#something i am sure as hell not doing as a career in the future then i was like FINE. i will go to this museum or the preschool at the uni

[goawaygoongit]

okay thank god ....dont want to jinx it or anything but i got a positive answer from one of the places i want to go to for my co op class which is a career exploration type thing for either 12th graders that want to get the hell out of here so bad orrr very very high achieving anal retentive 12 graders...i am a disturbing combo of both. (i think i was a high achiever when i could just coast on like having a good reading comprehension through every class except math but now you see just like the real world + uni will be, when class started requiring things like paying attention....extra, self-managed practice...mla citations with severe consequences if u dont do it right i kind of fell off the wagon a bit. and my grades arent awful or anything but i do get whiny about not being able to get 100s all the time anymore.) anyhow. very excited about the place im going to it is the french public library. but the person my teacher got in contact with claimed to know me and i have never heard her name in my life unlessss she knows my mum which would make sense but i reaaally hope there wasnt a mix up...

[winwintea]

winwintea's super SEXY and COOL rec-list

author’s note ↬ i really need to start saving and liking half of the fics i read bc i end up not being able to find them again... a lot of these are smut (bc i am a whore sometimes) so mdni with those tagged with s!

last updated ↬ september 11th, 2024

𝐊𝐄𝐘 ↬

f — 𝐟���𝐮𝐟𝐟

a — 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭

h — 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞/𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 

s— 𝗌𝗆𝗎𝗍/𝗆𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾

𝖭𝖢𝖳 𝖣𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖬

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐋𝐄𝐄 ↬

𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 by @sehunniepotwrites ↳ disneyland au | f | 11.9k words 

There are so many ways your friend group could have chosen to celebrate your graduation from university but they chose the one way that fit their childlike antics most of all–going to Disneyland. With all the screams of joy and laughter filing the atmosphere, you see why people call it The Happiest Place on Earth. It’s where magic comes alive, hearts soar to the skies, and where dreams come true. With your dream job already lined up for you once you get back from this vacation, you wonder if your last and wildest fantasy–the one that carries Mark Lee endearingly close to your heart–will take flight. (But don’t worry; your best friends, with a little help of pixie dust, are determined to make it come alive by the end of night.)

perfection like literally. i love disney. so so so much.

𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 by @yojeongin ↳ husband au | s | 19.5k words 

all mark ever does is use weaponized incompetence to get out of small tasks you ask of him. when he finally realizes you resort to his close friends to do what he can’t— nothing can prepare him for what’s in your pandora box; now karma is set in motion.

toxic as hell... i didn't know what to think of myself after this. but it's extremely well written.

𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨 by @hazyhae ↳ plug + stoner au | a, f, s | 14.4k words 

a high slip up cost you mark lee years ago, and you’ve spent years burying your memories of him ever since. the universe has other plans for you when your old friend starts a new career, smoking his way back into your life.

love love their work, even has a whole post dedicated to explaining weed basics 101 which i appreciate. A LOT

𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 by @spiderm444rk↳ smau | f | ongoing

you, as the promising journalism student of NCUT, were more than willing to join the school magazine when you got offered. to your disappointment, the only section they let you have is the anonymous confessions one - which is mostly really, really boring. i mean, who even posts any cool confessions nowadays ? especially in a damn college magazine ? they only offered you the job no one else wanted. on the other hand, mark, a business student, was never more annoyed with the choice of his major. sure, business is cool and hopefully it’ll earn him money, but it’s not something he could really get into. he always wanted to do music. but after long considering, he chose business instead, to make sure he gets a real job in the future. and he doubts that choice was correct more and more every day. once the school band announces they’re looking for a new guitarist, he’s absolutely ready to apply until he reads the ‘music students only’ part. pissed off, he starts typing a message to the gc, but it ends up going to a different number - and you finally get to help some poor random stranger who confessed with something interesting.

sucker for mark lee and bands 😋😋

𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬 by @https-lvesick ↳ spiderman smau | a, f | ongoing

toronto has never been so chaotic, but things are working out since the spiders appeared to save the citizens. spiderman and silk are the city's biggest saviours and they count on them to keep them safe, even the police. but, aside from their big responsibilities, they’re just teenagers, trying to be themselves and keep their grades good, trying to have a social life and maybe a love life as successful as their superhero life. but… what’s easier to tell? that you have a crush on your best friend or that you’re a mutant superhero?

so so so so hyped for this since it started and excited for it still... a spiderman smau is just so good especially for mark <33

𝐇𝐔𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐔𝐍 ↬

𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 by @strrykais ↳ fantasy au + smau | f, a | ongoing

did you know that angels walk the earth before they get accepted into heaven, being tasked to watch over a human and complete their assignment. renjun was excited to finally have the chance to earn his wings, until he finds out his task is getting you to love life. a very depressed girl meets a very desperate boy, can they learn that maybe staying on earth isn't such a bad thing after all.

so hyped for this one actually even though it's the newest one on this list i think.

𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐭𝐰𝐨. 𝐭𝐞𝐧. by @zchl ↳ angsty little drabble | a | 1k words

(doesnt have a summary) renjun in the hospital, you're waiting for news.

literally broke me.

𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 by @hwanchaesong ↳ exes to lovers | a, f | 1.1k words

[part of the after hours series] Y'all bring gravity to shame because even with its constant pull of 9.81 m/s^2, it still can't put your drunken pieces back together.

the series is so good check it out. this one is my fav though, it's just honestly a scenario i've never thought about before.

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐎 ↬

𝐢 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 by @hazyhae ↳ fwb to lovers + plug!jeno | f, a, s | 4.7k words

jeno doesn't think he's ever felt this restless in his life. maybe he's been smoking a bad batch of flower, or maybe it's the fact that you haven't knocked on his door in over a month.

oh god. jeno isn't even one of my ults or wreckers but damn this hits the spot actually?

8 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 by @nanaxwii ↳ friends to lovers | f, a, | 1.3k words

Why do all good stories come to an end? Why don’t we try to make it work? It just takes 8 letters to fix it all, or does it…?

loving this one... it's filled with tooth rotting fluff that's so cute omg... i love them.

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐂𝐊 ↬

𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫 by @lyvhie ↳ established relationship | f | 2k words

you just want to show your boyfriend how important he is to you.

like the title it's literally so sweet... tooth-rotting fluff

𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 by @lqfiles ↳ smau | f | ongoing

after getting evicted out of your old place, you're left with no other choice but to look for a cheaper alternative. which is how you end up becoming neighbors with lee haechan, who has a passion for music and disturbing whatever peace and quiet there is. or in which you found yourself a very nice apartment, the only issue? your neighbor is your friend's somewhat ex-situationship who won't stop playing his guitar at 2 am in the night.

you will absolutely shit yourself reading this (in a good way dare i say?)

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐧 by @diorcities ↳ ballet au | s, h | 20.9k words

docile bodies loaded with lethal venom and betrayals are commonplace in the prestigious academy, and you happen to be their new prey when you're given the starring role with the smooth seducer with the devil's carved grin that everyone desperately desires: haechan

probably the filthiest one on this list? read the tags before reading, might be too much. it's just extremely poetic...

𝐍𝐀 𝐉𝐀𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍 ↬

𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 by @polarisjisung ↳ fighter au | a, f | 2.7k words

it's routine— you patch up his wounds and watch them heal, he salts your wounds but doesn't stick around long enough to watch them grow.

i hate you for this hua (esp part 2) but i also love to drown in angst

𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 by @markiemelon ↳ friends to lovers(?) au | f | idk lol

going over to jaem's house to crash a couple of times leads to something...

this was so sweet omg

𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 by @polarisjisung ↳ enemies to lovers smau | f, a | ongoing

going ovevery college student has their struggles, but raising her younger brother has Y/N top of the list, struggling her way through college whilst balancing her academics and basketball captaincy is difficult no doubt and with Jaemin, her ex best friend and captain of the guys basketball team, and his growing one sided hatred towards her, it doesn't seem to be getting any easierer to jaem's house to crash a couple of times leads to something...

unfortunately i cannot put cherry flavored, but this is just as good. check it out!!!

𝐙𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐄 ↬

𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧 by @lowkeychenle ↳ friends to lovers(?) au | s, f, a | 9k words

Chenle is everything you want--everything you need. Somehow, the thought of him manages to pull you back in even after you were free. Messy kisses, late night trysts, and him tracing the word 'mine' on your thigh--barely anything, so how could you possibly be guilty as sin? (based on Guilty As Sin? by Taylor Swift)

fucked me over so badly.

𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭! by @wonbin-truther ↳ idol smau | f | smau

idol chenle x idol reader try to avoid dating rumors

this was SOO FUNNY

𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 by @lyvhie ↳ established relationship | s | 2.5k words

a stupid little game seems to be enough to make you speak with recklessness and throw reason out of the window in the heat of the moment. but since you were unwilling to be so easily placated, chenle was decided to talk some sense into you.

i fully choked the day i read this. had to take a breather omg 😵😵

𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞 by @mins-fins ↳ royalty au | f, a | 22.7k words

where crown prince zhong chenle, forced into a marriage with a woman he doesn't like and riddled with complicated feelings, finds solace in the palace's very own medic, you.

actually such a sucker for royalty fics... and chenle is so prince coded

𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲 by @aehyei ↳ parallel universe + time traveling au | f, a | 6.4k words

After a long day of stressful practice, Chenle finds himself in deep sleep on his bed and wakes up when a strange child that came from nowhere jumped on him—scaring him in the progress. To add to everything, the young idol learns that he just traveled to the future and is able to meet his future daughter. But will Chenle be able to be that great husband and father when he doesn’t even have a single clue on what’s going on?

one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES I HAVE EVER READ. if you're gonna read any of these read this.

𝐒𝐄𝐑Á 𝐔𝐍𝐀 𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐋𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 by @galacticseonghwa ↳ biker smau | f, a, s | ongoing

your friends were all you needed, they were your brothers from another mother they loved to say. but that all went to shit after ricky dragged you to one of his motorbike sprints. who are you to say no when ricky's opponent claws his way into your inner circle and present himself as your dream man?

really really good and underrated... i love chenle can you tell...

𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 by @chenlesfavorite ↳ motorcyclist smau | f, a | ongoing

working night shifts 24/7 at the convenience store while also supporting your boyfriend’s obsession with watching motorcyclists race is not easy, but little did you know that one of the bikers that he loves soon gets involved with you.

wdym this is ending soon... no way.... im gonna cry wtf

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐉𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆 ↬

𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 by @aehyei ↳ high school au | f | 7.2k words

You love stories. If anyone would ask, you’d rather live in it then wake up another day in a world where everyone’s having the love story you’ve been daydreaming about. Of course falling in love with your best friend never came across your mind so it was a bit of a mess when you realized Jisung didn’t only view you as a ‘friend’. 

so so so so sos sos cute omfghsdjsah

𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 by @jirsungs ↳ college smau | f | completed

a story about a college student enjoying her life in school perfectly fine, until one of her friends drags the group along to watch their school's band perform. little did she know that day would be marked as the day her whole world turned upside down because of a particular, nonchalant, and difficult drummer boy. a drummer boy who spilled his entire drink on her brand new outfit at a party and never came back.

i actually binged this in a day bc it was so good

𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 by @babbymochiiii ↳ discord call au (if you know where this is going...) | s | ??? words

you and jisung have discord date night, where things take a turn.

sorry guys im.. a little shameless sometimes...

𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐉𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆 ↬

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 by @jaysng ↳ friends to lovers | f | idk lol

jay and mute reader both seem to like each other, just when he thinks that his confession was a pure failure the reader does something surprising.

this was just so sweet i literally fell in love with him all over again

𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 by @yeonzzzn ↳ zombie apocalypse au | f, h, a, s | 26.2k words

in the middle of the apocalypse, you and jay find each other in a situation of life and death, using the protection of each other to get to the next safe zone. unfortunately for the both of you, things take a turn once secrets get revealed and the fight for survival becomes greater.

probably one of my personal favorites on this list teehee. i love jay park.

𝐖𝐄𝐍 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐇𝐔𝐈 ↬

𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨 by @wheeboo ↳ dark + psychiatric facility au | f, a, h | 12.8k words

in which a new patient is assigned for treatment under your care, and you begin to put the puzzles and pieces together to a past case that you thought to have ceased away from your mind.

literally had me gripping the edge of my seat as i read this

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐇𝐄𝐄 ↬

𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 by @wonbin-truther ↳ influencers smau | f, a | ongoing

sohee was a well known streamer, having grown his fanbase over covid with the game minecraft and slowly branched into other games along with sponsorships and modeling offers. he was also well known for being your number one twitter fanboy, never missing one of your posts even if fashion wasn't his greatest interest. what happens when a modeling gig brings him face to face with you?

this was a really sweet smau omfg... and sohee streamer just makes so much sense...

𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐉𝐀𝐄𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐍 ↬

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 by @sehunniepot ↳ disneyland cast member au | f, a, h | 12.8k words

in which a new patient is assigned for treatment under your care, and you begin to put the puzzles and pieces together to a past case that you thought to have ceased away from your mind.

if y'all have anything disney related send my way cause i'll literally eat it all up. JUST LIKE THIS ONE.

𝐌𝐀𝐄𝐃𝐀 𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐔 ↬

𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 by @slytherinshua ↳ established relationship | f | ~500 words

jealous riku over seiji from whisper of the heart

i need more riku content omfg. ALSO THIS IS PERFECT? ITS JUST A DRABBLE BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH?

SEND ME UR FICS SO I CAN READ THEM BTW !!!! i'll try to update this as often as i can... or maybe make more depending on the amount on here, but thank you all so much for the wonderful stories <33

[insomniactic-daydream]

Really?- Bakugo x Reader

Bakugo x Support Course Shoto's Twin Sister Reader (Part 5)

<- (Previous Part 4)

Summary: Y/n and Bakugo being supportive love sick idiots. (I'm too lazy to write a summary rn)

"What is this shit? Why is the fabric weird?"

"Those are your gloves. They'll help you adjust to the seasonal changes. Warmer in the winter and even more sweat in these warmer temperatures.

It's made with metal thread produced by yours truly. That way, they dont wear out easily." you say while tidying up some screws.

Bakugo's questioning has been going on for the last few minutes. If you didn't know better, you'd think he's trying to take your place in the support course. You swear he's taking up all the oxygen in the unventilated shed; nothing but an open window.

"You spent time sewing this shit together after creating the thread?"

"I am the best, aren't I?" You say, looking up from the gauntlets to meet his eyes with a smirk. He quickly turns his head in another direction, avoiding being caught flustered.

"Tch, as if. I just didn't think you losers had to put together so much shit just for one hero's gear." He grumbles, taking on a new appreciation to support course people and workers.

"Well, now you know not to be cheap when it comes to your agency's gear in the future, right Number One?" You say before grabbing the gloves and one of his arms.

You slip his hands into the fingerless gloves; shockingly compliant. Meanwhile, Bakugo is wondering how the hell your hands are so soft given your job. One of the pros of having a lava quirk.

"Tch damn right, nerd. Now the hell are we doing now?" He says, eyeing Y/n's calm and zone in look on her face.

"Do you ever stop asking questions? We're assembling your shit together already. If anything too tight or loose, tell me, and I'll adjust it. " You say as he examines the gauntlets on his arms, opening and closing his fists.

"One of the rings for my ultimate blast is a bit snug. It's making harder to pull on to activate it." He says while Y/n grabs the defective gauntlet pulling out the ring.

Y/n also grabs his hand again while heating up the ring with her quirk and goes to the finger in question; which so happens to be his ring finger.

"Oi, what the hell do yo -" Bakugo says in fear for his finger to be charred off or 3rd degree burns at least. He pauses as he realizes the ring is also being cooled down with your ice quirk.

"What too soon for you to say yes?" you say through a chuckle, jokingly makes it seem she's proposing to him.

That's when Bakugo quirk goes off, earning a little harmless explosion to Y/n's face. Even Bakugo was not sure he meant to do that, but he quickly composed himself.

"You're an idiot." He says, rolling his eyes and his face away from you. You let out a giggle.

"What? If this this career doesn't work out for me I had to make sure I'm rich somehow." She says sarcastically.

"Your father is literally loaded, dumbass." He says to you; now chuckling at your stupid joke. Totally forgetting that you almost burned his finger off. (He's being overdramatic)

You were an idiot he thought. But something warm erupted in his chest, thinking about your unwavering confidence in him to be number one in the future.

You always refer to his goal as something you believe he can actually achieve. You don't criticize his personality or tell him it's impossible with an ego like his. You actually think he's going to be someone big someday.

And if he were honest with himself, he wouldn't mind if you're there when he does make his dream a reality.

"Hm, I guess you're right." You say laughing, and you help him reattach parts of the gauntlets.

"Besides, you're not half bad at this shit. I don't think you'll fail even if you tried." He grumbles softly, almost embarrassed he's complimenting you.

"Guess I proved myself to you, huh then number one?" You look up to make eye contact with him.

He stares back intensely. Like a trance, he can't shake off.

"I guess you did, idiot." He says softly. He admit he had his reservations about you, but you ended up proving him wrong in the such short duration of time you've known each other.

The room falls silent for a while. Nobody mentioned the moment that just happened between them. Too stubborn to say the obvious.

