#which is why i always got in trouble as a kid for having a messy room because ''clean your room'' is very general and not very specific!

[liquid-geodes]

Here a prompt

Blind springtrap au

Brother you have to be specific that how my braincell activates you gotta trigger the sleeper agent hiding inside my autism it's the only way

[pearlywritings]

'Mom' to his 'Dad'

synopsis: just a collective bulleted drabble of all the thoughts I had about raising Yanqing together with Jing Yuan (yet somehow not being married (yet))

pairing: Jing Yuan x fem!reader

tw: fluff, domestic fluff, modern AU, CEO!Jing Yuan (because why not), dad!Jing Yuan, adopted son!Yanqing, from co-parenting to dating, from friends to lovers

word count: 1.8k+ words

CEO!Jing Yuan who looks hella fine in any clothes, but especially good in gray and carmine red suits. Who absolutely hates wearing ties, but has zero complaint when you, after staying the night before, wrap one around his neck. He feels soft when you lecture him, but in the end say he looks good, smoothing the lapels of his jacket, making sure his appearance is intact before turning around and hurrying to check on Yanqing’s preparations for school.

CEO!Jing Yuan who is a great leader, a nice boss and obviously a great catch, but who also hasn’t shown any interest in any suitor who’s attempted to woo him in the last decade. And he is 33 already. There have been many gossips swirling in the company, most potent about you and him, rumored to be in a secret relationship and raising a kid together. Well… they are not wrong on the second part.

CEO!Jing Yuan who after the passing of his two friends took their eight-year old son under his wing. Who had never dealt with children, especially this young, but who was lucky enough to have you - a dear friend since university, now a coworker, understanding and compassionate enough to leave your house at 3am to drive all the way to his residence after just one frantic call.

CEO!Jing Yuan who will never forget that night - you, running into the house after he let you in, with hair still messy and clearly first clothes you dug from the closet thrown on you. You looked like a cute ruffled sparrow, which quickly transformed into a mother hen when he better explained his troubles about a little kid - now his adopted son - and how he couldn’t get him to fall asleep at the new place. You too didn’t know much about handling children, but you were willing to try and the white-haired man couldn’t ask for more. Both called off work the next day.

CEO!Jing Yuan who since then has a room in his house that belongs to you - over the years it got filled with your personal things, redesigned (twice!) to your tastes, and has been occupied over the years for almost half of each passing week.

CEO!Jing Yuan who adores Yanqing - the boy proved to be feisty, but at the same time he was very sweet and nice to have around. Jing Yuan didn’t think twice about adopting the little guy the moment he learnt of his friends’ passing, turning from a godfather to just a father. He, obviously, didn’t force Yanqing to call him dad, making up his mind that even if it never happens - it’s totally fine. Due to the age the boy could understand why his parents weren’t there and Jing Yuan was making all he could to give him a good life, a normal life. He was so lucky that you tugged along.

CEO!Jing Yuan who almost cried when Yanqing absentmindedly called him ‘dad’. The ten-year old didn’t even notice it, but to the man it meant the world. He spammed you with messages, all in caps and with weeping emojis, and felt his heart about to combust when you sent him a response full of excitement, congratulating him. And then messaged about how you wished to hear the boy call him dad the next time you were around. Damn, he wished so too.

CEO!Jing Yuan, who loves having you around. He melts when he returns to the living room after going to refill the snack bowl only to see Yanqing cuddled closely to you, staring at the screen with his head tucked under your chin. His lips tug into a wide smile when the boy asks you if you can be the one to get him from school tomorrow instead of Jing Yuan’s personal driver (and you always say ‘yes’, even if it means you’ll sacrifice your lunch break). A pleasant shiver runs down both his and the boy’s backs when you walk into Yanqing’s room to check on the two doing homework and gently scratch their heads. Jing Yuan loves the domestic life the two of you created.

CEO!Jing Yuan, who encouraged his son when a couple of years later he wondered if it’s okay if he started calling you ‘mom’. The man told him to approach you the next time you were staying over and ask your opinion on the matter. Which the boy did, shyly reaching out for your hand and when you gave it to him with a smile, dropped a bomb. Jing Yuan remembers the slight hesitation flashing in your eyes, how you lifted him and got him into your lap to be on the same eye level with him.

“Baby, are you sure?”

“Mhm. You’ve always been there. You raise me. And I really love you and want you to be my mom.”

“Even if I am not your father’s wife?”

“Maybe you should become her? But either way, yes.”

CEO!Jing Yuan who now can’t get the boy’s words out of his head. Yanqing is right - you’ve always been there. For them both. His, no, your son is thirteen now - meaning that for five years you’ve helped your friend raise the boy - you were not obligated to be there for his special events, you weren’t paid to take days off and sit with him when he was sick, no one asked you to kiss his forehead and tuck him into bed, there were no rules that said that you have to share his hobbies… Yet, you did. Always. And the man has always been very aware of that, but only his son’s words seem to open his eyes - both of you are his parents. Maybe it’s a shame you are not spouses.

CEO!Jing Yuan who feels kind of bad - you’ve spent 5 years of your life being a family to Yanqing and, admittedly, the man himself. You’ve given up searching for a partner, starting a family of your own just to make sure that the kid who has no relation to you grows healthy and happy. He can’t help but love and appreciate you.

CEO!Jing Yuan who finds out that you’ve been having similar thoughts about him after that conversation with your son. He really didn’t mean to overhear, he just wanted to drop by your office at the beginning of the break and offer to go get lunch together, only to stop at the mention of his name that passed through the door. Apparently, you sought advice from Yukong - the head of the logistics department, a fellow mother and one of the few who knew what your family dynamic was really like. You are concerned that you took the place that wasn’t meant to you - you worry that Yanqing got attached to you so strongly that should Jing Yuan start seeing someone, the boy would be too stubborn to accept.

CEO!Jing Yuan, whose heart skips a beat, when the teal-haired woman asks you, why you are not entertaining the possibility that you can be the one the man seeks a relationship with. The same heart drops into his stomach when you sigh and tell her of him never showing interest. Things seem platonic to you. Well, not to your coworkers, it appears.

CEO!Jing Yuan and you, who freeze in your seats, when at the end of the meeting a new secretary of the man asks if ‘Mrs Jing will also attend the event’ hosted by one of the company’s biggest clients. Confused, you look at your friend, who's equally stunned (but secretly, realizing what kind of mistake it is, fights back a tiny spark of delight). It turns out that the secretary thought the two of you were husband and wife and for that reason gave you the man’s last name. If it’s not the sign, then what is?

CEO!Jing Yuan who goes clothes shopping with you - because you both indeed are going to be at the event and the man insists the two of you buy something matching. When you ask why, he slyly smiles and promises that it’s his way of ‘showing interest’. At first you don’t get it. But when your cheeks heat up he knows the message is clear to you. You do call him a scoundrel and he heartily laughs at that, but you still reach out to his hand and he readily interlocks your fingers.

CEO!Jing Yuan who notices you getting flirtier, one time in particular not leaving his mind. He was comfortably sitting on the sofa, having everything he needed to push through the last bits of work he had decided to take home (‘everything’ being just his laptop and a mug of steaming tea). That’s when you approached him from the back, laying your palms on top of his shoulders, gently kneading the tense muscles, working a low appreciative grunt out of his throat.

“Yuan?”

“Mmm?”

“You look stressed,” fingers dug a little rougher into his flesh and the man groaned, shoulder flinching. Only for his whole body to go rigid when your voice fanned right against his ear, ”I know how to fix it.”

And then you innocently proposed to go to the gym together once he’d be done. Honestly? For a stunt like that Jing Yuan wanted to bite you.

CEO!Jing Yuan who does get his teeth onto you as you are trying to escape the trap of his arms after waking up from the cute cuddling session with Yanqing. Only for the boy to be gone upon your awakening (and you hear some shuffling in the kitchen) and a very hot man - your friend? boss?? unofficial-but-everyone-thinks-you-are-together lover??? - pressing your back into his chest with arms firmly circling your waist. When you attempt to move away, he suddenly surges forward and clamps his mouth onto the exposed juncture between your neck and shoulder. And nibbles.

“Jing Yuan!”

“Hufshf,” he mumbles into your skin, before releasing it and burying his face into your neck. “Don’t shout, you’ll alert Yanqing, and I want some more time with you.”

“...why?”

“Why?” He muses, and you feel a smile pressed to the back of your neck. “Because I think we’d make great as a couple.”

CEO!Jing Yuan who comes to an agreement with you that for the longest time it felt like the two of you were indeed a married couple. You share a place, you do most domestic things together, you go to places together, you raise a son together. And together you come to a conclusion that courting is due.

