#where would i be without these weirdos from new jersey

[oatmealdaydreams]

Black Hole Fantasy: even in my fantasy, I keep the car running / in case I need to take off

Please let me know if ya wanna be added on or taken off the general taglist!

Part 2

Inspired By Works: the Shifter Stan AU made by @the-east-art! Check out her stuff, it's super good. Shout out to East!

Pairing: Stan Pines & Ford Pines, gen

Warnings: Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse

Summary: Back when he first leaves New Jersey, Stanley Pines discovers something new about himself on the streets. It’s dark, and there’s hardly anyone else on the road as he drives in the rough terrain of Mount Tammany. He figures out a little comfort when he can’t stop thinking about how his brother’s doing.

[Masterlist] | ao3 link

[read under the cut]

Midnight skies have always been beautiful with twinkling stars and darkened clouds, but Stan Pines does not have time for anything beautiful. 

The soft rumble of his car—the Stanleymobile, the El Diablo—helps keep him awake at the wheel. Various failed products are scattered in the back, alongside whatever spare clothes he has in his dufflebag. There’s even a spare suit for when he tries doing this door-to-door salesman gig over in Pennsylvania. He’s gotta keep a bright-colored winning smile for any potential customers, so he has a couple of makeshift suits to match it. This is the seventies, after all. Or is it the eighties? Whatever, doesn’t matter. He’s got this new idea for a cheap bandaid deal that’s sure to make some dough. Stan’s…starting to run low on gas again, nevermind the fact he’s not sure when his next meal will be. There’s probably some joint on the roadside he can steal some shit from. Pennsylvania is a new adventure. 

Banned from New Jersey, huh? Well, it isn’t like he has much to stay for. His Pa ain’t too fond of him. His Ma can only do so much with Pa still around. His brother…Stan shakes his head lightly as he turns a corner. In the dark of night, the shrubs and trees surrounding the roadside look more menacing. It doesn’t help the fact that there’s not really any railing out where he drives. Maybe there’s more of it up the mountainside or something. He hopes so, at least. Stan hates driving so high up like that. It feels as though he may plummet if he makes too sharp a turn. 

He tries the radio, having to smack it a few times to get it to work. Turning the dial, the stations flicker through bullshit talk shows and half-crackling static. He growls, shutting it off. Ain’t like he’d hear much of any music anyway, what, with the way his ears hurt from the pressure up in the mountains. Moses, he hates driving through Mount Tammany. He’s not doing this again. It’s not like he can come back to Jersey without some repercussions, anyhow. 

Something sad, empty, somber settles in his chest. He can’t return to Glass Shard Beach ever again. Not to his Pa’s face; he kicked him out. Not to his Ma’s face; he’ll disappoint her. Not to his brother’s face. Not…yeah. Maybe it’s best if he doesn’t return for a long while. At least, until he has a fortune to appease his Pa. He’s gotta make something of his sorry self, y’know. Make ‘em all proud and shit. Like a good son would. And, well, though he’s never claimed to be a good anything, there’s this stubborn hope that he can find a way to fix things. Make ‘em better. He can hide the less tasteful sides of himself if it means seeing his family again. 

Stan may be a dumbass, but he knows something’s wrong with him. Normal people can’t grow an extra finger at will. Normal people don’t shapeshift like they’re some weirdo from those books Sixer used ta read. 

Does he still read those? Or has he moved to all that college junk where he reads a bunch of nonsense textbooks? Y’know, with all those equations and nerd words and everything? 

Stan focuses on the road. 

It’s empty out here. Crickets and cicadas keep the ambience not so creepy-like. There’s no one out here. It’s just Stan and the Stanleymobile. Stan and Stan. Just…Stan. 

He doubts anyone’s gonna care if he neglects to use his blinker a few times. The brights on the car don’t work too well, so it ain’t like his lights will blind something. He swears they keep making brighter and brighter lights on cars these days. Someone’s oughta crash in a ditch from it eventually. 

Ford always complained about the lack of brights on the El Diablo. ‘What if it’s dark and you’re stranded, Stanley?’ he’d say, ‘What are you going to do if it comes down to you being on your own? What if there’s no one to help you?’ Kind of ironic, actually. Was he some future-seeing weirdo? Heh, imagine, his brother, some superhero who could see the future. Stan wonders if he’d have warned him if he saw what would happen. If he knew, would he’ve told him? Tried an’ helped him figure some shit out?

Ugh, he needs to stop thinkin’ about all this! 

Stan doesn’t need to glance down at his hands to know a sixth finger grows on them. 

Fuck, he thinks as he pulls over on a little lookout thing meant for resting travelers or sightseers. Fucking Christ almighty. 

He stops the car, not wanting to waste gas. Taking his hands off the wheel, Stan glances down at them with a huff. Yeah, he was right. A sixth finger on each hand, just the way it is on his brother’s. Maybe if Stan wore glasses on his face, they’d truly be hard to tell apart. He’d look all nerdy and…like Ford. He’d look like his brother. 

His throat’s dry. He has to swallow down whatever’s prickling his eyes. Stan isn’t gonna cry. That’s not—he’s not gonna get all weepy over hands. 

He’s not.

He’s not. 

He’s…

Shit.

Stan ignores the way a few stubborn tears glide down his face. He ignores the way his breath hitches at the thought of his brother. He ignores the thrumming, buzzing emptiness that grows a pit in his chest. It feels grey. It feels like static. It hurts in a way that doesn’t bleed. It hurts. He can feel that pit surge when he tries to take a fucking breath. It doesn’t help much. Stan just stares all teary-like down at his stupid hands as he clenches and unclenches them. He shifts one back to its typical five-fingered form. With shaking hands, he intertwines them. One six, one five—just like it used ta be. He grips his hands tighter as he lets out the first cry. Stan shuts his eyes and tips his hand back against the headrest. If he looks down at his hands for any longer, he’ll break. He can’t break. He can’t let himself break. 

Outside the car windows is a dark, starry sky that twinkles. 

Somewhere in a last-ditch-effort type of university, a six-fingered student watches the same stars.

Taglist: @lost-in-thought-20 @thegoldenduckie @not-sure-what-im-feeling

[wosowrites]

You’ll be Okay (Chelsea WFC x Reader)

warnings: none

a/n: so so sad about the team moms leaving :((

prompt: in which you have to cope with the news of magda and pernille leaving chelsea

You had had your first suspicion that maybe Magda and Pernille would be leaving at the end of the season when you lost out on the Conti Cup to Arsenal. You just imagined that they were upset when you hugged them tight and told them that you would lift the trophy next year. Magda and P shared a quick, sad look before smiling at you. "Of course," they had said.

They announced it too the team two months before it was announced to the public, and you had never felt more naive.

Actually, the couple had announced their departure with Magda’s help to the team while you were in a private session with the therapist. You had recently gone through quite the scary event as angry Manchester United fans spent the whole time you walked out of the stadium yelling horrible things at you. You had never seen the girls so angry. Guro yelled at a few people, sweet, calm Jessie had to be held back by Sam to go give a piece of her mind to a woman in a Leah Galton jersey. You had insisted you didn’t need therapy and that you were fine, but it ended up being beneficial.

This had all been planned out. They would tell everyone as you were with the therapist, and then they would tell you separately after training.

Magda and Pernille walked up to the front of the room, and although everyone knew what was coming, most people still cried. Almost no one on the team had known a Chelsea without Magda and the idea of her not being around felt horrible.

The girls delivered their speech, crying themselves and then they allowed questions. "What club are you guys going too?" Sam asked. "We can’t say yet, sorry," Magda said, earning a frustrated groan from the australian. "If you guys go to Arsenal…" Jessie started saying. "Gross! No! Of course not," Pernille said. "Wait- where’s y/n?" Niahm asked, looking around the room.

The blondes at the front of the room shared a quick look. "Uhm, were- were telling her separately after practice," Magda said, holding P’s hand. "Which- actually, is that a good idea? It’s the right decision right?" Pernille asked.

The blues all nodded. "Yeah, I mean I’ve known her since we were fifteen and she’s never had a… a parent figure like you guys in her life before. She’s gonna be happy for you guys but… she’s gonna take it really hard," Jessie said, pursing her lips together.

Your therapy ended two minutes before the start of training so you headed to the meeting room.

The second you opened the door, something felt wrong. Every head turned to you and Magda and P seemed to have just been sat down. You scanned the room, smiling tentatively. "What are all of you weirdos looking at?" you asked them, letting the door close behind you and taking a seat at a table composed of Magda, P, Niahm, Z and Jessie. "Nothing! You just caught us by surprise," Magda said quickly. "Okay weirdos" you joked.

Practice flew by quickly as it almost always did. Thankfully, as you had a game tomorrow, Emma didn't, make you do fitness and you were all instructed to take it easy. You did notice that Emma pulled Magda and Pernille to the side towards the end of practice, and although you did wonder what that was all about, you didn't ask.

"Emma told us that she doesn't want us to tell y/n about the move until after tomorrow's game. I feel dirty, it feels gross not to tell her when everyone else knows," Magda told Millie and Zecira after her talk with Emma as you watched from afar.

That night, you went home knowing something was wrong. But you ordered Chinese food and watched a movie with Jessie, who was your roomate, before going to bed.

There was no other way to describe your performance against Tottenham. You had played spectacularly, scoring a hat trick and assisting Guro. You were on top of the world, and then your world came crashing down.

You all headed towards the changing room, but before you could get into the area, you felt your wrist being grabbed. You turned around quickly to see Pernille holding your hand. "What is it?" you asked, moving to the side to let your teammates in. You could see on the faces of the girls piling into the changing room that they knew something you didn't.

The women in front of you shared a look. "Stop with the looks. Everyone knows something I don't so please just tell me," you said firmly.

"Y/n... I've been with Chelsea for six years... and, Pernille has been here for three and we've- we have decided that it's time for us to... to concur another part of the world. To leave Chelsea," Magda said.

They searched for a reaction in your eyes for a solid twenty seconds. Your eyes were watery but you were hoping your fake smile cancelled out the tears. But they saw through you. "That's great! When are you announcing it to the public?" you asked, your voice clearly shaking. "Honey..." Pernille tried to say but you cut her off immediately. "No. No please don't call me that. I'm happy for you, you're going to do well but I- there are dozens of photographers outside that are going to take pictures of me and there's no way I'm walking out of there with puffy red eyes so please just let me act as though I don't care," you said, letting so much and so little out at the same time.

It was already too late though, your face was covered in tears and your nose was running. Magda didn't wait five seconds before pulling you and her girlfriend into her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I'm being so selfish. This is good for you guys," you sobbed into Magda's hair. "We don't think you're selfish, we understand. We know," Pernille answered.

Walking back into the changing room was hard, but thankfully most people were in the shower so all you had to do was grab your Chelsea sweatsuit and rush into the shower. After showering, you slipped on your blue Chelsea sweatpants and then the matching blue hoodie. It was only once you had put it on that you noticed the number 16 was embroidered on the right side. Magda had switched it out. You smiled and combed your hair before heading back to the main room to put on your jewelry and your shoes. Magda and Pernille were waiting outside for you, and you all walked out together.

You woke up the morning of May 18 knowing that today was the day that the world got the confirmation that Magda Ericsson and Pernille Harder were moving on from their life as blues. You were still on a high from the FA cup, and as long as you beat Arsenal on the 21st, the league title would probably be once again, the blues. But today you felt nothing but devastation, as you could no longer be in denial of your two team mothers leaving. You had prepared a goodbye post for them, knowing that on their actual last game for Chelsea, you would never be able to summon up enough energy to post a goodbye.

You had chosen three pictures, one of you asleep on Magda's shoulder in the bus when you had only been playing for Chelsea for about two months, the other of Pernille caring you over her shoulder in the streets of Portland during pre season, you were both laughing loudly. And the last one was a collage of three pictures of you, Magda and Pernille. The three pictures were of your three FA cups, and in every picture you were between the both of them, holding the trophy, and they were kissing your cheek. You were a family, and that really showed in those pictures.

The caption was what you put most thought into however. It read:

I genuinely can't think of a day in the past two years and a little more where I didn't send a text to our group chat, ranting about how good or bad the meal I had was, how the lady in the apartment in front of mine always gave me the stink eye, or just texting you to tell you that Jessie was still on my back about leaving my towels on the floor. I'll always be able to text you, but now I can't take the ten minute walk to your apartment anymore. Now I have to give you guys the key you gave me back. Two FA cups won with you guys, and certainly, two league titles ;) I love you both, I love you for being my soulmates, and I love you for defending me on the field, smack talking the players who injure me, and always being my honorary mothers. Go destroy another league now, and don't forget that Friday's at 8:00, London time, are reserved for your daughters, me, Niahm, and Jessie.

You then got out of bed, waiting for the moment where Chelsea FCW would post on their instagram about the departure of their skipper before posting your message. You had a rare off day today, a day in which you had planned to have brunch with Jessie, Pernille, Niahm, Magda, Sam and Kristie, who was visiting her girlfriend.

You headed towards Jessie's bedroom and then knocked on the door twice. "Come in," you heard her voice say, but it sounded heavy and tired. "You okay, Jess?" you asked gently, sitting down next to her and looking at her. Her cheeks were slightly wet with tears and her eyes were red. "I don't want them to leave. I hadn't let myself think about the fact that they were leaving until today and now all the emotions I should have let myself feel over the past two months are all coming up now," she said.

You looked at her sadly, pulling her in into a hug. "You can cry, Jess, everyone is going to. We play Arsenal at Kingsmeadow in three days and god knows I'm going to cry. I'll try not too, but I will. Let's just focus on the time we have with them, right?" you told her. You felt her nod against your shoulder before pulling away from her. You gently wiped her tears and smiled at her, looking into her eyes, before leaving the room to let her get changed.

May 23, Kingsmeadow, the last home game of Hardesson. You felt like death against a team you needed to all feel alive against. So, that morning, you dragged Jessie out of bed, she made breakfast while you gathered up your pre match kits and made coffee. After breakfast, you were out of the house. "I feel like Magda's gonna score today," you told your best friend as you turned into Kingsmeadow. "Hmm, I feel like you're going to score today," she said to you. "Yeah but I always score," you jokingly said, trying to lighten the mood.

Walking into the changing rooms, Magda seemed a bit down but Pernille was all smiles, they contrasted each other well. There were pretty obviously two groups, the ones who were sad but wouldn't cry over the departure of the team mothers, and the ones who seemed more scared of a team that didn't have Magda as captain.

But the second the starting eleven walked onto the field, you were all professionals, ready to fight tooth and nail for the title. You wanted to lift one more trophy with your Danish and Swedish mothers.

The first goal came in the 22 minute by your sliding header. A free kick was taken by Niahm but it went a bit far into the box. But you read the play well, Manu didn't react quick enough and so you threw yourself head first to connect with the ball for it to land in the far netting. You landed on your stomach but quickly got up and celebrated with the fans and your team. Jessie had been right.

And then, it was your turn to be right. Magda scored. You had never felt more joy over a goal someone else had scored, your heart lit up, your smile had never been bigger and you hugged Magda and kissed her forehead over and over.

2-0 win. That was a very good score, and you were ecstatic about it. You did feel a little sorry for Katie McCabe's missed penalty, but that was football.

And then came the waterworks. As the team walked around the stadium, clapping for the fans, you felt the need to step aside at the bench for a second. Magda and Pernille were leaving. You had never known a Chelsea without them, and now they were just going to be gone one random Monday. So, you went up to James, the team medic.

"James-" you started saying. "-I, uh, I need a favour from you. I need you to pretend that you're checking me for a- I don't know, a head injury? Yeah cause of the collision I got in with Catley. I feel like I'm seconds away from bursting out in tears and I want this moment to be about Magda and Pernille and not me feeling sorry for myself," you said to him.

James looked like he had not signed up for this, but eventually he smiled at you gently and told you to position yourself so your back faced the crowd. He started doing what he would usually do to check for a head injury as your bottom lip shook and tears streamed down your face. "You're aloud to be upset, y/n. It's not selfish, it's human. I say go out there after Magda and Pernille receive their legacy jersey's and don't be ashamed to cry. It's normal," he said to you. You had always liked James, he was like a silent force that always brought wisdom to the team. "I just don't want to make it about me," you said as he palpated your neck. "Crying wouldn't make it about you, if anything it would go to show how much of an effect they had on you, and how much you love them," he said.

You nodded slowly, starting to realize that maybe not being with the group attracted more attention than you wanted. So, you thanked him and jogged to meet the girls who were still going around and thanking the fans.

"You okay?" Kadeisha asked you, draping an arm around your shoulder. "Yeah, upset but yeah," you told her.

As the two gave their speeches, you really saw the contrast between them. Magda was absolutely breaking down in tears and Pernille was just laughing and smiling, rubbing her girlfriends back. The second their speeches were done, you couldn't hold back the tidewave of emotions you were feeling. You crouched down to the ground, pulling your jersey over your face and letting out a shaky sob. Right away, you felt a hand on your back and then you noticed that the person, or maybe people had crouched down next to you. "We will always be in your life, you know?" Magdas voice said sadly. "I know," you cried, pulling down your jersey and looking at her with broken eyes. "Is it stupid to be scared that you'll like your new team more and replace me. I don't want you to forget that you'll always be like my mother," you said to her.

