#uhhh MAGGIE FUN FACTS:

[bluejaybytes]

@snowshinobi Hiiiii :3 I'm responding to your tags on a new post and not the original since the original was already somewhat lengthy, and I plan on being LONG and RAMBLY, but I have sooo many thoughts on what you said and I'm going to say them. Also my browser crashed TWICE (TWO TIMES. 2) when trying to write this post so I'm really fighting for my life out here to get my silly little OC posts done. Also it's under the cut because it's looooong as hell LMAO

Firstly, you're so nice to me forever <3 Secondly, I think you've basically hit the nail on the head. The majority of the issues Maggie has coming back from death and her 9 years gone are really tied almost exclusively to her close family, because she... never really had anyone else. While in-universe it's only 9 years, realistically the jump in technology and culture is around ~20-30 years (Maggie died in the 90s/early 2000s essentially, and wakes up in a just barely futuristic city), but... the most jarring thing to her in terms of what she missed out on is just. Flipphones are no longer popular. Other than her family, she's only close with one other person... who just so happens to be a ghost, and therefore both 1. Wouldn't change much over the timespan due to how long she's been a ghost and 2. Unlike her family, was aware that something happened, since she could see the ghost-of-a-ghost Maggie left behind (The ghosts name is Opal, she positions herself as a sort of "guardian angel" figure, though she's not actually, and serves as just another parental figure for Maggie while also getting after the ghosts that constantly harass her to pass on messages to the living). Maggie has no real relationships outside of her family, and while her relationships with her family are massively impacted by her unknowing death, other than that... the timeskip itself doesn't weigh on her because she had no one regardless. Her struggle to adjust to everything thats happened would've happened regardless of the timeskip for her, because she was such an isolated shut-in that it's the same whether it happened the next day, or nearly a full decade later

So another very interesting thing is that you've actually completely seen where I was going with everything, in spite of everything I said being very surface level and not actually delving into the plot at all. I completely skimmed over Jenna (She's very important to the plot, but she's by in large a regular person as opposed to Maggie's... everything), but for some additional context, Jenna has a horrendously shitty homelife, so her moving in with Maggie is both a gradual process (It goes from spending time there, to spending nights, to eventually just never going back home and moving in fully), and also serves as an escape for her. Part of that is also, so vitally, the food aspect. For some additional additional context, souls essentially serve as a persons lifeforce, practically every bodily function is improved by a soul that's stronger, though the "strength" of a soul is essentially entirely random, and not dependent on the individuals actions of any kind. Maggie had a generally weird soul before (Seeing ghosts inherently means she has to have something going on with her soul), but when she wakes up after her death, her soul is now even weirder, and part of that is that it essentially lets her get away with bad habits she absolutely should be seeing more consequences for. She barely eats, and when she does, it's basically exclusively crackers and whatever other safe foods she has around the house, because actually making food is a level of care and effort she just... doesn't give to herself in the slightest. Part of Jenna staying with her is that Jenna, without really discussing it, entirely takes up the mantle of caretaker of the apartment, with the biggest task being food prep, Jenna sees Maggie's unwillingness to take care of herself and silently steps up and starts making her actual meals so she's eating properly.

The problem is is that this also kinda... just straight up sucks? Jenna doesn't think much of it, it's something that needed to be done so she's doing it, she wants Maggie to be well fed even if she won't do it herself, and she's already been responsible for making all of her own meals for years prior anyways, so it's just another thing she does. Except that's shitty! Maggie's seen firsthand how terrible her homelife is, and it really weighs on her how even in her escape from that, Jenna's still being put in a position where she feels like she must care for her or else she just won't eat properly. So food is such a massively important thing to both of them, it's this symbol of love for both of them, it's love on the part of Jenna, for stepping in and taking care of Maggie when she can't do it herself, and it's love on the part of Maggie, for realizing how her own bad habits impact the people she cares about and wanting to lift that weight by taking care of herself better. It's also very vital for Maggie because she just... doesn't... have hobbies. Learning how to cook becomes really her only hobby and she puts all of her love and care into it, because for the first time in a long while she's actually passionate about something! ...Unfortunately she also is very very bad at it. She's inventing new dishes like "Burnt Salad" and "Please Help I Fucked Up Kraft Mac N Cheese" and still having to have Jenna come in and help her. But it's the thought that counts, and it'll only be a matter of time before she can make something vaguely edible.

And finally, the stuff about names! I didn't post it here, but while idly talking about her in a Discord server I'm in, I definitely think that had I made Maggie like even a few months later than I would've done she would've been nonbinary. As it stands right now though, I'm saying she's probably some form of genderweird but too busy trying not to die to think about it <3 Growing up knowing that ghosts are real and routinely being shut down by authority figures in her life about it has made her very aware of how bullshit a lot of things are and how the people who claim to be knowledgeable tend to not know what they're talking about (Beyond just the "people don't think ghosts are real", she's also got ghosts willing to tell her when people are lying because they've got nothing better to do than just gossip) , so if she spent even just a moment thinking about gender as a social construct she'd instantly recognize that and probably take up some form of genderweird label, but as it stands she's just too stressed with Being The Protagonist to think about that

Now, the thing with Margaret. I'm not even going to lie to you, I think you made a better connection to how a name connects with community in terms of the narrative themes than I did. The thing with Margaret denying the name "Maggie" existed for two reasons, the in-universe explanation is that, with the little scrap of soul Margaret has leftover from Maggie, it's essentially working overtime just to keep her vitals working, it can't dedicate time and energy to making her an individual with preferences and a personality, so part of that is that she doesn't respond to "Maggie" because ultimately, that is not her name. Her name is Margaret and she's not going to respond to "Maggie" because "Maggie" isn't her name. Of course, out of universe the reasoning is that I wanted an easy way to distinguish between Maggie as she is the protagonist, and the version of her that lived in the years she was gone, so different names makes the most sense.

I think your connection to how name relates to community genuinely works on a level I hadn't fully pieced together myself yet and I really love that because I think that absolutely works with everything. One of the main conflicts of the plot is how Maggie is entirely disconnected from her family thanks to the years she was gone, with Margaret having no priorities beyond "survive", she basically never spoke with her parents or brother for years. While her family tried to reach out to her repeatedly (Especially given that, while they're unaware the truth of what happened the night Maggie was murdered, they do know something happened, and they believe that whatever it was severely traumatized her, and that's where the sudden and drastic shift in personality came from), there's a point where they just... gave up. She wasn't trying to talk with them or contact them in the slightest, so around a year or two after Margaret moved out, her parents gave up on her. Her brother would still be there a bit, but he also didn't really... try... anymore.

When Maggie wakes up, she tries to call her parents... and they don't pick up. They'd grown resentful over the years, and now that Maggie wants to talk to them, they don't forgive her for the years of not speaking to them, and aren't interested in whatever she has to say after nearly a decade of trying to reconnect with her and being met with nothing. It's her insistence that she wants to be called Maggie that actually gets her brother to realize she's telling the truth and that something happened. She shows up at his door, already something that Margaret wouldn't have done, and that combined with her being visibly upset when he calls her Margaret and tells him that's not her and that she's Maggie, it signals to him that whatever's going on is real (...though he would've figured this out eventually, given that she also literally 17 again and not in her mid-20s, and has a giant glowing stab wound in her chest). I think it works absolutely perfectly as being a symbol of community, her disconnect from her community is what led to her being called Margaret, and her desperation to be returned to that community is when she's Maggie again. So uh. Congrats on getting the themes of my OCs better than I did <3

And uhhhh closing thoughts! I honestly did still skim over the majority of the plot (Literally never even mentioned Eli or what's going on with her stab wound </3), but I think you reeeeally hit the nail on the head with everything I'm kinda getting at with these OCs, which is... frankly wild given how little main plot I actually got at. Basically everything I mentioned in my original post was the setup, not the main plot. But waaaaugh thank you for being so niceys to me and also giving me another excuse to ramble endlessly <3

[speremint]

Good Omens S2 Thoughts

OBVIOUSLY spoilers for GO S2 below, so if you've not seen, and don't wanna be spoiled, don't read!

The tl;dr of this long post is that I loved S2, it was a lot of fun, and I love that it focused more on Az and Crowley, but I also think it was a little out of pocket and a little messy in writing.

Anyway I fuckin.. am still processing all of what I watched, and am currently rewatching with a friend, too, but here's my jumbled thoughts on S2 and especially the final episode because I'm having many emotions and I need to get my thoughts out somewhere.

Listen. I would like to clarify that I loved S2 and I loved S1, and I think S2 was VERY smart to parse down on supporting characters and keep it stuck to Crowley and Aziraphale for the most part.

I'm assuming that S2 was made with S3 in mind though, esp after this post from Neil Gaiman, bc lord I will cry if there's no S3.

The focus on the story of Job I am being super optimistic in hoping that maybe it's Gaiman punching us in the throat with S2 before offering us a nicer S3... regardless though, I loved the season despite my minor criticisms.

I... do not have anything against Beelzebub/Gabriel, but holy shit was that out of left field for the ending... I just feel that, despite Gabriel having memory loss (it doesn't seem to be COMPLETE since it was kinda touch and go during scenes), they should've sprinkled in some sort of foreshadowing the his relationship or fondness of Beelzebub.

Have him at least not try to decimate that fuckin fly with books, or take an interest in books on forbidden romance, or rebellion against authority, or maybe just flat out have him be interested in Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship, or Nina and Maggie's. Just SOMETHING to set it up a little bit...

EDIT:: while rewatching, I suppose they hinged most of their foreshadowing in Beelzebub's passiveness and interest in Gabriel, but it's a little hard to have a comparison given how little they were in S1

It was only after I skimmed the GO tag that I saw people were pissed about Aziraphale's choice in E6 and I'm kinda just like ??? It's not OOC though... He's always been loyal to Heaven, and the times when he's been questioning, the biggest issue, is that Crowley was an enabler. He kept Aziraphale from REALLY facing the consequences of these decisions because he's acted as a safety net in some of the situations they're put in.

I love the added scenes of the past with Crowley and Aziraphale, they're fuckin great and I like that it continues to expand upon their relationship and "temptations", but I do think it was kinda reiterating stuff we knew from S1... even if it was good fan service, for lack of a better word. I just kinda wish they had sprinkled in more reinforcements of Aziraphale's fealty to heaven. Or, perhaps during the scene when Azira is worried he's going to become a demon, he could take that time to ask Crowley on his feelings on being a demon, and perhaps if he regrets it, just to also set up for the finale desire of Aziraphale in turning Crowley back into an angel.

Regardless though, S3, assuming there is one, will be a big wake up call to Aziraphale when he's left on his own and also under a tighter leash by heaven, especially since Crowley is gone. Also, expanding on Crowley being a high rank when he was an angel made my fuckin night, I still stick to the headcanon that he was the Archangel Raphael, don't @ me

I do think that... some of the stuff that happened in S3 did feel a little like a response to fans as well, since I know Gaiman is on tumblr and Ik the fandom has been really vitriolic over the fact that Az and Crowley didn't kiss or anything in S1... tbh I didn't think it was that big of a deal cause love is shown in many different ways, and I admit I do like that they kissed in S2, but it did also feel uhhh kinda spontaneous.

Not a bad thing, just wasn't expecting it. I did replay the scene bc I'm an angsty bitch. But yeah, I'm like ehhh.

Also Nina and Maggie randomly coming at the end to like.. sit Crowley down and be like "erm youre stupid and in love" felt very weird in a way I can't quite describe, but also felt kinda undeserved. Esp cause Crowley was like "eh I guess". I think the more subtle off handed chat he had with Nina about Aziraphale being his partner was a more elegant way of setting that up, and having him reflect on that instead would've been better. But also tbf he and Azira were being bitches and indeed messing with Maggie and Nina.

I don't like the term of describing content as "fanfic"y because a lot of fanfiction is super well written, but I think S2 was very... fan service-y... rather.

Which tbh I don't mind that much, esp given Gaiman really didn't want an S2 to respect Pratchett's passing as his cowriter. So... meh. I did genuinely dislike the ball scene at the end though. Just... it was really weird, and I'm not sure what they were trying to say with it, other than Aziraphale is fucking demented... and tbh he should've known better since the fucker's been on earth for ages, idk. After talkin with a friend, it just was a really weird scene, and if anything was OOC for him, I think it was that bc his removal of free will, speech, and even actions, was fucking insane.

