#was i hit with a fucking dodgeball i genuinely was not expecting this

[undead-knick-knack]

Ok I was very much kidding when I made that post about Jester converting Ashton but I am so fucking here for this

[isa-ghost]

Happy 1 year of existing, AMFMN. Wow.

To think a rant about the lack of truly Phil-centric fics spiraled into something that, a year later, has left me more creatively fulfilled than I have been in a long time... It's still crazy to think about.

To think that in just a year, saying fuck it we ball and writing my first proper fanfic has made me so many new friends, lead to me meeting so many new cool people, that has inspired so many others, that has won silly fandom awards, that has gotten amounts of fanart I never expected.

To think that just writing this fic has genuinely boosted my general self-confidence and improved my ability to take compliments beyond anything I could've imagined.

And it all started because I got a HINT of a canon possession arc that didn't actually happen until nearly 2 months later, and got insanely excited about it.

👆🏻 She had no idea this would be a 20 chapter 17,000+ hits fic with too many amazingly vivid and gut-wrenching scenes to count. She thought this was 5-6 chapters max.

👆🏻 She didn't know in roughly 2 months she would watch this chapter play out almost point for point, but in the new Reset part of the island.

She had no idea she'd get hit with Apollo's dodgeball like 20 times throughout the canon possession arc.

The fact that it only took 3 days for the fic to double in its expected length. And then it turned into 20 and an alternate crack ending.

👆🏻 She didn't know she'd be assigned famous author by dozens of other Crows she'd never met before. She doesn't know Ama herself will read the fic. She doesn't know MaepleTea will read the fic.

👆🏻 Thank every single one of you for making it worth committing a year+ of blood sweat and tears into this fic. For engaging so much both on ao3 and Tumblr, for sending asks, for tuning into streams where I just gush about the fic for the same length as a Phil stream, for excitedly asking about updates and basically never demanding me to update on your terms. Thank you for showing AMFMN so much love, and for being so invested in it that you've given my other smaller works and wips a chance too.

I will never not be grateful for the astronomical amounts of luck I've had with how much reception the fic has gotten. I had no concept of average fic stats at the start, so to have it explained to me what a big deal it is to reach these numbers... I genuinely can't comprehend it. I wish everyone had this kind of luck.

I don't have the time for a celebratory stream today, but maybe this weekend, if Offscot and my beta readers are available to host and be there <3

[thegeminisage]

it's tng update time.

we did. and you know this. because i made. i counted. 18 posts about it. "half a life." and of course: "the host" (honorific).

half a life: part of what makes the ep after this so wonderful is that THIS episode was so genuinely upsetting. it was a huge bummer. it was awful. the only fucking episode lwaxana troi has been in that cathy actually watched and she had a valid character arc. i was furious. and then we got into it and i was like. oh.

first of all, kudos to charles winchester from mash for being here. cathy caught a 4077 ref that i missed bc i wasnt paying attention. i cant believe he was gay when he did this

secondly. the fucking. ethical implications of. people who are infirm should be dead for their children's sake and for their own sake. like it's better to be dead than in a nursing home. when you're 60 time's up. parents care for their children so children should care for their parents. your aging parents are mortal and they'll die one day. your daughter wants you to kill yourself. you want to die and can't wait to kill yourself. you don't want to live and then you do want to live but you still have to kill yourself. you're 60. you're 60. YOUR DAUGHTER WANTS YOU TO KILL YOURSELF. when she is 60 your daughter WILL ALSO KILL HERSELF.

i think the most fucked up part of this was that lwaxana ruined him. she meant well, and for once i saw her point and her arguments as totally valid (i usually think she's horrible), it was like maybe the only semi-selfless thing she's ever done aside from the ferengi business we will not be discussing. but she ruined him. when he was fine with dying and he had to die, fine and whatever. when he wanted to live?? no longer fine. if he lives his people will hate him forever. his daughter will regret him living because he can't be laid to rest in the family plot. because he can't die with his friends and family surrounding him. but he's 60. people live to be well over a hundred in the star trek universe, other aliens live even longer. he's SIXTY. he's healthy. he has work to do. a planet to save. and he's gonna die knowing his work meant nothing and his planet might die and his grandson may have nowhere to grow up. live or die, he will be miserable either way, just because he was introduced to a different way of life. it's SO fucked up

i think i had more to say about this after it ended but i have clean forgotten all of it. like it's been blasted out of my memory which is probably for the best. the short version is, i am living at home taking care of my mother who turned 58 three days ago. i didn't need any of that.

but then.

But Then.

the host: what can i possibly. i mean. the sheer. the fucking

like the fucking MOOD WHIPLASH alone

i had heard of this episode years ago. so i knew beverly's bf was a parasite and he eventually jumped into a woman and i was made to believe she was super homophobic about it. i was prepared to look completely past all of this and enjoy not-quite-gay SUBTEXT. i was NOT prepared for ANY of the rest of it

to get this out of the way: as i said, though i miss wesley very much (ask catherine i say so like every episode) it's so fortunate that he was not here. i think bev finally hit menopause because her horny levels were CRITICALLY off the charts and this whole debacle would have been so awkward for him. i'm glad he sent her a letter god bless i'm so glad he's fine wherever he is

the BABY BUMP THIS GUY HAD. this i was not expecting. i didn't know we were doing pregnant men in this episode. i figured the entire episode would be about beverly being like "this is weird cuz idw fuck you now that you're a woman" i had no idea his ass would jump into RIKER

riker did amazing bg work in this ep too before he got to star. he gave beverly and her bf some KNOWING looks. at one point the following exchange was uttered: "HE knows they're fucking." "yeah he wishes it was him." apollo and the dodgeball.....

