#whatever its only 15% of my grade

[jovine]

i dont even know how to study for this, I can pivot matricies partially and completely, but i dont know how to plot anything right, nor do i really understand the process for writing functions

[fewtrell]

my parents are so fucking frustrating sometimes

[bigfemboyenergy]

fuck everything guys (i have this feeling once a month/nsrs..but it feels like it 😭😭😭)

rather than fuck it we ball its fuck it we bawl time we will get through it but them tears gonna be runnin as fast as my desperate hands will be typin my stupid assignment shit up

[nihiltism]

whiteknuckling the counter chanting to myself Cs Get Degrees Cs Get Degrees Cs Get Degrees

[strawberrynightmare]

Mikey, Baji & Inupi getting whacked while they're trying to wake you up

Content warning: These take place during/after a sleepover! Tickling, something awful happens in Mikey's fic

Mikey

~Modern problems require modern solutions 🤠

~Late, late in the night, you were playing all kinds of games. Cards, truth or dare, illuminati, board games, video games, fire boy and water girl, you name it. Mikey was reaching the peak of competitiveness and you were not far behind.  

~And you would have been long knocked out had it not been for the sugar rush the two of you were on. Needless to say… the two of you were more than a bit hyperactive. 

~It was good after two am that a blood-curling crisis made its way into your blissful playtime. 

The two of you looked at each other in horror, as if to make sure you were not imagining things. But this dreadful situation went beyond human imagination. After a few minutes of deadly silence, your lover spoke in a quiet, shaky voice. 

“We ran out of snacks.”

~Even though the two of you stocked up so well beforehand, it was all gone now. After some good 15 minutes of crying about it, a rock paper scissors match began. Of course, the loser had to go through the hardships of getting their ass up, dressing up, going to the nearest 24/7 convenience store and buying some more food. 

~And he lost.

~As he dragged himself through the room, you could swear it looked like he was going to his own execution. He mumbled under his breath but the two of you were so out of it, you didn’t care and he didn’t even know what he was mumbling in the first place.

~He was back pretty soon but still found you passed out on the floor of his room. Your boyfriend didn’t think much about it when he began to gently kick your side. 

“Wake up, y/n I’ve got your favourite cookies.” ~Guy who looked and sounded like a zombie

~He knelt down to unpack the two bags of snacks while continuing to nudge you with his hand. And next thing he knew was a kick to his jaw as you shifted from laying on your back to your side. 

~He blinked a few times, instinctively touched his chin, sat there for a while, then stood up to turn off the light and fell asleep next to you. 

~Via the two of you trying to figure out how he got a bruise on his jaw after you woke up. 

Baji

~Aaand he took that personally 🙄

~It was definitely not a great idea to have a sleepover at his house on a Wednesday, but he got a bit impatient. For three whole days, you listened to him complaining about not sleeping well and insisting that the cure would be you sleeping over. 

~”What is it? I’m telling you, my mom likes you anyways. And if I sleep well, my grades will be better too!”

You’ve slept well for so many years, and the good grades were never in sight.”

”That’s foul, y/n!”

~In the end you settled for a study sleepover. Instead of messing around, the plan was to study together for some time and then go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Yeah, the plan was all it was.

~You were able to go through two pages of your textbooks before getting utterly distracted and doing whatever the hell you wanted. You ended up sneaking out even before the clock struck midnight and enjoyed the city basked in the night to your heart’s content. It was heavily past 2am when you came back and it was only because it started raining.

~Soon afterwards you fell asleep cuddling into his chest with his arm around your shoulder.

~And he recklessly followed you into the land of dreams without any awareness of what was going to happen in the morning. 

~He was woken up by his mother at the usual hour. Mrs. Baji brought you two breakfast straight into his room and as he was half awake, she urged him to wake you up as well. In a half-awake state, he barely began to complain and tell her to wake you up herself before she cut him off with “I tried”.

~In his defence, he thought that shaking your arms lightly and calling out your name would be enough to wake you up. Jokes on him, you didn’t even budge. He tried everything his mother ever used on him, taking away your blanket, rubbing your back, hell, he even tried to wake you up with a kiss - nothing worked.

~He was absentmindedly poking your cheek while trying to come up with something else. All he could think of was a glass of cold water or calling his friends. It was then that he suddenly got smacked in the face with a pillow. The force of the hit was enough to have him rolling out of the bed. His traitor pillow was dropped right next to him. All you did was roll onto your side. Still asleep. 

~If his loud ‘HAA????’ didn’t manage to wake you up, you might as well have been dead. Anyways, prepare because he took that as a declaration of war. How does a sleeping person prepare for anything

~He climbed back, pushed you onto your back and began to mercilessly tickle you in all the weak spots he was aware of. He even took a feather out of his pillow and began tickling your feet and that was the final straw, for you to wake up completely disoriented, fall from the bed and instinctively kick your boyfriend off the bed. Both of you ended up on the floor, but Baji didn’t even notice that. He was too busy patting himself on the back and praising his genius for managing to wake you up.

~All while he existed there in a half-conscious state, trying to comprehend the whole situation. 

~And then he dragged you to school. You were late because waking you up almost took him a whole hour. 

~Surprisingly, he managed to take the test and actually answer enough questions for you to consider him passing it. 

~So now he has an excuse to invite you in more often. Although he did learn to only do this on weekends so that you can sleep for as long as you wish, Sleeping y/n is the one person he’s too afraid to face again.

Inupi

~Bro gave up 💀

~It happened during a sleepover. The two of you were on the couch and watching a movie late in the night. He excused himself for a while when he noticed someone koko calling him. The call lasted longer than expected and when he came back, you were already asleep.

~All he wanted was to gently wake you up by rubbing your cheek so that you could move to his bigger and more comfortable bed. Totally not because he wanted to cuddle you. Not at all. 

~But then he got smacked with a pillow you  were clutching to your chest so hard, the force made him fall backwards and land on his ass. You were still asleep as he sat there, trying to comprehend what just happened. 

~He wasn’t even sure whether you were just pretending to sleep to take the sofa or it was really just you reacting to unwanted stimuli. 

~He sighed and simply went back to his room to gather the blankets and cushions. Then, he slipped a cushion under your head, gently fixed it into a more comfortable position and wrapped you up in a blanket. After that, he just made some adjustments for himself and sat next to you, leaning his body on yours.

~This fixed the issue the two of you always had. The issue was called ‘Who takes the bed?!’. While he insisted that you should take it, you insisted that it was his bed and you were fine with the couch. But he was also fine with the couch and he couldn’t just- sleep comfortably in his warm bed and make you sleep out there. Sharing the bed felt so intimate that none of you dared to suggest it although i know some of ya simps would jump at the first gotten chance to share a bed with him

~...So the two of you are now sharing a couch, but he swore that the next time, you’re taking the bed even if he has to drag you in there himself.

[blissfullyecho]

A Very Niche Level-Up + Looksmaxxing Idea List for 2025

This list is for the girls that get it. It’s niche and not for everyone, but I’m throwing up at the fact that every “how to level up in 2025” post talks about journaling sad pages 24/7, drinking 8 cups of water a day, and walking 10k steps. How original.

Again, this is a very niche set of ideas. If you can’t relate then you can’t relate. But if you enjoy a good plastic surgery post and luxe lifestyle, maybe you will :)

1. Upgrade your car. We’re getting the Lexus’, the BMW’s, the Mercedes, the Jag’s, etc.

2. Upgrade your home. We’re living in high rises, we’re living in coastal areas, we’re living up in the mountains, we’re living where Amazon can drop our package off and we don’t have to worry about a porch pirate; we’re living in nice areas and in nice units/homes.

3. Breast augmentation.

4. Rhinoplasty.

5. Medical grade skincare.

6. Fresh, organic whole foods; focusing on lean protein, nuts and seeds, mushrooms, onions, leafy greens, pro/prebiotics, sea moss gel, etc.

7. Russian manicures and pedicures or a good acrylic set. Dip powder had its thing for a while but I’m not going to dip my nail in a powder everyone else dipped their nails. I bet they don’t even wash their hands and if they did, they prob didn’t even use soap.

8. Laser hair removal. Everywhere. If you want a design down there that’s cool, but you literally use the bathroom and it drips in the hair. “Oh but I use a wipe”. Okay, next time you need to wash your hair.. don’t use shampoo. Use a wipe. Invest in a bidet but still, hair shouldn’t be in your 🍑 or near the sensitive areas of your 🦋 the top is fine but if you have a period, pee, or “the other thing”, hair should be no where near those areas.

9. Lip filler. Everyone can benefit. Ask for a pout that sticks out a little bit. I don’t suggest a lip flip, I couldn’t do anything with a lip flip and it was driving me nuts.

10. Fake tan. Sunlight is fine but a spray tan just makes you look a million times better. Every skin tone and every race benefits from a spray tan. Trust.

11. Muscle definition. Muscle looks so much better than fat AND bones. You want muscle. Did you see how Bella Hadid had her foot on our necks at the VS fashion show this year? I was sickkkkkk.

12. Long hair. But if you have a face shape like Hailey Beiber, short hair looks better.

13. Makeup. Remember water-based products and oil-based products don’t mix, so make sure you choose your products wisely so your makeup doesn’t separate and you look a mess.

14. A better paying job. I left my hospital job and now I work in luxury real estate and international yacht sales.

15. Red light therapy for face and body. I have a body red light therapy dome that I got online for around $3,000 (USD) and it’s life. The one I have for the face is from Sephora and I spent like $400-$500 on that one. Whatever it says on the website.

16. Lashes. If you’re a pro at strip lashes, then yes. But I get my lashes done. Do not go crazy. Natural lashes are in so I ask for a classic whispy set focused for thickening my lash line and NOT for length.

17. Morpheus8 for skin tightening. I used it on my inner thighs and it literally saved my life

18. Lipo. If you’re a good candidate, get it. Sometimes belly pooch is hard to lose. I don’t have a pooch but I’m sure when I have kids I will.

19. Vampire facials. I can confidently say my best facials were vampire facials. My med spa charges around $950 for each facial

20. People can tell you’re wearing Shein. Their clothes are cute online but I’m going to hold your hand when I say this, they never look flattering in person when they’re being worn. People can see the loose thread and the see-through material. They also don’t fit anyone well and makes a lot of you look square. You get what you pay for in clothing. Learn about the basics of clothing and you’ll quickly only buy quality.

Yeah this list isn’t meant for everyone, but walking 10,000 steps isn’t going to take you to the next level. Neither is drinking water. They’re good habits, but they’re not going to level you up. And yeah I understand my list requires having money, but this is literally what my blog is about.

My 2025 Mindset Level Up book is here!

[mysticficti0n]

It's been so long

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Hello my beauties, I was looking through my inbox and saw around like 9 people asking for a Phil Wenneck fic and I rewatched all 3 hangover films and this idea came to my head, my 500 follower special is still in the world as I want it to be perfect. I've wrote this in like 4 hours and only skimmed it so if there any spelling mistakes ignore them- love you ��

warnings- 2009!Phil wenneck x y/n Y/l/n, (he's single and has no kid either), swearing, mentions of underage drinking, pet names, p!inv!, sub/readerxdom/Phil,

words- 7.9k

"Dylan are you ready?" I called waiting next to the front door, swining my car keys around my finger "Dyl come on you're gonna make us late and mom will kill me if we are late!" I yelled losing my patients

"I'm here" he spoke coming down the stairs "why don't you just don't tell them we were late" I hummed actually taking in his idea

"good idea- well anyways come on" I answered getting into the car. I started the engine and began the short drive to his school, the roads were busy and that meant that was making us later and later

"god- when's your meeting?" I spoke turning to my little brother

"erm.. 5:45pm" he said after looking at a sheet of paper that he pulled from his pocket "and its now...5:45 Y/n"

"Shit-" I spat "oh sorry Dylan" he laughed as I slapped a hand over my mouth "well lets just hope this doesn't take much longer"

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

finally after another 15 minutes we made it, hurriedly we walked into the school, Dylan had my hand pulling me through corridors until we made it to room 7L and he knocked on the wood "come in" a voice sounded and Dyl pushed the door open "ah Dylan, you're here!"

"Hello sir" my brother smiles going towards a small chair put out in front of a desk "this is my sister, Y/n" I followed behind him and placed my hand bag on the floor before turning to face the teacher

"hi, I'm so sorry that we're late the traffic was ter-"

"Y/n?" the mans voice cut me off "Y/n Y/l/n?" even in heals I wasn't as tall as him, so as my eyes met his face I knew who it was straight away

"Oh my god Phil- I can't believe it!" I laughed, I knew Phil all through school, from Pre-k to collage, and he hadn't changed a bit since we had left, chiseled jaw, sun kissed skin, his brown short hair flowing effortlessly around his face and a smile that was always imprinted on his lips "you haven't changed a bit Wenneck" I spoke as we pulled from a hug

"Neither have you Y/n- you look great- erm please take a seat" he grinned as he took a seat behind his own desk "woah- well Dylan it's great to see you for the second time, and also you Y/n, great to see you again too"

"how do you two know each other?" My brother inquired giving me a confused look

"Me and Mr Wenneck went to school together, well we basically grew up together, he was one of my best friends" I answered shooting the man a smile, Dylan nodded getting a grin across his face

"okay well- lets look at everything shall we?" Phil pulled open a folder and his finger traced down the page and then tapped "here, so Dylan by the looks of things you are doing amazing in all classes with b+'s and some A's which is great for a boy your age..which is 9 but 10 In a few weeks if I'm right?" Dylan excitedly nodded, a cheesy smile coming across his lips, my hand patted his shoulder seeing his smile grow bigger "and your behaviour... no detentions, or warnings this year little man, much better then when your sister was in school" he joked

"excuse me- you were a lot worse then me, remember what you did to Jake that day?" I asked raising my eyebrow

"he had that coming, but I wont say much more, need to professional" I shook my head laughing at him as we both remembered the day in high school-

_____ 12th grade (1992) _____

Me, Sasha, Lauren, Stu, Phil and Doug sat in the bleachers laughing about whatever random things we could think off "and what about that time Lauren fell over the curb when we went to that party?" Stu laughed getting a slap from the red head

"I was drunk okay- and like 15 so that doesn't matter" she angrily spoke trying to stop the smile from going on her lips. the six of us kept talking while we sipped on our drinks we brought from the lunch hall. Soon the break was over and we all went to head back in, I stood up, straightened my skirt around my legs and fixed my top around my shoulders, and grabbed my bag from the seat in front of me

"Nice rack Y/l/n!" I herd a voice call from the bottom of the steps, I stood straight back up covering my front with my hand and my eyes immediately locked with those of Jake Casey "its alright babe don't need to hide them from me- oh and nice panties too girls, down there had a great view- didn't it boys" he joyed blowing me a kiss as the three guys around him shared a laugh

I quickly stopped down the steps, coming face to face with the creep "what did you just say?" my voice was low as I got into his face, his friends oh'ed; clapping there hands

"I said-" Before he could even finish his sentence my hand slapped across his face "Ow! what the fuck is wrong with you!" I went to walk away until the feeling of his hand fixed on mine "don't you walk away now bitch" he seethed, his other hand wrapped around my waist pulling me onto his body

"Let go of me you perv" I yelled, desperately trying to free myself, but in an instant, Jake lay helpless on the ground, his grip on me replaced by Phil looming over him like a dark storm. Soon Phil's fists crashed into Jake's body relentlessly, each punch harder then the last, and those three friends from before were not to be seen as the dashed across the field to get away from Phil who wasn't stopping his beating

"don't- you- ever- fucking- do- that- again" he warned as he hit the boy again

"OKAY, OKAY, I'M SORRY!" A shattered voice pleaded, but the brunette remained unrelenting. "PLEASE, GET OFF!" we all watched as Stu and Doug forcibly tore Wenneck away from the now bloodied and battered man. quickly Jake pulled himself up whipping around and running off to join his group who were half way across the track. Phil backed off, dusting himself from the dirt that lay on his jeans and fixed his sun glasses to begin back on his head

"Thanks Phil," we said in unison as we approached, the two girls going to stand with Stu and Doug as they talked about what had just happened. "You okay?" I asked, brushing his arm where he had a faint red mark.