CEO!Jing Yuan who absolutely shares Yanqing’s sweet anticipation for when you will be able to legally adopt him. Which means - marrying his father (just let this man put a ring on your finger already).

[cashmoneyyysstuff]

older brother touya au, endeavor is still an asshole, shouto interacts w his siblings lol, bby shouto, hyper active kinda rough reader (you tackle shouto), shouto and touya have an unspecified age gap but i was thinkin like 10 years (so touya is 17 and shou is 7), just a liiiil bit angsty but mostly fluffy, lemme know if i missed sum else !

touya knows his little brother shouto is kinda weird.

he rarely ever sees him happy, or with any sort of emotion on his face for that matter. he has little habits that he hates not being able to follow and he's incredibly nit picky about them. he doesn't outwardly emote but that doesn't mean he couldn't be bratty when he wanted to be, cus he is but that's also about super specific weird stuff like what he wants to have for dinner (which always ends up being cold soba anyways).

he's also not much of a talker. he's a little shy, but he also just doesn't like talking. it's impossible to miss the huge red scar around his eye, he doesn't like to play outside and roughhouse like touya did when he was his age and he still doesn't have any friends at school. shouto never seemed to be bothered by it, though touya assumes that his peers might find him weird too.

except they better not, because touya's the only one who can call his brother weird. and deep down, he worries a little for him.

until he comes back home from school, his sweater is tucked out and there's a dirt stain on it. his hair is messy and his backpack is haphazardly closed, his little notebooks propped inside and his pencil case threatening to fall out.

natsuo, the one charged to pick him up that day, sheepishly scratches at his neck "he won't tell me what happened to him." he explains as touya practically charges towards shouto, he doesn't look hurt, so his older brother roughly turns him around to check his bag.

" but i told you what happened, natsu-nii."

"you don't have to lie, shouto--"

"what happened to you ?" touya cuts in, looking inside his brothers bag to check if nothing was missing, it looks intact from what he can tell.

"i played with my friend." shouto says simply, like that explains why he looked like he'd just walked through a hurricane. touya already knows he's gonna get an earful about this from his father. he inwardly groans.

"you sure your friend didn't just mug you ?" he flips his brother around and shouto's little arms flail as he does, unbothered by his brother's rough treatment. he tilts his head, touya sighs.

"bully you, i mean."

shouto's eyes widen, then he hurriedly shakes his head, denying him ever getting bullied and simply claiming he was playing. touya shares a look with natsuo, who looks just as unconvinced as him at his brothers words.

"who's this friend of yours, shou ?"

"yn."

"yn ?" both brothers say at the same time. shouto nods and touya catches a small little glint in his eyes as he looks back at him "she's really nice."

"this doesn't seem nice. you look like you got robbed." touya furrows his brows, sneering at his brothers dirty shirt. he starts dragging the youngest toward the bathroom. hopefully he'd be fully clean before their father got home and he wouldn't have to get in trouble. for god knows what reason. enji todoroki would probably find a way to place the blame on him, something about how he should've been the one to pick him up or gotten there earlier he guesses.

"yn likes to play games where you move around a lot." is what he offers as explanation. touya hums absentmindedly as he ushers his brother into the bathroom, deciding on how he should deal with his youngest brother's first ever bully. because of the age gap he doubts the kid is any smaller than his brother is, so he thinks he'll probably just try to scare off whoever this yn is.

"how 'bout i pick you up from school tomorrow and i can meet yn. that sound good ?" and shouto excitedly nods at the idea, gushing about how funny and nice you are and that you share your snacks with him. it's weird how fondly he talks about his bully, but touya knows his brother's always been a little weird, he probably has no idea what's happening to him. the thought makes him frown just a bit harder.

the next day after school, touya is already at the gates before they've even opened ready to scare the pants off of his brothers harasser. he sees shouto walking out of the gates with a few other kids, alone. the little boy perks up once he sees him and sends him a high wave, which touya returns with one of his own lazier one's.

"where's your friend ?" he tries his best not the spit the word too venomously, shouto doesn't seem to notice.

"yn is coming. her bag isn't closing well, so she told me to go ahead without her." he explains, reaching for his brother's hand absentmindedly.

touya is about to respond when he hears yelling. yelling that gets closer and closer to them until he notices too late that a little person is rushing towards his brother. before he can pull him out of the way the person has jumped onto shouto and knocked the both of them onto the ground. and touya watches flabbergasted as his younger brother does not look surprised at all, like shit like this just happened every tuesday. his mouth falls open when the little girl that had charged into his brother excitedly starts hopping slightly on top of him.

"shouto !"

"hi, yn."

touya is going to fucking lose his mind.

you get closer to shouto's face still sitting on him, touya assumes to make sure he could hear you even thought he doubts he couldn't before. " i thought ya left without me, i couldn't see you !"

shouto shakes his head, still on the floor "i said i would wait for you." he says seriously. and you practically beam, nudging your cheek to his and rubbing it against his affectionately. shouto doesn't seem fazed by it, but he definitely doesn't seem angry.

you don't seem like a bully, at least.

you finally realise you're not alone, looking up at touya strangely "who're you ?" you ask bluntly. shouto responds before he could. "touya- nii's my older brother, he's the one i wanted to show you."

you don't seem like a bully, especially not when you immediately turn to shouto the moment he opens his mouth, holding onto every word you hear. your eyes widen looking between touya and him, "that's your brother ?!" shouto nods proudly. you finally get off of him allowing shouto to get up too.

"coool !" you exclaim, but then you quickly turn towards shouto " but you're cooler, shouto !" shouto's eyes widen, before he almost bashfully looks away, claiming that his touya-nii is was way cooler than him. touya has never seen his brother this expressive before. it might not be much for others, and if he were anybody else he'd think so too. but even the fact his brows raise when you speak and he actually engages in conversation with you, as short as he keeps it, is surprising.

but from that small interaction, he can assume that you're not a bully. and he understands why his brother looked like he got jumped yesterday.

you're so much more different then him though, it's weird. you're hyper and giggly and chatty. you jump around and you can't seem to pull yourself away from shouto, who really doesn't seem unhappy although you're a bit rough about it. it’s like you’re glued to him.

shouto who barely even talks to his family talks to easily with you, even though you start the conversation all the time. shouto who only ever eats cold soba gleams at your promise to bring more snacks to share with him, like you apparently do every day. and shouto who touya barely ever sees emote, smiles when you tell him something funny. he can't tell wether his little brother smiles because he actually finds what you said funny or because you do. but whatever it is, it's making him happy.

touya is so shocked simply staring at his brother interact with another human being that he fails to use the little 'leave my brother alone if you know what's good for you.' speech he'd practiced the night before and suddenly you have to go. waving at him and shouto (not before hugging him with all your might first), who sadly waves back as he watches you leave. though he cheers up just a bit when with a last wave you tell him that you'll see him tomorrow.

touya, despite not having said a word feels incredibly tired, so he starts pulling his brother along home with him.

"so..that was your friend."

shouto nods "yn." he says.

"yn." touya parrots, eyes drifting from his brother to the road ahead of him. "she's kinda weird, huh ?"

at that, shouto's eyebrows furrow hard and he furiously shakes his head, tugging at his brother’s hand "no. she's nice." he corrects adamantly. touya stares at his brother, before looking away again "right.." he sighs "well, she seems to like you a lot."

his little brother nods again, a faint smile forms on his face "cus the people in class are mean to her. cus she's new and they say she's weird, but i don't think she is." he rambles, he actually rambles, touya blinks. he doesn't think he's ever been more surprised than he's been today. "yeah ?" is all he utters.

"yeah. people think i'm weird too, but yn says she thinks i'm cool." touya's eyes soften at his brothers words. he raises his arm up so his little brother is slightly lifted in the air. "course you're cool, you're my little brother." smiling softly to himself when shouto giggles.

touya knows that his little brother is weird, but he doesn't have to be worried anymore. cus it seems you like him, that you think he's cool and that you're weird too, in your own way. shouto keeps coming back home with dirty clothes and messy hair after that, but with happy and satisfied eyes and little candies he shares with his siblings that he made them promise to keep a secret. and he thinks his little brother will be fine, as weird as he is.

[dinarosie]

I Was Bullied Too, So Why Didn’t I Turn Out Like Severus Snape?

I came across an anti-Snape post where someone shared their experience of being bullied in school. They said that even though they were bullied, they were able to overcome it, which is why they admired James Potter—because he changed and stopped being a bully. However, they hate Snape for not being able to move on from his past and for still behaving like a bully towards kids.