the fact that after that i literally did have the thought "yeah except he'd never fuck beverly. she's one of the few people who are off limits." lisa simpson dot jpg

and then riker's pregnancy, what can one say. beverly put a little worm in his body. i'm only sad we didn't get to see the baby bump because that would have been extremely funny

i spent the whole ep thinking no way can beverly fuck riker. they have to work together. she has to look him in the eye after this. AND THEN THEY DID.

like it's so insane. it's not even that i dislike the concept because the fallout could lead to some extremely meaty interpersonal drama except for the fact that star trek generally isn't about interpersonal drama and we didn't see riker again after he got possessed. we didn't get one word from him. the silence seems so calculated so as to avoid having to write his reaction. BUT I WANTED HIS REACTION. will he not tell us how it feels to be possessed and pregnant and FUCKING BEVERLY CRUSHER? genuinely this is the first time i've been tempted to look up tng fic. someone tell me there is fic

also, like, he only had 18 hours until he got a new body. she could have waited to fuck the new guy if she felt weird about it being riker. SHE didn't know the knew guy was gonna be a woman. like it had to be menopause

the fact that deanna condoned this, even suggested it, is INSANE. not only because she didn't consider riker's ability, or lack of ability, to consent, but because THAT'S HER BOYFRIEND. quasi-boyfriend. sometimes exes sometimes fwb. like it's NUTS.

their discussion was so wild too. like "what do i miss...his hands, his mouth...no, there was more than that" girl they were 5 more minutes away from discovering the split attraction model. actually i don't even normally like the split attraction model but this episode made me like it a little more. growth <3

actually on that subject quasi-exes are weirdly chill with each other on this show. picard and beverly are kinda dating and kinda not, the same way deanna and riker kind of are and kind of aren't. and picard is like...beverly whatever else i am to you i'm also your friend and i know this fucking sucks. do you want a hug. like that is SO chill and cool of him. and ik they probably do this bc they don't want to have to maintain character development but it winds up accidentally feeling really refreshing

anyway: The Woman

i can't believe that beverly can fuck riker, her "sort of "brother," but not this hot blonde lady. and i know it's because they can't be gay but ACTUALLY

i was SHOCKED that gender didn't come into it at all. like yes it was the elephant in the room but nowhere in beverly's dialogue did she say she couldn't do this because odan was a woman now. copypasting:

"Perhaps it is a human failing, but we are not accustomed to these kinds of changes. I can't keep up. How long will you have this host? What would the next one be? I can't live with that kind of uncertainty. Perhaps, someday, our ability to love won't be so limited."

NONE OF THAT MENTIONS GENDER. none!!! the only part that could be interpreted as a gender thing was when beverly said bring HIM in, and was smiling bc she was about to meet the new version of her bf, only for her smile to drop when she encountered a woman. you could sort of read it as "a woman will be even weirder than riker and i just don't have it in me to go through that acclimation process again" BUT LIKE. like she's CHOOSING not to. not that she couldn't eventually adjust. to a woman. beverly just found out she's bisexual fr

like the wrist kiss was SO SENSUAL. LIKE WHAT THE FUCK. i can't believe they let two women do that on tv in 1991. holy shit. AND!!! they said i love you to each other. i did quite literally stand up out of my seat. it feels very progressive considering when it was written

and like it's a shame this was in the same episode where riker gets knocked up bc that distracted from the entire gay thing. i WISH the whole episode had been odan in a woman's body and riker had had his own episode to do all of that in later. like it would've been incredible. sexuality is fluid <3

anyway. wow. next time: "the mind's eye" and "in theory," two episodes i already feel sorry for because they will Never live up to all of that.

[brisquad-unit-4402]

good news everyone we got more vsf classified intelligence on the iluna girls’ q&a before it is accessible to the public

aia immediately sneezed during her greeting

aia’s favorite moment so far is someone prostrating themselves over he standee on twitter

favorite nijisanji song: maria’s favorite is enna’s original lore song, aia’s is hope in the dark and god sees all, scarle’s is the rosemi theme song

maria wears lolita inspired clothes outside

aia snorted at someone asking “who would win in a nijisanji en denny’s brawl tournament?” luca and aia (bc she would cheat) would be the expected shoo-ins for winner but maria would be the underdog. maria pulled out a gun asset and said she’d win against luca. uki wouldn’t want to be there but wins anyways. aia snorted so hard at this question what a dork <3

scarle and kyo for worst cooks in iluna. scarle says “at least i don’t wash rice with soap 💅”

aia assigned all of iluna and class and race for a dnd oneshot campaign: kyo as human fighter or druid depending on the day, scarle as artificer, maria as a tiefling or gnome, aster as an aarakockra warlock, ren as a tiefling or orc paladin, aia is G O D

scarle liked the ren cosplayers (this is a surprise tool that will help you later)

someone pulled up with a free deodorant sign and bottles of deodorant to give out

“if you doodle something i’ll get it tattooed”

aia: “that’s a LOT of power you’re giving me. i say a cat emoji.” scarle says kiss on the bum, or a smiley face on the bum :) maria says a moon with a heart :))

“which female nijien liver’s thoughts do you want and not want to see?” aia wants to see millie’s thoughts and is afraid of enna. scarle wants to see all of enna’s savage thoughts that go unsaid but not feesh’s thoughts, maria wants to see her own thoughts.

aia: y’all think?

scarle: i don’t

aia has a minnie mouse plushie from her childhood on her shelf

maria had a little white cat she bought bc of a barbie movie and pretended the cat was actually from the barbie movie while pretending to be a princess

scarle lost riku tazumi. she lost the fucking ceo puppet. she will find him eventually under the cans. SHE DROPPED HIM IN EGG ONCE????? DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT??????