"I'm fine. How about you?" he replied, his concern evident. I nodded, showing him the small mark on my wrist. "Does it hurt?"

"No, I'm okay... Thanks for stepping in again," I said again, I got the feeling like it was just the two of us in that moment, drawing closer, Phil's hand landing softly on my waist the warmth overpowering the heat from the Los Angeles sun. "I—" I started, but Stu interrupted with his usual humour.

"Come on, you two! We'll be late if you start a love story now after all these years!" he joked, pointing at us "flirt after class is done" I couldn't help the red from painting my face as the whole group fell into a laugh

"Shut up, Price," Phil said, rolling his eyes as he put his arm around my shoulders instead of my waist, pulling me closer in a simple yet meaningful gesture.

_____ end of flashback _____

"and Dylan- how are you finding school?" Phil asked, grabbing a pen off his desk looking back to him with a warm smile

"good- I have lots of friends and a girlfriend!," Phil oh'd looking to me as a we laughed " and I like my lessons, and I'm in the soccer team!" he talked "and the homework is okay, Y/n helps me a lot because she's smart"

"stop it" I laughed scruffing the young boys fluffy hair

"well that sounds good then, I have some of your books here for you Y/n if you want to have a look through and also his end of year report" I grabbed the small pile of books from the mans hand and began looking through while listening to the two talk about soccer and things, I looked to the page with the title 'my family' and saw a family tree scribbled with crayons and our faces drawn in: Mom, Dad, me, him, Grandma, Papa, our cousins and aunties and uncles too.

"Dylie your work is really good!, especially your family tree, you've got everyone!" I cheered. After I finished looking through all the pages I set them back on the desk and Phil finished up his convocation with Dylan

"is there any questions you have Y/n?" He asked looking to me, his face warm

"I don't think so, I mean he's doing great and thats all I can really ask for, he seems to have a good teacher too" I spoke seeing Phil smirk at me shaking his head

"great, that ends this then- Dylan, Y/n thank you for coming to see me and I'll see you on Monday little guy, and don't forget the trip money" Phil stuck his hand out to my brother who's little hand shook it back and I watched as the blonde waved walking to the door

"Y/n! Sam's out there can I go say hi?" he asked excitedly looking to his friend out side the window

"sure" I replied seeing him hurriedly open the door, he shouted a quick good bye to 'Mr Wenneck' and quickly left us behind in the class room "again sorry for being late Phil- just everywhere seemed to be busy" I laughed grabbing my bag from the floor and placing it on my shoulder then getting Dylans report off the table

"its fine don't worry- you two were my last appointment anyways, and as its you I don't mind either" he smiled coming round the front of his desk and leaning against it "but honestly Dylan is a great kid, I don't even like teaching but kids like him make it worth it you know" I nodded listening to him

"I never thought you be a teacher you know, I mean you hated school" he laughed rubbing the bridge of his nose

"Yeah I know but life happened" he said looking back to me "erm well I was wondering- do you wanna go out for dinner tomorrow?" I was a little taken back, in a good way though "it's fine if not, but we could have an actual catch up you know? I mean I haven't seen you since we were 20 ish and were now old "

"thank you very much for reminding me- but yeah what time?" I agreed, I watched as a smile spread along is face

"I'll come pick you up at 8?" I nodded "cool well erm- I'll see you tomorrow Y/n" he stood up leading me to the door, before I left I pulled him into another hug

"see you tomorrow" I whispered before letting go and walking out to grab Dylan who was happily chatting to his friend and his mom "hi Carol" I waved

"hey sweetie, how'd it go?" she asked

"good, Dylans doing really good- how's sam doing?" she shook her head and her smile dropped "oh"

"I got told he beat up another kid the other day- I don't know what to do, I mean when Charlie was younger he was nothing like this, and I remember when you were little and your little friends, you guys were never in fights- well not when you were 9! but Sam always is" her voice was full of anger

"mh, It's very odd- must be something triggering him" I spoke

"maybe I'll take him to see your mom when she's back, she's a therapist so maybe she can get to the bottom of it" Carol laughed "aways we must get off- Samual come on" the two boys said their goodbye and we walked out

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

"Night Dyl" I whispered leaving his room, I walked down the stairs to the living room, falling onto the couch and flipping on the tv to a random channel, I couldn't get over that Phil was teaching my little brother, my old best friend teaching my brother... life was weird. It reminded me, I needed to get someone to Have Dylan over the weekend, I knew he would enjoy staying at our grandparents so I picked up my phone and began calling my Grandma

"hello Rosie" she answered

"hi Grandma, how're you?"

"good poppet, is everything okay?"

"yes thank you, I was just wondering if it was okay if you had Dylan tomorrow night please? I met up with an old friend, well actually do you remember Phil?"

"Oh yes Phil Wenneck, of course how could I forget Philly! he was always with Doug, Stu, you, Sasha and Lauren wasn't he" I hummed agreeing

"well I found out he's Dyls teacher! and were going out for a catch up tomorrow night"

"aw thats lovely, of course we can have Dylie, Sofia and Ryan are sleeping tomorrow so its no issue"

"thank you so much, I'll bring him at about 5:30 if thats okay"

"yep thats fine, see you tomorrow lovie"

"night, love you" I came off the phone and saw a dot on my messages, I clicked on seeing -Phil- 1 new message-

'Hey Y/n, just checking (and I hope this isn't weird) are you at your moms house, just I know you're watching Dylan for the two weeks, he was telling me x'

'Hi Phil, yeah I'm here, and bless him I had a feeling he'd be telling everyone, he was saying we were gonna throw a party and everything x' I answered

'I mean if they were anything like your parties, I'm coming x' I laughed

'yeah gonna sing bah bah black sheep with the kids? x'

'of course, it's my favourite song x' I rolled my eyes

'I bet- see you tomorrow Wenneck x'

'night x'

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

"thank you so much again for having him Grandma, papa" I crouched down pulling my brother into a hug "I'll come get you tomorrow, go have fun and I'll call after okay, before bed" he nodded hugging me back then running to play with our little cousins "see you later" I hugged my grandparents then quickly drove back home to shower and get ready for seeing Phil.

I decided on a black dress, it wasn't to much, just around my thighs, some black heals, smokey dark make up and a dark red lip, my hair straightened down my back and some silver jewellery. I sprayed L’Interdit Rouge and grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulder

I went into my kitchen, hurriedly pouring myself a glass of water and chugging the glass trying to suppress the anxiousness I felt rising in my stomach. The sound of the door bell rang through the hall and into the kitchen, I took one more deep breath before walking and opening up the door. I pushed the handle down and pulled the door open

"Hi Phil" I sounded as my eyes met him, he was dressed in a black suit which blended into the night perfectly, it fit his figure amazingly, hugging his muscles in all he right ways, his button up was only done up to the third one and the last two were left open showing of his toned chest, my eyes reached his face, his hair messed graciously behind his head and his sun glasses perched on his head "you look amazing" I spoke not realising I had been staring doe eyed for what felt like a life time

"I could say them same- look at you" he smiled "oh I brought you these" from behind his back he pulled out a bunch of roses, blood red- my favourites

"Phil! you didn't have too- these are beautiful!" I giggled like a child being given a lollipop

"almost as beautiful as you" I herd him chirp, my gaze snapped back to him

"careful" I laughed "come in, I'll grab a vase for these" I walked away hearing him follow behind after shutting the door

"god this place hasn't changed at all- holy shit I feel 17 again" he breathed coming into the kitchen "Its the place I first took a shot how about that" he reminisced

"yeah mom kept basically everything the same though she was going to change it all, then Dylan was born in 2000 and then she just kept it this way" he hummed leaning agains the kitchen counter

"how come your mom had Dylan- is that a weird thing to ask?...I- you don't have to answer that" he awkwardly laughed

"oh well Mom and Dad divorced erm 97' as you know, and mom got with this guy called Michel and then accidentally got pregnant, and we didn't know if he would make it because obviously mom was a lot older then most women who have children but they both made it and Dyls 10 soon" I explained

"oh wow, your moms a strong lady so I get why she made it through, I think thats why I was really shocked to see you yesterday because his name isn't Y/n/l Its Lee"

"yeah, I mean I didn't even know you were his teacher because he only ever called you Mr W or Sir" I spoke "and mom wouldn't have actually met you because this was his first parent teacher thing huh"

"yeah, anyways not that this isn't great we need to get going" he spoke checking his watch "so if you please" I walked towards the man and linked my arm with his as he led us out the house. Phil pulled open the passenger door for me and I gently settled myself into the leather seat, I watches as he went over to his side and slid in "ready?"

"Mhm" I smiled as we began our drive

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

The car stopped at a restaurant with the name 'Le Rouge', The two of us stepped out the car and immediately my arm hooked on his "wow this looks- beautiful" I breathed. The door was opened by a tall man who shot us a quick smile as we stepped through the threshold. To say I was taken back was an understatement, a soft, red glow washes over the space, enveloping it in an aura of intimacy. The dim lighting, like flickering candlelight, shone a warm hue. The décor, a careful balance of simplicity and refinement, features rich dark wood accents and sumptuous red velvet curtains that drape gracefully, adding to the sultry, moody ambiance.

"Good evening Sir, Madam- how may I help?" a sweet looking girl cooed, her hands quickly grabbing a paper that lay in front of her

"hi, I have a booking should be under the name Wenneck" the girl nodded checking down the paper until her eyes seemed to find the name

"okay- if you two would like to follow me" the blonde began trotting through the many tables full of customers until she stood next to a small dark wood table for two, one candle and flower sat as the centre piece and two menus lay in our places "Erin will be your waitress tonight, and she'll be over soon to take your orders but would you like to get started on drinks?" Phil looked over to me giving me a quick nod telling me to go first, hastily I lifted the drinks menu from the side and scanned the paper

"I'll have a....Cabernet Sauvignon please" I answered seeing her write it down quickly, I turned to look back to the man sat across from me who's eyes flickered down the same menu as me

"make that a bottle and two glasses please" soon the girl disappeared with our orders "so what do you think?" Phil asked, his gaze landing back on me

"you've out done yourself Wenneck, it's gorgeous in here- I bet this place is really expensive though so I can pay-" before I could even finish the brunette chirped rolling his blue eyes at me

"shut up- I asked you out. I pay. let me treat you, I haven't seen you in years so this is the least I can do for making up for the fact that you haven't seen my face in so long" he smirked fluttering his eyes

"oh yeah of course" I laughed pulling my chair in closer "so, how have you been since I last saw you, and I don't mean from just yesterday" I gave a warning look hearing him titter

"well, we all left school I was going to work with dad in the car place but we got into this huge argument and he said I was choosing the 'easy way out' so I proved him wrong and became a teacher, then I got a job at Dylans school in 2007, been working there since, but erm I was with this girl after we left school- her name was Shannon but erm she cheated on me and I haven't actually been with anyone in god 6 years this year" the man sadly laughed "but you know I'm doing okay, I have a home and a job so thats all that matters" without really thinking about it my hand reached across the table taking his softy, I watched as his sad smile got replaced with a warm one, his eyes growing softer "what about you, what have I missed?"

"ah well- we left school obviously and I started working for a few people as a PA, worked on a few sets during like 2004 and 5, but it wasn't really enough money so changed and stared working at this bank place 2 years ago. I can't say I love it but I bought an apartment West Hollywood but I've taken the next 2 weeks of to watch Dylan but I'm looking for a new job again, hopefully back on the PA thing because I enjoyed that" he nodded, listening to every word "I was also with a guy, Jackson for a good few years but we broke up on my birthday actually, he said he was bored and needed a 'new spark' so I guess I wasn't that interesting to him" I chuckled, I looked down to my one intwined hand, the feeling of Phil's soft padded thumb swiped on my skin

"who needs those people though, I don't doubt that one day a good guy will see you and think 'damn, she's beautiful, talented, interesting, funny, beautiful'"

"you said that twice" I spoke in almost a whisper

"Its because I mean it" I felt my face heat up a ferocious red colour, before I could say anything else a wine bucket was placed onto our table and two glasses placed with it "ah thank you" Phil spoke with a smile, our hands broke away leaving mine cold. "do you want some?" the blue eyed man spoke, his voice filling my ears bringing me back to reality, I hummed holding my glass to him, the work popped and soon the red liquid began to flow into the glass until it nearly reached the rim, he filled his own then steadily placed the bottle back on the ice "to old friendships" his hand clenched around the neck of the glass, lifting it up

"to old friendships" I cheered, I let the wine cool my throat, taking all the red blush away with it, I could still feel the pricing blue gaze watching me over the table, not in a menacing way- but a adoring one. I tuned my attention back to Phil whose eyes fixed to mine "what are you going to have?" I asked seeing him look to his menu

"stake maybe, or lamb- you?" I checked down the list, until my eyes found my favourite "let me guess- filet mignon?" I nodded, a grin spreading on my lips "still know you well then"

"well I mean its been a good few years Wenneck- you sure?" I pondered, chewing my lip "do you really know me?" my voice lowered, and I couldn't help but watch his expression falter from being confident to slowly becoming more soft

"whats changed about you- tell me love" hearing the nickname nearly knocked the breath from me, something about hearing It in his voice, from his face, on his tongue

"you'll have to find out yourself" I challenged, his stare narrow

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

the meal was one not to be forgotten, and the bill was another thing I would also never forget "Phil stop it- split it with me, you can't pay $250!" I snapped trying to pull the bill from his grasp

"Y/n I am a grown man with my own money- fuck off let me do this- I'll be paying tonight" he demanded

"next time I pay" I sassed, shoving my card back into my pocket, I watched as his eyebrow lifted, questioning my words

"a next time huh?" he responded with a smirk, I shook my head staring away from his eyes as he paid the bill "come on gorgeous lets go" He was killing me- the nicknames, the watching, the smirk.. I felt like a teenager again... the first time I fell for the stupid boy

"watch it Wenneck" I quipped, he brushed me off by taking my hand and leading me from the building, it was a warm night, the sky still a ink blue but a darker colour than before

"wanna go see something?" Phil's voice broke through the silence "it's only down there" I followed his out stretched arm that pointed to a small cleaning in some trees, in my head I kept thinking of the negatives but in my heart, as cheesy as it sounded, I knew if I was Phil I would've been okay.