Everyone has the right to hate or love the characters based on their taste but What bothers me is how people often compare their own trauma to others' and disregard the genetic and environmental differences that shape us as individuals. I’ve decided to write a long post comparing my own life with Snape’s—two people who were both bullied as children. it was difficult for me to write this post, but I hope this comparison shows that not everyone who experiences bullying ends up the same. The variances in our upbringing and support systems play a crucial role in shaping who we become.

When I was seven years old, I was mocked and humiliated by a group of older girls on the school bus (they were eleven at the time). They made it clear that they bullied me because I was smaller and weaker than them. They treated me in a way that made me believe I deserved their bullying. I thought a weak and ugly girl like me was deserving of all their humiliation. They would mess up my hair, pull it, and ridicule me for having messy and ugly hair. Whenever I cried, they laughed. They didn't even let me be friends with other girls. To torment me further, they would point at me, whisper to each other, and giggle, making me feel even more isolated. I had allergies and a runny nose, and they wouldn’t let me wipe it, which they used as another reason to belittle me, saying I was disgusting. Even if there was an empty seat, they wouldn’t let me sit with them because I was "gross." I was terrified of them, hated school because of them, and cried every morning, begging not to go to school.

But why didn’t I turn out like Severus Snape?

1- I grew up like a normal child in every other aspect of my life. I was cared for and valued. I always had birthday parties with cake and gifts. I was praised when I got good grades. I had friends outside of school to play with, went on family vacations, and had fun times. From childhood to adulthood, I’ve had a safe home, enough sleep, good food, and a loving family.

2- I had parents who loved and cared about me. When my mother found out about the bullying, she went to the school and demanded they stop it. My parents also enrolled me in a private school to protect me from further bullying. When I started having nightmares and trouble sleeping, they took me to a child therapist.

3- My grandparents adored me. I would stay at their house when my parents were at work, and they made my childhood even more joyful. I always had safe arms to run to. Plus, my aunts and uncles cared for me and regularly took me to parks and other fun places, showering me with gifts and making sure I enjoyed my time.

4- My family had a respectable place in society, and I was never shamed or humiliated because of my family's circumstances. My father cared for me, my sister, and my mother, and he worked hard to provide for our needs. He respected my mother, and I never witnessed any abuse from him toward her.

5- My family had a stable income, and I always had new, appropriate clothes to wear. I never had to worry about poverty, hunger, or wearing hand-me-downs that would make me feel inferior to my peers.

6- My bullies mocked me, but they never caused me serious physical harm. I never feared for my life or sexual assault at school. The bullying was short-lived, lasting less than two years, and by the time I was a teenager, it had completely stopped. As I grew older, I made plenty of good friends and was popular among them. I have many fond memories from high school with my friends.

7- As a teenager, I didn’t worry about my future. My concerns were not about surviving a war, avoiding humiliation, or escaping poverty. I was free to plan my life, knowing I would go to university and study what I loved. Whenever I needed help, I knew I could count on my family—they were always there to support me.

8- I’m a psychology student, and studying this field has completely shifted my perspective on myself and others. It has allowed me to see the world with greater depth and empathy. I’ve become better at recognizing not only my own psychological wounds but also those of others, which has helped me connect with people on a deeper level. I've also sought therapy, both in-person and online, and have seen positive results. While I still struggle with some issues from my past—like feeling insecure about my appearance, doubting people’s motives, and having a hard time trusting—I’ve learned how to manage these feelings fairly well.

All of these factors combined have shaped me into someone different from Severus Snape. Yes, I was bullied, but I didn’t turn out like him because, unlike Snape, I was given numerous opportunities to grow, to experience love and joy, to heal, and to find pleasure in life.

Now, It’s much easier for someone like me to be kind and nice to others, to love people, to forgive myself and others, and to move on from those who don’t like me. It’s easier for me to see the world and people not as threats but with a more mature and balanced perspective. but I’m under no illusion that I am a better and more worthy person than Severus Snape or anyone like him who didn’t have the chance to heal. I simply know that I’ve been luckier, and for that, I’m grateful. But I never want to dismiss or belittle the suffering of others or blame them for their psychological struggles.

I can’t say for certain what I would’ve done in Snape’s exact situation or how bitter I might’ve become. But I’m certain of one thing: I could never be as brave or as selfless as Snape was, sacrificing his own life so readily for others. I know that I could never be a hero like him.

[wonusdoll]

FLOWERS • PJS

Synopsis: Jisungs a hopeless romantic and gets jealous easily

Content: fluff! cavity inducing fluff so fluffy i wanna cry

pairing: Childhood Bestfriend!Jisung x reader

notes+ WHY DOES NOBODY WRITE FOR JISUNGGGG i had to take matters into my own hands so here you go :D this was originally gonna contain smut but i couldnt help myself with the fluff anyways, enjoy!!

You and Jisung weren't always friends. When your mom introduced her best friends second grader son, 4th grade you didn't mind. Until he started playing with your stuff, jumping on your bed, stealing your snacks, and blaming you on things he did and getting you in trouble.

Naturally, you started resenting him, dreading when he would come over, and chose to ignore him at school, finding it embarrassing whenever he would go over to you and your friends at the playground and ask to play with them. your friends found him cute, but you, you hated him.

Going into your middle school years, he slowly got more tolerable. He started understanding boundaries but still was the same annoying little kid.

In some point of time, Jisung turned from an annoying little kid who yelled and cried all the time to one of your closest friends. And then when he finally started high school, you guys started hanging out willingly, without his mom forcing him to go over.

Some days you would catch him in your living room watching tv with your dog, or accidentally walking in on him showering in your bathroom, or in your kitchen making ramen. Sometimes he would bring his friends over to your house. You honestly didn't mind that much as long as they never broke anything, or disturbed her in any way, which jisung made sure never happened.

"Jisung?? That you??" You yelled from the top of the stairs after hearing feet shuffling and the front door opening and closing. The two of you made plans to watch horror movies and have a sleepover to celebrate the new season of autumn.

"Nope!" Jisung yelled back, making you go downstairs with a grin. But you immediately furrowed your brows and bit your inner cheek, upon seeing 6 other people. you knew them, jisung would bring them around sometimes but you didn’t know them.

"Jisung, whats going on?"

He grinned annoyingly cutely back and held up some convenience store bags up and nodded towards his friends, "They wanted to hang out but my mom banned us from the house after last time.”

You scoff and look at him like he was crazy, "What- are you kidding me?" You say just above a whisper, flickering your eyes between him and the guys behind him, "I thought we were gonna hang out?? You didn't even ask if it was okay to bring them over? if you wanted to hang out with them instead you should've just told me."

With a smirk, jisung was much closer than you remember him being, he tucked a few stray strands of your hand back, "I'm sorry princess i should have asked, hm? If we're too much of a bother we'll quiet down okay?" He pulled away and looked into your eyes, pleading and begging for uou to say yes.

You mask your flustered state with a sigh and wiping your face with your hand as if annoyed.

"Fine, whatever, just— leave me alone im gonna go study" you warn making him grin and ruffle your hair, juxtaposing his previous act. He's called you princess numerous times before, even when you guys were kids but in that tone, that voice, and devilish smile, it felt different.

You wanted to tell him off for joking around with you like that, making you feel that way. It was something you always felt around him but maybe it was his perfectly messy hair, his oversized hoodie making him look so comfy, his soft plump lips, or his hand in your hair, or the name he called you, but the feeling became overwhelmingly strong, like when a candles been burning for hours and slowly the fire grows bigger and it fills the whole room with its pleasant fumes.

You hung around with them for a bit when you took a break from studying because you couldn't focus. but the reason you couldnt focus was sitting right across from you on the couch, sending lingering glances everybody noticed.

When he catches your gaze you turn away with a light blush but when you catch his, he doesnt shy away, keeping eye contact with you with a look in his eye that you couldnt read for the first time.

In the time you got to formally meet his best friends, you surprisingly got along with all of them. Huang Renjun was the one who stuck out the most out of the 7, other than Jisung who kept eyes on you the whole time.

You got to have a one on one conversation with Renjun about each others favorite music artists, which were quite similar, and art itself. You were already interested in art but with the knowledge and story telling Renjun excitedly provided made you want to learn more. So you guys planned a hang out the next day to an art museum Renjun was fond and familiar with. 

You posted the day out with him on your story with Art Deco - Lana Del Rey in the background.

Jisung always made sure to heart and reply to your story even if it was as simple as an ootd, but this time he didn't. You furrowed your brows and looked at the views and there he was, also active. You tried texting him regularly but you were left on delivered until 7 hours later but all you got was a

"sorry lol"

It hurt your feelings, you couldn't lie. So you texted him again not even 5 seconds later.