"So why the support course? And how come not your brother too?" Bakugo says, clearing his throat into a new conversation. Y/n, let's out a pondering hum.

"Hm, well, I did get my quirk a little later than him. I was always around my dad, but he only focused on training Shoto for the time being."

"I'd usually stay around the agency when I was younger while my mother took care of my siblings at home. That's how I ended being looked after by the agency's support crew." You say with a shrug.

The information made Bakugo uneasy. How come your mother didn't take care of you? But your speaking cut off his thoughts.

"From then, I already learned the basics. And so, even when my quirk came and my dad pushed me towards becoming a hero, I knew that I wanted to make support gear. And I wanted to be the best at it." You say with a smile as you adjust the newly fitted ring back into the now newly completed gauntlets.

"Well, if my gauntlets serve any proof, I'd say your smartass is already halfway there." Bakugo says wholeheartedly to you. Hoping his words gave you an ounce of confidence you've given him.

"Really?"

"Really"

"Guess I should charge you extra then, huh? I mean, I'm going to be in pretty high demand then."

"You know what. I take it back."

As if he wouldn't pay top dollar for you if that were the case.

(Part 6) ->

I literally cringed writing this. Idk why I can't write lovey stuff 😭

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[eddiexmunsonlover]

One Step Away From You (Chapter 4)

ExBestFriend!Eddie Munson x PlusSize!Fem!Reader

Follow my new blog for future chapters & fics @cherryxhaze

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Chapter Summary: Your off-handed comment to Jason catches up to you. Before things get out of hand, someone swoops in to your defense. A heart-to-heart ensues. WC: 6.4k Warnings: MDNI. Explicit language. Fatphobia/bullying from Jason. Jason almost hits you. Brief references to toxic family relationships and abuse.

Saturday, September 21st, 1985

The ever so alluring smell of bacon and pancakes invades your senses, stirring you from your slumber. You rub your eyes as you look at the clock on the bedside table. 10:35 am. You slept in, though you can’t say you’re surprised. After the day you had, you must’ve really needed it. You roll out of Steve’s spare bed, making sure to re-make it before you venture down the stairs. 

The smell intensifies with each step down the stairs and into the kitchen, spotting the stack of pancakes and bacon waiting to be picked. Steve is pouring a cup of coffee, eyeing you as you grab a plate and start loading it up.

“Morning, sleepy head”

“Morning, haircut” you respond, taking a quick bite of bacon. Groaning softly in pleasure, “You know, Steve. If you don’t figure out what you wanna do for a career, I think you’d make a great little housewife.” You smirk to yourself as you pour syrup onto your plate. Steve scoffs out a laugh.

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that. Know any takers?” You laugh with him before you catch a glimpse of Robin sitting on the couch, eating her own plate. 

“Oh, hell yes.” you say excitedly when you see and hear Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? playing on the TV. You quickly scurry over to join Robin on the couch with your own plate. Steve joins soon after, all leisurely eating your brunch and watching Saturday morning cartoons. After you’ve all finished your plates and are relaxing before eventually having to get ready for your work shifts, Steve speaks up.

“So, we gonna talk about what happened yesterday?”

You look between him and Robin, confused. You quirk an eyebrow up at him.

“Uh, what happened yesterday? What do you mean?”

“I mean, something happened yesterday, didn’t it? You seemed a bit…off.”

Goddamnit. If Dustin hadn't learned it from you, you're now sure he learned his ability to read people so well from Mr. Steven Harrington too.

“Did you talk to Eddie?” Robin asks softly.

You sigh, crossing your arms over your stomach.

“I mean, you don’t have to tell us anything. But if you want to, you know we’re here. I’m also just really nosey.” Steve adds, causing a smirk to tug at your lips before you take a deep breath.

“Yeah. I talked to him. Ran into him after lunch, literally. And uh, let’s just say it did not go well. He kinda flipped out on me. But, I kinda deserved it. Aaand, I kinda slapped him. But, he kinda deserved it.” You let yourself laugh a little, taking in their surprised faces.

“So yeah, based on that I don’t think we’ll be friends again anytime soon. At least I can say I tried.” You finish with a shrug.

Robin reaches out and rubs your arm soothingly as Steve looks at you with sympathy and in thought. 

“I’m sorry, Y/N” he sighs, “Maybe just give things some time to cool down, I’m sure he’ll come back around.” He gives you a soft, crooked smile.

“Yeah, maybe. And if not, I’m sure I’ll be okay.” you say, more to yourself than to them.

You pull into your driveway an hour later. You sit there, finishing your cigarette as your eyes linger on the now familiar van across the street through your rear-view mirror. You look longer than you’d like, finally tearing your eyes away to throw out your cig. Cutting off the sounds of Black Sabbath as you turn off the ignition. 

You slowly shuffle your way to the mailbox at the end of your driveway. Flipping through the spam and advertisements when you hear a familiar sound, a skateboard. Your eyes follow the sound, a figure shaded by the sun. You know who it is. If it wasn’t for the skateboard, it’s the flaming aura around her head under the sunlight. A big smile stretches across your face, leaning against your mailbox as she rides closer into view. When she’s close enough to see your face, her eyes widen and she nearly stumbles off her skateboard, eliciting a giggle from you. She stares at you for a second as she comes to a stop, sliding her headphones down to her neck.

“Hey, you.” you say cheerfully.

In a second, she’s running to you, wrapping you in a tight embrace. You feel the shakiness as she inhales a deep breath.

“I’ve been looking all over for you, the ever elusive Red.” You smile as you return the hug, briefly rubbing her back before she pulls back to look at you.

“W-How?” She looks toward your trailer, “You moved back?!”

“Yep, just this past week. I tried keeping an eye out for you at school, then Dustin told me you moved here. Knew I’d catch you eventually.”

Her smile falters ever so slightly at the mention of Dustin.

“Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s a piece of shit but it’s a roof over our heads I guess.” You nod in agreement, pondering how to approach her. If she’s been avoiding the party, you worry one wrong move will send her running away from you too. You decide to go the easy route, knowing you might not get a truthful answer right away.

“You and mom doing okay?” 

“Yeah. She’s either working or drinking most of the time, so” she shrugs nonchalantly, a move you see right through. “But I can take care of myself just fine anyway”.

“Well, if you ever get bored entertaining yourself, just come and give a knock, okay? I gotta get going for work here soon, but maybe we can go out to the drive-in or something soon?”

A small smile tugs at her lips as she nods lightly.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Oh, and you know. If you ever need a ride, I’m already giving the knuckleheads rides home after school and since we’re neighbors, I can just stick them all in the bed and give you passenger seat privileges.” You ramble before noticing the way she begins to awkwardly sway at the suggestion. “Or ya know, I can just kick them to the curb and save myself some gas with just you.” You quickly offer. She forces a small laugh before shaking her head.

“No, that’s okay. It gives me more time to skate anyway.” 

Great, I’ve already messed this up. Just add it to the list…

“Alright, well the offer’s on the table anytime. For anything.” You insist, giving her an out to the conversation as you begin to move back toward your driveway. She only nods in response, before putting her skateboard in place to ride again.

“See you later, Red.” You wave before heading into your trailer to get ready for work.

During the slower phases of the work day, your mind drifts to worries of Max. How she’s really doing, how you should approach her, how to get her to open up to you. It’s a welcomed distraction considering the other places, or people, your mind would be wandering to otherwise. You and Max had gotten fairly close over the summer, you gave her opportunities with and outside of the party to get away from home, from her asshole step-brother. Being the only other girl and older, she often confided in you. Whether it was about her brother, her relationship with Lucas, or the struggles of girlhood, you were there for her. 

Since Billy’s sacrifice to save her from the mall fire and his resulting death, she’s closed off. Isolating from everyone close to her. That happened to be something you’re familiar with. Something that helps you to understand her, something you can use. You know you need to take it slow though. Based on her initial reaction to seeing you, you know she's missed you, and know that connection is still there. There’s just some walls you need to chisel down first.

Take it slow.

That connection is still there.

Just some walls you need to chisel down first…

Those dark curls… chocolate button eyes… cutest fucking dimples you’ve ever seen in your life.

You close your eyes and take a deep breath, frustrated with your brain and your heart. Both deeply longing for him… before the shock of pain with the memory of his words hits you.

Just let it go. Move on. He’s not your Eddie anymore.

~

It was bothering Eddie more than he’d ever admit, even to himself. You. Thoughts of you swimming around his head with every emotion he could think of, was bothering him.

After your argument, he felt a bit of relief. To finally say the words he’d been carrying with him these last few years to you. To finally release the anger and pain out onto you. It felt like a weight off his shoulders in the moment. What he hadn’t been expecting was for you to match it, taking the pain and anger you felt in response, right back out and onto him. 

This whole past week you’ve been back has thrown him off. More distracted than usual. More reactive. More irritable. The other boys in Hellfire noticed, taking extra effort to not poke the bull. 

Your argument and slap left him even more distracted and off-balance. You’d thrown him off his game for Hellfire for christ’s sake. Forgetting details for the campaign that he’d otherwise would’ve had memorized, left him referencing his notes. He didn’t exude his usual dungeon master playfulness, animated voice and facial expressions coming out muted. Everyone noticed. Eddie’s own off-balanced performance reflected in his players. Nothing had ever distracted him so much to the point of interfering with Hellfire campaigns. The way Henderson eyed him suspiciously throughout the night almost set him off completely, again. He’d ended the campaign a little early, offering a brief apology and a quick lie to write off his abnormal performance on. He’d spent the rest of the night getting as drunk and high as he could in his bedroom until he passed out. 

Saturday isn’t going much differently for him. Sitting in his bed with a joint in his mouth as his fingers mindlessly strum his guitar, thinking of you. The anger he felt yesterday is now replaced with guilt. A guilt that sits and churns in his stomach, teetering on the edge of nausea. Maybe that was just the hangover, or maybe it’s from the way he can’t get the image of your tear-streaked face out of his head. Tears caused by him.

You deserved to hear how much you hurt him. Be faced with the consequences of your actions. You deserved that. But as he remembers the look in your eyes yesterday, the way you flinched, the way he caused a side of you you rarely show to come out… he knows you didn’t deserve that. He scolds himself for letting his emotions get the best of him, letting them get out of his control. You hurt him, that didn’t make it right for him to hurt you back. It didn’t even make him feel good. Maybe very briefly in the moment, just to release what he’d been holding in for so long, but it left as quickly as it came. 

He sighs as he moves the guitar off his lap, putting out his joint in the ashtray before rubbing his hands over his face, staring up at the ceiling.

He can’t hold on to this anger anymore, he knows it’s not healthy and is only hurting him more. But he can’t blame himself too much for wanting to, it’s one of the ways he’s protected himself in the past. Protected him from getting hurt. You knew that about him. The way he held onto anger at his dad, people in Hawkins, not wanting to waver and give either the chance to hurt him more. You knew almost everything about him, more about him than he’d ever willingly shared with anyone. That’s why what you did hurt him so deeply, and why he wanted to hurt you just as much. And feels like utter shit for it. 

Hey, you!

His eyes dart to his window as his brain immediately recognizes your voice. He peeks out to see you interacting with a younger girl he’d seen skateboarding around in the neighborhood and at school. His heart begins to ache watching you, watching you embrace the girl, watching the way you smile at her and ramble.

God, does he miss it. Misses the way you’d ramble and rant about something you’re passionate about, the way you’d cackle and smile when he’d do the stupidest thing he could think of just so he could see it. Misses the way your warm, plump body feels against him when you’d hug or lean your head on his shoulder. 

He sighs watching you wave goodbye to the girl and walk inside your trailer. 

Maybe he could give you another chance. Now that he’s not so overcome with anger, maybe he’d be able to hear you out. Not overpower you so much with his anger that you can actually have a real chance to explain yourself. 

Maybe.

Tuesday, September 24th, 1985

Some things have changed since your fight with Eddie on Friday. Flipped, really. Your eyes no longer sought him out. You do your best to avoid looking at him whether it was in the halls or in your shared classes. Knowing the sight of him would only bring back that sting in your chest.

Eddie on the other hand, couldn’t tear his eyes away from you whenever you’re in his sight. Watching you in regret, longing, confusion, hurt, all twisted into one. Eddie’s confident in himself most of the time, except for in a few areas. This situation with you and how to handle it moving forward is one of the latter. It’s a big fucking mess he isn’t sure how to fix. He knows with the way things went on Friday after you made the first move to talk to him, that it had to be him this time to try to make things right. 

You take your time walking down the quiet halls before the end of the lunch period, hearing the distant, muffled chatter from the lunchroom. You open your locker, putting away your books from your morning classes, switching them out with your afternoon ones. Just as you finish putting the last book in your bag, your locker slams shut in front of you, causing your head to whip toward the culprit you didn’t notice come up next to you till now.

“You’ve got a smart mouth on you, don’t you piggy?” Jason seethes out, hand pressed against your now closed locker door. Your smirk at him as you lean against it.

“So I’ve been told.”

“Yeah, well I don’t know who the hell you think you are or who you think you're talking to bu-”

“You know, I remember you from years ago. The last time I lived here.” You interrupt before looking him up and down, “Jason Carver. Back then you were just a scrawny guy, trailing behind the older jocks, carrying that ever so fragile ego in tow with theirs.” You look back up to meet his eyes, brows furrowed above them. “I see you’ve grown a few inches, even bulked up a bit. Looks like that’s about all that’s changed, though.” You watch as he processes your words, your insult.

“You fat fucking bitch” He says through gritted teeth, face turning red.

“Oh come on, Carver. Don’t you have anything fresher than that?” you say flatly, cocking an eyebrow at him. You watch as his body tenses up.

“Looks like I need to teach you and that smart mouth a lesson” He says, taking a step closer to you. You don’t move an inch, refusing to give him the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of you.

“Oh no. What are you gonna do?!” You say sarcastically. “You don’t scare me, Carver.”

You watch as a vein protrudes from his forehead, face turning a deeper red. 

It all happens so quickly. One of his arms pulls back, raising in the air in the motion to slap you, but it doesn’t come. Curly dark hair appears behind him, before Jason’s thrown flat on his ass in front of you.

Eddie had been outside smoking before lunch ended. On his way back into the school, he spots you and Jason. He slows his steps, listening in on the quickly escalating conversation. You’re teetering on the edge and you don’t care. As fragile as Jason’s ego is, so is his masculinity. Eddie wasn’t sure if Jason's above hitting a girl, but he knows that’s where this could go. He creeps closer, eyeing the way Jason’s hand begins to twitch. Waiting for the string to snap, and it does. When he spots Jason’s hand raise, Eddie swoops in. With a foot behind Jason’s, Eddie wraps his arm around Jason’s front, pulling him till he’s falling back on the floor. 

Eddie was no stranger to fights, the jocks of Hawkins having taken their frustrations out of him plenty of times. He didn’t like putting himself in the line of fire, but he has and would do it in a heartbeat for the people he cares about. Despite how he’s acted, you’re one of those people.

Your eyes widen, at the fact Jason was about to hit you in the middle of the school, and at seeing Eddie before you, swooping in out of nowhere to defend you. Your eyes lock with his and everything slows down, so many emotions and words unsaid flowing between you with just a look. For a moment your mind flashes back to 5th grade Eddie, reaching his hand out to help you off the ground, worry and sympathy filling his eyes. History repeating itself. You take a deep breath as the memory hits you, staring into Eddie’s brown eyes. In that moment, it’s only you two. No one else. No white brick halls. Just you and Eddie, conveying so much to each other through just your eyes.

Jason’s groans pull you from your trance, your eyes leaving Eddie’s to look down at him. You drop down to one knee, getting into Jason’s face. Eyes popping open wide when he senses you so close. You look at him with fire in your eyes as you point a finger in his face.

“Let me tell you something, you piece of shit. I didn’t come back here to deal with your little brat boy bullshit. If I see you try to put your hands on any of my friends, let alone me, again… I will make you regret it. And don’t think that I won’t.” You hiss, voice full of steel. Staring at him with as much intensity as he held earlier. You relish in the brief moment of fear that flashes through his eyes before his face hardens in frustration and embarrassment, chest heaving with deep, short breaths.

A silence falls before the bell rings to end the lunch period, breaking you all out of the moment. Jason quickly pulls himself to his feet before students flood the halls, not wanting anyone to see him in his embarrassing position. You rise with him. He fixes his letterman jacket, staring daggers between you and Eddie.

“Fucking freaks” he huffs before turning around, stomping down the hall quickly as it fills with students.

Both you and Eddie relax, releasing a breath before you’re just standing there awkwardly next to each other. You resecure your bag on your shoulder before chancing a look at Eddie, who's already staring at you. Reading you, assessing you, trying to tell if you’re okay.

You clear your throat before nodding your head at him.

“Thank you” you mutter softly. When he doesn’t immediately say anything back, your body takes the lead, quickly walking away toward your next class. 

Eddie considers chasing after you, but he doesn’t know what the hell he’d say if he did. He just watches you walk away before he takes slow steps to follow you to your shared class together.

In the two classes you have together, you can feel his eyes on you. You catch him a few times, eyes locking with his before one of you quickly looks away. 