"okay" I agreed and soon we began moving toward the narrow entrance, he pushed some branches out the way with his free hand, his other still softly holding mine "where are you taking me?" I asked, a soft laughter leaving after I saw him look back with his signature smirk. Soon we stopped as we came to a opening

"welcome to the most cozy place" I looked round the mans figure to see a small pond littered with lily-pads, and pond grass, lit by the moons glow, it was very romantic and every girls dream place to sit after a night like ours

"Phil how do you find these places?" I questioned taking in the view, he gleamed shrugging off his jacket and laying it on the floor next to the water "careful it'll get dirty"

"Y/n it can be cleaned- just sit down" without wasting anymore time, I perched myself next to him on his jacket, our legs bumping as we relaxed into the floor. I stared out in front of me, watching the small movements off the trees as the wind blew past, and the ripples that bounced in the water "tonight has been so amazing Phil, thank you" I said sincerely, my look changing to face him "really" in this light he looked heavenly, his outline illuminated by the light cascading from the sky, his eyes shining into mine, it felt like it was just us again in the world, only me and only him

"Y/n, can I ask you something?," I hummed, slowly nodding my head because no words could leave from my lips "can I kiss you?" every good emotion began wizzing around my heart, butterflies flitted in my stomach and my brain turned hazy, none of it felt real

"please" I breathed, feeling his gentle touch as his hand caressed my cheek, drawing me closer to him. My heart raced as I wrapped my arms around his neck, surrendering to the warmth of his embrace. Slowly, I settled onto his lap as his other arm pulled me onto him, our bodies fitting together like pieces of a puzzle. Our lips met in a tender kiss, igniting a spark that had been smoldering between us for years. A sweet hum escaped my lips, a melody of longing and relief, as the weight of unspoken words lifted from my shoulders..

Reluctantly we both pulled away, taking in each other movements, my lips curled into a smile which Phil quickly mirrored, his hands finding my hips as he sucked for a breath "god I've waited so long to kiss you Gorgeous" he muttered, the pads of his fingers drawing random shapes as he spoke "why did we wait so long?" he questioned

"Phil, kiss me again" My voice trembled slightly as our mouths met once more, a surge of desire mingling with passion, flooding my senses. In an instant, Phil shifted our positions, his form now looming above me, casting a shadow over us, swallowing us in darkness.

"Fuck, you look so pretty like this," his words pierced through the intensity of our kiss, but I couldn't bear to be apart from him for a moment longer. With urgency, my hands pulled him closer, silencing any further words with the press of our lips. His knee parted my legs as he leaned further into me, his wight laying on his arms that caged my head between them; his lips slipped from mine and began traveling down my jaw, to my neck, to my collar bone

"Umph Phil" I whined unexpectedly, my eyes fluttered open seeing the brunettes gaze shift to a darker, hungrier side, his lips began another assault on my skin, sucking and peppering me in little butterfly kisses as I tried to stop myself from making any noises that the outside world could hear.

Phil pulled away, smiling at the view of me, I copied his expression as my hand carefully tucked back a fallen piece of hair "you should let me take you out more often" he laughed softly, his hands found mine and pulled me up to meet him, my legs felt uneasy from the moment but I forced myself to stand although my head only met his chest, the hands that once lifted me began to drag up my side until the two cupped my jaw "you okay?"

"yeah... I think just still in shock, I don't think I've ever been kissed like that in my life" he hummed, a suggestive look painting his features "what?" I asked looking up to him

"I just think you look really hot right now," he spoke with a amused smile "like, really hot" Phil repeated, his head bent so our mouths were basically exchanging air "can I kiss you again- please" It sounded almost like a beg but how could I refuse?

"you don't need to ask" I replied as once again my arms tangled behind his head. Though this kiss felt different than the last ones: hungrier, more passionate, wanting, pleading for more. My one hand knotted into his hair pulling a handful of strands causing him to lift slightly from the kiss

"ugh- fuck Y/n, don't do this to me" his voice croaked in a moan "or I'll take you home right now" I felt a rush of excitement run through my veins hearing the words leave his mouth

"do it then" I commanded pulling away to stare into his blue eyes that seemed midnight black all of a sudden. In one swift movement Phil lifted his jacket off the floor and grabbed my hand leading me back out the wooded area and to his car, the lights flashed as we climbed in and in seconds the engine roared. I couldn't stop my face from heating up as I watched his knuckles whiten from their grip on the wheel as we turned out from the restaurant parking lot back to my house.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

His hand hadn't left my thigh the entire drive home, it drew small circles on my bare skin and I couldn't help but fall into the rhythm, I watched as we turned into my street and the car came to a abrupt stop on my drive way. We exited the car and rushed to the front door, I dragged my keys from my purse and slotted them into the lock and after a few tries the door swung open

I spun around to face Phil, my heart pounding with anticipation as my arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer. Through the doorway, our bodies collided, a rush of heat and longing coursing between us. My back met the wall, but the world around us faded as our kiss deepened, the intensity building with each passing moment.

Our shared desires spilled into the air, mingling with the soft sounds of our breath and the gentle rustle of clothing. In the haze of passion, we fought for control, our bodies moving as one in a dance of longing and need. As we finally broke away, gasping for air, our faces flushed with desire, I closed the door behind us, turning my back to the man that now stood behind me, softly I felt his hands creep around my sides, his breath climbing up my neck

"I need you gorgeous" he whispered, his lips brushing the lobe of my ear, without another thought I grabbed his palm and led him up the stairs. I felt like a teenager again, messing around with my crush for the first time. We made it to my room and I knocked the door open but soon my attention was torn away and all I could think of was Phil, Phil Wenneck who's hands were holding my body as his lips pushed against mine, Phil Wenneck who was laying me on my bed and holding himself above me. Phil Wenneck.

"Take this off me," I whispered, my gaze locked with his, my voice dripping with desire. As he obeyed, his fingers trailed down the small straps of my dress, exposing my chest to his hungry gaze. I felt a shiver of anticipation race down my spine as his touch ignited a fire within me.

His hands caressed my skin, teasingly light, sending sparks of pleasure dancing across my body. I watched in rapt fascination as he cupped each breast, his touch firm yet gentle, kneading them as if they were dough in his palms

With a soft groan, his lips left mine, blazing a trail of kisses down my body, each one sending waves of pleasure coursing through me. I arched my back, offering myself to him, my breath hitching as his mouth hovered tantalizingly close to my aching nipples.

As he took one between his teeth, a sharp gasp escaped my lips, pleasure and pain intertwining in a heady mix. "F-Fuck," I hissed, unable to contain the overwhelming sensation coursing through me.

"Like that, don't you?" Phil's voice was husky as he released me, his gaze smouldering with heat. I could only nod, my body trembling with need, words failing me in the face of such intense pleasure. He repeated his actions, each touch sending me spiraling further into ecstasy. His tongue traced delicate patterns on my skin, leaving me trembling again and again, his kisses a gentle reminder of the tender passion that consumed us both.

I began to feel the heat between my legs grow hotter as I watched him draw himself down my body, my dress slowly coming all the way off and pooling at my ankles leaving me in just my black thong "you look- just woah" he grinned, his hand petting mine

"you still have too much on" I flirted sitting myself on my knees in front of him, I let my hands trail up his front till I met the first button and I pushed it undone, then the next, then the next until his top was bare revealing his tanned torso, and tanned muscles that decorated his front. I pushed myself closer to the man, my lips pressing against his peck until I reached his collar bone, my tongue poked out from between my lips as I licked a line up his neck to his ear "I need you to take these off for me" I sighed

"do you?" he purred, standing from my bed his hands unfastened his buckle then popped the button letting the material fall to the floor leaving him In his boxers which outlined his boner leaving nothing to the imagination "gonna keep staring or come do something about it" he asked with a smirk

"not if you act like that" I answered slyly as I kneeled at the side of my bed in front of the man, his hand reached for my jaw propping my mouth open, dipping his thumb into the wet

"be a good girl and lay back for me, hm gorgeous" I pulled off his finger with a pop and lay myself down, my thighs parting to show him stood just in front of me, his palm stroked my heat, the friction sent waves through my body "so sensitive already" I hummed, trying not to grind myself against his flat hand. His fingers dipped behind the material and hooked the thong away, pulling them down my thighs then to the floor, softly his hands once again parted my legs, showing him my already went cunt "look at that" he praised

"please do something" I begged, in a matter of seconds I felt his fingers brush over my skin, a few digits pushing through my folds "agh- oh Phil" I whimpered at the touch

"god if you say my name like that again I'll cum right fucking here" I smiled looking up to the man who's finger began slipping down my wetness again "deep breath baby" he spoke. I sucked in a breath which was harder then anything I had ever done before then felt a finger push through the threshold, dipping into my cunt

"Angh" I cried as Phil began a agonisingly slow pace, the pad of his finger narrowly brushing my want "a-another- another please Phil- oh please" I pleaded

"already? such a good girl gorgeous" I nodded but soon my body was stuttering at the feeling of another digit sliding in

"Nagh- tha...nk you" I breathed, my hips moved involuntary at the pleasure- my eyes screwed shut, I hadn't got the power to force them to look at him, my voice was stuck in my throat as the knot in my stomach tightened "Phil-holy... I'm gonna-" before I could finish my own sentence I cut myself off "Ooh- fu....fuck fuck my god Phil" I called, my hands blindly reached for something to hold, trying to stable myself but I couldn't reach a thing

"you're okay- come on you're alright" he cooed, his free hand stroked my head as I slowly came down from my first high, my eyes finally opened and my first look was at Phil "there we go, hey gorgeous" he smiled

"hey" I greeted back, our lips connected again and I couldn't stop my fingers from going back to his hair, small pieces caught between each digit as I pulled him closer

"hmph- Y/n gentle with me" he joked breaking the kiss, I rolled my eyes turning my gaze away from his face to his body that sat above mine, I couldn't help but notice the tent in his boxers only looked larger. Slowly I lifted my leg letting the bulge sooth over my knee "agh.. mh you think your funny don't you?" he taunted

"no- I just really want you inside me Phil" I purred as both my hands held his face "please Phil" the man moved quicker than I have ever seen a man move before, his boxers were pulled away from his hips and down his legs revealing his length. My eyes widened- he was huge, no wonder girls in school jumped at the chance of a night with Phil, now I understand.

He knelt behind me, lightly pumping his cock before brining it up to my entrance "your safe word is Mexico okay- you say that and we stop" I murmured an 'okay' and he started to come closer, his warm tip stroked through my split "ready?" I hummed, steadily he pushed in, breaking through my entrance inch by inch before pulling out and repeating his action until he was fully sank into me "god baby you're so tight" he grumbled, I nodded not being able to speak because of feeling so full "want me to start moving now?" he spoke breaking the silence.

"mhm- slowly, you're so big" I welled watching a smirk plaster his face, Phil agonisingly pulled back until only his tip sat in me "Phil don't tease" I whined "need you to...fuck me so good" i was breathless already

"no problem gorgeous" he snarked before slamming his hips back and his full length pushing back inside me, I yelled at the force as he found a pace, our bodies hitting together in a rhythm only gods could create

"Oh Phil...Feels so good in me" I chattered, eyes fixated on him, I couldn't tare my gaze away as his shoulders tensed to keep himself up, a sheen of sweat building on his skin, his hair becoming unruly on his head as stray strands fell

"You feel so good around me- ugh fuck Y/n- such a good girl Y/n" hearing my name fall from his mouth only made me needier, it sounded so right

"fuck Phil- I feel so fucking good, shit- you fill me up so well Wenneck" I panted, my hands digging into his shoulders, nails scratching his skin

"fu-fuck you say it so well baby, I only wanna hear my name out your mouth" he moaned pressing open mouth kissed on my neck "I feel close- are..are you?" his voice trembled

"mhm- I was trying to hold off for you" I spoke, to brain numb to stop the truth, I could already feel his cock twitching inside me as he pounded my g-spot tirelessly

"cum with me- fuck baby" he hissed as I felt his thrusts get faster, our moans started to sync, I never thought I could fall for Phil, but seeing this side, hearing his voice, his moans, his venerability, I couldn't help the feeling "Y/n I need to come so bad" he begged

"shit- i...I- Oh my god" I hiccuped feeling the tie in my stomach rip apart and a swarm of warm blanketing me everywhere, then the sensation of my walls being painted with ropes of cum as the man above me faltered

"mgh- ah, holy fuck" he gulped, his head falling to my shoulder "I've never came that quick in my life" a small laugh escaped as he caught his breath while pulling out

"neither...Jesus Phil" I breathed, our eyes met again and we both had a new glow about us "you look pretty like this" I spoke brushing my fingers through his hair

"you've always been beautiful but right now," his lips tenderly met mine, the kiss was sweet and meaningful making the moment only better "Y/n can I say something?"

"yeah" I agreed, he shifted to be lay next to me, his palm sliding down to rest in the crook of my waist "what is it?"

