this timeline? Will Toby be the one to turn into half-troll, get encased in crystal and fall into the past, with Douxie, Claire (for some reason) and Steve following after?

I don't know, I think they just came up with something to "wrap it up" and then just went with it, without really thinking about what consequences this would have in the timeline and the whole meaning of the show. And yeah, erasure of character development annoys me too, very much so, so I understand you.

And Douxie... yeah. It kinda felt as if he was there to do a couple cool stuff and have, once again, everything taken from him. He'd already lost Merlin, but at least he'd found himself. Now he loses Archie (for no goddamn reason like, I'd choose my familiar wizard over my barely-accepting-of-my-choices father anytime, rip to Archie but I'm different) and then Nari, and barely even reacts to now being completely alone. Archie chose his father - the father that Douxie, his familiar with whom he'd spent centuries with, had no idea even existed. I'm sorry, what?

And all that is then supposed to not matter because Jim goes back to change it all... I don't know. In general, I'm not a fan of "showing death and then using time-travel to undo it so everyone lives but we got away with showing angst over death scenes" thing in any film/show I watch. And that confused me even more. What was the entire point of the film even?

Anyway, I totally feel you. You're not wrong or invalid to feel frustrated over it. It's a shame they did the fans dirty with it, especially knowing it was the very last installment in the franchise. One thing I can say, is that when those feelings wash over, headcanons and fanfiction will always be there, and you can freely choose to ignore this film's existence.

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s A Place I Could Be - Chapter Forty Three

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

March 12th, 1998

There wasn’t anything hugely important about it. It wasn’t Remy’s birthday, or Christmas, or any other holiday. It was just a regular day, and that was what made this so special. Toby had come home from school with a tiny recipe book which he had given to Remy. “Obviously, that’s not the end-all be-all of recipe books, but it’s something to start you off so you’re not stuck with ramen every time Mom makes you cook your own lunch or dinner.”

Remy looked at the book in his hands almost reverently, and grinned. “Thanks, Tobes!” he exclaimed. “This looks like it’ll be a huge help! Making ramen is kinda relaxing, but it does get old after a while. This will help a lot.”

Toby gave him a smile and a one-armed hug. “I’m glad you like it. Now, I gotta scram and figure out how to explain to Mom why I need a ride to my girlfriend’s house, but I hope that sometime soon we could try a recipe in there together.”

Remy was touched. “Yeah, I’d love that,” he said.

  September 11th, 2001

It started with a ripple but soon tore into the entire coffee shop. They had seen it on the news, gotten a call from someone who knew someone who was involved. The Twin Towers were going down in flames. The Pentagon had been attacked. Everyone was bustling around, talking about it, trying to call loved ones to make sure they were all right, trying to get their coffee fast so they could pick up their kids from school and hug them tight and never let go. Remy’s head was reeling as he heard the news. He didn’t live near New York City, and Washington DC wasn’t a hop skip and a jump away, but it was still startling to hear about.

Startling was an understatement, but Remy didn’t have the words to describe what he felt. He scratched the back of his neck as he continued working on his shift. He had a job to do, no matter how much he didn’t want to do it. He worked and worked, making coffee after coffee and passing out pastries as needed, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep well tonight.

At the end of his shift, Remy had just hung up his apron and Emile walked in, looking dazed. He took one look at Remy and pulled him in for a tight hug, which Remy desperately returned. “You heard the news?” Emile asked.

“Yeah. Obviously, you did too,” Remy said.

“Mhm,” Emile confirmed, voice sounding small, and scared, and uncertain, and that terrified Remy to no end.

They broke apart and Remy said, “Let’s just go home.”

“Yeah,” Emile agreed.

They got in Emile’s car, but Emile wasn’t starting it. Remy looked at him. “Emile? You okay?”

Emile stared at his lap and shook his head. “This has me thinking...” he started, but stopped. “I just want...” Another beat. “I don’t want to miss my chance with you.”

“What do you mean?” Remy asked, heart starting to beat harder.

“I mean...I mean life is short, and we never know when it’s going to end. I don’t want to land in an early grave without telling you that I love you,” Emile said. “Because I do. I do love you, Rem, more than words can say. That’s why I fought back so hard when you said what you did. It hurt more coming from you than anyone else. I don’t...I don’t want to live without you, Rem. I want you by my side. And as more than a friend. I want...I want to love you for the rest of our lives, however long or short that may be. And I know commitment is scary, but...there’s no one else I’d rather commit to.”