You feel like you have whiplash. From the switch up of the Eddie you faced on Friday that hated your guts, to the Eddie who didn’t waste a second coming to defend you, with only a few days passing in between. You can’t wrap your head around it. You know he cares, he wouldn’t have been so angry before if he didn’t, but you assumed he was done with you, hated you. But someone that hates you wouldn’t rush into potential harms way to defend you, right?

A few more stolen glances and the muffled voices of your teachers’ as you’re lost in thought fills the remainder of your school day. When you leave your final class, stopping at your locker before walking out the front doors, you wonder if he’ll come up behind you, apologize for his behavior on Friday and give you another chance. But it doesn’t happen, making the walk to your truck uninterrupted. You want to chastise yourself for holding that hope, but what happened today can’t mean nothing. It just can’t. You don’t want it to.

You spend the remainder of your afternoon trying to do your homework. It takes everything in you to focus, almost giving up when the calculus problems push you right to the edge in frustration. You let out a huff in relief as you finish the problems and slam your notebook shut, throwing your head back as you slouch in your chair. Rubbing your hands over your face before you hear your mom unlocking the front door. When you note the time and sun setting through your window, you get up and make your way to the kitchen to start making dinner. You browse through the cupboard before your eyes land on a package of pasta. Spaghetti it is. 

As you wait for the meat to brown, your mind replays the events of the day. Landing back into the loop your thoughts had been stuck in all afternoon about Eddie. Trying to make sense of it all, of him. The moment your eyes locked this afternoon made your heart ache, and still does when you think of it now.

You aren’t sure when exactly you first fell in love with Eddie Munson.

The first day you met when he came to your rescue from bullies? That time in the woods when you were 10 when he insisted you be the trapped princess his mission was to rescue? The countless Friday nights you spent staying up late to watch The Midnight Special, eventually falling asleep on each other's shoulders? The first time he shared his mom’s records with you? The first time he really opened up to you about the loss of his mom, and the strenuous relationship with his Dad? That night your parents fighting got so bad you snuck out of your window and went to his trailer in tears, consoling you and doing anything he could to cheer you up? That time he almost went to fight your mom when he saw the red mark on your cheek? Or maybe it was the time he told you you’re beautiful the way you are, when your mom and everyone’s criticisms of your body weighed too heavily on your mind? 

You can’t pinpoint which event triggered the change from seeing Eddie as your friend, to your crush. What event marked the transition to being in love with your best friend, seeing and imagining him in ways beyond a regular friend would. You aren’t sure when, but you know you’ve been in love with him for as long as you can remember. An unrequited love that made your heart ache with every pet name bestowed upon you, with every flash of that devilish smile and irresistible dimples, with every use of his deep, animated voice for dramatic storytelling. An ache you’d decided for years you could stifle to keep his friendship. An ache that turned into a sharp pain hearing his voice over the phone, hundreds of miles away. A pain you’d decided you couldn’t bear anymore. Maybe if you hadn’t been in love with him, things would’ve been different. You wouldn’t have pulled away. 

So foolish. Desperately longing for things you couldn’t have. Longing so desperately you pushed away the best person in your life, the very person you longed for. A decision that didn’t take long for you to regret, but in your mind was too late to fix. Now, after today, you aren’t so confident about that.

You sit on the couch with your mom, eating Spaghetti and watching Magnum P.I. reruns as your thoughts continue. Mindless small talk about your days, vision zoning out as you stare at the tv, petting Henny who sits in your lap, and a heightened awareness of Eddie’s presence only 100 feet away. An hour later when your mom announces she’s going to bed, you ponder how to spend the rest of your night. You know you won’t be able to fall asleep yourself anytime soon, anticipating one of those nights you won’t be able to shut your mind off. 

You wander to your room, shutting your door as you reach into one of your dresser drawers for your little stash box. Sighing in frustration when you notice you only have enough left for one more smoke.

You roll a quick blunt before throwing on a flannel and slipping out the front door. You take a deep inhale of the fresh air, relishing in the cool breeze of the late September night as you begin the short walk to the little neighborhood park at the end of your street. You don’t notice the figure on the porch across the street smoking a cigarette in the dark as you walk, taking in the sound of the breeze blowing through the leaves on the trees, the quietness of the park beyond the very faint sound of some network sitcom playing on a tv.

You sit on a swing and begin to move back and forth slowly as memories flood back. This playground hasn’t changed a bit since you first moved to Forest Hills Trailer Park 9 years ago. Paint faded and chipping, old mulch littered around the playground, and rusted metal chains on the swing that creaks with each movement. Eddie and you spent countless afternoons here in the early years of your friendship. Swinging together, laughing as you’d watch Eddie do the monkey bars, spinning each other on the merry-go-round till you thought you’d get sick.

You put the blunt to your lips and light it, taking a deep inhale as you look around the abandoned playground, hoping the weed would help to calm your mind enough to get some sleep. You rest your head against the metal swing chain, feet softly kicking at the mulch and dirt beneath you. You don’t hear the soft footsteps on pavement approaching you till they’re only a couple feet away, head shooting up at the intrusion when the sound meets your ears. Eddie clears his throat, hands in his vest pockets as he stands at the edge of the playground. Your movements still at the sight of him, streetlights illuminating his figure and messy curls. When your body stiffens and you remain silent, Eddie takes a few steps closer.

“I-uh, I come in peace, promise.” He says softly, raising his hands in surrender. “Mind if I join you?” he asks, head gesturing to the empty swing next to you. You only nod in response before casting your eyes down. You take another hit as he sits down next to you, praying the calming effects you sought would kick in quicker.

You’re both silent for a while, the light wind blowing through the trees, neighborhood noises, and soft creaks from the swing set the only sounds filling the space between you. Eddie’s knee bobs anxiously before he clears his throat.

“I um, just wanted to apologize for Friday. The way I acted, some of the things I said… I let my emotions get the best of me. I didn’t really give you much room to talk, and I’m sorry for that.” Eddie says nervously, eyes turning to look at you as he finishes. You nod in response again, not looking his way.

“I understand. I don’t blame you.” Silence falls between you again before you look towards him. “Thank you again, for earlier today. You didn’t need to step in like that.” Eddie chuckles softly.

“Oh, I know you could’ve handled him just fine on your own, but you shouldn’t have had to... It’s no problem, really. Not my first run in with him anyway.” You wonder just how many times Eddie’s had to deal with Carver and the other jocks, just how bad those run-ins have possibly gotten. In a sign signaling truce, you hand your blunt to him, offering a hit. He gladly accepts with a soft smile before taking a hit.

“Since when do you smoke the devil’s lettuce?”

You giggle softly, letting a smile spread to your cheeks.

“About a year now, same with these” You say, pulling the pack of cigarettes from your pocket enough for him to see. Eddie tsk’s in response, passing the blunt back to you.

“Naughty naughty.” He teases in a deep voice, eyeing you while blowing out smoke. You tear your eyes away and back to the mulch beneath your feet, the sight enough to send a shiver up your spine. 

After a few more passes between you, the blunt is gone and you’re left to face the inevitable conversation. You rub your sweaty palms against your thighs as you work up the courage.

“I just wanted to say again, I’m sorry for how things went. For dropping contact. It’s entirely my fault and… I’m really sorry for doing that to you, Eddie. You didn’t deserve that.” Your eyes peek at him. He’s faced forward, nodding softly in response as he lights a cigarette. He moves his hips slightly, enough to turn his body more toward yours. 

“So why did you do it?” he asks quietly, dark eyes looking up from his cigarette to meet yours. A somber look on his face, a stark contrast from a few days ago. You take a shaky deep breath while turning your head to look up at the stars littering the sky.

You can’t tell him the truth. You can’t tell him you stopped returning his calls because you were so in love with him that the distance, the sound of his voice over the phone caused your heart to ache so deeply that you couldn’t take it anymore, that you’d recluse to your room and cry after each call.

“We were so close and it hurt so much to be torn apart. Every time I heard your voice on the phone… it just” you take another deep breath, “it was just a reminder that I wouldn’t see you again and that just hurt too much to deal with. I didn’t want to deal with it. So… I secluded. I avoided you. I know it might not make sense, that it might not be a good enough answer for you, but it’s the only one I have.” 

You didn’t exactly lie. It’s not the full truth but you were still as honest as you could let yourself be. He’s quiet for a minute as he takes in your words before letting out a deep sigh. 

“I guess I get that,” He does, he felt the pain too. The way his heart ached in longing every time he heard your voice, every time he’s thought about you since. It wasn’t enough for him to stop calling, but he still understands you shared the same pain during every call. “But you could’ve seen me again, you’ve been visiting in the summers this whole time.” he protests softly.

“Eddie, when I stopped calling I didn’t know I was going to come back to visit.” You shake your head lightly before turning your body towards him, mirroring his. “I mean, I figured I’d come back and see my Dad eventually, but uh if you remember, he wasn’t exactly in the best mental state when we left and was also locked up so, I didn’t really know anything about what would happen.” You look away from him and towards your lap, fingers fidgeting with the hem of your flannel. “It’s not that I don’t regret it, I do. But by the time I changed my mind and found out about coming back in the summer I was just… like, paralyzed. It had only been two months after I stopped calling, but I was afraid. Afraid it was too much time that’d passed, afraid you’d moved on and replaced me, afraid you wouldn’t forgive me… so I didn’t do anything. Just let it be. The whole time I just told myself you probably didn’t care much anyway.” Eddie blinks at you, wide-eyed as you finish before scoffing lightly.

“You really think I would’ve ‘replaced’ you that easily? That quickly? You were my best friend too, Y/N. The closest I’ve ever had, even closer than Ronnie, you know that. How could you think I wouldn’t care?”

“Come on, Eddie. You’re telling me your brain never fucks with you like that?” You ask, fingers picking a cigarette out of your pack and lighting it quickly. After an inhale you continue, “I mean logically, I know that you felt the same about our friendship. Plenty of memories and moments to prove it. But I just kept thinking back to when I first told you I was leaving. Sure, you seemed disappointed but you weren’t as upset as I was, you didn’t cry. And despite knowing I've only seen you cry like, twice before in all those years, my brain still just clung onto that. Like ‘See! He doesn’t really care, not as much as you.’” You shake your head in disappointment and frustration with yourself as you take another hit. “It’s stupid, I know.”

“No,” Eddie answers quickly, squashing his own cigarette in the mulch with his Reebok sneakers. He looks at you, a sympathetic look etched across his features. “I know what that’s like.” You’re both quiet at first, letting the new information and understanding fall into place. You rock yourself back and forth on the swing slowly, gathering your words before you speak them.

“Look, I don’t expect you to forgive me and I don’t know what I could do to make it up to you but, I just need to say again that I’m sorry. I would take it all back if I could. I’ve really missed you.” You finish, eyes meeting his. You hope they’re portraying your sincerity as his own search your face. He looks away from you as a small smile tugs at one side of his lips, feet kicking at the mulch below.

“Yeah well… I missed you too.” He breathes out, eyes meeting yours again. A small smile tugs at your own lips. After a few moments of silence, he finishes. “I forgive you.”

He leans towards you, pinky finger extended. You choke out a laugh at the sight, relief washing over you. You wrap your pinky around his, closing your eyes to stop them from watering as your smile deepens.

When your fingers detach, you sigh deeply and open your eyes to meet his again.

“Thank you” you say quietly, warmth spreading through your body. It feels like a massive weight has been taken off your shoulders. The optimism and hope you haven’t felt since last Sunday, before your first day back at Hawkins, creeps its way back into your mind and body. You note how much lighter your chest feels as it moves with each breath, and the knot you’ve felt in your stomach for a week begins to loosen.

You stay there for a while, lightly swinging back and forth as you and Eddie dive into discussions about new bands, albums, and movies that have come out since you moved. Concerts you’ve been to since. Eddie smiles seeing that you haven’t changed one bit since you’d left, even mentioning bands and movies he hadn’t even heard of, promising to share your tapes with him at some point. He finds himself getting lost watching you as you excitedly describe the Journey concert you went to with your cousins in 83’. Smiling when he notices the sparkle in your eyes as you rave about Steve Perry’s voice and how they played your favorite songs. Laughing as you pout in jealousy when he describes the Metallica concert he went to with Gareth earlier this year. It all feels so familiar, so comfortable.

You’re so lost in conversation you don’t notice how much time passes by until Eddie checks his watch and whistles. It’s almost 11:30pm, nearly 2 hours since you first walked down to the playground. The hesitancy you held about your ability to get a goodnight’s rest tonight was gone. You feel like you’re floating as you and Eddie walk the short distance back to your trailers, Eddie telling you about Hellfire’s current campaign. 

“You know, you’re more than welcome to join us sometime. You already know half the club.” He offers as you reach the end of your driveway. 

“I’ll definitely think about it, thanks.” You give him a small smile.

“Cool. Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” He returns your smile as he rocks back and forth on his heels lightly, hands shoved into his vest pockets. 

“Oh, wait! Kind of an odd question but before I forget, do you know anyone around here that sells?” You ask as the thought of your now empty stash box pops into your head. Eddie smoked with you, you figure he knew where to get some around here.

And boy, did he. 

A bright, cheeky smile stretches across his face.

“Oh yeah, I know a guy.” He says with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes before he bows dramatically, “Your friendly neighborhood drug dealer at your service, my dear.”

[bimir]

it's not something strange or unique to say that after the last haikyuu movie, most of us got into it again, but at the same time, I know for sure that I'm not the only one who benefits the most from this re...union.

I went to see the haikyuu movie alone, and at first, it didn't hit me that much. maybe it was because I couldn't help but wonder how much I would have enjoyed it with my best friend, but we are grown-ups now and long distance.

after a couple of days, the internet was full of haikyuu content again, just like during lockdown, and because of that, I also got into it again and realized how much of a masterpiece it is.

haikyuu is well known, but in my opinion, it is underestimated and categorized by others as just a silly volleyball-sport anime. it saddens me so much that there are so many people who will never get to embrace this piece of art.

Furudate not only created a coming-of-age story, a story that inspired and still inspires generations to fight for their dreams, to engage in the complex mess of relationships, teamwork, and partnerships. haikyuu teaches you that if you really do have a dream, and if you are really ambitious, if you work hard for it, your time will come too. but it also teaches you that not choosing to be great is not a tragedy; your dreams of what a good life means can be different from the ideals of others: "life is unfair, but damn it, at the same time, it is really fair too."

so why did I go on writing about this? because I can't comprehend how haikyuu manages to be there for me at the best time—or the worst, better said—how it really took its "comfort anime" title seriously for me. I started haikyuu in my last year of high school: extremely stressed, depressed, and anxious, so scared of what the upcoming end would mean for me that I'd tricked myself into living by coming to the conclusion that I'd simply not make it to 18 if I didn't see a future for myself. it seemed only fair and the universe would do its thing, no? I know, kinda depressing and triggering, but it did help that miserable me then, it did help but not in the way I prayed it would. the universe didn't send me "death," it sent me life and hope through haikyuu. feeling so empty, so bland for such a long time, haikyuu managed to make me laugh and cry. it doesn't sound like much, but real ones know what I'm talking about. seeing their connection, their ambition, the troubles and feelings I was so desperate to put into words right in front of me saved me from my misery. I began to wish to live, to wish to be like them, to wish to fight, to wish to connect again with people.

now, after almost 4 years, I'm in my last year of uni. the main reason for my depression back then in high school was because I didn't know what to do with my life, what uni and career to choose. hell, I didn't know I would take this path until last autumn, but here I am, on my way to becoming a teacher. it's hard, really hard, but right now, after the new movie, I finally committed to start and finish the manga even though I knew bits and pieces of what happens. it was the best time to read it now. over these 3-4 years, I pondered why I couldn't start getting into the manga and see for myself what happens, but damn it was the best time to read it now. seeing them go all out on their path, learning that in order to succeed you need to fight and fight and fight, to push through, to overcome your limits, to push yourself, to not take it easy if you really want it, came at the best time as I got into a slump and a burnout from learning too much but also not learning enough. I've got to see all of the characters continuing to be pros while fighting for their way, but also choosing to let go of something they once loved in order to live a normal life.

haikyuu is like a reminder that there is more to life than just your high school/childhood years, that your path could take a 180-degree turn at any point, but at the same time, it makes you appreciate those times and not want to sweep your childlike wonder, your growth, and mistakes under a rug. Furudate was a genius for creating haikyuu, and I really hope and pray that haikyuu will continue to be there, to comfort and save future generations until the end of time.

[kaledya]

First of all, LOVE YOUR ART AND AU AND HEADCANONS, seriously, sometimes i feel that, at least the premise, is better than the original. Anyway, I have questions:

God's design when??????

Are the ars goetia still in your sinner's symphony au?

Do the archangels like lilith? What do they think of her and Luci's relationship?

did Constantine and Charlie go to some sort of university or have any kind of diploma or career?

How did serenity got her luck magic? Like, did she just appeared with it or...someone else?

What was Husk and Serenity's reaction meeting each other again at the hotel?

What is Serenity's job at the hotel?

Where do sinner appear in hell? Is there like a pit where they fall or what?

How are u? I wanna know how u doin in life

Sorry for too many questions

I AM SO GLAD YOU LIKE MY AU AND MY HEADCANONS!

I don't have a design idea for the god yet but even if I show him I plan to show only his hands and clothes.