"I really love you, I did all through school and, when we left I regretted not telling you but yesterday, seeing you and all, then today, I remembered how I felt," I blushed, hiding my face with my free hand "that was so cheesy but I don't even care anymore" he chuckled

"I really love you too Phil" our lips caught each others again, smiling into the make out, we pulled away letting our foreheads rest against each others "we waited so long"

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

My eyes fluttered open to my sun kissed room, the light stripping against my walls, I hummed letting my head nuzzle back into Phil's chest where I'd been lay since the early hours of the morning, my fingers drew up his stomach and scratching softly over his peck, I felt him stir at the touch, pulling small faces at the feeling "what are you doing" he yawned

"nothing" I hummed pressing a kiss to his skin "but it is time to wake up" he sighed rubbing his face with the hand that wasn't wrapped around my waist. Finally he opened his eyes and faced me, though I had already been watching for a while

"morning gorgeous" he sounded

"morning Phil" he pulled me close laying a kiss to the top of my head then propping his chin against my forehead "I've gotta get Dylan soon by the way" he hummed again, I could tell he was falling back to sleep, so quickly I sat myself up pulling the cover away from our bodies

"Y/n come on! five more minutes" he sneered "please baby" his voice begged as morning still lay thick on his voice

"no, come on Wenneck- I remember when we were kids you would say that then not move for another hour so up" I demanded taking his hand and pulling him from the bed. He rose up, towering above me

"you're mean" he commented as he loomed down on me

"but you told me you loved me last night" I played, my finger teasingly running down his front

"I do," he grinned leaning closer "but I also think you're mean" I rolled my eyes wondering away as he sat himself back on the bed falling back.

Quickly I got showered, washed my face and brushed my teeth and changed into jeans and a jumper in a few minutes, Phil on the other hand had just managed to brush his teeth and stick his shirt back on as he continuously groaned about being awake so early on a Sunday, though it was 11:30am

"okay well I need to go get Dyl now, he's got a soccer club to get to at 1 and I need to clean the house and things" I moaned, leaning my head against Phil, soothingly his hand ran down my back comforting me as he laughed

"why don't I stay and help? I have nothing better to do, and I can stay with you a bit longer, make dinner, be like another date" he asked, and I couldn't help but smile at his idea, having him around would make things better

"sounds perfect, now come on we've gotta go get Dyl"

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

My hand pushed the doorbell and soon enough the shuffling of slippers appeared on the other side "afternoon sunshine" my grandma beamed pulling me into a hug "and who's thi- Oh my lord, Phil Wenneck, look at you!" quickly she came out grabbing his face, inspecting all his changes "Philip aren't you so handsome!" she cooed

"thank you, you look lovely yourself, haven't changed a bit" he spoke as she stepped away laughing

"stop it you, anyways let me grab Dylan, he's been playing with the dog all morning- Dylan Y/n's here!" she called wandering back into the house

"Y/n!" a voice called as the noise of shoes tapped down the hall way and soon hands wrapped around me "you didn't call last night like you said!" he complained though still with a smile on his face

"I'm sorry, I got a bit busy last night Dyl" my gaze changed to Phil who was stood smiling at us

"Mr Wenneck?"

[freesia-writes]

Chapter 2: School

Enjoy a riveting tale of romance, suspense, adventure, and self-discovery as Hunter finds his path after the events of TBB. Rated PG-13 for some mild suspense, suggestive talk, alcohol and drug use, and adult themes. Banner and dividers by @pinkiemme ~ Master List ~ Previous Chapter

Chapter 2: School (Word Count: 2.7k)

Hunter winced, one hand on his shoulder as he moved his arm in a circle, trying to work out the sore spot from the morning’s wrestle with an angry bruallki that had apparently only feigned death from his shot. He’d had time to hunt, spend a few hours in his shop, and get cleaned up before heading up the hill to Omega’s school. It was a plain rectangular building on top of a grassy plain that housed students from the youngest grade levels up to young adults within its brick walls, but the island wasn’t too populated so the classes usually consisted of about 10 to 15 students each. He opened the door to the office, shifting his bag on his other shoulder as the attendance clerk looked up at him brightly.

After checking in, Hunter was free to walk the halls in search of Omega, who was late in meeting him at their usual spot in front of the school. It wasn’t unheard of — she was usually either caught up in conversation with one of the staff members she’d taken a liking to or lost in thought from diving into one of her assignments as soon as she could. True to form, Hunter soon found her in the back of the administrative wing, in a little corner office that was full of dark wooden furniture. There were a few small, warm lamps, and there was Omega, relaxing in a cozy chair in front of a plain desk with a chiseled nameplate sitting on its corner: Lyra Vetana, Records Clerk.

The woman behind the desk looked to be a bit older than him, or what Hunter assumed it looked like for nat-borns, with long brown hair that was mostly straight, a somewhat angular jaw, and smile lines around her mouth and eyes. She was currently nodding slowly at whatever Omega was sharing, and as Hunter approached, he caught her attention, her gaze soon followed by Omega’s, who piped up immediately.

“Oh hey Hunter! Sorry I’m late. Lyra was just sharing about what past students have done during their apprenticeship year. She’s got a bunch of great ideas!”

“Yeah?” Hunter answered, shifting his focus to Lyra, who shook her head with a small smile. 

“Just what the kids have come up with,” she corrected, straightening a random pile of papers off to the side. “But I apologize for holding you up.” Her voice was smooth, with just a little bit of husky texture that made it imperfectly pleasant, and it matched her humble and unassuming demeanor. Hunter could see why Omega appreciated her company; she had a steady, soothing presence, although it seemed somewhat flat. 

“It’s alright, just got some work to do before dinner,” Omega reassured her, rising to her feet and pulling her backpack out of the chair beside her. “Which I bet is steak again, right?” She aimed the question at Hunter, who exhaled through his nose as he tilted his head at her.

“Look, you should be happy that I can cook anything at all, you know…”

“I’m just kidding,” Omega said, patting his shoulder as though she were the parent. “You’re doing great, and you’ve come so far!” Hunter resisted the urge to roll his eyes, although her words carried some weight, and he caught what looked like a condescending smile on Lyra’s face. 

“I make salad too…” he grumbled, and Lyra turned a laugh into a cough so quickly it made him second guess what he’d heard, squinting at her as she turned to move that same stack of papers all of a sudden.

“Shoot! I need my interview journal; I left it in my locker. Be right back, and then we can go!” Omega announced, trotting out the door to leave Hunter standing awkwardly in front of where Lyra was seated at her desk. But then he realized a potential solution to an argument he’d had that morning with Omega. 

“Hey, quick question…” he began, looking over his shoulder before dropping into one of the chairs in front of Lyra’s desk. “I… ah… Omega’s very special, and… I know it’s real safe here and all, but… We’re still new, and I just want to make sure… she’s alright… you know. And I know she comes to talk to you often, and you have been here at the school for a while…” He rummaged in his small sling bag for a moment, finding it hard to meet Lyra’s curious gaze.

He found what he was looking for and held it up for her to see. It looked like it could have been a large button from a piece of clothing, but upon closer inspection one could see that it was a different kind of button — a small metal cylinder that could be flipped open with a raised round part to press inside. “Would you do me a favor and hang onto this? It’s… it’s an emergency beacon, and if anything ever happens, you press it and we can be here immediately. Omega refused to keep it on her, but… I just…”

Lyra regarded it, and him, with an unreadable expression, brow furrowing for a moment before relaxing. She held out her hand, inviting Hunter to give it to her, but he paused. 

“Look, I know it seems paranoid, or overly protective, but there’s a lot that I just can’t explain, and I know you’ll probably never have to use it, but it would just make me feel better if—“ 

“I get it,” Lyra interrupted reassuringly, giving him a small, serious nod as she beckoned for him to place it in her palm. He felt a disproportionate cascade of relief; maybe he’d built this up more than necessary in his head, but he appreciated knowing there were extra safety measures in place. “I don’t see her all the time, but if there’s ever an emergency, I’ll let you and her mom know.”

“No mom,” Hunter shook his head, “Just me.”

“Oh, sorry— you said ‘we’ could be here right away, so I just thought—“

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “Me and our brothers.”

“Got it,” Lyra said quietly, closing her fingers around both the button and a million unasked questions. 

“Thanks,” Hunter said, nodding in finality before rising to his feet. He leaned out the doorway, peering down the hall and still finding no sign of Omega, then returned to his post just inside the door, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. He was still getting used to the social situations outside of war, and truth be told, he sometimes missed the rushed simplicity of mission after life-threatening mission. Casting a glance back to Lyra, he was somewhat relieved to find that she’d pulled some other files out of a folder and was tapping away at her keyboard. He couldn’t get a read on her… was she dismissive? Standoffish? Content? Or just didn’t feel the need to force conversation? 

“So ah, what is it you do here again?” he asked, the words flowing without his permission. He cringed inwardly, hating the complexity of civilian life at times, but Lyra paused her typing and met his gaze with a patient warmth that lessened his anxious overthinking.

“I’m a records clerk, which means I have the great esteem and honor of filing away every transcript, work study application, apprenticeship offer, accommodations meeting notes, and so on. Basically, if it happens here, I record it here. And if people need any data from the archives, I’m the one to find it for them,” she answered, poking fun at the seeming unimportance of her job without the full cynicism of one who legitimately resented their duties. 

“Sounds peaceful,” was all that Hunter could think to say, and his estimation was met with a slow nod.

“It is,” Lyra agreed, the faintest smile touching her thoughtful expression. “And you? What keeps you busy on the island?”

“I’m a hunter, ironically enough,” he answered, smirking dryly. “And a butcher. I have a meat shop down in The Cobbles,” he continued, referring to the part of town just above the beaches that was the notorious center for businesses, restaurants, galleries, and city government offices.

“Ahh,” came the enlightened realization. “Yes. I’ve heard of it from other staff members here.” Hunter wondered what else she’d heard, but judging by any response he could sense, there was nothing more to it. “Not a lot of imports on the island, so everything you sell is from here?”

“Freshly blasted daily,” Hunter said with a mock chipperness that made them both snort. There was something about her that he couldn’t quite figure out, whether she was genuinely enjoying the conversation or just tolerating it, whether she had more to say or was simply killing the time they were forced to interact. But he supposed it didn’t matter much, and as they fell silent again, Hunter could hear familiar footsteps approaching.

“Well, I appreciate you being here for Omega… and all the other kids,” he said quietly, and he caught a wistfulness on her face before it disappeared instantly. Lyra smiled and nodded demurely, brightening up when she saw Omega in the doorway. 

“Ready?” the girl asked Hunter, beaming back and forth between him and Lyra.

“Ready,” he echoed, giving Lyra a polite dip of the head before taking his leave.

The house that Hunter and Omega shared was not far from Tech and Phee’s, sitting on the side of the hills that stretched up from the beaches in rugged terrain peppered with large boulders and cliffs. The island had an interesting layout – large, flat beaches wrapping around the entire coast, then The Cobbles, an aptly-named cobblestoned street with storefronts spaced out neatly on both sides, punctuated by a few older residences, a small garden, and some town governance buildings. The entire island was fairly cut off from most everything else in the galaxy, with very few trade connections, resulting in a harmonious self-sufficiency where each person specialized and contributed to the overall good through commerce or direct trade. The business area was the one main street that stretched in a gentle upward slope from the beach to the cliffs, where it stopped abruptly.

The island topography continued to rise from there, slowly but steadily, with houses peppered across the hills above The Cobbles. There were trees and meadows scattered across the land, and the majority of the population lived on the western side of the island in small homes or flat, layered apartment buildings that were spread out above the business district. The apartment complexes huddled together around the Town Square, a large, open area full of string lights, street vendors, food carts, and an endless array of farmer’s markets, cultural events, musical performances, and so on. Single-family homes were spaced out more along the walking paths that snaked up and down the island, nestled among trees and hills. 

A few were tucked further into The Forest, which covered the eastern side of the island in a rugged, dense landscape full of trees and rivers. It was virtually unpopulated save for the houses on its western edge. Near the top of the island, above the layers of homes, lay a large, grassy meadow that stretched out in soothingly gentle slopes. A few ranches had settled around it, utilizing the perfect supply of everything they needed to raise agriculture, and off to one corner of the space sat the school. The highest point of the island was a small mountain upon which they’d built an observatory, although it was chronically out of order. Life on Xylo was a cozy, quiet way, punctuated with whatever creativity the locals could concoct. There were a few other populated islands on the planet as well, each having its own specialty and unique feel.

Hunter brushed his hands on his apron, the soothing bumps of embroidery warming his heart as he remembered Omega’s beaming face when she’d gifted it to him. It was the initial product of her first job shadow, and she’d chosen a plain gray fabric on which to hand-sew her best attempt at two large 9s in Aurebesh as well as a rudimentary copy of Hunter’s half-skull tattoo. 

The meat sizzled in the pan as he turned it, spattering hot grease in response to his prodding. He’d added some herbs this time, filling the entire house with the mouthwatering scent of perfectly-balanced flavors. Omega was chopping vegetables on the wood block next to him, chattering happily about the amazing variety of local produce that was supposed to be available at the next farmer’s market. 

It had been a hard decision when they settled on the island of whether to live together as they always had or to try to branch out into their own spaces. Phee had commandeered Tech into a home of their own, Echo was interested in the communal setup of one of the small neighborhoods, and Crosshair had found a peaceful home with Batcher in the same area, leaving Wrecker and Hunter staring awkwardly at each other. It had worked out quite well, however, as Hunter had found a cozy house in a small clearing surrounded by trees that also included a comically small additional unit across the tiny meadow that was a perfect fit for Wrecker in every way except his size. But the brawny clone had a knack for construction and had single-handedly remodeled the entire thing to be more suitable. The main dwelling on the property was a typical “cabin in the woods”, and with a few modifications had become a soothing place of respite for both Hunter and Omega, whose small bedrooms branched off the main room that boasted a large fireplace and plenty of wood-hewn furniture. 

“This is my new favorite,” Omega said, as they dug into their dinner.

“The bacon-wrapped sirloin was the best so far,” Wrecker mumbled through a mouthful. He had a knack for showing up right at dinnertime, and his presence always filled the room with even more warmth and joviality. That, paired with the fact that he almost always trundled in with his latest catch over his shoulder, had solidified his place at the table above and beyond the fact that he was family. 

“This sauce on that steak would be fun to try,” Hunter mused. 

“Oh! I’ve got a trip coming up!” Omega announced, pushing her food to the side of her mouth and waving her fork excitedly.

“Yeah?” Hunter asked, tilting his head curiously. “For what?” 

“Madame Dreyfus is going to take me on a purchasing run where she selects all of her base fabrics and shows me what to look for. Then she’ll show me which types are most conducive to different colors and types of dyes.”

“Sounds fun!” Wrecker exclaimed, attempting to counterbalance the trepidation he could hear in Hunter’s voice. 

“Mhm,” Hunter conceded, “Where does she go for that?”

“One of the other islands; I forget the name,” Omega answered. 

“Plata?” Wrecker asked, grinning at Hunter’s sharp look in his direction. He was referring to the second largest island on the planet, notorious for its vibrant nightlife and “you only live once” sort of atmosphere. 