Also I don't think John Hamm is attractive, so I tbh was just confused for a lot of his scenes that had interactions or alluded to him...

I liked S2, I really did. It was campy, it was a lil sloppy, but it was fun, and it gave a lot more Crowley and Aziraphale being a bitchy little married couple before their fuckin messy ass divorce at the end.

ANYWAY... I really can't wait to see what happens, and I am PRAYING that there'll be an S3. Until then, I will happily sit in my puddle of tears

[praxeus-13]

Nononono but also in that scene at the end of season 1 when they switch back I always felt the vibe was quite weird but I understand why now AND ITS BECAUSE AZIRAPHALE SAW IT AS A FUN LITTLE GAME, HE ASKED FOR A RUBBER DUCK, HE GOT MICHAEL TO MIRICALE HIM A TOWEL,, BUT CROWLEY HAD TO WITNESS AS HEAVEN, THE “GOOD GUYS” TRIED TO BURN HIS FRIEND TO DEATH !!! AZIRAPHALE DIDNT THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE DEMONS WANTED TO MURDER HIS BEST FRIEND BECAUSE TO HIM THE DEMONS ARE THE BAD GUYS AND THATS JUST WHAT THEY DO!! TO HIM CROWLEY IS THE EXCEPTION!! HE DOESNT THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT HIS “SIDE” THE SUPPOSED “GOOD GUYS” TRIED TO DO THE EXACT SAME THING TO HIM!! HE WAS RAISED IN WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A CULT SO HE HAS BEEN BRAINWASHED TO BELIEVE THAT HE IS ALWAYS THE ONE IN THE WRONG, THAT HE HAS TO APOLOGISE FOR NOT ONLY HIS ACTIONS BUT HIS THOUGHTS!!!!!!

And furthering on that point Maggie constantly thought Nina’s relationship issues were her fault, to the point where she just immediately apologised every time Nina mentioned the relationship issues! And that’s SO Aziraphale, that’s how he has been groomed to think and act. It is something that it at his core, right near the center of his being, it is a reliable belief system to fall back on every time he becomes unsure of himself and his actions - especially when he goes against what Heaven have told him to do!! They tell him that something is bad, he does it anyway, he feels guilty and believes he should be punished, because that is what he has been told. When he does something that goes against Heaven, he doesn’t automatically think about all the good that that action has caused in the aftermath of it, he thinks about how awful he has been because that is what he has been trained to think.

This of course meant that The Metatron simply had to use good old fashioned manipulation tactics like the whole honeymoon period thing in the manipulation cycle or the “you have finally proven yourself worthy and we are going to give you everything we have ever told you you wanted”. Which also feeds into Aziraphale’s whole “I am different I can fix the institution” line of thinking, because the Metatron just told him he was special and essentially gave him a very big present to make it seem like they were sorry or whatever for how they treated him, but actually it was just more manipulation.

NOT TO MENTION!!! Aziraphale didn’t just look conflicted after that kiss, I’m pretty sure he looked disgusted (I am autistic and not good at facial expressions sorry if I’m wrong on that)! Crowley had, in Aziraphale’s mind, just told him that he did not want to be an Angel, a good guy, and Aziraphale has been told his whole life that that is the worst thing anyone could ever be - and Aziraphale thinks that’s what Crowley wants!! He is so so conflicted and he feels guilty and disgusted because that is what religious cults do and, in the Good Omens universe, that is what Heaven is - they literally fit the BITE model of authoritarian control!!

Uhhh so bottom line is Aziraphale has essentially been raised and manipulated in a cult and his character is in no way out of character at any point in this season.

[clancyycat]

hello beloved can I get uhhh 17, 31, 52, and 88?

a fun fact is that the number 88 has always made me think of apple pie. whatever

love YEWWWW

hello my beloved wife!!! you certainly may:)

associating the number 88 with apple pie feels like. synesthesia adjacent? that’s sick i dig it

i’m giving you the colors that i see with these songs bc i know you’ll appreciate it. might keep doing it for the rest of them. we’ll see

17: talk too much - renee rapp | black + deep neptune blue. with a little bit of gray + dark yellow

31: backslide - twenty one pilots | purple-gray, black, and a muted, pale blue

52: overnight - maggie rogers | navy + purplish indigo, some white

88: getaway car - taylor swift | dark purple + lavender, black + white

loveee YEW

[icepixie]

20 questions for fic writers

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

158 (22 of these are fanvids)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

430,454

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Many. The top 5, per AO3, are Babylon 5, due South, Stargate SG-1, Farscape, and Northern Exposure. The most recent have been Strange New Worlds, China Beach, BBC Ghosts, Enterprise, and DS9. (Though to be fair, DS9 is an old fandom I started writing in again, and China Beach has been a mainstay since ~2014. Farscape...uhhh, oh, wow, I last published something for that in 2003.)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

I'm adjusting for the fact that the Agent Carter fics have by far the most kudos simply because it's the one large fandom I've written in. I'll count one of them and then go to the next-most-kudosed.

Necessary (Agent Carter; for once in her life, Peggy needs Jack for something)

Moves in the Field (The Cutting Edge; Yuletide fic where Doug and Kate visit Doug's brother and hometown)

Closing the Circuit (Enterprise; Baby Elizabeth lives and Trip and T'Pol spend their first night as parents)

Imperfect Recall (Strange New Worlds; Una and Chris recall his invitation to spend shore leave together 20 years ago very differently)

My Late Enchantments Still in Brilliant Colors Shine (Babylon 5; Susan Ivanova runs into a technomage)

5. Do you respond to comments?

98% of the time. Occasionally if it's a busy week they get away from me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Either The Snow Maiden (Susan Ivanova childhood angst) or If Equal Affection Cannot Be (Marcus Cole, death and poetry) or Amo, Amas, I Love a Lass (more Marcus death and pining). Babylon 5 is the only fandom I've ever really gone angsty in.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Like...most of them? I'm not much for angst. I guess A Way to Walk on Water and Not Drown ended with the big theatrical happily ever after business...

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I feel like I got some sort of weird LJ comment once, but I barely remember it and it may have been more spam than anything.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Love me a good crossover. I don't write them often because doing them right requires a lot of thought, but they're very fun to do. I've written the most for due South, and the conceit of "Fraser and Thatcher come to New Burbage for Shakespeare-related reasons" has worked well for me. I also quite like the Wonderfalls/Fringe crossover I did back when Peter was missing...I felt like I had a cool idea I followed through on, and the canons meshed better than one might expect at first.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

I vaguely recall someone asking permission to translate something into Russian once.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

When I was 13 or so, with a RL friend, we wrote several hamfistedly shippy DS9 and Voyager fics together over the (landline) phone.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

AO3 says it's Fraser/Thatcher (due South) with Ivanova/Garibaldi (B5) a very close second, which seems about right. I'm also extremely fond of Maggie/Joel (NX) and McMurphy/Richard (China Beach).

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I'd love to finish the "Ivanova and Garibaldi try to honeymoon on Earth and get swept into defying a political plot against the president" fic I started years ago, but it always seems to require more plot than I want to deal with.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. I can't write it unless I can hear it in the character's voice in my head, and it seems to serve well for accurate characterization.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot. Plot plot plot plot plot. I just want to write characters vibing with each other, not have them do things!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've done it a couple times. Most of it was Russian, for the skating RPF, and for that I just googled a lot and apologized for any errors in the notes. I think it adds some flavor, and unless you're doing something really specific you're probably framing it so someone with no knowledge of the language can get the gist, so even if you've gotten it wrong it doesn't matter that much.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

It was either DS9 or Voyager. I would say I deleted all the evidence, but alas, usenet is forever.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

The Future an Affirmation (China Beach; the AU where McMurphy and Richard get married and we follow them for the next 25 years. Except backwards, because I very much enjoyed writing it like that. I feel like I effectively packed all my thoughts and feelings about McMurphy into that fic and did justice to what she would have done and been had these circumstances played out.)

I have a lot of honorable mentions, but maybe the most honorable is Out of the Ashes, a Northern Exposure fic where Maggie resorts to staying with Joel after her mother burns her house down. I got a fair number of "this reads just like an episode" comments, which I was quite proud of.

[gaykneecaps]

nickname: jaz/427

zodiac sign: pisces

height: 5'6/5'7?

last thing I googled: cabbage man

amount of sleep: uhhh 5-6 hours per night?? dont know ab last night

dream job: nuclear scientist/twitch streamer

movie/book that describes me the most: blue lily, lily blue by maggie stiefvater!

favorite song: call me what you like (lovejoy) or saccharine (jazmin bean)

favorite instrument: kazoo

favorite aesthetics: cannot pick because all my alters like different ones! main ones are punk, dark academia and like. whatever rain against windows is

favorite author: maggie stiefvater

random fun fact: one man was exposed to 20 sieverts (over 2000 rem) of radiation and survived for 83 days

@moonysfavoritetoast@elynalime@catboyrichardkarinsky@i-may-be-an-emu@apollolovescheesecak and anyone else i forgot :)

hehehe starting another tag gamee

nickname : irl i dont rlly have one?? also dont think i have one here??

zodiac sign : cancer <33

height : 5'6 (168cm maybe??)

last thing I googled: the road toll from where we stayed at the beach to home

amount of sleep: bro like 6 then i was up for a few hours then 2 more

dream job: upper high/uni teacher (specifically english and humanities) but if not idk i just wanna sit in my room with my silly little guys

movie/book that describes me the most: movie would probably be ladybird it makes me so fdahfdhalk

favorite song: atm gibson girl by ethel cain (been listening to her album recently fdhlhfald)

favorite instrument: to listen to, i lovee the sound of orchestral string instruments in pop/modern songs. to play would be drumkit or guitar

favorite aesthetics: omggg so many but i love downtown girl/rockstar girlfriend (even tho i AM the rockstar and the girlfriend ehehe)

favorite author: as of now octavia e. butler

random fun fact: my favourite potato chip flavour is sea salt and balsamic vinegar

npt <3 @zzzzzzzzzee @dandelions-fly-in-summer-skies @literatureisdying @tellme-o-muse @recklessandyoung @holdmyteaplease @strawberryloveyyy @syzygy-yzygy @svnflowermoon @ineedibuprofen @august-taylors-version @a-portal-to-nowhere @qwerty-keysmash @judeisthedude @wastedonthesebutterflies @skeelly @trying-to-be-cool-abt-it @bookscorpion73 @mandythedino @personifiedgoldenretriever @notatypicalhumanatall @isitoversnowtvs @stopurlosingme @evermore-4-life @evazlana @giveuthemo0n and anyone else that wants to join <33

[the-fiction-witch]