"too busy being active to answer? lmfao"

He leaves it on read for a few minutes before replying

"too busy hanging out with renjun? yk we all made plans tgt”

You scoff at his attitude

"whats your problem?? it was HIS choice to hang out with ME. not like you wanted to."

"chill out i just wanted them to meet you, didn't know you were gonna be all over them tho"

"fuck you."

You threw your phone at the end of the bed and hug your pillow against your chest as tears welled up in your eyes. You didn't know why you were so affected by his words, usually you wouldn't even press him so much about not answering, and would just leave him alone but seeing him be so uninterested left a mark on you.

A few nights later you were watching a scary movie in the darkness of your living room when you heard knocks on your front door. you paused the movie to make sure it wasn't from the tv, and when they come again, you look at the time.

"Who's here at 11:30 at night" You whisper to yourself and cautiously approach the door.

Thunder suddenly struck making you whimper and jump back, but you decide to just rip the bandaid off, after all horror movies aren't real right?

"Jisung?!" You exclaim, seeing him standing there out in the pouring rain with his head down ashamed.

"Hey.."

You quickly let him in, taking his soaked coat off and telling him to wait while you get a towel.

He was silent while you scolded him for being out in the rain so late without so much as an umbrella.

He finally brung his hands from behind his back, revealing your favorite flowers in an articulated assorted bouquet wrapped in paper.

"Sorry if they're kind of ruined.. I ran all the way here" He sniffles and scratched his nape awkwardly.

You bite your lip remembering your last interaction, "You wanna tell me why?"

"I'm sorry y/n im so sorry im such a fucking loser and a coward for getting mad at you  I never wanted to hurt you i just was so angry that you hung out with Renjun that i took it out on you without thinking and ive been trying to figure out how to apologize to you so i went to the flower shop like 10 times in the past 2 days because i wanted to get you flowers but you have 5 different favorite flowers so i got 5 different bouquets for you then realized that was too much so i just got one with 2 of your favorites but felt bad that i left out the other 3 so i got another one with all of them but they didn't look good so i spent the whole day learning how to make a bouquet to make it perfect for you then realized it was already night and thundering and you hate thunder so i ran all the way here and now they look horrible and ugly and-"

"JISUNG." You put a stop to his rant with a chuckle and put your hands on his pink dusted cheeks. He pants out and looks in your eyes to find any anger or disgust in them but you were smiling, "Hey its okay, i promise its okay," You take the flowers from his hands and bring them up to your face to smell them, "they're beautiful ji, seriously."

He takes another pan over your face to scan your expression to really make sure you weren't mad and one he realized that, he lets out the breath he was holding and chuckles, then laughs a bit harder.

You laugh along with him then card your fingers through his wet hair, "Did you really learn how to make a bouquet of flowers for me? And run all the way here in the rain?" You ask, softly now.

He smiles and takes your hand away to hold it instead, "Yeah.. you know i would swim across the whole ocean just to get these to you. Also whats wrong with learning a new skill, i always wanted to learn how to.. make assorted flowers.." He dryly chuckles at the end.

you could hear your heart thumping out of your chest when you feel the pressure of his eyes staring into your own, as if trying to answer a question he hasn't asked. so you ask your own.

"Jisung," You start making him nod, "Why were you so upset?" You ask, making you swallow thickly.

and suddenly you're hyper aware of everything going on, your breathing, your blinking, the rain and thunder, his facial expressions, his thumb caressing your hand.

Jisung doesnt answer for a second, trying to find the right words. His mouth was drying up, he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out so he gulped.

He was now holding your hand with both of his hands, "I love you." he blurted, "I love you and Im selfish and only want you to myself, I just wanted to treasure you for my myself and not let other people see how amazing and perfect you are because i was scared you'd fall for them and forget about me so when i saw you were with renjun and saw how excited you were to talk to him and hang out with him i felt.. rejected? in a way? like he had something i didn't to make you feel that way. So i was sad and upset and jealous— god, i was so unbelievably jealous, and i know im not allowed to because we're only best friends and you're allowed to be friends and talk to anybody you want to but i just- i just didn't want you to notice anyone else, and leave me.."

He ended his rant with a sigh and closed his eyes shut, mentally preparing for you to laugh in his face and friend-zone him, but it never came.

When he opened his eyes you were just standing there, not saying anything, with a smile on your face.

You giggled as he looked at you with an expectant look.

“Okay.”

His brows furrowed and his hand started slipping from yours “That- thats it? Just okay? You couldn’t have let me down any better-“

“Okay, I wont leave you.”

His expression softened, watching as you laughed and hugged him tightly, burying your face in his chest, “Jisung park, I will never leave you and you can never leave me, if you do i’ll have to kill you.” You tried to threaten him but he just found you adorable, and picked you up in his arms.

You guys laughter filled the room, bouncing around the rooms, sounding almost louder than the rain and thunder.

Suddenly, your enemy turned into your bestfriend who turned into your lover. And you couldn’t have it any other way.

[radidadood]

It's Not Fair

Pairing: Bayverse!Raph x GN!Reader (platonic), a hint of Bayverse!Leo x Reader (established relationship)

Summary: The bros had a fight. It's nothing unusual. Except this time you decided to show Raph his equal.

Genre: angst with good ending. Sibling love.

Masterlist

"Well if you just listen for once this wouldn't have happened! How many times do you need me to remind you, huh?"

Leo's voice boomed as they all stepped into the lair. Making you flinch, you quickly looked towards their way. Again? You thought worriedly.

You love the brothers. You care deeply for them like your own family. Usually April would be the one who breaks up the fight and it mostly ends up with them retiring to their rooms. But when she's not around you'd take her place. God knows how the situation is handled when none of you are around. Cough cough. The ha'shi.

You marched your step and hurried yourself to the brothers but damned your tiny legs they were too fast. You saw Leo already went to the meditation room. For obvious reasons to keep his mind busy. You saw Donnie making his way to his lab as always to keep himself distracted as well. You know he often got his mind troubled just by witnessing his older brothers fight.

Let's not forget Mikey. Poor guy, he wished he could help but his title stopped him from having that ability. Unlike his brothers, he just slumped himself somewhere in the main room. You just asked him if he's okay and he'd hesitantly reply in return although you already know the full answer to that. You just gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder and went on your way to search for Raph.

Speaking of which, he was the first to vanish. If you remember correctly he stormed off like a kid having diarrhea. But joke aside though, he was obviously pissed. You don't know what came over you to go check up on Raph first but your instinct is never wrong when it comes to these guys.

When you arrived at his door you knocked on it a couple times. You didn't get any response so you knocked again. "Just shoved it back up your ass, Leo! I don't wanna hear it." You heard Raph's muffled growl from the inside. "It's me." You said softly, enough for him to hear you.

Silence filled the air when you heard shuffles in his room before hearing the door being unlocked. You turned the knot and stepped inside. His room was not in the best condition, though you took notice that he's the second to have the cleanest room after Leo.

"What do you want?" He asked annoyingly. He had his back/shell facing you while sitting on his messy bed. "Just wanna check on you, big guy." He scoffed, "Yea? Why don't you check on your boyfriend there? Bet he needs all the attention from his partner right now to suck all his inner demons." You shrugged as you made your way to him, "He can take care of himself." "And I can't?" He cut you off, looking at you from his shoulder.

You stopped your track, keeping his question hanging then he turned back around. You bit your lips trying to think of any comforting words to say to him. He may be the toughest, the biggest brother but you are sure that he's the most sensitive among his brothers. He always kept his emotions guarded. Keeping the reputation he'd say. And you can't exactly argue, it is quite true if you were him.

You sat down on the edge of the bed, keeping your distance to give him as much as space he needs.

"Listen I," you started. "I know I'm not the best at words but I'll try my best to keep you from going on edge." You paused and took a deep breath, "I know you and your brothers had each other's differences but you guys always manage to keep everything in line even when times are tough. I know you had your differences with Leo and it's always gotta be with him ain't it?"

You paused again, cocking your head a bit to search for any kind of disapproval from him. He didn't move so you continue, "I'm not trying to say that he's right all the time, of course not. He makes mistakes too. He cares about his brothers. All he ever wanted is to just keep you guys safe and I'm sure you are too. Y'know, you're not so different from him if you think about it." You smiled when you pointed it out.

You can feel Raph silently disagreeing with your statement so you quickly added, "You guys are like the strongest when it comes to being the brawn. You two had the same sense of humour and sarcasm." You made motions with your hands as you speak to avert the dullness in your speech. "You ever realized when you guys would split up he would choose to partner up with you instead like all the time? He prefers teaming up with you 'cause you guys are the 'A Team', my guy." tilting your head at him as you said those words coyly.