“if you could switch debut songs with anyone who would you pick?” aia wants dcl, scarle wants god sees all. aia le

question: “what is the most embarrassing nijisanji moment?”

screen: freezes

scarle’s most embarrassing moment is every time kyo and aster have sent messages asking about anime boy perfume or something she says on stream and asks “what’s this”

aia’s most embarrassing is debut bc of her fake voice

maria’s is the time she burped unmuted

“texans like to fry literally everything. if you could fry any food what would it be.” why does scarle look so excited. genuine fear.

scarle wants fried pineapple pizza and red bull. i didn’t hear maria’s answer :( aia likes fried pickles and gator, wants to try fried butter. maria is judging her girls soooo hard rn. asker told scarle to get some help

SOMEONE HIT THEM WITH A DEEZ NUTS. maria and aia pulled out guns, scarle has a whip

maria post-nuts: you guys didn’t say cheese for the photo…….

“scarle is it true dave strider from homestuck was your everything in 2009” *scarle sinks down the screen*

the guns and whip are still up jsyk

“aia where would you rate yourself on the dork-chad scale and why is it dork” aia immediately got called a dork by asker and flipped out then affirmed herself a chad. the weapons are down

“what anime world do you want to live in?”

*high pitched noise outside the convention hall*

aia: “what’s that noise?”

scarle: “it’s maria thinking”

aia wants to get isekaid into ouran high school host club! scarle wants diabolik lovers, maria has too many cute magical girl ideas to decide.

“if you could off collab with unlimited budget and no rules who’s going and what are you doing?” aia wants to go to disneyworld with all of nijien! maria says dodgeball with batsu games like bungee jumping, skydiving and electric shocks, scarle wants to go to the most haunted place in the world with everyone in niji and do a ghostbusters style investigation to find mika and reimu

maria’s most fun game to stream is hollow knight

aia’s most fun game to stream is bloodborne (and used to competitively play melee)

scarle’s favorite stream game is mike? i really can’t hear man. mike [aia sound effect]. it’s pronounced like me-kei. scarlings help me out here

jsyk they said they liked my outfit :) thanks i love my uniform :)

from an asked that hasn’t seen their streams: “i’m not much of a fan i only saw one thing from a candy corn pizza, how do i get into your content? where do i start?” aia says twt has schedules and stream announcements, maria says all sorts of streams for different purposes so it depends on your mood such as chill, in character, and goofy but twt is the best way to know

“how are you enjoying texas so far”

👼: “H E L L Y E A H B R O T H E R”

maririn cosplayer! they complimented their cosplay, asked which nijien liver’s body they’d like to transform into. aia wants to swap bodies with ren bc of the alien tail in wanderer, scarle doesn’t want to transform bc she has the biggest booba (maria hit ‘em with the flat is justice), and maria would transform to one of the boys,

maria: “imagine being vox akuma”.

aia isn’t into the british debuff that comes with being vox

“if you could pick up any instrument what would it be?” aia and mari both used to play clarinet, scarle played an out of tune guitar strum as a response. aia says french horn or sax, scarle wants to try electric violin, maria has played almost every instrument she wants to play

“favorite fan interactions so far?” someone cried talking to aia before the panel while the vtubers were on ipads and she complimented a fem renvader cosplayer who happened to be in the room, they said hello and complimented them and an ike cosplayer they saw earlier with cinnamoroll ears :)

the positivity in this room is so real aww :) i wish i could describe it. i think i was too nervy to notice it with the moon bros but with the moon girls, they’re very warm and it’s clear they’re just as stoked to be here as the audience

“if you could be in any game what would it be?” aia wants to be a pokémon trainer, specifically pokémon emerald

scarle wants to be in a hello kitty and sanrio game WAIT NO jk she switched her answer to detective barbie

mari has too many ideas, probably something cute and magical. a fluffy world!

srsly this panel is so cute there’s so many compliments from both audience and livers. very wholesome experience! i wish i could describe it

“if you were on a deserted island with any niji member who and why?”

scarle: “we’re all fricked.” she’s taking mari. aia used to be a girl scout and also takes mari

aia gave a kiss to someone who gave a sweet compliment :)

cute selen cosplayer! “what is your favorite guilty food pleasure?” scarle says grilled chicken with bbq sauce, maria doesn’t feel guilt when eating food she just goes in. aia likes ikura (salmon roe), tasty but expensive so it’s only for the niji paycheck

very cute cosplayer interaction awwwwwww. the cosplayer fangirled a little while iluna was fangirling over them it was really adorbs

“favorite [i didn’t hear but i think it was] bl?”aia’s favorite is classified but just went off hiatus :D maria likes fancams of suki from smnnn i couldn’t hear. scarle sees too many amvs to slumber party by ashnikko

aia: why are niji fans so cute

“aia who is your favorite genshin waifu, maria and scarle’s anime waifus?” aia has a body pillow or two of other characters but toss up between beidou or ningguang, scarle says death from smn with blue hair and says eat my ass, she mentioned kill la kill i think? maria likes someone from love life man i SWEAR this audio is death on my ears

shoutout to unit 1257 for helping me spell ningguang i was NOT going to get that right. no clue about the others above tho, and some other anime characters they talked abt. if anyone wants to reply/rb corrections before the inevitable video is on yt let me know and i’ll edit some stuff

“what are your favorite dairy products?” scarle reps ice cream soup despite the lactose intolerance, one of the other two (aia i think) played the sad trumped sfx. mari likes ice cream and aia likes condensed milk in coffee like WOAH classy!