Secret

REAL LIFE SCANDAL COUPLE: TBS X READER RATING: CUTE

Thomas sat on the sofa holding a cup of tea, he looked stressed, tried, exhausted, holding his mug like it was a about to be violently ripped away from him. "So. Some shit had happened" he says "and... I am doing this, so I can sit down and just. Explain. Because alot of things have changed, most of you know some of them. Some of you might know none of them but never the less, I shall explain them" he says sipping his tea "y/n is not here, well she is but... Upstairs, she knows I'm filming thought" he says "I don't know quite where to start so... Let's try the beginning" he began "back many many years ago when me and y/n first met, I had a crush on her that's not a secret that's something I think most people know. Because she worked in the garage I was working in and I just... I had a crush a little just teenage boy crush on her and we both dated other people and grew closer and friends as the years went on and then we found ourselves single at the same time and I just kinda went for it I asked, she wasn't actually that enthusiastic if I remember correctly I think her actual response was uhh yeah sure why not which I'm not gonna like doesn't fill you with confidence" he laughs "and we just kinda clicked. It was like being freinds but longer, and we'd kiss, and cuddle, and hang outs turned into date nights, and weekend trips turned into romantic getaways, and... We were happy" he smiled "we decided very early on, that I wasn't something we wanted to be public with, we didn't want to be social media, or on camera anything like that partly just to keep that part of our lives privet because there is so much you expose with interviews and with cameras around all the time there is a lot you expose about yourself and your life and I think we just wanted to have something that was ours that was our secret, but the secret is not so secret anyone." He says having some more tea "I think part of it was natural in the sense that we became lazier with it, we stopped censoring ourselves and limiting what we could do because... We're where happy, we where overexcited like you always are when your in a relationship you start to let your guard down alot more and it became atleast I felt like more of covering it up that became important, I agreed with it initially but when we started getting later into the relationship I started to not like it as much because.... I love her, and I don't want to cover that up, I don't want to have scheduled times when I can and can't kiss and cuddle my girlfriend, I wanted to tell friends about us, I wanted to tell Interviews and magazines about her but I couldn't and that started to... Not annoy me but frustrate me" he explained "but she still had a point people where still going to bother us and it was making something public that we wanted to keep privet. So we made backstories and plots to hide it and to explain everything, And... I do believe the video got put up by sally the outtakes of us talking and know everything has been released I guess some things are... Kinda obvious but here we go. I am officially for the first time in here, I am telling the truth, the complete uncensored truth." He says "you wanna help me out here sweetheart?" He asks to off camera "Are you and y/n dating?" Y/n asks off screen "Yes." "What is going on with the house I swear one day the sofa is in one house the next it's in the other" she giggled clearly reading questions "It's bullshit. It's one house, two bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen, we just moved it around and used... Angles and stuff the two houses is bullshit, we have loved together for about nine years we first moved In together into the flat where she first brought home hopscotch, the clip of me meeting hopscotch, I moved in about two weeks after that" "Is sally fired?" "Sally is not fired. Stuffs been worked out she's fine she's happy, editing away I assume, now I say that she'll probably do something mean and put like a dick overlay on my head or something" he sighed "You'll have to find out" "I Will. I will" he laughs "Where are hopscotch and jellybean?" "In there room, with there babies still all good just not been filming them" "Why are videos out of order?" "Because some things take longer to edit that's why something are out of order and why some videos get scrapped complete and are never finished, because by the time you cut it all out there is nothing left" "Are you ever gonna tell us how the Barbie cake tasted?" "No. That shit haunts my nightmares I would not wish that knowledge on anyone" "Are you ever gonna get married?" ".... Hum. That's a fun question, can I or do you?" "You do it your the one answering" "Okay, the answer to that is no. We are not gonna get married, because... We already are married, three years and we're very happy" "Semi happy" "Quiet you" he told her "Fun fact, Thomas on our wedding night attempted to get a lighter and set our marriage certificate in fire while swearing at me and saying good luck trying to get rid of me now! You can't return me without the receipt! And then jumped in a swimming pool" "I did that's true. I was fairly drunk" "Fairly?" "I think every single person at our wedding handed me a shot and I downed all of them I was handed which was a bad plan but there we go" "I think Jack and the boys caught on to that you where just shooting anything you where handed because they started giving you like fucking triple vodkas" "They did It was a weird day," "It was, have you stopped smoking?" "Yes. I was given the choice stop smoking on my own or loose a centimeter of my dick everytime she caught me with a cigarette so... I gave up" "You had to" "I did that's true." "Last two" "Oohh last two!" "What happened in the last video?" "In the last video, I had a bit of a meltdown because sally had revealed things, stuff was coming out without our control, the glass had been broken, the secret was out and we were in damage control twenty four hours a day damage control, and I just kinda snapped and obviously... I couldn't take it anymore, I didn't want the secrets, the bullshit, I just wanted to be... Happy. And, I think now that everything is in the open I think we can be" "What happened to y/n in the last video?" "Ooh okay, your okay?" 'yeah go on" "I don't know if this had come out or not but... What happened to y/n in the last video was a very very special moment that we caught on camera." He smiled "she all done?" "Yep" "Come on let me hold her" he whines putting his tea down y/n came from off screen in a little baggy blue dress holding a small baby in a blanket she carefully handed the baby over to him and he smiled widely giving the baby kisses and cuddles "hi, hello there little one, not thirsty anymore? Good girl" he cooed to her "this is Maggie. Maggie Sangster. She's uhhh... Help me" "Three weeks old" "Yes, three weeks old. You went into labor on camera" "I did, I'll talk you focus on holding the baby. I went into labor on camera, early which isn't an uncommon thing to be that early we just kinda had heart attacks which I think is fair. And yeah we went to the hospital and this little one was born." "So. We're going to be posting old stuff that didn't get posted before atleast till this one is a tad more manageable" "I have one more question though for the truth time Thomas?" "Yes?" "So you love y/n? Really?" "With all my heart sweetheart" he smiled giving her a kiss which made Maggie cry "alright, come on angel bed time" he told her kissing her little head and taking her off camera.

[lockawayknight]

hi i been inactive asf cus of work and life but man there’s been lots of good bb on my dash and it goes splendidly with the fact me and a pate mun pal had started a p8cr8 cosplay co-op file with our lads a few weeks ago and uhhh

well all that is to say bb au hc time while i finish lunch

perhaps one day i will have hcs/aus that appeal to general fanon but bb is my favourite game and therefore this is not one of those aus fnfnsk Guilty Pleasure Time

creighton is an escaped blood saint in my personal bb au. he’s the grandchild of holy blade lothian, who ofc was one of the church’s finest hunters, and while creighton (deadnamed by the church as saint camiel at the time) very much wanted to learn combat alongside his gunless granddad, he was forcibly being groomed for sainthood (needless to say!!! very much wasn’t down with that)

far from resigned to his saintly fate, nightmares which peered into The Nightmare™ were what alerted him to what could become of the church’s favourite saints — visions in his sleep of adella and the failures, the corrupted research hall, and even moreso what lies beyond the clocktower and high above the church’s spires — so he defected and escaped the church in a panicked rush (baby’s first axe murder,,,,,, so proud,,, he’s baby and doesn’t know how to fight very Correctly And Orthodoxly in this au but boy killing things really isn’t that hard once you break it down to its components huh)

anyway he’s got a bolt-infused hunter’s axe courtesy of his best friend who is a tomb prospector (that’s maggie), and he has decent innate arcane abilities from his being raised in the upper chambers & rankings of the church, beside but slightly below the choir. don’t talk to him or his sons* ever again (*various worms and slugs that shoot stars and tentacles and shit). he just wants to burn the fucking church, but at the same time, like,,,, his friends are there,,,,,,,, so it’s a dilemma. but fire’s cool. he thinks the powder kegs have got it right. electricity is fun. every beast in yharnam thinks he smells good tho so like, that’s weird. please help him he is full of so much rage and blood

also rip in pis eileen died to henryk in my file and i couldn’t forcequit out fast enough to stop it so v_v7 throw another trauma onto the pile sncncnnccnmcnfmc (but i might use that now-empty covenant rune spot for milkweed....🤔🤔 broccoli man,, broccoli plan,,,,,,)

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

Multiples of 6 for the OC asks!

AYYYYYYYYYY THANK YOU

i think for this one i’ll answer each question with three ocs for comparison >:V

(under the cut because, predictably, It Got Long)

-

6. Do they smoke or do they hate smoking. 

(origfic, unnamed superhero verse)

-

Neil: won’t touch cigarettes, but has been known to smoke a bowl every now and then when his anxiety gets the best of him. he doesn’t like doing it--he’s internalized some pretty negative shit about how it means he’s a trashy, weak-willed loser who can’t handle reality--but since meeting nads and then beth, he’s eased up a lot on the guilt and is able to relax more.

Nads: smokes cigarettes, but only if they’re stolen. she’s got an active lifestyle to say the least and she doesn’t want to risk fucking up her lungs, so that’s her compromise. my god does she love her weed though

Beth: smokes cigarettes to take the edge off her anxiety when she has to go outside during the day. she knows they’re worse for her than weed, but she’s wary enough of her liminal space powers without imagining what they might do if she got stoned.

-

12. What’s an outfit they’d despise wearing Vs one they’d love wearing? Draw it! 

(Tales of Arcadia; i’m godawful at drawing clothes so i’ll just describe them as best i can ashdflkshdfkl)

-

Liyen: loves comfortable, understated, professional-looking masc clothes, usually in muted shades of gray, blue, or black. give them a fuzzy turtleneck sweater and black pants and they’re happy. meanwhile they’d be SUPER uncomfortable in loud, clashing colors or anything too femme. 

Schommag: Does Not Like Clothes That Will Get in Her Way, also not a big fan of dressing femme with very few exceptions (the right Little Black Dress, for example). give her what she needs to get around the woods and stay out of her way. that said she does love showing off her muscles, so she wears a lot of tank tops and sports bras (and sometimes no top at all, if she can get away with it). 

Oryalv: VERY femme, particularly business casual. this man loves his pantsuits. meanwhile his nightmare is middle-aged high school coach aesthetic. put him in a t-shirt and khakis and he’ll start pouring smoke like a teakettle

-

18. Have they ever committed a crime? How? Why? If not, then what’s their opinion on crime?

(origfic, unnamed VALENTINE DON’T DO THAT verse)

-

Valentine: has been made complicit in a lot of their family’s cutthroat-noble shadiness growing up, is otherwise a law-abiding sort up until they jump off the slippery slope and get the war crime ball rolling in earnest. Whoops

Edmund: has gotten into plenty of cutthroat-noble shadiness of his own volition, thank you very much. unlike valentine he’s a whole lot more inclined to go UHHH and pull up when it comes to war crimes

Marcel: LOVES war crimes. LOVES them. would marry them if he could. lucky for him he’s captain of the guard and has plenty of opportunities. will otherwise use the law as a bludgeon but i don’t think he’s too bothered about it for its own sake

-

24. Mcdonalds, subway, or KFC?

(Final Fantasy Tactics A2)

-

Nebilim: subway, grease is sensory hell and makes him sick and it’s the easiest place to avoid it. the number of variables per sandwich make him anxious, but if he has to pick one then fuck it, it’s worth not putting grease in his body.  

Moovry: loves grease with all his somehow-still-functioning heart, would bring his own beer keg to KFC and refuse to leave til he’s finished his fourth bucket of chicken

York: MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS. gets the happy meal and then uses the toy to test their black magic minispells. we hardly knew ye, beyblade 

-

30. Have they ever dreamed about another oc?

(Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, taxidermy/doll horror cw)

-

Faerna: has dreams about missing his mother sometimes. he hasn’t seen her in a long time, and for all he knows she thinks he’s dead, but he can’t bring himself to go back and look for her when he doesn’t know if she’ll approve of the life he’s chosen for himself. for all he talks himself up, not everyone’s happy to have a thief and a conman for a son.

SkekNev: has recurring dreams about the victims of their taxidermy coming back to life. less of a HOLY SHIT THE DOLLS ARE ALIVE nightmare for them, more of an anger/anxiety nightmare because stop that, stop having autonomy, i made you like this for a reason.

Aivne: dreams a lot about her little siblings. outright nightmares, semi-lucid rehearsals of danger scenarios, memories from before they lost their parents.

-

36. If they’re nonhuman, what’s their opinion on humans?

(origfic, faeverse)

-

Aislinng: vampire/incubus, more specifically A Dracula Lookin Motherfucker. depending on how much of a bastard he is in a given au, humans are usually somewhere between ‘fun to dazzle with my Supernatural Charms’ and ‘boring. where are the interesting people to torment’

Meadowsweet: rabbit faun. depending on which of the two wildly different versions of him we’re talking about, he either treats humans with the same goodwill as anyone else who might need his healing, or looks down on them and considers them fair game for whatever evil bastard he’s pining after this week.

Agaric: aislinng’s son with a forest spirit, so fuck if i know what to call him at this point. humans tend to find his brand of quiet, aloof awkwardness either offputting or endearing; either one is mortifying, and he’d mostly rather just keep to himself. 

-

42. What’s their standpoint when it comes to washing hands?

(origfic, bumfuck nowhere cult)

-

Cristina: obsessed with cleanliness, washes her hands constantly, crissy please you live in the desert

Skinner: if my hands are clean i can’t wipe them on cristina’s robes now can i

Rosemary: who needs to wash hands when you’ve got tentacles ;)

-

48. If they were defeated fairly in battle, would they accept and move on or throw a fit?

(origfic, slasher movie slaughterhouse dimension)

-

Maggie: will stay down and let you think she’s beaten, until you take your eyes off her for a second too long. then she’ll go for your hamstring

Dee: will accept it and move on, but will also try to make you feel like winning wasn’t really important anyway. maggie loves her dearly but she is kind of infuriating to everyone else

Esau: is delighted when somebody beats him, because if they’ve gotten that far they’ve committed at least one horrific atrocity and will have to live with that forever (if not embrace it). the real treasure was the corruption and PTSD we found along the way. no wonder maggie kind of hate-connects with him, he reminds her of dee lmao

-

54. Have they ever lost anyone?

(misc origfic)

-

Gray: lost the person who summoned them, gave them form, and taught them how to speak. once she died, all they knew was that she’d stopped coming, and that their only friend--their only contact with the world outside the cave--was gone. they’re there alone for a long time before a hitchhiker stumbles across them, and now they’re clingy as fuck and terrified of being abandoned again.

