#they said bad boy romance and they MEANT that shit

[the-unconquered-queen]

Just remembering how the Girlies were Going Through It™ when Ride or Die was releasing. Scandalized by Logan using MC for intel and jumping ship for Colt only for him to get revealed as a kidnapper and would-be-murderer within like one chapter.

Ride or Die, you crazy bitch, no one was doing it like you ❤️

[thequeenofcurses]

Birthday Wishes, Cursed Kisses (f!Reader x Sukuna)

Summary: Sukuna takes you out for your birthday (sfw)

wk: 1300

(re-uploading this so I can organize it properly)

A/N Sorry I meant for this to be a short drabble, but I got carried away. It’s my first real jjk story post on here! I wrote this for @yuujispinkhair, who is someone that is super inspiring to me and her stories make me s happy. Happy Birthday to her!

Part 2 (nsfw)

10:45 pm

You checked your phone and sighed. Why did I even bother staying up this late on a Monday, you thought to yourself. Tomorrow’s just another day anyways.

You turn on one of your favorite romance audiobooks and set your phone to sleep mode.

11:59 pm

buzz buzz The vibration from your phone made you open your eyes, but exhaustion won the fight and you shut them close again. 

8:15 am

“Wake up, woman,” came a deep, sultry voice from your doorway. “Eat these while they’re fresh”.

“Huh?” you croak out, throat still dry from barely waking up. Your boyfriend Sukuna stood nearly as tall as your bedroom doorframe. “Did you warm me up leftovers or something?”

“Tch,” he rolled his eyes and walked into your room, sitting atop your bed. “You really thought I would give you leftovers, today?”

“Well, it’s just Tuesday,” you responded nonchalantly while stretching. Your hair was messy, you're missing one sock, and you even had some drool on your cheek; yet Sukuna stared at you like you were the Mona Lisa.

“Hmph,” he scoffed. “Woman, it’s your birthday. So you’re going to eat one of these cupcakes, shower, then get ready to have the best damn birthday ever.” You blink back surprised that he remembered, but butterflies fill your stomach nonetheless. You’ve only been dating the town’s local bad boy, Sukuna, for a few weeks. 

You nod and take the red velvet with dark chocolate cupcake into your hands, the confetti wrapping still warm. The aroma from the dessert filled your nose as you leaned down to take a bite. “Mhmm,” you softly moan to yourself. “This is delicious. Thank you”

“I texted you last night,” Sukuna waves off your thanks. “I wanted… to be the first person to tell you.”

As you finished the last bite of the world’s best cupcake, you gasped. You haven’t checked your phone since last night.

11:59pm, yesterday

Sukuna sent you a chat!

It’s your day, isn’t it? Don’t get used to all this attention. But since I’m feeling generous, I might grace you with my presence later. Happy birthday, brat.

Your heart skipped a beat reading his message. Speechless, you rose from your spot on the bed and jumped into his strong, warm arms. “Oh? Can’t keep your hands off me, huh?” he said with a smirk. “Guess I can’t blame you.”

“Thank you, Kuna. The cupcake was delicious.” You blushed, realizing you were still unkempt.  “I’ll go get ready now.” You walked to your bathroom and hopped into the shower.

“Wear something warm!” he shouted from the other side of the door. “You’re not getting my jacket if you get cold.”

You are dressed in a black sweater dress with dark maroon leggings, and black winter uggs. Your makeup was very natural looking, yet accentuated all of your best features. You topped the look with a golden bracelet that had an ‘S’ inside of a heart. Sukuna gave it to you when you two made your relationship official. When you come out of the bathroom, you find Sukuna sitting on your couch.

“Wow,” he said while standing up to meet you. Tch. Who are you trying to impress looking like that? “Not bad. Try not to let all this attention go to your head though.” Sukuna smirked before reaching down into his pocket. “One more thing.” He pulled out a black box, but before he could open it, it slipped out of his hand. “Shit,” he muttered. He bent down on one knee to grab it.

“Oh. Sukuna… I don’t know if I’m ready for that,” you blushed sheepishly. 

“Huh?” Sukuna frowns, not immediately understanding what you mean. Oh “I’m not proposing woman. It slipped from my hands.”

You blushed once again, feeling even more awkward about the misunderstanding. “Trust me, when I propose, it’ll be very lavish and grand. I can promise you that. Here, turn around.” Sukuna opens the black box, pulling out an alluring gold necklace. The pendant was in the shape of the ‘N’N’ type symbol tattooed on Sukuna’s forehead. It was littered with diamonds and it had a red ruby in the middle. He gently pushes your hair out of the way, before placing the necklace onto you and locking it into place. “There. You look perfect. Mine” He whispered the last word in your ear.

You looked in the mirror before you left, loving the necklace. In fact, you kept touching it all day long to make sure it was there. First you two go see a movie, Red One, in a theater that was way too cold. Damn, I should’ve brought a coat. I thought this sweater would’ve been enough.

Next, you two go ice skating. Sukuna being perfect at everything he does, skated around on the ice flawlessly. You stumble and slip a few times, but Sukuna is always there to catch you. “Tch. Can’t even stay on your feet? What am I going to do with you?" he said with a shit-eating smirk. You clung to him during most of your session, but he never complained.

After your ice skating date, he takes you to get dinner, then your favorite ice cream shop. Two gingerbread scoops for you and one strawberry scoop for him. You two sit outside by the fireplace, eating your individual ice cream cones before the fire suddenly goes out.

“Shit,” you muttered, starting to shake from the cold. “I thought this sweater would be enough to keep me warm.”

"I told you to dress warm, didn’t I woman?” Sukuna scoffed, taking off his coat and draping it around you. “But no, you just had to be stubborn." You two quickly finish your ice cream and then head back to your apartment. 

The sky was a hue of oranges and a hint of pink, like his hair, as the sun was setting on your drive back home. Sukuna walked you up to your apartment door.

Your hand subconsciously returned to your neck, fiddling with the new necklace. “Thank you for the gift, Sukuna,” you said trying to hide your smile. “I didn’t expect today to be as great as it was, and it was only a great day because of you.”

“Tch. Don’t make such a big deal out of it. I only got it because I felt like it." Sukuna shook his head in denial. “Besides, I can’t take all the credit.” He walked closer to you, nearly pressing you up against your apartment door. “Your parents made one hell of a daughter.” 

Your heart fluttered at the compliment. You wanted to thank him again, but couldn’t find the right words, so you kissed him. The kiss was like snow meeting the sun. It was freezing cold outside, but his lips and his body is what kept you warm. It was passionate, yet demanding all the same.

“I hope you had a good birthday,” he said after breaking the kiss. He started to walk away before pointing at the necklace "Just don’t lose it, alright? It’s yours."

A/N I meant for this to be a short drabble my bad T....T I wanted to write a spicy scene after they got back to her apartment, but this was already getting too long. Idk if yuujispinkhair or anyone would even want to read that. Anyway, happy birthday to her and anyone else born during winter!

Part 2 (nsfw) masterlist | jjk masterlist

[terapsina]

Let's talk books. Sorted in threes by vibes.

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I Support Women's Wrongs (murder, slaughter and body horror galore).

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How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Django Wexler - A woman from Earth is dropped into a magical realm, meant to save the Kingdom from the FoRCes of DaRKneSSss... except, unfortunately that might have been a thousand years worth of time loops ago, so it's rather time to lose one's temper and decide to become the Dark Lord herself.

Main character -> basically Deadpool (measured in sanity, humor and levels of bisexual horniness)).

Someone You Can Build a Nest In ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by John Wiswell - Shesheshen, a shapechanging monster who's rudely interrupted during her hibernation by hunters. Manages to to eat one of them, unfortunately she also gets shot by an arrow and falls off a cliff. On the bright side she meets a lovely human woman she might end up falling in love with so much... she'll want to build a nest in her (it's possible there's some Cultural Differences that need to be worked through).

Hench ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Natalie Zina Walschots - Anna's latest temp job for a villain (because even supervillains need office help) ends with her carelessly injured by a superhero, laid off and with injured mobility for the foreseeable future (because human bodies don't see much difference between getting hit by a truck and getting moved out of way by someone able to pick up a truck). Angry, disillusioned, and looking for some vengeful payback she starts compiling the statistics of exactly how much suffering gets left behind the heroes and in quick order finds a new job working for one of the worst supervillains in the neighborhood.

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Extremely Competent Women Show Up to Fix Everyone's Shit (with a whallop of romance which was actually sweet instead of irritating)

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The Witchwood Knot ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Olivia Atwater - Winifred Hall was invited to the Witchwood Manor under the pretense of being the governess for a very bratty kid, but when said boy suddenly turns into a very quiet and perfectly bland boy overnight it's very obvious her charge has been stolen by faeries (and it might have something to do with the actual reason she's there). Rescue however is complicated by some factors, one, there being something terribly dark and wrong about the house (normal houses don't have screaming faces in the walls), another, the faerie man posing as the manor's butler who would very much like to make her run screaming the way so many servants had before her (unfortunately for him, she's not even half as scared of him as she is the eyes of the father of her charge).

This one's about dealing with past trauma, and otherworldly terrors paling in comparison to mundane monsters, set in a very beautiful and dark and shiver-inducing Victorian time world where the Fair Folk are very real.

(Same world as her Regency Faerie Tales trilogy that Started with Half a Soul but it's not necessary to read that one first to enjoy this one)

Keeper of Enchanted Rooms ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Charlie N. Holmberg - Merritt Fernsby inherits a house only to be immediately taken hostage by what turns out to be a very stubborn and opinionated magical house. Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms goes there to facilitate the relationship between the house and its new owner.

It's supposed to be a very simple job. Unfortunately there's a third POV character in this book (no, not the Whimbrel House, though I adore that house and *insert here the Rosa Diaz gif about her new puppy and how she would kill everyone in this room and then herself if anything were to happen to that dog*). Anyway, they're a bit... uhhh... let's go with Bad News.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Heather Fawcett - As one might expect from the title, Emily (a Cambridge scholar) wants to write the first ever encyclopedia of faeries. And she's brilliant enough to do it, what she's terrible at is people (*insert autistic character alert here*).

Someone else might then say it's lucky that a fellow scholar with a far easier time at charming people has stuck his toes in her reaserch trip into the Hidden Ones... that person however doesn't understand how irritating, frustrating and maddening her academic rival Wendell Bambleby actually is.

What follows is a story filled with winter snows, some terrible fae, some adorable fae, some not-very-secret fae, the goodest of good dogs, and lots and lots of squabbling. It's the best.

-------

Dark and Impactful Stories about Children Who Decide on Their Own Paths

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A Skinful of Shadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Frances Hardinge - Kate, an orphan and the illegitimate daughter of some stuffy (and evil) aristocrats runs away because being a bastard doesn't mean she didn't inherit the family magic that allows her to get possessed by the dead.

A dead bear ghost is one thing, a Get Out situation is something else entirely.

A Sorceress Comes to Call ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by T. Kingfisher - Cordelia isn't allowed friends or the privacy of closed doors, and whenever she's done something she shouldn't - a category too unpredictable to guard against - she's not allowed power over her own body.

Because her mother is an evil sorceress (think Regina and Cora... except somehow even worse). An evil sorceress that has found herself a Squire to lure into a marriage.

Hester is an old maid living with her brother, a Squire (well look at them coincidences), when said brother acquires a woman clearly set on his fortune. The plan is only to save her brother, except Hester can't help noticing how the woman's daughter keeps flinching in her mother's presence.

In The Lives of Puppets ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by TJ Klune - A family can be an android inventor, his human son (*homoromantic asexual alert*), a sadistic nurse droid, and a very emotional roomba.

And it can be a very happy family. Until one uncovers and wakes up an android that shares a very Skynet past with one's father, said father gets kidnapped, and one has to go on a journey to get him back.

(A book I like to call Sci-fi Reverse Pinocchio)

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Unraveling an Unjust System (and a hero that - on a scale from occasionally to constantly - hears a disembodied voice directly in their heads okay the connection between these three is a bit of a stretch but they're all great books so shut up)

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Hell for Hire ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Rachel Aaron - 5000 years ago Gilgamesh conquered the heavens, enslaved the demons and made it so that the only road to magic humanity had access, was through him.

Now, however a mercenary team made up of free demons gets hired by a Blackwood witch to protect him (and his familiar, the talking cat named Boston) while he puts down roots (literally) inside the new forest grove he's about to start so that he can stand up against the warlocks after him.

The witch quickly becomes the best client Bex and her crew have ever had (after all, warlocks under the rule of the Eternal King Gilgamesh are slavers of their kind, they are delighted at the chance to kill some).

Vespertine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Margaret Rogerson - In a world where the veil between the living and the dead has been kinda broken Artemisia (*another autistic character alert*) is training to be a Gray Sister (magic nun).

Until her convent gets attacked by possessed soldiers and she has no choice but to pick up a Saint's Relic containing a malevolent revenant to protect it.

Problem. Only a Vespertine is supposed to do it. Another problem. The only one "alive" who can teach her to be a Vespertine is the revenant. Another another problem. The revenant cannot be trusted and if she loses control to it, the death toll will be counted in cities.

Terminal Alliance ⭐⭐⭐⭐¾ by Jim C. Hines - Post Zombie Apocalypse, where some aliens showed up, sort of cured the zombies and took the (mostly) cured zombies into their military.

Which leads us to Marion Adamopoulos, also known as Mops, the Leutenant in charge of Shipboard Hygene and Sanitation of the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish.

Right up until a bioweapon turns the entire crew except her crew back into zombies. Congratulations, she's the captain now.

(Space Janitors save the universe story).

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[yournightmary]

you should write something where reader is a primary teacher, and ellie is a volunteer/fill in music teacher :D they meet and romance happens or something (i’m bad with words 😀) <3

Play Date | E.W.

content warning:: fem!reader, I guess dealer!Ellie but not really?, bad writing

AN:: not proofread because i’d rather shoot myself than read my own writing. I’m so sorry if it’s bad but i’ve tried my best😔 also no idea hot to tittle things

Whoever told you that being a daycare volunteer is a good idea was wrong- on many, many levels may I add.

You always thought that kids were just cute tiny humans but that changed with your first day at the daycare in Jackson. Most of the kids were boys, there were maybe three girls total. And you never even took into consideration that fall just started, so did every kind of colds and sicknesses possible.

What’s worse than a snotty, nasty seven year old boy tugging on your shirt with his grimy hands? A whole room of them. You only took this job because Maria asked you to. She said something about you ‘wasting your potential by going on patrols’. And by potential she meant the fact that you can read, write and do basic math… sometimes.

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

You pushed the door of the daycare building open, furrowing your brows softly at the scratchy sound they’d made. It was almost winter, thankfully. Maria said you wouldn’t have to work once the snow falls, something about patrols not going out as often in bad weather. You shrugged off your jacket, hanging it on the wooden coat rack.

Before you could do anything else you’ve heard a knock on the door, immediately rolling your eyes in annoyance. You took your sweet time getting to it, muttering profanities under your breath.

“Daycare isn’t open until 7:30, sorry.” You opened the door with a sigh, your tone as cold as the outside air.