“favorite moments as a vtuber?” aia’s is pre-debut when iluna popped on camera for the first time and saw each other for the first time, one of happiest moments of her life. scarle’s is this panel!! aww!! maria is her latest cover with ike i think idk we cheered during scarle’s answer and didn’t hear great lmao sorry

“can all of you kiss this malleus figure” aia and scarle kissed him while maria was like :0. and there was another question for scarle and she said smn about taking a toxic anime boy on a date idk i can’t hear over this echo i should get this checked out

ended with a group photo of all the nijisanji cosplayers and another rps game for goodies!

sup guys got some sick intel. here’s some cool questions and answers from the moon bros q&a at weebcon to tide you over until someone uploads footage of the panel on yt

host: hello arcadians!

arcadians: *cheering*

hello renvaders!

renvaders: *cheering*

host: okay so *explains rules*

the kyomies in the building: 🧍‍♂️

aster sang country roads unprompted

kyo is listening to a lot of korean rap lately

kyo has never cried at a show before

ren tested up at the last airbender

KYO SAID “I LOVE WHATABURGER” IN A texan? accent. southern. texan. idk. whatever

a ren cosplayer walked by the camera/mic, ren said “ooo who’s this handsome guy,” screen IMMEDIATELY froze

kyo: i want to get transported to the sao universe

aster: but if you die in the game you die in real life :0

kyo: ok but i’m dying every day

kyo will order the honey butter chicken biscuit from whataburger :)

kyo’s favorite flavor of soap is dawn dish soap, the blue one (it has been stated for legal reasons that is a joke and in minecraft by both kyo kaneko and ren zotto of nijisanji wave 6 unit iluna)

a literal actual whataburger employee (or employee cosplayer) asked for their favorite whataburger item. kyo is the only one that knew the menu. aster said a bacon cheeseburger, ren asked if there was an actual whataburger

guy in a banana suit:

kyo: SHU???

“i don’t think bananas should be a food” - kyo kaneko 2023

favorite moment in vtuber career: kyo’s are every time he collabs with enna; ren loves big iluna collabs; aster likes every time he collabs with the moon bros bc he laughs so hard he cried. also collabing with finana :D

if they weren’t vtubers where they would be: kyo would be a youtube editor and really enjoyed doing it for big yters before niji; ren would be touring and traveling; aster would be in an office job

ren did a cool doppio impression with his debut line

aster also did a doppio impression

kyo can do a surprisingly good maririn impression????

aster told kyo to do a fuckboy laugh, screen froze again :/

aster wants to swap outfits with luca, kyo would swap outfits with luca or doppio (but without the boob cup), and ren would swap with uhhhh SCARLE????

kyo has family in texas. me too buddy :)

kyo likes beaver nuggets, aster has no idea what they are :(( what a good day to be a kyomie

look man i’m so excited about kyo understanding the bucee’s hype. he KNOWS. clean restrooms. i went to weebcon. ask anyone here and they’ll tell you the same thing. we are located in texas. bucee’s so real so true

ren loved mysta’s debut and thought he was really funny

ren’s favorite dinosaur is the t. rex. also spinosaurus and alaskosaurus? alasomosaurus?? did i spell those right? i doubt it. good luck looking them up

at the end the panel host ran a game of rock paper scissors where the winner got a bag of merch and all the niji cosplayers got a group photo with the moon bros :)

[zimms]

an olliewicks flower shop au to soothe the soul! this is somewhat based on mine and @tingo-tango’s tags on this post. 

fields of flowers, soft beneath my heels

Ollie’s wrist-deep in a pot of soil, sweat rolling down his cheeks and sunlight streaming through the windows of Faber’s Flowers, when the shop’s bell rings and a new customer stumbles through the door. Ollie frowns slightly and hastily wipes the beads of sweat off his chin with the corner of his shirt, before plastering on his best customer service smile to greet whoever needs flowers at 7:30 am on a Tuesday morning. He mentally catalogues the possibilities; maybe they’ve forgotten their spouse’s birthday? Or maybe it’s a gift for someone at work? Maybe it’s an apology present because they accidentally cycled into a fruit stall and ruined a fresh batch of melons? 

(Okay, maybe not, but it would be a refreshing change in the cycle of constant businessmen grovelling for their partner’s forgiveness)

Ollie shakes himself from his thoughts and grins across the counter at the customer, who’s sporting a baseball cap and a t-shirt that sits just right across his broad shoulders. Ollie’s eyes track down the guy’s biceps which are a tad too big for the sleeves. Ollie consciously shut his mouth to stop himself from gaping; this guy was hot. As Ollie’s gaze roams across the customer’s face to meet his eyes, he realises three things. Number one is that he definitely shouldn’t be ogling a customer like he’s a piece of meat. Number two is that he hasn’t said anything to this guy yet. Number three is that at least a minute of awkward silence and staring has passed since the customer entered the shop. 

Ollie rips his eyes away from the customer’s face to stare at a spot slightly behind his left shoulder. “Hi! What can I help you with today?”

The guy shifts on the balls of his feet, scanning the shelves of bouquets and individual flowers. “Erm, I’m looking for a bouquet of flowers for my mom?” His voice raises at the end of his sentence, which is kind of cute, if Ollie does say so. He rubs the back of his neck and his checks flush pink. “I kinda need to apologise to her.”

Ah, a classic apology scenario. Got it. 

“What’s the apology for?” Ollie asks as he turns to the sink behind the counter to wash his hands. “Not that you have to tell me that is; it just might help as we make the bouquet.” He unravels the roll of tissue paper and cuts off a square to package the flowers in. 