"He needed both brain and brawn. He got the brawn sure but you got extra muscles, that's why he's the brain half the time too. He would've chosen Donnie but he didn't. 'Cause he needed that balance. Balance is key. You guys are like the yin and yang, you know I'm saying?"

Now fully turning to him, not asking for him to return the action. You put your hand on his back/shell. "What I'm trying to say is, you guys are inseparable. All of you. You guys needed each other. I know things not always how you wanted it to be but we'll figure this out together. We always do. Siblings fight, they argue. That's normal. And then the next day you guys will be cool like nothing happens after tea time." You patted his back/shell in comfort as you let out a heavy exhale.

"I just want you to know that, whenever things get heavy, especially for you, don't act like I only care about Leo's well being. You're part of him too. I have to make that count. It's not fair to just let him steal all the attentions and comforts away while he gets to be at peace and you guys don't. Ain't that right?" You give him another pat before hearing a sniff coming from him.

"R-raph?" You stood up from the bed to get a clear look at him. He quickly turned away from you. Practically begging for you to not see him in that state. "H-hey, what's wrong? I'm sorry dude, I didn't mean to.."

He hated being like this, being vulnerable, especially in front of you. His brothers already saw his flaws; he didn't need you to see them too. Who else is going to see him as the tough guy when he already broke down to you? He hated this. Fighting with his brothers and he gets sensitive and then you manage to crack his shell. He hated that.

"No, ding-dong. It's just some stupid dusts in my eyes. It's nasty, go away!" He used his hands to shoo you away. You silently chuckled and passed him the tissue box you fetched from at the corner of his room. He wastes no time grasping it with his giant hand, quickly wiping his tears and blowing his nose.

You helped him by throwing the dirty tissues to the small bin, tidying up his bed and placing his comic books back to its place. You two stayed like this for a while, enjoying each other's silence after he had calmed down.

"You good now, Raph?" You put your hand on his shoulder and give it a comforting stroke. He nodded, "Y-yea. Guess so.." as he had a hard time trying to make eye contact with you. You responded with an assuring nod. "Hey, uh…thanks. For... whatever that was." He rubbed his neck as he said so. You pulled a soft smile. A thanks is always enough for you. You know how hard it is for him to actually admit stuff like that out loud and you appreciate his effort. "Anytime bud. Anytime."

[thegreatsinnamonroll]

I am immensely enjoying new people getting into HypMic (mostly on this hellsite fuck Twitter) but you poor babies. Oh my god. You have zero knowledge coming into contact with BAT and Dotsuhon. So here is, admittedly rather condensed, a lore drop and why BAT and DH are important:

Bad Ass Temple

Starting with Nagoya's fiercest, Bad Ass Temple represents courage, standing for what's right, and never backing down.

Their leader, Kuko Harai, is a Buddhist monk (in training), and despite his unconventional appearance and punk-like personality, he's devoted to his faith and friends. Before he was part of BAT, he made friends with Ichiro Yamada after an aggressive fist fight where they were evenly matched. They gained respect for each other and made a team called Naughty Busters. Kuko was eventually brainwashed into leaving Ichiro, after which he went back to school and got in trouble for fighting off bullies from a friend of his.

Jyushi Aimono is a visual kei vocalist for the band Argo Orchestra as well as chunni (like his seiyuu!). He had a deeply troubled past, his parents often ignoring him. Jyushi became extremely close to his grandmother, who made him a small toy pig he named Amanda. He took Amanda everywhere with him, even to school, but a former friend motivated by jealousy relentlessly bullied him and encouraged others to do the same. Eventually Jyushi's grandmother was killed as a result of their hazing, sending Jyushi into a massive spiral.

Hitoya Amaguni is a lawyer who's seemingly only motivated by money, however his true colors shine when he takes on bullying cases. His brother was bullied until it caused his death, and since then Hitoya has been hunting down the people who did it. He has an intense sympathy for Jyushi and Kuko, despite trying to appear as if he doesn't care. He took on Jyushi's case and landed his bullies in prison, as well as clearing Kuko of the charges put against him. Because of their connection, the three of them were able to form Bad Ass Temple under Kuko's guidance.

Dotsuitare Hompo

Dotsuitare Hompo, or Dotsuhon, is a team that always gets back up when they're knocked down, a team that keeps fighting to make their place even if the world is against them. They're fun and engaging, bringing the joys of Osaka to HypMic.

Sasara Nurude may not seem like a leader to the untrained eye, but digging deeper into the comedian's backstory reveals an odd intensity for someone who never stops smiling. Due to his parents' rocky marriage and messy divorce, young Sasara found comfort in comedy and making people laugh. That carried with him to college, where he met his then comedy partner, Rosho. The two took Japan by storm, but a nasty breakup shattered all of Sasara's dreams. He wasn't about to give up, going to Tokyo to get a new outlook, and meeting up with Samatoki Aohitsugi, who, at the time, reminded Sasara of Rosho. A second nasty breakup occurred when Sasara was brainwashed, and the comedian resurfaced later on as the leader of Dotsuhon.

Rosho Tsutsujimori both blends in and stands out. He suffers from intense gifted kid burnout from his parents pushing him in grade school, resulting in him gaining a violent streak that persists to this day. He entered comedy school and formed Dotsuitare Hompo with Sasara until his stage fright and mutual miscommunication broke them apart. Since then, Rosho found a career in not just being a teacher, but being someone who supports and nurtures young talent. Sasara returned to him to have him join the new Dotsuhon, though at first Rosho declined.

Rei is the lore holder here, being the man who developed the Hypnosis Mics and Ramuda Clones. His past is shrouded in mystery, but we know that he only works with the government because they are holding his wife hostage. He calls himself a conman, wickedly intelligent and crafty. He was able to get Dotsuhon together by scamming one of Rosho's students, provoking the teacher enough to get him and Sasara to admit they missed the other.

I tried to make this as basic as possible but feel free to ask about other tidbits, there's a LOT that goes on outside of the anime but it can be hard to find. Anyway I'm Emmet, your local lore keeper!

[dirtytransmasc]

random avatar hc's cause I'm bored. (these fall closer to canon, and not for one of my au's, so like... vaguely 'normal' spider, not so nice neytiri, etc. unless specified otherwise)

spider and tuk are besties. the way she sorta hides behind spider when she blows a raspberry at lo'ak? she knows he'd take her side in a fight. spider will never tell her she's "too big" for anything, he literally works out partly because he wants to be able to carry her for as long as possible. he goes out of his way to play with her when her siblings ditch her. take whole days to just follow tuk around and do what she wants to do. she made him a songchord and goes to sit with eywa with him so he won't be alone. doesn't get why people don't like him, cause she thinks he's the best. so she tries to make him happy when they're together. pisses neytiri off, cause she always wants to spend time with spider, even when she tells tuk not to (it makes spider sweat bullets, cause tuk refuses to let go of his hand and neytiris just glaring at him, and he almost wants to beg her to let go)

ao'nung is also tuks best friend. they bully each other, but get offended if anyone insinuates they don't like each other. she's still mad at him for being mean when they first met, won't let him live it down, even years after the fact. braids his hair all. the. time, he can't get her to stop touching it.

even outside of my blessed spider au, spider has connected with eywa, cause she accepted him no matter what, he just doesn't tell anyone. she knows how to connect to humans now, via her roots, so she connects with the boy. he feels like if he points it out he'll get in trouble or he'll be 'using eywa' to get what he wants (which isn't true, but the boy has some irrational fears cause ✨trauma✨)

ao'nung and rotxo 'dated' as kids, like schoolyard crush type dating, cause they were really young. it lasted a few years (on and off) from like 6ish to 10/11, but to this day, they're still very close. like, its odd to find them not touching each other or cuddling or holding hands. they're inseparable and have no clue what personal space is, at all. they still say "I love you", kiss eachother's cheeks/foreheads, ao'nung is possessive, roxto is always talking about him. they're platonic they swear (not a soul believes them).

neteyam doesn't want to be chief, sometimes he hates being jakes son because of the weight on his shoulders, but he doesn't complain cause he doesn't want to be a disappointment, and he doesn't want to watch his siblings struggle to carry the weight themselves.

spider self soothes by brushing a thumb over his own cheek or running his fingers through his hair or holding his own hand. he's so insanely touch-starved its not even funny.

he's also a maladaptive daydreamer. I got no solid reason, it just feels right. gotta deal with his loneliness and metric ton of big feelings in one way or another.