“Uh- Maria asked me to help you? She said to come here after 6:00 but- I uh, overslept.” Your eyes widened slightly, seeing the girl before you.

Ellie Williams. What the actual fuck?

You stared at her in disbelief, finally noticing the guitar in her hands. She scratched her neck nervously, awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other.

“You gonna let me in?” You slapped yourself mentally, stepping away from the door. She walked in, muttering a quiet ‘thanks’.

Ellie placed her guitar against one of the many chairs, curiously looking around the daycare. She traced all of the drawings on the walls, wondering about the stories behind each of them.

“Why did Maria want you to help me?” You asked her after a while, sorting through all of the pencils and sharpening dull ones.

“That’s a funny story… I did something she didn’t like and this is my punishment, I guess- not that I don’t like you! I’m just… bad with kids.” Ellie stumbled over her words a little, looking everywhere but at you.

“Well, what did you do?” You raised your eyebrow, even if she wasn’t facing your way. You sighed softly before adding. “And don’t worry- this feels like a punishment to me too… and I volunteered.”

Ellie snickered before circling around some tables and sitting down next to you, grouping all the pencils by color and placing them in their assigned little boxes.

“She found out I was dealing.” She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, though you could hear the nervousness in her tone. “Weed, you know? Said ‘I’m corrupting Jackson’”

“Shit, you’ve been dealing?” You unintentionally raised your voice, turning your head to look at her with furrowed brows. She raised her head slowly, nodding with an anxious expression. “Why didn’t you tell me anything? I felt bad for nagging Dina and she didn’t want to tell where she gets it from.”

Ellie’s jaw dropped as she looked at you baffled, the pencil she was holding almost falling out of her hand.

“I didn’t know you smoked, sorry.” She muttered, not expecting the way you reacted.

“I don’t look the part, huh?” You looked down at your clothes, the white collar peeking out of your beige sweater and your brown pants cuffed nicely, even if it exposed your ankles to the cold winter air.

Ellie shook her head to the sides with a chuckle, taking the opportunity and looking you up and down. After a moment in awkward silence she spoke up, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

“So why don’t you go on patrols? I mean, you’re really smart and stuff. You could be useful.” The way she said it sounded almost like an invitation, raising her brows slightly while glancing at you.

“Well, Maria said that I’m too smart for patrols. That I’ll be more useful as a teacher.” You giggled, rolling your eyes at the memory.

“That’s a shame… There’s this spot on one of the routes, you can see whole Jackson from there.” Ellie frowned softly, smacking her lips in disappointment.

You hummed in agreement, understanding what she was getting at. Maybe once winter comes Maria will let you go on a patrol with Ellie, just maybe. You placed a few sheets of paper in front of her, handing her a black pen.

“You can draw, right? Make some coloring pages, I gotta clean up before the kids come.” You said with a smile while standing up from the little table you were sitting at, not waiting for her answer.

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

The kids came in earlier than usual, the room filling up an hour after you opened. After some discussing Ellie decided to take care of the arts&crafts corner, playing a song on her guitar whenever she got a request while you taught the older kids how to multiply. You couldn’t help but steal glances at Ellie, looking away quickly when her eyes meet yours.

“Miss, why are looking at Ellie like that? Do you like like her?” You hushed the girl with furrowed brows, your cheeks burning slightly.

“Keep your eyes on your paper, Maya.” You muttered, tapping your finger against the worksheet you prepared for her. Why were kids so nosy?

You glanced at Ellie only to find her already looking at you, rolling her eyes annoyed. You giggled quietly, nodding your head in agreement. You quickly made sure everyone understood their assignments and walked over to Ellie, a smile appearing on her lips once she noticed you.

“How’s it going? Any troublemakers?” You asked jokingly, looking suspiciously at every kid with a smirk. Almost every one of them shook their head, letting you know they were on their best behavior.

“They’re all good, don’t worry.” Ellie said with a smile, admiring the way you quietly praised the boy who showed you the drawing he made today.

“That’s good to hear.” You nodded your head, stepping away with Ellie to a more secluded place. “They’re usually so much worse, maybe you’re a good influence.”

“Tell that to Maria.” Ellie snickered, tucking her short hair behind her ears. She scrunched her nose, glancing at the kids a little disgusted. “One of them sneezed into his hand and then grabbed mine though, have you ever thought about teaching manners?”

“Thank you so much for that idea, I’ve never thought about that!” You said sarcastically, pointing your finger at her while nodding your head. “But seriously, I’ve tried. They just don’t care.”

You sighed in defeat, dropping your hands to your sides. Ellie hummed in acknowledgment, looking at the kids coloring the drawings she made for them earlier.

“You play beautifully, by the way.” You nodded your head awkwardly, the words leaving your mouth before you could even think about them.

Ellie blushed lightly, biting back a grin that was threading to spread across her lips. “Thanks” She muttered quietly, looking away from you sheepishly.

She opened her mouth to add something but was cut off by some kid calling your name, asking you to help them with something. You shot her an apologetic smile before getting back to your space, leaving her with a bunch of prepubescent boy that already had teasing smirks on their faces, ready to poke fun at Ellie.

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

You waved goodbye to the last kid, their parent giving you a grateful smile. You closed the door with a sigh, turning around to face Ellie. She was ready to leave, guitar in one hand and the kids’ drawings she received in the other.

“Can I walk you home?” She asked quickly, looking at you with a hopeful expression. You nodded your head with a smile, putting on your jacket.

“So, how would you rate your first day here?” You locked up the daycare building, stuffing the keys into your pocket.

“Well… it wasn’t bad. I thought it would be much worse.” Ellie hummed, walking right beside you. You bumped your shoulder into hers, smirking softly.

“I gotta say- you being there made it a lot better than usual… and I’m not talking just about the help.” She looked away sheepishly, unable to stop her lips from curling into a smile.

You walked in comfortable silence, stealing sneaky glances at each other when the other one wasn’t looking. Your hand brushed up against Ellie’s, making her gasp softly.

“Wow, you’re freezing.” She grabbed both of your hands into hers, standing in place. She rubbed her palms against the back of your hands, trying to warm you up.

“Yeah, it’s really cold today.” You giggled nervously, your cheeks heating up at her touch. She kept her grasp on one of your hands, swinging them softly between you as you walked. Smooth.

After a few minutes you finally got to your house, a little bummed out that your little trip is over. You stood before your front door, looking at Ellie shift from one foot to the other. She sighed, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

“How about I pick you up tomorrow? We could walk together.” Ellie suggested, taking a deep breath between her words. She rocked on the balls of her feet slightly, waiting for your answer impatiently.

“Okay.” You nodded your head with a grin, your hand resting on the doorknob. Ellie’s shoulders relaxed almost immediately, her own lips curling into a smile.

“Alright, cool… does 6 sound good?” You hummed in agreement, your eyes locked onto Ellie’s.

You stood there for a moment, in awkward- but not negative- silence. Ellie tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, breaking the eye contact by looking around nervously. You took your chance, standing on your tip toes and pecking Ellie’s cheek. She froze up, her eyes widening. Fuck, did you read it wrong?

“I’m sorry- I dunno why I did that.” You started apologizing, waving your hands around. Ellie grabbed both of them, shaking her head to the sides.

“It’s okay! You surprised me, that’s all.” She tried to hold back her smile but failed miserably, her ears and cheeks turning beet red. “I’ll uh- I should head back.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” You nodded your head, sighing in relief at Ellie’s words. You gave her one last smile before walking into your home, closing the door softly.

You really hope the snow won’t come soon.

I HATE THIS SO MUCH IM GONNA RIP MY HAIR OUT😭

[ctheathy]

Popee the Performer General Headcanons

Popee x Reader

General+Fluff Headcanons

Author’s note: Friendly reminder that he is not a clown. He is the entire circus🤡

Popee/Reader [Romantic]

[Gender-neutral Darling|Female Darling|Male Darling]

Potential ⚠️TWs⚠️ :

Violence [Not directed torwards darling] • Popee being a sociopath • Jealousy • Implications that Kedah died again💀 • Abandonment issues

⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱

Right. The violent sociopathic clown who wears a bunny suit, what could go wrong? Popee is known to be a naturally confident yet somewhat arrogant person. His self confidence knows no limits and he truly believes himself to be brilliant at everything he does. In his eyes, those little romance squabbles would have meant nothing but trouble and an absolute distraction for the practice of his talent. He’d want nothing to do with the entirety of ‘relationships’. At first.

That was until you decided to come along.

Right off the bat, Popee has little to no communication skills. Like, at all. He and the others have technically been continuing this lifestyle of isolation to the point their beliefs and attitudes are mainly distinct from the average household you may know about. He can and will get up in your face, chuckling while having a shit-eating grin plastered on his lips. And it’s most likely gonna take a while for him to understand, much less respect your mannerisms and ways of living. He could very much be considered a fine line between the characteristics of a said ‘tsundere’ and that of a ‘yandere’ with just how occasionally off-putting his mindset and behaviours can be. His mood swings can make it difficult to keep you with him, but it’s important you’ll remain patient and understanding for the time being.

He is kind of a mess when it comes to you, but he would never dare to show anyone that. Surprisingly for his case; due to his lack of contact with other human beings, he can grow incredibly flustered under certain circumstances. Doting on him or giving him the slightest bit affection when the others are around results in him pouting and throwing a temper tantrum. But the huge blush on his rosy cheeks honestly says everything, as he does truly appreciate your sweet demeanor and takes your attachment to him to heart. Despite Popee not being extremely fond of hugs and sudden closure, you always manage to surprise the others when he quite literally just allows you snuggle up against him, especially as bombs would have been flying around again if one of them even thought of, much less dared to do such things to him.

Whiny as hell. That’s it. That’s the entire paragraph. If he wants your attention, you better give it to him in a split second unless if you want him to go down yet another warpath and bombard the place in a blind rage. He’ll still make sure that none of his breakouts are directed towards you or even occur close to you though, as he genuinely couldn’t possibly live with himself knowing he harmed you during some pointless fit of anger of his. You genuinely are the only being that can keep the boy somewhat tame and peaceful.

To Kedamono, you quite literally are the one thing that keeps Popee from absolutely demolishing the entire circus, and he feels extremely appreciative and respectful towards you because of this. Speaking of the other performers, they all feel extraordinarily grateful when it comes to you because you have the magic ability to keep Popee somewhat in check. But they also definitely got the hint and know when to keep their distances from you, knowing his jealousy streak can go from bad to immense in an instant from some ... Let’s just say past experiences. If anyone even takes the risk to upset you in the slightest, they’ll be humbled by his dagger real quick. Popee already goes cuckoo when your behaviour shows signs of being upset, but if you somehow got physically harmed in one way or another? Haha ... The boy would go absolutely ballistic for your sake and destroy anything (or anyone for that matter) that managed to even witness the scene, much less towards those that even inclined on hurting you in the first place.

A merciless tease at heart, honestly nothing can stop this absolute menace. It’s gotten to the point where he’s just straight up bullying you to some extents because he has no clue on how to indicate his desire for your love. He’s going to be after you and pushing your buttons no matter what your responses towards it might be. He enjoys any kind of reaction he can get out of you, so you might as well just accept it as your daily schedule at this point. He knows you’re most likely the only one who can put up with his absolute bullsh1t and clearly uses this to his advantage. But somewhere deep down, in the back of his mind, he cannot help but feel a tinge of paranoia that you’ll eventually grow irritated or worse, even tired by his antics. It is no joke when I say that he is indescribably starved for attention and acknowledgement for his efforts and he will get that recognition through you. And due to this observation, he tends to grow accustomed and more loving to you over time. He’s still not going to be a snuggle bug, but he tends to ... Appreciate the thought behind the embrace a whole lot more and doesn’t just freak out as much when you sneak up to him for a hug. During those rare moments, he even grows to become more touchy himself. Gently stroking your cheek with his cat-like tail.

Speaking of his tail, it might as well be considered to have a mind of its own at some rate. It instinctively tends to behave on what Popee is experiencing on that current moment, mainly determined by his emotions. An example being when he’s specifically feeling like a little brat, he’d purposely walk over to wherever you are sitting and quite frankly just smack you directly in the face with his tail. But the tail can sometimes be an inconvenience to him too. If you’d go up and give him a peck on the cheek out in the open. He’d act like whatever you just did was the most inappropriate and gross thing in the world, but his excitedly wagging tail would betray him and silence the boy in an instant, leaving him to grow as red as a fire hydrant.

⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱⊰⊱

[rimouskis]

could you explain more about what you view as the before era and what you view as the after? i need to learn my herstory

I think this requires a more detailed and educated/researched answer than I can give after an exhausting workday and an after-hours work event, but I'm going to do my best and also open up the floor in reblogs for people to chip in their thoughts

foremost: a DISCLAIMER that this post does not aim to shit on writers from the "before" era. there are many classic fics that I love and enjoy, even if I consider their characterizations to be "less accurate"* than the ones we have in the after era.

*aside to say: accuracy is based only off of literal media accounts we have of these men; we do not know them, we should not claim to know them, and they have had different comfort levels with the media knowing selective truths about their lives [sid out of choice, geno out of media xenophobia] than they did when these early fics were being written.

"before" fics (which I tend to refer to as "classic" fics, and had their heyday in 2012-2013 but continued up until 2016ish) tended to have more regimented roles for sid and geno. sid was usually the protagonist; geno was the love interest.

this came with a cascading set of characteristics assigned to each guy. sid was poor-little-meow-meow'd. geno was the pursuer in the relationship. sid usually bottomed. sid had the whole spacetoaster moment (he was the inspiration for the term, haha). there wasn't much a/b/o fic but sid was, like, the omega-fied one and geno was alpha-ized.

something I've been thinking about more recently is how 2012-2013 era sidgeno displayed signs of Migratory Slash Fandom. I don't think of MSF as an inherently negative/condemning thing, but I think it's a phenomenon that deserves to be mentioned/analyzed, yeah?