Hot Guy winces. “Ah,” he says, “I kinda got into a fight in front of her the other night. She was not happy to say the least, so I figured I might as well get her some flowers to apologise for it.” 

“Cool, cool.” Ollie grins at him. “What kinda flowers do you want for her?” He gestured to the whole shop, where various buckets of flowers lined the walls, each displaying a different species. “We can get her just a plain old bunch that’s all just the same type of flower, or we could mix and match, create a nice piece of artwork that she’ll admire rather than a bunch that’s boring and all the same.”

Hot Guy’s eyes flick up from the counter and meet Ollie’s own, moving slowly up his body. If Ollie was feeling particularly optimistic, he’d say the guy was checking him out, but he pushes that thought to the corner of his mind because he’s made way too many faux-pas in the past by asking out guys that have come into the shop just for all of them to be straight. Hot Guy clears his throat. “Yeah, a mixture sounds good. I know her favourite flowers are hyacinths if that helps?”

“That’s perfect.” Ollie shoots him the most reassuring smile he can think of, eyes softening. He grabs the bucket of blue hyacinths that sit behind him. “These alright?” 

“Yeah, those are great,” Hot Guy says a little hoarsely, squinting at Ollie’s name tag, “Ollie.” Something settles in Hot Guy’s voice and he seems a bit more comfortable. 

“So, why'd you get into a fight in front of your mom?” Ollie reaches for the bucket of Narcissus behind him and waves a bunch at Hot Guy for affirmation. He nods in return. “Doesn’t seem like the best idea to me-” Ollie trails off, hoping that Hot Guy might get the hint and finally introduce himself. 

“Oh, uh, Pacer.” He coughs and the remaining tension leaks out of his posture. “Nah, a guy said something about Ma, and you know, I had to rush to defend her like the rash idiot I am.” 

Ollie laughs. “At least, it’s one of the more noble reasons to get into a fight. There’s a bit more chance of forgiveness, then.”

Pacer nods and his gaze wanders away from where Ollie is deftly making the bouquet to settle on the purple Clematis. 

“You like them?” Ollie makes a ‘gimme’ motion with his hands and Pacer passes the bucket over to him. Their hands briefly brush each other during the exchange and Ollie does everything in his power to ignore the jolt that goes through him at that brief skin to skin contact. “You’ve got a good eye; I was just about to grab them myself.”

“Yeah, my mom loves blue and yello-” Pacer cuts himself off with a sneeze. “Also, aren’t they the colours of the local hockey team around here? The Falcons?” Although he has a completely clueless tone to his voice, Pacer is studying Ollie’s reaction as if it might reveal the secrets of the universe. 

“Yeah, the Falcs! I only get to see them every so often, but they’re great,” Ollie says, doing his level best to ignore Pacer’s sudden intensity. “I was actually on the same team as Jack Zimmermann in college, which was pretty cool.”

“Really?” Pacer’s enigmatic expression becomes even more indecipherable. “That is pretty cool.” He looks slightly over his shoulder towards the street before meeting Ollie’s eyes and flashing a genuine smile at him. “I actually played a bit of hockey myself, you know.”

Ollie tries to convince himself that the bubble of excitement that rushes through him is because Pacer is such a good conversationalist and not for any other reason, like the fact that they have a couple of things in common, or that Pacer is one of the hottest guys he’s ever seen. 

(He fails.)

_X_

Pacer leaves about forty minutes later, with a bouquet and handwritten note in hand and a smile fixed firmly on his face. When Ollie goes to scrub down the counter and start repotting the plant he’d abandoned when Pacer had arrived, he spots a scrap of paper that definitely hadn’t been there before. The note is pretty cute; it’s a string of numbers and a smiley face, accompanied by a couple of lines from Pacer.

Would you like to go I would have asked you out earlier, but my tea friend always says it’s bad form to hit on workers whilst they’re on shift. Anyway, here’s my number if you want to go out some time? Call m Don’t worry if you don’t though!

- Pacer 

Ollie grins as he opens up his phone to add the number to his contacts, but pauses as he sees a Google Alert come through that he’s set up for the Falcs. The text reads, Providence Falconers acquire forward Pacer Wicks from Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a second round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and immediately underneath the caption, Pacer’s smiling face stares out at him. 

Pacer’s voice echoes in his mind. “I actually played a bit of hockey myself.”

Played a bit of hockey himself? Ollie cannot believe this guy. He plays in the fucking NHL and all he says is “I actually played a bit of hockey myself.” 

However, Ollie thinks as he opens up the article to see a picture of a bruised Pacer from his last game with the Avs, it would explain why he needed to apologise for fighting in front of his mom. 

_X_

Now that Ollie is aware of Pacer Wicks’ existence, he seems to follow him everywhere. Well, not Pacer exactly, but his name. 

It begins, like many things, at the grocery store. 

“Excuse me?” the cashier asks, as she’s scanning his groceries two days after Pacer first came into the florist’s. “Are you that hockey player? Pacer Wicks?” 

Ollie furrows his eyebrows. He doesn’t think that him and Pacer look that similar, but then again, Pacer’s only been in Providence a couple of days, so people don’t exactly know what he looks like yet. “No, sorry.”

The cashier purses her lips, taking a moment to study him again before ringing him up. “Huh, sorry! You guys just look really alike is all.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Ollie gathers up his groceries. “These things happen sometimes.”

(He almost texts Pacer to tell him about it, but, as Ollie looks at the clock on his phone, he realises that Pacer probably isn’t going to want to receive a message about how someone thought they looked similar mid-way through his game against the Pens.

Also, he’d have to wish him luck and honestly, as much as Ollie loves the Falcs, he wouldn’t wish them too much luck against his hometown team.)