he also feels the urge to talk to himself, a lot, especially when he's out alone in the woods. he just happens to think the ato'kirina are a coincidence (eywa listens to him attentively like a mother should).

spider tends to 'ignore' signs of eywa when it comes to himself, because he can't accept that eywa would ever wish to connect to or guide him. (its a running theme in my hc's)

after sorting out their drama, ao'nung is really close to lo'ak. after neteyam's death he sorta becomes his big brother. their dynamic is a mess, but they make it work. ao'nung is sorta like a punching bag for lo'ak a lot of the time (like hopper and mike in that one scene in season 2 of stranger things). ao'nung hates watching him mourn (he wishes he had died instead. for more then one reason, but that's a big one). other times they're super sweet on each other, play roughhousing, just hanging out, lightly teasing one another. they're my messy boys.

kiri refuses to pick between spider and rotxo. they don't mind. polycule for the win.

spider isn't immediately accepted by the metkayina, but he tries really really hard to prove himself, and does make some sort of name for himself. they may not all like him, but they respect him.

spider learned to treat bullet wounds after having to sit behind neteyam, staring at the bullet hole, and not knowing what to do. he blames himself for neteyams death, but he thinks that if he knew what to do, if hadn't frozen, if he'd known what to do, maybe he would have lived.

ao'nung has a disproportionate level of big brother instinct, relative to his general asshole personality. he's insanely protective of anything smaller them then him, even if he himself hates it. aka, even before he accepted spider into his friend group, or the village as a whole, he was instinctively protective, embarrassingly so. still kicks himself for getting lo'ak hurt (he meant to scare the piss out of him sure, but he never wanted him to get hurt) and he genuinely cringes, one of those full body shakes type cringes, when he thinks about it. he hates its.

spider doesn't know how to properly show affection after always being denied it, having to suppress it (not being able to affectionate with the other sully kids in front of the elders), etc. so now he sorta just struggles. the sully kids don't really notice how he hides his affections, how he's timid about it, what he considers to be affection. the metkayina kids are not used to it, they are genuinely concerned. spider is genuinely afraid to be nice to people when not in private. he's deathly afraid of receiving affection in front of others.

tsireya and ao'nung (sorta rotxo too, but he's dating him, so its kinda different) forcibly adopt him after a while, they can't help it. he's like a kicked puppy, its hard not to love him.

roxto's grandma (who raised him, canon, cause i said so) and all his brothers and sisters (he has a big family, mostly adopted siblings,) love spider, so he has a little makeshift family.

spider would, whether he was accepted as one or not, become a warrior after what happened that night in the forest (getting kidnapped) and what happened on the ship/to neteyam. he won't let himself be taken off guard again, he won't let the people he loves, even if they don't love him back, get hurt again. he vows his life to the na'vi, to pandora, to Eywa herself; he will die before he loses someone else.

spider and lo'ak orange cat energy, kiri and tuk have tortie energy (sassy queen), roxto is a tuxedo cat, ao'nung and neteyam are black cats, tsireya has tabby vibes (sweet but sassy). (fight with the wall)

[peaky-shelby]

Does anyone have any quick blurbs they want me to write about new romantics? It can be anything

😭

Do something that involves Uncle Messi. You and your anons talked about it before. Maybe not a full Uncle Messi narrative but definitely something that involves him. I would really love for you to explore Uncle Messi and Kylian’s relationship. There is something there.

New Romantics — blurb: Uncle Messi

Leo didn't mind being alone. He also didn't mind anyone else's business. Sometimes he'd have his lunch alone, outside, especially when Ney wasn't around. He liked eating his salad in peace, enjoying the silence and refueling his introvert self before the next leg of practice. But he didn't mind company either, which is why he smiled when he saw Taylor approaching him. Her folder in hand, a pen in the other.

"can i sit?” she asked and he nodded while chewing the greens on his plate. She smiled and sat next to him, leaving her things on the table. "How's today so far?"

"bien." He said, swallowing. "You?”

"same. I wanted to talk to you about Ky-- number 7, i mean." He noticed she corrected herself a little too quick. Like she had said something she shouldn't have. "Are you two on better terms now?”

He shrugged "i don't know, i never really had a problem with him."

"i was hoping you could try and approach him more. Not as Lionel Messi, greatest of all time but just Leo... You know what i mean?” she paused "losing the cup is still an open wound for him but i think with champions league he's gonna get his drive back."

"i wouldn't know what to say."

"just... I don't know. Talk? Listen i know he can be an asshole, and abrupt sometimes. Most times he is hard to talk to, looks at you with those burning eyes like a dog warning you to not get to close, annoying you till you stop trying. He's been rude in the past--” Messi listened, making note of how she was moving her hands and talking about Kylian like she had all these things kept in between her lips for a while now and she was looking for the right person to dumb them on. "And he's got this awful habit of knowing he's great, which is driving me insane 99% of the time. Don't even get me started on his laugh when he knows he has said something horrible but likes to pretend it's funny." Leo was taking slow bites, weirded out by her entire monologue "but he's nice... Other times."

"when he's sleeping?”

"no! he's just as annoying when he sleeps.”

Leo raised his eyebrows.

"hakimi says he snores" she said quickly. "Anyway not the point. If you could talk to him and approach him more during practice, that would be great. He still admires you, he always has... And he's trouble but he's a good kid when he wants to be and is trying to change for the better. So, help him try, will you?"

He nodded "i will."

"thank you." She leaned in, kissing his cheek. She left him right after that and Messi took a deep breath, smiling. Ready to enjoy the rest of his salad when he was ambushed by someone else.

"talking about me again, was she?”

Leo almost chocked by the unexpected appearance of Kylian. He coughed, trying to regain his composure while Kylian started talking. "She wants us to be best friends, you know? And don't get me wrong you're a good guy but i got one bother and that's Haki! She's always whistling away, number 7 you're late, number 7 you're too arrogant--” Leo was still coughing. He took a sip from his water "and i get it's her job. I'm good with that now but she's obsessed with me" Leo left the glass on the table, clearing his throat. "And i can't say anything because if i do she'll make me go deaf with that fucking whistle." Kylian finally notices Leo closing his eyes "you ok Man?”

"fine..." He said in a raspy voice.

"listen just so she shuts up about this, you know, I'm good with you. So you can come telling me your shit and I'll come telling mine. Like buddies." Leo wiped himself with one of the napkins. Half listening to Kylian, half wanting to leave. "We can share Neymar and all. I mean You don't have to talk to me-- bet that's what she instructed you to. Didn't she?"

"i--"

"she's messing up with everything all the time. She even changed the schedule so i wouldn't be same time with Haki on the gym. She says we talk to much, do you believe this Leo? Merde-- she needs someone to control her."

Leo waited, making sure Kylian wouldn't start again. Then he said "do other coaches get to you as much as she does?"

"she doesn't get to me--” he stopped as he saw the look in Leo's eyes. He gulped "she's louder than the other coaches."

"and harder to impress" added Leo. Kylians eyes met his and Leo could see him mentally shrinking before him. "Do you want to impress her?”

He hesitated. "I... No... I mean..." He blew air from his cheeks. He shook his head "no.. i don't care. Why would I want to impress her? I just wanna do my job. I mean yeah fine if she's impressed by it then that's a bonus because at least she won't he complaining." Leo tried to fight back his smile, Kylian looked at his hands on the table "she's likable when she's not complaining"

Leo nodded but said nothing. Kylian looked at him again. Patted his hand on the table. "Good talk!" He said and got up to leave.

"hey ky-”

Kylian turned to his direction.

"when you wanna rant like this. Do it to me. Don't do something dumb and go to someone else instead."

Leo could see in his eyes that he knew exactly what he meant. "thanks." He mumbled and left.

Leo looked down at his salad. He took a full bite "Anto's gonna love this."

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

I just got done with a fic where I missed a tag and I’m trying to figure out how I feel about it. The tag was dyslexic blackbeard/ed. There’s been so much discourse about Ed’s literacy. Which I don’t understand because we’re shown examples of him reading so idk why it’s a thing people think. So I tend to get easily triggered when he’s made to look like he can’t read or has trouble with reading. I know plenty of people have reading issues like dyslexia but to give it to Ed what with all the discourse? I’m curious as to what your thoughts are about this.

Man I honestly just think it really really really depends, y'know? There are two things that I think can be true here at once:

Fiction can reveal a lot about unconscious biases and racism in fandom spaces, and the way Ed's literacy has been discussed and there's so many fics about him having to learn to read even though he's clearly shown reading on screen in s1e5 is a prime example of that

Fanfic is also a great and cathartic way to put characters in situations as a way for the author to express themselves and explore their personal struggles in a safe space

I'm not gonna come out here and say things like "don't write Ed with your specific learning disability." But, at the same time, I think white authors especially really should consider how they write characters of color with relation to things like dyslexia.