MSF thrives on big character differences.... like, grumpy/sunshine, sarcastic/broody, genius/empath. it's all about emphasizing disparate archetypes to create natural tension in a story. this works really well in most romance novels! I love it!

the issues arise when people try to make characters fit into these preset dynamics. and, frankly, when sidgeno first got big, we straight-up didn't know as much about sid and geno. I mean that. despite sid being EXTENSIVELY covered by media from age, like, 14, he was really tight-lipped compared to what we have now.

and geno was.... there. I don't mean that as a diss—he was INCREDIBLE, but the media totally passed him over again and again. or they helped contribute to stereotypes of him being a dumb oaf who didn't know english.

aside: ironically I think that helped in creating sidgeno and not, like.... sidflower or sidtanger. geno was so "DIFFERENT" from sid (aka: russian, characterized by media as not knowing how to speak [in comparison to sid's highly curated media soundbites]) that it meant he was the best candidate for A Ship with sid.

a lot of the really big writers who got into sidgeno were fandom veterans with lots of experience in other big fandoms. to me, that means MSF had a hand in all this. and we should be grateful, because it led to the BOOM of hockey fic, and of sidgeno fic specifically. modern hrpf wouldn't exist without it.

that being said, those template ship dynamics, plus the media's attitude then towards sid and geno in its coverage, led to those characterizations of whiny soft sensitive boy sid who needed to be rescued even though he was the best hockey player EVER, and geno as the lumbering tall strong alpha not-that-bright Love Interest Man.

this isn't to say every fic was this way, or that this is BAD. I, uh, love poor-little-meow-meow-ing sid and omegafying the hell out of him. what I'm saying is that it was a near-ubiquitous characterization across the board.

that all changed in 2016-2018. I personally wholly credit sevenfists, though I imagine it's more nuanced than that, but: my blog, I make the rules here. I don't know if sevenfists was psychic or just highly observant and absolutely excellent at reading people (and that's basically the same thing, right?), but characterization shifts began taking place in fic....

and the coolest thing happened, in that those characterizations were seemingly reinforced by more media coverage. the back to back cups brought with them TONS of interviews with and media about the team, and sid and geno in particular. the coolest part of it was that sid had loosened up a LOT and geno had gotten more comfortable (and had gotten a reporter firmly on his side).

the interviews about sid post 2016 were just SO different. so much information started coming out, and a LOT of it conflicted with Ye Olde Characterizations. as it turned out, sid was deeply one of the boys. he was funny. everyone liked him. he loved hosting. he was insanely comfortable around almost everyone, including strangers, because he's a little freak who's kind to everyone. he can make smalltalk like no one's business. he's kind of gross. he likes to giggle and be in on jokes and get into the thick of it. he isn't some blushing virgin bride sold off of mario's doorstep, yeah?

and geno, too, was finally getting the coverage he deserved. and his personality was both fortified by age and better shown to us through media. as it turns out, he isn't some happy go lucky oaf. he's mercurial and intensely aware of what others think of him (and he CARES). he's sensitive and thoughtful but also can lash out at random times. he has a wicked sense of humor that he uses as a defense mechanism and as a surefire way to get people to like him, which matters to him. and, as everyone says, he is SMART.

if you had to boil it down, I'd say that post-2016, it became clear that SID is the confident one and GENO is the insecure one. and fic caught onto that with a miraculously fast pace. also: they're more alike than they are different, but I still think romance inherently feeds off of difference and tension, so we still exaggerate things to make the stories ✨WORK✨.

I'm not going to give examples of pre- and post- era fics, because I don't want to point any fingers and say someone was doing characterization "wrong." that's not the takeaway I want anyone to have here.

fandom attitudes have changed. it's been 10 years since that first wave of fics, and while I don't think that's very long, it's a hell of a long time on the internet, and in a niche internet community. what was once the standard for fics (and what was well-read, and what people gravitated towards) was different. not worse—different.

I think it's fair to say the "after" era of fics is more "accurate" to what we know of sid and geno. it's also fair to say that this is only the case because we have a WEALTH of information, character-revealing interviews and videos and anecdotes, that Ye Old Authors could only dream of getting.

I really love the story of how everything has changed, and it's a fabulous microcosm of fandom evolution and how approaches to fanworks have changed and grown with fandom, and I think it's all so so cool.

[kaytheday]

It's Always Gonna be Us - Soda and Ace and their Unrequited Love

Ace had known about Soda’s crush on her since the 4th grade. Before, when they were kids, it didn’t seem to matter so much. The foreign ideas of love and devotion getting tangled with the scrawny elbows and skinned knees that messy childhood friendship brought. Ace was just one of the guys. Wrestling at recess and sucking on the honeysuckle flowers on the walk home after school. 

Then fourth grade hit and it seemed like everyone tried too hard to grow up. Everyone wanted to be an adult when all Ace wanted to do was stay a kid. They were all worrying about the way that they looked, what adults thought of them, but the worst part was the newest fascination with the opposite sex. 

Everyone grew obsessed with their crushes and that’s when Ace noticed it. Sodapop was still the same kid but he became different with her. Softer and more obsessive. If she had known what those words meant in the fourth grade. 

He held doors for her and complemented her and gave her a lot more hugs. Ace pretended not to notice but it was really grating on her nerves to be treated differently than the rest of the gang. Not that they ever were qualified as just friends in the first place. The gang had always been closer than closer and thicker than blood, Soda and Ace especially. But while Soda wanted to be more than friends, Ace just wanted everything to stay the same. 

So they prattled on through middle school while Ace just made fun of him and pretended not to notice his little crush but mostly made fun of him. She never missed the looks he threw her when he thought she wasn’t looking and she thought she might die of embarrassment. Ace had never thought of herself and the potential of romance. She usually cringed when she heard boys calling their girlfriends ‘my girl’ or some shit. She wasn’t anyone's girl and she certainly wasn’t about to belong to anyone. Even if it was Soda, the same kid that she’d grown up with, the kid that was like her brother. Ace had always belonged to herself. Growing up alone and an orphan will teach you that. You only really have yourself even if you have a big brother that would do anything to protect you.

Then they were fourteen, in middle school and just worried about surviving. Soda was still in love with her but she’d learned to live with it by now. Play it off like she didn’t know, like it didn’t mean anything. They were cutting morning classes one day to bum around town. They’d probably go to the gas station and steal some gum, maybe go get a milkshake. It was just Ace and Soda that day. Steve and Johnny were actually worried about school, Two-Bit was only going to class because he had what he said was a ‘hottie with a body’ in one of his classes and Pony was still in elementary school. Suddenly Soda turned to her, his bubblegum breath hot in her face and smiled that big white toothy grin. 

“You goin’ to the dance Acey?” She looked at him, scoffing and shoving his shoulder. 

“You mean the school dance? Like the one for school?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah of course, why? You goin’ to other dances with a boy that I’m unaware of?” Ace just laughed.

“No, I’m not going to the dance Soda. You know how it always is! Too many socy types all drinking daddy's liquor.”

“It’s not that bad. I was thinkin’ maybe we could go. Like together?” Ace tried again to play it off and grin but it was hard when Sodapop Curtis was staring at her with those big blue puppy dog eyes and the most innocent look on  his face.  

“You want me to get dressed up? Like all them soc girls do? Could you imagine me in a dress? You're full of shit!” He’d laughed if off but Ace didn’t miss the hurt in his eyes. Ace wished more than anything she could feel the same way. That he wouldn’t have to be alone in this too. But her feelings didn’t quite match and she couldn’t stand the thought of faking it and giving him hope for something that would never turn out. 

So she kept making fun of him and they made their way back to school. That was the last time Soda had brought up anything remotely related to his love for her. 

The next time he brought it up wouldn’t be that easy. 

Ace had been on the way to Darrys birthday party when Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were killed. She got there with Two-Bit and Steve, alarmed by the red and blue lights of the cop car sitting out in front of the house. All three greasers hid behind the neighbors roses waiting until the cop car drove off before daring to make a move.

To say that everyone was devastated was an understatement. After a fair amount of comforting, the rest of the gang cleared out so the boys could mourn privately. 

Ace was pretty distraught herself. Mrs. Curtis had been around more than her own mom ever was and was one of the only adults in her life besides Gram that loved her unconditionally. It was hard to find adults that cared on the East side. The Curtis parents were a bright spot in a sea of drunks and abusers. 

The whole gang went to the funeral. Ace had worn the nicest clothes she had. Which was a black and blue flour sack dress that she had been gifted at a church clothing drive. She’d sat next to Soda and held his hand through the whole thing. He cried as quietly as he could, instead trying to reassure Ponyboy who was sobbing through the whole funeral. He never let go of Ace’s hand though, holding onto it like a lifeline. 

After the funeral, they went back to the Curtis house for a pretty pathetic funeral reception. Ponyboy shut himself up in his room, Johnny following while Darry busied himself greeting everyone. Soda looked like some sort of caged animal, nervous with shifting eyes, pulling at his sweaty collar looking like he was ready to jump out the window and start running. Ace wouldn’t even blame him if  he did either. 

“Can we get outta here?” He asked Ace, looking around and messing with his collar once again. She just nodded and they paired off and started walking. Ace was scared he’d combust if he stayed in that house much longer anyway. Soda undid the top few buttons of his dingy dress shirt, letting out a big breath as he began to roll up his sleeves. 

They found their way to the park, the same place they always went when something was wrong. Ace sat down on the merry-go-round, while Soda just stood there. His arms were limp at his sides and he stared listlessly at the ground. She’d expected him to cry or freak out or even just stand there and keep staring at the ground, but he didn’t do any of that. Instead he looked at her with those pleading watery eyes saying words that he’d probably been holding in since the fourth grade. Words that might kill her.

“Ace, I love you… I’m in love with you.” Ace wished she could shove the words back in his mouth as soon as they came out. 

“No you don’t Soda.” 

“Yes I do.” He said quietly but firmly, dropping his head to meet her eyes with his watery ones. “Please?” To an outsider, the question might have seemed random and off kilter, but Ace knew exactly what he was asking. He was asking her to love him back. To fill the void left by tragedy and heartbreak that he thought only she could fill. Like most things in a greasers life, this conversation wasn’t going to be easy. 

“Soda…” She began gently. “Why don’t you sit down? You look real bad off-.” He just threw his hands up in the air and started pacing a little. As glad as Ace was that he was moving again she hated why. 

“I’m not bad off! I love you Ace! I’ve loved you since… forever, why can’t you just…” His voice cracks with tears and trails off. He’s swaying on his feet as Ace makes her way to him. To steady him and make sure he doesn’t fall. She helps him sit down on the rickety old merry-go-round, before sitting next to him. She doesn’t know what to say. Ace thought she’d have a few years at least before they had this conversation. She thought she’d have time to prepare. 

“Soda, you don’t know what you’re sayin’. It’s been a hard day for everyone-.” 

“Ace…” He started, his eyes going a little crazy, clearly on the verge of breaking. “This has nothing to do with my par… my parents, or anything else. I know myself, I know how I feel and I know my feelings for you are real. I love you Ace, I’ve loved you since we were kids and it hasn’t gone away or changed. You are so-.” 

“Stop, please Soda.” His voice is taking on a desperate pleading tone, his eyes begging her to understand. Ace suddenly realizes that he’s not going to let this go. There is no way he can’t take another heartbreak, not today. 

“I know I was bad in school. I know I’m stupid and not smart like you. And there’s a ton of things I don’t know but I do know this. I love you Ace.” 

“Stop Soda, please.” Ace stands up, moving away from Soda.

“I love you Ace.” He repeats and her blood turns cold. “I love you so much, since we were little kids I have been in love with you and that hasn’t changed now. Ace I love-.”

“Stop saying you love me Soda!” She says, low and dangerous. A tone she usually never uses with Soda if she can help it. “You can’t love me! Not like that! We don’t fit together and I don’t think we ever will, not like that.” Ace doesn’t tell him but she doesn’t think she’ll ever fit with any man like that, but it's best to be honest with when he’s being like this. “You can’t love me Sodapop Curtis.” No one can. The last part hangs in the air. 

“But I do.”  

“Stop saying that! You’re like my brother.” Now it's her voice taking on that pleading tone. “You say that I get on your nerves all the time and you get on mine, do you really think being a couple would change that?”

“I love you Ace.” He says it for what feels like the hundredth time. The four words are broken and bruised, filled with so much loss and heartbreak that it makes Ace’s chest hurt. 

“We’d be at each other’s throats by the end of the day and you’d be ashamed of me and we don’t fit together!” 

“I could never be ashamed of you because I love you Ace.” He’s quiet and teary, just watching her explode because Ace doesn’t want things to change. Things have changed so much in the week since the Curtis parents died and now they would change again if Soda and her got together. She wanted things to stop changing and just be simple. Like when they were kids. Instead of saying all that, she just turns to him with a cold expression.

“That isn’t going to change the fact that I don’t love you. I am grateful to you and so happy to be your friend but I can’t love you. Not like that, not like you want me to.” He’s quiet for a moment, before dropping his head and emitting a low sound that a whimpering animal might make. Ace’s heart breaks for him but she doesn’t move to touch him, not when she’s so afraid that he’d interpret it wrong. 

“Ace… I just have to say it. It’s like… it’s like I’ve been carrying this confession inside me since we were kids and I have to say it now. You and I know more than anyone how quick someone can go and if you left or died or something and I didn’t get a chance to say this to you… I don’t know… I think I would die!” His voice breaks on the last word and he looks up at her again, tears now openly falling down his cheeks. “I would die Ace, you have to know that. I can’t lose anyone else and I don’t know what I would do if you…” He trailed off, obviously not wanting to finish the thought. “Because, if I don’t got you Ace, who do I have?” His voice sounds so heartbroken and desperate that it’s killing her and she’d do anything to soften the blow for him. Ace understands, this confession is his way of telling her that he’s scared of losing someone else. That he believes if she doesn’t reciprocate his love in the same way then she’s lost to him.

This is one thing she can’t give him though. She can’t lie to him about this just to spare him the pain of his parents and all their other losses. Ace softens a little and sits down, grabbing his jaw and pulling him to look at her. 

“Soda, you’re always gonna have me have me, you dummy. No matter what.” She tries to smile even though there are tears running down her cheeks. She’s thinking of her dead parents and Sodas who just died and all the others they lost on the way. “Soda, just because I don’t love you like that doesn't mean I don’t love you at all. We’re still close. Like you said, we’ve been close since we were kids and we’re still thicker than blood. Nothin’s gonna change that.” He sits down on the ground, pulling his knees to his chest as tears slip softly down his cheeks. “You gotta believe me Sodapop. Just because I can’t love you like that doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop loving you. It’s always gonna be us Soda.”

That’s when the silent stricken tears turn into ugly snot filled sobs. Soda’s face crumples and he starts crying, really crying, probably the first time he’s really cried since he found out about his parents. The sounds coming out of his mouth no longer sound human, more like a hurt animal as he whimpers. 

Ace is quick as she moves to him on the ground. Wrapping an arm around his waist as he sinks into the contact. He cries into her ugly black dress while Ace just pets his hair, whispering soft condolences that will do nothing to fix it. 

“Ace… I loved you…” He cries into her dress. “I loved you so much…” 

“I know Soda… I know.” It’s all she can say. She knows this isn’t all he’s crying about but she has no idea what to say to make it better. 

“What if… What if you go?” He says the last part through a cry but she knows exactly what he means. 

“I ain’t never gonna leave you Soda. I promise.” She runs her fingers through his sweaty hair, trying to offer the seldom comfort she knows how. Sometimes, when she was upset as a kid, Steve used to scratch her head and play with her hair. 

So they sit on the ground, both trying to pick up the pieces of Soda that this loss has left scattered on the ground.

Ace doesn’t know how long they lay on the ground. Long enough for the Tulsa sky to turn from orange to black and long enough for Darry to start worrying. 

 Pretty soon, he’s sitting up. He wipes his face off, looking a bit embarrassed as starts to get off of her. 

“Sorry for cry-.”

“It’s okay, you don’t gotta apologize for crying.” 

That was the last thing she said before they stood. Walking back to the Curtis house with their arms around each other. Soda’s arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist. His feet look heavy as he tries to walk and she ends up supporting a lot of him. He’s still sniffling and she's pretty sure his silence is partly out of exhaustion and embarrassment. Soon they’re at the porch of the Curtis home.