_X_

ollie

hey! i’ve finished off that other apology bouquet for your ma!

let me know when you want to swing by and pick it up!

also i was watching the game tonight; do you need me to make up another identical one for your ma, or do you wanna come into the shop to choose this one?

pacer

thanks ol! i’ll probably swing by to pick it up tomorrow and then help make the next one at the same time?

ollie

sounds like a plan!!

_X_

When he said these things happen sometimes to that cashier in the grocery store, he didn’t expect them to happen all the goddamn time. Be it at his favourite café, on the street, or on the commuter rail, someone always, always, asks if he’s Pacer Wicks. 

_X_

ollie

oof that hit from eriksen looks like it’s gonna leave a mark

pacer

yeah, half my face is swollen

ollie

yikes

pacer

i assume we’re still on for dinner in a couple of days right?

even if my stunning visage has been marred by the fists of a schooner

ollie

that was a very weird way of putting it

but yeah, i still wanna go out with you even if your face looks like a dodgeball

_X_

A girl taps him on the shoulder at Bitty’s Bites downtown. “Excuse me, are you Pacer Wicks?”

Ollie smiles sheepishly at her, brandishing his coffee cup with a scrawled Oily on it as if it might keep the Pacer Wicks fans away. “Sorry, you’ve got the wrong dude.”

He hurries out of there as quickly as his legs can take him after that, hands fumbling for his phone so that he can text Pacer about it.

ollie

jdshjkdsjh a girl just asked if i was you

pacer

oh?

ollie

yeah, i don’t really know why so many people ask if i’m you

especially as they usually ask when you’re on a roadie??

so i don’t get why they know who you are without knowing the falcs’ schedules

pacer

maybe they’re a fan of my dashing good looks rather than my hockey?

isn’t that why you agreed to go out with me after all?

Ollie grins to himself before sending back three words.

don’t push it

_X_

He’s less generous to the guy on the commuter rail, but in fairness that’s mainly because he stole the last seat just before Ollie could get there and it’s 6:30 in the morning. 

“Hey, aren’t you that hockey pl-?”

Ollie barely looks up from his phone before cutting him off with a sharp “No.”

_X_

Today, someone even asks him at the flower shop.

“No,” he says, heaving the deepest sigh he can whilst still remaining in customer service mode, “I think Pacer Wicks might have other things to do on a Saturday afternoon than work the till at a flower shop.” He shuts the cash drawer on the register with a bang and hands the customer their change and bouquet as quickly as he can. “Thank you for shopping with us! Enjoy your day!” 

He collapses back onto the wooden stool that he keeps behind the counter, taking a breather for approximately five seconds before a laugh echoes through the shop. Ollie jumps half a foot in the air before locating Pacer, who’s stood in the corner of the shop inspecting a piece of sea holly. 

He’s dressed up pretty nicely considering hockey players’ notoriously bad fashion sense, wearing a button-up, a nice pair of jeans that do all the right things for his hockey butt, and his ever-present baseball cap, but this time, unlike his first visit to the shop, it’s sat backwards on his head. He spins around to face the back of the shop, grinning his face off. “I’m impressed by the fact that she asked you that whilst I was standing in the shop and she still didn’t notice me.” He laughs, smirking across at Ollie. “Does that happen often?”

“Yeah, some people are surprisingly oblivious sometimes,” he says, “but also, I don’t look that much like you?” He pauses, trying to work out what Pacer’s face means. He places his hands on his hips and jokingly rounds on Pacer. “Do I?” 

Pacer chuckles, taking a few steps closer so that he’s leaning against the counter. “Not that much, but would it be so bad if you looked like me?” A mock-wounded expression plays across his features as he presses his hand to his chest. 

Ollie takes off his apron and hangs it up behind the counter. “Nope, because you are extremely hot.” He threads his fingers through the hockey player’s belt loops to pull him closer, feeling emboldened by Pacer’s flirting. “And if that means that people are inadvertently calling me hot whilst asking if I’m you?” He shrugs. “I can live with it.”

Pacer has to lower his gaze to meet Ollie’s eyes, the two inch height difference between them clearly obvious, even if Ollie is six foot, thank you very much. “You were right about something though,” Pacer murmurs, “I do have better things to do than stand in a flower shop on a Saturday afternoon.”

“Like what?” Ollie raises an eyebrow.

Pacer smiles softly down at him, taking his hand and interlacing his fingers with Ollie’s. “Like taking the cute florist that works there on a date for starters.” Pacer starts to move them towards the shop’s entrance. “There’s this lit-” He sneezes abruptly.

Ollie tilts Pacer’s head downwards. “That’s like the fourth time you’ve sneezed in the shop.” He rubs his thumb over his cheek, frowning when he sees that Pacer’s eyes are slightly red. “Are you okay?”

Pacer waves him off. “Yeah, it’s fine; my antihistamines just wore off.”

His-? Ollie furrows his eyebrows before leading his date out of the shop. “Pacer, are you allergic to flowers?” 

“No?” Pacer’s sheepish and slightly bunged up reply says everything that Ollie needs to know.

“Fuck, Pace, why have you been coming to the shop so much if you’re allergic? Surely you don’t like the aesthetics of flowers that much that you need to torture your sinuses every spare minute of the day.” Ollie pinches the bridge of his nose, voice full of exasperation.

Pacer holds his hands up in surrender. “In my defence, the first few times were because I did need to buy Ma flowers, but I didn’t keep coming back because the flowers were pretty.” He pulls Ollie close and frames his face with his hands. “I came back because the florist was.”