2. they are in my AU and they're even a race created by Paimon and Lilith

3. Uriel and Jophiel was friends with Lilith and the others had a respectful relationship with her. frankly, most of them were not so sure about this relationship. yes, they knew that Lilith really loved their brother, but they sometimes think that if Lucifer and Lilith had not been together, maybe their brother would never have fallen.

4. Both of them were educated in the palace by the most knowledgeable teachers in hell, they didn't need to go to school. but even so, Lilith and Lucifer sent them to private school for some periods to socialize them.

5. I'm putting here a part of the story of Serenity.

(She is Half Sheep Half Wolf now I changed it)

6. obviously their first encounter was awkward, the last time Husk met Serenity was when she was making a deal with him, and Serenity's last words to him

It was "your ego and arrogance will make you someone's pet, Husk, but maybe only then you will overcome these flaws and reveal the old person inside you, goodbye old friend." Seriously, there was a strange coldness between them at first, but they solved it over time

7.Serenity came as a guest at first, but in the future she became someone who helped Charlie's plans a lot, a kind of advisor.

8.the sinners are born in a pit of mud, at first they are reborn in hell from something made of blood and mud on the ground and they try to get out of the pit and reach the city (a place similar to the place where Markus woke up in Detroit Become Human)

9.I'm fine! Thank you very much for asking! How are you?

[badkitty3000]

What job do you think Five would have pursued had he never time travelled (if he ever decides to leave the academy)?

This is a very interesting question and I had to think about it for a while. I love this concept that he would have a real, real-person job if his life had gone in a different direction, and it's one I have not put much thought into before. But I like it!

So, for the sake of argument, I'm going to say that if he never time traveled to the future, then maybe the team would have been a little closer and his relationship with Viktor would have healed some wounds. In which case, Viktor wouldn't have been so angry and there would be no 2019 Apocalypse.

With that little pesky problem out of the way, Five and the rest of the gang would have been left to pursue their own lives, etc. We already know Diego went into the police force, Allison became an actress, and Viktor was a professional musician. Luther was busy on the moon, Ben was busy being deceased, and Klaus...well, who the hell knows what Klaus was doing. So, that leaves Number Five.

It's weird to think of him doing something ordinary, like working in an office, or even as a professor as some have theorized before. Unfortunately, we don't ever get a chance to see what his interests or passions are, since he jumps when he's 13 and then the rest of the time is spent trying to save the world. We only know he's exceptionally smart and good at math, but it seems fair to say that if he never ran away, he'd develop some real hobbies and interests that would maybe turn into a career of some sort. What if he found he loved botany and gardening and became a biologist or opened his own plant nursery? What if he got really into cars and became a mechanic or auto engineer? Maybe he would have started to pay attention to Grace when she was tending to their wounds and decided medicine was his calling? It's kind of cool to think about the possibilities, but also sad since he never got that chance to find out, even for himself.

Which brings us back to the original question. I have only ever written Five as either being a hitman of some sort (either Commission, Mafia, or independent) or retired. Not very creative on my part for sure! But in one of my stories, I do have his grown son that has similar powers to himself run a tech company using their teleportation powers as the basis for it. I never go into detail as to what it involves, mostly because I'm not that smart to come up with something cool like that, and also because I figure most readers don't care.

However, I am going to make that my answer for Five, as well. We know (well, maybe not know but most of us assume) that Five used his knowledge of his powers as the basis for developing the briefcases for the Commission when he founded it. I would think he would still use that same knowledge to develop some sort of technology that would (hopefully) better the world, if he never had to create the Commission in the first place. Something very heavily science-based, very complicated, and very cutting-edge. Perhaps even incorporating time travel into the technology itself. Basically, he would be a much cooler, non-asshole, hot version of Elon Musk or Steve Jobs. He'd probably be famous and be on the cover of Fortune 500 or Scientific American or something, rolling his eyes at the interviewer's questions while checking his watch and sipping his coffee.

So, there you have my very convoluted answer to your very good question. If you were looking for a much more every day type job, then I would say he might open his own coffee house/bar that also offers axe throwing 😄

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 民国奇探/My Roommate is a Detective.

My Roommate is a Detective is a 2020 drama about the Jazz Age shenanigans of a terrible OT3: a useless noodle boy, a spoiled journalist girl, and a handsome thug-turned-cop, who together solve Agatha Christie mysteries in 1920s Shanghai.

I mean, seriously, have you ever wondered what Hercule Poirot would be like if he were a 6'2" Chinese rubber man? If he had a long-suffering sugar daddy from the wrong side of the tracks and a spunky sugar mommy who owned their shared apartment? The answer is, it would be a laugh-out-loud-funny series about a ridiculous and charming assortment of weirdos solving only slightly believable murder mysteries in charming period clothing.

This is another one of those shows where I'm kind of shocked at how not well-known it is, except I'm not, because I can see exactly the problems that keep fandom from descending on it like horny little vultures. Nonetheless, I think it's a good time that more people would enjoy if they gave it the chance. Here's five reasons why you should:

1. Equal parts smart as heck and dumb as butts

On the one hand, especially given its tone and tenor, this show has many surprisingly clever turns and thoughtful moments, carried along by some talented actors. On the other hand, [.gif of a guinea pig in a rollerskate being pushed merrily down a hallway]

This show is not a complicated intellectual exercise. It's an action comedy about a goofy sleuth, a rich-girl reporter, and the cop who should be the straight man in this trio, except he's as much of a goober as the other two are. If the promotional tableaus are giving you real "cover of a Clue box" vibes, you've understood the kind of pastiche it's pulling off.

The mysteries are preposterous. They're all the kind of thing that exemplify the Doyle line about how, when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever's left has got to be the answer, no matter how ding-dang improbable it may be. You know the type: tons of overly elaborate setups, unbelievably perfect timing, coincidental long-lost relatives, people hallucinating right and left. They're also very short -- most full cases take only 2-3 episodes to introduce, investigate, and resolve, even when interspersed with the larger goings-on in these weirdos' lives. The DramaWiki page for the show lists 23 separate arcs over 36 episodes, so you do the math.

And yet, it's way more thoughtful and clever than its doofy little setup would indicate. Its attention to detail surprised me on more than one occasion. Add to that a bunch of solid performances from an ensemble of real characters, and what you get is definitely more substantive than a junk-food waste of time. You can't turn your brain off while watching it, but you sure can turn it down, and that's great.

It also doesn't hurt that everyone is super attractive and wearing great outfits. The whole show's worth it for the wardrobes.

2. THE GIRL

Fuck the haters, fuck everyone, I am going to climb right up on my little soapbox and tell you all why Bai Youning is awesome.

She is insane. She's a troll. She's a clever little monster. Every other character's response to her is, oh my god, you are literally the worst. And she is! She has been spoiled beyond belief by her incredibly rich Crime Dad, and she has learned to leverage her uwu just a widdle girl status to get her whatever the hell she wants. She simply cannot hear it when someone says the word "no." She will look her future sister-in-law in the eye and point a loaded gun at her own head without blinking. Every ball she has is made of brass.

She's hardly perfect. During the course of the show, there are some times where her entitlement runs face-first into the brick wall of reality. She's not nearly as good at her chosen career path as she's been told (mostly by the people who get paid to tell her she's good). She's rarely prepared to deal with the consequences of her actions, especially when she can't just throw money at the problem.

So she learns, and grows, and changes. She's always going to be a stubborn bitch, but she can become a stubborn bitch with a more accurate conception of her relationship to the world around her.

She's actually a really good romantic foil for Lu Yao, who is equally stubborn and spoiled and obnoxious as hell. It is a pure brat4brat relationship, where each one thrives on comically enraging the other. What this means, though, is that when they actually start showing one another some vulnerability, it's really sweet.

Now: I'm pretty sure that you could not have made a female character in her position that everyone did not hate, no matter how cool you made her, because that is the fate of all girls who theoretically keep the two boys from kissing. (More on that next point.) If she were less outgoing and friendly, she would've been hated for being too cold. If she were less headstrong, she would've been hated for being a pushover. If she weren't as into the boy, she would've been hated for being frigid. I know the "god forbid a woman do anything" meme is a joke, but ... man, god forbid this girl do anything. She gets a level of hate entirely disproportionate to what she's actually like. As I said with Eom Dada, it's not always sexism, but sometimes, yeah, it's sexism.

(Real talk: Her character is also fighting both how she's definitely not written as well as the boys are and how the plot sometimes needs her to be artificially stupid and jealous for Straightness Drama Reasons, so that's a legit problem on a structural level. Also, she's dubbed by someone else and the boys aren't, which gives her voice an annoying not-quite-there quality that's hard to ignore. The deck is stacked against her real hard even before she steps onscreen.)

So here's my advice: Go into this show wanting to like her. Embrace her terribleness as a positive, intentional quality. Don't be mad at her for straightening up an endgame that was never going to be gay, even without her. Welcome her contributions to the chaos. Realize that she is exactly as entertainingly irritating as her boys are.

Truly, this is a story of three terrible people in love. They're all just awful, and you wouldn't want to be in a room with any of them for longer than you had to. Left to right up there, Bai Youning is spoiled and self-absorbed, Lu Yao is arrogant and lazy, and Qiao Chusheng is suuuuuch a fucking cop. If you're into the kind of dynamic that can only be described OT3: You All Deserve One Another, then this one's perfect for you.

3. Do you really miss '00s queerbaiting?

Like, really? Are you just super-nostalgic for being able to see the showrunners go, ha ha, girls, we know you're watching and we know you want these cute boys to kiss, which they never will -- but what if we pretended for just this one scene??? Do you just carnally ache for that with every fiber of your being?

Yep.

Now, why am I calling the occasional really gay moments between these two gentlemen "queerbaiting" and not "bromance"? Because these moments are a) obviously intentional, b) completely sporadic, and c) never spoken of again.

For example: There's a scene (which you can see a gifset of here) where the two of them are at a restaurant frequented by the cop, who brings a lot of ladies there on dates. When the waiter points this out, useless noodle boy says, I'm his date. The waiter looks mildly surprised by this, the cop says not to listen to his bullshit, and that's the end of it. The scene moves on. There is no further discussion of this comment. It does not affect their relationship.

That's the essence of queerbaiting: that little on-purpose nod to the homoerotic tension between the two, in a way that isn't a joke but also isn't not a joke, and either way is never going to happen. (In fact, the show is going to go out of its way to make sure that ship gets sunk, so, uh, get your fanfiction lifeboats ready for that.)

A true queerbaiting move is something that should make a difference in a relationship, but doesn't. It should make a difference that our cop is so comfortable in the noodle boy's personal space that he invades it at will. It doesn't. It should make a difference that noodle boy keeps getting real weird every time the cop has a date with a girl. It doesn't. Those are some real romantic moves the two of them keep pulling, and then nothing comes of them.

I had this show sold to me as being incredibly shippy, to the point of being even more so than its censored-BL contemporaries. And ... well, it is and it isn't. It has textually gayer individual moments, but it is much less pervasively gay. It's clear from the start that it's going to throw all its actual relationship points into its canon het romance. When it comes to these boys, the show is toying with you. It knows you want to see those boys smooch, just as much as it knows (and it knows you know) they're never gonna.

How you feel about this is entirely up to you -- and indeed, it may be a dealbreaker on the whole drama for you. If you are inclined to pitch a fit when your ship does not become canon, you'll be happier somewhere else. If, however, you see this as a delightful opportunity to do whatever the hell you want with the situation as it is presented, all the while enjoying little moments of startlingly blatant homoeroticism between two handsome dudes, well, here you are!

(I mean, if you want my take on it, what needs to happen is that the cop and the girl need to fuck while the useless noodle boy watches with asexual bisexual interest, and then they all need to snuggle with the noodle boy in the middle so they can both annoy him appropriately, but your mileage may vary.)

4. The multicultural extravaganza!

1920s Shanghai had a lot going on in terms of cultures and languages, and this show actually does a fair job of representing that.

By now, I've seen a number of shows set during this era, and they all at least acknowledge the international nature of the city -- usually by mentioning the French Concession and having a handful of evil Japanese characters. However, this is the first time I've seen a show go to such lengths to actually show so many non-Chinese characters onscreen, even to the point of making one a recurring character supporting the main squad.

Salim is the best. Whatever he is being paid, it's not enough. He's Qiao Chusheng's right-hand man, which means he is also the dude who most often has to put up the main trio's bullshit. (The actor himself is also a dude with a pretty cool backstory, which is another great layer.) He's sharp, he's loyal, he's patient, and he looks great with his shirt off. He's got it all!

Other non-Chinese characters include a white Jewish art collector (I'd issue a warning for period-typical antisemitism, except … honestly, it's mostly just confused), a sadistic priest who maybe is supposed to be Italian, a completely different priest who [last episode spoiler], and three whole sinister white dudes behind it all.

It's not just the world coming to China, though! A large number of the Chinese characters are said to have spent significant time outside of China, whether for business or for schooling. Near the end, when some characters are discussing moving away from Shanghai, they consider a number of foreign cities as potential destinations.

Here's a delightful detail: When Lu Yao and his sister speak English, they're dubbed by actors with posh British accents who sound like native (or near-native) English-speakers. This makes perfect sense, because both of the siblings did a lot of their schooling in the UK. When Bai Youning speaks English, she's dubbed by someone who speaks English very well but also has a noticeable Chinese accent, which makes perfect sense for her character's background. And Qiao Chusheng never speaks English at all, because he's a street tough who has no reason to know more than three words.

...This is also kind of weird to say about something literally made in China, but go with me on it: Everything's kind of got that Art Deco Orientalist vibe to it. It looks like China's idea of what Britain's idea of China during that period would have looked like. The result comes across less like what 1920s Shanghai would actually have looked like, and more what an ad for 1920s Shanghai would have looked like. It's a fascinating aesthetic, and more so for how it's mostly pretty subtle. The show isn't some visual extravaganza, but it's always very nice to look at, and I appreciate that in a show.

5. A wonderful horrible protagonist

A lot of mystery-themed prestige television involves an asshole genius detective who gets away with being a dick to everyone because he's sooooo smart, while all his long-suffering friends and colleagues spend a lot of time doing damage control for him because, sigh, he's an asshole but we need him, genius excuses all dickhead behavior, we'll always make exceptions for him because he's just ever so special. (Watch histrionic sage hbomberguy's video on Sherlock if you're unfamiliar with the trope.)

Lu Yao is an asshole genius detective, but one who winds up spending most of his time being an asshole to a) people who deserve it, or b) his horrible friends who will be assholes right back at him. When he is awful to the people who don't deserve it, the show smacks him pretty hard on the nose for it and makes him apologize.

This is a show where you'll figure out pretty quckly if you'll love it or hate it, because if you love Lu Yao, you'll love it, and vice versa. He carries most of the show himself, with his goofy charm and his incredibly bendy slenderman body and his ability to make the one competent person he knows both protect him and give him money.

Like so.

For my own part, I find him intensely charming, and I think a lot of this has to do with Hu Yitian's ability to play him as an affectionately bullyable weenie who needs to get shoved in a locker for his own good. He's the worst, and it's comically endearing instead of offputting because at the end of the day, he really does have a good heart. He's just also lazy as heck and disinclined to do anything that he does not want to be doing, and really, aren't we all?

As I alluded to in point 3, he comes across as real asexual. He's just not that interested in sex, and he is in fact pretty uncomfortable in situations where he finds himself the subject of someone else's sexual desires. He's perfectly capable of romantic feelings! I mean, not only does he get Bai Youning as a love interest, we actually meet one of his ex-girlfriends. He's just not partciularly horny about them -- which is even more noticeable as a sharp contrast to how extremely horny Qiao Chusheng is for just about everyone, but this exasperating little dork in particular.

(Like seriously, 90% of the time, Chusheng is about to explode with sexual frustration at Lu Yao's skinny oblivious ass.)

This isn't to say you couldn't get Lu Yao into bed, because you absolutely could, and he'd probably have a good time. You'd just have to remove all distractions from the room, lest his ADHD ass wind up running off to solve a crime mid-coitus.

Twiggy little nightmare man. Garbage-animal boy. Love him.

sidebar: A word about the ending

I'm going to be vague and talk about general vibes instead of specific events, but you should still skip this section if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Jump to the picture of Chusheng holding the sledgehammer.

Okay, so, a lot of people do not like the ending, and I'm including myself in that number. I honestly don't know if they got rushed and had to wrap everything pretty last-minute, or if they thought they might get a second season out of it and were leaving things open-ended accordingly. Either way, it's incredibly unsatisfying.

I think there's a clue that the show didn't actually want to end this way, and it's not actually in the text of the show itself. Every episode, between the last scene and the start of the credits, you get to see a couple still frames from the episode (usually some of the queerbaity ones). After the very final shot of the series, you get two images: the boys hugging goodbye, and Chusheng's upset face. That's not a resolution! That is at best a "to be continued..." ending!

But no, that's it. That's all, folks.

It's not quite an ending so bad it ruins the rest of the show, mostly because it doesn't feel finished, so it's less like you're watching a car being deliberately driven into a wall because someone thought that was the best route to take, and more like you're watching someone leave a car on the railroad tracks because they figured they'd have time to move it later.