“You gonna come inside?” Soda looks at her, hopefulness peeking through his exhaustion. 

“I don’t know, I was gonna find Steve and-.” Darry Curtis comes storming out on the porch before she can finish whatever she’s saying. 

“Where the hell have you-.” He looks angry and scared, starting to yell before giving them a good look and softening. “Ace… Pepsi-Cola? You guys okay?” 

“Yeah.” Is all that Soda says before pushing past him to go inside and head upstairs. Ace gives a wave and turns around to leave before she stops at Darry’s hand on her shoulder. 

“Ace where you goin’ kid?” She’s about to make a smart remark about how he isn’t any more a kid than she is but thinks better of it. 

“I thought I’d leave y’all alone tonight. It’s been a long day for everyone.” 

“Just come on inside. You might as well stay the night.” All she can do is nod, she’s exhausted and doesn’t feel like getting into it with Darry or walking home alone in the dark. “Besides, we need you here Ace.”

They make their way inside. She sits on the couch as Darry sits at the kitchen table. Apparently intent on questioning her. 

“Where’d y’all go? Is everything okay?” 

“Just the park, everythings fine.” She’s quick to reassure him. Soda can tell him what happened if he wants, Ace doesn’t really feel like getting into it. 

“The park? Y’all don’t look fine. What happened?” 

“You don’t look fine either Darrel.” 

“I guess that’s true.” Surprisingly enough, he laughs. “I don’t think any of us are fine.” They stare at each other a minute before Ace speaks.

“Yeah, yeah,  none of us are fine, blah blah. You really want to keep questioning me? You look about ready to keel over.” 

“I’m fine.” He snaps unconvincingly. “Besides, there’s no way I was gonna sleep with you guys out there.” 

“Well, you don’t gotta worry anymore. We’re okay now.”

“Okay.” He says, giving her one more look. “How’s Soda?” 

“About as okay as the rest of us.” He nods slowly. 

“I guess that's all I can ask for. We’ll figure this out.” He says determinedly, turning to stare at the floor, the silence heavy. Darry always had to fix something, Ace just didn’t know how he was going to fix this. “Okay I'm gonna head to bed. You gonna be okay Ace kid?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She tries for a smile but it comes out wrong.

“Good night Ace. Thanks.” 

“Good night.” She gives him a halfhearted wave as he goes up the stairs. Hopefully to get some sleep that he desperately needs. 

Ace closes her eyes but she can’t sleep. Her mind is still racing with the events of the day. Not only is she thinking of the conversation with Soda but she keeps halfway expecting for Mrs. Curtis to come down the stairs. She usually did whenever Ace stayed the night, just trying to make her feel comfortable in a house full of boys. Maybe she would give her a hug and ask her what was wrong. Then Ace might tell her about today and ask her how to help Soda. Mrs. Curtis would know better than anyone how to help her son. The sensitive one with a heart of gold, his momma's little boy. She’d know exactly what to say to fix this. 

But that’s the funny thing about grief. It gets harder before it gets easier. You find yourself missing their presence and words and wondering where they could’ve gone. 

Finally Ace manages to doze off, shaking awake easily as she hears water running in the bathroom. Closing her eyes again she hears soft footsteps down the stairs before the figure comes and sits in the floor beside the couch. She opens her eyes then. 

“Sodapop? Whatchu doin’ up?” He gives her a weak smile in the dark. 

“Ace… I couldn’t get a lick of sleep up there. I just kept thinking about how what I said today might have gone and ruined everything between us.” She straightens, sitting up and turning to look at him. “I wanted to apologi-.” She puts a finger to his lips, effectively cutting him off. 

“It’s okay Soda, you didn’t ruin anything so you don’t gotta apologize. I know you’re hurtin’ so let’s just say you get a pass.” He looks at her skeptically. 

“A pass? After that whole thing you wanna give me a pass?” 

“Sure.” She says easily. It always was easy to forgive Soda. For Ace, it’s not really about the pass. This is her way of saying that she doesn’t want to let that conversation change anything. She doesn’t want things to be awkward or turn stale between them because she’s always had Soda and she doesn’t know what she’ll do if that changes. So if giving him a pass will ensure that nothing changes, then she’ll give him as many passes as he needs. 

“Do you at least want to at least punch me or something?” There’s a slight smile in his words, so Ace isn’t worried. 

“I’m too tired, can I punch you in the morning?”

“Sure.” He laughs, then goes quiet for a moment. “Can I stay down here? Johnny is up there with Pony, so they’ll be fine.”

“Sure, just don’t let me catch you snoring.” He smiles and lays down on the floor next to the couch. She throws down the extra pillow and blanket Darry set out and he curls up underneath it. They’re both quiet for a minute, likely thinking of everything that transpired today. Suddenly, Soda breaks the silence, his voice giving notes of hesitant fear. 

“Ace… we okay?” She thinks on the question a moment. She’s one of the people that knows Soda better than anyone. She knows exactly what he’s asking. 

“Yeah, we’re okay.” She thinks on everything for a moment, reaching for his hand in the dark, no longer afraid that he’ll misinterpret it or gain hope for that again. After their talk today, Ace feels she can breathe a little easier, knowing that Soda knows how she feels. “It’s always gonna be us Soda.” 

With that, both of them fall asleep. Things will get harder before they get easier, that’s the funny thing about grief. But it will always be Soda and Ace and as long they know that, they’ll be just fine.

A03 Link

Tagging those who expressed interest in a fic like this:

@sondheim-girly @annesboloser @brokenlovesong @the-greaserhood @bi4bisamjess @i-think-that-i-would-die @tera-ixie @romeoandjulietyouwish @joshuabassettsfav @mel-street @emtulsa7 @staygoldpbj

[fictarian]

yo yo yoooo ayo gang lemme get amm a hobie brown x gn reader whos like a photographer for the fucking news bullshit and like they are a fan of spider man fam thank uuu

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ღ You ask and I DELIVER‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️

ღ Thank you guys for 60+ followers, it makes me happy you guys like my shit despite only doing this for 3-5 days 😭

ღ ANYWAYS, here’s a story for my boy @thearabloak06 🙏 Tysm for requesting, I hope you enjoy and I hope this story isn’t ass since it’s my first time in awhile writing a full on fic LMFAO

ღ Paring: Hobie Brown and GN! Reader

ღ Premise: Reader has their own section of the daily newspaper, and they use it to write for the anarchist by the name of ‘Spider-Punk’ while also providing pictures they’ve caught of him in action

ღ Whoopsie daisy I just made this into more of a detective/mystery novel instead of a romance 💀 200-400 likes and i’ll make a part 2 (or even its own series)

ღ Previous part can be found here !

“_____, my office, now!” You let out a heavy sigh as the door to your boss’ office slammed shut after he barked an order, and you could feel the eyes following you as you stood up from your desk and made your way over to the room, tossing your empty coffee cup into the trash before turning the knob and pushing the door open.

“Have a seat” He ordered, but your feet remained glued to the ground. “I’m good standing” You stiffly said, crossing your arms over your chest with narrowed eyes. “You asked for me, sir?” In response, your boss slammed a newspaper onto his desk, pushing it forward so you could get a good look at it— it was the paper for today, and you had a pretty reasonable guess as to why he was so peeved.

“We’ve been over this, _____. I don’t want that spider freak in my newspaper.” He seethed, picking up the newspaper and shoving it in your face, pointing specifically at the section you were assigned to. “You know what this gives us? A bad, bad reputation. We’re already on thin ice as it is, and if you keep this up, my company will get shut down all thanks to your stories!”

Your lips tightened into a thin line, feeling your blood boil at what he was saying. Quite frankly, he could take his worries and shove it up his ass for all you cared. The government was corrupt and violent to the people it’s supposed to protect and serve, and Spider Punk was the only symbol of hope the community had. You admired the infamous anarchist, and you wanted everybody to know about him— the possibly only voice of the people.

So that’s why you used the section of the Daily newspaper granted to you, to spread word of Spider Punk’s actions and his defiance against the government. You wanted the people to know about what was going on, to feel empowered knowing that one of their own was rising up against the injustices against them. And if it costed your job, or even your life, so be it. You weren’t just gonna sit around and act like nothing was happening.

Your boss’ words were only fueling your anger. This wasn’t the first time you two had this conversation, in fact, all of your conversations were about this topic. It took all of your willpower to not punch him in the jaw as you opened your mouth to say “But sir, the newspaper is meant to inform people. And with all the smashed law enforcement cars and protests going on, it would be wise to—“ “I dont’t want to hear it! Keep this up, and you can kiss your place here goodbye!” He yelled in your face, and that was your last straw.

“I don’t have to, ‘cause I quit. You can kiss all of your readers goodbye, ‘cause I know damn well the only reason they read your lousy ass newspaper is because of information I provide!” You snapped, turning on your heel and marching out the door, tuning out the string of curses that followed as you exited the building with smoke practically blowing out of your ears. Ok, maybe you handled that the wrong way. But it was too late to go back now… well, you still had to get your stuff from your desk. ‘Embarrassing’ You thought to yourself, keeping your head held high as you turned back around to enter the building for the last time.

You didn’t stay there long, since you didn’t even have much to begin with. The items that occupied your desk consisted of your notepad, your trusty laptop (it was old enough to be considered a fossil), an uneaten nutter butter, and your camera thats strap wrapped comfortably around your neck while your other belongings were placed inside your satchel. With all your items packed away, you were now walking the streets of London as the reality of the situation set in— you didn’t have a job anymore. No source of money, and no way to have a voice in the community.

‘You’re forgetting to breath’ You told yourself, registering the tightness that was beginning to form in your chest and taking a couple deep breaths to ease the panic. This was fine, you were fine. You could always start a blog of your own, and there were plenty of jobs that needed more employees. ‘But it’s not as easy as it sounds, i’ll need to fill out a application, i’ll need to be interviewed, and—‘ Your thoughts were cut short when you suddenly bumped into someone, and you muttered a quick apology before continuing on. “Oi, you’re that chick that writes fo’ the paper, aren’t you?”

You stop, turning to look back at the person you bumped into. He was quite the looker, if you were being completely honest. The male was tall, and dressed in outfit that screamed ‘punk’. He had well done wicks, and a confident aura surrounded him. “It’s rude to stare, y’know?” “Oh, i’m sorry. I spaced out for a second.” You apologized when he called you out, before adding “My name is _____”. The male nodded his head, his gloved hand tucked away in the pocket of his pants. “‘Obie, ‘Obie Brown” Holy shit, you knew he looked familiar. “Aren’t in a band?” You asked, tilting your head to the side. “I play with ‘em occasionally, but I don’t believe in consistency.”

You slowly nodded your head, not bothering to question what he meant by that. “Riiight…” The sound of sirens caught your attention, and you looked over your shoulder to see the blue and red lights of law enforcement cars dancing off the walls of buildings. “I wouldn’t suggest goin that way, luv. There was a bad scrap with a couple fellas lookin for a bad time” Hobie warned you, causing you to furrow your brows in confusion. Didn’t he come from that way?

The reporter in you told you that there was something amiss, but you didn’t act on the feeling. Not yet. “Yikes, thanks for the warning. I’ll take a different route to my flat.” You informed him, and he nodded his head before turning his back towards you. “I’ll be seein you ‘round, _____. Maybe come to one of my concerts, yeah?” He suggested as he started to walk away. But you weren’t listening.

You were too busy staring at the prominent red, spike having mask that stuck out of Hobie’s back pocket

“Yeah… i’ll take you up on that offer. Cheers!” You called out to Hobie, waiting a couple seconds before lifting your camera up and putting its viewfinder up to your eye, zooming in on the mask before snapping a picture of it. “Christ…” You muttered to yourself, staring at the screen of your camera in disbelief.

You just found yourself with knowledge that could cost you your life

tag list ! @zalayni @luvstarrstruck @jrrantss @pixqlsin @kairiscorner @k4tsu3 @asmobeuses

[lilocapoca]

part 2 of this

pairing: rockstar!Eddie Munson x fem!popstar reader

content warning(s): use of “fuck”, “shit” and “dick”. sorry but bad writing

Word count: 1536

summary: after your interview, everybody was expecting you and Eddie to be the next big Hollywood couple, but he did not make a move… so you did and invited him to your concert.

notes: the images DO NOT describe reader’s appearance! Only used for aesthetic/clothes

Yes Eddie was a coward.

Every gossip magazine and tv show was talking about your interview. It was all that people could think about. The most rockstar of all rockstars and the cutes of all the cutest pop singers having a crush on each other was so fucking cute.

Your pretty ribbons. His heavy metal chains. Your impeccable gloves. His big rings. You had flawless skin while his own was marked with ink everywhere. Your high heels were so tiny compared to his big black combat boots. You looked like a pure fairy and he looked like a sexy zombie.

Yeah. It was really fucking cute.

But even after everyone approved this possible romance, Eddie could not find himself going to talk to you. You were so perfect, your nickname was "America's Angel". If this was a fairytale, you would be the princess and Eddie surely would't be the hero... at least he thought so.

But since you confessed your feelings on national tv, the guitarrist was suffering from a big problem: he couldn't fuck or date anyone else.

Eddie was used to bring girls backstage after his shows, sometimes even boys. He enjoyed a good fuck or just someone who could blow his dick. But now? Everytime he took someone backstage he just could not do it. He kept thinking about you. Shit, he never even really talked to you. Just some head nods and smiles at award shows, but no conversations ever. 

But at the moment he was holding a note that was sent to him he couldn't belive his eyes.

Well, the thing is, Corroded Coffin was a headliner band of this really big festival, taking on the biggest rock stage of it and... you were one of the headliners of the biggest pop stage of the same festival too. And you both were playing on the same day! which made you send flowers to the band's dressing room, to him.

The boys were really having fun with this. Eddie's face was red and he just could not take his eyes of the note that was attached to the bouquet. White daisies. Just like the name of the first track on the lattest Corroded album.

"Hi honey. I would like very much if you could watch my show tonigth... i'm gonna be looking for your pretty curls in the crowd. I'll be so sad if you can't make it... and you don't wanna make me sad, right?

– your wife"

And a red mark of lipstick at the end that literally screamed you. The pretty handwritting. The hearts on the "i"s.

Oh My God. Tonigth was the nigth a Munson is going to die.

...

The day was already fading away, the stars starting to shine and you were breathing in and out trying to calm yourself. The crowd was waiting for you. Everybody screaming. And Jesus, you swore you'd never seen an crowd this big. Your manager said that were about 40 thousand people there to see your concert. You could literally feel the vomit coming down your throat, something that happens when you are anxious. But you couldn't do this rigth now. You needed to go on the stage in 1:30 minutes, there was no time for anxiety.

But what if he doesn't come?

Oh my God he is not coming, you are sure of that.

Why would he come? He probably didn't meant that he had a crush on you. Well he could have a crush on you, but that don't mean that he actully likes you...

Stop!

Breathe in. Breathe out.