She pulled you up to her feet and held your face, rubbing her thumb on your cheeks. "You will always be like my daughter. You, Jessie, Niahm, Sam, you are all my kids. I won't ever love a team more than this one, you hear me?"

You nodded and Magda pulled you into a hug, behind her, you could see Jessie crying and hugging Pernille.

It sucked, things sucked, but you knew that your mothers would always be your mothers, and that their heart would always be at least 60% blue.

[dontforgetoctober3rd]

Hockey Tag Wooooo

Got tagged by @againstthegrainphoto for this CURSE YOUUUU but anyway here it is!

Rules:

List your number 1 team: Vegas Golden Knights! I wasn't there right from the very beginning but i did start rooting for them in their very first season right in the middle of when all the goalies were going down. I was like yesss i love an underdog story! I love sparkle and glitter and pizzaz! They just seemed so fun. I thought rooting for the new (at the time) team would be a perfect way to get into hockey since they didn't have a history with drama...and then they went and became sworn enemies of the Sharks and made it all the way to the cup final that same year lmaooooo but i love them even more now

Favorite Goalie: oof this has to be a toughie but I really like two of them, the first being my team's very own Robin Lehner because he shows that you really can grow and change as a person (will always love him for kneeling with Reavo, that was iconic) and i also like that his nickname is Panda lmao. My second fave has to be the iconic Ilya Bryzgalov, because he, even for a goalie, was considered a weirdo just for daring to show a little personality and also I just think its hilarious that the Flyers still have to pay him through 2027 lmaoooooooo

What my jersey number would be: oh it would without a doubt be 96, the year I was brought to the USA. Not only would my life be vastly different if i had never been brought here but I would be a totally different person.

The team I would play for: oh my oh myyyyyyy...Listen, I love Vegas but I honestly would LOVE to be a goalie for the Bruins (DON'T ANYBODY COME FOR ME FOR THISSSSS) I've always thought bears in general are cool and as much as I love clowning on Boston as a city, I think their nickname is really really cool (the city of champions wooo)

Current favorite player: Jonathan Marchessault, look i just love underdog stories i practically collect them like pokemon ok! He was undrafted as a rookie and then after putting his work for a few years, his third team decides he isn't worth protecting when the expansion happens. He wasn't a superstar at first but he put in the work and dragged that MVP award and Stanley Cup kicking and screaming into his grasp. The man runs on pure spite, if his enemies go low he goes lowER and I LOVE IT

A Trade that hurt me emotionally: oh god where do i begin!? I have so many but I gotta go with Flower's trade. He was the heart and soul of this new team of misfits, a team that fit his personality, and he was basically thrown away like yesterday's garbage smh

What has my experience on hockeblr been so far: Honestly? I love it, even with all the drama . I once insulted Quinn Hughes in the tags of a post and his fangirls CAME for me lmao caling me a whore and everything but it was no skin off my back, I just got my boyfriend, Block Button, to take care of that for me hahahah. But overall I would say hockeyblr is pretty friendly in general, especially in comparison to twatter and instagram.

Alrighty, then i have to tag peeps whose hockey business I'd like to know so i tag: @lollo12589

Only do it if you wanna lmaoo

[binch-i-might-be]

when my chemical romance said

"These hands stained red / From the times that I've killed you and then / We can wash down this engagement ring / With poison and kerosene / We'll laugh as we die / And we'll celebrate the end of things / With cheap champagne"

and

"Stand up fucking tall / Don't let them see your back / And take my fucking hand / And never be afraid again"

and

"Oh, how wrong we were to think / That immortality meant never dying"

aND

"And as we're falling down, and in this pool of blood / And as we're touching hands, and as we're falling down / And in this pool of blood, and as we're falling down / I'll see your eyes, and in this pool of blood / I'll meet your eyes, I mean this forever!"

AND WHEN THEY FUCKING SAID

"But does anyone notice? But does anyone care? / And if I had the guts to put this to your head / And would anything matter if you're already dead? / And now should I be shocked by the last thing you said? / Before I pull this trigger, your eyes vacant and stained / And in saying you loved me made things harder, at best / And these words changing nothing as your body remains / And there's no room in this Hell, there's no room in the next / And our memories defeat us, and I'll end this duress"

AND

"Well, let's go back to the middle of the day that starts it all / I can't begin to let you know just what I'm feeling / And now, the red ones make me fly and the blue ones help me fall / And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling / And as the fragments of my skull begin to fall / Fall on your tongue like pixie dust just think happy thoughts"

,,,,,,,,I felt that

[whatisthiswritingthing]

Mood Octopus - Christen Press X Reader

Prompt: Okay I have an idea and I really think you’ll do it justice. R is dating Christen and after a while R buys christen one of those mood octopus. So christen carries it everywhere and the second she turns it to mad R is doing everything she can to make Christen feel better. One instance at camp everyone kinda takes notes cuz why didn’t they think of getting SO one

“Hey Chris, check out this video I saw of a dog,” Y/N handed her phone over to Christen, briefly pausing her conversation with Ali who was standing in front of her, “sorry Ali, what were you saying?”

Ali just watched the interaction confused; Christen’s blank face slowly changed to have a small smile on her face, though not quite reaching her eyes yet. Christen handed the phone back to Y/N wordlessly, the smile dropping. Y/N shoulders slumped while she watched Christen sit in her locker next to her.

Continuing a casual conversation with Ali, Y/N rummaged through her bag at the same time. She pulled out a small bag of gummy candies, wordlessly placing them on Christens lap. Y/N looked back towards Ali and continued talking as if she hadn’t stopped talking. Ali furrowed her eyebrows, hesitated but kept talking as well, glancing back and forth between the couple.

Christen just slowly picked at the candy, squishing the gummies between her fingers, playing with them before tossing them into her mouth one at a time. Her eyes stayed focused on the ground, her leg anxiously bouncing up and down.

Y/N kept glancing toward her girlfriend, she bit her lip, trying to think of why Christen would be so quiet today. Everyone was slowly getting changed after practice, Christen has practiced well, nothing stood out that would upset the older woman during it. But she didn’t even smile in the direction of the group of younger players attempting to learn another new Tik Tok dance.

Y/N leaned over, tugging Christen’s sweater off the hanger, replacing it with her own. Christen quickly pulled her practice jersey off and slipped Y/N’s sweater on. She left the hood up, nestling her nose below the collar over her nose, she fisted the cuffs of the sleeves her hands and leaned back in her locker.

Satisfied her girlfriend was content for now, Y/N began to change as well, Ali watching confused and slowing getting ready herself. Once both were ready to go, Y/N immediately grabbed Christens bag from her as they made their way towards the bus. Christen kept the hood up and face partially tucked into the collar, burrowing herself into the larger frame of her girlfriend.

As they walked into the hotel, a staff member called Christens name, “this was delivered about a couple minutes ago,” they handed off a small, decorated bakery box and coffee cup.

Christen pulled her face from the sweater, thanking the staff and taking the box and coffee, tilting her head towards her girlfriend, “thank you Y/N.” she mumbled, leaning back into her side while they entered the elevator.

“Hey Y/N, I like coffee and baking too,” Alex nudged the couple as she walked in behind them.

“Hmm you do?” Y/N smiled at the forward, tightening her arm around Christens shoulder.

“I do,” Alex nodded.

“Meh too bad you aren’t my girlfriend then,” the doors opened, and they all walked out, Christen giggling into Y/N’s neck.

Y/N glanced down, smile wide, satisfied she had cheered her girlfriend up for the time being.

Y/N’s eyebrows creased when she walked into Chritens room later that night where a group of them would be watching a movie. Christen had her mood octopus flipped to the upset side sitting on the end table next her bed. She stopped talking to Tobin and focused on her girlfriend instead.

“Good talk,” Tobin mumbled and moved to the other bed. Ali and Ashlyn laughing at the girls pout.

“Don’t take it personal Tobs, she did that to me too in the change room today,” Ali chuckled.

They all watched as Y/N gently lifted Christen, sliding her body in behind, then tugging her into her chest, leaning down to whisper something softly into her ear. Christens lips shifted into a small smile the more Y/N spoke, the couple the only people aware of what was being said. Y/N’s hands rested on Christen’s thigh, slowly and gently massaging them. The tension in Christen’s body slowly released and she leaned more of her weight into Y/N’s chest, not saying a word the entire time.  

After a few minute of gentle massaging, Y/N shifted her hands to Christens forearms, working the muscles there. Pulling one wrist into to her lips, kissing the palm, before guiding her hand back down and working both hands up and down Christens arms.

Christen pulled herself out of Y/N’s arms slightly, leaning to the end table and flipping the octopus to the happy side before settling back into Y/N and pulling arms around her.

“Alright you two weirdos, what is your deal today? You guys are always sickly sweet, but it’s excessive today,” Alex teased them from across the room.

“Christen was having a bad day,” Y/N shrugged, hold tightening slightly.

“But what’s the octopus for?”

“It’s a mood octopus, I got it for Chris so she could tell me how she’s feeling without having to say anything. She can flip it to the upset side based off how she’s feeling that day,” Y/N placed a gentle kiss to Christen neck, more to settle herself than anything. It was a cute idea that was supposed to stay between the couple. A way for them to communicate without everyone knowing what was going on. Y/N wasn’t always the best at displaying her emotions or feelings, but she wanted to be able to be there when Christen needed her, so she got her the mood octopus.

“Then Y/N just does little things for me to make me feel better, until I feel ready to flip it back to the happy side,” Christen gave Y/N’s hands both a discrete squeeze, knowing how her girlfriend felt about displays of feelings.

“Ash, why don’t you do stuff like that for me?’ Ali playfully smacked the keepers chest, smiling when the keeper pulled her phone put.

“Already ahead of you babe,” Ashlyn turned the phone so the defender could see the screen with Amazon app pulled up, mood octopus already in the cart.

“But how do you know what to do for Christen?”

“I don’t,” Y/N shrugged again, shyly burrowing her nose into Christens neck, “I just start small and see what works and doesn’t. Her love languages are words of affirmation and physical touch. But they’re hard to do with the whole team around, so I usually have small things she likes with me,” she blushed, pressing her face closed to Christen.

“You are talking to Servando next time you see him and teaching him this,” Alex told her seriously. Y/N nodded, blushing even deeper.

Christen twisted her head and kissed Y/N on the forehead, Y/N dipping her head down even more, blush spreading further up the back of her neck.

“I didn’t know that,” Christen scratched her nails into the baby hair at the base of Y/N’s skull, “what all do you carry to give me?”

The other girls all leaning forward to get their own ideas.

“A variety of stuff, I never know what you’re going to need, so I want to be prepared,” Y/N sighed and leaned back, pulling her face out of Christen neck. “I have a bunch of videos and memes for when you need a laugh or a smile, little snacks you like if you’re hungry, or I’ll switch out my clothes with yours because I know you like how they smell.”

Christen pulled back a little bit, surprised at how much thought her girlfriend put into the small plush toy.

“Can you write me instructions for when mine arrives?” Ashlyn teased, partially serious. Ali smacked her on the chest again, chuckling.

[calwrites]

Fearless

Prequel to Don’t You

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x reader

Word count: 4.5k

————————

“Looks like it finally stopped raining.”

The murmur of the coffee shop was replaced by the sounds of the city as you followed Sebastian outside. The humidity seemed to hit you like a truck, making you miss the air conditioning you had just left.

“Finally. I thought I was going to be stuck in that coffee shop with you forever.” You laughed at the faux offended look on Sebastian’s face. “That’s what I get for not checking the weather.”

“Next time I’ll let you wait out the rain by yourself,” Sebastian threatened. His grin made the corners of his eyes crinkle a bit. Had they always done that? Had you just never noticed before?

“At least then I won’t have a bunch of teenage girls taking pictures of me the whole time. They’re scary. How do you deal with that all the time?” It had been disconcerting to have the group of girls staring at you and Sebastian as you sat and chatted. For a moment, you had thought you were crazy when you noticed them looking. The first thought you had was that you had something on your face or needed to fix your hair, but you realized why they were so focused on your table when they walked over to ask Sebastian for pictures.

Sebastian let out a sigh as he shrugged. For a second you were worried that you had said something wrong. “I just try to ignore it most of the time. I’m polite if they come up to me. I’d rather they like me than hate me.”

“I’m sure you have lots of stories. You’ll have to tell me sometime.” Your eyes widened when you realized what you’d said. What if he didn’t want to see you again? “I mean, if you’re staying in the city long. I’m sure you’re really busy.”

“I’ve got some promo to do soon, but I’m not filming again for a few months. I wanted a bit of the break.” Sebastian waved his hand. “Let’s not talk about my work. What about you? You taking the business world by storm?”

“Well I did just get a raise, so now I can almost afford my rent, groceries, and student loans.” The joys of living in New York City.

“Ah sounds like everything’s going well then. Are your parents still around?” Your parents had basically fallen in love with Sebastian when they first met him freshman year. A group of your friends had come over to your house for a movie night and Sebastian had insisted on staying to help you clean up after everyone else had left. Your mom had spent the next few weeks not so subtly dropping hints that she thought you should date him.

 “Yeah they’re still in Jersey. They tried to convince me to move in with them, but I told them I didn’t want to have to commute into the city every day. Of course, that set them off about how that’s what they’ve been doing my whole life because they didn’t want me growing up without a yard or whatever.”

“So it sounds like they haven’t changed much?” You shook your head slightly to force yourself to stop watching Sebastian as he laughed.

“No they have not.” You bumped your shoulder against Sebastian’s gently. “They’re your number one fans, you know.”

“Oh they are?” His eyebrows raised in surprise, and he was already fighting a smile, no doubt waiting to hear what embarrassing things your parents had done since high school graduation.

“They see all of your movies in theaters.” Multiple times, but you didn’t want Sebastian to think they were weirdos.

“Even the bad ones?”

“Even the bad ones. I did tell them that they aren’t allowed to buy any of the Bucky dolls.”

“They’re action figures.”

You rolled your eyes, but found yourself matching Sebastian’s smile anyway. “Whatever. It’d be weird seeing a mini version of you at my parents’ house. It’s bad enough that they still have a bunch of high school pictures hung up.”

“My mom does too. She’s going to be so excited when I tell her that I ran into you. You were always her favorite of our group.”

You stopped suddenly, grabbing Sebastian’s arm. He looked a little alarmed, but you ignored it. “Are you serious? I was always so scared of her. This is the best day of my life.” You had met Sebastian’s mom a couple of times throughout high school, but had never been able to tell whether or not she liked you.

“Scared of her? Why? Because of the accent?”

“The accent didn’t help, but really it was because she’s hot. That makes her intimidating.”

Sebastian groaned and pulled a face. “No. You can’t think my mom is hot. That’s not allowed. Take it back or I’m sending your parents all of the Bucky dolls I can find.”

“It’s not like I wanted to bang her or anything. I just think that she’s an attractive woman. Which makes sense considering how attractive you are.” Your mouth snapped shut. You weren’t sure who was blushing more, you or Sebastian. “Let’s forget about this whole conversation.” Sebastian laughed slightly and nodded.

It was silent between you two as you continued your walk through the streets. You weren’t really sure where he was going. You were heading to your car, but you couldn’t tell if Sebastian was also going somewhere or if he was just following you. If you had looked up, you would have noticed that Sebastian was watching you carefully. But you didn’t look up. Your eyes were on the pavement, watching the glow of the lights in the reflection from the rain.

“Do you remember that poster that was in our English class freshman year?” you asked suddenly. Sebastian’s brow crinkled slightly as he tried to remember, but then he followed your gaze to the glowing pavement and smiled.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” The two of you laughed slightly as you remembered your slightly eccentric teacher. “We made fun of that poster so much.”

“It was a stupid poster. But remember it was raining when we were leaving the homecoming dance freshman year and we started dancing in the parking lot-”

“And all of our friends thought we were crazy,” Sebastian finished. “To be fair, we were crazy. That was probably the most fun part of the dance though.”

“Are you saying that I was a bad date?” You gasped and brought your hand up to your mouth as if Sebastian had offended you. Both of you dissolved into giggles.

“I’m saying that I was probably a bad date. I was so awkward. I had such a big crush on you.” Sebastian rubbed his neck uncomfortably. You definitely didn’t notice how the action made his arms look.

“Wait really?” This was news to you. You had always kind of assumed that Sebastian didn’t like you very much. He had always seemed to just tolerate your presence.

“Oh yeah. All the guys used to make fun of me because I got so awkward around you. That’s why I never talked when you were with us.”

“I just thought you were shy or something.” Or that he secretly hated you.

“Well that too,” Sebastian admitted with a small grin.

“You should have just told me. I had a crush on you too. I was so excited when you asked me to the dance.” You were so engrossed in conversation that you almost walked right past your car. “Oh, this is me.”

“Oh.” Was it your imagination or did Sebastian look disappointed? Before you could figure it out, he was smiling again. “It’s been nice catching up. We should hang out again. You still have the same number?”

You assured Sebastian that you did and the two of you exchanged more pleasantries. After sliding into your car, you watched Sebastian continue down the street. The memory of the two of you dancing wildly in the parking lot while the rest of your friends complained about the rain made you smile. You kind of wished you had asked him to dance again.

————————

Part of you already wished that this weekend would never end, even though it had barely even begun. You had finally made it out of the city and still had a couple hours of driving left, but you were already dreading having to go back into the office on Monday.