Remy stared at Emile in shock. “You’re saying that you’d, like, marry me?” he asked.

“Hypothetically. One day. If you wanted. Not right now, obviously, I’m not proposing, but...I want to be your boyfriend, with the option of maybe, one day, being your husband,” Emile said. He turned pink. “Is that weird?”

Remy leaned over and kissed Emile softly, but with every ounce of adoration and desperation he felt combined. Emile kissed back, placing a hand at the nape of Remy’s neck. When they pulled apart, Emile lightly squeezed the back of Remy’s neck. “I take it that’s a yes, then,” Emile said.

“Definitely. Yes,” Remy agreed. “I really want to be with you, too.”

Emile offered Remy a shy smile and they finally drove home. Remy squirmed where he sat, clearing his throat. “Kim was going to be moving her practice the week after this one,” he said. “I’m not sure if she’ll be doing that anymore.”

“Well, we can always find someone else in the area,” Emile offered.

Remy shook his head. “No offence, Emile, but I think I’ve made all the progress that I can make. At least, right now, you know? I know not to dump everything on you, and I have coping strategies for when the uh...the flashbacks pop up, and I know how to be a little more open-minded to other people’s experiences. I don’t want to rehash everything with an entirely new therapist, when I don’t exactly need one, you know? Other people need that time more than I do, and besides, I think I’m mostly well adjusted other than a few...uh...hiccups.”

“Obviously, I can’t force you to go to therapy,” Emile said reluctantly. “And we’re not in a position where if you don’t go I risk seriously hurting myself helping you. But I do wish you’d reconsider.”

“I know you do,” Remy said. “And I get it, really. But when it comes down to it, I’m just...I know I’ve said it before...but I don’t need a therapist, Emile. I don’t think I’m cured, but I do think that I’ve processed everything that can be processed at this point in time.”

“Therapy isn’t just for processing trauma, it can help you with the little things, too,” Emile pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but what little things are there, other than our occasional fight and my occasional stress over work? Those don’t happen often, like I said, and other people need that time more than I do,” Remy said.

“I don’t want to start an argument,” Emile said as they pulled into the parking lot. “I just request that you keep it in the back of your mind. Sound good?”

Remy nodded. “Yeah. That’s fine.”

“You’re going to forget this conversation even happened by tomorrow, aren’t you?” Emile asked knowingly.

“Probably,” Remy agreed. “Anything I don’t want to address I just bite the bullet if I have to or else I ignore it until it goes away.”

“That’s not very healthy,” Emile said, voice pitched just a little too high to be normal.

“You can’t exactly stop me,” Remy sang at the same pitch.

“I know,” Emile sighed. “And I try to not let it get to me, but sometimes you really do worry me, Rem.”

“I know,” Remy said softly. “And I appreciate the fact that you care. But I can handle a lot of things well on my own, remember?”

“Yeah,” Emile said. “Although that stomach flu you had last week was not one of those things.”

Remy pulled a face. “Tell me about it. I’m just glad I got a clean bill of health on Friday. We need the money for rent.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me that money is tight, please,” Emile groaned. “I’m stressed enough.”

“Today is a stressful day,” Remy replied simply.

An awkward silence hung over them as they stepped into the apartment and put their things away. Emile came out of his room around the same time Remy did, and they looked at each other uncertainly. “We already know what’s going to happen if we turn on the TV, don’t we?” Emile asked.

“Unfortunately,” Remy sighed.

The silence took over again. Emile cleared his throat. “Want to drown our sorrows in cartoons?”

Another long pause. “...Sure, why not.”

Emile grabbed some movie or another, Remy wasn’t really paying attention, and he settled on the floor seeing as how they had yet to get a TV stand and therefore buying chairs wouldn’t help them whatsoever. Emile put the movie in and settled next to Remy. Remy scooted closer. Emile looked over at him curiously. Remy took Emile’s arm and wrapped it around his shoulder, nuzzling into Emile’s side. “You’re just a giant cat,” Emile said with a fond smile.