Ashdown: lost her wife the spring before her story begins, which left her so depressed she didn’t bother flying south for the winter with everyone else. she does eventually find love again, after coming to terms with the fact that what she’s lost isn’t the only thing she can ever have.

Jake: lost his older brother as a kid, which might or might not be why some fuck haunting their own fursuit recruits him to help with their unfinished business.

-

[DYING WHEEZE]

thank you again for the questions!!! i have. so many ocs. SO many ocs, and it’s always fun to get a chance to trot a bunch of them out, especially with a good range of questions like these :D

[samthecookielord]

Alegreya: fun fact, her initial reason for wanting to take alice with her was because she saw a doctor and was like "sweet. free healthcare" and made an empty promise to defeat the necromancer so alice would join her. Over time though, she started to actually care about alice as a person, and appreciate the fact that alice was looking out for her at all

If Alegreya were to become a recruitable companion, I think you would have to pay her meat first lol. and maybe at first a bunch of her level up events are paying her more meat in exchange for improving her stats, until eventually you dont have to pay her meat anymore because you've grown close enough <3 and she even starts getting back meat for you

Carimus: He wanted to travel alone, especially since he had done Boring Springs last out of the three protags in 2b1ew, so half of his options were already on the road lol. Gary happened to be not killed by the others, so he kinda just started following Carimus around. Idk, maybe he smelled funny lol. And carimus just couldnt get Gary to leave him alone, so Carimus just begrudgingly let Gary tag along. Plus, Carimus was already fluent in goblintongue before Boring Springs so thats a bonus.

He would be so hard to make your companion. You would have to encounter him several times in wander events until finally you get a stat check where you ask him to tag along with you (AKA pov youre gary sfdjhkfhsdjkskfjdhkdsf) I think he'd also be one of the only pardners that follows you into el vibrato rooms and comments on them. he levels up when you defeat el vibrato drones

Maggie & MBC: bunching these two together since they both share a companion (Obie obie obie obie obie). The main reason why they started traveling with obie is mainly because maggie and obie instrument buddies what more can i say. And also the whole thing of obie helping maggie figure out instruments in the first place since flo didn't have any experience beforehand lol. and then when mbc starts getting hashtag evil, obie stays despite his hobo instincts telling him to book it because he doesnt wanna leave maggie to deal with this alone. also technically mbc gets an additional companion (molly) for when she splits up to do mainly mob stuff but i havent really thought much about that

theyre probably really easy to get to be your companions, just be friendly to them lol. theyre a two for one btw <3 mbc is the one that actually does stuff in fights.

Bonus bonus: I DO HAVE A !!!! OC THAT IS INTENDED TO BE COMPANION its jimmy <3 they are so so so nice and friend shaped. you probably find him in like gray county or something. hes just in the middle of nowhere mopping the floor lol. or maybe you specifically find him at the uhhh hellstrom factory place? i think thatd be funky. you could either beat him up and miss out on jimmy companion or you could pass a low mysticality check to realize theyre not actually here to hinder you in any way lol.

it would go similarly to this post but not exactly because i just set that post in like a hypothetical void with no setting in mind. fun fact i actually made that post into a thing you can play but theres like a high chance the site wont even load lol and also its one of those wips you just never get around to finishing

his main weapon is a shadow mop which deals spooky damage AND is effective against shadow creatures. main attack is just smack opponent with mop lol and other action is to leave a puddle in front of a party member, which causes an enemy to slip and take damage before they do their attack on that party member

anyways vignette 1 would be at government valley actually, where jimmy puts in his 1 second notice of resignation and escapes narrowly, which boosts his speed. and then second vignette is at sit where they get the janitor job they actually wanted! this unlocks a third action which is uhhhh idk probably something cool

jimmys ending would be he simply explodes the shadowcaster because hes so cool and awesome /j

WEEK 4 QUESTIONS - COMPANIONS

Hey guys it's another week and things have been a little crazy maybe lol... Here we go for this week's question though! Companion centered!

Why do your characters travel with their companions? If not limited to the game events, how would their first meetings have gone?

As a bonus question, what events would need to happen if your character were a recruitable companion?

Bonus bonus: Do you have any OCs that could be companions? Tell us about them!

[wellhellsbelles]

Hi! i absolutely loved both the 1st chapter of to the rythm of your wild heart and the mini fanfic you wrote :) i found somewhere this prompt that was like farkle and riley are best friends and they work as teachers in the same school and their students ship them and have bets on when they are going to finally admit their feelings for eachother

omg thank you so much!! i’m having such a fun time writing all these prompts, and this one ended up being my favorite by far (especially considering the word count is uhhh 7.1k whoops lol) 

Enjoy!!! :)

ao3 link or read below

//

Even if the universe hadn't pre-ordained them getting together, their students would've forced them in that direction.

OR

The one where Farkle and Riley are teachers, best friends, and their students are maybe a little too involved in their love lives.

(i. the challenge)

“Okay, I know I’ve said it the last few years, but this will definitely be the year my photography class beats your puny little physics class,” Riley told Farkle, dropping a box full of supplies on his desk. He peered up from his computer, adjusting his glasses as he quirked a brow at his best friend.

“So that’s how we’re starting tomorrow? With a fresh cup of competition? What happened to Miss ‘I-Wanna-Take-It-Easy-This-Year’?”

“That was summer Riley. She’s different, you should know this by now, Farkle,” Riley scoffed. “And besides, that was before I was able to get funding for really cool cameras for class, photoshop for all our computers, and was given the greenlight to start photography club. Face it, Minkus, you’re toast.”

“Okay, Riley. Whatever you say,” Farkle rolled his eyes at her, stealing a sip of coffee from the mug on his desk (Riley got it for him a couple of Christmases ago and he loved it; it said, “I don’t give a flux”, and had a helpful diagram underneath that she couldn’t even begin to understand.)

“Damnit, Farkle! Stop using your stupid head games so I can feel victorious! I know you’re in this just about as much as I am, so stop feigning disinterest. I will be the best teacher this year for once! All of those physics students are going to be begging to be in my class!” Riley shouted, picking up the box off his desk and disappearing out of the room. Farkle listened to the sound of her sneakers squeaking against the hallway tile fading out in the distance, shaking his head and chuckling as he continued typing away on his computer.

//

(ii. the meeting)

Riley spotted him hiding amongst the teachers filling up the auditorium seats for their mandatory teacher orientation for the beginning of the new school year. It warmed her heart to see him sunk low in his chair, trying to appear invisible and yet clearly waiting for her if the denim jacket draped over the seat beside him was any indication.

They’d done this meeting numerous times now since they started—they’d met five years ago, both new teachers to the school and unsure about their place amongst the other staff. Riley had been nervous as hell, but as soon as she saw Farkle sequestered to one of the rows further back by himself, she realized she wasn’t alone. She took a seat beside him, introduced herself despite his desperation to remain unseen, and from then on they were glued to the hip, the best of friends. Neither of them had been apart from one another during any school function, and they didn’t intend on changing that.

He was her partner in crime, after all.

“Miss me?” Riley asked when she reached him. Farkle breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed her, picking the denim jacket up off of the seat and gesturing beside himself.

Even after all this time, he still remained nervous at the beginning of the year, still hiding himself away from the rest of the staff he knew well by now. His penchant for anxiety was a curious one, but not anything Riley chided him for. She’d done her job by helping him get acclimated to everyone else and was definitely pushing it by encouraging him to sit closer to the rest of the teachers during these meetings; she chose which battles she fought very carefully.

“You’re late by five minutes,” he said pointedly, and Riley rolled her eyes.

“So dramatic, Farkle.”

“I prefer ‘reasonably ceremonious’.”

“Whatever you say. Now, did you bring our entertainment or what?”

Farkle flashed his phone, showing off an image of a bingo sheet.

“Bingo,” he smiled cheekily, “It’s an updated version. I think I notice new quirks about Principal Carson every year.”

“As long as the bingo space is ‘Gals and Pals’, then we’re good as gold,” Riley told him.

“Oh, you know it is. I did have to replace some of the obvious Einstein quotes into their own category to make room for the comedian stool and water bottle.”

“It’s like he wants to do standup. I think we should just encourage him to do standup, it’d be a wonderful time,” she laughs.

“It’d be fantastic, but then we’d be out of a principal. He’d be too good,” Farkle said, and Riley’s laughter quickly turned to a full-out peal. Some of the teachers around sent her looks of disdain and she cut herself off, but not before allowing one last cackle to slip past her lips.

“Alright, gals and pals! Are we all ready to get started for our new school year? I know I am!” Principal Carson exclaimed, taking his place at the front of the stage. “We better get started, because as Einstein said, time is relative!”

“Wow, two in one go. This is getting to be too easy,” Riley whispered, and Farkle couldn’t help but agree.

 //

 (iii. the bet)

Riley watched with amusement as all her students gathered around one student in particular, whispering in hushed, conspicuous tones. She loved her advanced photography class because they all had been together for so long, had formed their own friendships with one another after sharing the same class. They were sort of one big family at this point, and it wouldn’t be the first time they’d done something sneaky behind Riley’s back.

It’s only the second week, Riley thought, What could they possibly be planning?

“Alright guys, break it up. Don’t you wanna learn some neat photoshop tricks?” Riley asked rhetorically, waving her hands apart to mimic separating.

The students fled to their seats, allowing her to finally see the student in question they had been crowding around. The girl, a small red-head named Penny, was busy compiling a stack of cash and then shoving it into a plastic bag, and despite knowing Penny was harmless, Riley didn’t want to leave the matter.

“Penny, whatcha got there?” Riley said, pointing to the money. Penny shrugged.

“It’s the pot. I’m the bookmaker.”

“Bookmaker?”

“Ms. Matthews, no offense, but please follow along. It’s not that hard; I’m taking bets.”

Riley narrowed her eyes at her student.

“What could you guys even be betting on? We’re in a high school,” Riley mused, bewildered. “Also I am not about to let you guys run a gambling ring under my nose. That reeks of something I can get in trouble for.”

“Relax,” Penny told her, “It’s nothing bad. We’re all just placing bets on when Mr. Minkus is going to ask you out. Or vice-versa. Actually, there’s also a bet for if it happens at the same time. I think Frankie’s the one who’s got that bet, he’s been holding down the betting pool for the AP Physics class.”

“What?!” Riley exclaimed, “What do you mean you’re betting on us getting together?”

“Ms. Matthews, you and Mr. Minkus have been toeing around one another the last few years. We just figured we’d try and capitalize on it this year. I ran a soft betting pool last year sans money, and I think it turned out really well, personally,” Penny exclaimed.

“You two are just so cute together!” Maggie crooned from behind her.

“I really thought I was gonna win it, too, but then we came back and I had lost,” Jess pouted from the back of the classroom. Riley’s head was still reeling from the fact that her students were betting on her love-life.

“What made you think you were gonna win?” she asked Jess.

“Well, Tanner had told us that Mr. Minkus had moved into your apartment building at the end of the year, so I assumed it’d take you to the end of summer to get your crap together. I was wrong, apparently,” Jess said.

“Oh my god, I cannot have my students betting on my personal life. That is just all levels of wrong,” Riley announced, running her hands down her face. “Alright, no more of this! I am not condoning this strange gambling ring you’ve got going on. And Penny, you better tell Frankie to cut it out, too! Mr. Minkus and I need our students to recognize that there’s a reason we keep our personal lives out of the classroom. We’re here to learn, so if I catch you guys talking about it in class again, I’ll have no choice but to give you detention, okay?”

That effectively cut off any further chatter on the matter, and Riley sighed, shaking her head.

 This was going to be a fun school year, no doubt about that.

 //

 (iv. the new teacher)

“The kids have a bet going on,” Riley told Farkle three weeks later. They were waiting their turn in the makeshift buffet line in the cafeteria, paper plates in their hands as they made their second trip for dessert. A potluck had been set up after school for the staff to celebrate the first month of school going off without a hitch (it was always Riley’s favorite; Lisa the Latin teacher always brought homemade lemon squares that were to die for.)

“Oh yeah?” Farkle asked.