You took one last look at your dress. Such a pretty baby blue mini dress. Checked out your white velvet gloves, matching your long white heel boots. Touched your blue ribbon. Okay. Everything was okay.

The next thing you knew was that you were already walking on the stage with a big and enchanting smile, hearing the most high screams ever.

...

you put his name on the list. His name was in your goddamn list.

The VIP area of the pop stage was filled with the guesses that were on your list. But it wasn't really full, just some people that were probably your friends and some daugthers of famous old singers who worshiped you. The view of the stage was really unique, everything could be seen.

All eyes were on Eddie the moment he crossed the line of the VIP area. He could not care less. Eddie just crossed the room to the front to get a better view of the stage. He smiled at the sight of the gigant crowd waiting for you. The vip area was above the ground next to the stage and the Corroded Coffin front man was so freaking pleased to be there, cause at the moment you were up the stage, he could see your pretty figure: smiling in that beautiful outfit, mic in your hand, ready to rock.

And shit you give a hell of a show. That siren voice was like heaven in Munson's ears and that pretty dances were starting to drive him crazy. You were driving him crazy. He was sure you were born to do this. The people screaming your lyrics and reactin everytime you did something cute or even when you laughed of happines. Cause, c'mon, you're so cute. Sexy and cute. How could you be both? Was what Eddie thought during the whole set.

Ok, the rockstar was falling in love with the popstar.

But when Eddie looked at his watch he realized that he was running late to his own show.

Shit he needed to actully run. But he didn't want to do it. He wanted to stay... to talk to you.

"Hey" he shouted to one of your friends: Daisy Green, the country star that was your best friend. She looked at him with a tired face "can you tell her..."

"I tell her that you came and that you are asking her to see the end of your show and go to your dressing room" she took the words out of his mouth.

"Thanks!" He smiled at her and ran off in the opposite direction.

...

When you went to your backstage, you were hoping to see that wild curls somewhere. But Eddie wasn't there. the euphoria that took over your body at the end of the show was washing away.

Of course that he would't be there. He was busy, he probably was preparing for his set, he would not even want—

Your thoughts are interrupted by Daisy.

“He is waiting for you" she said rolling her eyes seeing your growing smile.

You see her next to her Mallory Grace, the biggest disco sensation , and one of your besties along with Daisy, givin' thumbs up.

...

Ok, you never ran as much as you did to get on the rock stage before Corroded show ended. Jumped all the staff and equipment. Legs were burning. That meant you cared? Not at all. Your goal was accomplished faster than expected when you heard the sound of one of the band's biggest hit from not so far away.  And when you hit the backstage, their manager was waiting for you, he guided you to the side of the stage, where you could see Eddie closer than ever.

The way he played that guitar was doin' things to you. Legs squeezing, heart beating fast and wet thoughts. His voice loud and deep, sweaty body and tongue stretched out. God he was hot.

...

When Eddie saw that pretty little thing still dressed in her show clothes at the left side, he couldn't hide the grinn on his face. So he gave a hell of a concert that would turn out to be the most iconic rock concert in the history of the festival... all cause of you.

So when it ended and Corroded team cheer them up for the amazing work. Eddie came towards you. Well he was trying to do so since he left the stage, but everybody was holding him back, but he shut them up, coming in your direction with the biggest smile ever.

Oh god. He was so pretty like that. Shirtless, wild hair, low waist leather pants and boots. Your heart was goin' to explode. But instead of exploding, you just grinned back at him, waiting for Munson to get close.

Eddie was hypnotized by your angel looks. So delicate and beautiful. It was his mind or he was sweating more than when he was playing?

Jesus, what he was going to say? Was he smelling good? Fuck, of course not. He needed a towel to dry himself a bit? But the guitarrist wanted to talk to you... but you are so gorgeous and untouchable, looking like a fairy. Shit.

Before you both realized, he was right in front of you.

"you came" he said mesmerized by the view.

"why would't i? Needed to be good for my husband" and Eddie was dead. How can you say something like that and expect him to be alright?

"Fuck, princess, you're killing me" and you couldn't help but giggle. The most pretty in his opinion.

Princess. You like that. Could get used to it.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

zutarians and their cope kinda remind me of bbrae fans

You're right and you should say it. It's crazy how simmilar they are.

The writers of Teen Titans repeatedly said "We toyed with a few ideas, but Robin and Starfire was the one ship we were set on being endgame" yet these fuckers insist they meant "Robin and Starfire AS WELL AS BEAST BOY AND RAVEN."

The writers of Avatar repeatedly said "Kataang was always the heart of the show", yet zutarians keep saying shit like "Zuko was originally Katara's love interest!"

BBrae fans constantly talk about Raven disliking Terra, Beast Boys actual love interest, "due to both of them liking the same guy", but Raven didn't dislike Terra at all, she just didn't immediately trust her - and for good reason, because Terra was working with the villain, and she even explicitly pointed out that Raven was so furious at her after that revelation because she DID think of Terra as a friend.

Zutara fans insist all the drama with Zuko was because "he posed a threat to Kataang" when anyone who isn't delusional can see that it was about his former role as a villain, and the character that was originally gonna be Aang's rival for Katara's affection was TOPH, who was going to be a boy.

Raven was constantly annoyed at Beast Boy and he repeatedly said he found her creepy? Opposites attract! Even when they don't! CLEARLY the writers are just using this innitial clash in personalities to set up a romance - the fact that they NEVER move past that "innitial" clash is a detail!

Katara was mad at Zuko for wanting to help his dad commit genocide and he hated her on the basis of her resisting said genocide? No, silly, can't you see it's just sexual tension? Why else would a boy and a girl "not get along"? They want to kiss!

BBrae fans continued acting like the ship would have totally been endgame in the original show instead of just in comics or the shitty remake that was Teen Titans Go!, "if only the planned sixth season had not been canceled."

But there was no planned sixth season. The show was supposed to end in season four, but it got a bonus fifth season that was originally planned to be a bit longer, but then end up with the same number of episodes as the others - and the only plot that was "cut" was the return of the main villain, Slade. The movie "Trouble In Tokyo" was made specifically to resolve the romantic plotline of Starfire and Robin, since they couldn't do it on the actual show... yet the writers didn't make Raven and Beast Boy get together despite knowing they'd likely never have another chance at it. Almost like they never WANTED to do that in the first place!

Zutarians constantly about how "There was totally a deleted scene in the finale with Iroh saying Katara was perfect for Zuko" and how Aaron Ehasz supposedly confirmed Kataang being endgame was a last minute change, and that Zutara was supposed to happen in the "planned, but scrapped fourth season."

But there was no "planned" fourth season. Bryke were offered a bonus season, but rejected it almost right away. The interview with Ehasz was fake and so were the rumors about the "deleted" scene with Iroh. It just never existed.

Hell, even a ship I like had some of the fans try to pull that shit. A ton of Robin X Raven fans swear there was a deleted kiss scene in the season four finale (which again, was originally going to be the series finale) - like Robin and Starfire didn't almost get together in the previous episode (and probably were made an item in original version, before the show got a bonus season), and weren't made endgame on the actual conclusion of the show.

Some shippers do that in the hopes that sequels/reboots end up pandering to them - and in the case of Beast Boy and Raven it "worked", but it was shit, because it was in a bad show so clearly it wasn't worth it. Zutarians meanwhile got nothing. Nada. Zilch. No zutara in the comics, in Korra, and apparently not even in the Netflix version.

And at least there ARE moments between BB and Raven that even I call blatant ship tease, and there's five seasons worth of content of them being "the friends that don't get along but care about each other" aka having an actual dynamic that people were meant to get attached to. Zuko and Katara's "dynamic" for two and a half seasons consisted on nothing but taunts in battle, Zuko being an asshole/a legit threat to the heroes' safety and thus being hated by all of them for it. Only in the second half of the third season did they have any meaningful interactions AND half of these were still negative.

I can talk a lot of shit about BBrae fans, but I can never say that Beast Boy and Raven ever lashed out when the other saved them because there was just that much resentment there. Or that the times Raven got a bit too aggressive towards him werent pure slapstick and that she did genuinely want to hurt him, nor that he ever got so mad at her for it that he tried to leave her behind to die. Or that Raven ever hired a hitman on him. Or that Beast Boy full on said he pictured her face when he tried to imagine "the face of the enemy." Or that he ever looked Raven straight in the face and threatened to murder her if she ever did anything against his actual love interest.

That's a level of "Take the L already, Jesus" that BBrae never reached, or even got close to, and I'm surprised Zutarians managed to make people not talk about the fact that they very much did.

"Zutara sexual tension" is literally just two people legit wanting to murder each other, saying as much, actively working towards it, and the shippers sill being like "They don't mean it though."

They do, girl. They very much do. Grab a body bag.

[iguessitsjustme]

The Boy Next World Ep 4 Thoughts

Not gonna lie folks, I’ve done jack shit this weekend and it’s been great. Meant to go to the store today but I don’t think that’s happening. So instead, Boy Next World. I got enough snacks so nothing else matters. Wonder what’s gonna happen now. I genuinely have zero idea where this show is going. Under the cut:

Here is how my brain works:

Phu: But there’s nothing between Ai Jin and me.

Cir: What about…me?

Me: I’m pretty sure there’s nothing between you and Ai Jin either.

Friendly reminder that I love this opening a whole lot.

I know someone who is so good-hearted it’s worrying. In fact, he is so good-hearted that I had to postpone coming out to one of my friends because we had an impromptu intervention for him on the day I planned to do it. So in case anyone is wondering, yes, there is such a thing as too nice and it makes the people who care about you terrified.

Why don’t Phu and Cir get colorful umbrellas like these, huh? Someone explain.

I like that Phu keeps reminding Cir that he is a different person than the Phu in the other world.

So I thought he was a time wizard but instead he’s a mind reader? I truly cannot predict this show. Whatever I don’t care I still ship him with Wim. Give me side boys please and thank.

Someone tell me what’s goin on I can’t do this no more. I’m too tired and stressed and I NEED to know (but not spoilers if you’ve read the book I want to know but also not let me be dramatic)

This guy understands the romance of the umbrella. He Gets It. 

I had to pause to order food. Since I didn’t go to the store looks like I’m spending money to eat tonight and I’ll go to the store on my lunch tomorrow. Since I’ll have access to the work fridge again this week…don’t ask. Anyway back to whatever this show is.

Where do I get this sweater? I need it. Does anyone know how bad I need this sweater? I need all of Phu’s sweaters but this one specifically.

I am not gonna care about this mother plot. I can already tell.

Cir, my dude. Not everyone is attached to their phone 24/7 (don’t look at me in that tone of voice). Phu has already proven he looks at his phone when he looks at it. And also when he remembers it.

Listen normally I hate it when my dashers message me constantly but my dasher tonight is being so sweet. I hope he has a very good week this week. Meanwhile, I’m about to have some cake. (I ordered more than cake but that’s not the important part and we all know it).

This shot is actually so gorgeous.

Boy you better take some meds to get better and not just because Cir will be worried if he finds out! I’m worried! Take some meds! Don’t make me show up and take care of you. If you’re not careful, I will older sibling you. Which is one step away from adopting you.

Just @ me next time damn

“I can’t bring myself to go back to Thailand.” Girl. Move over. I’m his parent now. There is no hurt that I can face that will make me abandon the ones I love. And if I had a child that said he missed me? There is no force on this earth that would stop me from going to him. Poor Phu. He is so busy managing his mother’s emotions despite literally being sick. I know she’s not a bad person but right now she’s being a bad parent. When I was sick last year with the flu, I had to beg my mother not to come take care of me. I was basically beating her back with a stick. And if I had been sick for one more day than I was, there would have been no negotiating with her. She would have come to me. I just…this is something I didn’t realize I felt so passionate about. I know Phu just has a cold but he very clearly misses his mom and she can’t even come visit for a tiny bit? Just to see her son and her son only? She has to avoid the entire fucking country? I just want to give Phu a hug and make him some chicken noodle soup.

Still no idea what the fuck I’m watching but I am greatly enjoying it. I can’t believe I like a MAME show this much. I never thought I’d see the day. Just goes to show that you should always have an open mind. Anyway can’t wait for next week.

[silly-l1ttle-guy]

how i think bucci gang would confess their love

i don't even know anymore man, enjoy the hcs

------

Bruno Bucciarati

very calm about it

it just slipped out one day lmao

he was just chilling with Abbacchio and he was talking about something

"I understand how you feel, Abbacchio. But you have to be more careful, ok? I love you." "I know- WHAT?!"

bruno acted like he meant to say that

he was screaming on the inside tho

the moment he got home he was giggling and kicking his feet

he has a boyfriend now

Leone Abbacchio

he probably confessed while drunk

he's the type of guy to push his feelings away and not pay attention to them

but spoiler alert, you can't push away your intense love for Bruno, dumb goth whore

probably tried to avoid Bruno for a bit

it worked until Bruno took care of him while he was drunk

"Ok Abbacchio, it's time to go home now-" "but I love you!"

Bruno just stared at him for a second before bringing him home and hoping to GOD that Abbacchio wouldn't remember what he said

he did

they had a deep conversation after and started dating

Abba looked a little happier that day

Giorno Giovanna

very straight forward about it

walked up to Fugo and said "we need to talk"

istg Fugo almost shit his pants, he thought he was gonna get in trouble or some shit

instead giogio just sat him down and told him he liked him

"What did you need, Giorno?" "I'm in love with you." "...." ".........." "....WHAT?!"

Giorno started listing everything he loves about Fugo and strawb boy almost fucking fainted he was so flustered

Giorno had to stop halfway through his rant to make sure Fugo was ok

he ended up gaining a boyfriend and was super happy and giddy for the rest of the week

everyone else was wondering why he was smiling so much and flapping his hands (it's because he's autistic)

also clung to fugo like a glue trap

Pannacotta Fugo

another one to push down his feeling and try to dismiss them

he couldn't look at giorno for more than five seconds before turning bright red and looking away

EVERYONE knew he liked giorno lmao (except giorno)

he probably didn't confess, instead giorno overheard mista and narancia teasing him about it

"Still got a crush on the golden boy, Fugoo??" "shut. up." "C'mon! We just wanna know!" "SHUT THE FUCK UP" "I'll take that as a yes" "FUGO LOVES GIORNO!" "I DO NOT-" "You love me, Fugo?"

Fugo immediately shut up at slowly turned to Giorno with the most terrified expression you'll ever see in his life

bro looks like he just pissed himself

cue nara and mista laughing their lungs out in the background

he just quickly brought giorno into another room and quietly explained that he had feelings for him

it was all good because he gained a boyfriend

he was a lot happier for the rest of the week

Guido Mista

verrryy flirty

but he only uses cringy flirts

sometimes they're good but most of the time...

"hey, are you lightning? cuz you're McQueen. KACHOW"

since i don't ship him with anyone YOU (yes you, person reading this) GET TO BE THE UNLUCKY PERSON MISTA CONFESSES HIS LOVE TO

when i say unlucky i mean unlucky

he'll never leave you alone

"I need to go piss hold on" "can I come?"