As far as I know, there has been no noise made about a second season. These 36 episodes are the entirety of the narrative. It had the distinct misfortune to start airing in March 2020, which wasn't exactly prime time for planning sequels, and that seems to have been that. (There is a 2022 show called Checkmate that stars the two main guys in extremely similar roles, also adapting Agatha Christie stories, but it's apparently pretty meh? Somebody else who's actually seen it, go ahead and weigh in here.)

I'll say that if you turn off the episode right after Lu Yao gets out the handcuffs, you'll save yourself the worst of it the awkward and unsatisfying moments (though I'm impressed at your willpower to stop watching something five minutes from the end). That's not all of it, though. Structurally, there are several situations rushed to a resolution and loose threads left flapping untied in the breeze. I guess stopping before the last five minutes simply saves you the hope that it'll pull a good ending out of the fire, because it won't.

And let's be real: The more you hate Bai Youning and her romance with Lu Yao, the more you'll hate the ending. (Not that liking those elements will necessarily make you like the ending, of course, because I'm a fan of hers and I still think the ending is butts.) The ending is already like a pair of uncomfortable shoes; if the het romance especially makes you grind your teeth, the ending becomes a pair of uncomfortable shoes that also have a rock in them. A lot of the comments online indicate plenty of people dropped the show when they learned the het romance would be endgame. It's a pretty common dealbreaker.

Oh well. Bring on the fanfic, I say! Those of us who are used to taking a sledgehammer to canon are unafraid.

Smash it, baby.

Still want to see some of these mysteries?

Both iQiyi and Viki have the answer to your sleuthing!

It's not a perfect show -- as evidenced by my digression about the ending -- but it's a lot of fun. If you can handle the occasional foible and some eyebrow-raising moments, you're in for a good time with some attractive people that occasionally tastes very gay.

Every roommate crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man

[amuhav]

     “What do you mean, ‘everything’? Mist, what’s wrong?”      The line went quiet for a while, then Mist let out another reluctant sigh. “It’s just, I feel like I’ve talked to all of you more over the phone in the last few months than in person the eighteen years living at home. But every time, it’s like... I get each of your problems splurged at me in the space of an hour, then I just have to go to class with it all in my head.”      Loch’s stomach dropped. “Shit, Mist, I didn’t mean—”      “Not just you,” she cut him off desperately. “All of you. Okay, less so Riv, because I think he forgets he even has a phone half the time. But even so, he didn’t call for months, then dropped his engagement and wedding news on me and threw a strop when I couldn’t drop everything at short notice.”      Her words began spilling out with little space between, laced with more and more emotion.      “And Bay, with Sylvie’s whole immigration trouble and Heaven making his life difficult. And Sky, with her pregnancy and worrying if she’ll make a good mum or if you’ll even want to be part of the twins’ lives, or if Amir will be okay without his best friend, or now that his brother showed up out of nowhere. River being mad at Mum and Dad for saying they might not make the wedding or even caring to get to know Chad, and since I’m the only one that officially knows I’m sure I’ll have to hear all about their pregnancy and parenting fears too. And I thought coming here and focusing on my future career would distract me but I’m just becoming more and more aware that I may never be a normal girl that gets to fall in love and have a family and do all the things you all get to worry about—”      There was a loud beeping, and Mist cursed under her breath. Loch heard her moving, and then something slam on a counter or desktop.      “And now this stupid watch needs charging again because I forgot to take it off when I got home last night, and I didn’t sleep all night because I handed my assignment in with only five minutes to spare even though I finished it hours before but forgot about it because stupid Lukas somehow still wants a date with me even though I’m clearly a mess, but then again he hasn’t seen me without this stupid fucking watch, so what the hell am I even supposed to do with that? Keep pretending I’m normal, I guess, until he works it out, just like I’m supposed to pretend I’m fine while you all bitch and moan in my ear about each other and your goddamn problems because none of you can just fucking talk! OW!”

|<Previous | Beginning | Next>| 

[charles-leclerc-official]

Imagined teen Charles got involved in an incident and thus time travelled to future screaming shouting crying throwing for discovering the adult F1 driver self is so close to another F1 driver called Max Verstappen, like what the hell did they do in that locked room. Young Charles has made the determination that he need to go back as soon as possible and the first thing he gonna do after back is to crush Max Verstappen on track to murder both of them for the future.

(am I imagining this somehow too much...?)

Anon your mind is beautiful.

Charles gets to Formula 2 during his first race he breaks the all time speed record and warps into the future.

It's November 2023, Las Vegas, he looks at the television and sees two men, Max and someone who looks too much like himself for comfort. But that can't be him. That person is attached at the hip to Max, laughing at his stupid jokes, joining him on interviews. It can't be.

Then he hears the interviewer say his name.

"Charles"

That's him.

Charles starts to feel ill when he sees the date on a poster advertising the return of Formula 1 to Las Vegas, it's 2023 and apparently Charles is best friends with fucking Max Verstappen.

That wasn't - no - Charles hates Max. Hates him. He'd promised himself he'd never be caught dead anywhere near Max, not unless Charles was destroying him on track. Where did it all go wrong?

Charles watches the race. He comes in second. Or rather this alternate future version of himself comes in second. Second to fucking Max.

Charles balls his fists as he watches the podium, that's him up there smiling at Max, happily celebrating. Oh great now they are getting into a car together and why the hell are they looking at each other like that?

It's actually so gross.

Max must have done something. Or maybe Charles somehow got concussed enough in a future crash that made him like being around Max? That seemed likely.

Suddenly reality starts to warp around him. He's in the wrong time, he has to go back.

A wormhole swallows him, throwing him back into his F2 car right as he gets the checkered flag.

Charles stands on the first podium of his Formula 2 career with one goal in mind, stop himself from ever getting close with Max fucking Verstappen.

Good thing he has a plan to make sure they stay enemies.

Ooops my hand slipped. Anyway this is actually a brilliant and highly entertaining prompt <3

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

Hi BeautifullyObsessed,

Having heard the recent news regarding RDJ and who he's going to be play in the MCU in what I am assuming is future films( Avengers???), I guess, I must admit to being beyond infuriated with the MCU at this point. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE RDJ, but why in the HELL does he get play a whole new character, whether said character be a variant/from another universe/whatever, yet Rachel McAdams, who I also adore immensely and utterly despise how Marvel has treated her(ex. attempting to throw away/disgard palmerstrange and Christine like nothing), can't be Clea/ a Christine variant that is Clea? Yet, RDJ gets to do essentially that himself. Why? What's the difference? If he can do so, shouldn't Rachel be able to be a vastly different character as well? It's just so unfair, not to mention makes zero sense to me whatsoever how one person gets to do something, yet someone else doesn't get to do essentially the exact same thing :@ Not the mention, they would have had me automatically invested in that ship had they allowed Rachel to play the character. I seriously loved the idea of her in that role, waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy more than I will ever like the idea of CT in the role( not at all fan of that casting personally).

Thanks for taking the time to give your thoughts xx!

Honestly, when you put the question as you have, Nonny, the first response that came to mind is that there's some not so subtle misogyny at play here (the same sort of misogyny that enabled the Russos to dismiss Natasha Romanoff as being of no future value to the franchise beyond 'Endgame'). Coupled with Feige/Marvel/Disney being both desperate and greedy for a way to return the MCU to its former glory.

RDJ's Ironman was the initial foundation stone of the MCU and remains a huge fan favorite five years after his death. So, of course, his return to Marvel in any form is going to fill theatre seats that have gone vacant in the past several years with films that have well under performed those of the MCU's glory days. That's gotta be a huge win for the financial health and popularity of the franchise. And as for Downey Jr, well, he doesn't need the work in particular, but consider first how playing Tony Stark revitalized his career and gave him a cadre of Actors that became as family to him; who wouldn’t want to work with those folks again? Second, he really treasured being Stark, he was the perfect embodiment of Stark, and he must surely expect the same fulfilling experience as Doom. I wish him all good things--while I hope like hell that Doom turns out to be a Variant of Stark; there's so much fantastic story potential (including adversarial interaction with my man Stephen) they'd be throwing away to not have it so!

But Rachel, though--she's been treated shamefully, and like an afterthought, despite the incredible onscreen chemistry she shared with Benedict. And in 'Multiverse of Madness', 616 Christine got the same brusque treatment courtesy of Waldr🤢n and his enablers Feige & Raimi. First, they put words in her mouth that denied her canon feelings for Stephen--'couldn't love you...', wtf!!!...

...then the last shot we got of her, she was irritated while watching Stephen try to save the city from a Monster, as though he was doing it to interrupt her wedding! You can bet your sweet bippy she would've been treated far better if Scott Derrickson had been at the helm (as would Stephen). But based on 838 Christine,

I would have whole-heartedly embraced Clea as a Christine Variant.

I've said as much about a dozen times. Clea is so much more than a badass queen in the comics. She is not only Stephen's student but fully comfortable in her femininity. Unafraid to be soft despite her toughness and the battles she has had to wage in the Dark Dimension. Frankly, the perfect feminine foil to Stephen's delicious brand of masculinity [my knees go briefly weak at the thought of him🥰❤️‍🔥🥰]. They are true Yin/Yang.

Again, the story potential would've been awesome. Imagine Stephen shocked to encounter a Christine so different than either one he knew. A tough, battle-hardened, brusque, even impatient woman, not at all like the Christine he loved. He doesn't even like this Clea--until he glimpses hints of unexpected yet familiar compassion and softness, which draw him in. Ugh. As a storyteller myself, the waste pisses me off.

Academy Award winner she may be, but what I saw in Charlize's brief appearance as Clea showed me that either Feige/Marvel/Disney doesn't get Clea's beautiful duality or they simply don't care. And surely didn't provide CT with any indication that Clea is way more complex than Badass Woman--and that Stephen DESERVES that so much more in his future wife and partner in the Mystic Arts.

Maybe it's just my perception, but replacing Rachel as they did (and it was very last minute I recall, in December 2021, near the end of photography; they created Charlize's makeup & costume design pretty much on the fly in like 48 hours), feels like they said 'Thanks Rachel, you've been swell, but the foundation we built with you isn't necessary anymore, we got us a statuesque, super duper A++Lister. Ta ta, kiddo.' Which infuriates me.

So yeah, in the end, I'm thinking the reason Rachel isn't playing Clea while RDJ is playing Doom? GREED AND MISOGYNY. And after how abused Stephen was in DS II (ie: ignoring his whole experience in living out 14 freaking million timelines and barely letting him mention Donna's death, the most formative experience of his young life), I'm not even looking forward to DS III (unless Benedict gets significant input, especially in story/writing, as he's said more than once that he wrote things for MoM & No Way Home). Charlize's Clea (thus far) doesn't bode well for what I would have loved to see in Cleaphen.

[nightmarerodent]

Expecting the Unexpected (part 1? IDK)

A Jakeda one shot that’s no longer a one shot because it got a bit out of hand (as they tend to do)

Jacqui’s heart dropped to her stomach and lodged itself in her throat all at once when she was read the results from the doctor. Positive. Without a shadow of a doubt. The test she took at home wasn’t a fluke. She was pregnant. She was undeniably pregnant. What the hell was she going to tell Takeda?

They were carful. Usually. As careful as two people that rarely got any alone time could be, married or otherwise. Her father was still pissed about that. He never got behind the idea that her and Takeda were going to be a forever thing. He hated that he, and by extension now her as well, was a Shirai Ryu, and Scorpion’s adopted son no less. News that she was now knocked up might just put her dad over the edge enough for him to finally make good on his promises and actually kill the poor boy. It was not a conversation she was looking forward to. At all.

She went home that day in a daze, mind a million miles away from her body. At least she had the wherewithal to go to a clinic in town and not the hospital on base. This way news wouldn’t spread as quickly. If people were going to find out, she wanted it to be on her terms. And putting off the lecture Auntie Sonya was undoubtedly going to give them would be nice too.

Cassie was the first to find out. Takeda was still gone, out on some mission for the clan, and probably wouldn’t be back for the next few days. She was bursting to tell someone, to get advice or reassurance, something, and Cassie knew something was wrong with her best friend. She’s noticed Jacqui behaving strangely; she was more tired and had excused herself more than once to use the bathroom, only to be found vomiting a few moments later. So Cassie showing up at her on base housing with take out and a worried look after Jacqui’s visit to the doctor was unsurprising. Nor was her reaction.

“Pregnant!?” Cassie was out of her chair in an instant, “Are you sure? For how long? Does Tak know?”

“No. I only found out yesterday. And I’m only seven weeks along.” Jacqui told her.

“Am I the first you’ve told? Aw, JB.” Cassie moved to hug her and Jacqui gratefully accepted.

A small weight felt like it lifted off Jacqui and it was enough for what strength she tried to carry since receiving the news to finally break. Tears welled up in her eyes and she began to tremble.

“What am I going to do? This wasn’t part of the plan. Not yet. I’m going to be discharged. My career is over.” Jacqui sobbed.

“Hey, no it’s not. Briggs’s don’t quit,” Cassie reassured her, “You’re the smartest, most badass, most determined person in SF and you’re going to have the smartest most badass baby to ever grace Earthrealm. If the brass has a problem with that then they can kiss my glowing green fist.”

“I can’t defend Earthrealm and have a baby, Cass. They’re going to kick me out. It’s protocol.”

“Says who? Have you forgotten who runs this place? I mean, I wasn’t planned and I sure as hell didn’t stop my mom from pursuing her career.” Cassie pulled back on the hug so she could look her friend in the eye but still held her close.

“Auntie was way further along in her career than I am. She was a commander when she had you, I’m just another Sargent.”

“That’s married to the second in command of one of our most important allies. No one if firing you without pissing off Hanzo. Or me. Or Tak, but most importantly me. Trust me, we got you. You’re not going anywhere. I promise.”

Jacqui wanted to believe her. She really, truly did, but the fear was overwhelming. This whole situation was overwhelming. She didn’t even know if she wanted to be a mom. She was open to the idea. Her and Takeda have talked about it, sure, but always as some vague eventuality, off in the far distance that was some undefined future. A wishful daydream of peaceful times not filled with oni from the netherrealm or some new nightmare crawling out of god knows where in Out World. Now it was being thrown into her face in a time of such uncertainty. And Takeda wasn’t here.

But he will be, she reminded herself. He will be back in a few days and they’ll figure this out together. Always together. That was their promise. And Takeda never breaks a promise.

“You’re going to be an amazing mother,” Cassie believed every word she said with her whole being, “And Takeda is going to be the greatest dad. He already has the humor of one.”

That actually got a chuckle out of her, “His jokes are so bad but he looks so happy when he tells them.”

Over the next few days Cassie kept her promise and didn’t tell a single soul what she knew. She covered for Jacqui too, claiming a stomach bug that Jacqui was too stubborn to acknowledge whenever she was caught throwing up. Cass was always ready with a convincing lie and had the acting chops to pull it off too. She was a Cage after all.

Jin at one point commented that she looked terrible, causing Jacqui to start crying uncharacteristically, blabbering that she felt gross, freaking him out. He immediately started apologizing, saying that she looked fine, it was a joke, she was supposed to snap at him and they’d have their witty back and forth and then she’d punch him like always. It was their thing. She just cried more. She didn’t want to punch him. She never wanted to punch him. He was her friend and she was always so mean to him and she was sorry. This only freaked him out more. He just bear hugged her and desperately looked around for Cassie because this was not his department. He had no clue what to do with a crying Briggs or what was causing it. Was she possessed? Did she need medical attention? Chocolate? A cat? Where was Takeda when you needed him? What was happening? Eventually Cassie showed up and got Jacqui to calm down back to normal but Kung Jin was thoroughly freaked out by that point and refrained from being his usual sarcastic self for the remainder of the day.

All the while, Cassie kept an ear out for news about Takeda’s return. She was hell bent and determined to have Jacqui be the first thing he sees when he exists the transport or portal. When she finally received word after a few days that he’d be returning within the hour, she booked to tell Jacqui. She’s never run so fast in her life.

The second Takeda stepped out of the portal he was hit with the force that was his wife barreling into him and wrapping him into a desperate hug. One he was equally as desperate to return. Before he could even breathe so much as a word, she had already grabbed his face and pulled him into a forceful kiss. He wasn’t complaining. He chuckled as they pulled away from each other, jokingly asking if she missed him, only for the smile to drop and worry to set in as he noticed her nervous smile and wet eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” He asked.

“Only good things,” she told him, “I just- I really missed you.”

As soon as they were alone back at home she told him. A whole mix of emotions flew across his face in a matter of seconds. Shock, disbelief, confusion, fear, joy. He finally settled on ecstatic as he hugged her tight, laughing, and asking her a whole slew of questions. She was relieved he took it so well, though she wondered why she had thought any different. He was always the one that brought the topic up, even if it was just as a hypothetical. He wanted kids. He never said it in as many words or so directly, but it was clear to her it was a thing he desired. His infectious joy was evidence of that.

They celebrated the way couples that were young and in love do, Takeda becoming completely unable to keep his hands to himself for more than a fraction of a second and her being more than willing to receive any and all affection he was able to give. By the end of the night they were curled up together, his arms wrapped around her and a hand pressed gently against her stomach where their future was growing, peppering her with kisses and muttering sweet nothings.