“Apparently they’re in conjunction with your kids, as well. I had to stop a gambling circuit with actual money from forming in my classroom, but I think it’s already too late,” she groaned, stepping forward when the line moved.

“Wait, my kids, too? I know we get competitive against one another but isn’t that taking it a little too far?” he said, eyebrow raised in concern. “What could they possibly be betting on, they’re high schoolers!”

“You know, I asked the same question. Penny thought I was nuts for pestering her about it.”

“Penny Miller? Notoriously shy Penny Miller? That Penny?”

“Yeah, she’s the bookmaker. I think I made her too confident in my class, if that’s possible.”

“I think someone has an inflated ego. Narcissus, eat your heart out!” Farkle exclaimed, clenching his fist. Riley jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

“Rude! I am not egotistic. I just know my worth is all.”

“Narcissistic,” he coughed, earning him a look of disdain from her.

“You’re mean, Farkle Minkus.”

“I am what I am,” he shrugged, grabbing a piece of cake to place on his plate. “This cake looks too good to be Stacy’s. Is it possible that she honed her cake-making skills this summer, because if so, I’m here for it.”

“Pretty sure the new teacher made it,” the teacher across from him, Landon from the history department, cut in. “Stacy had to go on maternity leave at the last second.”

“New teacher?” Riley furrowed her brows.

“Yeah, Isadora Smackle, teaches calculus. She’s right over there,” he pointed ahead to a small, lanky girl with tan skin, long raven hair, and black cat-eye frames. Farkle’s mouth dropped open and Riley had to poke him to get his attention.

“Farkle?”

“What?” he answered, not really paying attention as his eyes remained on the new teacher. Riley pouted.

“I wasn’t done telling you about the bet. Don’t you want to hear about it?”

“Yeah, sure, but could you give me a moment? I’m gonna go talk to that new teacher,” he told her as he walked off towards Isadora Smackle.

Riley felt a pang of disappointment go through her, but she ignored it for the sake seeming ridiculous. He was just going to go talk to the new teacher, it wasn’t like he was going to abandon Riley at the potluck. It was their tradition to go to these things and bear them together, because as much as Riley put on a front about being comfortable around everyone, it really was only because she had Farkle there to make her feel comfortable.

Without him it was like . . . it was like she was missing a limb.

Riley stole two lemon squares (what, she was feeling sorry for herself!) and sat back down at the table the two of them had once preoccupied. She pretended not to watch them from afar, but she couldn’t help herself in the end—she’d never seen Farkle put himself out there like this; it was strange. But there he was, standing in front of Isadora Smackle with a goofy grin on his face, and despite seeming stiff still, she seemed just as charmed by Farkle.

Suddenly Riley didn’t feel like eating her lemon squares.

She waited for him to come back, too, but after a long while, she realized that was a fruitless effort. Farkle was glued to the new teacher and Riley was left deserted, so she threw out her lemon squares, found her bag, and left to go finish work in her classroom.

And if she ignored the obvious hurt snaking its way down her throat, well . . .

 So be it.

 //

 (v. the grudge)

“Alright, I’m forcing you to eat with me, effective immediately,” Farkle announced as he barged into Riley’s classroom during lunch. She had her door shut to deter any office hours while she tried to catch up on grading, something that seemed to have been slipping by her lately.

The door was not shut, however, to one Farkle Minkus—she couldn’t keep him out even if she tried.

Riley eyed him warily as he set a bag down on her desk, pulling out the contents to reveal Chinese food from their favorite Chinese place down the street.

A bribe.

“Bribe me all you want, Minkus. I’m still busy,” she tried to brush him off, but Farkle was persistent. He didn’t take no for an answer, opening all the containers of food and placing chopsticks in front of her.

“Nope, not going to happen. You’re going to have lunch with me because snuck in all this food, and I’m not going to let it go to waste because somebody is being snippy with me,” he told her, tossing a plate in the only empty spot on her desk. “I hope you appreciate me because I bought orange chicken which I know you love and you know I detest, so dig in or so help me god.”

Well, Riley really couldn’t argue with that logic.

She sighed in resignation, abandoning her position at her computer and turning to face him. She picked up the chopsticks begrudgingly and began scooping rice onto her plate, a small smile on her face.

It was hard for Riley to stay mad at Farkle; he made it impossible.

“Fine, thank you for the food I didn’t ask for, Farkle,” she told him, emphasizing his name at the end for dramatic effect. The smug grin spread across his face quicker than lightning, and she would’ve done anything at that point to wipe it off (except she wouldn’t, she couldn’t.)

“You’re welcome, Riley. Now catch me up on stuff. I haven’t seen you in a hot second.”

“Penny’s still driving me nuts, there’s that. I know she’s still running that underground betting ring and it makes me so mad that I don’t know how to stop it,” Riley huffed. “Then, of course, I have to learn how to use photoshop along with the rest of the kids because I haven’t been able to afford photoshop on my own, so not only does my class get to fail, but they get to see me fail at it, too.”

“Riley,” Farkle said softly, reaching out to grip her hand, “You’ve got this. Your kids know how amazing of a teacher you are, and they know it’s as much of a learning curve for them as it is for you. You’ll get the hang of it because you’re Riley Matthews.”

She couldn’t help the feeling of warmth that spread through her body from his touch, how being around him alone made her mind ten trillion times calmer.

“Thank you, Farkle. For everything, really,” she smiled. Farkle smiled back at her, his mouth dropping open as he made to speak, but then Isadora Smackle (Smackle, she insisted upon being referred to as) opened the door and stuck her head through. Farkle released Riley’s hand at once, his attention turning to Smackle.

“Farkle, we have math club in five minutes! Did you forget you’re supposed to be going over important theorems in preparation for next weekend’s competition?” she asked. Farkle glanced over at Riley then back at Smackle, and Riley didn’t need to be a mind reader to know his decision.

“Go ahead, Farkle. Your math club needs you,” she told him, waving him towards the door.

“Rain check?” he asked as he stood up from the chair he’d pulled up to the desk. Riley nodded.

“Sure thing.”

Farkle waved and parted with a quick goodbye, disappearing out of Riley’s door and leaving her with a desk full of partially touched Chinese food.

 Your math club needs you, she said aloud.

 But I need you more, her heart cried out softly.

 //

 (vi. the planning committee)

As per usual, once October arrived, everyone began planning for the school’s fall festival. It was Riley’s favorite event of the year, the one she looked forward to every time autumn came around. She’d loved it so much her first year of teaching at the school that when the student council needed help after deciding to expand the festival outside of the gym, she volunteered without hesitation. And, of course, where Riley went, Farkle followed.

They always asked for volunteers inside of their classes, but this year Riley was proud that she could enlist her entire photography club to help, along with Farkle’s math club. Sure, things had changed between her and Farkle since the beginning of the semester, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t going to uphold tradition to help plan and set up the festival.

“We should be set for next week,” Rebecca, the student body class president, announced towards the end of their final meeting for planning. “I contacted all the food trucks that had said yes to confirm their attendance and they’re all still on board, Chelsea called the pumpkin patch to check and make sure the pumpkins would be delivered on time, all our booths have been divided between the photography club and math club, and we have a final announcement. Wanna take it away, Ben?”

Ben, the vice president, cleared his throat and a grin grew on his face.

“We didn’t want to say anything until the last minute just to make sure it was going to actually happen, but we booked a Ferris wheel this year!” he exclaimed. Everyone applauded and Riley’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

“That’s amazing, guys! This is going to be the best fall festival yet!”

“Thanks,” Rebecca said, a bashful smile creeping at the corners of her mouth. “Now, any last questions before we break until next week?” No one said anything, everyone in agreement that they had everything on lockdown. “Awesome! Thank you guys so much, and I can’t wait for next Saturday. This is going to be the bomb!”

Everyone began packing up, excited chatter filling the room as they all talked about the anticipated fall festival. Riley picked up her own bag and walked to meet up with Farkle, knocking her shoulder into his.

“Hey,” she greeted him cheerfully.

“Hey!” he echoed back, pulling his laptop bag over his shoulder and following her as they left the room they used for committee meetings.

“So, isn’t this awesome? We’ve got so many cool booths going on this year, food trucks, and a freaking Ferris wheel.”

“I know, I can’t believe how big it’s going to be. To think it was only a small set of booths and homemade crafts when we started out.”

“I loved it then, too, but I’m so glad we’ve been able to help it branch out a bunch. I just know I can’t wait to kick your ass at the ring toss. I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve been practicing all summer long,” she told him, smug. Farkle paused mid-step in the hall, a frown tugging the corners of his mouth downward.

“Uh, about that, Riley . . .”

“What?” she asked, glancing over at him. The look on his face was apologetic, and it suddenly dawned on her why.

“I asked Isadora if she wanted to go with me this year, I’m sorry,” he told her, brow furrowed.

“Oh. Okay,” Riley said, trying her best to keep her features schooled, “That’s . . . that’s fine. I’ll just help out with one of the booths this year. I’m sure Penny would love to have me help with pumpkin carving.”

“Riley, you love getting to do all this stuff at the festival. You don’t need me to have fun there.”

She shook her head.

“No, it’s really fine. I know Penny needed help with coordinating all the pumpkin stuff, so I’ll just do that. I want to see people enjoy it themselves more than anything, so this will make me just as happy,” she tried to reassure him, but her words felt flat even to her own ears.

“Riles . . .” Farkle trailed, wanting to fight her on the matter, but Riley gave him a sad sort of smile.

“I’ll be busy with work and photoshop classes, so see you at the festival?”

“Yeah, of course,” he agreed half-heartedly, and Riley waved goodbye before abandoning him in the hall to walk to her car.

 In that moment, Riley felt like she was losing everything. She didn’t want to, but her heart felt the loss all the same; Farkle was supposed to be her best friend, the one who she went to all these school events with, the person who stuck by her side no matter what. But now that Smackle was in the picture, Riley found herself abandoned at these functions more often than not. What was once enjoyable to her had hinged entirely on Farkle being there with her, and that realization left her feeling . . .

Alone.

She felt alone, and she hated it.

 //

 (vii. the festival)

Riley put on her favorite purple-striped t-shirt, overalls, black converses, and braided her hair into twin pigtails, preparing herself for the festival. She topped the look off by tying a bow around her head, looking at herself in the mirror with confidence afterward. She was determined to enjoy the festival despite the fact that she was flying solo this year, and really, she could. The festival was always her favorite and although her plans changed, she had a feeling she’d still have fun.

She’d be damned if she didn’t.

Riley grabbed her bag and left her apartment, locking the door and resisting throwing a glance at the apartment door across from her. All she needed to do was shut her brain off and not worry about anything, not bother being bent out of shape about the sudden shift in her life.

Easier said than done.

Her brain had this unparalleled habit of holding on to every worry and anxious thought that cropped up inside her mind. It was hard to just shut that off; it was all she ever knew. But she also knew that she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try to enjoy the day she’d been looking forward to all year long. It didn’t behoove her to ruminate, either, so she remained optimistic, actually thrilled to help carve and decorate pumpkins. Fall was still fall, her favorite season of the year, and nothing could stop her from that.

Not even dumb boys and dumb dates.

 The festival was an array of glowing lights when she arrived, and that familiar spark of overwhelming joy coursed through her at the sight. There were already cars filling up the spaces of the parking lot despite the festival not starting for another ten minutes, and Riley couldn’t believe her eyes as she got out of the car, the Ferris wheel standing tall in all its grandiose glory. She beamed at all the hard work coming to fruition, knowing for certain that this was going to be their best festival yet.

“Ms. Matthews, I can’t believe you’re helping me out with pumpkins this year!” Penny greeted her, face already covered in wild face paint that made her look like a scarecrow.

“Yeah, I’m excited!” Riley exclaimed. “I’ve seen the way you’ve manned this booth singlehandedly the last couple of years and can’t wait to help you out.”

“Do you mind setting out some pumpkins for me, then? I still have to get the paint set up for the stations,” Penny asked.

“Sure thing!”

Riley did as she was told, setting out pumpkins of all different shapes, sizes, and colors, admiring each one as she set them down. She was glad that they used pumpkins from a local pumpkin patch and that they didn’t just stick to the standard orange ones, but the other sorts of gourds that came in a variety of colors. As soon as she finished, she noticed that people had already started filing in, kids, teenagers, and parents alike. They all wore bright grins and their eyes sparkled in wonderment at everything around them.

It made Riley’s heart feel warm to see it.