“No,” Omega laughed, “One of the agricultural ones.” 

“Oh. Sounds good,” Hunter said slowly. “Just you and her?” 

“Us, two seamstresses, and their students!”

“I don’t know,” Wrecker said in hesitant, drawn-out syllables that made both Hunter and Omega look at him quizzically, but the thinly-veiled mischief in his eyes gave him away immediately. “I’m not sure Hunter can manage without you. How long will you be gone?” His attempt at consternation was met with a delighted giggle from the girl, who tilted her head at Hunter with a playful, motherly expression.

“You’ll have to keep an eye on him for me, Wreck,” she replied in her chipper voice. “The trip is three days long! And this whole year includes trips with our mentors, so he’s gonna have to get used to it!”

“Aaawwww, Hunter,” Wrecker fawned, “What are you gonna do?”

“I guess I’ll find a way to survive,” Hunter stated dramatically, the gleam in his eye belying his own intent. Omega’s chuckle was drowned in the boom of Wrecker’s laugh, and the three of them finished their dinners in good spirits.

Previous Chapter  ~ Master List ~ Next Chapter

Fanart by @snotbuggle in an awesome post with other amazing clone works here!

Join the tag list with the discord server link or filling out my form.

@lightwise @have-a-hiddles @littlemissmanga @dystopicjumpsuit @523rdrebel

@solstraalaa @skellymom @photogirl894 @youreababboon @anything-forourmoony

@reader6898 @moonstrider9904 @hipwell @lamiliani @catoo

@ilarria @padawancat97 @yve-barr @lucyysthings @flowered-bicycles

@maddiedrmr @techhasmjolnir @arctrooper69 @spicy-clones @ezras-left-thumb

@cw80831 @dreamie411 @meagmcc12 @waytoooldforthis78

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale’s Top 10: Most Hated characters

Rules:

1. To make this interesting, I’m going to be picking characters that aren’t intended by the writers to be hated (annoying maybe, but not hated). So Villains aren’t going to be on this list since most are often supposed to be hated.

2. I will be covering Anime, manga, cartoons, and comics

3. Only content I’ve heard of (and at least somewhat have exposure to)

4. This is a VERY personal list. And If you happen to like a character I list. If it’s below the top 5, that’s fine. But if it’s above the top 5, please seek professional help.

___________________________________________

10. Z from All Grown Up!

This is supposed to be a 10 year old kid. I kid you not.

When he was first introduced, I did figure it was the simple don’t judge a book by its cover story. And yea it was mid back then. But I remember watching more episodes and realizing. Z is actually really f***ing boring and the episode about not judging would have worked if they were all 14 or 15, but Z is 10! They are all 9 to 11 years old! This show was so dumb! What parent lets their kid dye their hair and get piercings at 10?! How would he even know what punk is?

I think my main problem with Z is really the fact that it shows how he doesn’t really fit in a story of 10 year olds. Which was one of the big problems with All grown up! As a show. And personally I hate being reminded of why it fails so much as I did enjoy it as a kid.

Though out of all the characters on this list. He at least isn’t a jerk.

The other reason was I am a Tommy and Kimi supporter so…. Yea. That too.

________________________________________

9. Ronaldo- Steven Universe

Now I know he’s supposed to be annoying. But that’s not my problem with him. His obsession with keeping beach city weird is fine. It’s the entitlement he has.

Not the conspiracy theories, it’s him trying to insert himself into it, trying to be the main character. And it’s always causing trouble for Steven. But I really think what does it is just how selfish he is about it. He never learns, starts to consider other people’s feelings. For Steven Universe, a show that gives pretty much everyone a redemption arc, Ronaldo basically goes “nah I’m good as is.” That’s what really grinds my gears about it.

____________________________________________

8. Chloe Carmichael from Fairly Oddparents

Now I should stress that before her introduction. The show was already on a decline with the introduction of Poof, Foop, Sparky.

But Chloe, oh she was a different breed of ruining the show. She made it unwatchable. Like people often complain about Mary Sue characters. CHLOE is a 100% grade A Mary Sue.

She just shows up, gets partial custody of the fairies, everyone likes her, but she somehow a bit miserable so she gets to have faries? Chester is WAY more deserving.

But seriously everything around her seemed to bend to her will. And it was so bad I think they canceled the show midway through the season.

But the reason she is so low is because she was simply the last straw on the shows decline and not the root cause. And I hardly watched the season she was in to care enough.

___________________________________________

7. Hiruzan Sarutobi - Naruto Shippuden

Now for those of you who watched only the first part of Naruto you are probably VERY confused on why this old man is on the list.

For those of you who have watched part 2. You know EXACTLY why he is on this list.

This man’s inability to stop ANY of the awful crap that resulted in the events of the story.

-He let the Uchiha extermination happen

-He let Danzo basically do whatever he wanted

-He didn’t stop Orochimaru who ended up attacking his village years later (and resulting in his death)

-Never told Naruto about his parents, and Litterally just gave the orphan money and dipped out.

-Didn’t stop the village from ostracizing Naruto

And the list goes on.

Like for some things, I get. The uchiha were planning a Coup and it could have gotten ugly but for f***s sake he could have done a better job in negotiations! Also why would he ever trust Danzo?

The rest is on him. Konohamaru is better off having Naruto as his mentor than that old bastard.

___________________________________________

6. Chris Thorndike - Sonic X

I hate this f***ing kid so much.

Oh people complain that Amy is so focused on sonic. Nah man, this kid only ever thought about sonic. This kid even tried trapping Sonic in his world because he didn’t want to say goodbye.

“But he’s lonely without his parents.”

WTF you talking about. His parents see him pretty often despite their careers and both clearly love him. He also has a maid and butler that both watch over and care for him. Not to mention uncle Chuck that is watching over him. Plus he has a group of friends his own age (all of which are more interesting characters than him).

I can’t even begin to describe how much of a jerk he can be. I will say the only reason he isn’t higher is because Chris actually TRIES to be useful in the matarex arc.

____________________________________________

5. Velma Dinkley - Velma

Or should I say Mindy kaling wearing Velma like a skin suit.

I hate when people turn beloved characters into self inserts and this entire show was this. Now I could go on about how they ruin Velma’s character. But this, this isn’t Velma. This isn’t even Scooby doo. It’s just using its name. And that’s all I can say. I’ve only watched enough clips to justify putting this on the list. This character and the show are both awful, so at least she isn’t ruining the show. And she does die, so at least there is some satisfaction. Which is why she is only this low on the list.

____________________________________________

4. Jared Shapiro - Powerpuff girls 2016

I don’t care what the interviews say. No one can convince me this kid isn’t a self insert of one of the writers.

An out of nowhere love interest for the main character.

While not as bad as the case of Velma, this one is much more personal having grown up with the OG powerpuff girls. So this makes me want to gag.

He’s such a bland and weird character. It’s just so creepy. I can’t even begin to describe how creeped out this character makes me feel. It does not feel like him and blossom are the same age either. It just ain’t right.

___________________________________________

3. Caillou from Caillou

I happen to like kids. Kids are creative and fun little gremlins. But whenever I see Caillou, the visceral urge to punt this child is intense.

He is the WORST child character in all of fiction. If the show never existed I’m 100% sure the world would be a better place.

He is a brat that NEVER learns. He says he does but he doesn’t. He is always the exact same little turd he’s always been. The only redeeming quality about that show is that the theme can be remixed into a bop.

___________________________________________

2. Paul Jeremiah Rabin from Amazing Spider-man

This man is probably the most hated man in all of spider-man comics.

Zeb Wells really s*** the bed so hard when he created this guy. Making a character that basically kidnapped Mary Jane, gave her super powers, made her get into a relationship with him, and basically ruined Spider-Man’s personal life.

You want to know how bad you messed up when in the issues where spiderman was possessed by the green goblin’s evil and he wanted to kill Paul, PEOPLE WERE CHEERING.

I do not think exists a single person that Likes Paul as a character. It’s actually kind of amazing.

But he is only number 2, because the ultimate spider man run is helping us forget the TRAVESTY that is Paul.

__________________________________________

1. Dave from Total Drama Pahkitew Island

He was the worst part of the worst season of total drama.

He started off as a whiny less then fun version of Noah and ended up as a clingy, psychotic toad that deserved to get ripped apart by bears.

Now with previous entrees I can kind of understand if there is someone that could like the character. Maybe…

But Dave?

If you actually like Dave and the person he became, we can not be friends. I would recommend a psych evaluation.

The boy is vindictive, controlling, condescending, and overall PATHETIC! And his label was Normal. The normal boy?! Nothing about that ‘Nice guy tm’ is normal. He was a piece of garbage.

Every action he takes is in his own self interest and I don’t see a SINGLE redeeming quality about him.

We are supposed to Want him to get together with Sky?

Him dating the Communal toilet would be a disservice to the toilet.

And that’s all I got to say on that matter.

[gard3nias]

18| Opposites attract

⤎ previous page | ❃ | next page ⤏

wc: 5.59k

date: 15/11/2024

mdi // masterlist // playlist

—Now playing: R.I.P. 2 My Youth by The Neighbourhood ✫

"Daph? Are you there?" And there was silence. After what seemed like a trance founded on anxiety and heavy breaths, there was silence. Back to life. Back to reality. Or was it?

“Rhodes?” Her head was a cage with rubber walls, the type that allows words to bounce nonstop, the only right formula that can fuel her anxiety. They won’t come out nor stop popping up.

Daphne was in the bathroom, in a stall. Beneath her was the toilet with the lid closed and in front of her was the door behind which she’d just heard her friend’s voice. How long had she been there? Couldn’t have been too long, come on. She hadn’t cried that much, had she? Her tailbone wasn’t complaining about the discomfort it would feel when she sat on a hard surface for too long with her knees against her chest so it couldn’t be.

“Rhodes?” She didn’t verbally reply when her name was called, just got up, systemised her sweater a bit and went to the desk. When she was standing next to the teacher, she tried not to look at the colour of the pen he used to write her grade so her heart dropped out of her body nearly as hard as she did on her chair when she read the number in the top right corner.

Like a slot machine, the sadness on her face disappeared to show no reaction. Her brain behaved the same way but in the row were three equal numbers penned in red with Mr Keeley’s handwriting. Just as she’d made her way back to her desk, her feet moved one after the other almost robotically as they did when she walked out of the class, along the hallway to the bathroom and into a stall. 

Her hand reached for the lid, closed it after closing the door and sat on it before taking in a big breath and letting it all out, giving space for her brain to focus on what was next. Like fuel to an empty engine, the battery to a malfunctioning clock and the current through a wire. That was all she needed before her vision gradually blurred out, her eyes filled up and the pinching on her thighs got more intense. It took her no time to reach her height, climbing up the stairs to the maximum stress. The last drop of water sank into the filled cup and it overflew, dragging out sobs that she tried to muffle against her legs.

Maybe she needed this. Not the failure but certainly the venting out hence the surprise she felt when her ears caught something disrupting the echoing silence of the bathroom. It wasn’t entirely surprising on its own: it’s a school bathroom, people are expected to walk in whenever they want and do whatever they want; it wouldn’t have stopped her from crying. She’s behind the door of a stall, her feet are on the toilet and certainly no one could recognise her just from the sound of her weeping.

“Daph?” The voice was a wake-up call, the necessary to have her snap back to reality and out of the virulent world her mind was easing its way to.

“Y-yeah?” Her voice was there—somewhere, very tiny but present and she didn’t forget it in the toxic dimension. Her hands moved to wipe the tears away before she could even register, muscle memory.

“You okay?” It wasn’t official but Daphne’s brain’s favourite activity was overthinking but not enough to have a prepared answer to such a simple question, maybe a bot response. 

Was she okay? Objectively, no. Subjectively? She had to be: she had wrongly planned her study schedule and underestimated the physics topic which caused her to make so many stupid and little mistakes that weighed a lot in the final grade. The number penned in red was a six and a minus following which meant she didn’t pass it—its real value was 5.75, not a full six. It was expected after prioritising that stupid physics topic about light. The topic of this test was easy and quick to understand with common sense so it didn’t scare her and she studied it superficially.

Cleo didn’t know this as she waited for a reply behind the stall door. It eventually came but non-verbal: Daphne came out after trying her best to conceal the traces of a potential anxiety attack that she was about to go through.

“Hey.” That was the only word she said and Cleo checked her to find a better answer from her body language. “I— erm, what are you doing here?”

“I was worried so I came to check on you.” Daphne’s hands fiddled with anything they came in contact with, her jeans, nails, hair, the sleeves and the bottom edge of her sweater because she didn’t know how to act. She didn’t want to behave like the last time, making her friends feel obliged to organise a whole picnic for her, no. She had to force herself to forget about school that day despite wanting to cry out like a baby. She couldn’t lie though: Cleo’s scrutinising eyes made her feel slightly uncomfortable and, back there, she really wanted to ball her eyes out and set free the dark feelings clouding her brain and sending it into system malfunction. Let the dark tears roll down her cheeks, land on her sweater and even soak it up. She didn’t care as long as they were out of her body. The sweater could be restored after a quick trip to Washing Machine and Dryer.

“And I wanted to tell you that is nothing serious. You can easily retake the test—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that but that’s… not the problem. I’m just—” Her words got stuck in her throat maybe with the sobs she wanted to release before. Running away from Cleo’s inspecting eyes, she went to the sink to wash her hands and rub her eyes without caring about proving Cleo’s suspicions or not. The bathroom was silent as she did her thing and Cleo stood beside her with arms crossed and a worried look all across her face, one Daphne tried to avoid as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Cleo didn’t fail the test. On the top corner of her sheet was a bright red seven so she was surprised to see that Daphne failed hers. Yes, it wasn’t so far away from passing the test but she’d found the topic so easy that she expected someone like Daphne to get a grade way higher than hers—like Asher did since he had got a 9.5. Clearly, all these thoughts and hopes were not to be mentioned to her friend. Failure happens sometimes, one just has to accept it and learn from it.

“I didn’t plan my study well and prioritised the other topic above this so I don’t really feel bad about the grade, y’know. It was kind of expected. Physics just sucks, I guess.” Her tone was as cold as the water dripping from her fingers into the sink and Cleo felt it without knowing how to warm it up. She just had to accept it as they returned to the classroom. Luckily for Daphne, the bell had rung for the break to begin so no eyes were too focused on her when she stepped back inside.

Her demeanour may be matching in temperature with the breeze blowing outside her school but maybe it would’ve warmed up if only she had met the pair of eyes wandering around the hallway looking for hers. Even with glasses on, he couldn’t find her.

Are Wednesdays always this bad?