Remy stuck his tongue out at Emile and Emile laughed. “You even do the tongue thing! You’re a cat!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Remy said, but he was smiling and nuzzling further into Emile.

Emile laughed softly and pressed a kiss into Remy’s hair. “Shh, the movie is starting,” Emile said.

Remy rolled his eyes and rested his head on Emile’s shoulder, feeling thoroughly exhausted. This was why he was letting Emile putting on some movies and cartoons for them both. He didn’t have the mental energy or the will to watch normal TV, his brain wouldn’t comprehend words on the page like they normally would when reading a book, and he hadn’t slept soundly since Emile and him had broken up. Even when he was sick with a stomach flu, his sleep would be interrupted by vomiting or fever or chills. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a month, so having cartoons on to watch if he could even stay awake made things simpler. Easier to follow. Low-stakes games that didn’t feel rushed or forced. It was dumb, but it was comforting.

Well, no, it wasn’t dumb, purely because it was comforting. It was why Remy reread his favorite comics, why he reread books when he knew the ending. Everything turned out all right in the end; he didn’t have to worry about the characters dying an unforeseen death or really going through anything he couldn’t handle, because he had been through it all already. He knew what was going to happen. And Emile derived similar comfort from cartoons.

...Huh. That explained a lot. And also made Remy feel a bit like a dick for not understanding that for a year.

Emile shifted underneath Remy and Remy opened his eyes. When had he closed them? “Hey, sleepyhead,” Emile lightly teased. “I need to pee. You mind?”

“Hm? Mm-mm,” Remy hummed, sitting upright.

Emile put a hand on Remy’s shoulder and offered him a smile, a murmured, “I’ll be right back,” and a gentle squeeze.

Remy watched Emile go and leaned back against the wall. He looked at the TV, which had been turned off. Apparently, he had slept through the entire movie. Whoops.

Emile walked back over to him and leaned against the wall. “Do you want to head to the shelter to help out tonight?”

“Wouldn’t we miss dinner?” Remy asked.

“There’s ways to help out other than cooking. Childcare, helping people with paperwork for food stamps and such, or even helping with finances, either the shelter’s or the individual people there,” Emile said. “Usually the childcare dies down after dinner, but when the kids’ parents have to talk about something serious, someone has to keep the kids occupied. And besides, we might not get there before dinner wraps up, but it never hurts to just talk to Bernie and see what he might need help with in the future.”

“True,” Remy allowed, stretching his legs. “I’m just not full of energy at the moment.”

“Yeah, but that’s why we should go. Most people won’t, and they might not help today, when lots of people will need help.”

“I know,” Remy agreed, standing. “We’d better get going if we want to be there soon, though.”

Emile offered Remy a thankful smile and Remy offered him a hopeful one back. They had been on good terms again, falling back into their old routine like nothing had happened. Though Remy couldn’t deny there was a certain shift in the dynamics since their fight. As he grabbed his jacket, he wondered if it was just what had happened today that made Emile behave differently, or if this would stay. The fact that they resumed dating would definitely remain, but Remy found he liked this new feeling. It wasn’t like they weren’t equals in their relationship before, but something seemed a little different about today. They seemed like...partners.

Obviously, they had been partners before. That was how relationships worked. But more than the sense of partners in crime. More than the sense of passionate declarations of love, or simple lingering touches on each other’s bodies when they wanted to discreetly show affection. This partnership felt like it would last through fights, through trouble, through any and everything. Even through a break up. Remy felt like this partnership wasn’t just something between him and Emile romantically. If he inspected it closely, he was a little surprised to find that it ran deeper than romance, deeper than platonic love. This was a bond he hadn’t experienced before. It wasn’t a familial bond, but it felt similar. Like he and Emile had somehow always known each other and never wanted to be without each other in their lives. It was cliché, but Remy could have sworn that...this was what soulmates should have felt like.

[thxngam]

thank you @thumbllebee!