You and Sebastian had been hanging out more since running into each other last month. Most of the time, you got away without any pictures of the two of you getting out, but recently that had been getting harder and harder to do. Now, through what you could only assume was some sort of social media stalking witchcraft, people had managed to figure out who you were. The hundreds of notifications had freaked you out at first, but after deleting all of the social media apps from your phone, it was totally not a big deal.

Until your coworkers had found out. Some magazine had printed a picture of you and Sebastian, including your name underneath it, so now everyone at the office was either making fun of you by pretending to take paparazzi pictures whenever you walked into a room or constantly asking about Sebastian. Needless to say, you desperately needed this weekend away.

“Hungry eyes,” Sebastian sang, rather poorly though you suspected that was on purpose. You had seen him in musicals in high school. He half turned towards you, reaching out with one hand while the other stayed on the wheel, as he continued to sing along to the music. “One look at you and I can’t disguise these-”

“Keep your eyes on the road,” you scolded, though you couldn’t help but laugh at his bad attempt to hit a high note. “You know, I was worried that you would get us killed at the cabin, but now I know you’re going to get us killed before we even make it there. And stop caressing my hair.” You slapped his hand away for emphasis.

He reached out again to run a hand down your hair. “I am not caressing your hair-”

“Definitely were.”

“-and I am not going to get us killed. We are going to have a nice relaxing weekend at a cabin that I rented and am graciously letting you stay at without paying me back. And we aren’t going to worry about paparazzi or annoying coworkers or random people on the street with cell phones.” There may have been a incident earlier that week where you had almost gone up to a random person in the street to yell at them about taking pictures of you and Sebastian. It turned out they were just a lost tourist who barely spoke English. That was when Sebastian decided that you needed a vacation too.

“I think I’m paying you back by forcing myself to spend time with you. You’re very hard to get along with. Plus, I have no money for vacations. We can’t all be actors in Marvel movies.” The trees blurred by as Sebastian drove down the highway.

“You know, I could probably get you in the next Captain America movie. You might not have any lines, but you could stand in the background.” Had he ever offered any of your other friends from high school roles in his movies? No, you couldn't let yourself get caught up in these kinds of questions.

“Sebastian, thanks again-”

“Stop! I told you to stop thanking me-”

“Thanks again,” you continued loudly, “for inviting me. I know that you were looking forward to a relaxing weekend away before you have press stuff. If you want, we don’t have to talk to each other. I don’t want to ruin your relaxation.”

Sebastian shifted uncomfortably in his seat at your thanks, but then shot you an incredulous look. “How would you ruin my relaxation? I wouldn’t have invited you if I didn’t want to spend time with you.”

“Promise?”

Sebastian sent you a smile that was so full of warmth that you could have melted right there. You were definitely getting caught up now. You tried to snap yourself out of it by thinking about all of the reasons you could never date Sebastian. First, he was Sebastian. He knew what you looked like when you were young and awkward. He had seen the awful bangs you cut yourself sophomore year. Second, he was Sebastian Stan. Surely he’d never date a nobody like you. Not that he was stuck up now. He was surprisingly similar to how he had been in high school. It’s just, he could date models if he wanted to. You were definitely not a model. And you wouldn’t even want to date someone in the spotlight like him. Third, you had been on like two dates with the skeazy guy from accounting. If you ignored most of what he said, he was only a little skeazy. Barely tolerable really. You could work with that.

But then Sebastian ran his hand through his hair, and you had to bite your lip to stop yourself from saying anything stupid. Did he know what he was doing or was he just naturally this cool now? Either way, it was going to be a long weekend.

————————

The dance was not fun. Whoever was writing the prom scenes in all of those cheesy movies was full of crap. The decorations looked bad, your dress was uncomfortable, and you were so busy making sure everything was running smoothly that you weren’t even getting to enjoy your senior prom. You never should have agreed to head the prom committee. Surely the night would be more fun if you didn’t have any responsibilities.

Except you’d probably still be standing on the edges of the dancing watching as all of your friends danced with their boyfriends. You had thought that this would finally be the dance you had a boyfriend for, but then your boyfriend broke up with you less than two weeks before because you were spending too much time working on prom. Great. Wonderful.

It had been difficult to mentally prepare yourself to go to senior prom without a date after working so hard on it.  It had seemed almost poetic when Sebastian asked you. The two of you had gone to your first high school dance together and now you were at your last high school dance together.

Except Sebastian had barely talked to you all night. In fact, he had barely even looked at you. At least, that’s what you thought. Sebastian later confessed to you that he was scared he’d get in the way of your prom committee duties so he watched you from afar as you took care of the last minute issues. But you didn’t know that yet.

“Decided to actually acknowledge me?” you snapped when Sebastian leaned against the wall beside you.

Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. He was probably already regretting coming over to talk to you. “I probably deserve that. You just seemed busy.”

“There were a couple of issues that I had to take care of. I still want to enjoy the dance though.”

“So let’s enjoy it.” Sebastian held his hand out to you and nodded to the dance floor. You smiled gratefully at him and took his hand, letting him lead you out.

Neither of you were great dancers, and the dance floor was maybe a little too crowded, but you made the best of it. After bumping into another couple one too many times, you and Sebastian retired back to the wall, perfectly content to watch the others and whisper amongst yourselves.

“So have you had fun tonight?” Sebastian asked. You had, which was surprising considering how badly the night had started out. Sometimes you forgot how well you and Sebastian could get on. It was so rare to talk to him one on one. You really didn’t know how prom could have gone better. You were kind of disappointed that prom was wrapping up. Already, the dance floor had begun emptying as people left for various after parties.

“I did.” Sebastian grinned, obviously pleased with your answer. “But it wasn’t nearly as good as homecoming freshman year.”

Sebastian's smile faded as he tried to recall the dance you were talking about. “Wasn’t that dance really awkward though?”

“Sure the actual dance was,” you shrugged. “But dancing in the parking lot after was one of my favorite high school memories.”

Sebastian threw his head back to laugh, his hand resting on your shoulder to steady himself. “I’ll admit that I’m kind of glad it’s not raining tonight. My mom was not happy that I got my suit wet. But we can still dance like that tonight. There’s plenty of room on the dance floor.”

“Absolutely not,” you scoffed. “We’d look crazy.”

“Everyone here is either our friend or someone who we’ll probably never see again.” Sebastian held his hand out to you. You bit your lip as you considered before meeting his eyes. He raised an eyebrow in challenge.

“Fine.” Sebastian laughed as you took his hand, once again allowing him to drag you onto the dance floor. He was truly fearless in his dancing this time. Obviously you had to follow suit and ignore the looks people were throwing you as you and Sebastian twirled and spun and jumped around. By the time it was time to leave the dance, you both were red faced and breathless with laughter. The sky was perfectly clear as you walked through the parking lot, but part of you wished it was raining so you could once again dance in a storm in your best dress with Sebastian.

————————

“I thought you weren’t talking to me because you didn’t really want to go with me.”

“What?” Sebastian took his eyes off the road quickly to look over at you. “Why would I ask you if I didn’t want to go with you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe our friends told you to since neither of us had dates.”

“You’re crazy. I was so intimidated by you that I didn’t want to get in your way.” You scoffed and started to speak but Sebastian shushed you. “You’ve always been the most impressive person in the room.”

You weren’t entirely sure how to respond to that. Sebastian Stan thought that you were impressive. But what exactly did that mean? That he thought it was neat that you managed to wrangle high school students enough to plan prom? He said ‘you’ve always’ which seemed to imply that he still felt that way. Right? But he was a successful actor. He worked with people way more impressive than you every day.

The thoughts flashed furiously through your head as Sebastian continued to drive slowly through the town. He had certainly achieved his goal to get away from the city. It was hard to believe the small town you’d spent the weekend in was so in the same state as the city. Paparazzi had certainly not been a worry for the two of you. Eventually, the car reached the end of the road. Rather than turning around and heading back into town, Sebastian put the car in park.

“I don’t want to go back,” he sighed. You had to agree with him. You wanted to stay right there. It had been so relaxing to get away from it all. No paparazzi. No fans. No coworkers. Just you and Sebastian. But it couldn’t last. You had work, and Sebastian had interviews.

“So let’s stay here,” you suggested. “We’ll stock up on food and then barricade ourselves in the cabin. We’ll obviously have to defend ourselves when Marvel comes looking for you and my company comes looking for me, but I have complete confidence that we can take them.” Not that you had reached a position in the company where they would notice you were missing. Maybe after a week or two they’d notice something was off. Marvel was sure to be quicker though.

“Ha ha you’ve made your point.” He sighed again. “This has been the best weekend I’ve had in a long time. Thanks for coming with me.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” Your voice sounded small in the sudden stillness of the car. Sebastian’s eyes flickered over your face, going from your eyes to your lips. “What did you mean earlier?”

“About what?”

“When you said that I was always the most impressive person in the room.” You were a little nervous about his answer. There was a good chance you’d made it out to be deeper than he meant. But then you remembered how fearless and free you felt when Sebastian led you out onto the dance floor at prom, and you knew you had to know the answer.

“Exactly that. I’m constantly in awe of you. The way you were the smartest person at school. I mean, I think you’re still the smartest person I know. I don’t understand anything you’re saying when you talk about work. You always knew exactly what to say to diffuse any of our friends’ drama. You’re kind and funny and always keep me on my toes.” Sebastian paused for a moment. You tried to speak, but all you could do was look at his beautiful blue eyes. “Running into you might be the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“Sebastian,” you murmured. Before you could think of anything else to say, Sebastian’s lips were on yours. You smiled into the kiss as you ran your fingers through Sebastian’s hair. It was the perfect length. You tried your best to capture the memory of this moment. The feel of his lips. His hand on your cheek. The faint sound of birds chirping outside. The patter of rain on the car roof. It was all perfect, and you wanted to remember every second of it.

————————

You didn’t know how life could get better than this. Sebastian’s hand was entwined with your own as you walked through the streets. You had been nervous about this at first. What would his fans think? So far they had been curious but benign when it came to you. Hopefully that wouldn’t change now.

You had almost cancelled when Sebastian showed up at your door. A night in suddenly sounded really good. He hadn’t let you though. Instead, Sebastian had grabbed your hand and pulled you out onto the street. You laughed as he twirled you, causing the skirt of your favorite dress to flow out.

“Good thing it’s not raining today,” Sebastian had laughed. “This would be much less enjoyable if we were getting rained on.”

“I don’t know about that. I think we normally have a pretty good time in the rain.”

 You had managed to walk to the restaurant without being spotted, though you had noticed some people taking pictures as you were eating. By the time the bill had been paid, you were more than happy to take Sebastian’s hand and follow him outside. A short walk later and the two of you were strolling around a park eating ice cream on the way back to your apartment.

“So did you have fun tonight?” Sebastian asked.

“I did,” you admitted with a smile. “It was a lot better than I was expecting.”

“Ouch.” Sebastian made a faux wounded expression that ended up making you both laugh. “I didn’t realize you thought I’d be a bad date.”

“It wasn’t you I was worried about. Your fans kind of terrify me. Not gonna lie. I half expected them to show up at the restaurant and start pelting me with rotten fruit or something.”

“That would certainly kill the mood, but I don’t think you have to worry about people throwing fruit at you.”

“No. I just have to worry about what people are going to be saying about me online.”

“Hey, stop.” Sebastian caught your hand and pulled you back to where he had stopped walking. His hands cupped both sides of your face as he looked seriously at you. “It’s going to be ok. Yeah, there are going to be some people who say some mean things. Just ignore it. It’s why I don’t bother with social media much. It doesn’t matter what they say.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one they’re going to accuse of dating someone just to latch onto their fame or money.” Soon after you and Sebastian had started hanging out, the posts about you trying to use Sebastian’s game to get ahead had started. It didn’t really make much sense. Being friends with an actor wasn’t going to get you promoted any sooner. Still, they had annoyed you and sometimes made you feel weird about being around Sebastian.

“I know that you’re not using me. You know that you’re not using me. Everyone that matters will know that you’re not using me. If anything, I’m getting the better end of our relationship. I’m getting to date the most amazing woman ever.”

“Most amazing woman ever?” you repeated. “I’m not sure I have the necessary qualifications for that title.”

“Would you like to hear your qualifications?”

“Yes I would.” You giggled slightly, feeling like a kid with a crush, when Sebastian slung his arm around you and pulled you close so that he could whisper in your ear.

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. You are the smartest person I know. You’re kind and funny and you know all of this already because I’ve told you it before.”

“Yeah but I wanted to hear it again.” Your face was so close to Sebastian’s as you whispered back to him that your noses were almost touching. You hardly dared to breathe as your eyes flickered between his eyes and his lips. 

Sebastian just barely started moving closer when you both heard “Is that Sebastian Stan?” coming from a nearby group of people. You jumped back almost immediately, blushing like a kid who was caught holding hands on the playground. Sebastian sent you a small smile before turning to face the fans who had come up to ask for pictures. Once he was finally finished with that, he took your hand again and led you back towards your apartment. Hopefully, no one had gotten a picture of you two in the park about to kiss. Despite what Sebastian had said, you were still scared of what people would say. Your hands shook slightly as you walked, so you slipped your hand out of his, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

Quicker than you would have liked, you were back outside your apartment building. “Do you want to come up?” you asked when he stopped on the sidewalk.

Sebastian shook his head. “I have to be up early tomorrow, and, if I go up, I’m never gonna want to leave.” Sebastian grabbed your hands, which were still shaking, and pulled you close before resting his hands on your hips. “I had a great time tonight.” He smiled, making you feel a bit more brave. This was just Sebastian. The same Sebastian you had known for years growing up.

Slowly, Sebastian brought a hand up to your face, giving you plenty of time to stop him. But you didn’t want to. He was making you feel a bit fearless. You grinned as he kissed you softly. Even though it wasn’t your first kiss, it certainly felt like it. Although technically, it was your first kiss as an official couple. And it was your first kiss out in public, where someone could take a picture that would make its way through the Marvel fandom.

But that didn’t matter to you now. The kiss was flawless. And despite whatever people online were probably already posting about you, you would never regret this moment. Life with Sebastian was undeniably better than life without him. 

————————

tags

@bbl32

[kkusuka]

Cocky best friend Astumu, always bragging about how many girls he gets and y/n is not completely inexperienced, like they have had their first kiss and have done a bit of groping but nothing beyond that. So one day y/n nervously as Astumu if he’ll teach them how the give a blowjob. At first he thinks it’s a prank and says no so y/n is like “find all just ask samu” and he’s just like “no no no no no no absolutely not, I’ll teach you” and they are both nervous but it ends up being 1000% better than he thought and now he’s obsessed with trying to sleep with his best friend, basically he’s pussy whipped and he hasn’t even fucked them yet -✨Puppy🤩

aka. a growing up friends to lovers fic that ends in a blowjob

aka. you suck atsumu’s dick in the locker room bc you’re jealous of all his chicks

cw: face fucking, atsumu being atsumu

not proof read <3

—-

they say twins have half of the same soul. one heart divided into two. an eternal bond between people.

so how was it possible for twins to be so universally different?

osamu, sweet sweet osamu miya. meeting on a sweltering august day, at some convenience store a few roads from where your family moved. you had run into each other, the collision making you drop your popsicle.

the commotion bringing tears to your seven year old mind, you couldn’t believe what was happening to you. your allowance, gone within a second. and a boy thinking you were a crybaby.

you were ready for the world to burn around you, what was life without your cherry slush pop? so of course, noticing he was no longer there, you waited outside the store ready to berate him for drowning your only happiness in the depth of the ocean.

and when he did, you didn’t prepare for a new cherry pop to be shoved in your face. He apologized for your now red puddle of sugar water on the concrete.

you both sat on the curb, arguing why each of your preferred popsicle flavors were superior.

osamu, your sweet osamu, had become a constant in your life.

you were so happy to see him playing in the sand at a local park. so you did what you had done so many times before, run up and ruffle his hair.

only to be met with a harsh, “gross! i’m not ‘samu you weirdo!”

and thus atsumu miya, the supposed other half, was thrown into your world.

beyond looks, he was nothing like osamu. and yet you somehow became closer to the snarky, eventual blonde.

still favoring osamu, their twinly banter had now included you. granted you took osamu’s side a whole lot more than atsumu’s.

that must’ve been the spark that drove the temperamental boy closer to you, in respect that you never admired your application for the boy.

not wanting to feed into his ever growing ego.

in some odd way, you had become his closest confidant. the one he came to when volleyball became a little too much.

you got to be the girl who wore his opposite jersey to his games, the one who sat with him and explained his math homework to him for thirty minutes because he didn’t understand.

you were atsumu miya’s best friend. the best friend that he told all his adventures, ones that you don’t always want to hear.

“and she did this thing with her tongue! i think she could swallow my whole dick if she wanted to!”

asking him about his love life was something you couldn’t help but doing. no matter how much you wanted to be the one he talked about.

never mind how he pretended her head was there and how he threw his head back, there was no way he had any idea what it was doing to you.

you were jealous, far more than you even had been. you knew this girl, she was someone you knew got around. good for her, but you wished she didn’t have to go after your half of the twins.

but there was no way you could be as good as he described, and you weren’t going to ask anyone else. you were stuck between a rock and a hard place, with an extremely narrow escape route.

“could you, maybe, um, teach me how to do it?” you didn’t know if he was schooled to some other bad emotion but he just froze for a minute, and right as you were about to take it back, “y/n, stop playing! pranks aren’t funny unless people are around!”

he thought you were joking?

now you were more angry than embarrassed, you’ll show him. if he didn’t agree you’d have to make him.