—Now playing: $TING by The Neighbourhood ✫

It was another of the seemingly everlasting series of cloudy but bright autumn days. The sunlight didn’t warm anything up, overpowered by the slicing and chilly breeze that blew from the clouds to Daphne against her face, through her hair to her neck and against her jean-covered legs.

Her feet moved one after the other in the warm comfort of her mini-platform sheepskin boots. The pair of jeans she wore wasn’t anything special, as was the sweater underneath her thick jacket. Around her neck was a scarf that struggled to cover her as much as she wanted.

The direction she was headed caused her to walk against the draft. Her nose quickly caught a warmer shade while her hair blew towards the direction her friends had taken as they went home. Her destination was the library, her second home at this point. In no time, she’d become a regular there, so much so that the receptionist knew her and greeted her with a smile whenever she came in and went out. They knew she always walked past the building to the nearby bakery, grabbed something to eat and returned to eat it on the stairs before finally heading inside.

The little teenager peacefully ate her piece of pizza with her headphones working as earmuffs and sat in a position that implied she was feeling a bit cold. Anyone looking outside from inside the building would wonder why she wouldn’t eat inside but it was a simple choice she’d made and wasn’t bothered about. She felt like the library was a place to be kept clean—even when she was inside and wanted a snack from the vending machine, she would eat it outside the study zone.

Finally, she finished having her lunch and grabbed all her belongings to go inside. Waving at the receptionist, she walked straight to the elevators and went up to the study zone where her favourite spot sat empty, waiting for her to occupy it. As if she were in a moving vehicle, she liked sitting next to the window because it helped her concentrate, she enjoyed the natural light and it allowed her to keep track of time without always having to check her phone.

She loved hearing how silent the library was unlike outside where the town was blooming with noise. Specifically, the study zone felt like a capsule of its own where the commotion decreased even further and, willing to hear it, she always turned the music off and pulled her headphones down.

One hand was in her pocket while the other held her phone and Daphne walked through the oh-so-familiar space, heading straight to her usual spot. Another advantage of it was that it was secluded, a spot pretty hidden, one that you reach only if you patiently walk around the library in search of something new instead of settling down in the first ones you see when you step inside. The way leading there resembled a labyrinth outlined by rows of bookshelves.

As she approached it, the number of people she saw reduced until there were barely any. The table she always sits at welcomes three chairs on both sides and she always picks the closest one to the window. Next to it, forming aisles in the library, was a second and a third table, barely two meters away from each other. 

Sitting in the centre of the wide table was a wooden divider against a socket to which Daphne connected the charger of her iPad. Her school bag leaned against the leg of the table and her jacket hugged the backrest of the chair when she went to look for physics books to study with. 

Failing the test didn’t hurt as much as the other time because she realised the fault was on her for not planning her studies better and neglecting the latest topic. After all, it seemed easy and maybe that was the problem. Her friends had already told her that since she didn’t fail badly, Mr Keeley would test her orally on the topic so she wouldn’t have to retake the test fully. Those words didn’t comfort her because studying wasn’t hard for her, especially once she planned how to use her time perfectly. This time, it was a slip-up that wouldn’t happen again hence the numerous physics books painfully sitting in her arms as she returned to her seat not without struggling between carrying the weight and trying not to have everything fall and cause a rumble of noise all through the peaceful library.

She placed the pile in a corner to make herself comfortable before opening the first one, her digital notebook and diving into the activity, headphones on, soft music playing and legs crossed.

—Now playing: Sad Girl by Lana Del Rey ✫

According to the receptionist, the opening and closing of the library doors could be equated to club doors with the only difference being the origin of the noise which in this case came from outside. Along with the noise came a hot breeze during summer and a cold one in autumn and winter. With a smile and a little greeting, their job was back on pause while Taehyung proceeded towards the elevators. 

He didn’t hesitate before unzipping his jacket as the library’s warmth was already getting to him. By the time the lift tinged and opened, it would be thrown across his arm while the other held his backpack. He ruffled his hair as he casually walked into the study zone. Around his neck were his headphones and sitting on his nose were his new companions, for the time being—his glasses.  

His schedule was packed which wasn’t unusual but because of the campaign, he felt like it was the end of the world and weighed on him like a mansion. He barely paid any attention as he walked through the room towards his self-assigned position but froze when his eyes landed on it and saw it occupied. It had been long since he last came to the library to study but he felt it could never be long enough for anyone to dig this deep in the library because the first tables right at the entrance were never fully occupied.

He stood in the little lane separating the two wide tables away from the window, the third one was where she was. He blinked a few times to be sure he wasn’t hallucinating but soon came to his senses and decided to sit at the third table, on the polar opposite, making them on the same side but multiple chairs away.

He plopped on the chair and let his backpack slide onto the floor as he watched her and thought of what he could do. He wondered if he should sit at the same table as hers or greet her but she looked so focused on whatever she was studying and it felt illegal to disturb her. He even believed she was in a similar situation as his because of the pile of books on the table which reminded him not to get distracted so, reluctantly, he decided to mind his business and study. He kept his backpack and his jacket on the empty chair next to him before taking his books out.

—Now playing: Single by The Neighbourhood ✫

Late Afternoon rolled around. Came by as quickly as it left so Evening could step in. The artificial lights carved into the ceiling of the library seemed to shine brighter against the darkness that penetrated from outside into the building. 

Closing hours were approaching while the number of students progressively reduced, turning the main area of the study zone similar to the secluded one where Daphne and Taehyung spent their afternoon studying.

Having to answer duty’s call, Taehyung couldn’t indulge in his brain’s favourite activity but it still tried to sneak it in as best as it could. Studying technically next to Daphne made him seem like he’d come there to play. She would barely lift her head off her book. Her body was always living in the best comfort because she never stretched and barely changed positions. He, on the other hand, had had multiple breaks when he’d go for a walk in the building or through bookshelves, go out for a smoke or get himself a little treat at the vending machines. Her only form of distraction if one could call it that, was drinking from the water bottle next to her.

He was amazed, there was no other way to put it but in his amazement, he just mentally complimented her and packed his things. He couldn’t do it as she, never—since he had to follow the Pomodoro technique and have at least two breaks in one hour—and, therefore, he got up to look for a little book he could read to come out of the focus session he was in fully minutes ago. His mind couldn’t even picture himself in her shoes because he could never be focused for that long especially considering all that the past weeks have been for him.

Visibly, Daphne seemed not to care about his unspoken thoughts. She just went on with her life and her activity for a few more minutes after he’d left before she decided it was time to start packing everything up. She removed the charger from the socket, placed all her school supplies in her pencil case, and when all of her belongings were in her backpack, she finally got up and took the pile of books to be kept back.

She was physically and mentally tired at that point and every inch of her body was laced with impatience to return the books to their spots and rush home quickly. They say patience is a gift and yes, she’d received it but maybe had left it at home that day. Curse words flew out of her mouth one after the other like the wagons of a train when the book sitting on top of the pile made her go through several stages of distress: it kept moving to one side which she tried to contrast but eventually failed when it tipped over; to prevent it from slamming flat on the floor and sounding like a titan had just slammed someone, she used her foot to stop the impact or, better, to feel the impact. 

“Ouch! Fuck!” Her frustration could be heard even in the soft whispering and Taehyung did. He was walking along the way separating the windows from the rows of bookshelves and he was just about to walk past her when he heard her.

“Need some help there?” He asked the question and he answered it without giving her the time to even understand who was speaking to her. He slammed his book shut without checking what page he’d reached and, after placing it on a nearby shelf, he crouched to pick the book up. Daphne was still stunned and suddenly the weight in her hands ceased to exist both because her mind stopped thinking about it and also because he’d collected the whole pile from her.

Clearing her voice, she finally replied, “Erm, thank you.” From his body language, she understood that he didn’t mind about it so she simply silently walked behind him. He already knew his way around and where the books belonged so she stopped trying to show him the directions after he anticipated her words a couple of times. When they were at the right section, she hurried to collect the books from him and place them in their right spot. Only once they were done did they finally stand to face each other.

“Thank you, again,” she chuckled. 

“It’s nothing really.” She nodded and smiled. Her eyes stared at his for a split second before they started wandering around. He tilted his head and asked, “Daphne, right?” with a wider smile, she nodded even more eagerly.

“Yeah and… you’re Taehyung,” he chuckled and nodded as well. Objectively, it could just look like a couple of teenagers remembering each other’s names after just one encounter. How cute. How lovely. Who wouldn’t want to be in their shoes? The only thing was that they were both oblivious to the fact that they remembered each other’s name not from that one night but from social media stalking and daydreams that go way back to before the party.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you knew your way around so well— which is completely stupid because you have lived here since you can remember. Sorry, I’m so dumb,”

“Oh, no, you’re not and I don’t blame you. It’s been so long since I stepped foot in here, especially after the campaign and all that shit.” Unconsciously, they started walking back to their spots, she with her arms crossed in front of her chest while he with his hands in his jeans pockets.

“I bet that was a whole rollercoaster ride,”

“It was worse, way worse than what I could have ever expected. Thank God it’s the first and last time I’m doing something like that. I hated it so bad,”

“But where do you think the real struggle lies? In the preparation or when you actually get elected?” He just chuckled at her words, head turning to look at her. 

“Why is everyone so sure we’ll get elected?” 

Her facial expressions anticipated her words, “I mean, I don’t really know much of it but from what I’ve been told, y’all are very influential around here so it’s already been predicted since day one. You wouldn’t want to be elected anyway?”

He sighed, “I don’t know really. I joined only because my friend wanted to do it and I didn’t want to hold her back from it, besides, she was and still is kind of relying on us to be part of her team so...”

They stopped at her spot first as they continued talking. Once Daphne had packed her stuff and wore her jacket, they walked to his spot and she waited for him to get his things before they left together, walking past the handful of people working on their books or their devices and the ones packing their things to leave. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open only to slide back close once they were in and pressed on the number zero. He leaned against the wall facing the doors while she against the one opposite the buttons.

“So… you were studying physics all this while?” he broke the silence. 

“Yeah. I’m in a bit of a crisis right now,”

“So much that you needed so many books?” he laughed and she laughed too, nodding and getting slightly shy. “We’ve done only two tests so far and I failed both of them so yeah… I think I need that many books.” 

Taehyung’s facial expression spoke volumes, going from surprise to confusion all with a smile on and it amused her. “You failed both? Were they so hard?”

“Not necessarily. The second one was easy but I failed it because I didn’t study well since I was focused on the topic of the first one. I don’t even know if I can say that it’s hard. I could be just a dumb person of my own but that shit’s ass and I just don’t get it so yeah, I was studying so much for that one and barely reserved any time for the other one. Ass.” Taehyung laughed, the elevator dinged and they came out.

The ground floor was even emptier. The children's section and the cafeteria were already closed and some cleaners were already sweeping the floors. “Have a good evening,” from their little cubicle, the receptionist greeted them, the teenagers waved back and exited the noise-cancelling building to venture into the blast outside. 

Cars honked and rumbled from the end of the street where the town centre was. Taehyung’s hands were still in his pocket while Daphne held her phone with which she checked what time the bus would arrive at the terminal in front of their school so the two were silently walking next to each other on the sidewalk. 

He didn’t like the silence but he couldn’t lie and say that her distraction wasn’t allowing him to look at her like a kid looks at fireworks on New Year’s night. Around her neck was a thick scarf she tried to hide her face into. The draft had changed direction and was now blowing from the town into the street they walked in. The jacket she was wearing was so big that her hands were barely out. Her nails were covered in cherry red polish and some of her fingers were in golden rings. He couldn’t fully see her side profile despite the small distance between them because her bangs were covering it whenever the breeze didn’t blow harshly. 

“Your physics teacher allows you to retake the tests right?” He spoke first to fill up the space between them.

“Yeah”

“And when are they?”

“Erm, the ass topic one is in two Wednesdays while the easier one is in mid-December.” He internally rejoiced when her phone was slipped back into her pocket and she looked up at him as she spoke. If her eyes liked wandering around, his liked to catch every little detail that brought her face to life. It’s not the first time he’s seen pretty girls, pretty people in general, but it was the first time it had him like this. There was just something about her that he couldn’t just shrug off his shoulders—he didn’t want to anyway.

“Why so far away? When did you take the tests?” As he asked the question, he wondered if silence had run through from when she spoke. Don’t be harsh on him. He recalls that the last he was looking at her face, he lost track of time.

“I don’t know why. The teacher’s an asshole. The first test was above a month ago while the second one was last week. He had a reason only for the first one since almost the whole class failed it,”

“Goddamn! Almost the whole class?” She nodded. Gradually, they made their way out of the library’s street and into town where the closest bus stop was the one after the terminal.

“I think the topic is that hard. I still don’t fully get it and I started studying it intensely before the first test and now I’m locked in even harder.” Taehyung chuckled and waited for them to cross the street and walk onto the bus stop before he spoke again.

“You know? I could help you if you want… with physics” Daphne’s eyes widened for a split second as she sat on the empty bench, hands still in her pocket because of the chilly weather. Even in a thousand light years to come, she’d never be able to put into words what was going on within her guts when he said those words. 

“Really?”

“Yeah, besides, you’re a junior and I’m a senior so I’ve already gone through the topics last year,” As he spoke his back rested against the pillar holding the sheltering surface above his head.

“But I don’t want to bother you. I think you already have enough on your plate,”

“Oh, don’t worry. You’re not bothering me. I’m the one who offered and my plate is pretty wide. Enough is never enough” he chuckled, getting lost in the way the streetlights glittered in her eyes. What enchanted him the most was her smile. Daphne didn’t know the effects it had on him.

She giggled and replied, “If you say so”. His smile broadened and he tried to hold it back by biting his lip but obviously failed. Daphne didn’t have enough time to admire how good he looked, how his hair swayed with the wind, how he was standing or how the tip of his nose was getting redder with the cold before the bus arrived and they had to get on.

Just like that Tuesday evening after training at the school gym, the bus was practically empty and one could only see the reflection of the inside when trying to look outside. As usual, they made a beeline to the back where they could comfortably sit next to each other. She led the way and he meekly followed.

Not surprisingly, Daphne sat right next to the window: He sat right next to her, leaving no empty seats in between. She believed it to be a great change, especially since she hadn’t seen him on the bus for a long time. 

Luckily for them, the heater was on so they could warm up after walking in the chilly environment that was outside. She took her jacket off and he helped her keep it and her bag next to him on the empty seat.

“Anyway, what are the topics?” he restarted. “The first one was about light and the second about sound.”

“Light and sound, huh? Which one do you find hardest to understand?” as he spoke, he leaned back against the headrest, hands still in his pocket, and turned to look at her without the rest of his body budging.