LIKE NO YOU CANNOT

probably confessed with a love letter (he's a sucker for romance)

but like he just handed you a letter and ran off

he'd be very happy if you said yes

everyone would know that he's dating you by the end of the week

also do NOT sleep in the same bed as this guy, he snores louder than a nuclear explosion

Narancia Ghirga

shy. that's all i'm gonna say

he'd try to act chill and fail miserably

my guy tries to say something flirty and stumbles over his words so bad he trips

"hey, so, uh, d-did it, um, hurt when- when you, uh, y-you fell from heav- heaven? Uh, actually nevermind! OKBYETALKTOYOULATER!" *trips*

cried to Mista about it later

i also don't ship narancia with anyone so YOU, THE READER, ARE THE LUCKY ONE WHO GAINS HIS AFFECTION

and when I say lucky, I mean LUCKY

sweetest boy ever

he'll literally die for you

probably tried to confess romantically but stumbled over his words and got so nervous he almost passed out

just ended up screaming that he loves you

"s-so, basically, uh, the thing is, um, I uh... FUCK IT! I LOVE YOU!"

his face was so red

very giddy and happy for a long while if you say yes

he'd proudly show you off

Trish Una

once again, YOU get to be the one she's attracted to

surprisingly chill about it

she compliments you on a daily basis

expect her to constantly be around you

mf she is NOT leaving you alone

"I need to piss" "let's go piss together queen"

i fully believe trish is a hardcore lesbian

she cringes at the thought of dating men

"I'm sure one day you'll find a kind young man to take care of you" "EW no"

CONFESSES LIKE A NORMAL PERSON

"you wanted to talk to me?" "yeah, so I kinda have a crush on you and I was wondering if you felt the same way?"

very smiley if you say yes

also she will NOT let go of you hand

------

the end

[ipatrichor]

dead boy detectives episode seven thoughts

hey what if i cried. what if I lay down on the floor and curled up in a ball and wept and wailed my little heart out?? what then???

ohhh my god. oh my god. i've said like twice now that this show keeps giving me everything i've ever wanted but it just keeps being true!!! i'm going to sob how does every episode just keep getting better How do the writers know exactly what i want and then do it better than i thought of are they in my head??? oh my godddd this episode was devastating

hey i'm gonna cry. what do you mean edwin died scared and alone so he made sure charles didn't. that's devastating actually!!! he died in the dark and he was scared and he had no one, so he brings charles a lamp and answers his questions about ghosts and reads him a detective story with silly voices. what the hell that's so. i do not have words for this it hits so deeply!!! edwin is so deeply kind in a way that doesn't always come across because he's also a prickly bitch, and i love him so much holy shit

hell was genuinely so unsettling what the fuck. the spider MADE OF DOLL HEADS(??!!!?!?!?!?!) was bad enough, but it was such an incredibly good choice to have it appear empty on the way in and only be able to see all the suffering on the way out. it really upped the creep factor in the first part, and then really made the escape feel frenzied. very well done!! the imagery was insane, i really Believed that this was Actual Hell

actually on that point. there was one detail that meant so so much to me, in a way i'm not quite sure how to explain but will give my best effort. after edwin's conversation with simon, after they reach some kind of closure, the blue light implying that simon is able to move on in some way and maybe leave hell... if someone wasn't raised christian & subsequently deconverted idk if that stands out to anyone else, but. okay basically there's a conversation about how hell, by definition, cannot be just because it's infinite punishment for a finite crime. and that wasn't necessarily the point of the scene, but as someone who's been doing a lot of unpacking stuff around this recently it just. it hit hard man. in a good way! that scene actually means so much to me... god this whole episode is fantastic

crystal confronting daniel!!! my god i am so proud of our girl!!! yess take your agency back and regain control of your life!!!!! also jenny frequently being annoyed by crystal but still following her to a spooky abandoned area with a knife just so she won't have to face her abusive ex alone... god i love jenny. like yeah she's abrasive and kinda a dick but also she truly cannot stop herself from providing support to these two weird as hell teenagers living above her shop.

AND NIKO!!!! god niko was absolutely brilliant this episode... absolutely the mvp of the entire show goddamn, she really read the rules and made that the night nurse's problem <3 i love that for her so much. however i will say something has been worrying me. that magic 8 ball that's supposed to tell you when you're going to die has apparently been consistently saying 'outlook not good' and it's been mentioned twice now. and given that this show doesn't establish things like that and let them go to waste... i am Concerned. not to mention, the scene where it was her and the night nurse talking about zombies?? like idk it could be nothing!!! but also that is classic foreshadowing so i am simply concerned!!!

alright i got most of the immediate thoughts CONFESSION SCENE. HOLY SHIT. okay so i know i'm not super into confessions and i tend to nitpick when fictional characters behave certain ways pertaining to romance depending on whether the narrative promotes it or not (yes, i have a complicated relationship with romance, it came free with the demiromanticism. but also my partner is amazing so if written characters aren't that's just kinda a skill issue? lol). ANYWAY. this scene though was amazing. edwin tells charles how he feels, putting no pressure on charles to respond or feel the same. and charles clearly isn't sure how he feels- it doesn't seem like he's ever thought of edwin in that way before, and he's awkward about it but still assures edwin that even if he doesn't know if he can return those feelings, edwin is still incredibly important to him and nothing's gonna change that.

god it's just. such a good way to handle that scene!! literally everything i hoped for ^^ even if charles doesn't feel the same (which i didn't think he would given they've been hinting at romance with crystal and not building romantic feelings towards edwin the same way they've been building edwin's feelings for him but as always who knows) he still reaffirms how much he cares about edwin, because like i've been saying they're the most important person to each other and it truly does not matter if it's platonic or romantic!!!

i also love how well this lined up with established characterization haha. like, of course charles made a deal with the night nurse and leaped into hell headfirst and alone to rescue edwin, he's impulsive even when he isn't emotionally compromised and he'd never abandon his best mate. of course niko tries to connect with the people around her and ends up being incredibly helpful with a unique insight, that's what she's been doing this whole time! of course crystal runs off to find her own way to hell after being stopped from accompanying charles, she hates feeling useless and consistently endangers herself for the sake of her friends. of course edwin tries to convince simon to escape hell with him, he's heartbreakingly good and has spent the whole show trying to help people no one else can. it's all so... god, they are who they are and i love them so much

anyway i will leave u all with a funny thought i had. i haven't engaged with the fandom outside of my pal noble sorry if this is a joke everyone is already making

the cat king: i'll be here waiting when he escapes hell again, god i'm such a romantic meanwhile, charles breaking into hell:

[harlowtales]

Ok Mice!

Jack x Reader go to the ballet for a holiday classic. Jack does his best to appreciate fine art 🩰 🎄🐭

18+ Romance/Humour

“Hun are you ready?” You asked your boyfriend. We’re going to be late!” You were busy putting the finishing touches on your makeup and hair while Jack was walking around looking clueless in his underwear.

“Have you seen my favourite sweater? He asked scratching his head. “Swear I had asked you to put it out for me on the bed.”

“Jackman, it’s right there. You put your pants on it.” You said exasperated you always had to get both of you ready.

“I don’t want to wear these pants. I wanted to wear the other ones.” He said to you which put you over the edge.

“Listen. You are a grown man. Wear. What. You. Want.” You said slowly so he knew you were really pissed.

“Ok you know what I love the pants you put out. I change my mind.” He said with a peck on your forehead and a smile. He could tell he was getting on your nerves but didn’t mean to. He felt helpless around you and had to make so many decisions all the time it was nice to feel cared for. This was fine most of the time as you loved your boyfriend so much, but not when he was making you late!

“You got the tickets in your phone?” He asked you as you both scurried down the long hallway to your box seats.

“Got it!” You said and showed your phone hastily to the ticket taker who swiped the barcode and hurriedly showed you to your seats.

“You look beautiful by the way.” Jack said and kissed your hand that he was holding as the lights in the theatre went down to start the show.

“Thank you baby you look wonderful too.” You complimented him back sincerely. Your good friend was in this holiday season’s rendition of the ballet classic The Nutcracker and Jack and you were honoured guests. Because of you the Jack Harlow foundation had saved the struggling ballet company from collapse.

As they finished the first number Jack was so impressed he stood up and said “Woooo!!” To which you wanted to hide. The entire house looked at him.

“Jack…baby…you don’t do that at the ballet.” You lovingly corrected him in a hushed whisper. “Just a polite clap will do and not too loud either.”

“Oh shit my bad.” Jack said turning red. He had never been to the ballet before and you could see the headlines tomorrow “Rapper Goes to Ballet.”

“Babe” Jack whispered “Where’s your friend? Is he the other dude in the tights and shit?”

You mustered all your patience and explained yes that your friend was the only other guy on stage. Jack felt kind of like a fish out of water. He had been to classy parties before but they were still parties. This was like being in church. He started to squirm and get too hot in his sweater. “I gotta stretch my legs.” He whispered and stood up before you could object. You wished he would have waited until intermission to get up because he drew attention again.

During intermission you found him animatedly chatting with the ticket takers who played basketball at his old high school Atherton.

“Them MFs we played against from Lex got a fucking beating bro. I took the shot from half court and was nothing but net bitch!” Jack was boasting as he acted out his high school glory days shot.

One of the boys tapped him on the shoulder as you were behind him listening to his story with your arms folded. “She behind me ain’t she.” He said as he turned to find you not impressed.

“Hi baby you want a glass of wine before we head back in? I’m so excited for the 2nd half.” Jack said with an exaggerated grin plastered on his face.

“Jackman...” You started to say in his full government which meant nothing good.

“I been having some knee trouble since tour and just wanted to walk it out is all.” He assured you. “Let’s get some refreshments and head back.”

You knew he was full of it but was so adorable you took your glass of wine and kiss from him with a smile. You knew the ballet would be torture for him but appreciated he supported it.

“Ok Jack no getting up and no hooting and hollering.” You precautioned before the second half started.

“I got this. I can do cultured shit. You ain’t gotta lecture me damn.” He said a bit annoyed. The curtain lifted and dancers in mouse costumes crept onto the stage. “Okay mice.” Jack said getting into the story.

You giggled covering your mouth and allowed that one infraction as at least he said it quietly and had stopped fidgeting. Not 15mins later you looked over and he was nodding off. You thought it was suspicious he had been completely still and silent for 15 whole minutes.

You nudged him as the house lights came on. “Babe! Wake up!” You said partly annoyed and partly grateful you got to enjoy the last half without any interruptions from him.

He had DJ’d the night before, had an early workout session, and studio time. You knew he was exhausted. “Let’s go meet the dancers!” You said excitedly

Jack saw how you lit up at the ballet and realized he had to do more things with you that you liked. You loved his friends but more often the both of you needed time like this. “Jack Harlow!! Can you sign my ballet shoes please!!” One of the dancers said jumping up and down.

“Of course!” Jack said and asked for a sharpie marker. He knelt down and signed her satin ballet slippers as she tried to stay calm but the look on her face showed how much she wanted to scream.

“Mr. Harlow, thank you for your generous contribution.” The head of the ballet troupe said shaking his hand.

“Of what you saw.” You ribbed him chuckling

“Thank you it was a beautiful show.” Jack said graciously

“It was dope. I just don’t like having to sit and pay attention so quietly for that long.” Jack said honestly

“Well maybe we need to get you in some tights then!” The troupe leader said a little too enthusiastically.

Jack just laughed in response but said to you as you left the dancers backstage area “I know you’d be so jealous if I put on them tights.”

“Why would I be jealous? I love the ballet.” You said

“Yeah but think how nice my shit would be sittin in them things and then I’m twirling around and lifting girls above my head and seeing all up their tutus. You’d cut a bitch.” He laughed

“Jackman. No offence but me and Neelam need to get you etiquette classes.” You said seriously

“I can be classy babe it just feels weird.” He said “I will never embarrass you like that again I swear.” He apologized

“Damn right you won’t or I’m making a bet you will be in tights if you lose!” You laughed

@jacks-daycare @ride4harlow @itsyagirljaz

[stuffnonsenseandotherthings]

Crackpot Predictions - Only Friends Episode 1

Welcome to a new thing I do where I try to predict (*cough* wildly guess *cough*) what's going to happen in a show based solely on my read of the first episode. I'll try to cover all of what I think are the main story beats, record them here for posterity (and so I can either say "ha I told you so" or you can all point and laugh at me later), and hopefully by the end of the series we'll all be able to see if I'm a clairvoyant with a magic orb or, alternatively, a numpty with a glass paperweight. Some of these predictions are completely serious, others are complete crack, and some are just random thoughts that had the misfortune of wandering into my head.

With that, let's get started shall we?

The Hostel

Setting up a hostel for your graduation project? How cute!And with your best friends too? How adorable!

Too bad that hostel is absolutely Not Going To Happen. And not only is the hostel Not Going To Happen, its also going to be the site of some of the worst moments of your entire lives!

Prediction: is this is where it's all going to go down, this is where they're going to have the final argument, this is where the climax is going to happen, this is where shit hits the fan and then explodes. I mean why else would you introduce a building site if not to have all your characters have mental breakdowns symbolically in the middle of it? Scaffolding and painter's tarp is for screaming matches and for saying things you never meant to say.

Mew

Oh Mew. Soft, virginal, innocent Mew. Mew who lives in a completely different world to his friends where he wears cute pastels, gets a teen movie montage when he wakes up in the morning, gets a public confession like something out of a romance movie... Surrounded by people with impure thoughts and even worse intentions. What on earth is going to become of our sweet pastel boy?

Who am I kidding, he's going to be fine.

In fact he's probably going to be one of the few people who is fine by the end of this series, and will probably be at least partially responsible for quite a lot of other people being very fucked up (especially Top, sorry my man but you are doomed by the narrative). He's definitely doing to be hurt and he's definitely going to lose his honour student title and he's definitely going to have less friends by the end of this but he'll be fine, he's literally the only one in the friend group other than Chueam with the emotional maturity to cope with and process what's about to happen.

Prediction: He's going to lose friends (but not Chueam, she'll stick with him), his academic record is going to be messed up (but not irreparably so, he'll just have to put in extra work to repair it), and he won't have a boyfriend by the end of the series but he'll be okay, he'll be able to walk it off when it's all said and done. He may even start to get his man back (if he wants him, that is).

Ray

Poor Ray, he's a rich brat who clearly has some self-esteem issues and is whipped for his best friend. He's in for a rough ride I fear, especially seeing as he currently deals with his emotions by getting very drunk and/or lashing out.

Sand will probably be good for him (perhaps a little too good for him) in both bringing him down a peg and hopefully giving him the kind of ego boost he actually needs (no Ray you are not a burden but please stop ruining your liver) and I'm really looking forward to the development of their enemies to fwb relationship and all entails.

Unfortunately for Ray he looks like he might be a bit of a bleeding heart romantic on the inside so he's probably going to get his heart broken twice in a very short space of time; once by Mew and his new relationship and then once again by Sand and his refusal to play second fiddle and Ray is only going to realise this when it's a bit too late. Needless to say Ray will probably not be having a fun time for most of this series and of all the character he is tied as most likely to end up in hospital at some point.