“fine, i bet osamu would help. i guess i’ll have to go find him.” sighing you rose from your seat as a look of pure horror crossed the blondes face.

“wait, wait! don’t ask him! here, i’ll whip it out and ya can to it, promise!” he practically yanked you back into him as his hands fumbled with his pant ties.

you do have to give it to him, he has a pretty dick. less long than you hand thought but definitely makes up for it in girth, and god was it leaking.

“s-stop staring! just grab it.” grab it?

doing as he said you wrapped a hand around the base of his cock. his breath hitching was you have a few experimental tugs. you kind of had an idea of where to go from here.

wrapping your lips around the head of his dick, you gave small kitten licks cleaning the pre-cum. gathering all your courage you took as much of him in your mouth as you could fit.

it wasn’t much but whatever you couldn’t reach you replaced with your hand, a move you learned from the romance novels you spent all of second year reading.

a hand attached to the back of your head before his voice rasped out, “hollow your cheeks, suck”

god he sounded hot, the hand pressed your head until your nose was against his pelvis and his cock was in the back of your throat. “breath through your nose, keep your tongue moving babe”

following his direction you finally got to see his head throwback as a loud gut weak moan left his lips. taking a second before bobbing your head you set a slow teasing pace.

that lasted about a minute before two hands grabbed your cheeks and began bobbing your head for you.

as he face fucked you, he let all of the moans and grunts out. exclamations of how he was going to surf your mouth with cum, and you’ll swallow.

following up on his promise a few minutes later keeping your head there until you had for sure swallowed his load and he was soft.

letting you kneel under his for a minute, thumb brushing your lips to rid of any cum that may have been left.

“was that good?”

“better”

[rhetorical-ink]

Haikyuu!! SPOILERS: Chapter 401, How We Connect the Dots.

**PENULTIMATE SPOILERS BELOW**

I just posted a video with my live reactions to the chapter, but here are my highlights, because FURUDATE YOU MADMAN GENIUS. This chapter connected so much together. So, let’s do:

My Top 10 Thoughts on Haikyuu!! Chapter 401:

10. Of course. In true Furudate fashion, he has Kageyama block the spike from Hinata, BUT, what Kageyama doesn’t realize is all the training on the beach Shoyo has done to prepare for such a moment. And that heel kick! *swoons* Also, someone reacting to Season 4, Episode 9 of the anime, where Hinata kicks the ball back to himself called this happening all those months ago...Furudate is next level at foreshadowing. Not that we didn’t already know that.

9. Hey, remember how in the VERY FIRST chapter of Haikyuu!! Shoyo did this crazy run across the court to score? Yeah, Furudate knows we remember. And he pulls this -- and Kageyama’s beautiful reaction, only for --

-- Only for it to all be a DECOY. Kageyama, you made this monster, you know. I love that Shoyo has come all this way from wanting to score all the points to accepting that the decoy DOES have a vital role to play, and in this instance, it’s allowing Bokuto to score the winning point for the MSBY Black Jackals. Just look at that smile! And of course, Tanaka and Asahi KNOW the power of Hinata as a Decoy...because they’ve been in Bokuto’s shoes before. 

8. UGH, the aftermath of that moment is glorious, which will detail down below -- but I love Shoyo and Kageyama’s interaction, though. How they’re still keeping track of each other’s wins and losses, exhausting Miya, hilariously, and showing that they’re on equal footing now, after all these years. This chapter is just cementing the last several chapters’ worth of character development. 

7. ARE YOU SHIPPERS READY FOR YOUR FOOD?!

Because these next few pages were healing my shipper heart. I mean, yes, the Kagehina fanbase is raving right now, but let’s talk about THESE ships below, starting with:

Tsukishima x Yamaguchi:

So, Tsukishima, of course, is not sappy about any of this and just points out how the season’s just getting started (ready the fanfics, y’all). 

And of course, Yamaguchi wants to watch Tsuki play! Yachi says she’ll come too! I LOVE how just like he was with Akiteru, he doesn’t want them to come watch (even though we all know he’ll love it when they’re there). Now, some people have commented that Yamaguchi could be with Yachi, but y’all...Yachi is in Tokyo. Yamaguchi and Tsuki both live in Miyagi. I can’t wait for all the Sendai Frog/TsukiYama fanfics!

If you’re looking for an extra Kagehina crumble, just look at the end of this adorable exchange between Romero, smol adorable Rubens, and Shoyo (who perfectly crouches down to talk to him MY HEART I CAN’T), to see Kageyama notice that Shoyo can speak multiple languages...oh, honey! If only you know about Hinata and Pedro’s marathons of DBZ in Portugese and English! ^^

Also, Furudate WE SEE YOU. We see you being meta and implying that now Haikyuu!! is over, he’s moving on...Akaashi’s line about going forward hit me hard...it’s like he’s telling us, the fandom, that going on to start something new isn’t so bad. SO YOU SAY. 

BOKUAKA NATION -- WE CANON NOW, RIGHT?!

I love that Akaashi gets to interview Bokuto (IS HE GOING TO BE THE STAR of the Volleyball manga Tenma Udai is writing?! He would be PERFECT for it!) and how happy Akaashi looks, even if he and Bokuto realize how differently they view the term “normal.” 

ALSO, it’s implied above that Akaashi, Bokuto, and Tenma were going out for drinks...which now....we know that it’s just Bokuto and Akaashi, since Tenma was going home. Uhm, FAN FIC WRITERS ASSEMBLE!

I also love that Udai joins the club, along with Fukurodani’s coach and manager, of people who realize that Bokuto and Akaashi are weirdos but they are weirdos together, so it’s fine. 

Keeping the “Ship Train” going, we get little bits of Shimizu x Yachi from the bathhouse before the Inarizaki Match, where Kiyoko finally acknowledges she is okay showing her legs...thanks to Yachi’s words. I also find Suga wanting to know “the tea” on the situation to be adorable. 

AND FINALLY, YES, Y’ALL:

I was spoiled with Kuroo’s return, but seriously, Furudate, you saved him for the end here so INTENTIONALLY. 

Because OF COURSE Kuroo would work for the JVA. As a promoter. CONNECTING people...with Volleyball...because that’s the Nekoma way.

And FURUDATE ARE YOU SUGGESTING TO US THAT KUROO AND KENMA ARE BUSINESS PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS BECAUSE MY KUROKEN HEART IS SOARING -- 

-- and let it be known Atsumu Miya rightfully doesn’t trust Kuroo, and neither does Sakusa. A nice SakuAtsu crumb where we actually see Sakusa agree with Miya without sacrasm or question! Poor Shoyo is a salesman’s dream, though. I mean, Kuroo does look a little sketchy in some of those shots...BUT....

6. Kuroo’s speech about sports was SO fitting. Seriously, everything he says here is BASICALLY what makes Haikyuu!! such a great series. I DID laugh out loud at the line about “hardly anybody dies.” 

*Flashbacks to “Dead Daichi” meme*

5. It’s taken us the ENTIRE series, but Kageyama finally talks to Kindaichi and Kunimi. This was so heartwarming, seeing Kageyama wanting to play WITH THEM. AS A TEAM. This made my heart expand three sizes. The character development on Kageyama, and Kindaichi, is through the roof.

I also LOVE Kunimi the most in these panels. Kunimi is a MOOD. 

Y’ALL. I’VE WAITED 400 CHAPTERS FOR THIS PANEL OF THESE THREE HAPPY AND BECOMING FRIENDS AGAIN.

4. I love that Hoshiumi doesn’t see Hinata as a Rival, but as someone that is going to help him show the rest of the world the strength of someone who doesn’t have height. I also find it interesting that we see the Japanese Olympic Coach walking out just as Hoshiumi gives us that beautiful gaze. So...does Hoshiumi know he’s going to be on the Olympic team, with Hinata, maybe? Foreshadowing, perhaps?

3. Okay, okay, I held it together until this page. 

It wasn’t Ushijima’s panel with Washijo that got me.

It wasn’t Saeko and Akane reuniting, though that was sweet. 

It wasn’t the three “Pure Captains” reuniting, though it made my heart happy.

It honestly wasn’t the five first years together, either. They’re all so happy and having a laugh at Kageyama’s expense, and as beautiful as that panel is.

SUGAWARA IN LINE TO GET KAGEYAMA’S AUTOGRAPH.

That is what got me. 

Him in line, so meekly, to get the autograph of his kouhai, the man Suga joked would have to tell about how much he learned from HIM when he was giving out interviews and autographs...I just...Sugawara made me cry. That is all. 

2. Then there’s this last page. 2021. 

"We overcame difficulties and stand here.”

Furudate really said “screw you” to Covid messing up the timeline.

Yes, seeing Kageyama and Hinata in their original jersey numbers was amazing, but I think we all saw that coming if these two happened to get on the Olympic team. 

What I want to focus on are the two countries we see included in the bottom corner here. We see: 

Brazil -- and some fluffy haired man carrying the flag for the team.

And we see the United States -- there’s several American Flags and stars and stripes on the shirts of the crowd, there.

SO, HEADCANON TIME: 

* Oikawa was on the Argentinean League, so could he play for Brazil? It’s not likely, but not impossible....BUT, I don’t think that’s it.

I don’t think Oikawa is on Japan’s National Team for the Olympics.

If he is on the Olympic Team, I think he’ll be on America’s. 

Why? Because, and this could be because I’m the biggest IwaOi shipper, but Iwaizumi was still in the United States with Ushijima’s father at the end of Chapter 395. And if he’s still there, there is no reason why Iwaizumi couldn’t be a physical trainer alongside Ushijima’s father for the U.S. Olympic team. And why wouldn’t Oikawa trek over to the States to be on the same team as Iwa-Chan’s working with? I’m probably wrong, BUT -- 

We also still need to see Seijoh’s banner, and as others have theorized, how fitting would it be to see Hinata, Kageyama, and (probably) Ushijima on the team facing Oikawa? I just....I’m betting money that Oikawa shows up in 402. I hope we at least see him on the Olympic Stage. OIKAWA DESERVES IT. 

1. So, who are we missing that hasn’t been shown yet?

We still need to see the rest of Nekoma (Lev, Yaku, Yamamoto, Kai....could they be in the stands or on the Japan team? I guess we’ll find out!)

We haven’t seen Daishou and Mika -- I would love to see them watching or narrating in the audience during the Olympic game.

And finally, yes, we’ve seen Tendo in the Chapter 395 flashback, but we’ve never seen what he’s DOING. Furudate has shown us with every character what they’ve been doing since the timeskip....EXCEPT TENDO. I’m calling it that he’ll appear one more time next chapter, too.

So....guys....I’m staying off of Social Media from Wednesday to Sunday next week, to prep for the last chapter and not be spoiled. I’m going to do a live reaction for YouTube, and I’ll post it here. You can see the one I did for 401 now. 

Furudate, this series has been immaculate. Time for one more round.

Let’s all cry together next week.

[notquitetwilight]

THE CULLANOS: A TASTE OF BOSTON, PART ONE

The Cullanos head to Boston to take care of some business.

“Well?” Carlisle Cullano asked his wife from across the table. “How does Boston pizza compare to Jersey pizza?”

“It doesn’t,” Esme answered her husband automatically. “Especially not ours.”

“Typical Jersey girl,” he smirked. He looked to their daughter beside her. “Rosie?”

Rosalie wrinkled her nose, looking up at him from the slice she was chewing on. “It’s too thick. I don’t like it. But then again, Jersey pizza doesn’t compare to New York pizza, either.”

Esme gave a deep sigh and threw her daughter a look. “Really?”

“What? You know I’ll always be a Manhattanite.”

“You were born in Jersey City Med,” Esme pointedly reminded her.

“Where I was abandoned,” Rose said slowly. “…To be raised in Manhattan.”

“You weren’t abandoned at the hospital,” Carlisle countered.

“She wasn’t abandoned at all!” Esme hissed before he could continue. “How many times do we have to go through this?”

“I know, I know, you were just kids, younger than I am now,” Rose waved the hand that wasn’t holding a pizza slice dismissively. “I’m over it. But I don’t know why you always get mad at me for saying I’m a New Yorker when you’re the ones who chose not to raise me in Jersey. Well, chose not to raise me at all.”

A tense silence fell over them. Rose lowered her eyes to the table of their booth as she continued chewing. Esme glowered out the window, her jaw clenched. Carlisle nudged his foot against her leg in an attempt to comfort her, but she ignored him.

It was a little over a year since the couple had gotten their daughter back. Though she had left her adoptive family and seemed to have settled into their lifestyle, the topic of their lost time together still occasionally raised its head.

The couple had had her at the tender age of 17, unbeknownst to their families. Both of them decided they were too young, too broke and already too involved in the mafia game to raise her themselves. She was adopted by the Hales, a wealthy couple of lawyers who raised her in a Manhattan townhouse and gave her the finest private education New York City had to offer. Carlisle and Esme secretly watched her grow from park benches and the back of school auditoriums. They never interacted with her or allowed her to see them, but watching her grow up safe and happy from a distance filled the void that giving her up had left.

Well, it did, until it didn’t. A year and a half ago, right before the couple finally married, Esme’s sister gave birth to her first child. The family rejoiced in the arrival of the baby boy, with Esme’s mother proudly parading her “first grandchild” around. “Aren’t you jealous, Esme?” Mrs. Platt had asked at the wedding. “You hate it when others have something you don’t.”

“No, mom, I don’t get jealous,” came her answer. Carlisle stifled a laugh at that. The death certificate of his previous wife proved otherwise.

“I always thought you’d be the one to give me my first,” Mrs. Platt continued, causing her daughter to bristle. “But your little sister has beaten you to it.”

Esme’s knuckles went white around the champaign glass she held. “She’s just drunk, baby,” Carlisle muttered in her ear. “Fuggedaboutit.”

But it didn’t matter. Esme’s moods worsened in the weeks that followed as she grieved 17 years’ worth of parenting the daughter they tried to do right by. She stopped parking outside the Hales’ Upper East Side building in hopes of catching a glimpse of the girl, or regularly checking her social media pages for updates on how she was doing. Carlisle knew it had become too difficult for her, particularly when her sister got to be a mother so openly. Mrs. Platt was right; Esme hated going without what others had. And Carlisle could never let her go without.

So one day, he pulled his yellow Alfa Romeo into the garage of the couple’s home and paged Esme to meet him there. “Hey doll,” he greeted her from against the bonnet as she entered and closed the door behind her. “I gotcha somethin’.”

She looked around in confusion. Normally when he asked her to come to the garage it meant he had bought her a new car. “What?” She wondered, but before her husband could respond, she was answered by a chorus of thumping and muffled screaming from the trunk.

“Who’s in there?” Esme asked, bored. Visitors to their home arriving by car trunk wasn’t exactly new. He grinned at her smugly as the thumping continued. “What?” She said again, but he could tell he had piqued her interest. He sauntered over to the trunk and opened it, a flurry of blond immediately lunging at him from inside. Esme instinctively reacted with a raised gun, but as Carlisle restrained the girl, her eyes widened and she lowered her weapon. “Is that…?”

He beamed at her as Rosalie struggled in his arms. Her wrists and ankles were tied, but still she writhed around. Her eyes blazed with a mixture of anger and fear, and duct tape covered her mouth. “Take that thing off of her,” Esme commanded. “I wanna proper look.”

“Hold still or it’ll hurt,” Carlisle told the girl. She stopped wriggling long enough that he could gently remove the tape without ripping her skin. She immediately attempted to bite his hand, but he was too fast. Then came an ear-piercing screech that caused both adults to wince, but Esme was smiling.

“You wait,” Rosalie said once she was finished screaming, her voice hoarse. “Just you wait. If it’s money you want, good luck. You might as well kill me now.”

“She looks just like you,” Esme said as if she hadn’t heard her, though she didn’t take her eyes off the girl. “We knew it already, but up close, it’s crazy. I didn’t get a look-in.”

Rosalie’s face contorted to an expression of both confusion and disgust. “What the fuck…?”

Carlisle laughed at her exaggerated expressiveness; the narrowed eyes, the over-the-top frown, the grimace that caused her cheeks to apple. He had seen Esme pull that face a million times before. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” he told her as they both went back to staring at Rosalie — who was attempting to naw at the rope around her wrists — with the kind of fascination people usually reserved for newborn babies.

“Carl, untie her,” Esme instructed. He gave her a hard look, thinking it was a terrible idea. She arched an eyebrow in response, and he knew better than to argue with her.

“Wait ‘til my father hears about this,” Rose grumbled as he began cutting through the thick rope. That amused him, and he couldn’t help but grin. “What’s so funny?” She demanded.

He shook his head. “Nothin’,” he tried, but he heard Esme giggle and he started laughing again.

Rosalie’s face flushed angrily as she looked wildly from her almost-free hands to Esme and then to Carlisle. “I said, what’s. So. Funny?” She said it slowly and punctuated, as if she thought he was stupid. Esme’s laugh was turning into the loud cackle she gave when she was particularly thrilled. He sniffed with a smile and shook his head again.

Rosalie was then red-faced, her eyes flashing with rage. “What the fuck is so funny, you piece of shit?”