_X_

The final time Ollie is mistaken for Pacer is five years later as he’s heading towards the arena for Pacer’s final game of the season. In fairness, dressed in a Wicks jersey and a Falcs snapback, he probably looks more like Pacer now than he has at any time since he first got mistaken for him in the grocery store. 

“Excuse me?” A teenager taps him on the shoulder, their arm slung around a friend. “Are you Pacer Wicks?”

Ollie grins at the kid. “Nope,” he says, trying not to take too much joy in the hope fading from the fan’s eyes before he drops the bombshell, “I am his husband though.”

“Really?” The teenager’s eyes light up. “You’re not kidding, right?”

“Nope.” Ollie holds up his phone screen to show the kid a photo of Pacer kissing his cheek, just so that they know he’s not lying. “D’you wanna meet him after the game?” He smirks at them. “After all, I do know a guy.”

[sleepyfan-blog]

asdfg fan your writing is so good tho,,, may i request a ibvs chrevinstoph- "Any shorter and you'd probably fade out of existence." ? you don't have to follow the prompt if you don't wanna tho!! ^^"

Fandom: IBVS by @onebizarrekai

Characters and pairing: Nevin Jovel, Christoph Jackson, Isaac Beamer, Barry Price, Edward Quinton, Various Parents, chrevinstoph

Warnings: none

Word count: 2,103

Summary: Chris got cursed. He’s not the only one.

“… When you texted me to come over because you were having a problem, I wasn’t expecting this to be it, Chris.” Nevin remarked as he grinned at his boyfriend, wandering over to where the other was sitting, gently poking the heterochromatic teen. He sobered up after a moment, as this could be really bad.

“Oh, ha-ha Nevin! I texted you for help first because I thought that you’d be the one least likely to laugh at me.” Cross sulked, folding his arms over his chest and sulking, prodding his phone and sighing a little as it slid towards him a little more.

“So… Do you have any idea how this happened? Or did you wake up like this, this morning? I was wondering why you weren’t in class today.” Nevin responded, tempted to take at least a couple of pictures of the other. He looked ridiculously adorable.

“No, I woke up normally… But as soon as I came downstairs for breakfast, I started losing height. Thank fucking god that I was still able to grab poptarts for breakfast and bring them to my room. It’s all I’ve been eating all day.” Cross huffed, kicking his tiny feet “For some reason, my clothes shrank down along with the rest of me, so at least I’m not naked. Father took one look at me this morning and said that he’d call the school saying I was sick. Then he went to work.”

“Have you kept shrinking all day? I really hope that you’ve stopped as if not… Any shorter and you’d probably fade out of existence.” Nevin murmured, kneeling down and unable to stop himself from reaching out to his currently six-inch tall boyfriend. He just… He looked so adorable. “And… Your… Dad just reacted like that? That’s… Really weird.”

“Yeah… I thought that he might freak out a little, express concern that I’m shrinking. But apparently I’m not even worth that.” Chris responded bitterly, scooting a little bit closer to his boyfriend. He’d made a nest out of socks because he got cold really easy the smaller that he got. “And as far as I can tell I’ve stopped shrinking. I hit this size about two hours ago and I don’t think I’ve gotten smaller since then… But like, the longer in the day it’s been, the slower I started shrinking? So I could still be getting smaller, just… Really slowly.”

“Huh… Do you know why you suddenly started shrinking?” Nevin prompted as he gently scooped up his boyfriend, bringing the other in close and pressing a kiss to the top of the other’s head.

“N… Hmm… Well, Isaac and me were hanging out together when Error showed up. He dragged us with him to deal with some sort of cursed doll. We managed to break the curse… At least I think we did? But the demonic spirit or whatever was that made it alive or whatever said that we’d regret doing it, and that we’d learn what it was like to suffer as it had done.” Chris answered honestly “I would have texted you for help in dealing with it, but Error said that the creature gained power with the use of electronics, so he made us ditch our phones.”

“… You got cursed by a possessed doll? … Wait does that mean that Isaac and Error are also Tiny?” Nevin’s eyes widened a little and he nearly doubled over with laughter, not wanting to accidentally hurt the other, though the mental image of the self-proclaimed school king being so tiny was the funniest thing he’d heard of all week. “I’m going to borrow your computer - see if there’s anything on the web about a cures like this.”

“I’ve been trying to look it up on my phone, and there’s apparently something called a ‘bittybones curse’ but the websites won’t load correctly on my phone.” Cross grumbled, looking incredibly adorable in his thin grey t-shirt and black sweatpants. He shivered a little and asked “… I need to stay warm, so either hold me closer or put me in my sock-nest please.”

“… I have a couple of granola bars in my backpack, if you want to eat that, also a short water bottle I won in PE. Drew and I were the only survivors in a brutal dodgeball war today. It was a lot of fun.” Nevin offered, a worried frown appearing on his face as he looked his boyfriend over.

“I… Please. My poptart supply is dangerous low, and I’ve been dreading trying to get more water to drink at this size.” Cross answered after a moment, his eyes wide and pleading.

Nevin nodded and got the necessary items - unable to help but open the water bottle for the other - unsure as to whether or not he could manage to do so himself, but also not wanting to make the other mad for babying him. He walked over to the computer and - after Cross gave him the password - started to look up this bitty bones curse.

~

Two hours of frantic research later, and Nevin sighed “So, from every resource that seems the least bit credible, you’re probably not going to get any shorter. That’s the good news.”

Chris squinted at him “What, I don’t get to choose between good and bad news?” From the look on his boyfriend’s face… Oh fuck what had Error gotten him into this time? “… Alright… What stupid shit do we have to do in order to undo the curse now?”