1. why did you choose your url?

it means gold in tamil and is something my mother calls me often. it’s sweet and it has personal significance so i figured i wouldnt outgrow it or something if i changed fandoms/hyperfixations. also its cute! i wanted just plain ol’ thangam but that was taken so i just put an x in there lol

2. any sideblogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.

nope! i suppose i should for like ~organization~ but no my followers are just gonna have to deal with me possibly taking a hard left into a different fandom 

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

idk? i had one when i was like 13 and i deleted it bc i never did hw bc i was always on tumblr. and then i got it again like a year ago? maybe longer? idk

4. do you have a queue tag?

i think so but i don’t use it very much lol

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

i wanted to talk to people? i mean mostly its because there are a lot of gifsets and other content relating to fandoms i liked so i was into that and then people started sending me asks and i randomly reached out to people i liked on here (i have no filter on tumblr when it comes to starting conversation. i am very awkward irl but online my inhibitions are gone.) and suddenly i like. had friends. which was very weird bc this has never happened to me before but i love it!

6. why did you choose ur icon/pfp?

it’s me! the picrew i got tagged in was adorable (sorry i forgot who did but whoever it was thank you!) and i liked it so much that i made it my pfp!

7. why did you choose your header?

i liked the colors? i changed the whole theme of my blog to oranges and yellows to match the pfp and the header was with pretty colors and matched the rest of my blog. so. 

8. how many mutuals do you have?

idk actually? but i love all of you sm.

9. how many followers do you have?

125. but im sure some of them are p*rn bots and some of them are from when i was really into the mcu so. tww followers are probably less but i will say i am more vocal in tww than i was with the mcu.

10. how many people do you follow?

194! im not actually sure i care about all 194 people but i might? idk i know some of these are remanents of stuff i dont really interact with anymore

11. have you ever made a shitpost?

nope! but i love reblogging them!

12. how often do u use tumblr each day?

uh depends. when i was in the middle of school, not actually that often but now im so burnt out that i can’t really bring myself to do anything so its more often than i should. also i like talking to people so the temptation is high.

13. did you ever fight/argument with another blog? who won?

no i don’t think so! i mean. ive gotten weird anons and annoying commenters on ao3 but i don’t think ive ever straight up gotten in a fight. 

14. how do you feel about the “you need to reblog these” posts?

i do not like them at all. and then there are all these other people like ‘hey this actually happened to me!’ and im always like no. it did not happen bc of this post. the universe was smiling upon you but that picture of a goat you reblogged from a deactivated account did not help. they just cause stress and anxiety and i just--ugh. nope. 

15. do you like tag games?

yes! see this tag game for example lol. 

16. do you like ask games?

yes!! i love asks. they really bond fandoms too, so its not just people throwing their content into the void. asks allow people to get new ideas and get other creator’s thoughts and create relationships and i just. asks are so fun. ask games doubly so. 

17. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

idk? im not sure i know anyone? i think within subcategories of a specific fandom there are acknowledged ‘this person is amazing at this kinda fic/ship/trope’ but overall idk? (@claudiasjeancregg you are the queen of cj/toby and @jessbakescakes and @hufflepuffhermione you are both so damn good at josh/donna. @cauldronoflove you’re amazing at samjosh. i know without a doubt i am missing people and ships i care about but seriously. so good.)

18. do u have a crush on a mutual?

nope on account of never having met any of you irl but i love you all (platonically) anyway! 

tagging @claudiasjeancregg, @cauldronoflove, @welcometo-yourworld, @hufflepuffhermione, and @jessbakescakes!

[maylovexhs]

everytime - BEGIN AGAIN(Chp. 30)

Author’s Note: GIRL I DID SO MUCH HOMEWORK TODAY AND I DON’T KNOW HOW I DID IT. I FEEL LIKE HERCULES. ANYWAYS, ENOUGH OF ME. HERE���S ANOTHER CHAPTER. HOPE YOU ENJOY -MAY 

Catch up on everytime here

Paris. October 6, 2019. 10 AM.

So, Ashton and I got back together. From what happened last night, that was clear. We talked about the next three weeks once we got back to my hotel room. We both agreed to try long distance. As Ashton said, "It's three weeks. What can happen in three weeks? I'll take that than three months." A part of me was hesitant to say yes but Ashton had me there. We talked about Billie too. Yup, the elephant in our relationship. We knew we had to tell her about us. She was going to find out one way or another and it was just a matter of time but Ashton and I thought it was best if she heard it from us first. We both may be exiled out of Bilie's good graces but we needed to tell her. It was the right thing to do. 