The couple collapsed into full belly-laughs for what had to have been at least a full minute as Rosalie could do nothing but glare. “It’s funny—“ Carlisle started, pausing to try and compose himself. “It’s funny that you said ‘wait ‘til my father hears about this,’ because I am your father.”

Rosalie rolled her eyes, irritated. She clearly thought that was his lame attempt at a joke.

“It’s true, saweetie,” Esme tried to turn her amusement into a sincere-looking smile. “Your our daughter. I’m your mommy! Were you ever told you were adopted?”

“What kind of weirdos are you?” Rosalie mused, her eyes still narrowed. “Don’t normal kidnappers just tie someone up and leave them be ‘til they’re paid ransom or get arrested? What is this, some sort of house-play shit? I saw something about that on TLC once.”

“Look, princess,” Carlisle started, struggling to get the blade through another bit of rope. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but it’s the truth. I didn’t bundle you up in my car for money, or to hurt you. I bundled you up in my car to bring ya home, where you belong. We’ve missed you your whole life, and now that you’re a lil’ older, we’d love to make up for lost time.”

She looked silently from one to the other. Carlisle could see that it would take a while to convince her. She was suspicious, defensive, and unyieldingly stubborn. Just like her parents.

“Whadiya say, kid?” He smiled at her. “Wontcha give your ol’ man a hug?”

The last of the rope snapped and Rosalie immediately punched him so hard in the nose that it made a horrible crack. He held it as she tried getting away, having seemingly forgotten about the rope around her ankles.

The pair of them allowed her to hop around the garage as both exits were locked. Esme handed him a tissue for his bloody nose and they stood side-by-side against the car, watching Rosalie noisily hunt for something she could either free her ankles or hurt them with. It took him a second to realise Esme was quietly crying.

“Don’t worry, doll,” he put a consoling arm around her and pulled her into him. “She’ll come round eventually. She just needs time. And maybe a car, or a pony, or whadevathefuck teen girls are into deeze days. Whadeva it takes, we’ll do it.”

“It’s not that,” Esme swiped at her tears and turned to him. He was surprised to see she was smiling.

“Then what? What is it, baby?”

Esme wiped another tear away as she proudly cried, “she’s got my uppercut!”

Getting the three of them to work as a family unit had been no easy feat. After showing her the paperwork that proved they were her biological parents, the couple brought Rosalie back to her adoptive home the same evening they had taken her from it in an attempt to show her they were no danger. She didn’t tell the Hales about what had happened, instead blaming her broken curfew on losing track of time while at a friend’s house. Carlisle knew that this was more out of anger at them for lying to her her whole life than it was out of loyalty to the Cullanos. The couple returned to watching her, but this time it was on a daily basis, and they made sure she saw them either by waving across the street or approaching her if she was alone. They often arrived with bribes, but she rolled her eyes each time.

“Hi, Rosalieeee,” Esme sung one day, the two of them having waited for her to get home at the corner of her block. “How was school?”

“Get lost,” Rose muttered as she went to walk past them as usual. Carlisle caught her arm, so she begrudgingly came to a halt and rounded on them with a glare. “What? What do you want?”

“I bought us matchin’ Birkins!” Esme said excitedly, unfazed by Rosalie’s attitude. She held up her arms, each hand gripping the handles of a bag.

“I already have expensive bags. I don’t need more. You know what? I already have parents, too.”

“Who had about as much of a hand in raisin’ you as we did,” Carlisle said. “Tell me, Rosie, which nanny was it you used to mistake for your motha?”

She flinched for a second before recovering her steely expression. “I told you not to call me that. You don’t get to give me a nickname. You don’t get to ask me how my day was. You don’t get to wait around for me every single day. Seriously, you’re both stalkers. You’re already breaking the law by seeking me out before I’m 18. Stop before I call the police and report you for harassment.”

“I don’t think you will,” Esme said gently.

“Oh yeah? What makes you so confident?”

“If that’s what you wanted, you’d have done it already.”

There was a pause. Esme took her chance to hand Carlisle a bag, freeing a hand to caress Rosalie’s arm. “Look, sweetheart. All we’re askin’ for is for you to get to know us. If you get to know us, and you decide you want nothin’ to do with us, we’ll walk away, no questions asked.”

Rosalie considered this for a moment, then looked back and forth at the two of them. “You swear?”

Carlisle traced the cross-my-heart motion on his chest. “Hope to die.”

“Promise,” Esme said firmly.

She let out a sigh. “Fine. But how will it work? I can’t just disappear to go live with you. I’m in my senior year, and my parents would have the mayor turn the city upside-down looking for me.”

“Well, they work ‘til late, right? So we’ll start pickin’ you up from school, and get you back before they come home,” Carlisle said.

“No, you can’t pick me up. Friends will see me getting into some random car. Plus, I’ll have homework...studying....that kinda thing.”

“Ahrite-ahrite,” he nodded. “Responsible, I like it. Education is very impawtant.”

Rosalie rolled her eyes again. “Yeah, it seems to have played a huge role in your life.”

“How about we get you a cell that you can use specifically for us?” Esme asked. “And you can call or text us whenever you’re finished with schoolwork? We can take ya out to eat or...well, do whateva you wanna do.”

Rosalie paused again. “Do I get to pick the phone?”

“Of course,” Esme smiled. She had told Carlisle the bribes would pay off eventually.

“What about your...business?” Rosalie asked curiously. They hadn’t explicitly told her what they did, but she was bright enough to guess.

“We do most of our work at night, anyway,” Esme answered.

And so the months that followed were filled with evening family bonding. Rosalie would call or text, they’d go out to eat, do different things around NYC or Jersey City, drop her home, go take care of business, get home either a little before or after dawn, and sleep while she was at school. She seemed to enjoy her time with them; she never said she was happy to continue allowing them to be in her life, but she never again brought up wanting them to leave her alone, either. So they continued the way they were as her 18th birthday drew closer.

One evening, when the family had gone go-karting, Carlisle noticed Rosalie’s ability to drive with extraordinary speed and precision. He decided to test it out in an actual car, just the two of them, and was thrilled to discover this skill was transferable.

“Guess what, baby?” He approached Esme from behind at their kitchen counter the next afternoon, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder.

“What?” She smiled sleepily as she prepared breakfast, though it was 1pm.

“I think I’ve found us a driver.”

“Really? Who?”

“Rosie.”

She frowned and pulled away so she could properly look him in the face. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Remember how great she was when we went go-kartin’? Well, I brought her to a track last night and she was amazin’. Turns out she’s actually really into cars — kid knows more about ‘em than me!”

“First of all, drivin’ round an empty racetrack at night is very different from drivin’ the streets when you’re fleein’ a scene or bein’ chased,” Esme said, pulling fully out of his arms and heading for the sink. “Second, Rosie’s goin’ to college.”

“Whadiyamean, she’s goin’ to college?”

“I mean what the fuck I said: she’s goin’ to college!”

“We just got the kid back and now you’re gonna send her off to some otha parta the country to go to college?”

She turned back to him with a glare. “The whole reason we left her in the first place was so that she could have a normal life. College is a normal life.”

“Normal life? She was bounced around from nanny to nanny! We didn’t give her a life with normal parents, we gave her human cash cows and babysitters!”

“Well, at least she was safe.”

“We’d never let anyone hurt her.”

“We couldn’t guarantee that. We still can’t. That’s why she should go to college like the rest of her friends.”

“What, because college is so safe for young girls? Have you neva read a newspaper?”

“Don’t tell me about the dangers young women face,” she practically growled.

“She’d be with us,” he said, his tone much softer. “Where else could possibly be safer for her to be than with the two people who’d die for her?”

She stared at the counter for a moment. “Her 18th is comin’ up,” she said slowly. “That’s her opportunity to decide if she wants to come live with us or not. If she does, she does; if she doesn’t, she goes to college like the private-school kid she is should. But I don’t wanna force her like we did last time. If she chooses us, I want it to be because she chooses us.”

“Okay,” Carlisle smiled, then added, “and she will.”

And she did. She turned 18, deciding to finish out the school year where she had always lived. After graduation, she packed her bags, told the Hales she knew the truth and that she was leaving them for good, and came to live in the Cullano house. The Hales were a little persistent in trying to convince her to come back to them, but it was nothing that couldn’t be solved by sending Emmett, the most intimidating-looking member of the crew, over to their house to smash a couple of things up. As Carlisle had envisioned, Rose started driving for the Cullanos and their team, initially just the occasional, stress-free errand here and there. But she found it brought a certain amount of thrill and excitement her life had been missing, and so she worked her way up to riskier jobs. This trip to Boston would be her riskiest job yet.

“Is everyone done?” Carlisle now asked. Esme still had a slice left over while Rosalie sat with nothing but crust in front of her.

“Mmhmm,” Rose answered. Esme mumbled something about being full.

They gathered their things and headed back to the borrowed Bugatti that Emmett had arranged for them. Though Emmett was a Brooklyn boy, Boston was his father’s city, and he had relatives all around it. Relatives that would be more than happy to see the Cullanos through what they planned to do tonight.

Rosalie set the GPS to their hotel. “How many Ivanovs are there, again?”

“Six— well, 4 Ivanovs, a Petrov and a Ryan,” Esme answered from the back.

“Who’s the head?”

“Mmm, Tatiana. Or at least she thinks she is,” Esme smiled.

“Is she the one who...did she kill Emmett’s dad?” Rosalie met Esme’s eyes in the rear view mirror. She had developed a bit of a soft spot for Emmett over her time with them.

“No,” Carlisle answered instead. “That was Katarina and Garrett.”

“Garrett doesn’t sound very Russian.”

“Garrett is the Ryan. Irish mob, like Emmett’s dad,” Carlisle said.

“They worked together ‘til he fell for Katarina,” Esme added. “So it was a real blow when the two of them killed him. A big betrayal.”

“Then how come no one’s taken them out yet?”

“They’re powerful. Ruthless. Batshit crazy,” Carlisle said.

“Look who’s talking,” Rose said with a slight smile.

“That’s why Emmett’s mother left here and raised him in Brooklyn,” Esme said. “That’s where she grew up, so she knew she’d be safe. The Ivanovs have people everywhere around Boston. And with a target on the back of every McCarthy, stayin’ woulda been a death sentence.”

Rosalie frowned then. “If they’re that bad, what are we doing here? There’s three of us— two, technically, since I’m just the wheels. Those don’t seem like very good odds.”

“There’s also Alice, virtually,” Carlisle reminded. “She’ll be there behind every camera to tell us what we’re dealin’ with.”

“Cool, so she can say, ‘hey guys, you’re about to die’ right before we die. Helpful.”

“It is helpful,” Esme said. “Even the shortest of warnin’s can buy you just enough time to save your life.”

“Besides, we’re not plannin’ a massacre,” Carlisle said. “I’m expectin’ only one to be there. We hit ‘em, we go. Then we’re even for how they fucked us over with the Kiev deal they were supposed to facilitate.”

“So it’s...a blind hit? It doesn’t matter who you get, as long as you get one of them?”

Carlisle nodded. “But it would be...convenient, if it was Tatiana.”

Once they got back to the hotel, they freshened up and changed. The couple pulled out the stuffed bags Emmett had also organised for them. They took only what they needed, a couple of guns and knives each, and shoved the rest back under the bed.

“Don’t forget my favourite,” Carlisle smirked, waving Esme’s thigh holsters in the air.

“Never,” she said, holding up two pistols that were identical to her favourites back home. “Put them on for me?”

He knelt down, lifted up her skirt and strapped one around her right thigh. Then he moved to her left as she slotted her gun into it. After buckling the left one, he ran his hand down her inner thigh, causing her to giggle. Rosalie burst through the door of their adjoining rooms and froze as she registered them, her face immediately screwing up in disgust.

“Oh, for shit’s sake,” she said. “Get a room.”

“This is our room,” Carlisle pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. “Why aren’t you in all-black?”

She was wearing head-to-toe black like they taught her, as she always did. Carlisle was dressed like an office worker from Mad Men, while Esme looked like a housewife from the 50s. Neither of them said anything.

“This isn’t one of your weird sex things, is it? Like, you can’t possibly get off on killing people together?”

The silence continued. “Ugh, don’t answer that.”

They made their way down to the car and Rosalie silently drove them to a street two blocks down from the address they’d given her. As the pair got ready, she drummed her fingers against the wheel.

“You scared?” Carlisle asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“No,” she said, a little too forcefully.

Esme leaned forward into the gap between the two front seats and put a hand under Rosalie’s chin, directing her so she could look at her intently. “Remember the plan. Stay inside the car at all times. Stay put here, lights off, engine off. Only turn it on when you see us. Or when you see people who aren’t us carryin’ guns. If that happens, you drive and you drive and you don’t ever stop. Same goes if we’re gone past, mmm, a half hour. Forty minutes, tops. There’s a loaded gun in the glovebox if you need it. Got it?” Rosalie nodded. “Good.”

“Stay safe, princess,” Carlisle kissed her on the cheek, opening his door. “Love ya.”

He closed the door and Esme took her hand and squeezed it. “Everything will be fine. But in case it isn’t, you know what to do. I love you, sweetheart.”

She nodded wordlessly again. She never said it back; it was probably still too weird for her. But she swallowed tightly. Esme brought the hand she held onto up to her lips and kissed her knuckles. She then let go and opened the door.

“Esme?” Rose choked out just as she was about to close it.

“Yeah, honey?”

“Come back to me, like you did before.”

Now Esme was the one who could do nothing but nod. And with that, she closed the door, and the couple walked off into the night.

[bkfics]

IV.

The next morning you wake up earlier, so you go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for everyone, but after a while Ryota wakes up too with Kazuhiko on his back.

‘Ohāyo Okāsan.’ your baby boy tells you with a raspy typical morning voice.

After you greet them, you wonder where your baby girl is, but then she runs with her open arms to you.

‘OKĀSAN!!!’ She screams with a worried tone, so you pick her up as soon she reaches you.

‘What’s wrong honey??’ You ask her with a comforting voice.

‘Okāsan…’ then she starts crying. Ryota starts worrying too and comes to you two and tries to get Kisara from you, but she refuses.

‘O-okāsan my… I can’t find my gel for hands.’ She cries harder.

‘Kisara it’s okay. Niichan will give Kisara his gel for hands okay?’ Kazuhiko tries to comfort her, but she shakes her head.

‘NOOO I WANT MINE! MINE HAD EEVEE ON TOP!’ She yells this time.

‘Yea.. about that.. I might.. hmm.. gave it to Sakusa yesterday…sorry.’ Ryota tells you scratching the back of his head.

‘Why would y-… nevermind’ You tell him sighing.

‘Kisa-chan, Otōsan will buy you a new. With an eevee one, or whatever you want ok?’

This time she nods and goes to Ryota to let herself get pick up.

[Sakusa Kiyoomi POV]

After having breakfast I go to the bathroom to take a shower.

As the hot water starts hitting my head, I start thinking about her, and memories of when we were together in high school. I start smiling and laughing as I remember how I was the first one that fell for her and the first time I talked to her I said ‘Use this mask and stay away from boys... except me or else you’ll get sick.’

‘Why did I even leave you? If I could only go back time. I would go back to 4 years ago and tell you how much I love you.’

‘Whatever Kiyoomi, she already has a family, it’s time to move on.’

I start getting frustrated so I quickly finish showering and go run around the neighbourhood to clear my mind.

Time passes by and parents with their kids keep popping up left and right of my view, so I start running faster, but my shoes are so worn out that the soles are so consumed that a hole is formed.

‘Great! Now I have to go buy another pair. This day couldn't get any better UGH!’ I start yelling in my head as I make my way back home and start getting ready, putting on the necklace I can’t seem to let go of…

[at the mall]

I now just parked my car, making my way inside the mall and going straight at the sport centre, making sure I have my spray disinfectant and hand sanitizer-

‘What is this?.. A hand sanitizer with a Pokemon in it? Why do I have this? Ah right.. Y/N husband gave it to me.. Tch, whatever.’

I go inside and I hear three familiar voices, too familiar for my liking, they are: Atsumu, Hinata and Bokuto.

‘Shopping with my friends!’ Atsumu says taking a video to post it on his story.

‘Wait, you have friends?’ Hinata says with a mocking face while Bokuto tries not to laugh.

I seriously don’t wanna deal with them right now so I turn around, going to the opposite direction, hoping that they don’t notice me. Arriving at the running shoes isle, I grab their new released one, it’s even in our jersey’s color, it’s all black and there's a little stripe in gold, so I ask the employee if they could give me my size of this model. After she gives it to me, I go and pay for it and right at the exit, I get stopped by a woman and a man.

‘Hello sir! Our pharmacy has a new cleaning product and even a new hand sanitizer! It’s better than the previous one, it’s less stickier and has different scents! The new cleaning product cleans better than any other! We’ll be so grateful if you could at least have a look at it! Have a good day sir!’ The man tells me.

I just nod, those new products don’t sound bad, might as well have a look.

The mall’s big and after walking for a good 5 minutes, I see the pharmacy but I bump into someone.

‘Oh, nice to see you again Sakusa.’

‘Same here Wakatoshi-kun and Kageyama.’

‘Are you here to go to the pharmacy too Sakusa-san?’ Kageyama asks me as we start walking.

‘Yes, what about you two?’

‘We were bored so we decided to come here at the mall.. hmm what about having lunch together Sakusa?’ Wakatoshi asks me.

‘Hmm sure, why not.’ I answer him.