Prediction: He's going to lose friends, he's going to fail his degree, he's going to get his heart broken twice and he's probably not going to be okay about it (but hopefully he'll be on the mend by the end of it all). Ray is going to start shit he can't finish and he, more than anyone else, is going to be a victim of his own actions but hopefully he's also going to be the character with the most growth. Sand might be around to scrape him off the floor at the end, but Ray is going to have to work himself out first.

Boston

Boston, what to say about Boston other than currently he seems to be trying to break the record of most men slept with in a single episode (his competition is Brian Kinney from Queer As Folk btw).

There's definitely a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to him and I look forward to unpacking all of his messy laundry when the time comes. He seems to be both incredibly confident with his life choices (good for him) and incredibly insecure about them at the same time which is fascinating and I definitely get the feeling that he has issues with Mew (to the point where I wouldn't really say they're actually friends) because of that insecurity. I genuinely wouldn't be surprised is at some point we get a lot of pent resentment spilling out from Boston about Mew because no one casually mocks someone they're genuinely okay with that many times behind their back.

Prediction: Boston wants but he doesn't quite know what. He is definitely blowing up every single friendship he has in the process of working it out and he's probably going to find himself on his own for a while too, which might actually be what he needs. That being said, if anyone decides to put forward a laurel at the end of the show though, I also think it's going to be him. I also predict no romance, but I also don't think that's what he wants or needs.

Top

Top the Top Tier player who's never not got his object of interest before. He likes casual sex, comes off as a bit of a sleaze (but at least a sleaze who respects boundaries), and is apparently looking for a new challenge now sleeping around has got boring (but not boring enough to not sleep with Boston again).

The problem for Top is that he thinks he's approaching Mew in his world and on his terms where in reality he's already dancing to the tune of Mew's fiddle and it's only going get worse. Mew's world has rules and regulations and things you just don't do (like sleeping with your boyfriend's best friend) and Top is going to find himself caught up in them. What's worse is he's probably going to find out (much too late) that he wants to be caught up in them. Top might be the big man now but he is well and truly fucked.

Prediction: Top isn't going to take his relationship with Mew 100% seriously until he realises he's already completely invested in it and at that point it's going to be too late. He's definitely going to break Mew's heart but Mew is going to break his ten times over and he's not going to recover easily from that. He might have a chance at redemption, but only once he's completely wrecked himself first.

Sand

Sand was just trying to live his life and then he threatened to pee on someone's head and it all went down hill from there.

At the moment he seems like the audience stand in: watching all the chaos and wondering what on earth is wrong with all these privileged brats (semi-affectionate). Like Mew he definitely seems to have himself together in a way that makes me think he'll come away from this pretty okay emotionally (it'll hurt but he's not allergic to emotions, he'll heal). Unlike Mew he definitely doesn't seem to completely together life-wise (i.e monetarily) though, which does make me wonder if our 3 friends (I'm not including Chueam in this, she's not a guilty party) are going to mess that up for him instead.

Prediction: Emotionally he's going to be okay (although he probably has heartbreak in the cards), in every other aspect I think he'll sustain the most damage (and therefore will be entitled to compensation). He feels the most like an innocent bystander and, as such, is definitely going to regret the day he lay eyes on the back of Ray's head. Out of all the characters, he's probably going to be the one due the most apologies all while having done very little to anyone else.

Nick

Wow well Twison changed when he went to uni, wasn't expecting that trajectory at all 😋

In all honesty I feel like I have the least to go on for Nick in terms of predictions (not that I have much to go on for anything else I've been saying). He seems to be completely gone for Boston already (oh Babe he is not a good target to fall head over tits for) and I like the idea that's floating around that Nick is already familiar with Boston somehow based off his reaction to their first meeting.

That being said, I am getting a little bit of a creep vibe from him (maybe it was the invasion of his client's privacy and subsequent masturbation scene that pinged the alarm idk) but I can't help but feel like everything Mew said he'd do if he slept with Top? Yeah Nick would actually do all those things and more. So yeah, while Boston is going to mess him up with their ambiguous relationship, it's only because Nick was pretty messed up in the first place and he'll end up messing Boston up right back with his clingy/obsessive tendencies.

Prediction: Looks like a marshmallow, is actually on fire. Things are going to go wrong for him but only because things were not right in the first place. Possibly the most likely to actually need therapy. I also wouldn't be at all surprised if he's the one to swing the bat that brings it all crashing down, in fact in this crack-pot prediction, I'm expecting him to.

The Friendship Group

Is going to be in tatters by the end of this series, I'm so sorry Chueam. (I mean is this even a prediction or am I just stating the obvious?)

Prediction: Mew and Chueam are probably still going to be friends (they seems like the closest to each other) but no one else is going to be talking. Ray might have Sand (and Chueam if he doesn't fuck up too much) but Boston going to be on his lonesome and so is Top unless they want to throw a pity party together. At the end of the show there will be a tentative reconciliation, but with the knowledge they're never going to be the same, never going to be as close as before.

TLDR + Extra Predictions

Mew: About to have the worst time of his life but he'll make it through, his pain is going to end up being other people's problem.

Ray: Poor, unfortunate soul checking in at heart-break hotel twice in the space of a few months. Most likely to get his man though.

Boston: Needs to figure out what he wants. Probably going to end up completely cut off from everyone but also most likely to extend the peace offering at the end.

Top: Fucked. (Might get a chance at redemption at the end if he's lucky)

Sand: Emotionally fine, financially screwed. Out of everyone he has to most to complain about and he doesn't even go here.

Nick: Most likely to need actual therapy.

Climax: A big argument at the hotel surrounded by the ruins of their hard work

Likely scene: All of them at Yo's bar they used to go to as friends but this time ignoring each others existence.

Likely scene 2: Boston unleashing a load of suppressed resentment towards Mew, possibly to do with their different lifestyles/world views.

Best chance at romance: Chueam

Best chance at staying friends: Chueam and Mew

Key theme: The importance of friendship

Me: happy to be proven right or wrong with these predictions and here for the wild ride regardless.

And that's it! As I said, these predictions are completely pulled from the air around a single watch of episode 1 so they're not at all serious. If I'm right yay, if I'm wrong also yay, I'm just happy to be watching, I just thought it would be fun to test how well I can predict a narrative based on very little information indeed. If anyone wants to share their own crackpot predictions I am more than happy to hear them, let's clown together.

[starkstruck27]

So excited to finally share my piece for the Stranger Things Rarepair Roulette!! I hope everyone enjoys and I hope we can start writing Rarepairs more often!! Ao3 Link: Any Solitary Pleasure that was Sorrow in Disguise Pairing: Nancy Wheeler/Barb Holland/Carol Perkins Rating: Explicit TWs: Underage Drinking, Smoking, Mildly Dubious Consent, very slight Suicidal Ideation Word Count: 5,236

November 8th, 1983 marked a lot of firsts for Nancy Marie Wheeler. It was the first time she’d smoked weed, the first time she shotgunned a beer, and the first time she jumped into a pool with all of her clothes on. It was also the night that she lost her virginity, and she would never forget that for as long as she lived.

Now, if anyone were ever to ask her how it happened, she’d probably give them one of two answers. She’d either say something along the lines of “a lady doesn’t kiss and tell” and leave it at that, or, if she were feeling a little bit more confident, she’d say she lost it that night to Steve Harrington, up in his bedroom after getting out of the pool. But no matter which answer she gave, she’d have been lying. There had been a lot more to that evening than what is safe to air on television.

It had started off as a normal evening. She and her best friend Barb Holland had gone over to Steve’s for a get-together, both a little nervous in more ways than one. Nancy and Steve had been testing the waters of a new relationship, so butterflies were running rampant in her stomach, and she was hoping to be able to get along with Steve’s friends, too, so her anxiety was spiking as she and Barb parked their car and walked up to the door of the house. 

Barb was more nervous for Nancy, she didn’t like seeing her upset, and Steve had been known to be a heartbreaker, as well as not always hanging around with the nicest people. Tommy Hagan and Carol Perkins were never ‘mean’ to them, per se, but they were never nice, either. She just hoped that the night would go smoothly and then they could go home with minimal amounts of trouble, especially since she didn’t want to see her best friend going all to pieces over some brainless jock with good hair.

But either way, they went to the door, and they were welcomed inside, everyone all smiles as they sat around on Steve’s back patio, enjoying what would probably be the last somewhat warm evening of the season. Steve seemed happy that Nancy was there, and was even pretty nice to Barb, so they weren’t having a terrible time. Even if Tommy was a bit obnoxious with the way he ran his mouth and Carol was a bit imperious as she sat by herself and filed her nails for the better part of the night. Still, Nancy was having a good time, it seemed, and because of that, Barb was willing to stay and put up with it all, for her sake.

“Aw shit, dude, where’s the rest of the beer?” Tommy asked at one point, giving Steve a certain look that neither Nancy or Barb could really read. Carol seemed to know exactly what it meant, though, and she smirked and rolled her eyes as Steve stood up, saying they’d be right back, they had to go find the rest of the drinks.

“Have fun,” Carol said in a sing-song voice, blowing away some of the dust from her nails as the two boys walked away into the house. 

Once it was just the girls on the patio, it became a little awkward. Nancy and Barb were nerds, and they knew it, so they were having trouble coming up with a topic of conversation. Carol was a popular girl, smart enough to get by, but not top of her class like the other two, so finding common ground was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

As it turned out, though, they all shared one thing in common: All three of them loved cheesy romance novels, which they found out when Barb took a shot in the dark and asked Carol, “So… Read any good books lately?” After that, they began to get talking, and it turned out that Carol actually wasn’t so bad. A little crass, a little uppity, at times a bit rude, but overall not that bad, and soon the other two girls were enjoying their conversation with her as they waited for the boys to come back.

“They sure are taking a long time to come back with those drinks,” Nancy said, glancing at the door and fiddling with the hem of her shirt nervously.

“Oh, yeah, they won’t be back for at least another half hour,” Carol said, stretching out on one of the loungers.

“A half hour? What could possibly take them that long to come back? What, are they brewing the beer themselves?” Barb asked, shifting a bit closer to Nancy on the chair that they were sharing. 

“Nah, they just like to have some ‘boy time’ sometimes. I’m just glad they invited some girls this time so that I’d have someone to talk to while I wait,” Carol said, smiling a little at the other two as she tossed her dark locks over her shoulder. 

“What do you mean, ‘boy time’? Wasn’t the whole point of tonight that we all hang out together?” Nancy asked, looking between the other two.

“It is, and it still will be, sometimes the boys just like to do what they call ‘pre-gaming’ to get themselves psyched up and raring to go,” Carol replied, wiggling her eyebrows at them with a goofy smile on her face.

“What does that mean, ‘pre-gaming’?” Barb asked, looking to Nancy to see if she understood.

“Oh, come on, you know what I mean,” Carol said, looking at the others, but they both just stared back in confusion. “Wow, you two are such goodie-two-shoes! You really don’t know what I’m talking about?”

Nancy and Barb both shook their heads, looking at each other, then back to Carol for an explanation.

“Wow, okay, you two have been reading the wrong books then,” Carol said, getting up and pacing a bit as she explained, “‘Pre-gaming’ is a term Tommy picked up from me, from one of the novels I read. It was a pretty good one, maybe I’ll lend it to you sometime, but anyway, the heroine had two lovers, and whenever they were all three in a room together, the two guys would get so worked up over the girl that they would excuse themselves to relieve some tension together before going back and ravaging the girl. That’s similar to what the boys are doing now. They’re working off some energy together, and when they’re done, they’ll come back out like everything is normal and we all have an enjoyable evening.” 

Carol paused, having to laugh a bit as she looked back at the other two, their faces redder than her cherry crush lipstick and their jaws dangling down to the ground. “Oh my God, you should see your faces right now!”

“You… You’re not being serious right now, are you?” Nancy asked, her hands working even faster on the hem as she bunched up her shirt.

“Oh, I’m very serious. It’s not that big a deal, really,” Carol said, shrugging as she sat across from the other two, “They’ve been practicing their moves on each other ever since we were in middle school, and they’ve been friends since before any of us could walk. They practically lost their virginity to each other, so it’s nothing they haven’t done before.”

“No, no, I mean it-it’s fine, I just didn’t know they were both… like that…” Nancy said, biting her lip.

“Oh, don’t worry, they aren’t really. They still both like girls and know how to treat them. They just know how to play both sides, if you catch my drift. I’m the same way, it’s nothing to be weird about. Sex feels good no matter who you’re with. At the end of the day, a mouth is still a mouth, a hand is still a hand, and all the rest of it is just the extra cherry on top,” Carol said, smiling slyly, “And I mean, come on, you can’t tell me that there isn’t a single woman out there that you wouldn’t consider switching sides for.”

As soon as she said it, Carol saw the way Barb glanced at Nancy, then quickly looked away with her face even redder. She couldn’t help but grin as Barb took a second to get ahold of herself, then turned back, shrugging her shoulders.

“I mean, I guess I kinda see what you’re getting at,” she said, glancing over at Nancy again.

“See! I knew you’d understand,” Carol said, smiling as she reached out and took one of each of their hands, “So, what’s say that, since we have some time to kill, we have a little bit of Girl Time?”

“I-I mean…” Barb mumbled after a moment, “I mean, it could be fun.”

“What?!” Nancy asked, whipping her head over to gape at her friend. Barb flushed bright red, but she just shrugged under Nancy’s incredulous stare, refusing to look down and instead looking back to Carol.

“Y’know, you really had me fooled, Holland. I didn’t think you had a wild side, but I like the way you’re proving me wrong,” Carol teased, leaning forward and kissing Barb like it was no big deal. They could feel Nancy staring at them, but Carol’s tongue shoving into her mouth made it hard for Barb to really care. She never thought her first kiss would ever happen in a tiny town like Hawkins, and she certainly never thought it’d happen with a girl as popular as Carol, but she wasn’t really complaining. The only thing that would make this the best moment of her whole life would be if Nancy joined in, too, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up.

“This is nuts! We could get caught! Tommy and Steve could come back any second and-” Nancy tried, but Carol cut her off.

“Oh my God, for just one second could you just loosen up? We aren’t gonna get caught, and even if we did, we’re just having a little fun. Ever heard of that?” She said, placing her manicured hands on her hips as she glared.

“Yeah, come on, Nancy,” Barb chimed in, “You’re the one who told me to keep an open mind about tonight. And it’s not like anything bad can happen. It’s just a few friends having some fun.”

“But-” Nancy said, but this time Barb cut her off, deciding that Nancy just needed a little nudge in the right direction. She kissed her, gentler than the way she’d been kissing with Carol, but still intense, doing her best to persuade Nancy to loosen up.