I walked into the bathroom. My small travel bag sat on the side of the sink. I searched through it for a hairtie.

"Is it really best to tell her after the show?" I heard Ashton ask me from the bedroom. "Shouldn't we tell her now or after lunch?"

"And have her be upset for the rest of the day?" I asked. "And in front of your cousins?"

My eyes lit up finding a hairtie. I looked into the mirror, tying my hair up in a ponytail. Ashton stood in the doorframe of the bathroom.

"It's Billie" Ashton said. "I think she would figure it out by tonight"

"Then you could tell her" I said, fixing my bangs. "I don't need the show to go wrong because I tell her at the wrong time"

"You really think Billie would sabotage her own performance?" Ashton asked me. "As long as I'm a part of it. . ." I said. "Maybe"

I walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. I saw Ashton's watch on the bedside table. I grabbed it.

"I still think we should tell her before" Ashton said, walking over to me. "We don't need her to find out like last time"

"I know" I said. "I want to tell her before too but . . . I don't know."

I sighed. I handed Ashton his watch.

"You better get going" I said to him. "Before someone comes knocking on my door"

Ashton nodded.

"I'll be back with my cousins" Ashton said to me.

"I'll be avoiding Billie" I said.

I stepped on my tippy toes, reaching up to kiss Ashton. Ashton cupped my cheek, tilting my chin up a little as we kissed. I slowly pulled away from him.

"You taste like toothpaste" Ashton said.

"Go before I kick you out" I told him.

Ashton smirked at me. He began to walk to the door.

"Tonight" I said.

Ashton turned to me.

"Promise?" I asked him.

"Tonight" Ashton said.

Ashton turned away again, leaving my hotel room. I looked to my unmade bed. I remembered a glimpse of watching Ashton as he slept last night. I smiled to myself, sitting back on the bed. 

He's mine. Almost mine.

1 PM.

"Oh, bullshit" Billie said. "That can't be true"

I looked across the cafeteria to Bille. She sat a few tables away with Chris and Toby, a crew member.

"Ghosts?" I heard Billie say. "You have to be gullible to believe that"

I sighed in relief. I took another bite of my french fries.

"You didn't tell her yet?" Camila asked me.

I looked up from my plate to Camila, who sat across from me. Andy sat right next to me. Camila was looking at Billie.

"No . . ." I said. "And can you stop looking at her? We don't need her to think we are talking about her"

Camila turned her head to me.

"Are you going to tell her?" Camila asked me.

"I'm planning to" I said. "With Ashton"

"When?" Andy asked me. "Before or after we leave Paris?"

"Tonight, actually" I told them. "After the show"

Camila and Andy looked to each other, both surprised.

"What?" I asked them.

"Nothing" Camila said. "Just . . . are you sure you don't want to tell her earlier? Like now?"

"And have her be pissed off at me when the show comes?" I asked them. "I don't need the show to go wrong because I told her at the wrong time"

"I think you might be over-exaggerating, Y/N" Andy said. "Billie would never do that"

"Ashton said the same thing" I said. "But I'm not taking the chance"

"Y/N," Andy said. "What if photos of you and Ashton last night come out?"

Camila looked at her in confusion. 

"You were with Ashton last night?" Camila asked me.

"Only Andy was supposed to know but . . . yes" I said.

"Okay, you need to tell her now" Camila said. "We don't need her finding out from paparazzi again. Or worse, what if someone from the crew tells her? It's best to tell her now"

"Camila has a point' Andy said to me. "You've known Billie forever, longer than me even. You should tell her now. She's your friend after all. It's the right thing to do"

I bit my lip, looking down at my plate for a moment. 

They were right. I knew I was a horrible friend already for getting with Ashton but did I want to be an even worse friend to Billie? I needed to tell her what she needed to hear before it was too late, with or without Ashton. Hell, he was the one who wanted to tell her before tonight and I should. And I will.

I looked to Camila and Andy.

"Wish me luck" I said to them. 

I stood up from the table before they could respond. I walked over to the table that Chris, Toby and Billie sat.

"I heard someone say ghost" I said to them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"You're five minutes too late" Chris said. "But I asked Billie if she wanted to go a haunted house in Paris with Toby and I tomorrow"

"Would you like to come?" Toby asked me.