We arrive at the pharmacy and get in line.

‘Wow this guy’s so tall’ Kageyama says amaze by the man with purple hair in front of us, eating snacks as he was waiting to enter the pharmacy with his friend too, me and Wakatoshi-kun agree with him.

We then decide to eat first and come later as the line was long.

After finding for a good restaurant not packed of costumers, we order our meals and few minutes later we start eating.

‘Itadakimasu.’ we say at the same time.

While we’re eating, we start hearing whisperings from the people eating inside the restaurant.

‘They are so hot, omg.’

‘I know right!’

‘Let’s sit on the table beside them.’

‘Wait girls, aren't those Sakusa Kiyoomi, Ushijima Wakatoshi and Kageyama Tobio?’

‘OMG you’re right!’

‘Look! Sakusa-san is so handsome!’

‘I agree, but wait.. look at his necklace.. Isn’t that a ring?’

‘Oh.. maybe he has a girlfriend already…’

As they keep on whispering, we finish our meals and make our way to the cashier, then we go around the Mall to buy new clothes or things we need for our places. It‘s getting late, so I offer them a ride home since we live close to each other, Wakatoshi-kun is beside me in the passenger seat and Kageyama is in the back seat.

‘Sakusa-san, I’m curios too.. why do you have a necklace with a ring? Do you have a girlfriend?’ Kageyama starts a conversation.

‘Hmm no.. this ring belongs to my first love.. even if we aren't together anymore. I just can’t seem to throw it away and i wearing it became a habit.’

‘If it really means a lot to you, just keep it.’ Wakatoshi-kun adds.

‘Yea.. but, how are you guys doing?’ I ask, wanting to change the subject.

‘We’re doing good, tho our manager took a week of to spend time with Kise-san, since he just came back and will be going back to the States in 2 weeks for the NBA preliminaries.’ Wakatoshi-kun answers.

‘NBA? That’s cool, also who’s Kise-san?’ I ask.

‘He’s that blonde haired guy who was with her and the kids.’ Kageyama answers.

‘Ahh.. the father of that cute little boy.’ I say with a normal expression but feeling sad inside.

‘Ah no, he’s not the father.. he’s just Y/N-chan’s best friend..’ Wakatoshi-kun says..

‘The father left Y/N-chan..’ Kageyama continues.

‘The father left Y/N? He really left her to raise a son alone?’ I ask, irritated by the fact that a man left her alone.

‘A son? She has two kids. They’re twins. A girl and a boy.’ Says Kageyama.

‘Twins? D*mn, he still left them? He’s not a man. He’s a b*stard.’

After some time, I proceed to drop Wakatoshi-kun to his place first, then I drop Kageyama, but before he could open the door, I stop him and ask:

‘Kageyama, can I ask you for something before you go? ‘Cuz I feel like I won’t be able to do it if I don’t..’

‘Sure, what is it?’

‘Can I ask you for Y/N’s phone number?’

‘WOW. So you’re that type of guy, huh? That goes after women with kids..’

‘HUH?! It’s not, you weirdo. I have something to talk with her in person, so I need her phone number to set up a rendezvous.’

‘I’m just playing, no need to get so worked up, chill.. alright, it’s …’

‘Thank you, see you later.’ I say after getting the phone number.

‘Hey, don’t try doing something stupid, ‘cuz you’re not the only one with your head on the line. Also thank you for dropping me off. Bye and drive safely!’ He says while he enters through the door without looking back.

Well, now.. How should I even start a conversation…

[Back to normal POV]

[2 weeks later. Kansai International Airport]

‘Well, I guess it’s time to board. I already checked-in..’

‘Otosan.. are you going away?’ Kazuhiko asks with tears in his eyes.

‘Are you coming back?’ Adds Kisara

‘Of course.. I’ll be back in no time and you won’t be able to notice that I’m back. I’ll be gone for a while, it’s not a long time.’ He tells the twins with a comforting voice while he’s on his knees hugging both of them.

‘So, while I’m away, I want you two to eat healthy, grow up faster, always help Okasan and always smile, alright?’ He adds before letting go of the hug.

‘Hai, Otosan.’ The twins answer simultaneously while crying and hugging him tighter.

‘Alright, alright. Kazu-chan, Kisa-chan. Stop crying or he’s going to be late. We don’t want that, right?’ Kuroko takes the kids with Momoi.

‘Kise-kun, good luck for the tournament. Also, say hi to the others from me. Have a nice flight!’ Kuroko says with Kazuhiko on his arms crying.

‘Say hi to them from me too! See you later!’ Adds Momoi with Kisara crying on her shirt behind her.

‘Ryota-kun, say hi to the others from me too, also, thank you for your help at the house and for the kids too. I hope you enjoyed your rest time here.’ You tell him with a little bow and a smile.

‘Of course I enjoyed it! Also, I’ll always be here for the kids, I’m their “Dad” after all.’ He says jokingly with a big smile.

‘You’re right! Then, see you later, Ryota-kun. Have a nice trip, call me after you land, alright?’

‘Alright, Y/N-cchi, stay safe when you’re going back. Kazu-chan, you’re the man of the house while I’m not here, alright? Kisa-chan, don’t cry and smile a lot, you’re beautiful eyes and smile need to be shown more!’ He tells the twin before he turns and goes to the departure gate.

You’re all still there watching his back between the crowds of people passing left and right in front of you. Before Kise makes his way to the gate, he turns one last time and stops to look for you. Once he finds you, he says something that really shocks the shiz outta you.

‘I-love-you, Y/N.’ He says it like a whisper and smiles at you, not knowing that you understood what he said, then he goes straight to the gate.

You keep thinking of what he just said, while your face shows how surprised you are, it’s probably something not important.. but you know what he said. You read his lips even though there’s an ocean of people you could read his lips once both of your sight met each other.

masterpost | III. | V.

FACTS: 

Sakusa was pissed that a guy left you with two kids alone, but was also relieved that you don’t have a man in your life.. but he’s now hoping that you and Kise are just best friends.

Kuroko and Momoi are dating. 

Kuroko Tetsuya:

Kise is in a NBA team with Aomine Daiki, Murasakibara Atsushi and Kagami Taiga. 

Murasakibara Atsushi: 

Kagami Taiga:

@rrroadkill @samwise-though @lola2001 @velociraptorenthusiast @mjade1321 @farmertoshi @kurosiee @googiembul @hohoshiumi @floralkawa @miwtze @crapimahuman

[starryevermore]

long story short: the way of the fist (6) ✧ sam and colby

long story short ✧ a parallel universe snc au | ao3

disclaimer: i do not own any aspect of the karate kid universe. does not *totally* follow the karate kid canon (i’ve taken a few creative liberties).

summary: sam joins cobra kai.

word count: 2,091

warning(s): swearing, a lot of scheming

Stupid fucking English class. Colby really hated this. He hated being back in school. He hated that he fucked up this universe. He hated that he and Sam had to pretend to be enemies. And he really fucking hated that he had to write some stupid fucking English paper for a school that he shouldn’t even be in and certainly wouldn’t graduate from. God, he fucking hated this. Hell, he might even be able to pull a 10-page paper out of how much he hated the predicament he was in. 

“Hey, you good, man?” Daniel asked, pulling Colby out of his thoughts. “You stare at that book any harder, and you might burn holes through it.” 

It was another research day at the library. Colby had gathered together some books that talked about the paranormal. Sure, it was a niche subject and would likely lead him to getting bullied for being a weirdo. But that was the point, wasn’t it? To get bullied? So, might as well give them good reason. 

“I don’t know how to read,” Colby said, trying to use humor to deflect from the actual frustration he was experiencing about…well, everything. 

“You’re dumb enough that I’d believe that,” Daniel laughed. “Seriously, though, is everything all good?” 

“I just…really hate being the new kid,” he said. Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie. He did hate being the new kid. Granted, it went a lot farther than just having to enroll in a new school and all the bullshit that followed with it, but, hey, Daniel didn’t need to know that.

“Hey, man, you’re preaching to the choir. I had a whole life back in Jersey and then my ma gets a new job down here and she just…takes it without even talking to me about it. And now I have to pretend everything’s a-okay, when I don’t know the first thing about fitting in here.” 

“Right? I mean, I didn’t have that many friends back in Kansas, but at least I knew how to navigate life there, you know? Now, I have no idea what the fuck is happening or how I can even begin to fit in here. And I know that fitting in is overrated, but at least I wouldn’t be so alone, you know?” 

“I know exactly how you feel, man.” Then, Daniel’s eyes lit up. “Hey, there’s soccer tryouts tomorrow! You should come try out for the team with me!”

“Oh, I don’t know, I’m not very good at soccer,” Colby said.

“Nah, I’m sure you’re fine at it! We can go down to the beach or the park after school today and I can coach you!”

Colby thought for a moment. He really, really didn’t want to. But, this might have been one of those moments that was integral to setting this universe back on track. Fuck, he really needed Sam or Arden to explain to him what needed to be done to get the story going where it needed to go. 

“Fine, but you better not make fun of my dumbass,” Colby said.

“Deal.” 

A few minutes of silence passed between Daniel and Colby as each flipped through their respective books they were researching from. But Colby’s mind was wandering far away from research. Was there anything else he could do? Something else he could say to make sure things were on track? Didn’t Sam say something about that blonde girl on the beach? Wasn’t she important to the plot? 

“So, uh, you got your eye on any girls?” Colby asked. Trying to channel the fuck boy all of his fans thought him to be, he continued, “Have to admit, the girls in California are a lot hotter than the girls in Kansas.” 

Daniel’s face turned red. “Uh, yeah, there’s one girl.”

“Oh yeah? Danny got a crush?” Colby teased. He cringed at what he was saying. God, he felt gross just pretending that he was that kind of guy.

“Kinda? I don’t really know her. But, you remember that blonde girl at the beach?” 

Colby raised a brow. “Oh, I remember. Who could forget the beating we both got for trying to stop that asshole from being, well, an asshole to her.” 

Daniel snorted. “Yeah, can’t forget that. But, yeah, I think she’s kinda cute. I just, I don’t know, it might be too much trouble to try and get to know her after getting my ass handed to me for trying to be nice to her.”

“What do you mean?” Colby asked.

“I mean, that guy beat us both up for trying to stop him from taking her radio. Who’s to say he won’t do more if I actually show interest in her, you know?”

“But you like her?”

“Well, yeah.” 

“Then there’s no such thing as too much trouble.” 

“You know what? You might be right.”

And, as Daniel slumped back in his seat, probably thinking about what Colby had said, Colby smiled to himself. Hey, he might not be such a bad actor after all.

Arden was very keenly aware that Sam and Colby thought that she knew everything about everything they needed to do to solve this predicament they were in. She knew that. She knew the expectations they had of her, even with the knowledge that she was a mere agent in training. She knew that. And, God, did she wish she didn’t know that. While Arden had a good idea of how to fix things—unite Colby and Daniel to get Daniel’s training rolling, to have the Cobras focus their attention to Daniel and that Sam could be beneficial in stoking the flames of the rivalry, to ensure that Daniel wins the All Valley Tournament—she also had no fucking idea if what she was doing was right. The Multidimensional Travel Division had given her next to no instruction on what she was supposed to be doing. Granted, they hadn’t pulled her from the case and berated her for what she’s attempting to do, so she could only hope that meant she was on the right track. But, still, she was terrified that she was just going to make everything worse, and she didn’t know if she could handle that sort of failure. 

So, while Sam dealt with the Cobras and Colby dealt with Daniel, Arden figured she could use her time to make sure Ali was playing the part she was meant to play. The very beginning of the rivalry rode heavily on Ali being interested in Daniel and Daniel being interested in Ali. Arden needed to make sure that still happened, that Colby’s still intervention at the beach hadn’t shifted things too far in that regard. 

But how to do it? Arden knew that the MTD had given her a role, a name, of the standard implant into a universe. In the early days of the MTD, when parallel universe travel was just beginning, the MTD had created characters that an agent could play should a universe’s events need to be mended. The idea was that the character would be within the memories of the main people in the universe, but only just, so that any agent could realistically play it. It wasn’t uncommon for universes to get off track, you see. Agents periodically would have to check in to make sure everything is going as it should, that no rogue agents had started messing with things. So there was typically a character that existed for the sole purpose of fixing things in the event that it was needed. For this universe, the character was Arden Gaumont, a high schooler in the same grade as the Cobras, Ali, and Daniel, who had lived in the Valley her entire life. She was a wallflower, someone that wasn’t always noticed. It was the perfect character for an agent to just drop into, as the people within the universe would at least know who she is without knowing too much about her. 

Well, she supposed she could at least test out the theory that everyone knew who she was. (But did she? Clearly the receptionist, all of her teachers, and Bobby knew of her.) So, she waltzed up to the table Ali sat at in the library during study hall and sat straight across from her.

“Hey, Ali!” Arden greeted, flashing a bright smile to the blonde. 

Ali looked up from her math textbook, and smiled at Arden. “Hey! I haven’t seen you in a while!”

Yeah, no shit. 

“I’ve just been busy. My cousins moved in with me and my parents, so it’s been hard trying to adjust to that.”

“Oh, I can only imagine how difficult that’d be to get used to,” Ali said. 

“Yeah, it’s been…interesting.” Well, that was an understatement. “I’ve been looking for something to distract myself from the craziness. Aren’t cheerleading tryouts tomorrow?” 

Ali’s face lit up. “Yeah! You should definitely come down. You’re perfect for the team!” 

“Well, we’ll see about that,” Arden laughed. “Hey, aren’t soccer tryouts tomorrow, too?”

“Yeah, we’re both using the field. Why?”

“You think that new kid is gonna be there? I saw him making moves on you at the beach,” Arden winked.

Ali’s face turned blood red. “You saw that?” 

“Oh, yeah! He’s totally into you,” Arden teased. “You should go for him.”

“Oh, I don’t know…He probably wouldn’t want to be around me after what happened with Johnny.” 

Arden snorted. “He doesn’t seem to be the type to let a challenge stop him. And I didn’t think you were the type, either, Miss Mills.”

Ali paused for a moment. “You know what? You’re right. I’m gonna give it a shot!” 

Sam had mulled over the decision of joining Cobra Kai the entire night. While his best friend slept, he agonized over whether or not becoming a Cobra would strain their friendship. Sure, he had been the calming voice of reassurance to help Colby with his anxieties, but he himself was terrified of what could happen if he did follow through on Arden’s suggestion (order?) that he join Cobra Kai. 

He hadn’t slept, if he was being honest. He was so anxious. He hadn’t felt this way in so fucking long. But suddenly everything in his life has been turned on its head. His universe was not the only one in the, well, universe. And he had to work to save a universe that wasn’t even his own. And, oh God, he wasn’t going to be able to see Katrina in…well…who knows how fucking long. At least he wasn’t going to be alone, at least he had Coby. But holy fuck, did he really? He had to pretend to be his friend’s fucking enemy, for Christ’s sake. 

So, he did what only sane person would do. He got up, went to Arden’s room, and asked if she knew anything about karate. And, thankfully, she did. She said something about the MTD training all future agents in all forms of hand-to-hand combat? Whatever, it didn’t matter that much to him. He just needed to learn, and to get his mind focused on anything else. So, from midnight until the sun came up, Sam trained and trained and trained. He was by no means an expert, but at least he could stand a chance against the Cobras. Fake it til you make it, as they say. 

Because, at the end of the day, Sam knew he had no choice in the matter. He had to pretend to be Colby’s enemy. As much as he hated it, Arden had a point. They needed to work on this problem from all angles to make sure that things return to business as usual. But, goddangit, it fucking sucked. 

But he put on a brave face, marked with faux happiness, as he waltzed into West Valley High School. Fake it til you make it. He had no choice, not really. So, when it came down to do it, he asked Bobby what time lessons started at the dojo. And, when school ended, he made the journey to the Cobra Kai dojo. And he met the sensei that used to leave him terrified when he watched The Karate Kid as a child and, quite frankly, still scared the shit out of him. And he signed up for lessons. And he took his place in Cobra Kai’s ranks. 

Because, at the end of the day, it was time, as unfortunate it as may be, to learn the way of the fist. 

[softboywriting]

Both | Shawn Mendes

Summary: You and Shawn are unapologetically goofballs and you’re absolutely perfect for each other. New merchandise arrives and the two of you just have to test it out in your own special way. [fluff] [non au]

Word Count: 1k

|Masterlist In Bio|

The day the new merchandise arrives for the upcoming tour you are on set for Shawn's newest music video. The two of you have been going back and forth for months, debating whether or not to have you in the video with him. Eventually both of you decided you were confident enough in yourselves and your relationship that you were ready to do something like this.

Tension has been high on the set all day. You've been shooting for hours, going from location to location and you're finally settled down at the studio you started at. Everyone has been kind of trying to lighten the mood but it hasn't necessarily worked. Shawn is trying to get the director to listen to his ideas and he does, but he doesn't quite grasp what Shawn wants. Everyone is frustrated because the video isn't going as smoothly as planned and parts of it aren't flowing.

You head to the changing trailer and find Alissa, Andrew's assistant, has left some of the new merchandise in a bag for you with a note that has your name on it. She knew you loved to check out everything before it got finalized by the team and Shawn.

You smile to yourself. This would be a perfect way to lighten up the mood. You put on a shirt that has Shawn's name in his handwriting signed across a guitar on the front and a pair of sweatpants that have roses down the side and head for the set.