They manned their booth until all the pumpkins had been given away and decorated, happy to see everyone decorate their pumpkins in their own styles. Riley found herself caked with purple paint up the entirety of her arms, and when Penny saw it, she added a brushstroke of orange to her nose.

“To balance it out,” Penny had explained. Riley couldn’t argue with that logic.

By the time the last pumpkin had been gifted, the last few people remaining at the decorating stand, a familiar pair of people arrived.

“Hey, guys,” Farkle said, Smackle at his side. Riley’s smile at him came and went within a few seconds, from the moment she spotted him to the moment she noticed his fingers laced with Smackle’s.

“You look like you jumped in a vat of purple paint,” Smackle pointed out to Riley.

“I may as well have,” Riley found her voice.

“Too bad you two just got here, we’re out of pumpkins,” Penny told them with a shrug.

“That’s okay, we were just stopping by here to check out how everything was going before heading to the Ferris wheel,” Farkle said.

“Oh,” Riley said, her voice small.

“Well, why don’t you two go enjoy it, then? We’ll finish up here ourselves, thanks for visiting!” Penny cut in, an urgent edge to her tone as she shuffled Farkle and Smackle away from their booth. Riley sighed, crossing her arms against her chest as a dry hurt stuck itself in her throat.

“Hey, wanna get some funnel cake? It’s on me, Ms. Matthews; you look like you could use some sweet, fried food,” Penny offered, and Riley didn’t even have it in her to try and fight her on it. She just nodded her head, waiting while Penny grabbed her purse and then tugged her along towards the funnel cake truck.

Penny was right, in the end. Riley’s mood peaked again at the first taste of powdered sugar and fried dough, bursting into a fit of laughter when she noticed Penny had sugar caked all over her face after two minutes of having the confectionary. They wandered around the rest of the festival just to check things out, but Penny remained silent for the benefit of Riley, who appreciated the sentiment very much so. It floored her how caring and amazing her students were, especially Penny who had managed to land herself on Riley’s list after the bet debacle.

“You know, I am sorry about the bet thing,” Penny announced later, breaking the silence. Riley peered at her curiously, finishing her last bite of funnel cake before responding.

“Thanks. It did annoy me, but it didn’t matter to much to me until recently.”

“Do you think,” Penny began, “And don’t get mad at me, but do you think there might be another reason it bothers you?”

“What do you mean?” Riley asked. Penny’s mouth opened to respond, but her bright green eyes peered over to the Ferris wheel, widening in surprise when she saw something. Riley turned in time to see what it was exactly that Penny saw—

Farkle and Smackle were on the Ferris wheel together, and he was kissing her.

Suddenly, Penny’s question to Riley made sense, and more than that, the entire time since Smackle had entered the picture. Riley’s heart plummeted in her chest, her eyes stinging with regret.

 Riley was in love with Farkle.

 But she had realized it a day late and a dollar short, and now she had to face the repercussions and watch as he fell in love with someone else.

 //

 (viii. the breakup)

Riley’s epiphany at the fall festival was earth shattering and it hurt like hell, but that was it. Life went on after that and Riley did her best to ignore her feelings. She knew in retrospect that it had made sense, but there wasn’t much that knowing could do for her now. So she put herself into making herself better at photoshop for the kids, even signing them up for a special class at a local community college that focused on basic fundamentals of photoshop.

Her life wasn’t what it used to be, sure, but she learned to be happy with that. And she was.

Penny didn’t mention the underground betting ring again. In fact, she made it her personal goal to become Riley’s aide in class, sticking to her like Velcro. Riley didn’t know how to feel about the fact that her current best friend was twelve years younger than her but having Penny around was a welcome distraction. She was sweet and it made her happy that she had such wonderful students. Penny was also incredibly talented and actually knew a few photoshop skills that helped Riley out immensely.

Riley hardly saw Farkle anymore.

They were still friends, of course, but he rarely made the time he used to to see her, instead focusing his time on the math club and spending time with Smackle. Riley figured that she needed the space to clear her head, anyhow, because as much as he was her best friend, she depended on him for a lot.

This was . . . this was good for them.

Or that was what Riley tried to convince herself of.

She missed him more than anything, and not just because of her new-found feelings. Riley missed Farkle because he was her person, her best friend, the person she could depend on no matter what. And right now he was doing the one thing she never thought he could do.

He was letting her down.

But she ignored it, pushing her emotions deep down into a cavern in her chest and locking it shut. Riley had to focus on teaching her kids and enjoying her photography club, and idle feelings about Farkle were making themselves an obvious obstacle to that. So she allowed him to fade into the back of her mind, and things got better little by little.

Right until he threw himself back into her life.

“Do you mind if I take a seat next to you?” he asked her one day during one of their monthly staff meetings. It hurt Riley that he’d even feel the need to ask, but she understood that things were different. Not unfixable, just . . . different.

“Of course,” she told him, gesturing to the open spot beside her. His long gangly limbs settled himself into the seat, and Riley tried her best to not be charmed by him.

It didn’t work; it never really could when it came to him.

“You’re not sitting with Smackle today?” Riley inquired, curious. He shrugged half-heartedly.

“We broke up.”

Oh.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be. We all have a whirlwind romances,” he said, trying to brush it off, but Riley could tell he wasn’t unaffected by it. She relaxed herself around him, unable to tame her natural instinct to comfort him.

“Farkle, romance is romance. You care and regardless of the amount of time you spend together, it still sucks when it ends, even if it’s on your terms. You’re allowed to be affected by the world around you.”

“Can we just talk about it another time?” he asked instead. Riley gave him a soft smile.

“Of course. Wanna pull out the bingo board?”

Farkle beamed.

“Do I ever.”

 //

 (ix. the crush redux)

The thing was, Riley loved holidays. She loved the major holidays—Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Halloween—all of them were her favorites. But she also loved the lesser-known or lesser-loved holidays just as much.

She was just a holiday fanatic.

So, despite the event not having as much traction as the fall festival, Riley still maintained excitement for the winter formal. Dances weren’t quite the same for teachers; they didn’t get to enjoy that wonderful feeling of teenage angst and romance, of nerves and excitement at the prospect of getting to enjoy time with your crush. But it had an air of fun attached to it regardless, so Riley helped plan for it all the same.

This was, of course, one of the tasks Riley never asked Farkle to help with.

She volunteered her time completely of her own volition because she genuinely enjoyed planning events for the school, so anything outside of the fall festival Riley assured Farkle he didn’t need to participate if he didn’t want to. And he didn’t want to—usually.

Which was why it came as a surprise to Riley when he arrived five minutes past starting time and sat beside her in the planning committee room without a single word, just pure determination on his face.

“What are you even doing here?” Riley had whispered, only to earn a hush from Farkle.

“Shhh. We’ve gotta focus right now.”

She huffed back at him but obeyed directions all the same, her curiosity by his presence still piqued, nonetheless.

Everything had gotten better between them; they’d spent the last month getting reacquainted with their friendship, not only spending time together in school but out of school, as well. He’d insisted on taking her out to eat every Friday, and the two of them created lesson plans together every week. There was just one small hitch in their friendship that made everything just a little more complicated.

Riley knew she was in love with him now.

That was something she could hold back easily before, when she knew he was unavailable and didn’t want to make time for her. But now that he was single, he wanted to spend every second with her, and it made Riley want to tear her hair out from the frustration that was bubbling up inside her.

At least she knew she had the angst and romance ready to go for the winter dance.

“Any questions?” Rebecca asked. Riley stared blankly at her, her brain having picked up on none of what Rebecca had been saying.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Farkle whispered to her when he noticed the expression on her face. Riley hated being an open book sometimes.

“Let’s split into partners to get some ideas flowing for decorations. We’ll come back in five minutes. Alright, break!”

Riley and Farkle turned towards each other, both knowing they were going to be partners without having to ask.

“So, the theme is ‘winter’,” Farkle said cheekily. Riley stuck her tongue out at him.

“Up yours, Minkus.”

“Ms. Matthews,” he gasped, acting mock offended, “This is not appropriate conversation for the children.”

“You’re such a nerd! We need to be coming up with ideas, let’s go. We don’t wanna look like idealess losers.”

“Okay, okay, we can start brainstorming. I just have one question that you’re going to have to answer me honestly,” he said. Riley quirked her brow.

“Oh yeah?”

“Can you promise me we go to the winter formal together? I missed being able to be with you at the fall festival,” Farkle told her, and Riley felt the blood rush to her face.

This isn’t a date. He’s not asking you out on a date; you’re just friends! It’s a friend thing, and you’re going to be chaperones, Riley tried to convince herself.

“Of course I’ll go with you, Farkle. There isn’t anyone else I’d want to go with than you,” she said, groaning internally when she registered the weight of her words. It was too late to take them back, but it didn’t seem to matter because Farkle was beaming from her answer.

“I can’t wait,” he smiled, and Riley knew from that point forward that she was in too deep.

 //

 (x. the winter formal)

Riley signed up to help place all the decorations for the winter dance, so by the time she’s finished, she knows she’s gotta perform a miracle to get back on time. She has to return to her place, shower, get dressed, and apply her makeup all within the span of forty-five minutes. So she set a timer on her phone, painted a look of pure determination on her face, and took off like a rocket (while maintaining proper speed in order to avoid traffic violations.)

By some form of divine intervention, she accomplishes her goal with five minutes to spare. She zipped herself up inside her dress—an icy-blue, knee length dress with a semi-sweetheart neckline, spaghetti straps, and a shimmery, chiffon skirt—and slipped on her silver, strappy high heels, checking her makeup in the mirror one last time to make sure it was perfect. Her doorbell rang and she grabbed her crossbody purse, rushing off to answer the door.

“Hi,” she greeted Farkle happily as soon as she swung the door open. He looked very handsome in his navy-blue suit and silver tie and Riley felt her hands grow clammy.

This was starting to feel a lot like a date.

In fact, when she appeared in front of Farkle, his mouth dropped open as his eyes raked over her, and butterflies began fluttering around in her stomach at the notion of him checking her out.

“Uh, you look gorgeous,” he told her, Adam’s apple bobbing hard in his throat. He held a hand out to her, obviously trying to regain his cool (something she’s never known Farkle to have once in the entirety of her knowing him). “Ready to go?”

“Ready,” she nodded, grabbing his hand. His fingers laced with hers and she stepped out to shut and lock her door, following him down the hall and to his car afterward. They didn’t talk, but Riley didn’t mind it at all.

 They arrived at the dance ten minutes after it began (they really didn’t mean to; The Backstreet Boys started playing on the radio and they had to jam out to it!) Riley smiled at all their hard work once they made it inside the gymnasium, happy to see it balanced out by the soft glow of disco lights they had placed all around. Iridescent snowflakes dangled from the ceiling, twirling around and shimmering playfully. Everyone looked wonderful in their formal outfits, all paired with huge grins just from having fun being out and around one another.

“Looks fantastic, Riles,” Farkle told her, nudging her gently with his elbow.

“I mean, I didn’t do all of it,” she shrugged, bashful, but Farkle shook his head.

“You still helped it look amazing. Anything Riley Matthews sets her mind to always turns out incredible.”

Riley wanted to squeal from embarrassment and giddiness from the compliments he was giving her, but she remained calm, instead tugging him towards the refreshments table. She scooped a cup of punch for him and then herself, and then they both stood off to the side of the gym in their own little area partially sequestered from the rest of the teachers. They made sure to do their job being chaperones, of course (high schoolers had a real knack for getting too close too one another for her comfort), but they also enjoyed themselves. Riley appreciated getting to spend quality time with Farkle, and he always knew how to make her laugh.

Then a slow song came on, one Riley could only call an indie slow dance song, and Farkle turned toward her with a sparkle in his eye that she couldn’t forget if she tried.

“Wanna dance?” he asked, his eyes bluer than a sky on a cloudless day. Riley could hardly find the words to say yes, so she nodded and allowed him to draw her out to the dance floor amongst the rest of the teenagers. He laid his hands on her waist while she hooked her arms around his neck and they swayed together rhythmically, their eyes never leaving one another’s.

“I feel silly dancing among all these teenagers,” she laughed.

“Do you wanna stop?” he asked.

“That’s the last thing I wanna do right now, Farkle Minkus,” she told him, her words soft as they left her tongue. Somehow, they had shifted closer to one another, and Riley could the ghost of Farkle’s breath on her cheeks.