"Oh, I wish but the last thing I need is a ghost following me around" I said.

"Why'd you come over and ask about ghosts if you don't like them?" Chris asked me.

Chris grinned at me, knowing that I've come over for another reason. I blinked at him, turning to Billie.

"Umm, can I talk to you?" I asked her. "Alone?"

Billie stood up from the table. I heard Chris say something about Ashton as I walked away from them. I stopped walking as soon as I felt Billie and I were out of hearing distance.

"So, what do you want?" Bille said, crossing her arms.

I stared at her for a few seconds, debating if it was really worth it to tell her now with her standing right in front of me. She could easily slap me the second I tell her. Maybe I should have waited for Ashton. Billie must have punched him a hundred of times before as kids. He could take another one for me-

"Are you going to say anything or???" Billie said to me.

"Uh, yeah" I said. "I am"

I let out a little sigh. Here goes nothing . . .

"Okay, I know how mad you are going to be," I began to speak. "But Ashton and I-"

"Are dating?" Billie asked me, not really showing any sign of anger.

"Umm, yes" I said, nodding. "You're not mad?"

"A little" Billie said. "But I already knew Ashton and you would get together the second his plane landed"

"So, you're fine with me dating him?" I asked her. "I swear you wanted me dead when tour started"

Billie rolled her eyes, sighing.

"Y/N," Billie spoke. "I can't stop you from being with Ashton. I may hate the sight of you two together but . . . it wouldn't be fair to you or him"

My eyes widen at Billie. I was surprised. Billie did have a heart.

"And I really don't want to find another job as a guitarist for someone else" Billie said. 

I smiled at her.

"I didn't want to find another guitarist too" I said. "No one really plays out there like you do"

Billie uncrossed her arms. A little smirk grew on her lips.

"I better not find you kissing backstage" Billie said to me. I nodded.

"I'll try my best to avoid backstage then" I said.

Billie walked away from me, returning to her table. I walked back to mine, sitting down. Camila and Andy looked surprised. 

"That was it?" Camila asked. "You did it?"

"Yup" I said, nodding. "I need to call Ashton"

3 PM.

Well, I told Ashton the news. He was shocked when I told him Billie wasn’t angry. I had to admit I was still in shock. It’s weird seeing Billie not care about Ashton and I. I mean, Billie normally doesn’t care about anyone or anything that wastes her time but . . . Ashton’s her brother. She wanted to practically kill me when the photos of him and I kissing came out. I figured she would react the same when I told her about Ashton today. She didn’t. That felt odd.

“I wouldn’t take the vinyl” Chris said to Marie. “Take the sweater, you can bleached it after you get sick of the design”

“Ignore him” Billie said to Marie. “Take whatever you want”

I watched Chris and Billie argue as Billie’s and Ashton’s cousins - Marie, Elodi and Louis, looked at my merch stand. I looked to Ashton, who stood next to me.

“Doesn’t it feel weird?” I asked him. “Seeing Billie be okay with us?”

“A little” Ashton said. “I think seeing Chris flirt with my cousin is worse”

I looked at Chris who was taking a quick glance at Elodi. Elodi noticed but didn’t seem to mind. She was smiling at Chris more than anyone has before. I shook my head, feeling a little grossed out. I looked to Ashton again.

“You’re right. That is worse” I said to Ashton. “Do you want to take a walk?”

“Oh, god yes” Ashton said, already walking away from me.

I followed him, catching up to him. We walked through one of the arena’s floor, passing an empty snack bar. In a little less than four hours, this floor will be filled of fans.

“I think I understand why Billie hated us hanging us together” Ashton said. “I can’t shake the look off of Chris’ face”

“Ugh, I know” I said. “I’m surprised she isn’t giving Chris the devil eyes she gave me. I know she isn’t that close to your cousin but . .

. Chris?”

Ashton shook his head, looking a little in pain. I took the advantage and talk to him about Billie.

“Don’t you think it’s strange though?” I asked Ashton. “It’s feels more wrong being with you now than before”

“You do?” Ashton asked me. “Because she knows?”

Ashton stopped walking, smiling at me.