“The first certainly.” He chuckled again. It’s all he’s been doing for the whole while because he didn’t know which other subtle way he could use to express the crazy happiness within his guts. Sorry, he had to let it out somehow. “You got any notes?”

“What? You think I don’t?” as he chuckled, his Adam’s apple bopped. She laughed, shook her head and cleared the misunderstanding, “No, no, that’s not what I meant and you know it,” the way he looked was making her shy. Maybe he could get it, maybe not, but her eyes started wandering around like the ones of a lost puppy again.

“Mmh hmm.” She rolled her eyes and he laughed, head turning back up to face the ceiling.

“When would it start?” There was no need to look outside. A prettier view was right next to her and the contrast between the darkness of the evening and the lights inside made it impossible for her to see anything unless she glued her face to the windows.

“Whenever you want.” He didn’t look at her as he replied this time because he soon had to come down from the bus—he was about to get lost in her sparkling eyes and pretty smile and forget about his other plans.

“Oh, my God. I almost forgot. I’m staying at my friend’s tonight because he’s just in deep shit as I am after the campaign so I’m coming down at the next bus stop.” Thank goodness he remembered ‘cause only God knows how he would’ve had to explain to Jimin why he forgot to go to his place: “So, you see… I was talking to this very pretty girl, you know the new one in town, the one I met at the party and never told you about, the brunette with sparkling eyes, a fine ass body and a deadly but stunning smile? The one in junior year. Yeah, that one. I think I have a crush on her, a huge, fat, no, obese, astronomical, titanic, humongous crush on her, yes, and she drives me crazy, fucking insane so much so I become dumb next to her. Literally dumb. It’s already a lot I can talk to her, form coherent sentences in my head and not slur my words so yeah, that’s why I forgot to come help you. Please, find it in your heart to forgive me.” Would that work? Who knows. Regardless, he would never say it. Not to him at least but certainly to his reflection in the mirror once he gets back home and reminisces this day.

“Oh.” Two simple letters with barely any meaning but they held so much disappointment. Again, the party had to be ended too soon. Why was it always when the two of them were talking? If only he actually caught the tone she spoke with, he would have certainly texted Jimin telling him he couldn’t make it and spend the rest of the ride next to her.

“Here,” he spoke a little while after and let his actions finish the sentence as he placed his phone in front of her. On the screen was a dialling pad. She did everything within her body not to smile like an idiot, took the phone in her hands and typed in her phone number. Smooth like butter.

“Here you go,” maybe he was hallucinating again—which wouldn’t be surprising—but there was something in the way she said that that had him double-checking her for any special facial expressions but, as expected, she didn’t even look his way—wandering eyes—and he smiled before saving her contact. Was it joy? Shyness? He didn’t know. Better not be, not now, else he would literally lose his shit and have the driver stomp on the brake once he’d hear him scream.

“Well, I guess we’ll see each other soon then,” she nodded and watched him as he took his bag, slung it across his shoulder and headed towards the closest door. 

Pressing on the red button, a sound dinged through the bus and moments later, the vehicle stopped and the doors slid open. She waved at him and he waved back right before coming down from the bus at El Grillo’s bus stop. Doors closed and finally, she allowed herself to express some of her happiness by squirming and squealing in her seat. Moments later, when her phone dinged and a notification came in, she’d wish she were at home, on her bed and rolling on it.

Unknown number: you tell me when and we start

⤎ previous page | ❃ | next page ⤏

[therainscene]

I’ve been rolling the Mike thinks Will is in love with El theory around in my head some more. I like it, but it’s not without its flaws.

One especially damning counter-argument a few folks have brought up is that Mike heard Will refer to himself as El’s brother at the police station:

Will’s line contrasts Jonathan’s earlier “I’m her brother... uh, step-brother...”, indicating that Will has fully embraced her as family where Jon doesn’t quite see her that way yet.

It’s a great point. The only justification I’ve seen for it is that Mike wasn’t put off from kissing El after he’d already implied he wanted to be her brother... but that doesn’t wash with me. Just because he had no idea how to reconcile his feelings with heteronormative expectations at 12 doesn’t mean he's still clueless at 15.

So let’s give him some credit and try a different angle: When we step outside of the Byers POV, Will’s line is actually quite ambiguous.

The unsympathetic receptionist refused to let them see El on the grounds they weren’t a parent or legal guardian, so Will jumped in with an argument he hoped would win her over: we’re her legal next of kin. He’s just saying whatever he thinks will grant them access to El -- there’s no reason it has to be reflective of his true feelings.

After all, it’s not as though Will “be gay do crime” Byers has any qualms about being dishonest with authorities when it suits him.

Mike was present for both of the above moments, so he definitely knows this about Will. And this is only one piece of evidence amongst many -- the rest of it is undeniably suggesting that Will’s in love with one half of Milevn:

Will’s been acting weird in a likes-someone way around El;

Will sulked at Rink-o-Mania over getting third-wheeled by Milevn and rarely took his eyes off El;

Will is always eager to talk about El and brings her up in conversations with Mike more than Mike does;

Will hinted that he was hiding an uncomfortable secret from Mike in the scrapyard heart-to-heart;

Will is the more trustworthy party in the “maybe it is for [someone he likes]”/“El commissioned it” painting lie conflict;

Will was on the verge of tears the whole time he was pushing Mike back into El’s arms in the van and the pizzeria.

It’s obvious to the audience what conclusion to draw here because we had the benefit of seeing it all through Will’s sad gay puppy eyes...

...But Mike is forced to assess the evidence through his own biased POV.

This kid has severe self-worth issues, which are tied up in his feelings for El, which are in turn tied up in heteronormativity. It’s also been hinted that he has depression -- messy room, slipping grades, parallels with Max -- an illness that’s notorious for twisting your thought processes into the most pessimistic directions possible.

So while Mike may very well suspect the truth, I’m not sure he’s in the right headspace to accept it. There’s a good chance he’s torn between the two interpretations:

Will likes El: Mike is forced to choose between making Will happy vs. holding on to the one thing that makes him feel like he has value. But he can tell that El doesn’t need him anymore, and he couldn’t live with himself if he hurt Will... after all, aren’t a straight boy’s feelings more important than some pathetic queer who’s lying to himself?

Will likes Mike: Mike gets to make Will happy and he gets to make himself happy. Letting go of El might be difficult, but he knows she’ll be fine without him, and Will has already proven that his unbridled love can help Mike see his inherent self-worth -- a much healthier approach than tying his self-worth up in being someone’s boyfriend.

The first interpretation reinforces Mike’s heteronormative beliefs and ensures he continues to feel worthless, whereas the second allows him to feel hope that things can get better.

Which interpretation would a depressed brain find more appealing? Or, more to the point, since Stranger Things tends to explore these struggles through metaphor--

--which interpretation would give Mr. Everyone-is-Just-Waiting-For-it-All-To-Be-Over an opportunity to break through Mike’s defenses?

[rafesveryrealgf]

Never been kissed

(Rafe x kook!reader)

Warning: NON CANON, minor!rafe x minor!reader, kissing.

Synopsis: You, and your best friend, Rafe, are 15 yrs old. The summer going into 10th grade, You were hanging out when the topic took a turn, and Rafe asked you about your first kiss. You felt embarrassed that you still hadn’t had your first kiss so, Rafe thought it would be a good idea to get it over with so you didn’t have to go into 10th grade still not having experienced a first kiss.

You, and Rafe had been hanging out at his place for the whole summer, and you never once got tired of it.

Rafe was your best friend; your only best friend, and there wasn’t a damn thing you couldn’t trust him with. He was a good friend, and always had your back. When the other Kooks would pick on you, he’d be right there to defend you.

Having Rafe by your side was a good thing, he was the king kook, but it had its down sides. Due to you and Rafe being best friends, you two were practically inseparable so, with that being said, no guys would even come close to you. They were all afraid Rafe had his eyes on you already, and didn’t want to be Rafe’s next victim.

Today, you and Rafe were hanging out at his house, in his room.

You were sitting on his bed, leaned up against his headboard with your legs criss crossed, twiddling your fingers while Rafe was busy digging through his closet.

“Does this outfit look okay,” He came out, and held up a baby blue collared shirt on a hanger, with khaki shorts hanging just below. “Y’know for the first day of school?”

“Rafe, it looks like every other outfit you own, the only difference is the color.” You chuckled.

He rolled his eyes at you.

“Yeah, whatever. I don’t care for your opinion any way.” He joked.

“Who’re you trying to impress?” You tilted your head with a smile.

“No one,” He answered quickly, eyeing you harshly as you joked.

He turned around and went back into his closet to neatly put the clothes away.

He walked back out and sat in front of you, on the bed.

“Oh c’mon. There’s absolutely no one at our school that you’re interested in?” You leaned forward, grabbing his hand and began tossing it up, and down, making his arm do the ‘worm’, hoping for some answers.

“No,” he chuckled.

You frowned at his answer, giving the puppy dogs at him so he’d fold.

“Well,” he dragged out. “I dunno.”

Your shoulders fell.

“Stop asking me about girls,” he pushed your shoulder back in a playful way, and chuckled. “I’m sure you like tons of guys so, tell me about them.”

“All the guys at our school are hideous snobs, Rafe.” You snickered at him.

“Hey! I go there, asshole.” He tackled you into the bed, tickling you, until you begged for him to stop.

“Obviously not you.” You breathed out. “I don’t find many of them attractive, and I think they feel the same about me.”

“Why do you feel that way?” He furrowed his brows at you, genuinely wanting to know.

You sighed, sitting up. “I mean, it’s obvious. People our age are like…having sex, and I haven’t even had my first kiss yet.” You frowned.

“Wait, what?” He eyed you deeply, as if he were taken aback by your response. “You haven’t had your first kiss?” He chuckled.

“Yeah.. I mean it’s super embarrassing, I know.”

“No. No, it’s not y/n. Some guys actually prefer their girl…untouched, y’know.” He patted your thigh in a comforting way.

“Ugh…but I feel like a loser.” You huffed, face now slowly turning red.

You were slowly regretting telling Rafe you hadn’t had your first kiss, only because instead of teasing you, it seemed he had actually felt bad for you. Which was somehow far worse than him just teasing you about it.

“You know..if you want..,” He pinched his eyes closed, and pursed his lips together as if he were about to say something he’d regret. “I can help.”

You both looked at each other quickly, before you began laughing, uncontrollably. But he kept a straight face, which quickly helped you realize he wasn’t joking.

“Look, it’s weird.. trust me, I know,” he said.

He straightened his body on your bed to propose his idea. “…but we’re best friends, so, I’m willing to take one for the team,” He smirked before continuing. “So you don’t have to walk into tenth grade looking like a loser.”

You could tell he was joking at the last part, but every thing he said before ‘looking like a loser’ had seemed very serious.

What was so bad about kissing Rafe any way? He was a good ass friend to you, and here he was offering himself to you so you didn’t have to feel shitty about not having your first kiss. It’s not like the kiss would mean something to either of you any way, so why not?

“Okay, but.. I don’t exactly know how to either.” You said, clasping your hands together, and pursing your lips.

“That’s okay, I can teach you.” He shrugged.

You hesitated for a second then nodded.

He scooted closer to you, and soon after, brought one hand to your cheek.

You both leaned in,

And just when he got inches away from your face, you snorted. You couldn’t contain your laugh. And to be quite frank it was awkward. This was your best friend that you were about to kiss, and never in a million years would you have thought that this would ever happen.

“Y/n, be serious.” He rolled his eyes.

At this point Rafe was more adamant on kissing you than you were him.

“Okay, okay. I’m ready.” You giggled one last time before straightening yourself out.

He leaned back in, and you closed your eyes. this time, your lips connected.

You were confused on what to do with your hands so they sat neatly in your lap while his hands were caressing your face.

Your lips were still, while his were going all over the place, his head tilting to each side with every couple of kisses.

Even though this was supposed to be purely platonic, you couldn’t help but feel jitters in your stomach. Your cheeks were now feeling warm, as you began to kiss back. Your heart tightened when he swiped his tongue between your lips. And not long after you got the hang of it, you began swiping your tongue between his lips too.

The kiss was only supposed to last a second, but turned into a full blown make out session, and you were confused, but nonetheless, enjoying it. Rafe kissing you the way he did had unleashed feelings towards him that you hadn’t seen or felt before.

He pulled away from your lips with his hands still placed on your cheeks.

“And…” he drawled, his face falling into a smirk as he looked into your eyes. “Just like that.”

You never noticed how hypnotizing his piercing blue eyes were until you found yourself unable to look away from them.

You then leaned in for another kiss.

[pep-the-artemis]

The age of MD characters

Ground rules. Not actual age because that's impossible to determine because we don't know a lot of information like how quickly WDs age, how old Uzi was when the DDs arrived (or how long after was she born), etc.

So basically, how old would they be if they were human.

Lets look at the canon evidence before going into theory territory.

Uzi is in a rebellious phase which can happen at any age but is most common in the range 11-13 years old.

In episode 3, the characters went to prom meaning they're ever in the yr11 or yr13 (basically in the age range 15-18). Since in episode 4 its shown they're still in school, we can conclude they're in yr11 (15-16 years old). for US peeps, yr11 is 11th grade and yr13 is 12th grade

In episode 1, we see the teens were given homework which was a word problem about watermelons. Although these are present in yr13, they're infinitely more common in y11 backing up the earlier segment.

In episode 4, its highly implied that the DD drones are older than Uzi's peers. This isn't conclusive by any means.

With the exception of Uzi and DD, all the teens are exactly the same height (which makes sense since they're robots) and all the adults are the same height being slightly taller than the teens. This means the teens aren't fully grown but the height difference isn't major so basically this backs up everything discussed earlier.

In episode 4 N refers to himself and V as 'kids' implying that they're adults or just barely adults.

Although far from definitive, I think most evidence points to the teens being ~16 years old with the DD being 17+ years old.

Now onto theory time.

I think Uzi is younger than her peers and was moved up a year or a couple in school.

First going back to the height point from earlier, it does seem height is only correlated with age (which makes sense for robots).

secondly, the reason she was moved up a couple years is because she's a genius. In the show, she's created a: sick as hell railgun, a device which allows her to steal someone else's sentience, and a device which allows her to inception into peoples minds.

Thirdly, her anti-social behaviour and detachment from her peers mirrors a lot of experience of children who were moved up a year.

So, how old is Uzi? to avoid nuzi becoming too... controversial, I think she's 15 and was only moved up 1 year.

Cyn is even harder to age but since she is even smaller than Uzi and from her personality, I think she's in the age range 10-13, my instinct is telling me 12 years old which is much older than what the fanon usually present her as.