Uncertainty still hung in the air. How they were going to make this work. How they were going to tell people. What their positions as Earthrealm’s defenders would look like now. How and where they were going to raise the child. If they were even fit to be parents in the first place. All conversations they were going to have to have sooner rather than later. But, for now, for a moment, they were allowed to be happy and unashamed. Opinions and outsiders be damned.

[training4theapocalypse]

Finders Keepers Ch 6. (Cormac McLaggen x fem!reader)

Rating: Explicit 18+

Word Count: 4.8k

Warnings: SMUT, Oral Sex - F & M receiving, Face Sitting, 69

Summary: Your letters over the Christmas break are driving McLaggen mad. He wonders what you'd think about meeting up in London the day before you need to catch the Hogwarts Express?

A/N: I would very much enjoy suffocating this man.

Masterlist

Tag list: @countlambula, @lolitstiana, @ratsys, @aweidlich

Chapter 6: First Name Basis

Dear Cormac,

By the time this owl arrives, I expect you to have at least four training sessions under your belt. You’ll note that I’ve kindly given you a day off for Christmas.

It’s a shame we didn’t have more time before the holidays together. This is the first Christmas break that I’ve ever wished I was at Hogwarts. I’ve heard the castle is extremely empty this time of year. Who knows how anyone passes the time with nobody around in all those deserted classrooms?

Anyway, I hope you’re having a good break.

xoxox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merry Christmas!

I wasn’t sure how to address this back because I think that was only the second time you’ve ever called me Cormac… Are we on first-name terms now?

We spent Christmas Eve at Rufus Scrimgeor’s party but it was different this year… I’ll tell you more in person in case this owl is intercepted. My dad, uncle and I were still extremely hungover for Christmas Lunch the next day (yes, even worse than on the train home after Slughorn’s). Mum was not happy.

You might be disappointed to hear that training has frankly been the last thing on my mind. Every time I think about Quidditch my mind wanders to the last time we were on the stands. We were having a conversation that I’d be keen to continue… if you know what I mean.

CM xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Gryffindor’s Reserve Keeper,

I hope your hangover is less painful today. 

Has anyone ever told you that you are such an unbearable show-off? I can’t believe you name-dropped the Minister for Magic in your first letter to me. How likely is it that these owls will be intercepted do you think? I’ve never really considered the possibility of anyone else wanting to find out information from my letters. But then again I’ve never written to such a big-shot with important Ministry connections before.

I told my mum and dad all about my invite to the Holyhead Harpies tryouts. They’re muggles so they’ve never really got their heads around wizard careers but they love football (kind of like muggle Quidditch) so sport is something they can understand. 

I am in fact disappointed you haven’t been training hard over the break - although I can understand your preoccupation with our last conversation on the stands. My mind keeps wandering too. It was probably my favourite conversation I’ve had involving Quidditch - which is saying something.

Let me know what you think about the chances of interception. I got a Polaroid for Christmas ( muggle camera) and I have a photo I think you’d like…

With love,

Ravenclaw Captain and First Choice Keeper 

xoxoxo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Holyhead Harpies Future Keeper,

I’m pretty confident that nobody else is reading our letters. And I’m not just saying that because I’m dying to see whatever it is you want to send me. Your letters have been arriving so quickly that there’s no way anyone has had time to read them before they got here. Or maybe you just write exceptionally fast because you miss me so much. 

The past week has been agonisingly slow. Usually, the Christmas holidays come to an end far too quickly but another week without you is driving me mad. The last few weeks of term when we weren’t speaking to each other feel like a wasted opportunity.

I’ve been too distracted to finish Slughorn’s Potions essay. When I think about Potions, I think about you. And then I think about that dress. Fucking hell. Although it’s not a patch on the protective headgear you wear playing Quidditch. Obviously.

Speak soon.

Big Shot Junior Minister for Horrendous Hangovers

xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear letter inception squad,

Please be warned that I am attaching with this correspondence an explicit photo of my tits and cannot be held responsible for any serious side effects that may occur upon viewing (dizziness, uncontrollable hard-on, etc.)

My beloved boyfriend has informed me that he is being driven mad by my absence and it is my only desire to help alleviate his pain. Well, maybe not my only desire. 

Cormac, if this letter ever finds its way to you without being censored by the powers that be. I need you to know something…

It’s you who’s writing quickly, not me. You miss me more.

With love,

Redacted

xoxox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To my girlfriend (apparently),

Fuck.

It took me several minutes (hours? Days? What year is it?) of staring at your picture to realise muggle photographs don’t move. Or maybe they do. I should probably check again, just to make sure. Yep. Still not moving. I sincerely hope you didn’t need this photo back. It’s in significantly worse condition than when you sent it to me.

If I say I miss you more, will you come and meet me in London a day early? Say the evening before the Hogwarts Express leaves? It’s not like me to beg… But I’ll say anything. Do anything.

Then again, maybe I don’t need to beg as you just asked me to be your boyfriend. So you clearly miss me more.

Love,

Your unbearable showoff xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the afternoon of the second of January, once you’ve put your things in your room at the Leaky Cauldron, you come downstairs to find McLaggen waiting for you in the pub. It’s not like you forgot during these past two weeks apart how hot he was. But in person, he’s like the quintessential English boyfriend from every muggle rom-com you’ve ever seen.

You greet him and he pulls you into a kiss, cupping the back of your head. You need to stand on your tiptoes to reach his lips - this was much easier when you were sitting on his lap. Your cheeks burn hot just thinking about it. “Maybe I did miss you after all,” you murmur. He smells sweet and spicy, just like you remember. 

“Good. I missed you too,” he says simply and kisses the top of your head.

He takes your hand and you leave the Leaky Cauldron. Despite it being the day before the Hogwarts Express returns, Diagon Alley is eerily quiet. Most of the shops are boarded up and the few people who are out, go about their business in a harried, closed-off kind of way. Recent Death Eater activity has everyone frightened. Except for you two reckless idiots, apparently.

“Things felt so normal back home. Not much has changed in the muggle world. Not yet at least,” you say, as you wander down the deserted cobbled street. “Anyway, tell me about Christmas at Scrimgeour’s. Since you’re such a big deal and couldn’t put it in a letter.”

“Well, to be honest, it was pretty tense,” he tells you in a hushed voice, his face is serious. “That’s why I ended up so drunk.” 

“Oh.” Your face falls. You sort of thought he was kidding. “So, were he and your dad talking about Ministry stuff all night or something?”

“No, it was me he wanted to talk to, actually. He kept asking me about Harry Potter and if I knew anything about his private lessons with Dumbledore. I had to pretend I didn’t know he was even taking lessons with Dumbledore.”

“He is?”

“I’ve just heard rumours. But Scrimgeour’s questioning pretty much confirmed it.”

“So you didn’t say anything? Even though your dad works at the Ministry?” you ask, thinking of Marietta’s mum and Umbridge. 

“Nah,” he says casually. “He’s pretty high up. Got a decent bit of leverage. I’m not worried.”

Wouldn’t a position of power in the Ministry mean he was more at risk? But then again, what do you know? Your parents are muggles.

You look up at him - you’re actually impressed. Would you be able to hold your nerve if the Minister for Magic wanted information from you? “Well… you’ve got guts, McLaggen. I’ll give you that.”

He shrugs like it was nothing. 

Eyelops Owl Emporium is one of the few shops open, so you go in to pick up some owl treats. “My parents found the owl thing hilarious at first, you know,” you tell him. “They still don’t really get why they can’t phone me -  that’s how muggles communicate long distance,” you add when he gives you a confused look.

“And they didn’t mind you leaving them a day early?”

“Sort of. My dad wanted to watch a football game with me today. He says I’m losing touch with my non-magical roots so he writes down all the scores and sends them to me every week,” you smile fondly and pay for your owl treats. “What about your parents?”

“Dad doesn’t know, Mum was distraught until I said I was meeting you. Then she was delighted.”

“Oh?” Not quite ready for that conversation with them, you had told your parents you were meeting Cho and Marietta.

“She was worried about me coming to Diagon Alley so she tried to convince me to bring you to ours instead. But it’s a bit early to subject you to that. She and my dad met at Hogwarts, you see. I think she was anxious that I was in my seventh year and hadn’t ‘settled down’.” He rolls his eyes. “When they were at school everyone ended up married to whoever they went out with.”

You laugh as you exit Eyelops and the bell above the door tinkles. “As if the dating scene ends after Hogwarts.”

The two of you aimlessly wander around a few more of the only shops that are still open, catching up about your break before making your way back towards the Leaky Cauldron. “So… tell me about football. It’s like muggle Quidditch, right?”

You try and explain the rules as you walk down the cobbled street.

“The keeper’s the only one that can use their hands?” He looks at you sceptically.

“I promise it’s more exciting than it sounds… Speaking of keepers, any sign of you getting a game this year?”

“I doubt it. Weasley would need a serious injury for Potter to consider replacing him.”

You enter the pub and find a quiet booth near the back.

“Well, you never know.” You say, sliding into the seat opposite him. “I heard from Padma that Lavender is getting annoyed about him and Hermione spending so much time together. Maybe she’ll do you a favour.” He shifts uncomfortably. “Sorry,” you grin. “Too soon to bring up your ex?”

He runs a hand through his hair. “Depends, is it too soon to ask if you’ll be cheering on your ex-boyfriend Smith at the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff game? If they beat us the cup is basically yours.”

“Only if Weasley is playing.”

“Yeah? So if I play you’ll be in the Gryffindor stands?”

“Yeah, alright then.” You scrunch up your face as if you can think of nothing worse but actually, you’d like to watch him have his chance to finally play a game. “You can give me your Gryffindor jumper to wear.”

“You realise I’m going to have to break Weasley’s leg or, I dunno, poison him or something because that sounds extremely hot.”

McLaggen goes up to the bar to order drinks and when he comes back he tells you all about the Quidditch world cup two years ago while you listen to his every word longingly. 

“I wish I could have gone to the final - it’s just that my parents want to see me as much as they can during the summer. And it’s not like they could have come with me with all the anti-muggle protection stuff,” you add wistfully. “I hope they can see me play a game one day.”

“What, they didn’t watch you play growing up?”

“Well, I didn’t play growing up, did I? I picked up a broom for the first time during my first flying lesson at Hogwarts.”

He puts down his drink. “What?”

“Keep up, McLaggen, they’re muggles.”

“No, I know that. I just never really thought about it. Blimey, it’s really not fair, having to learn to fly years after everyone else.”

You’re more than used to it by now. “What about you? When did you start playing?”

“My dad got me my first broom before I could walk, or so he tells me.” You smile. There’s something sweet about a tiny toddler zooming around with a miniature quaffle.

There’s something else on your mind. “Do you think your parents would be alright with you going out with someone who’s muggle-born?”

“I mean, you know Mum is already desperate to meet you. My dad is a bit more… old fashioned though,” he adds, a little awkwardly. “But he’ll come around when I tell him.”

You laugh “My dad’s the same. I haven’t told him either.”

“He wouldn’t be alright with you going out with a wizard?”

“Wizard? Fine. English? Not so much.”

He laughs like it’s a relief that it’s not just his dad’s prejudice that would be a problem. “Does that mean we’re definitely going out with each other then?” 

“Oh.” You remember your letter. “Yeah, let’s say we are. For the sake of us not falling out again.” 

“Very heartfelt of you.”

“Sorry, I’m really bad at this,” you admit. “I mean if I’d just told you when I fancied you that would have made things a lot simpler.”

“Easier said than done,” says McLaggen fairly. “I could have told you too.”

“When was that, by the way?” You ask coyly, leaning on the booth table and resting your chin on your hand. 

He clears his throat. “I dunno…”

“Oh, come on, McLaggen.”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

“Alright then -“ you take a sip of butterbeer. “- I suppose after the first Potions lesson this year. When you caught me in the corridor and I realised you smelled like the Amortentia we’d just made.”

“Wait a minute…” he knits his eyebrows together. “Do you use perfume or something that has coconut in it?”

“Yeah?”

He leans in and says quietly, so the other patrons don’t hear him. “I just realised the Amortentia I made smelled like you, when I had my face between your tits after Slughorn’s party.”

You feel your skin flushing hot. “Cormac.” You squirm a little, thighs clenching together, remembering his soft little moans as he inhaled deep in your chest.

“If that made you blush I definitely can’t tell you when I first fancied you.”

You shuffle in closer still towards the table.

“Tell me, please,” you whisper.

“Alright… it was last year when Ravenclaw lost to Gryffindor in the final.”

“Don’t remind me. Before or after McGonagall was about to expel me for threatening to set fire to Harry Potter’s broom?”

“Hah, no it was well before the final whistle. You were really anxious in goals - sort of wriggling on the seat of your broom with a kind of anguished expression on your face, watching the Ravenclaw Chasers cock it up.”

“And that was… that was what made you fancy me? That I was stressed out?” You raise an eyebrow and take a sip of your butterbeer.

“Well, yeah. I thought if you sat on my face the way you were sitting on your broom, I could get you to make those faces again.”

You almost spit out your drink. Your face is positively on fire. “Oh my god, Cormac…”

“I’d probably make you say that too,” he adds with a smug smile, and in spite of yourself, his attitude makes your lower abdomen tighten. He is so full of himself and every bit of common sense tells you that should hate it. But you don’t.

Sitting back in the booth, you look him over silently as your wet dream from weeks ago, the one about him going down on you in the Potions classroom swims to the front of your mind. Your legs wrapped over his broad shoulders, and the way his stubble had felt between your legs had all felt so real.

“Was that too far?”

You snap out of it and shake your head, realising you had been biting your bottom lip. “No, I just… I was wondering what it would be like.” 

He leans in over the table towards you and so you do too. He takes your hands in his significantly larger ones and whispers seriously. “So you’ve only been with girls before, right?” 

“Yeah.” You knew this was coming. At some point or another, you’d need to tell him that the closest you’ve come to touching a penis is when you felt his against you when you were sitting on his lap.

“Then I’ll probably be terrible at eating you out. You know - in comparison.”

That fucker. 

You can tell from his stupid smirk that he knows he’s good. His dimples appear at the corners of his mouth as he looks into your eyes. Everything surges up in your molten hot and you swallow, mildly embarrassed by how turned on your feel just from that arrogant smile.

“Not Cormac McLaggen admitting he might not be the best in the world at something?” you tease, trying to downplay how eager you are to find out.

“Oh yeah. It’ll be awful. Really, really sloppy.” He pulls your hands towards him and kisses your knuckles slowly. You look around the bar from your deserted corner booth. None of the few patrons are even glancing in your direction.

You take a deep, steadying breath. “Some - some people would say sloppy is good.” You know from your own experience that sloppy is great. But honestly, you’re worried about telling him that you’ve got no idea what the definition of good is when it comes to giving head to a man.

“Mhm,” he murmurs and slips his tongue between a gap in your fingers. God, your pussy feels slick, desperate for him to give it the same attention that he’s so brazenly paying to your hand. He maintains eye contact with you, the pupils of his green eyes dilated in the dim light of the pub.

“Cormac, I know you’re joking about being bad but I - I’ve never… I mean, I’ve never even seen a - “ you mouth the word ‘penis’ “- before.”

Cormac stops kissing your hands and places them on the table with a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry. Mine is like this- ” He gestures with his thumb and forefinger, almost pinching them together.

You narrow your eyes. “Shut up. I felt what you were packing on the stands.”

“You don’t need to worry about it anyway. Don’t feel like you need to do anything you don’t want to.”

Oh, you want to alright. But when you asked Cho and Marietta what to do with one that night you came back from the Quidditch stands it sounded complicated - beyond terrifying. And the pressure you put on yourself to be great at everything doesn’t make it any less daunting.

But God, the way his cock felt when you were pressed up against him kissing him the last time you saw each other - it was as if your body was begging you to have him put it inside you. Your pussy clenches, imagining the feeling of rubbing up against him again.

“Are you finished your drink?” you ask, the heat between your legs aching for him now. 

“Almost, will I get another round?”

“Maybe later when I’m finished sitting on your face.”

“You are something else.” He doesn’t need to be asked twice and abandons his drink, letting you lead him upstairs.

You open your room door, turn and grab the front of his jumper and drag him inside. You stand on your tiptoes again to kiss him furiously. He kisses you back, shutting the door behind him.

“Fuck,” you say between kisses. “You are such… an arrogant… git.”

“Yeah?” he lifts you up so you can wrap your legs around his waist. “Well, you fucking love it.” He says, carrying you over to the bed where he throws you down and climbs on top of you. You feel the hard bulge underneath his jeans pressing into you under your skirt and you raise your hips, pushing yourself up against him, pressing your clit against the protrusion.

He lifts your t-shirt up over your head and unhooks your bra before tossing it carelessly aside. McLaggen swirls his tongue around your nipples, desperately sucking and slobbering all over your chest like a starved man. 

“I mean the picture was good but fuck, your tits are perfect in person,” he groans, trying to fit as much as he can into his mouth. His neediness makes you grind harder into him -  you’re practically humping the fabric seam of his jeans.

“Fuck, Cormac…” you whimper helplessly, the burning friction from your pussy pressed up against him is all you can think about. You can already feel your orgasm flickering in the pit of your stomach.