“What’s the first thing you wanna do then?”

“I wanna kiss you,” she confessed, her eyes darting down quickly to his lips and then back up to his gaze. She wasn’t sure what had made her so brave but she was certainly glad for it, relieved to get that thought off her chest finally. And then Farkle said something that surprised her more than anything.

“I wanna kiss you, too.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Get the girl, Minkus,” she whispered to him. Farkle grinned and then leaned in, hovering for a second before pressing his lips against hers.

Nothing could have prepared her for the feeling of kissing Farkle Minkus—it was like electricity coursing through her system, all of her neurons firing off in her head at once. His fingers reached up to cup her face, the warmth of his hands burning an imprint into her skin.

Finally, her heart sang.

“Oh my god!” someone screamed behind them, causing them to break apart. Riley peered over Farkle’s shoulder and saw Penny standing there, pure elation on her face.

“Oh no,” Riley groaned into Farkle’s chest, and she felt the vibrations of his chuckle against her skin.

“I can’t believe I won the bet!” Penny continued, grinning ear to ear. Riley shot her a look of surprise.

“Wait, you guessed we’d get together at the winter formal of all things?”

Penny shrugged.

“I’m a romantic at heart. I had a good feeling about it.”

“Well, congratulations, Penny, but do you mind?” Farkle said. Penny turned red, sputtering a goodbye as she left them on their own. Riley laughed at the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

“What even are our lives?”

“The best ones out there, I’d wager. If I didn’t take this job, I’d never have met you, Riley Matthews,” Farkle told her.

“And I’d never have met you, Farkle Minkus. Guess life has a funny way of making things work out in the end,” Riley said.

Farkle agreed with her by pulling her in for another kiss, and Riley couldn’t help but think she had the best life in the entire universe.

[starsandwriting]

Hohoho, Santa's here!!! With a gift!!!

Hope you like this one too!! (Phone wallpaper!)

Now we shall play Q/A!

How are you doing? Health? Mental health? Physical?

When was the last time you did something fun that you enjoy?

Opinions on Maggi amd Yippee (very important question)

Have you read Throne of Glass or The Infernal Devices Series??

Any 5 songs stuck in your head at the moment

Take care!!

With love,

Santa.

Hohoho indeed :)

Sir i-

It looks so beautiful🥺🥺 (the edges got a lil cut off on my screen :( but its sooo beautiful i love it💕💕💕💕) (don worry imma fix those edges)

Ah yes the Q and A

Thank you for asking :) Im doing wonderful today!! My ring arrived this morning!!! I've been grinning like an idiot!!

Uhhh the mental health department could definately use some help, but :/ (physically im thriving tho🤸‍♀️)

Smthing i enjoy? Just 10 mins ago actually! I've been practicing talking in front of a camera and its *chef's kiss*. Most fun part of my day these days :)))

Maggie all the way babe (you're absolutely right this is a very imp ques. The only basis for discrimination should be whether a person chooses maggie or yippee)

I have, in fact, read the Infernal Devices, tho i could never fully enjoy Cassandra Clare's books :(

Aha! Songs! Hmmm let's see

The room where it happens

Teen idle

Prima donna

Dead girl walking (reprise)

Meant to be yours

My turn :)

Midnights or lazy afternoons? Favorite book? The character you relate most to? The song/album you relate most too? What's your favorite subject to study? What's your favorite topic to rant about to anybody who would listen?

Have a lovely day!

-Rishu

[mediawhorefics]

Helloo, for the movie game! 32, 37 and 48 :D

thank you for indulging me maggie <3333

32. Your most anticipated films.

god, remember when movies actually came out ?? feels like a lifetime ago...  i’m def. still super excited for chris nolan’s tenet and every day i think about the fact that my bi ass was supposed to see ww 1984 back in june 😭😭😭 i’m also looking forward to the green knight with dev patel and wes anderson’s the french dispatch.... i’m blanking on other stuff rn mostly because i can’t remember the last time i left my house let alone looked up movie releases rip. i miss going to the cinema so much folks it’s not even funny. 

i mean they’re open again but you won’t catch me there any time soon :/ 

37. Share an unpopular film opinion you have.

oh here we go !!!!!! bold of you to think i can only share one !!!!! 

the princess bride just.... is not that good. i have tried to watch this movie so many times and i just.... fall asleep every time. rip to that beloved classic but i’m different !!!! 

idk if it’s unpopular ?? because it is technically one of history’s most beloved film BUT i feel like it became such a trend to mock titanic for it’s female-led cheesy romance side but that movie straight up SLAPS and still looks INCREDIBLE over twenty years later. none of the movies who surpassed it for the ‘made the most money in history’ record is anywhere near as good. legit james cameron’s best film ?!! !

a star is born (2018) was not a well-written movie; it lacked focus and the script was wayyy too scattered and it tried so hard to be a tear-jerker?? like we get it you want people to cry at the end so you can trick them into thinking the movie is good...... very nice performances but it needed to know what story it was telling and to focus on that to give it direction. 

i hate the breakfast club & ferris bueller’s day off. 

sort of on that topic: genuinely funny american comedies are literally so fucking rare.

the star wars prequels are actually fun and revenge of the sith is one of the best star wars movies ever made. change my mind. 

idk how unpopular these are but: iron man and batman are horribly boring superheroes and i couldn’t care less about the ~billionaire superhero trope... i have never seen a batman film apart from the chris nolan ones because well... chris nolan and i have zero interest in any others. 

i have only seen the matrix once and i do not get the hype surrounding it

the terminator franchise is one of my favourites ever and i’ve liked pretty much everything from it except t3! yes even the latest trashy ones!!

while it’s not as good as the original trilogy, Indiana jones 4 REALLY isn’t as bad as people make it seem. the whole alien thing totally tied into the 50s sci fi genre in the same way the original had that 1930s b movie action vibe

dirty dancing 2 is better than the first one :))))

okay im gonna stop now but i could prob. go on :/ 

48. A movie that took you a couple of viewings to appreciate.

uhhh honestly nothing comes to mind rn ? if i didn’t like it the first time around i’m unlikely to revisit it, even as a huge rewatcher haha. however my mother and i were talking about moulin rouge! earlier and she told me that it took her NINE TIMES to watch this movie to the end because she kept falling asleep so i can offer that anecdote to you instead ?? 

LET’S TALK MOVIES!

[ambitionsource]

I loved it i loved it my ships really came for me with rucas and smarkle and zarlie and how charlie knows there always gonna drift back together uhhh, just make up please and, my smarkle running out and caugh up in the moment just mhmm, and just rucas, and how she was just and how he was just and then realizing they could kiss but they didn’t want that yet they want more and just i—- and just dasher “that’s how you do a promposal” just yes yes it is and just when i read the songs that were -

there are 3 more messages to this which i’ve bopped under the read more down there just for the dashboard’s sake, but THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR ENTHUSIASM MADDISON!! yes esther and i felt like... this episode was sort of filler in terms of the storylines, but it definitely delivered in terms of dynamic exploration on a number of fronts. romantically for sure, but also platonically (techie crew, jade & asher, lucas & isadora, riley & charlie, just to name a handful), and as you said, familial! also i’m glad you enjoyed jack and lucas’s dialogue this ep cause again i always write them and i’m like haha i love them they’re so funny but it’s always nice to get confirmation on that kgfhksjfhgkfs

as for the rl almost kiss............. i am breaking down please be quiet... head full too many thoughts.... GOD.

-- Maggie

[ 2/4 ] gonna be in there and i saw bye bye i literally started laughing and just my jeric they were so tender and sweet and fun and just uhhh i love them and just nigel x jada yes i love it wasn’t expecting to ship it but i do i definitely ship it and just aaaa, all my baby’s WRECKED ME i mean they really CAME for me and guess what guess what THEY GOT ME THEY JUST THEY GOT ME and just lucas -“crystal meth” i swear i laughed so hard at that which i shouldn’t have i really shouldn’t find that so funny

[ 3/4 ] but i did and just dang and then just jack-“got kicked out of a bowling alley” uhhh literally laughed and lucas response just everything loved it love there father son banter -that’s right i said it and i’m not sorry,why cause i speak FACTS and just him not gonna kick lucas out uhh like i know missy gonna get in and i’m gonna be a whole world of hurt but just jack not leaving him so uhh and just valerie and katy and just and cory just yes i love the parents even if they mess up and just make me-

[ 4/4 ] upset and down right angry i just i they really trying to be better like even farkle a parents being better and just no i do not like charlie’s parents and i downright hate lucas dad but his mom is wonderful but just they have there moments and this episode yes definitely had some, amazing parent moments and that’s all :3, as always I LOVE EVERY SINGLE LAST ONE OF YALLi’m sorry with how long this is AND AMAZINGSPECTACULARWONDERFUL SHOW as always have a lovely day week month year century life :3

[tryingderh]

Normal Best Friend Stuff

Femslash February: Tales of Arcadia

Prompt: flowers and/or chocolate

Darci/Mary

Claire just can't leave well enough alone, so she locks her two best friends in a closet together.

"C-bear I'm going to kill you!" Mary screams through the door.

"It's a tried and true method, you can thank me later!" Claire calls back through the door.

She hoists Enrique (not-not-Enrique) higher on her shoulder and carries him away from the frankly disturbing screeching Mary is doing.

"Ugh," Darci said, sliding down the closet wall, "her parents won't be back for hours! Why is she doing this? We don't prank each other!"

Mary stared at her for a long moment and weighed her options.

"oh, but ... Haha ... It's fun? Haha. It's fun."

"what?" Darci stared at her, "are you okay? Are you having a breakdown? Is it oxygen deprivation?"

She started banging on the door again.

"No, Darci, I'm fine," Darci looked at her skeptically, "it's just normal best friend stuff! C-bear probably just wants to have some fun before we all go away to college."

Darci took her hands away from the door and sat back against the wall.

"Aww, that's kind of sweet. Do you think she'll miss us?'

"Duh," Mary said, sliding down to sit beside her, "she'll be so lost without us. We'll have to drive down every weekend to see her or she won't be able to cope."

"I don't know if I'd be able to cope either," Darci admitted.

"Yeah," Mary said. She didn't say "me neither." She was still mad about the closet thing, so instead she just thought it. Very quietly.

Darci slid her hand into Mary's and squeezed it gently.

"I'm glad we're going to the same college," she said softly.

Mary nodded. She fiercely and aggressively commanded her pulse to stop racing so ridiculously fast.

Mary knew the rules to dating.

The guy always asks the girl out. The guy takes the girl out on dates and buys her nice presents. They make out and get a ship name and post cute pics on social media.

The thought of posting a couple's pic with Darci made her heart race and her palms sweat, and it wasn't fun and it didn't feel good, it felt scary and *huge*.

But just walking around with Darci, holding her hand and chatting? Kissing her under the bleachers? Going on dates and buying her chocolates and maybe getting

When Mary was eight, she'd sat in a park surrounded by a gaggle of other little girls who listened to her raptorously as she handed out the flowers she'd saved up all her pocket money to get.

"Susie, you get a violet because it looks cute with your hair, Maggie, you get a pansy because it matches your outfit. Claire-bear, you get *two* flowers because I love you the mostest."

She left the park feeling elated. She knew three things on that day.

1. Popularity is awesome.

2. Making girls smile made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

3. Watching Claire grin and clip both flowers into her hair was the most beautiful thing she's ever seen, and she would do anything to see it again.

All she wanted to do from that moment was make her best friend smile. For some reason, Claire made her hands tremble and her stomach jolt. Something was wrong with her.

Mary took a deep breath and reminded herself that since she met Darci, she'd felt a lot calmer around Claire. The whole tiggly-jolty situation was apparently just how you felt for the first few years (or more) of being friends with someone you really care about.

Darci squeezed her hand again. She breathed in and out slowly.

"You okay?" Darci whispered, "are you sure you can breathe alright?"

Mary chocked back a hysterical little giggle because - no Darci, I cant breathe properly. In fact my entire body seems to enjoy freaking out and doing everything wrong whenever you're around.

Another deep breath. Everyone thinks about kissing their best friends sometimes, right?

It had bothered Mary a little that she couldn't ever get Darci flowers. Not that she would have - she wasn't a little kid anymore - it just ... Bugged her. So much so that she taught herself watercolours so she could paint Darci in a field of flowers, and when the result was ... ugh, she saved up a years allowence to commission a professional (well, a college fine arts student she'd known before he graduated).