For *those* creators, I do think you can make a very persuasive argument that the whole cast (except Cyn) is 18+.

I also want to mention there's a lot of leeway with these numbers and headcanon age can we whatever you want, personally I think J is 30 years old.

I wonder what everyone else thinks or if there's any strong evidence i missed.

[mymelodymia]

girls Dad!Tony stark x daughter!reader

summary: you come out to your dad.

Warnings: fear of coming out, is period mention a warning?

A/N: yall remember that camilla girl from my first day of school fic? So I brought her back, and her and y/n have been best friends since the day they met, but they start to feel a bit differently about each other. And y/n is around 14-15 here.

+•°+*°•++•°+*°•++•°+*°•++•°+*°•++•°+*°•+

You had your suspensions about your sexuality from a very early age, in the 4th grade, you didn't really know what was going on. There was this new girl who you thought was beyond beautiful.

Her eyes, her smile, you thought everything about her was perfect. Sadly, she moved away soon after.

You, at age 10, thought it was just hormones given that you were getting closer to that age. Little did you know....

You decided to keep it to yourself, but you began to become more distant to those you loved. For reference, you hadn't been focused during the times you were in the garage. And tony, your father took notice of this sudden distance.

"Y/n," he called after noticing you were zoned out again.

"Hm"

"What have you not been telling me?" He asked, you sighed

"Ive just been distracted is all, nothing big." You said shrugging your shoulders. Tony knew it was something bigger, and he was going to figure it out. No matter how long it took, he just wanted his baby girl back.

*fast forward to when your older, 14-15*

You lived at the avengers tower now. And made some new friends. It was weird hanging out with people 3 times your age at first but you got used to it.

You walked into the kitchen, in search for a snack. You grabbed a bag of chips and began chowing down on it. When your phone started to ring, vibrating on the kitchen counter.

You looked at the screen to see who was calling, 'camilla❤️' it read. You smiled and answered.

"Hello? What do you want" you said (not in a mean way)

"Just wanted to call and see how you were doing." She replied in a soft tone, you loved hearing her voice.

You had started to develop a small crush on her. You were in the denial stage. you had thought you were bisexual. (Small head shaking) but you began to think of it as something more.

"You should come over later today" you said nervously, butterflys dancing in your stomach.

"Heck yeaahhh." You heard her cheer from the other end of the phone.

"Okay." You said smiling to yourself.

+•°+*°•++•°+*°•+

You heard the door bell ring a little while later, jumping up off of the couch and running to the door.

"Hi!" You both said in unison, hugging each other. She hugged you like she did every day, but this time it felt different. You shook it off as you heard tony call out.

"Whos at the door?"

"Its camilla" you responded just as he appeared from the corner. You grabbed her hand and ran to your room. You treasured that feeling so much.

You plopped down on your bed as she reached for the remote on the night stand. Turning on whatever movie she saw first.

You looked at her, admiring her beauty <3333

Either she was a very good actress, or you were just so blindly In love, you didn't notice how she showed signs of liking you as well.

She looked down at you, you immediately looking away. You decided that today you were going to tell her that you thought you liked girls.

You were beyond scared, what If she doesn't want to be friends with you anymore, you had known her since kindergarten. So that would break your heart.

"Y/n, whats wrong?" The young girl asked. You couldn't even focus on the movie, it was your favorite movie too.

"Cami......i-i think i like girls....." you said, mentally punching yourself in the gut for your hesitation.

"So im not the only lesbian in our friend group huh" you stared at her in disbelief. Your jaw dropping to the floor. She chuckled at this, and waved her hand in your face.

"Helloo? Earth to y/n, hehe" she giggled. Making you feel that blissful feeling of butterflys again.

"Y/n, i really like you" she confessed. Making you let out an audible gasp in shock. After a moment you spoke up

"I really like you too" you said, a smile dancing on your lips. You had finally done it, all the pressure, all the worrying, all gone. Wait, what about your dad?

"Crap, what am i gonna tell my dad?" You asked her as your mind began to race. You weren't listening to a single word she said, you were spiraling into a panic.

Untill you felt her grab the back of your neck with both hands and pull you close, pressing her lips against yours, for a moment you froze. Not sure what to do. But you eventually got it and kissed her back.

"Now are you gonna listen?" She asked pulling away from this gentle touch.

"Its still debatable but for the most part yeahhahah" you laughed, feeling stupid for not telling her earlier.

+•°+*°•++•°+*°•+

tony was working in the workshop when you walked in. It had been weeks since you told cam. And after a few dates, you officially had a girlfriend.

You walked into the workshop where he was currently working.

You sat down fiddling with your fingers. Nervs oozing into your stomach, and tony took note of this.

"Hey, whats wrong baby?" He asked you, taking your hand in his. Rubbing it with his thumb.

You sighed and gripped onto his hand muttering a small "come here" and lead him to the living room. And sat him down. You took a deep breath and just said it, as fast as you could. Cam had told you to just rip it off like a band-aid.

"I have a girlfriend." You said, lips parted, eyes looking straight down into the carpet. You looked up at him, expecting him to be upset but you saw the opposite. He looked at you with delicate eyes, a very soft expression on his face.

"Thats what you wanted to talk about" he said standing up, you following his movements. He took your hands once again.

You felt your eyes start to water. And tony saw this, giggled and pulled you into his arms.

"Are you about to be on your period or something?"

+•°+*°•+

Tony would be the most supportive father ever. He let you get one of those giant wall banners of the lesbian flag. He got you a pride bracelet, that you wore everywhere.

Imagine coming out to the avengers. In my mind it went down like this.

You were making noodles on the stove, when someone behind you had asked if you had a boyfriend yet. You turned around your bowl in hand.

"Well, im gay so...." imagine all the awkward staring all across the room. Tony would be like "yeahh! Thats my girl!"

+•°+*°•+

Tags

@animealways // @white-wolf-buckaroo // @tonystark-au // @yummyangy // @zebralover //

[baldurs-gape]

Just want to say I love your work and I’m so excited for the next chapter of shores. You always have me hooked into whatever you are writing :”)

Nonnie, you are a hero in kindness. Please know I love you for being so kind to take the time and effort to come over from AO3 find this blog and leave this ask. Currently I'm writing chapter 13 of Shores and it will likely be 14 chapters long, maybe 15 if I get carried away (we don't mention that it was meant to be a 2k one-shot). But I babble. What I'm trying to say is thank you! You're a gem and have brought me so much joy with this ask. Please have some lighthearted silliness as a token of gratitude. Though if you'd prefer something darker and more gritty, drop me an ask and I'll gladly write that for you too (an ask is basically my excuse to write for someone whether it's a prompt or not).

The Bird, the Bear, and the Bastard

Some days at camp were straight up boring, there was no denying it. There was only so much that could be done in terms of reading, idly tidying around camp and sorting through their packs. Talking was all well and good but even that ran its course when people hit their limits of what they were willing to hare about themselves. Alas, sitting in silence was nice to a point but quickly lost its appeal.

"I'm bored," Astarion sighed for the third time in as many minutes. "You sure we can't take potions of flight and wrestle in the clouds?"

"First, you know that's not how it works. Second, that's such a waste of potions. We might need those later on." Tired of this argument, Gale didn't even bother looking up from his book. "I did offer to teach you a cantrip instead."

"You offend me by suggesting I need a cantrip to get my way. No, I don't want to waste time learning a silly little cantrip for something that already comes naturally to me." After a pause, he sighed wistfully. "I want to fly. And land with the grace of a butterfly rather than a speeding goose."

Book slamming shut, Gale stood up. The furstration in his movements was somewhat dampened by his knees creaking and protesting the sudden change of position.

"Right. Get your bedroll collection. All of it. Pillows, bags, anything soft and pile it overthere." He pointed to the clearest part of camp. When Astarion didn't move, he glared. "Now!"

It was a commanding voice that Astarion had only ever him use when casting and suddenly he perked up, doing as told. Whatever it was that Gale had planned, it was better than doing nothing all day. Within minutes his hoard of comforts was piled up and Gale added his own meagre collection to it. All in all, it looked like a giant bed, big enough for the whole camp to enjoy an orgy on if they wanted. Stepping on it and bouncing a little, Gale nodded to himself.

"Come along, we'll start small." Curiosity won out and Astarion followed only half a dozen steps away. Looking between him and the pile, Gale nodded again. "The landing should be soft, even if you don't land upright. I'll use a very gentle gust of wind to push you. Ready?"

No questions about whether Astarion wanted to do this or if he had any opinions about the matter. As if he would have refused, this sounded like fun.

"Do your worst."

The gust of wind hit Astarion, drove breath from his lungs as it picked him up and threw him back, landing on the soft spread of pillows and bed rolls with a thump. When he could draw a breath again, he laughed and stared up at the sky.

"Again!"

Dutifully, Gale waited until he was back in position and, at his nod, another gust of wind lifted him off the ground before the landing drew a little "oof". Grinning wide, Astarion scrambled to get back into position to go again.

As they repeated the game, things progressed. The distance from the pile got larger, the gusts of wind stronger. Astarion began scoring Gale's accuracy for throwing him into the middle of the pile while his own landings were graded in turn by Gale. They were in the middle of climbing a tree to add an element of height to their game when some of the others returned to camp from their own adventures.

"The little ones used to love being thrown about," Halsin said warmly. "So did I, until I got too big."

Wistful and a little sad, those were the emotions the others could hear in his little lament. It had Gale and Astarion exchanging looks and grinning.

"I'll grab a scroll," Astarion said and hopped out of the tree with feline grace. For once, Gale didn't argue about wasting valuable camp resources so frivolously.

While Astarion jogged to get it, he approached Halsin. "You know, nobody is ever too big or small, it's all in the skill of the one doing the throwing. I'll have you know, I'm very skilled."

"Little mage, you're welcome to try but don't be disheartened when it doesn't work."

All the same, Halsin let Gale position him some way from the pile as Astarion appeared with a scroll in hand. They waited until Gale had tidied up the pile, made sure it was safe for a heavier landing. When he nodded, Astarion lifted the scroll in preparation.

The gust of wind was strong, much stronger than expected and Halsin let out a whoop of a shout as he soared through the air and crashed into the pile of bedrolls. Mage hands supported his head and Gale stood at the side, hand still out from here he'd cast it. Standing up on legs which trembled from excitement, Halsin beamed wide.

"I think I know what scrolls I'll be on the lookout for from now on."

Sidling up to them, Astarion was biting his lip to hold back a smile. "I'll keep you in steady supply, don't worry. Now, want to see what else Gale can do with those mage hands?"

Eyes darkening, Halsin looked between the two and hummed. "It would be my honour."

[fuesch]

Look, I've been productive and turned my Agatha All Along 1x03 notes into sentences!

Oh, so others can't know Teen's identity either (I'd love to speculate, but I have nothing.) and it's called a sigil (how fitting).

Teen "could be a pest that a cranky witch stashed under under a rock." Interesting word choice about a guy who's likely the kid of a witch who got stashed under rocks (Ralph Bohner voice: Twice!). Does she suspect he's Billy?

Protection witch to Sharon's rescue! Wait, she's still wearing her gardening apron?

That (miniture) house in the sand reminds me so much of Oz, but I can't tell why. I've never seen that famous first movie (just a few bits), only that 2nd one from the 80s, and I can't remember any miniture shots from it. Maybe I'm just reminded of the desert from that film?

Heh, even Teen's toe nails are painted.

I just love Sharon's non-magical perspective. Ringing the doorbell and wiping her feet.

Heyyyy, magical makeover! I'm so happy that we're still playing dress-up. Jen is the winner, with Agatha in 2nd place.

Is that lamp above Agatha looking like a crown on purpose?

Oh, judging by the reaction to the different clothes and finding they still have they're amulets, Agatha's is actually good for something.

Another wine bottle with a meaningful name, I suspect. I guess reyna means queen, ooh, rioja looks like it might mean red (cba to use Google Translate). I can't read all of the small text, but there's the 2016. That confuses me a bit, Wanda's first appearance was already in '15, wasn't it?

Only 5 glasses, either that's not for Teen or not for the non-witch Sharon. At least let him have a sip!

"Did you know that she traded her own child for the Book of the Damned?" Whoa, that's some exposition. "Others say he might be a demon" bunny!Nicky confirmed! And then Mephisto is namedropped - there's no stopping us now! So, iirc the agent of Mephisto was Blackheart, about whom someone had posted last week (Thank you, person!). "I doubt she'd even recognize her own son if he showed up at her doorstep." Okay, that's all the theories listed, thanks, Jen. Good to know we haven't missed any.

"Can I have some?" - "You bet." Agatha is so fun.

"A lot happened to me at 13 too." More than when you were 10? Please, I need you to be Billy, although I recognize that in this show Nicky would make more sense. …WAIT! Billy KAPLAN was 13 3 years ago when the Hex happened! Billyyyy! \o/

"I miss your eyeliner" Same. Anyway, Alice and Teen are bonding, that's sweet. …Dammit, now I'm worried again that he'll have to be her replacement in the coven.

Iiiinteresting that Agatha's suddenly so willing to drink poison, if it keeps Teen from doing it. Does that mean she thinks he's Nicky? Ooh, I just a had a fascinating thought. What if we're heading for a Bohner situation not for the audience, but for Agatha? That she's "so crippled by her [guilt or whatever applies] that she actually believes" that Teen is Nicky, only to have her heart broken by the identity revelation. This show does love to repeat stuff its parent show did.

Does Agatha have regrets about her baby/book deal or did she not even know what she got into? And is the cradle just symbolic or does this mean Nicky never made it past baby age? I like the latter, because that fits more with Teen being Billy. Although if we're counting in real time, baby Nicky probably still lived longer than Billy the Hex kid.

Ooh, an explanation of why Agatha and Jen know each other, but the former hasn't stolen the latter's power.

Oh, there was actually a point to having the poison appear as acohol! Well done, everyone who didn't let you source of unpoisoned blood have a sip!

"I am not climbing in a oven. That happened to a friend of mine, had a lovely house too." XD. And wow, Lilia being all bothered about witch stereotypes, but having been friends with Hänsel & Gretel's witch.

The road's leaves are red now, so I guess the color means something and wasn't just an illusion of nightly grading. They actually were blue before, indicating that it would be the water witch's turn. So now red, like blood should mean Alice, who's still with us, so no need for a different blood witch. Her element is fire. Good thing I don't have a bit of a phobia of that, hahaha.

YOU KILLED OFF SHARON?! YOU BASTARDS! Okay, maybe Alice is safe - good for her. Goddammit, Agatha, this is your fault!

"Who's Sharon?" NOT NOW, AGATHA!