Nancy was shocked at first, going still as a statue as her eyes shot open in surprise, but Barb had reached over and tangled her hands in her hair, holding her face and kissing her like this was more than just a tryst, and Nancy began to ease into it. Her eyes closed and she relaxed a little, starting to kiss back, but her brain was still racing to catch up. She knew Barb loved her, and Nancy loved her right back. But the way Barb was kissing her, it was as if they were more than friends. Barb was kissing her the way Steve always did, like she wanted to crack open her own heart and pour its contents into her chest to be kept safe. It was confusing, but Nancy didn’t really have time to process it, at least, not when Carol was starting to run her hand up her thigh and play with the button of her jeans. Nancy gasped as she pulled away from Barb, a jolt running through her as Carol easily opened her jeans, slipping her hand in between the denim and the cotton of her panties.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Nancy asked, breathless and squirming under her touch. It felt alright, little jolts of electricity shooting through her every so often and a little damp spot starting to form between her legs as she tried to keep them closed.

“I’m having fun, princess. And fun sure feels good, doesn’t it?” Carol asked, booping Nancy on her nose and giggling as she wrinkled it up in response. “C’mon Barbie, help me get little miss straight-laced here to loosen up some more. We both want her to feel good, right?”

“Right,” Barb said, not even bothering to correct Carol when she used the nickname. She hated being called Barbie, but right now, she was too dazed and excited to care. So she didn’t even think twice before pulling Nancy over into another kiss, keeping one hand on her cheek and letting the other slip down to clutch at one of her breasts. She could feel Nancy gasp again, but whatever Carol was doing must’ve been working, because this time she didn’t pull away. Instead, she let it happen, and only pulled back when she was dragged away, nearly losing her balance and tumbling backwards as Carol yanked on her pants, trying to pull them down and off.

“Wait, wait, let me get up,” Nancy said, her voice breathy and clipped, as if she had just woken up from a good dream. 

Carol moved back to let her up, smiling in approval as Nancy slipped out of her shoes and started to shimmy out of her jeans, but she kept her panties on. It was still chilly out, so Nancy began to shiver as she stood there without her pants, but neither Carol nor Barb worried about it. They’d have her warmed up in no time, but they figured it would only be fair if they leveled the playing field a little bit first. Carol decided to pull off her shirt, dropping it to the ground next to Nancy’s pants and immediately taking Nancy’s hand and pulling aside her bra, placing it on her bare tit. She shivered a bit, Nancy’s hands were freezing, but it only heightened the thrill. She was about to take Barb’s hand and put it on her other tit, but Barb was busy taking off her shirt, so she waited. 

“Holy shit, your tits are huge,” Carol said as soon as Barb had her top off, looking at her in amazement. “Fuck, they’re gorgeous.”

“R-really?” Barb asked, seeming kinda shy, crossing her arms over her chest as if to hide herself away.

“Yeah,” Nancy chimed in, reaching her other hand towards her friend. She slipped her hand inside her bra and made Barb shiver just like Carol had, but Barb had also let out a squeak and a soft sigh, so Nancy assumed she liked the feeling. 

“Now you’re getting into the spirit of things,” Carol smiled, but it was less mischievous and more… almost caring. She kept the smile on as she took off her own pants, then went to unbutton Barb’s, only to find she was late to the punch. Barb had seemed eager to shed her clothes once it had started, and now she was standing there in just her bra, apparently losing her bashfulness, as she had taken her panties down with her jeans.

“Holy shit, Barbie Girl!” Carol exclaimed, her eyes going wide as she grinned, “I had no idea you were such a wild woman!”

“Well, you never stopped to ask,” Barb smiled, a blush creeping over her face.

“I know. My loss, huh? But that’s enough chit chat, I wanna know exactly what I’ve been missing,” Carol said, taking Barb by the hips and guiding her to sit on one of the loungers. She gently pushed her down so that she was leaning back in the chair, her legs resting open enough that when Carol sat down next to her, she could slip her hand between them. “Come on, Princess, come help me out here.”

Nancy walked over and sat on Barb’s other side, looking nervously between her and Carol, and swallowing before finally removing her shirt as well. She took off her bra soon after, letting it fall to the ground as she turned to Carol, hoping for some kind of instructions. She knew what kind of stuff felt good on herself, but she didn’t know if she’d be able to transfer that over to someone else, so she was hoping Carol would show her how to do whatever would make everyone feel best.

“Neither of you have ever done this before, have you?” Carol asked, but it wasn’t mean. 

“No,” both of the other girls replied, their faces going red.

“Okay, that’s fine. It’s easy, you just gotta be gentle when you start out and do whatever feels right,” she explained, then took Nancy’s hand, placing it on Barb’s thigh. “Open your legs up a little more, Barbie,” she instructed, and when she obeyed, Carol motioned for Nancy to sit between them. “Actually, lie on your stomach. I’ll show you how to use your mouth.”

“My mouth?” Nancy asked, unsure. She’d always heard that felt good, but she never thought about trying it herself, especially on this end of it.

“Yep,” Carol said, smiling as she leaned down to show her. It was kind of an awkward angle, what with Nancy lying in the best position and Carol having to lean in from the side, but it worked nonetheless. She stuck her tongue out and licked all around Barb’s pussy, flicking her tongue on her clit and making her gasp and shiver. She continued working her mouth until Barb was almost shaking beneath her, and then she sat up, licking her lips and grinning as she let Barb take a second to calm down.

“See? Nothing to it,” Carol said, shrugging as she saw Nancy’s gobsmacked expression. “How’d it feel, Barbie?” 

“Fucking amazing,” Barb breathed out, her chest heaving as she came down a little from the high. 

“Good,” Carol said, “See Princess? Why don’t you give it a try?”

Nancy couldn’t really speak anymore, so she just nodded, scooching up on the chair a little so that she could reach Barb. She lowered her head but kept her eyes on Barb’s face as best she could, giving an experimental lick and smiling into it when Barb shuddered. She kept at it, becoming more confident with each swipe of her tongue, and relishing the little noises she was drawing from her best friend’s throat. 

“Oh, Jesus, Nancy, don’t stop,” Barb whined, reaching down and holding the back of her head as she continued her ministrations. Carol giggled a little as she reached over and held Nancy’s hair back with one hand, using the other to reach up and grab at Barb’s tits, shoving her bra aside, and finally, leaving Nancy altogether to go behind Barb and, through the slits in the lounger, unhooked her bra so she could take it off. Once it was on the ground with the rest of their clothes, Carol grabbed both her tits and buried her face in them, licking and sucking at them like an expert.

Barb couldn’t believe the position she was in. She had two of the prettiest girls in school all over her, doing everything they could to make her come undone. She never thought she’d be here in her wildest dreams, and yet, here she was. And it felt better than any dream she’d ever had, so much so that she thought she might’ve died and gone to Heaven. And then Nancy flicked her tongue just right, and Carol squeezed her tit with just enough pressure, and she couldn’t hold back the shout she let out as she finally came, her entire body shaking so hard that her glasses fell askew on her face.

“Oh, Nancy! Carol! Fuck!” She shouted, her eyes blurring as the feeling fell in a wave over her body, making her squirm as she started coming down and they just kept at it. Finally, after a few more seconds, it became too much, and she was able to find her voice enough to tell them to stop, or at least slow down.

“Holy cow,” she mumbled when they stopped, catching her breath as they all sat up with smiles on their faces. 

“Was it good?” Nancy asked, seeming kind of unsure, even though Barb’s reaction should’ve assured her enough. Barb didn’t answer her right away, instead grabbing her by the back of the neck and pulling her in to kiss her. Tasting herself on Nancy’s lips was an odd sensation, but Barb was living for it. She would spend the rest of her days craving it, though she knew she’d probably never get it again. Still, she could allow herself this time to hope, at least until the boys came back. She didn’t have to burst her own bubble yet.

“It was amazing,” she finally answered with words, and she fixed her glasses as she blushed. Nancy blushed a little too, and she smiled gently as she gazed into Barb’s eyes. She looked like an angel, and Barb could feel her heart skipping faster in her chest.

“I bet! All that noise you were making could’ve woken the dead!” Carol giggled, breaking the moment, but Nancy didn’t seem to care all that much when she saw her standing next to them, totally naked. Her eyes went wide with lust, and Barb’s would’ve too, but her heart was still trying to recover from the moment she’d had with Nancy. It hurt like hell that she was looking at another girl the same way as she looked at her, and sure, Carol was a sight to behold when she was like this, but it made the moment she and Nancy had shared seem so much less special, like it didn’t mean anything. To Barb, it meant everything, and it only hurt that much more when Nancy got up and moved over to Carol, already starting to kiss her like Barb wasn’t even there anymore.

“You ready for your turn, Princess?” Carol asked when the kiss was broken, taking Nancy by the shoulders and guiding her to sit on another one of the chairs. She gently pushed her back as Nancy nodded, then gave her a quick peck on the cheek before moving down to pull her panties off. Nancy didn’t hesitate or tell her to stop like she had earlier, instead, she just lifted her hips to help it along. “Glad to see you’re finally having fun,” Carol teased, twirling the fabric around on her finger a few times to make Nancy giggle. 

Barb couldn’t believe it, but she almost hated the sound. There was a green-eyed monster inside her rearing its ugly head, and it had finally started to bend the bars of the cage Barb tried to keep it locked in ever since the first grade. She wanted Nancy all to herself, and hearing her laugh so easily and freely with someone that wasn’t her, someone that two of them had hardly been able to stand up until tonight, only made it worse. 

“Hey, Barbie, c’mere,” Carol called then, and finally, Barb had finally started getting to the end of her rope.

“Don’t call me that,” she said, maybe a little too harshly. They were still supposed to be having fun, and she couldn’t be completely upset with Carol, especially since she didn’t have any way of knowing what Barb was feeling right now, but she couldn’t help it. 

“Whoa, okay, jeez, you’re awful cranky for someone who’s just had what looked like one hell of an orgasm!” Carol said, but just shrugged it off after that. “Anyway, I just wanted to see if you wanted first dibs on deflowering Miss Nancy here.”

And how could Barb say no to that?

“Yeah, sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” Barb said, trying to keep herself at bay. 

“Are you okay?” Nancy asked, sitting up and looking at her with big, concerned eyes. Barb forced herself to look away.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Barb said, leaning down and lying in front of Nancy just like she’d done earlier. Nancy nodded then and just laid back down, and once again, it was like a knife to Barb’s gut that she couldn’t tell that there was something more going on. That, or she just didn’t care enough to keep asking questions.This time, though, Barb was almost ready for the feeling, so even though it still hurt, she’d been expecting it. 

“Are you ready?” She asked, trying now to avoid Nancy’s gaze. 

“Yeah,” Nancy responded, “Whenever you are.”

And Barb was ready. She’d been ready ever since the first time she found out girls could have sex with one another, but she had never told anybody that, and she wasn’t going to start spilling her guts now. Instead, she found a much more practical use for her mouth than speaking. She dove in and immediately started doing whatever she could to make Nancy feel good. If she heard her moaning or gasping or half-choking on the little puffs of air she could get in, she kept doing whatever it was that had drawn the sound out of her, and didn’t stop until she’d found some other way to please her. She treated Nancy’s body like it was the most sacred thing in the world, like she was a goddess and this was her way of praising her. And Nancy seemed to be loving it, so much so that she was coming quickly, within at least half the time that it’d taken for her to get an orgasm out of Barb. 

As she came, Nancy’s back arched off of the chair she was on, and she threw her head back and let out such a moan, it was like she was a wolf howling at the moon. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair and her knuckles turned white from how hard she was clinging to them. Her legs trembled and her pussy quivered and pulsed around Barb’s tongue, releasing a little splash of liquid that soaked Barb’s chest and the lower half of her face. Barb wanted to draw out her pleasure for as long as possible, so as tears began to stream down Nancy’s face, she continued to lick all over her, nosing at her throbbing clit and using two of her fingers to massage inside of her, going faster when she heard Nancy gasp and felt her clench around them.

Nancy was trying to babble something as Barb continued to eat her out and finger her, but it was so incoherent that Barb couldn’t make out a single word. She just kept up what she was doing, going even faster with her fingers even though her wrist was beginning to ache, and her tongue was getting tired from how much she was working it. But it was all worth it when, within a few minutes of the first orgasm, she had Nancy coming again, and squirting even harder than before, soaking her almost entirely from the nose down. 

It was only then that she gave Nancy a break, and as she sat up, drops of come still dripping from her chin, she could feel her heart beginning to stir again. Nancy looked so beautiful when she was undone like this. Her hair was mussed up and fanned out behind her, there were tears streaming down her cheeks, and her entire body seemed to be tinted pink and shone from the sheen of sweat covering her, even on the cold night. Barb could’ve stared at her like this forever, but once again, Carol just had to ruin the moment.

“Oooohhh, fuuuuuuuck!” She moaned out from another chair, her eyes rolling back in her head as she grinned drunkenly. Barb and Nancy both looked over at her as they heard it, and their eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they saw the little pink bullet-shaped vibrator she was holding in her hand. They hadn’t even noticed the sound it had been making as she used it, but they could hear it now, and they knew it stayed on as Carol rode out her own orgasm, then finally clicked it off.

“Where the hell did you get that?” Nancy asked as she stayed in the same position on the lounger, playing with a strand of her hair as she gazed at Carol in amused awe.

“I never leave home without it,” Carol answered, smiling slyly as she showed it off like she was Vanna White. “Care to give it a try, Princess?”

“I better not,” Nancy said, smiling a little disappointedly. “We better clean up, the boys will be back any minute, and besides, I already came twice, I gotta make sure I still have some energy left for if Steve and I go upstairs, right?”

“Very good point,” Carol smiled, standing up then and starting to gather up her clothes. Nancy and Barb did the same, but as Carol and Nancy started getting dressed, Barb didn’t know what to do. She was still wet, and while Nancy had just used her jacket to dry off her legs before pulling her jeans and panties back on, Barb didn’t have anything to use. Nancy didn’t even offer to let her use her jacket, instead just hung it on the back of a chair and continued to get dressed. 

Carol must’ve seen the look Barb was giving Nancy then, because without saying a word, she offered her own jacket to Barb so she could clean up her face. She still didn’t speak as she used the jacket to clean up the chair and her toy, then tossed it aside so she could get it later. After that, they continued to get dressed, and had just gotten themselves presentable when Tommy and Steve strolled back out onto the patio, carrying with them a cooler full of beers and a carton or two of cigarettes.

The night went on pretty normally after that, only Nancy was acting different. She was smoking, and drinking, and just generally not being herself. Barb didn’t like it, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. After all, why would Nancy listen to her advocating for her wellbeing when Steve fucking Harrington was encouraging the exact opposite? She knew she’d do whatever she thought Steve would like best, and that would include being a total bitch to her best friend since preschool.

“Hey,” Carol had said sometime around Nancy’s second beer. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Barb had tried to deflect, but Carol saw right through her.

“Okay, whatever you say,” She said, shrugging, “But a bit of advice, don’t get too hung up on her, okay? You can do a lot better, and frankly, she’s not worth it if she treats you like this.”

Carol then leaned over and hugged her, which Barb didn’t expect, and suddenly, she just wanted to cry. More than anything, she wanted to cry. But she knew she couldn’t break down in front of these people, it wouldn’t wouldn’t do her any good. So she held it together, and she just tried to get through the night. But, of course, that would prove easier said than done, especially when she felt she had so little left to fight for.

So, that’s the true story of how Nancy Wheeler lost her virginity, and how her best friend, in turn, lost her life.