“I need you to stop saying my name like that. I’m gonna cum right here if you do.” He grips the bottom of his jumper and pulls it, along with his t-shirt up over his head. You breathe heavily, looking at his muscular chest and abdomen in the low light of your candle-lit room. 

He watches you hungrily as you slip your skirt and underwear off and he lies on the bed to pull you on top of him, directly over his head. You sit on his chest, your knees bedside his ears and look down at him, biting your lip - it’s like he was made to be here like this between your thighs.

“You look so fucking good like this,” he says, running his hands along the back of your thighs and settling them on your hips. 

“How do I do it without suffocating you?” You’ve never had anyone go down on you in this position.

“Do whatever feels good. If I die, I die,” he grins up at you. “Just let me taste you.”

You shimmy forward and he grabs your ass so he can press his face against you.

“Oh, fuck,” you whimper. McLaggen sucks and rolls his tongue all over your pussy like he’s kissing your mouth. He laps up your juices, wet warmth enveloping your already soaking-wet slit, making you feel even slicker. 

He pauses to kiss your inner thigh. “Play with your tits for me.”

You do as he asks, pushing them together and pinching your nipples as you keep your eyes locked with his. His technique maybe isn’t as deft as you’re used to but, oh my god, he’s enthusiastic. McLaggen’s tongue flicks back and forth over your clit but you want his whole mouth again, so you leverage your hips slightly.

He feels your adjustment and moans in encouragement, fingers kneading into the flesh of your ass. This is what he wants, he wants you to lose yourself completely like this on top of him. So you decide you will.

“You feel so good,” you whimper and lace your fingers through his dark blonde curly hair, grinding yourself on him. On his lips, his wide tongue, his stubbly chin. He keeps licking sloppily as you use his face to get off.

“Fuck, Cormac…”

“Don’t or I’ll cum,” he warns between licks and while the thought of making this huge, hulking man under you cum just from eating you out and hearing you say his name sends a jolt of electricity through your body, you want to make him feel how you feel right now. 

“Can I suck your dick first?” You ask, halting your hips from moving.

He pauses. “You’re sure?” You nod. “Just keep sitting on my face. Please.”

You flip around to face the other way, sitting backwards on top of him. You undo his jeans and he pauses, anticipating your reaction. The feeling of his hot breath on your skin makes your hands tremble as you push his jeans and boxers down. 

His cock springs up, hitting his toned stomach and your eyes widen. You already knew that it wasn’t what he had implied earlier but…

“Jesus Christ, Cormac.”

“Oh come on, don’t react like that. I thought you said I was arrogant enough as it is”

Fuck. 

You extend your hand tentatively and grip the length of his cock. It’s prettier than what you’d imagined from Cho and Marietta’s vivid descriptions. Not that you’d tell McLaggen that - his already inflated ego really would be unbearable if you did. You could never have thought you’d actually want to suck it, from the details they’d given you when you asked them nervously how to do it. But you really, really do.

You lean forward and, still gripping him in your hand, you swirl your tongue around his head. There’s a pleasant vibration as presses his lips against you again to moan against your pussy.

“Is this okay?” You pull back to ask tentatively.

“Fuck… Yes.”  

The shakiness in his voice encourages you to open your mouth wider and swallow as much of him as you can. He’s so tall that you can’t reach the base of his cock without moving forward and when you try, he clamps his hands down on your hips to stop you from moving away from his face. 

And then you feel his mouth devouring you again, his lips and tongue attacking your clit without mercy. Fuck.

You try to whine but your mouth is full. From the way his fingers dig into your hips, you can tell he appreciates the noises you’re making all the same.

You bob your head up and down, gliding your tongue around his cock. His own tongue moves in firm circles round and round, bringing you closer and closer to the brink. Pulling your head back, you gasp for air but keep jerking his length, now slick and wet from your saliva with your fist. “Fuck, Cormac… I’m…”

Bliss floods your body and he groans loudly but keeps pace as your cunt twitches on his face. Your orgasm rips through you, white-hot and tingling. You can’t help yourself repeating his first name over and over until it becomes a babbling stream of words, feeling his face pressed right into your pussy, his tongue dragging all over your clit and his nose between your folds.

Cormac tries to keep licking through the aftershock but you wriggle away from the overstimulation. You move down his body and this time swallow his cock as far as you can, lips almost reaching the base.

“Wait, I’m… fuck…” He grits his teeth. “Careful, baby, I’m gonna cum.”

Baby. It’s the first time he’s dared to call you that. 

And you like it. 

You feel his thighs tense under your grip. He makes a conscious effort to stop his hips jerking upwards, letting you continue to take the reins at your own pace.

“Mhmm,” you hum in encouragement - ready for it.

He stares at your beautiful pussy in front of him - all flushed and rosy and wet in the low light. He did that. He made you a mess like that. It drives him over the edge as the sounds of you sucking and swallowing around his cock fill the quiet room.

“That’s it. That’s - Oh, fuck -” He swears incoherently and it’s your cue to take him as deep as you can. Cormac empties his load directly down your throat, and you suck, draining him of the hot, salty liquid. You swallow and gasp for air. You had needlessly braced yourself for it to taste much worse.

Exhausted, you slide off him and cuddle into his chest, practically glowing with pride. The two of you lie there, your hearts still pounding as you listen to each other breathing raggedly for a few moments.

“You’re… fuck. Unbelievable,” he pants eventually, interrupting the silence. 

You smile, tracing your fingers along his chest, silently adding 'sucking cock' to your list of achievements. It feels like you’ve passed an exam with flying colours. 

“Well, for the record, you weren’t awful at that.”

“Compared to your comments about my flying, that’s as good as praise from you.”

“Don’t get used to it.” You tilt your head up to look at him as he stares at the ceiling, feeling his heartbeat under your hand slowly returning to normal. “What is it about your own name that gets you off, by the way?” 

He laughs. “I know I can be a dickhead but you don’t think I’m that bad, do you?” You run your fingers through his tousled hair, a bead of sweat glistening on his brow. “It’s not just my name, it’s when you call me Cormac. You only call me that when you’re turned on.”

What? “I- I do not!” You splutter.

“Yeah, you do. You did it on the Quidditch stands, then in your letter and then again tonight.”

He’s got you there. “Or maybe I only call you McLaggen when you’re irritating me… McLaggen.” You laugh and kiss the crook of his neck. 

He squeezes you tighter and presses his lips to the top of your head, inhaling the scent of your coconut shampoo.

“Yeah, that makes sense too.”

Chapter 7: Fine

[ihhfhonao3]

ace attorney fic request: Maya starts taking clown training from Moe and gets her own clown uniform with the red nose and everything

OH MY GOD IM SORRY THAT THIS TOOK FORTY YEARS TO FINISH. All my motivation just DISAPPEARED like the beginning of May so I hope this scratches at least a bit of a (VERY LATE) itch. Thanks for requesting, fic is under the cut!

Lawrence Curls- better known as Moe the clown- wasn’t typically the type of man to be surprised by too much. If he was forced to pinpoint a moment in his life where he became so desensitized to practically everything, the last straw would likely be being a firsthand witness to murder. Not to mention that the person who was murdered was his own late boss.

There were many other events in his life that started to slowly etch away at his ability to care about most things. Practically losing all ability to ever talk to his wife or daughter was pretty up there in terms of life events that started to wear down the camel’s back. It was quite ironic when he thought about it- women always say that they love humorous men when it comes to relationships. But that wasn’t something that Moe was thinking about in this current moment. No, instead he was thinking about what to do with Maya Fey.

The girl had barged into the circus tent early that morning, startling Moe and almost making him lose his balance on a big inflatable ball. On accident, this time. But once he was sure that he wasn’t going to topple over, Moe hopped off the ball and asked what Maya needed. He remembered her being the assistant to that lawyer who defended Max Galactica not too long ago- Wright was his name.

Nothing could prepare Moe for the shock that came with hearing that Maya wanted to become a circus clown.

“I think it’d be fun!” She said. “And you’re one of the best clowns around I know!”

Moe almost corrected her by saying that he was likely the only clown around she knew, but he kept quiet. 

Maya continued to blabber on and on about how she admired Moe and his sense of humor, gushing about how classy and hilarious his jokes were. Moe thought she was simply being patronizing, but if that was the case, she sure as hell was convincing. Moe let Maya finish speaking before he talked himself.

“I just don’t really understand,” Moe said, eyeing Maya up and down. “WHY do you want to be a clown? Of all the careers there are, you choose… this?”

“Didn’t I make it clear? I admire you so much!” Maya said cheerily. “What you do is super awesome- I wanna be like you!”

“Yeah, well, I think you’re choosing the wrong role model here. This job made my wife leave me! HAHAHAHAHA!” Moe laughed.

Maya just stared at him.

“God, I miss her…” Moe mumbled. “I mean uh, this job doesn’t pay that well. Are you sure? I could teach you something way better, like business management!”

Maya made a face. “No thank you. I appreciate your offer, and congratulations on your promotion, but I’ve made up my mind.”

Moe sighed. “Whatever floats your boat, I suppose. Are you sure that this is what you wanna do? You’re completely and totally up for the task?”

Maya nodded vigorously. “Of course! I am but your pupil, sir.”

Maya made an exaggerated bow, and Moe laughed. He then told Maya to come back to the circus at the same time tomorrow, to begin her training.

So now Moe was here, sitting in his office, thinking about what he should do with this situation. He truly didn’t want to turn down such a sweet girl and crush all of her dreams, but she had such a bright future ahead of her doing what she was currently doing. Moe couldn’t exactly remember what it was specifically, but he was sure that whatever it was, it was miles better than being a circus clown. Looking back, Moe sometimes couldn’t even remember what it was that initially motivated him to become a part of the circus. He always thought himself to be quite funny, so surely the logical conclusion after that was to disappoint his family and become a clown. 

Of course, they hadn’t been disappointed at the beginning, but that wasn’t the point.

The point was, this Fey girl had so much life to live- and part of Moe worried that she was actively throwing her life away by choosing this career path. But another thing tugged at him- if she truly was passionate about this, who was he to stop her from following her dreams? Moe could remember a time when he himself was like that. Zealous and passionate, full of piss and vinegar.

Moe laughed at the phrase inside his head. What a dumb saying. Maybe he’ll make a joke out of that one at the next performance that was to come.

Eventually, Moe found his answer, after several minutes of deep thought.

He was going to accept the request and teach Maya how to be an amazing clown.

He quickly got to work writing down tips and ideas for routines that she could perform, depending on what area of clownhood Maya wanted to focus on. What she had to learn in order to tell jokes was very different from what she had to learn in order to dance on an inflatable ball. Moe made sure to take note of this, as well as write down rough outlines of ideas for routines that Maya could perform. At around two in the morning, he decided to call it a night and go to bed. 

Kicking himself for going to sleep so late, Moe dragged himself out of bed at the crack of dawn so he could practice a bit before Maya arrived. Sure enough, as Moe was reciting some jokes he had freshly come up with, the girl returned and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Ah! Maya!” Moe said as cheerfully as physically possible as he turned around. “Glad to see you again. You really are committed, huh?”

Maya nodded rigorously. “Totally! I’m dedicated to this clown thing! What’s my first lesson?”

“Well, have you thought about what kind of clown you want to be?” Moe asked.

Maya stared at him. “I didn’t know that there’s different types of clowns.”

Moe chuckled. “Oh yeah, there’s lots! …Well, actually, there’s only about four I could think of, and one of them is a scary clown, which we’re not doing. So you can choose between a joke clown, a stunt clown, or a prank clown.”

“What do each of them do?” Maya asked.

“Jokes clowns tell jokes like I do,” Moe said. “Stunt clowns do stuff like balancing on a big inflatable ball while juggling. And prank clowns suffer pain for the enjoyment of others. HAHAHAHA! I’m kidding. Well, not really. They do stuff like falling over on purpose and throwing pie in each other’s faces. Technically, I dabble between all three, but since you’re a beginner, let’s choose just one for now.”

Maya closed her eyes and thought. Within a few moments, she opened them back up again and said “Okay, I choose prank clown.”

“Excellent choice!” Moe said excitedly. “Now, let’s get to your training. Follow me to my office.”

Maya trailed after Moe as he headed to his office. Once he went inside, he opened a closet that had a bunch of clown gear. He pulled out a purple suit with yellow stripes on it and big plastic buttons that looked like pink flowers, then handed it to Maya.

“This will be your suit. Wear it well, it is a symbol of honor.” Moe almost burst out laughing at the absurdity of what he was saying, but he really wanted to sell Maya on this. He didn’t want to crush her dreams.

Just as Moe expected, Maya lit up and thanked him, then grabbed the suit and ran to the bathroom to immediately put it on. Moe waited for a couple minutes before Maya came back out, wearing the suit and a gigantic smile.

“Can I get funny shoes too?” Maya asked.

“Sure thing,” Moe replied, digging through his closet. “How does blue sound?”

“Perfect!” Maya said.

Moe handed the gigantic clown shoes to Maya. “Anything else you’d like?”

Maya tapped her chin, thinking. “OH! Could I have a big nose like yours?”

Moe stared at Maya. “This is my real nose.”

Maya went quiet. A moment passed before she said, “Oh… I am so sorry…”

“Ha! It’s totally fine,” Moe laughed. He was trying his hardest to not lose his patience, but he hated thinking about his nose. Far too many people thought it was fake for his liking.

Maya quietly took off her current shoes and replaced them with the big, broad blue clown shoes. She walked around the office a bit, trying out how they felt.

“They’re way too big, but that’s the point, isn’t it?” Maya said. 

“It is indeed,” Moe said. “Now you seem to be all set. Follow me down to the main tent and we can begin your training.”

Maya did a silent cheer as she started to stumble her way back to the tent with Moe. Moe walked extra slowly so as to not leave Maya behind, but she got a hang of the shoes quicker than he expected. Maybe she is meant to have this job, Moe thought to himself. Hey, I’d be crazy if I were to judge!

By the time the two had returned to the main tent, there were some other performers with the circus who were already there practicing. Maya watched as three women made a human pyramid together in one corner of the tent. It was extremely intriguing to her. 

Moe turned around to face Maya for a moment. “Stay here for a bit, will you?”

“I’ll be right here!” Maya beamed.

Moe strained a smile and then hurried to the front of the tent to meet Max Galactica at the entrance, who was just walking in. Maya couldn’t hear their conversation, but from the looks of it, Moe was telling him something important. After a couple of minutes, Moe returned to Maya.

“So, where do we start?” Maya asked eagerly.

“First off, I’m going to teach you what could be one of the most important things to know when being a prank clown,” Moe said. “And that is… the humorous fall.”

Maya seemed confused, so Moe stepped back to demonstrate. He walked a few paces before stepping on his own shoes on purpose, thus tripping and falling over. As he fell, Moe kicked his back foot slightly to propel him forwards and exaggerate the fall, and stuck his arms out to break it so he didn’t get too seriously hurt. Moe then stood up and took a bow as Maya clapped for him.

“What you’re gonna want to do is force yourself to fall,” Moe said. “After you do that, push off of the leg that still has a bit of traction. That emphasizes your fall and makes it funnier.”

“Okay, let me try!” Maya said.

Maya then followed suit in a similar fashion, tripping over her huge shoes and then falling over.

“Not bad, not bad,” Moe critiqued. “But you aren’t pushing forwards enough. Pushing off and forwards really gives the fall that oomph that audiences want. Practice again.”

Maya did as she was told, with her form only being slightly better this time.

“All right, practice your falls when you get the chance,” said Moe.

“I don’t get it…” Maya stated as she got up and dusted herself off. “Why do we want to break our fall? Wouldn't actually getting hurt be more funny?”

Moe snorted slightly. “You’re right, it would. But healthcare is too damn expensive in this country for us to be able to fall like you normally would. HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Maya looked a little bit disdained by that comment, so Moe coughed curtly and changed the subject.

“Ahem. Um, there’s different ways you can fall too, to switch things up so as to not be too repetitive in your routine,” Moe told Maya.

Moe then proceeded to show Maya how to fall to her side and how to fall backwards, as well as showcased the many different ways that one can slip on a banana peel. Moe explained the use of the banana peel and its significance to the clown act in a circus. Needless to say, Maya was truly enjoying her time learning how to perform in the circus. The magical glow in her eyes that was present when she was investigating the circus with Phoenix all that time ago had since returned, livening her attitude and keeping her cheery. Maybe Moe was disillusioned, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why Maya was so happy about this. He guessed that she was going to quit the whole ordeal sometime within the week.

Moe watched as Maya practiced her falls, mesmerized by her determination. Eventually, he snapped back to his senses.

“Um, I think that’s enough for now,” Moe said eventually. “Here, follow me. You can learn how to throw pies next.”

Maya beamed and wiped her hands on her pants, then followed Moe outside the tent. Directly outside of it stood three targets and a small stack of tin pie pans.

“Here is where I practice throwing pies,” Moe said. He picked up one of the tin pans, lifted it to his shoulder, and chucked it right at the target. It hit right in the center.

“That was awesome!” Maya cried. “How’d you do it?”

“Practice, of course,” said Moe. “And look-” Moe picked up one of the pie pans from the stack.