“Wait, does this mean the magic is gone between us?” Ashton asked me, pretending to be hurt. “Because I thought what we had was great. Like great as in-“

“Stop trying to make me laugh and forget what I’m trying to say” I said, cutting Ashton off.

Ashton shrugged, abandoning his joke. I sighed, cuddling Ashton’s arm as we walked more.

“You really don’t feel anything is weird?” I asked Ashton. “It’s Billie. You know her better than me”

Ashton looked down.

“Not really” Ashton said. “But I’m not the one who saw her everyday for the last three months. I think it’s normal for you to feel a little weird.”

I mean, he did have a point. I saw her face every day. Everyday, I felt guilty because I kissed her brother. I guess I still had some of that guilt even with her approval.

“But it’s also weird starting a new relationship” Ashton said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen and that takes sometime getting used to”

I looked up to Ashton. I smiled at him.

“What?” Ashton asked me.

“I don’t think the magic is gone” I said to him. “And I think what we have is pretty great”

Ashton smiled down on me.

“When does your plane leave again tomorrow?” Ashton asked me.

“Eight” I said. “At night”

Ashton and I stared at each other for a moment, not saying anything but we already knew what each other was thinking. Ashton turned around to look back at his Billie, Chris and his cousins walking towards us. I turned around to see them too. I looked back to Ashton, letting go of him.

“I’ll distract Chris” I said to Ashton. “Get your cousins as far as possible”

“Thank you” Ashton said.

I winked at Ashton before walking away from him and to Chris.

“Aaron needs to talk to you” I said to Chris, grabbing his hand. “Now”

I walked away from Billie and her cousins, dragging Chris away from them.

“I could just call him!” Chris said. “I was in the middle of something”

“Uh, huh” I said, not believing him. “Let’s go”

London. 7:30 PM.

*HARRY’S POV*

“I bet you had to take a long shower after that” Sandy said to me.

“Oh, he always has” Gemma said. “Had to bang hundred times on the bathroom door every time he did”

“Hey, you took long showers too” I said to Gemma.

“Oh, enough of the showers” My mom said. “You both don’t live in this house anymore”

Sandy laughed at Gemma and I.

I was spending the week with my mother and sister. I was going to be out of London next week, promoting my first single of my new album - Lights Up. I just showed Sandy the music video of it.

“I swear they haven’t changed at all” My mother said. “The same teenagers just older”

I smiled at my mother, taking her insults as a compliment. I saw my phone vibrate on the table. I picked it up, seeing Y/N was calling.she must have got my calls and texts about my video. I sent it to her and I didn’t get a response until now.

“Go on” My mother said to me. “Answer it”

“I’ll be right back” I said to my family, getting up from the dinner table.

I walked into the kitchen, answering Y/N’s call. I held my phone up to my ear.

“Oh, look who finally picked up her phone” I said. “You know, I wished you would answer when I call. Texting about my video takes the fun out of it”

“I know” I heard Y/N say. “And I’m sorry. I was busy”

“Mhmm” I said, not believing her.

“I’m serious, H” Y/N said. “I was too busy with Billie and Ashton and forgot to look at your texts”

I went silent for a moment. Ashton? The same Ashton she told me about before tour?

“Ashton?” I asked her. “When did-“

“He flew in for my Paris shows” Y/N said. “He told me he missed me and wanted to give us a real shot. So, now we’re giving long distance a try”

She’s back with him. I should feel happy for her but I didn’t.

“And the crazier part is Billie doesn’t mind us dating” Y/N said. “I still can’t believe it actually”

“That’s great” I said, lying. “I’m happy for you. He sounds like he makes you really happy”

“He does” Y/N said. “I’m happy for you too, H. I can’t wait for the internet to freak out over your video.”

“You think they would?” I asked Y/N.

“A video that is basically an orgy?” Y/N said. “Who wouldn’t? I was when you sent it to me”

I smiled hearing her say that.

“Okay, I’m at the airport right now and I’m pretty sure my flight is about to be called any second” Y/N said. “So, I’ll call you soon?”

“Yeah” I said, nodding. “Have a safe flight”

“Thanks” Y/N said. “Bye”

Y/N hung up on me. I moved my phone from my ear.

She’s back with Ashton. She has a boyfriend. I should be happy for her.

Why wasn’t I?