Shawn is filming a solo scene, laying on a couch in a fake living room set up. You sneak around behind the director and the sound and camera crew and stand just where Shawn can see you. It's then you start posing, dramatic arm over the face, a little exaggerated model strut, stop, pivot, and strut away. He starts laughing, waving off the cameras and calling a cut.

"Can we take a break?" He asks, getting up and going over to the director, Martin. "I just need to clear my head."

"Sure. Let's take a break and get some fresh air. Relieve some tension and regroup."

"Thanks." Shawn says and he walks over to you, a huge grin spreading across his face. It's nice. He's been in such a funk all day long he's barely looked like he's enjoyed your first video together. "Hey you," he smirks, hands going to your waist.

"Hey. Look what I found."

He looks you over. "Mmmhmm. Alissa must have brought it for you huh?"

"You knew it was coming?"

"Yeah. It arrived at Andrew's place last night and she said she was gonna bring it today."

You step back and take his hands, swinging them back and forth. "I think we need to test it."

"Oh absolutely." He grins, lifting you up with ease and carrying you to where you direct him over to the bag of stuff you brought with you from the trailer.

The first thing you do is try a few of the shirts. There's a pink one that is particularly ugly in your opinion. Now, you love pink, but this shirt was borderline salmon colored and the line art of Shawn's most recent floral tattoo is lost in it. You didn’t sit through a long as hell session with him for that tattoo not to be done justice on his merch. Next up is the hoodies. They're super soft and high quality, both with vivid coloring and embroidery. Shawn shucks his jeans and pulls on a pair of sweatpants to go with it.

"These are nice." He squats down a few times. "Real nice."

You pull on a pair and cross the empty area behind the living room set and squat down like a sumo wrestler. "So stretchy."

Shawn looks over and squats down, mimicking your pose. The two of you look like a couple of weirdos, wide squatting in the middle of an empty warehouse studio.

"We must give them the ultimate test!" Shawn laughs and starts doing an awkward crab walk forward with his legs spread wide.

You almost make it to him but you're both in tears from laughing so hard that you have to stop. You both collapse on the cold cement floor and Shawn pulls his hoodie drawstrings tight, creating a tiny hole for just his mouth.

"Kiss me." He says with his lips puckered and sticking out.

You pull your drawstrings and do the same thing with just your mouth exposed. "My love, I cannot see you!"

"Oh!" He laughs. "We must kiss our way to each other. There is no other way."

The next two minutes consists of the two of you scrambling around the floor trying to find one another blindly. When you finally do, you manage to miss his face like three times, kissing his eye and nose before your lips meet and you're cracking up laughing again.

"What are you guys doing?" Brain asks when he finds you guys behind the set being goofballs.

Shawn pulls the hoodie over his head and leans back on his elbows. "Trying out new merch."

"Quality control obviously Brian."

"Right. Well, I'm going to get lunch while you guys do...whatever this is."

"Okay bye." You laugh and wave him off. You look over to Shawn and he's got the collar of the salmon pink shirt in his mouth and one hand tucked up under the bottom hem, showing off his abs. "What the hell..."

"Am I sexy?" He asks with a choked off laugh.

"Dead sexy. The salmon really brings out your eyes." You let out a terrible little flirtatious growl like noise and he falls back laughing. You get up and peel off your hoodie, getting too hot from goofing around. "We should go get lunch while we can."

Shawn gets up and nods. "Yeah, and take the merch back to the trailer for Alissa."

You walk around in front of Shawn and he grabs your shoulder gently, turning you around to face him.

"Hold on."

"What's up?"

He smiles softly, eyes on yours. "You should keep this one." He gestures to the shirt you're wearing, one you put on out of the bag after the salmon one when you were trying on everything earlier. "My name looks good on you."

You pull the shoulder forward to glance back and see it's the one that says Mendes on the back across the shoulders like a jersey almost. "Are you just talking about the shirt or like y'know..."

He smirks and leans his head against yours. "Both."

End

-----

Thank you so much for reading ! Please Reblog if you enjoyed it :)) - A

*****Note: none of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted fics.*****

[written-prose-things]

What did you just call me?

Summary:  When an unknown hunter walks into Beacon Hills, Derek goes into Over Protective Alpha mode. Everyone gets puts into groups, which they're supposed to stick with at all times.

Stiles gets stuck with Derek. Ya know, The Alpha He Has A Crush On. Over the next three days, they both realise exactly how much fun their normal life can be as well.

{This is the second chapter!}

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Ao3 |

The next morning Stiles wakes up to see Derek lying on the floor, awake. He pokes the alpha’s thigh with his toe, “You don’t have to sleep on the floor, you know that right?”

Derek grumbles, “No space on the bed.”

Stiles laughs as he gets out of bed, “Wow, I’ve never been called fat like this before.”

Derek grumbles, “Not fat, just soft, I-” Derek stops abruptly.

Stiles turns around slowly. Derek’s looking away from him, his ears are tinged red. Stiles smirks, “Who knew, I just need to wake you up early to get a nice compliment.”

-x-

After cleaning himself up, Stiles drives them to Derek’s loft. Derek lets Stiles into the loft and walks towards the stairs to change his clothes.

Stiles asks slowly, “...Umm, so should I go?”

Derek turns around, “You haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“So?”

Derek furrows his eyebrows, like Stiles is an idiot, “Breakfast is necessary, Stiles.”

Stiles rolls his eyes, “ Thanks, mom .”

Derek huffs, “Wait here. I’ll be back in a moment to make breakfast.”

Stiles walks over to the window, staring at the street below him to pass the time.

Derek comes down quite quickly. Derek’s skin looks soft and warm after a shower. Stiles assumes the alpha likes scalding hot water because his face is a soft red colour. Stiles can’t help the smile on his face when he sees Derek’s outfit. Another pair of henleys and jeans.

Derek quirks one eyebrow at Stiles in confusion. Even his eyebrows are fluffy after a shower, hair pointing in different directions. His eyebrows look softer than the hair on his head. They must feel different too, Stiles assumes. Stiles’ mind spirals as he wonders, what must Derek’s eyelashes feel like. His eyelashes fall on the soft apples of his cheeks, still red from his shower. The alpha’s face is also a thing of beauty, a mix of soft curves and hard planes.

Stiles shakes his head and clears his throat, “Waffles! You can make waffles.”

Derek comments fondly as he walks to the kitchen, “Weirdo.”

When their breakfast is done, Derek insists on cleaning both their plates.

“Why can’t I wash my plate?”

Derek huffs, his face contorted in discomfort, “Because I’m saying so.”

“Dude, I feel weird. Let me help.”

Derek shoves into Stiles with his shoulder, “I’ve told you not to call me that.”

Stiles feels goosebumps rise over his bare arm where Derek touched him, “I- What? No. I’ll call you what I want and I can do the dishes too!”

Derek sets down the plate he’s washing and groans, “I didn’t say you couldn’t. I just wanted to p-”

Derek stops abruptly, his cheeks colouring.

Stiles quirks an eyebrow and smiles, “What were you going to say?”

Derek clears his throat, “Quit your whining. I’m the Alpha, you better listen.”

Stiles hums, “Okay. I was just trying to be a good guest. You should be thankful. I never help out when I’m at Scott’s. Sometimes Melissa just kicks us both out. She doesn’t like messes. Oh! That’s an idea, now that she knows about ‘wolves, why don’t you hang out with her? You’ll get along great! Both have OCD and questionable exes.”

Derek pinches the bridge of his nose, “You want me to make friends with an old lady?”

Stiles scoffs, “Hey! Don’t knock it till you try it. And you’re old now too, right?”

Derek looks unamused, “Why don’t you just leave me at an elderly home then next time we go out?”

Stiles laughs softly.

When the dishes are done, Derek follows Stiles out of the loft. Stiles doesn’t complain, it’s only going to be a waste of time.

When they walk out of the building. Derek heads to his car again.

“I told you before Derek, I don’t go anywhere without Roscoe.”

“Stiles, that jeep is running on fumes and I can’t let you get stuck in the middle of nowhere on my watch. You know I let you drive that jeep on other days-”

Stiles scoffs, “Let me? You don’t let me do anything, Derek. Don’t try to bully me.”

Derek growls and pulls at his hair in frustration, his eyebrows scrunched together, “I didn’t mean that. Just- why don’t you just listen to me.”

Stiles stands his ground, “No. You’re making me late for school.”

Derek groans, “We wouldn’t be late if you’d just listen to me.”

Stiles groans, “Ughh, fine.”

They pile into Derek’s Camaro. When they pull into the parking lot, the entire pack is waiting for Stiles outside the building.

Derek opens the door and Stiles gets out. When he’s halfway through the school crowd, moving towards the pack, Derek yells from the car.

“I’ll come back to pick you up in the afternoon, Stiles. Have a great day, don’t forget to eat your lunch.”

The kids around Stiles burst into giggles as he stares open-mouth at Derek who peels out of the parking lot with a smirk on his face.

-x-

The day passes slowly as usual. Harris and Coach Finstock make their lives a living hell in Chemistry and Econ.

The only respite he gets is when the entire pack hangs out during lunch.

Even that is cut short when some jocks get into a food fight in the cafeteria and they’re all ushered back to class quickly.

So, when classes let out, Stiles as good as runs out of his English class. Jackson and Eric who share the class laugh as he rushes. Jackson calls after him, “Someone’s excited to see their ride.”

Erica adds slyly, “Mmhhmm, take that ride for a ride.”

Stiles only flips them off as he foes towards the parking lot. He’s had enough of school today, he’s okay with skipping lacrosse practise for one day, especially when his presence doesn’t make a difference.

Derek pulls into the parking lot just as Stiles reaches. Instead of opening the door, Derek rolls down the windows and points to the kids in lacrosse jerseys who are walking towards the field.

“Why aren’t you going?”

“Because I’m always on the bench.”

“Stiles, if you don’t work for it, you aren’t getting off the bench ever.”

“Like I care.”

“Lie.”

“Quit doing that!”

Derek sighs, “But I got all these protein shakes for you, in case you had practise.”

Stiles groans, “One day, Hale, one day, I’m going to learn how to ignore your blatant guilt traps. Then you won’t stand a chance against me.”

Derek climbs out of his car gracefully and smirks at Stiles, “Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.” He pushes a pack of juice boxes into Stiles’ chest, “Right now, we need to get you to practise.”

Stiles drags his feet as Derek walks towards the field. It’s going to be a long evening.

They see the entire pack sitting on the bleachers on the other side of the field, so Derek and Stiles begin walking towards them. Derek softly compliments the betas, “Good to see that you’re all sticking to your groups.”

Even though he says it at a normal volume, Erica, Issac, Boyd, Scott and Jackson hear him easily, passing on his message to Lydia and Allison.

Allison shoots Derek a quick smile.

Derek is a good alpha, Stiles decides. Not that he hasn’t realised this fact before, but the proof of Derek’s soft and caring nature makes Stiles feel warm all over, like a hug on a rainy day.

They’re just about to climb up the bleacher when Coach Finstock’s shrill voice halts them, “Cedric?”

Stiles only turns around to see which unfortunate kid’s name has Coach gotten wrong today. It’s only when Derek steps forward that Stiles realises that the coach is talking to Derek .

“Good evening, Coach.”

Finstock nods, his haywire hair shaking even with all the product in it, “Haven’t seen you around since the last state championship.”

Before Derek can offer a polite reply, Finstock adds a back-handed comment, “Well, I mean that’s excluding the time when you went on a murder rampage around the school, but we didn’t meet then, so I’m not counting that.”

Stiles expects Derek to go into his aggressive alpha posture, but he remains slouched and smiling. Smiling at Coach Finstock. Stiles wonders if he’s in a nightmare, but he has the correct number of fingers.

Derek smiles at Coach, “Yeah. It’s nice to meet you again too, Coach.”

Stiles shakes his head, “Was anyone going to tell me that you were on the lacrosse team under Coach Finstock?”

Derek rolls his eyes, “How old do you think I am, Stiles?”

Before Stiles can answer, Jackson whispers under his breath, loud enough that Coach would also hear if he wasn’t so enamoured with seeing Cedric in such a long time, “Ohhh, daddy.”

Stiles can’t help the heat on his face. The pack starts laughing uncontrollably.

Coach asks Derek, “So, Cedric, what’re you doing here?”

Derek thumps Stiles on the back, shoving him forward, “I’ve been thinking about helping Stiles out with his practice.”

Helping? What the hell?

Finstock looks at Stiles like he’s only just noticed he’s there. He asks Derek sceptically, “Bilinski?”

Derek lets out a confused growl which Coach simply ignores. He “whispers” to Derek, while looking at Stiles, “Look, Cedric, I’m going to be honest, Bilinski isn’t a great potential if you know what I mean...Why don’t you-” Coach scans the field and the stands, his eyes glint when they latch onto the intended target, “Why don’t you help Jackson? He’s a great kid.”

Before Derek can answer, Coach turns around and walks away.

Stiles chuckles and asks Derek softly, “Is he just like you remember?”

Derek’s mouth twists, “Yup.”

With that, Stiles pushes off to the lockers to get changed. When he comes back, Coach is yelling at everyone to line up.

-x-

The practice is quite unusual. As usual, Coach goes over the new plays and sets them into two teams to simulate a game and practise the plays, hoping to get a good nap in his office.

Only, Derek starts yelling as soon as someone commits a foul that usually gets ignored.

Horror slowly dawns on Stiles as he realises what Derek is. He’s a soccer mom. This might not be soccer, but Derek's enthusiasm is the same. He climbs down the steps quickly and lands in the grass, pointing at Greenburg, “That was a foul.”

Coach groans and turns around, “What is your damage, Cedric? I need my beauty sleep.”

Derek rolls his eyes, “Yeah. You can go, I can take it from here.”

-x-

Stiles evaluates his muscles in the shower. His body has never hurt this badly before. Without looking around, Stiles realises all the guys are taking extra time in the hot shower, hoping to gain some feeling back.

Stiles realises now, why the betas are usually so petulant when Derek asks them to train. Speaking of, the betas on the team are the only ones who don’t look dead on their feet.

Stiles feels the sorriest for all the humans on his team. They’re going to have to make go with muscle relaxants and gels, while he can easily whip up one of the remedies Deaton has taught him.

When Stiles gets out of the locker room, Derek’s waiting in his car. They drive to the loft first, change cars and head back to Stile’s house.

Even though Stiles; father isn’t home, Derek climbs through the window.

That night, they both get into bed without any fuss. Running after a whole lacrosse team can tire an alpha out too.

“Why do you always climb through the window?” Stiles asks sleepily.

Derek shrugs, “Makes me feel strong.”

Stiles chuckles, his breath making Derek’s eyelashes fan out, “You know I’ve spelled the mountain ash barrier to let you in, right?”

Derek huffs, “Go to sleep, Stiles.”

Stiles yawns before replying, “Goodnight, Cedric.”

Derek grumbles, “I will kill you in your sleep.”

Stiles falls asleep before he can laugh.

-x-

The next morning, Stiles wakes up slowly, reaching his hands out for the warm body he expects to be next to him. His mind slowly comes back online and he realises exactly how weird poking a sleeping person, especially an Alpha can be.

But he’s in luck today because the only things that meet him are a still-warm bed and ruffled sheets. Clearly, Derek has been up for a little while.

Stiles sits up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. He looks around the room, but Derek isn’t there.

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Rinne no Lagrange S2, Episodes 7-9

In which I break down this show’s fatal flaw in detail just in time for the climax.

Where’s the Beef?

There’s a particular moment in episode 9 that I want to draw your attention to. Asteria has just revealed to her team that she’s actually a queen of that initial proto-human race from 20,000 years ago that split into humans, Le Garite, and De Metrio, as well as the fact that she’s probably responsible for the big disaster with the Voxes that forced them to leave Earth. Her memories were scattered in the aftermath much like Yurikano’s were, so she still doesn’t have all the information, but hopefully they can work together to piece together what really happened for the sake of ensuring peace between their planets. All well and good so far. But then, Tadakoro makes a comment about how he wished she could’ve told them this before because they totally would have had her back no matter what, and his team all nods in agreement, and Asteria’s so touched with emotion that her eyes go all watery. This moment is very clearly supposed to be the capstone to some kind of “I’m afraid they won’t trust me if they knew who I was” arc for Asteria. It’s a classic anime trope: the reserved character is afraid to share their secrets with their band of friends, but their fear are proven wrong when they share it and their friends accept them regardless because nakama and all that stuff. Here’s the weird thing, though: Asteria was never established as being afraid of people not trusting her if she shared her secret. I guess it’s not not of the question she thought that way, but it was never part of her character until this moment. So her getting all emotional is supposed to make the audience feel all warm and fuzzy that she’s been accepted, but it falls flat because we were never under the impression that was something she was concerned about. It’s a shot at a cheap sentimental “Awwww” moment that thinks it can make us care about what’s going on just because, without actually earning our investment.