“We don’t have actual pies in them so we don’t waste resources, but we do have dirt packaged inside of them sealed with cling wrap and tape,” Moe said. He titled the pan to show Maya. Sure enough, there was a layer of cling wrap on the top of the pan, secured in place with duct-tape. Below the plastic wrap, inside the pan was a layer of dirt that filled the pan to about halfway. Moe handed the pan to Maya.

“Wow, it weighs almost like a real pie!” she said. “That’s super smart.”

Moe grinned. “Thanks, I came up with it myself. Now, throw that pan at the target, following my lead.”

Maya nodded and did as Moe did- raising the pan to her shoulder and chucking it as hard as she could. It landed near the left of the target.

“Almost,” Moe said encouragingly. “A little more to the right. Focus your eyes on the center of the target, at the bullseye.”

Maya retrieved her pan and tried again, getting closer to the center this time.

“Good!” Moe said. “Practice this and your falls for a little bit. Can I trust you to not burn down the establishment while I go work out some finances?”

“You can count on me, boss!” Maya said, straightening up and saluting at Moe, before proceeding to almost hit a nearby animal trainer in the head with a bad throw.

Moe grimaced. Part of him didn’t know how much he could count on Maya. She had ambition, but she was excitable at times. And new.

Moe headed inside the tent and eventually found Benjamin Woodman, who was aimlessly watching Max practice his magic tricks. Moe could’ve sworn he saw some scorn in his eyes.

“Ben,” Moe called. Ben looked up.

“Would you mind watching over the girl practicing pie-throws outside? She’s a newbie, I don’t really trust her to not knock someone unconscious,” Moe said.

Ben nodded and got up from his spot on the floor, exiting the tent without a word.

“Sometimes I wonder why I don’t fire these airheads,” Moe muttered to himself as he headed to his office. 

~~~

Maya picked up another pie pan and lobbed it at the target. It was slightly above the bullseye.

“So close!” she said to herself. She went to grab the three pans that she had just thrown, retrieving them from the grass. She then stacked them on top of the other pans that sat on the ground beside her.

Truth be told, Maya was having the time of her life. She was learning so much in such a short period of time, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she was learning about something that she actually cared about and wanted to learn. This wasn’t at all like her spirit medium lessons back in Khura’in. 

Maya threw another pie pan at one of the targets as a man in a white coat holding a ventriloquist dummy walked outside and started watching her.

“Oh, hello!” Maya said cheerily as she lobbed another pan. The man simply nodded at her.

Maybe he’s scared of my good arm! Maya thought confidently. She tossed another pan and then went to retrieve it.

The man watched her every move wordlessly, his expression unchanged and static.

“So, uh, what’s your name?” Maya asked, becoming increasingly nervous from being watched.

The man avoided eye contact, but in turn the puppet placed its wooden hand on its hip and spoke.

“The name is Trilo Quist,” the puppet said. “And this big oaf is Ben. Who’s asking?”

“M-Maya Fey…” Maya muttered. The man didn’t seem to move his mouth at all when the puppet spoke for him. Maya was impressed- the man must have lots of skill.

“Tell me Maya, why are you doing this… pan-throwing thingy? Don’t you have something better to do?” asked Trilo.

Gee, what a character! Maya thought to herself. “Eh, no, I was told to practice my pie throws. Mr. Moe said I should, actually.”

“Mr. Moe? Ha! A fool like that doesn’t need a respective title,” Trilo joked. 

Maya looked at him as she threw another pie pan. For some reason, that statement made her angry. “I’ll have you know that Mr. Moe has been nothing but kind and respectful of my goals here, not to mention very supportive and eager to teach me what it means to be a clown.”

“Whatever floats your boat, I suppose,” Trilo shrugged. Ben still refused to make eye contact. 

Maya threw another pie pan. “Why are you here anyways? I mean this in the nicest way possible, but if you’re just going to be here to insult my teacher, I’d rather you leave me be.”

“Your teacher, who is also my boss, I’ll have you know, instructed me to watch over you here,” Trilo said matter-of-factly. “He doesn’t trust you to not burn something down.”

“Har har,” Maya muttered. She wasn’t sure how much she liked this Trilo fellow. Surely the Ben guy was far nicer anyways.

“Why do you talk so much and Ben doesn’t?” Maya inquired as she retrieved her pie pans once more.

“That’s because Ben doesn’t have anything interesting to say,” Trilo said confidently.

Maya rolled her eyes as she stacked the pie pans once more and started to head back into the tent.

“Hey, where are you headed?” Trilo cried. “I’m not supposed to let you out of my sight!”

Probably because your regular job isn’t that important, Maya thought. “I’m just going inside so I can practice falling now.”

Maya could’ve sworn she heard snickering coming from the dummy, but she decided to ignore it. She found herself an empty section of the tent to practice in, wedged between some animal trainers and a magician. Maya cleared some of the sharp rocks and dirt from the ground and started to practice as Ben and Trilo watched her again.

As she practiced her falls, she wondered if Moe was going to come back. And she wondered how Phoenix was doing. And She wondered if Moe was proud of her. And she wondered if this was all a stupid idea.

“…Are ya sure you’re not getting hurt?” Trilo asked suddenly. “Because I’m pretty sure Moe will be a little more than ticked if he found that I was complacent in hurting a newbie. Even though you getting hurt should be your fault.”

“I promise, I’m okay,” Maya strained. Something about this Trilo guy made her irrationally irritated. Not to mention, if she remembered correctly, he was kind of a creep anyways. Maya wondered if it was the puppeteer or the puppet itself that was a creep. She settled on the idea of it being both of them.

“Alright, alright, I was just checking…” Trilo said. He sounded offended.

Maya was becoming increasingly irked by Trilo, but she tried her hardest not to let it bother her. She breathed deep in between her trips and falls, grounding herself before each time. After a little while, Maya was getting a tad bored.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I looked around the circus a bit, would you?” Maya asked Trilo more than Ben.

“I would mind, actually,” Trilo proclaimed. “You can’t walk around unattended.”

“So escort me,” Maya said, putting a hand on her hip.

Ben looked increasingly uncomfortable. After a long pause, Trilo eventually muttered “Fine.”

The pair that was more of a trio started to walk around the circus. Maya watched the magician Max Galactica, Phoenix’s old client, practice his magic tricks. She watched as he cut a box in half and fiddled with some pieces of cloth that were tied together into one long string. Maya didn’t really understand how any of that related to being a magician, but he seemed to know what he was doing. 

Maya then went to look at the animal tamers. Ben and Trilo stayed around thirty feet away from the animals, much to Maya’s suspicion. She assumed it had something to do with the lion scandal that happened all that time ago. Maya watched as a tiger jumped through hoops and a woman rode on an elephant. Regina Berry, the lead animal trainer, was cheering the creatures on as they performed their tricks. Maya smiled. Regina looked like she was having so much fun.

Maya eventually lost track of time and realized that she had been on too long of a break when she found that Ben and Trilo were nowhere to be found and Moe was approaching her.

“Maya!” Moe called. “Maya, come out to the front of the tent please. I need to talk with you.”

Maya hesitated. She was a little nervous. Had she done something wrong? Did Trilo and Ben tell on her? Did they say that she hadn’t been practicing? Maya swallowed nervously and went to the entrance of the tent.

“Maya, I just wanted to thank you for your dedication,” Moe said. “Not too many people stick around this long, believe it or not. So I admire you for keeping with it.”

“Oh, uh, thanks!” Maya grinned. “I’m actually having a lot of fun.”

Moe reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. “Here. I wanted to give you this. As a reward- and since you did want to have one of your own.”

Maya opened the box and inside was a classic red rubber clown nose. She gasped and immediately popped it on her face, laughing at how it felt on her.

“How do I look?” Maya asked, spinning in a circle.

“Like an absolute fool,” Moe smiled. “So, I trust you’ll come back here at the same time tomorrow?”

“Yes sir!” Maya said, saluting Moe. “You can count on me!”

Moe laughed. “Get out of here. Go home, have some dinner, say hi to that Wright guy for me.”

“I will!” Maya said as she started to run home.

She had oh so conveniently forgotten about the clown shoes that were still on her feet, tripping over them when she had gotten no more than thirty feet from the circus tent.

[simmerdowndee]

a windenburg years special : the interview

Hi everyone! Its me (Dee) and I am so happy to be here with my favorite couple, Dakota and Theo.

Dee: How are you guys?

Dakota: Good. Really good. Thank you for having us!

Theo: And creating us. Dakota: *Laughs*

Dee: You guys are legit my favorite sim couple I’ve ever had.

Dakota: Oh stop.

Dee: Seriously. I am enamored with your story. I don’t want it to ever end.

Theo: Well, you created most of it.

Dee: But you and Dakota’s actions and behaviors helped guide me.

Dee: I have a few questions for the readers and you guys can answer them anyway you’d like!

Dee: Take me back to when you guys first met. How did that moment feel?

Dakota: I had no idea I was going to bump into my future husband, I know that much.

Dee: *Laughs*

Dee: Is there anything about that day that either of you have never mentioned?

Dakota: Funny enough, I bumped into Theo because I was texting a guy I met over the summer. Theo: Really? Dakota: That was actually the last text message he ever got because from that point I was hyper focused on you.

Dee: That’s so cute.

Dee: Theo?

Theo: I actually saw her coming down the hallway, not paying attention. I kinda let you bump into me on purpose, because I thought you were cute.

Dee: Awhh.

Dakota: Seriously?? Theo: Mhm. Dakota: You couldn’t just stop me babe? Theo: I thought it would be more entertaining. Dakota: Well, I’m glad you did. I can’t imagine my life without you.

Dee: So sweet.

Dee: Who do you think really fell first?

Theo: Definitely Dakota. Dakota: You think so?? Theo: Yes, but I wasn’t too far behind you.

Dee: Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love, Dakota?

Dakota: Homecoming. I was so excited he decided to go, and with me at that.

Dakota: That was our first kiss. Theo: It was. I remember I was so nervous to ask you. Dakota: It was a good kiss too. Theo: I mean, when I have ever been bad at kissing? Dakota: Alrighty, next question please.

Dee: *Laughs*

Dee: Lets fast forward to university.

Theo: Oh boy.

Dee: You knew it was coming, don’t act shocked!

Dakota: *Laughs*

Dee: Lets start light. Overall, did you enjoy it?

Dakota: I feel that’s a loaded question *Laughs*. Theo: Overall, I would say yes. Uni is a one-of-a-kind experience.

Dee: Especially with you guys.

Dakota: Yes, especially with us. Dakota: I would say I enjoyed it for the most part.

Dee: Is there ANYTHING you’d change about it?

Theo: I think you know the answer to that.

Dee: *Laughs*

Dakota: Oh, oh! I would have ignored that career fair for sure. Theo: *Laughs*

Dee: You guys’ mind if we go into that period of your relationship?

Dakota: I think we should be okay. Theo: Let’s do it.

Dee: Theo, when did you realize you may have made the wrong choice?

Theo: To leave or breakup?

Dee: Both.

Theo: *Deep sigh* Immediately after we broke up and I left her apartment, I regretted it. There was something in the back of my head telling me prior we wouldn’t have a good relationship long distance. The minute I walked out the door, I said to myself I shouldn’t have done that. It was stupid.

Dee: So, had you tried long-distance, would you still regret leaving?

Theo: Yes, absolutely.

Dee: Why?

Theo: Because regardless of us being together, I still would want to see her, touch her, hold her. Dakota: Awh, babe.

Dee: Your turn, miss Dakota.

Dakota: Oh hell.

Dee: Let’s talk about Noah.

Dee: Wait. Theo, are you okay with this, or should you leave for a second?

Theo: I’m good.

Dee: Good. I figured you would be.

Dee: What made you decide to give Noah a chance?

Dakota: Well, we were already really close, and I knew he was a safe option. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me…

Dee: Are you content with the way things ended with him?

Dakota: I think we ended the best way we could. Had Theo came back, it would have most likely become a messy love triangle and I do not have time for that.

Dee: Okay, okay. Let’s move slightly forward to Tomarang.

Dee: Dakota, what went through your head when you saw Theo walk in?

Dakota: Okay, if we’re being honest… at first I was slightly excited. Then I got sad, confused, and angry all at once. I was happy to finally see him physically again, but also pissed because he just popped up out of the blue like nothing happened.

Dee: Theo?

Theo: I was so damn nervous. I feared she hated me. When she let me hug her, I knew I had a chance to fix it.

Theo: I’ll never be able to thank Noah enough for calling me.

Dee: How did it feel when you finally got back together?

Dakota: It was like the dark, dreary cloud that had made its home above me cleared out.

Theo: I felt like myself again. Everything felt normal.

Dee: I meant to ask this earlier, how did your parents take it when you broke up?

Theo: My mom was so pissed. I remember the verbal assault she gave me to this day. Dakota: *Laughs* Dakota: My dad wasn’t actually upset with Theo. He felt maybe it was needed for the time. Dakota: But also, my dad might be Theo’s biggest stan. He can do no wrong in his eyes. *Eye Roll*

Dee: *Laughs*

Dee: Theo, you seem to attract women everywhere you go.

Theo: Oh boy. Theo: I really don’t know why…. I don’t think I’m that good looking….

Dee: Sir.

Dakota: Now you know that’s a damn lie.

Dee. Just boldface lying.

Theo: Hey, hey okay. My bad.

Dee: Dakota, can I ask about her….?

Dakota: Of course.

Dee: Why Ana?

Theo: She was the only woman I was comfortable with here, and I thought maybe moving on would help. Clearly that wasn’t the case and it just made it worse. I wasted her time, and mine. Theo: The crazy thing is, I was going to call Dakota that night to talk. I ended up going out instead. I should have gone with my gut and stayed home….

Dee: But it all worked out, right?

Theo: Yeah, it did. Thank god.

Dee: Eh, you don’t have to call me that.

Dakota: *Laughs*

Dee: Last couple of questions.

Dee: Do you like living in Windenburg more or back home in Copperdale?

Dakota: It took me some time to adjust but I like it better here. It’s beautiful.

Dee: Theo, do you miss the ranch?

Theo: Sometimes, but I don’t see myself becoming a rancher anytime soon. Maybe when we retire…

Dee: You look good in a cowboy hat, Theo.

Dakota: Fuck yeah he does. Theo: *Laughs*

Dee: Last one.

Dee: Are you guys excited to be parents?

Dakota: Theo CERTAINLY IS. Dakota: But also, yes. I cannot wait to be a mom. Theo: I can’t wait to see you as a mom.

Dee: I see why you love him so much Koda.

Dakota: I am very lucky to have you. Theo: I’m the luckiest.

Dee: You guys.

Dee: Well, thank you guys for sitting down with me. I enjoyed our trip down memory lane.

Theo: Thank you again for having us.

Dee: Is there anything you want to leave for the viewers?

Dakota: Get ready for our wedding special this Saturday, the 22nd!

Theo: And don’t forget to look out for season two of #windenburgyears.

Thank you guys for joining us! Here’s to season two!

[celestial-sapphicss]

i'm thinking about Moonlight Chicken again (because of course I am) and how the show surprisingly excels at writing teenagers. in particular Li Ming and Heart's journey towards their careers and future.

i've noticed this a lot around me, when I was 16-17 and now noticing the same in kids who are in the last years of school life and have to decide what they want to do going forward. it's that whenever kids try to show an interest in a career choice that is something other than what their parents think is acceptable or is the safest choice, the kids are always met with a certain level of harshness and scepticism.

and like for the most part, I don't blame them. we live in a fucking capitalistic hell scape. so parents wanting their kids to have a stable stable career is not an unrealistic hope. but when they impose that want on their kids (if not directly, but in subtle indirect way subconsciously) it fucks up with the mindset of the kid a lot.

for example, a kid would want to do economics or animation or whatever, but their parents have set their minds set on engineering degrees because thats apparently the best for them, so instead of what should be a discussion turns into an interrogation about how, what, when and why about the course and its career prospects. and it's really unfair to a kid who is just 16-17 to be grilled on the spot like that instead of being given an open ear and help to figure out the future possibilities.

it really discourages the kid, especially when they're not able to answer all the questions in all that tension and harshness and it sets somewhere in the mind. I've seen so many kids just give up on their interest and go with what their parents decided because its easier that way and sometimes kids are simply not strong enough to put their foot down and figure out everything on their own.

the same happens with Li Ming. when he was figuring out what he actually wanted to do in the future, going to America, and shares that with Jim after his insistence, Li Ming is faced with the same aggressive reaction by Jim where he expects Li Ming to have researched everything about it before even thinking about the possibility of going through with it. again i don't completely blame Jim because situations of course.

but thankfully, Li Ming finds that support in Wen who actually sits by his side and actually has a conversation with him about what he wants to do, even if briefly, and helps him figure out future possible options by talking to the work and travel agent and I am pretty sure it made such a huge impact on Li Ming's confidence and life

and when he had that kind of support, he obviously could extend that support to Heart as well. they searched everything about where they wanted to go, what school they wanted to go to, and what would be their courses, etc. and had the confidence to convince Heart's parents as well.

Wen's smallest contribution and involvement in Li Ming's life has such a huge impact, and even more so when we include his conversations with Jim about it. I am always thinking about how Wen is one of the most influential figures in Li Ming's life and I will die on this hill.