“For one thing, I have to know for sure if it was just you who was cursed, or Isaac and Edward too. Because the curse has to be broken on the three of you simultaneously, or it won’t work. the second thing is, you’re going to be stuck like this for a week, minimum.” Nevin began, sighing a little and shaking his head. “… Also you and anyone else who has definitely been cursed at the same time has to live together, while being cared for by someone who genuinely cares for you and those who were also cursed… Shit. It seems as if I have to get Drew involved in this if Error’s been cursed too. They are dating after all.” This was not the way he would want their activities to be revealed to his twin brother.

“I’ll text them and ask if they’ve been cursed too.” Cross responded, his voice adorably squeaky. “I really don’t want to live with Error for a week. That would suck… Also how are we going to explain this to our parents? And your grandma… And Drew?”

“I… I don’t know! One step at a time, Cross. We need to figure out if it’s just you, or if more people have been cursed.” Nightmare responded, restless and unsure. There were also a couple of other ways to break the curse - but there was no way that he could afford any of those cures. Also it could put Chris in a lot of pain, so he’d rather not risk it.

“… Isaac and Error have both been cursed. They’re at Barry’s place right now, and apparently their parents are all freaking out super bad… And Isaac just sent me his address - so we should probably go.” Chris responded uncomfortably, shivering a little bit more.

“Okay - we should probably leave a not for your dad - in case he wonders where you’ve wandered off to. I’ll be sure to grab your phone and charger too.” Nevin offered, turning off the other’s computer, walking over to the other’s bed and carefully stuffing a bunch of Chris’s socks together so that it formed a sort of thick, tiny sleeping bag “Okay, hop in. This should help you stay warm.”

“Okay… I’ve almost finished texting Isaac, telling him that we’re headed over.” Chris responded, tapping out the message with his hands, grateful for auto-fill to reduce how much time it was taking.

~

To both of theirs mild surprise, Isaac’s mom insisted on coming to pick them up - despite the fact that it was less than a ten minute walk to Barry’s house - but neither one of them was going to question it. Nevin was a little unsure as to how to react as he’d never met Isaac’s mother before - knowing that she was very busy as a… Therapist? Psychologist? Something like that. He was busy trying to hold onto his boyfriend’s sock-sleeping bag carefully, holding the other close to his chest.

She tried to start a conversation with him a couple of different times on the very brief drive over, but all Nightmare could do was stare at Cross and try not to panic. He looked so tiny and vulnerable and… There was something strangely familiar about this situation, although why, he couldn’t tell. He could also sense both of the others’ concern as well.

One of Barry’s parents answered the door and gestured for him to come in, which Nightmare did as he rushed straight for the lorekeeper of the school, his other best friend, and Error. The latter was wrapped up in several long scarves and looked half-asleep. Ink was snuggled up in a mitten, drawing furiously with the end of a crayon nub, looking up as he came over “Oh, hey Nevin!”

“Heya Isaac.” Nightmare responded with a small smile as he set a tired Cross down… Only to pick him back up again as the other fussed a little. “Hey… Shh… It’s okay Chris, I’ve got you.”

“Thanks, Nev’… Just wanna be close…” Cross mumbled, exhausted and unhappy. He nibbled on a bit of granola bar, mostly just wanting to sleep.

“That’s okay, I’ve got you.” Nightmare answered back, voice warm and gentle. Chris relaxed a little and beamed up at him happily, snuggling a little closer to him.

Barry was sitting near him, hovering closer to Isaac and Error, worried and unsure as to what to do.

“Nevin, would you please put Christopher down for a moment?” Isaac’s mom asked, her expression neutral, but her emotions chaotic.

Crap. He suspected that he was about to get interrogated. But Nevin wondered if they would believe him if he told them the truth “I… Okay.” He put down the fussy Cross, setting him close to Isaac and made his way over to her. “Yes, ma'am?” He wasn’t normally this polite, but he figured that it wouldn’t hurt anything.

“… Do you know how they might have ended up this way? I know that you and Chris have become good friends with Isaac…” She asked, her voice kind but firm.

“I… Uh…” He glanced at her for a moment, fidgeting “… Chris told me that he, Isaac and Edward dealt with some sort of cursed doll yesterday, and that the spirit that possessed them cursed them to understand how it felt.”

“At least you’re actually talking - neither Edward nor Isaac would say a thing. They just said that they woke up and realized that they were shrinking. Didn’t know how it was happening or why it was possible. Honestly, it’s as if they don’t know that we’re aware that they have… Unusual abilities.” One of Error’s parents grumbled, rubbing their face with a hand and sighing “Thank you for telling the truth… Nevin, I believe? Even if it does sound a little out there.”

“I… Y-You… E-Edward what?” Nevin stuttered, trying to hide the fact that he was unsurprised by the fact that Error had powers… He was surprised that his parents were aware of this.

“Honestly, do you all think that we’re blind? I’ve never seen Isaac take to others so quickly - apart from Barry, who has powers of his own. I figured that you, Cross and Edward had to have powers, from the way he lights up about each of you. He has other friends, yes… But he hasn’t connected as much to them as he has to you three.” Ink’s mother responded with an amused smile. 

“Oh… Uh… I’ll.. Uhm, unless there’s anything else that you want I should… Probably head home, actually… My grandma and brother are probably going to be worried. Should’ve been home a while ago… Haha…” Nevin responded, edging slowly towards the door before running. It was cowardly, but he had no idea how to react. Experience had taught him not to trust most adults. He paused at the door, his gaze flickering between the group of genuinely concerned parents (which was so strange to sense) and his friends… And Error, tempted to snatch them up. But then one of Barry’s parents tried to grab him and Nevin ducked, throwing the other over his shoulder and running out the door, headed straight home.