The final result was beautiful. It had also been sitting under her bed in a protective sheet for the last two years.

There was also a pink mole toy that Mary had spent forever on because a tiny golden sceptor and crown that looked exactly like the school mascots where surprisingly difficult to find and arts and crafts are not exactly Mary's speciality. That she had given to Darci, but immediately followed it with,

"Look what some nerd made and left behind in the art room. I think someone has a crush on your mole persona."

Darci had been so touched she'd demanded they all try to figure out who it was, which lead to the most stressful week of spying and snooping of Mary's life, and was also how Mary accidentally sparked Darci's crush on Toby.

They'd left it on amicable terms, and as far as Mary knew Darci never found out it wasn't him. If she had asked him about it (which seemed likely) she still wouldn't be able to trace it back to Mary. Could she?

"When do you think she's coming back?"

"I don't know, Darce"

"Do you really think it's a prank?"

"What else would it be?" Mary's heart kicked it up a notch with the thumping.

"I don't know," Darci said, "Maybe she wants us to kiss?"

It took Mary a full minute to process what Darci had said, and another two to formulate a response that wasn't just 'wh-wh-wh-what??'

"What??" Mary blurted. Success.

"Never mind," Darci sighed. She moved her hand away, leaving Mary grasping at empty space.

"Why would Claire want us to kiss?" Mary asked, instead of letting it go like a freaking smart person would have.

"I don't know, Mary," Darci said, turning around to face her in the dim light of the closet, "do *you* want us to kiss?"

"uhhh" was all Mary could say.

"I know you made the mole!" Darci said, "I'm not stupid! I figured it out."

"I ..." Mary said, "I never thought you were stupid."

"I know," Darci sighed, "I just wish you'd told me you liked me."

"I -" Mary stuttered, "I mean, I didn't even make it like - I found the custom toy and then I tried to make the crown and the sceptor but I was horrible at it so I shopped around instead. Like, the sceptor is from some magic girl figurine or whatever and I just the right sized crown by buying a bunch of princess dolls -"

Darci was kissing her.

Darci was *kissing* her.

"Oh," Mary said softly.

"Yeah," Darci said, taking her hand again and squeezing it.

"Does this make us Maci? Or Dary?"

"Dary sounds like Dairy."

"True."

They kissed again. And some more.

"Hey guys!" Claire said cheerfully, opening the closet door with gusto and letting in an obnoxiously bright stream of sunlight, "it's later now, so you can like, get on with the thanking me part."

Mary slammed the door shut.

[raaven-nerd]

the epic mega tag of tags

I’ve been inactive for an eternity so I got tagged in a bunch of things by a WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE (THANK YOU ALL FOR TAGGING ME I LOVE YOU ALL <3) 

So i decided to combine all these tags into ONE MEGA TAG!!! I’m sorry if I don’t have every single tag that people have tagged me in, because I was kinda... inactive lol 

I honestly have no idea how many questions are in here, but I’m really excited to answer all these questions. Subtle hint for you guys to ask me questions lmao!! My ask box is always open ;)

//INTRO//

Time: 9:00AM (i’m on summer break, i’m not ditching school rn lol) 

Name: Michelle

Nickname: Mich (pronounced mish,,) and Michy (fun fact: all my friends spell this differently but the correct spelling is michy!! At least that’s how i spell my nickname lmao)

Gender: Female

Nationality: Australian

Star Sign: Cancer

Height: like 157cm LMAO i’m really short

Hogwarts house: Ravenclaw (hence my branding lmao)

Languages Spoken: English, Cantonese (but badly), Japanese (but only because i learn it at school)

Dream job: GOOD QUESTION LMAO umm something medical?? But like if i was remotely talented, doing something creative would be really cool.

How many pets do you have: 1, I have a pet dog named Pepper

What am I wearing: A T-shirt from last year’s school musical that’s way too big for me and black shorts (and by that i don’t mean a T-shirt that was like part of my costume,, i mean like a merch kinda t-shirt?? but not really merch bc i was in the musical) 

Instruments/sports played: I don’t play any instruments ,, well i play ukulele badly lmao, and i play soccer and volleyball for grade sport :)

//ABOUT THE BLOG//

When did you make this account? Like,, 2 years ago?? YIKES

Why did you join studyblr? Honestly i don’t remember why,, probably bc i wanted to get better at studying and get more motivated

How many followers do you have? Surprisingly around 4800

Why I chose my url: because i’m a nerd,, and my hogwarts house is ravenclaw

//BELOW THE CUT//

Things about my personal life :000 (get that juicy goss!! lol not really tho my life is pre uneventful)

Study tips and my study routine I guess? Just about how i study lol  

Music/Book/Film/TV faves and other related thingos (aka how cultured am i?? again not really tho i’m just trying to make this sound interesting lmao) 

And some more just RANDOM things lmao (like some of these things get really random lol) 

//PERSONAL//

What are three basic facts about you? Okay so whenever a teacher asks me to introduce myself at the start of the school year, my default interesting fact is “I have a dog” and every single year the teachers are super amazed that i have a pet dog and it’s absolutely hilarious bc everyone else is like “I’m not sharing any personal information with you guys”, and the teacher ends up interrogating me about my pet dog.

That’s not a basic fact lol um.. My birthday is on the 15th of July, I’m the youngest of 3 siblings and I graduate in 2020 :))

What was the best part of your day today? Ngl this is actually a really hard question for me to answer because I am NOT in a good mental state right now… but probably watching Joe Sugg’s new vlog. That was a good way to spend a study break. OR REPLYING TO THAT ANON MESSAGE OMG everyone sending me messages saying that they’re glad to see me back just wow ;; i can’t believe people even noticed i was gone it’s just ahhughsgs thank you all so much <33 

Relationship status: um… single… yeah let’s just leave it at that

who is the first person you go to in a crisis, when you’ve had a hard day, or when you need to vent? Well… my best friend would be the first person i go to.. Except we’re on holidays right now and they have the worst reply game (bc they’re kinda not allowed to talk to me,,, it’s complicated lmao)

what is your love language? (if you don’t know it, there are plenty of love language quizzes on Google! I definitely encourage you to look it up and find it out for your benefit!) :ooo I did a quiz for this ages ago BUT I GOTTA DO IT AGAIN bc i forgot LOL 

OKAY i did it! I used 5lovelanguages.com so yeah.. Just in case anyone was wondering? But I guess my love language is quality time/words of affirmation and from highest to lowest it’s quality time (9), words of affirmation (8), physical touch (6), acts of service (4) and receiving gifts (3) 

what are the little things in your life that make you happy? Lmao all my friends bc we’re all SHORT AF.. but seriously,, just really small things can make me so happy, just being able to spend time with my friends makes me really happy?? Like we can just sit in (comfortable) silence, but i’ll be so content to just be there with my friends..  Quality time with friends?? thanks love language Does that count idk how to answer this

What is your favourite thing about yourself? Um physical thing?? Probably my hair tbh.. But like my actual fav thing about myself is um the fact that i’m empathetic, generally pre organised and good w/ time management and i can like teach myself stuff?? or maybe how i could be having the worst day of my life and i’ll still want to spread positivity and good vibes?? Yeah that’s pre cool 

what accomplishment in your life are you most proud of? Uhh i got dux of english a few years back? I was in the top 10 of 4 subjects last year so that’s pre cool? But tbh the accomplishment i’m most proud of is probably just going to the school I go rn.. OR surviving last year lol 2018 was a mess 

What’s one piece of advice to yourself a year ago? GIRL things are gonna be tough. Like really hecking tough. But it’s not worth it to hold grudges, there’s no point letting fear of what could happen stop you from doing things you want to do and you will survive and you will be stronger because of it. Don’t let what other people say about you get you down, yes, it sucks to hear people speculating about you and your private life, but they have no idea what’s actually going on, and they’re just curious . No one has anything against you. You are loved, and you are worthy, and you are strong. You got this.

what is a skill you wish you had? To play guitar!! Or to be able to sing!!

Name three places you’d like to go to. Richard Rodgers Theatre to watch Hamilton, Music Box Theatre to watch Dear Evan Hansen and the Warner Bros Studio Tour in London. (but also, Japan, London and New York)

//STUDY & ACADEMICS//

What’s your degree/favourite subject? Uhhh it was drama but i dropped that and the 2019 school year hasn’t started yet so.. Who knows?

What motivates you to study? The fact that I gotta do well and get good marks in order to get into a good uni course… and the fact that i just want to keep getting better,, and i don’t want to disappoint people and i also don’t want to do badly bc yikes its real competitive at my school so like lowkey fear of failure

What time do you do your best studying? Tbh it really depends, it’s either the morning not long after i wake up (esp if it’s holidays or the weekend), right after i get home from school, or like late at night if i get a burst of motivation (like sometimes i’ll end up studying from 10:30 to 1am which isn’t sustainable if i have to get up at 7 for school) 

Best self care tip for exam season? Don’t spend your time around people who get really stressed out. It only makes you more stressed, and you don’t need that extra worry. Positive vibes only. Stay chill!

Do you listen to music when you study? Yeah. I just listen to music with no lyrics and I’ll use @studyquill​’s playlist :DD

Where do you do your best studying? I do pretty much all my studying at home so.. home?? but i have this spot at school that i like to go to in the mornings when no one’s at school yet because it’s super quiet and i can get some quality work done there 

What’s your go to thing when studying? Write notes, do practise questions, draw summary mind maps and try to recite my notes from memory

//MUSIC//

put your music library on shuffle, list the first 15 songs

Oh boi this is going to be interesting

How Would You Feel - Ed Sheeran

Part of Me (Bonus Track) - Dear Evan Hansen

If I Could Fly - One Direction

Better Man - 5 Seconds of Summer

If I Could Tell Her - Dear Evan Hansen

Somebody to Love - Queen

Moving Along - 5 Seconds of Summer

Candy Store - Heathers the Musical

Cabinet Battle #2 - Hamilton

Guns for Hands - Twenty One Pilots

Sunrise - In The Heights

The Judge - Twenty One Pilots

Radio Ga Ga - Queen 

Defying Gravity - Wicked 

Shine a Light - Heathers the Musical 

Song stuck in your head: for some reason Acid Rain by Cimorelli just randomly came into my head when I woke up this morning?? so that i guess lol 

Last song you played: Alaska by Maggie Rogers

What are you listening to right now? well right now it’s Shine a Light lmao

what are your 5 favourite songs right now? THIS IS HARD OMG okay um Photograph by Ed Sheeran, Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix, Fire Away by Niall Horan, Walking in the Wind by One Direction and I discovered Light On by Maggie Rogers today so that too!!

What’s your favourite lyric right now? Darling you don't have to hold it/You don't have to be afraid/You can go 'head and unload it/'Cause you know it'll be okay

Fave artist? GOOD QUESTION.. I don’t have an answer lmao but I like 5SOS, Ariana Grande’s new songs, Ed Sheeran and the soundtracks to quite a few musicals but that doesn’t answer the question lol 

//FILM, BOOKS & TV//

Last movie you saw: I rewatched Crazy Rich Asians :))

Top three TV shows: lol i don’t watch TV but all times favs include Gravity Falls and The Simpsons annnnndd um… yeah I really don’t watch much TV lol

What are your favourite books? All time fav is Harry Potter, but rn my fav is probably 13 Reasons Why (i know it’s also a TV show so i might check it out!!)

Which ones are you currently reading or want to read? Right now, I’m reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I’m only a few pages in though.

What’s the most recent book you’ve read? Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

//MISCELLANEOUS// 

Describe your favourite colour without saying the name! Soft colour of love

What’s your favourite season? Probably autumn

Favourite animal? My pet dog lmao (i really like dogs but i love so many animals but we’ll just say dogs)

Last thing you googled: ‘fire away lyrics niall horan’ because i wanted to check i had the right words lol

How many blankets you sleep with: 1

If you could be a celebrity, who would you be? Probs Emma Watson or Ariana Grande

What is the last text you sent? Ummm i’ll check AND i quote “I AM,,, somewhat certain that’s correct bc like.. I don’t have any confidence in myself”  I was talking to my friend about an assignment lol

Average hours spent sleeping? 7-8 ish??? But during the school term, it could be more like 6-7 but still ain’t that bad???

WOW THAT WAS LONG if u actually stayed throughout all of this and read it all,, (which no one probably did) umm dm me your fav lyrics of the moment? yeah do that lol i wanna meet some new people