Why am I spending so much time discussing this ultimately pretty meaningless moment? Because I think it’s indicative of how little thought has gone into the construction of Rinne no Lagrange at a base level. The further I watch into this show, the more I notice how much of this thing just isn’t thought through. There’s another gag in episode 8 where no one wants to join the Jersey Club because they all think they’re weirdos and aliens, but we’ve seen countless times throughout this show that everyone loves the Jersey Club, and everyone thinks Lan and Muginami being aliens is just the coolest thing ever. The joke goes completely contrary to the in-universe fiction the show’s been setting up. So why does it exist? Because the writers wanted to do an episode about a new girl joining the Jersey Club and learning a lesson, which meant they had to make it so no one wanted to join the Jersey Club except this one screw-up. The “Oh no, no one wants to join us!” situation is just a contrived setup to justify this episode’s existence, logic and in-universe continuity be damned. Not that it matters much, because the problem of the Jersey Club not being seen as an official club is itself solved offscreen with no explanation, only further highlighting how artificial this entire scenario is. Which might have been acceptable if the episode itself was any good, but Reiko’s such a nothing character that it’s impossible to get invested in her and the whole thing ends up feeling lifeless and perfunctory. So not only does the episode break the show’s reality to justify its existence, it doesn’t even have a point to existing at all other than mindlessly filling up time. Oh, and stripping Muginami in front of the whole class. That was obviously important.

Or how about Dizelmine suddenly turning out to be evil? We just had a whole arc about exploring his complexes and having him realize he was wrong. The spirit of the woman he loved just told him to nut up and stop being a dick, Madoka herself literally punched him to make him see sense, and he fully apologized for his mistakes, both to Lan and the worth, and committed to allying with Villagiulio to work through their issues together. But the next time we see him, he’s working along with Moid’s plans and raging about how Villa will “never betray us again,” and it’s like, weren’t you just moving past this? Where did the backsliding come from? I guess maybe we’re supposed to assume Moid manipulated him into giving into his demons again, but we never see that, so for all we know, Dizel’s brain literally just broke for no reason. Hell, even the reveal of Moid being a double agent is handled with shockingly little ceremony. Yeah, it’s been obvious for a while he’s had some nefarious plan up his sleeve, but the military guys who’ve been working with him for months now have basically no reaction to finding out their colleague was secretly evil all this time. It’s just sorta taken as a given and everyone moves on. It’s all just... Moments(tm). This show is nothing but Moments(tm) the writers strung together without bothering to make them make sense. Go aaaaaaw at the cute girl being accepted, it says! Laugh at the hapless club members bumbling about! Get mad at this evil dude doing evil things! There’s no buildup, no fallout, no logical progression of events and feelings, no justification for why you should care. It just assumes you will care, because you cared about these Moments(tm) in other shows, and that means they’ll work just as well here even stripped of all context and believability. That is the full extent of the thought that’s gone into this show’s story. And that, more than anything else, is why it’s turned out to be such a disappointment.

Odds and Ends

-”If you know you share your feelings, you don’t even need to say it out loud.” I’m sure they’re just talking about Yurikano here and no one else.

-”Let’s vow never to use the Voxes to fight again.” Alright, place your bets on how long that’s gonna last.

-Not gonna lie, Madoka’s stupidity is kinda starting to grate on me. It’s not charming, it just drags these unfunny scene out.

-So, logistical question: wasn’t Asteria introduced as the director’s daughter? How is she a 20,000-year-old queen and some dude’s daughter? I wanna hear that story.

-Aw, I like hearing about De Metrio’s future plans.

-”After all, we’re one now.” Aaaaaaaaw.

-”This time, I want to believe in him.” Yeah, you and me both.

One more session to go. See you next time for the end of Rinne no Lagrange!

[cptnsantiago]

take me home

4/?

~ snow storm

read on ao3

“Jake, the storm is only getting worse.”

Amy can barely see outside, the fog so dense that she’s holding on to any solid part of the car to prepare for the worst. “I’ve only met your mom twice but she’s scary so I’m not getting you home late.”

“I think my mom would appreciate it more if I made it home alive.” Amy retorts, scrolling through her phone slowly “We’ve been carpooling this trip for 2 years and the weather has never been this bad… And look! I just found a B&B half a mile from here!”

“Ugh fine,” Jake huffs, “But I’m indulging in the mini bar and won’t take any judgement!”

“Okay, waste your money. I’m just going to do the wise thing and sleep now that there are no finals to worry about.” Amy tells him, “Turn left.”

“Please, I know you’ve already started your little study calendar thingy on your desk.” Jake follows her directions with ease, laughing.

Amy had been introduced to Jake through their mutual friend Rosa in their first year of college. Amy had known Rosa her entire life, their moms having bonded through night classes years before they were born and they had been inseparable since. This then made Amy and Rosa inseparable. So when Rosa took up criminal psychology in her first year of college, Rosa met Jake and thus Amy made an acquaintance with him.

She was certain if they had met under different circumstances they would either be best friends or Amy would avoid him because he was just a certain type of annoying. The type being unbearably obsessed with Die Hard and not really knowing when to shut up about it. But they hung out on a semi regular occurrence, so they were good acquaintances.  

Their arrangement was convenient. They were both at university in Brooklyn and unlike Rosa’s family, their family did not move from New Jersey to be closer to them. So every summer, every Christmas and every spring break they would drive home and back to college together. 

And now she was going to be stuck with Jake in a B&B until the storm cleared. It wasn’t the end of the world, no - Amy did like Jake. Most of the time they hung out together they were either drunk or they were drunk with Rosa. The two and a half hour drive usually was spent with light chatter where Jake would eventually fall asleep or Amy would start reading. 

Stuck in a snowstorm, together, with no alcohol.

It wouldn’t be bad, she just thought it was going to be interesting. The nervous feeling only builds once they arrive at the B&B and learn that the only room they have available is one with a double bed. One double bed.

Jake acts like it’s no big deal, they were adults and could maturely share a bed without it being a whole thing. Amy’s read fanfiction, it’s always a thing. She doesn’t mention anything though because she knew one thing definitively; Jake would never let it go.

He still remembered (and brought up quite frequently) that she was the Finger Queen at typing camp one year. So there was no bringing up the Star Wars fanfiction she read on occasion; or worse, the one time she wrote one herself. Jake didn’t lie when he said he would raid the mini fridge. Immediately he took out the drinks and snacks and dumped them on the bed, following them by jumping gracefully into the soft bed. 

“What exactly is your plan?” Amy snorts, placing her own bag gently by the bedside table and sitting next to him. 

“Get drunk, watch Die Hard probably.” Jake shrugs simply as he finds the remote. “Then fall asleep snuggled by your side to keep warm from the horrible storm.”

“Do you like any movie but Die Hard?” Amy shakes her head, disguising her disgust so that he doesn’t straight up die from shock. “We’re absolutely not watching it.”

“Of course I like other movies!” Jake retorts with a light chuckle, “I just love Die Hard.”

“Oh god.” Amy finally rolls properly onto the bed, burying her face into the pillow.  

“Okay, another movie I like…” Jake ponders, and he’s quiet for a few minutes which catches Amy’s attention. “OH! Star Wars! My mom wants to see the new one with me when I get home.”

“Are you serious Jake?” Amy groans, her complete attention now on him. “All these years and you’ve been talking about Die Hard non-stop when we could have been talking about Star Wars? You’re actually messing with me.”

“It’s never come up!” Jake starts giggling, tipping his head back as the laughter gets stronger. 

“That’s because you never shut up about Die Hard.” Jake only mimics her face in reply, “Why don’t we watch it? I just got Disney plus last week.”

“Oh?” Jake raised an eyebrow at her, “I did the free trial but I have no money. Zero dollars. College sucks.”

“Maybe you’d have money if you didn’t take everything from the minibar.” 

“This is my Christmas present to myself!” Jake counters, turning the TV on.

“I’m not even gonna respond to that.” Amy rolls off the bed again to take out her laptop and it’s only a few short minutes before the beginning notes of the movie plays on the mediocre flat screen in front of them.

“Do you have any theories for the next-” Amy quickly shushes him, not so gently covering his mouth with her hand.

“Not surprised you’re a talker but don’t.” Amy whispers, “I like to hear to movie, we can talk after.”

She’s surprised that he stays quiet for the remainder of the movie. Jake was without fail the loudest person she knew, louder than her brothers. There were only a few comments and laughs shared between them - it even got flirty between them. Amy had never spent this much time alone with Jake and she didn’t expect them to get along without them being drunk. But they were both sober (he finally admitted he couldn’t afford the mini bar) and he was telling every dumb Star Wars joke ever said - she was genuinely having a good time. 

Things only got weird again when she starts yawning and he’s suggesting they go to bed. It had been a good night so there was no reason that had to change. Amy would be an adult about it, and maybe she was actually wrong about Jake being an immature child obsessed with an action movie. Jake was a smart and capable adult, compassionate and funny and obsessed with an action movie to no end. 

Climbing into bed, Jake is already facing her propped up on his arm. “Now that we aren’t watching the movie wanna talk about theories?”

“Okay, hit me.” Amy shifts so she’s in the same position.

With her permission, he launches into a long spiel of theories. Ones he had seen on the internet and some that he thought of himself when he had been putting off his study. “But my favourite part of the sequels are Finn and Poe, and I know Disney sucks so they probably won’t get together but I have this whole idea of how they could.”

Jake continues to ramble on about his idea, and her stomach drops as he continues because she knew this idea all too well. It was one of her favourite fanfictions. But there was no way - no way there was a not awkward way to ask, and no way Jake could write a story so beautiful.

“Jake, I have a strange question.” Amy sits up, twisting her hands.

“What is it?” Jake looks concerned at the change of her behaviour and that only makes her more nervous.

“Did you write blink back to let me know? Th-the story?” Amy avoids his eyes, so she doesn’t see them crinkle up as he begins to laugh.

“Who would’ve guessed? Amy Santiago is a big enough of a nerd to read fanfiction!” Jake prods at her twisted hands to gain her attention. “I did write that. Small world, huh?”

“You’re not embarrassed?”

“No, I love Finn and Poe a lot.” Jake levels himself to Amy. “It’s just a fun hobby.”

“A hobby? That is my favourite fanfic, Jake. You’re amazing!” Amy waves her hands around, obviously flustered. “You’re you and you wrote that and it’s so beautiful but it came from your weirdo brain! I just need a sec.”

“The most important thing is did you give me kudos?” Jake teases.

“Jake it’s literally bookmarked on my phone.” Amy makes a move to prove it and his draw drops when he sees it open on her phone.

“I’m flattered!”

“I’m so confused.”

“Oh come on!” Jake scoffs with another laugh, “Surely it’s not that surprising that I have an adorably romantic side to me!”

“It’s completely surprising!” Amy sucked in a breath when he winked at her, “But I like it.”

~

Amy isn’t surprised to find herself cuddled to Jake when she wakes up. Stupid tropes that Jake apparently loves to write about.

She couldn’t help that it was freezing and needed the extra body heat to stay alive in the old B&B. Looking outside she finds that the storm had fizzled out and their landscape was completely covered in fluffy white snow. It would be a little while before they would be able to leave; she can hear the snow plow a few streets over so as soon as it cleared the street they were on, they could leave. 

Jake is still asleep when she exits the bathroom, dressed and ready for the day. He was almost as cute asleep as he was when he went on about his stories. Even when he didn’t shut up about Die Hard he was cute.

Usually Amy didn’t care for crushes. No guy was ever enticing enough for her to want to get all giggly over. But right now Amy wanted to press kisses on his face until he woke up and smiled the dumb dopey grin he did when he would fall asleep in the car. She remembers thinking he was cute then, but never thought to act on it, he was too immature.

“Morning writer boy.” Amy pokes his cheek a few times, laughing as he attempts to snuggle further into the bed. “Come on, we need to be ready to leave soon.”

Jake makes extremely unintelligible noises and it has Amy rolling her eyes, “Words of a poet.”

He takes a pillow next to him, throwing it at Amy as he rolls out of bed. It takes him only a few minutes to walk to the bathroom, so Amy was hopeful that they would be able to check out by the deadline. Jake takes an extra five minutes over the check out time but the old lady at reception gives them a break, calling them an adorable couple as they arrive at the desk bickering. 

“Hey, uh, since the street hasn’t been cleared…” Jake turns to Amy after he closes the trunk of her car. Amy tilts her head at him, and she has to hide her smile because his nervousness was making her nervous. “Do you wanna go see Star Wars?”

Amy lets out a short laugh, “I… What about your mom?”

“I think she’d be fine if I saw it with someone else if she knew it was a date…” Jake shrugs at her, and his blush was most certainly not from the cold. “The movie theatre is a just a couple of blocks away.”

“A date?” Amy tucks the loose strands of hair back behind her ears, and her heart is beating so loud and this is not what she expected from a road trip with Jake.

“I, uh, it’s okay if you don’t wanna!” Jake trips over his words for a moment, “I just think you’re super cool and I’ve thought about it for ages but I thought you didn’t like me or something and last night…”

Amy interrupts him with a step forward and a soft peck to his cheek. It turns out he could go more pink. “I’d love to go on a date with you.”

Jake offers his arm and she takes the hint quickly, her arm sliding around his bicep. “Now do you wanna make bets on who they’re gonna kill off?”

[quarantineroulette]

Meet Me in the Bathroom and where things went wrong in NYC

“I remember seeing these kids that were 15 years old...They were saying, ‘This is the first time I’m seeing the Strokes. I listened to them all through elementary school and middle school.’ It was so cool to see them there so excited. I don’t know, maybe somewhere, somehow, years from now Vampire Weekend will do some kind of reunion show, but I can’t imagine young kids being there saying, ‘I love Vampire Weekend so much...I’ve been listening to them since elementary school.’ And if they are, they should be punched in the face.”   - Laura Young, blogger

While reading Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001 - 2011 I found myself in a state that was equal parts amusement and depression. I moved to New York in 2006, after the initial New York Rock Renaissance had settled a bit. I came to New York because of a few of those Renaissance bands - specifically Interpol - but one year later the lackluster (to me at the time) Our Love to Admire was released and it just got worse from there. A few good bands and lots of bad ones came and went, New York became increasingly harder to succeed in if you were without a trust fund, and much of Brooklyn rapidly morphed into a suffocating Disneyland for yipsters. 

Goodman’s book evokes both the excitement that drove people like me to New York and the despair at what it inevitably became after a certain point in time. But it’s also much more than that: an account of the in-between era, when the Internet grew from being a gathering place for harmless to deviant weirdos to a music-sharing network to be reckoned with; an oral history on a few of the last rock bands who made it through before the door closed perhaps definitively; a very gossipy petri dish; a less cool younger sibling to Please Kill Me.   

My main takeaway from Meet Me..., however, is that it encapsulates a turning point for artists in NY, where wealth and marketing skills trumped having any real talent. It started out innocently enough - the book mentions that The Strokes, Interpol, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the big three it focuses on, all came from varying degrees of affluence. The sheer power of Karen O left Yeah Yeah Yeahs fairly safe from claims of derivation or stagnation that were sometimes directed at The Strokes or Interpol, and early on I even found myself thinking, “did I ever really need to read this much hyperbole on The Strokes?” Then I remembered that something like “12:51″ is basically a perfect song - that instantly irresistible riff, instrumental chorus, the handclaps, dumb lyrics - and I let it slide. 

 As NY slowly evolved into the kiddie’s big city play set it is today, money gradually overtook talent and so we had things like the Misshapes, whose ethos was that anybody can DJ, just show up and plug in your iPod, no further skills necessary. Because these Jersey kids had the marketing wherewithal, in crowd connections, & an entrepreneurial approach to early social media, Misshapes became a huge nightlife phenomena, overshadowing Tiswas, a less successful, more authentic club night in a similar vein, where being a DJ was (rightly) considered a learned skill. 

Then came the rich kid music nerds like Vampire Weekend, who blended styles that never really needed to be blended just because they downloaded a bunch of music from the Internet and it seemed like a novel idea. Because of privilege, these boat-shoed Columbia students could say they made music as a “hobby” not as a “profession” and got a lot farther than The Strokes in the process. The Strokes, suffering from “leader of the pack” syndrome, took a creative tumble as squarer bands fielded calls from Geoff Travis and debuted in the Billboard Top 20. 

Despite these depressing findings, I found a lot to enjoy in Meet Me..., especially the chapters on Yeah Yeah Yeahs - whose history I honestly wasn’t that knowledgable of - and of course the passages on Interpol. The commentary from Paul Banks was especially hilarious, and I could’ve easily just read a book of him and Matt Berninger from The National going back and forth on things (I’m aware this probably makes me sound like a sad white dude and I accept it). I also appreciated its focus on the rise of blog culture, and how this medium gave more of a voice to female music writers and fans. Those women, as well as the late, great Marc Spitz, were the critical voices whom I most appreciated, although it was nice when Rob Sheffield shared his PG Conor Oberst / Nick Zinner slash fantasy. 

My main criticism of the book is its omission of some of the less successful bands of the era - such as Calla, stellastarr*, !!!, The Double and others. A few are given a sentence or two, but a whole chapter would have been preferred over chronicling The Vines, The Killers, and other outlying bands who were included to show the scope of The Strokes’ influence. In this way I found the book a bit too macro, and would have preferred if it focused on a slightly shorter period of time. This could have created some loose ends, but some of the more interesting bands covered - Liars, TV on the Radio, The National - peter out inconclusively, although TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe gets a pretty brilliant final say in a chapter entitled “We Warmed it Up for you Fuckers.” 

All in all, Meet Me in the Bathroom made me even less happy about being a New Yorker in 2019, but it also gave me a decade’s worth of early 2000s music trivia to pull out whenever my friends and I tire of complaining about how lame New York has become.