The simple fact of the matter is that learning disabilities and neurodivergence are always going to be different when you're not white. Like, I have autism and ADHD and I don't have dyslexia but I have dyscalculia, which is kinda similar (think dyslexia but for numbers). Brown kids with learning disabilities are always going to be on a different playing field and we're going to have a different set of struggles with diagnosis, relationship to our disability, etc. than white kids. For example, Ed's more likely to be undiagnosed, to face disciplinary action in school for things he can't help related to his disability, and be labeled as "defiant" for struggling.

I'm never going to tell someone with ADHD, say, that they shouldn't write Ed as ADHD to explore that, but I do think authors should be mindful of how race factors in here. Like, even though one of my ADHD symptoms can be trouble keeping my space organized, I'm not going to give that to Ed because I worry it would fall too much in line with tropes about brown people being messy or unclean and Ed's always shown to prefer a clean, tidy space in the show.

I don't think, even given the discourse about Ed's literacy, there should be a hard limit here. I don't think we should automatically write off stories where Ed has dyslexia, because I could see them being done amazingly well by authors who have experience with that disability and who have considered how Ed's race will interact with his experiences. A fic where Ed's had to work ten times as hard and now he's a best-selling author, for example? Sign me the hell up!

Tl;dr: it depends? I don't think we should ever say "you CAN'T write about this character with this disability," but I also think that when writing about characters of color with disabilities, there's a responsibility to approach the topic with care, tact, and dignity.

[miracles-and-butterflies]

Ok, so, what if all the madrigal kids were put on the "golden child" pedestal? Even Mirabel (she can have a gift or no gift, it's your choice).

Isabela = The perfect girl who can create flowers. She's agile, sweet, and beautiful. If you had a bad day she can give you a few flowers to make you feel better. She can also help with birthdays, funerals, weddings, etc.

Dolores = The girl who can hear if anyone is in trouble or just someone to spill the tea with. She can also help if any person or child is going through abuse of some kind.

Luisa = Has the strength to protect anyone in the family and just help around with heavy things. She's also just as agile and almost never smudges her clothes when she's out doing chores.

Mirabel = ?

Camilo = the perfect gentleman and sweetheart of the family. Always willing to help mothers or parents have a break. Or just willing to make you laugh or smile.

Antonio = The second sweetest boy of the family. Always willing to give a hug or help around. Especially with his new gift, he can easily speak to the animals of Encanto for anything the villagers need. (And to tell the bee's Agustin isn't a threat)

(I'm already writing an au like this, but I just wanted to see what your version of the au would be like. In my version Mirabel got the gift of creating diamonds (jewelry), crystals, and pearls. You can choose if she gets a gift or not tho)

To be honest, I wouldn’t want to do an AU too similar to that of someone else’s, if that makes sense? It isn’t that I dislike the idea though.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on this:

Having all of them be the “golden child” at once kind of renders the trope pointless. If they are all perfect, they are all equal; so there wouldn’t really be a pedestal or favouritism. In addition, having so much may also make it quite messy.

But it is a very intriguing idea to play around with what each child would be like in the role.

Isabela is already the favourite in canon. I don’t have anything to add here.

Dolores is definitely an interesting case. Her gift is one of the ones usually regarded as a curse or associated with negative connotations. Which it isn’t, it is arguably one of the more helpful gifts. Combined with her passion and intelligence, she would make a very capable golden child and definitely achieve that ideal of a perfect, young lady that we see Abuela going for with Isabela in canon.

Luisa is one of the more likely to be a golden child for me. If Abuela valued more hard work than reputation, as Luisa could easily be argued as the one who does the most to benefit the community alongside her mother. At the same time, she is also this figure of bravery and protection, which easily adds to the possible idolisation of her character to the town.

Camilo is similar to Luisa. Given his optimistic spirit and the desire to bring smiles or laughter to all, he is definitely one of the more friendly and social members of the family - it is easy to imagine him being the favourite of the town because of how his work brings him so close to their lives. He’d fall into a similar trap to Isabela, hiding his more mischievous and chaotic nature, in favour of a more gentlemen persona to please Abuela.

Mirabel is not usually handled well in AUs where she’s swapped to be the favourite. She gets wildly out of character and just becomes another Señorita Perfecta Isabela or idolised for being more vulnerable (which… why? You’d have to have the same feelings to the entire town). Mirabel is the brains of her sisters (Luisa = brawn, Isabela = beauty). There is so much potential behind a mind or logic based gift and the subsequent pressures Mirabel might face as “the most intelligent girl in town”. And I will never get why nobody takes advantage of it.

Antonio is another one to see being an easy charmer. The youngest favouritism is rather common and how could you say anything bad about a sweet, little boy who can talk to animals? I haven’t seen anyone experiment with him as the favourite before, so it would be very exciting to see what someone comes up with.

[artzzyb00-27]

Fire-fam kids Teenage Adventures: Influences

The way I pulled and Evan Buckley and did an ungodly amount of research to find out if Christophers age here was still somewhat reasonable. I pulled out my calculator! Trigger warning: shootings

It had been a month and a few weeks after his first day of high school. Specifically at Theodore Roosevelt High. Sure Eddie had been more than a little worried, but Chris was confident he would be fine. Don't get it twisted, at first, he wanted to go to school with Denny and Harry. But after thinking it over, he decided it would be better to make connections on his own.

Buck was more than happy to let him try his own thing as long as he was being safe. After the painful slow burn, Eddie and Buck tied the knot and have been married for two years now. It was nothing but heaven. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't scared his little boy was going off to high school.

"I declare you, officially a teenager. Welcome to angst and acne forever!" Harry had said that when Christopher's fourteenth birthday came up. Harry was already sixteen by now so he knew a thing or two. Denny, who was now fifteen, had recorded the interaction to show his girlfriend and Christopher's secret friend. Not really a secret but Eddie and Buck didn't know about him yet so it technically was a secret. There was a reason Christopher pushed so hard to go specifically to Theodore Roosevelt.

Manuel "Manny" Salvador Gutiérrez. Mouthful of a name to say at once. It's why he preferred going by Manny Gutiérrez. Harry and Denny met him when Chris invited them to the mall saying he wanted them to meet someone. Manny was the type of guy to be tough and stoic. To be known as the troubled kid who looked like could throw a mean punch(he could) and not get hit at all.

Always wearing worn-down Vans with slightly baggy jeans, sometimes ripped jeans, an oversized shirt with a jacket over. Or sometimes a graphic tee that color matched with his Vans and leather jacket.  He dyed hair at the ends, piercings(eyebrow and nose), and small tattoos because his mom let him.

Underneath that though, kid was a total dork. Once he warms up to you he's a complete softy. Like a big furry black dog. Looks intimidating, but is dopey at the sight of his favorite person. And that person was Chris. They had met in Junior High in math class, which was Manny's best subject. The teacher recommended extra credit to tutor Chris and since then they've been best friends.

"Wonder what's taking so long?" Eddie hummed in response at Chimney behind him. After learning they had a 24-hour shift, Hen, Chim, Buck, and Eddie had decided to carpool in the black minivan so it would be less gas on everyone. Noticing the time they got out, Buck texted Carla ahead to not worry about Chris because they would be able to pick him up.

"Not sure, he's usually out by now. The final bell rang like 20 minutes ago."

Looking around, he couldn't spot his kid. He'd begun taking on a different style of dressing recently. Drifting slightly away from bright colors but keeping his nerdy side. His hair was also slightly different. He had shaved sides that weren't vibrant but still shined. Wore more Converse than  Eddie had in his whole life.

Hen looked out through her window, which was closer to the school gates, and saw Chris walking out but without his backpack smiling.

"I see him at the gate but he doesn't have his bag." Buck and Eddie turned to look and were surprised that Hen was telling the truth. Chris had this thing with bags,  that if he didn't have it on him during school hours, he wasn't functional. That's when they saw a 5,6, light-skinned boy with purple-tipped hair in curls in a messy mullet, running up to their son with a backpack on his body and holding Christopher's bag for him on the other.

Eddie's eyes bulged, he barely even got to touch the bag, including Buck. He wondered how Christopher allowed the boy to hold his bag as carelessly as he was. As the two teenagers looked around, Christopher saw the minivan, smiled, and waved. The boy next to him doing the same. Buck, Chim, and Hen waved back smiling.

Not Eddie, he was still in shock and protective dad mode. As the boys walked over Eddie inspected the kid closer. He got a weird feeling and immediately disapproved. Then again he didn't know him so judgment was base level.

"Never would've thought Christopher hung out with punk rock kids," Chim commented making Hen snort and Buck smile while glancing at the back seat diagonal from him. Hen moved back through the open middle and sat in the very back seat. As the door opened, Eddie adjusted himself in the driver's seat so he could look at the pair better.

"Hey everybody!" Christopher said cheerfully.

"Hey!" Was the synchronized greeting. When nothing came out of Eddie except a soft smile, Chris raised an eyebrow but chose to ignore it for now. Turning to his friend while reaching for his bag Christopher spoke.

"Thanks again Manny, I'll text you when I get home." The blonde said whilst putting his bag on the floor of the van. Raising his hand waiting for Manny to do the same.

"Más te vale menso." He replied in Spanish while dapping up Chris. Walking away after Chris closed the car doors, he put on his headphones and walked off down the street.

"Who was that?" Christopher gained a weird expression, not because of the question in general, but because of the tone his dad used. Is he angry at Manny?

"My friend. Why?" Laughter came from the other three "adults" in the vehicle while Eddie started the van giving Christopher more confusion than before. After dropping off the other two firefighters at their respective homes, the family of three headed home. Once inside, Eddie wanted to start asking Chris about Manny but the person of interest interrupted with a phone call. Unintentionally.

"Hey, big man! How's the homework Garcia gave us? N-no! Oh, come on! Another Delta math-, I swear he secretly hates us-,..." The sound of conversation drifted away as Christopher dashed into his room for privacy. A small laugh pulled Eddie from his thoughts.

Turning around to glare at the man who he loved oh so much, but would very much beat up for making fun of him.

"What?"

"Yeesh, spicy Díaz, my favorite. Wish  I could have you to myself early." Buck sauntered over whilst pulling his lover in by the waist. Getting a petty pout from the shorter one.

"Siguele, aver como te va. Don't act like you're not worried either." Eddie sassed as he placed a soft kiss on Buck's lips, the latter happily reciprocating. Pulling away, smiling Buck sighed.

"Nah, especially cause I already knew." He informed his husband, who's eyes widened in shock. "I walk into Chris' room to put some clothes away and saw the Discord call open,... and their messages." Buck looks down somewhat shamefully.

If Eddie was immature, he would ask what the messages had said. However, today was not the day, he needed to know Buck's opinion. (He'll press him for details later when they go to bed) Smiling with jaw agape, he couldn't help but chuckle at his pale lover with blue eyes.

"So you're telling me that, you were judging me, for being too snoopy of my son.." burying his face against Eddie's shoulder to save embarrassment, "And you-!"

Laughing slightly cut him off, to be fair, he was laughing too.

"YoOU decided to SCROLL through our little boy's messages?? You?! The 'laid back' parent?!"

Cackling at this point Eddie was smiling uncontrollably whilst watching Buck wallow in shame.

"You guys okay?" Chris said smiling at how affectionate they were being peeking his head out of his door. The pair turned to look at their son. Damn, he'd gotten tall over the time he'd entered high school.

"Yeah, we're good bud. We're just laughing at something." Buck assured the blonde boy.

"Okay, hey is it okay if I go over to Manny's tomorrow after school? It's his birthday and we wanted to spend time together," Despite the emotional manipulation tactic(taught to him by Buck no doubt) Eddie caved and agreed to let him go, reluctantly, as long as he texted when they went anywhere different location-wise.

-------------------------------------------

So be it the next morning Christopher was gone for school earlier than Eddie and Buck were up for their 10-hour shift, and he got suspicious. The last time that happened Christopher made pancakes and burned Eddies. On purpose. Called it revenge for when he was a kid who couldn't fend for himself. He got noogied for a good bit after that one.

Looking at his phone after brushing his teeth, he saw a message from Chris. Saying he left early with some friends because they were stopping by the store near the school. They were grabbing snacks to eat in class because their teacher didn't care as long as they multi-tasked(they wouldn't), and finished their online notes(they won't).

Looking over his shoulder, Buck smiled in awe. He looked so proud of his son that it made Eddie's heart melt.

"He's growing up now huh?" Eddie nodded but stayed silent. Raising a brow in concern, Buck turned the shorter firefighter to face him and gently lifted his face with his index finger. Poor Papa Eddie, had small tears forming in his eyes. "Awh, Eddie, mi amor. It's okay."

If you think Buck didn't hold Eddie for a solid 3 minutes whilst rocking slowly from right to left? You're wrong. He even moved his hands against the man's face and kissed his forehead. Pulling back into the hug, Eddie nuzzled his head in Bucks' muscular figure.

"Don't forget he still needs us." Eddie knew that, but the thought of Christopher one day leaving to be on his own was terrifying.

-------------------------------------------

And need them he did. How did it go so wrong so fast? At first, it started like a normal workday. Mess with Chim and Ravi, gossip with Hen, work out with Lena, answer calls, and help Bobby make dinner. Stuff that was unexpectedly expected. That is till 1:30 when a call from a school. Saying that there was an active shooter in their walls.

"It's at Roosevelt," Bobby said without wanting to go into detail. Everyone in the back seat froze and gazed upon Eddie and Buck who quickly interlocked hands to try and pace their breathing to focus. "Think you can handle it?" Immediate nods from the pair answered. The others smiled solemnly.

Once arriving at the school they noticed police officers everywhere around the school, thank god, and students across the street on the far side of the park. They caught sight of Officer Morales, a good friend of Athena's, talking to the Principal.

Athena went up to them once seeing their arrival.

"Whoever it is, it's a student. The cameras Reid hacked showed no footage of anyone sneaking in on school grounds. I need you guys to go in and find some kids that are still in the building-" A loud series of gunshots were heard. People near but far enough away from the danger could be heard crying, yelling, or swearing. Reluctantly Athena looked to Eddie. "Christopher is in there still. Along with four others. We need to hurry. My group will flank left, you go right, I want this child caught."

Without wasting another second, and no time to fully think about what she said, the team applied bullet bulletproof vest underneath their jackets and broke a window to get in through the science labs. Walking around as silently as possible they tried finding the shooter without giving them a hint of an idea that they were inside. 

Granted, shattered glass in an empty room isn't the quietest. Walking around Eddie's heart was beating quicker than ever. Of all things, why a shooter at his son's school? Then Eddie thought back to what Christopher had asked him yesterday. Poor Manny must think today's the worst birthday ever.

Hearing a crack, they froze. Getting ready to duck into cover in the classrooms or run across the hallway. The sound of running gets nearer, with a shadow then rounding the corner to face them. Manny.

The sigh of relief from the kid was the opposite of what the firefighters felt. The boy was covered in blood and his hair was more messy and gross from sweat. Bobby prayed that it was someone else's blood in an attempt to trick the shoot. Manny scanned each of them till running up to Buck and Eddie.

"I know where Chris is! Come on!" He whispered. Looking at the other firefighters he gave them information on where the shooter was. "She's on the top floor, I drove her away from where Chris was and looped around. She thinks I'm still up there."

So it was a girl. Snapping out of it Bobby radioed Athena and told her to meet upstairs to corner the shooter and catch her.

"Her?" Athena's surprised voice could be heard.

"She's the daughter of a gun shop owner. She must've been pissed enough about Monday morning to pull this," Monday? "Careful, it's not a pretty sight in room S-16." This poor kid. Following Manny down the hall he came from, they made it to the Library and headed to the back.

Digging through the ripped wallpaper, he opened up a hidden room. Inside Christopher was having a panic attack, holding a pair of long scissors. Once seeing Manny he dropped them and lunged into the taller kid's arms.

"Manny! Dads!" The boy said hugging his parents whilst his friend watched. Taking a good look at him, Christopher wasn't injured. Smudged blood from hugging Manny in the relief of seeing his friend alive.

"We gotta get them outta here," Buck said before shots were fired upstairs.

"Go, I need to find Angie. She's still in the upper bathroom. I saw her text." Manny told Christopher, almost forgetting the adults were still there. Seriously?

"No time, come on!" Eddie yelled and went to pick up Chris. But Manny was two steps ahead and grabbed his arm running away. Groaning Eddie and Buck ran after the pair. Eddie was cursing in his head, what the hell is wrong with him!? Putting them in jeopardy like this.

Seeing them stop abruptly, Manny pushed his arm against one of the fire escape doors. It looked like one of the other students propped it open to let others out in case they were still inside. When Eddie and Buck reached them, Eddie walked through the door and tried, key word tried, to drag them towards the truck.

"No, I need to get to Angie! She's still in there!" Manny yelled out trying to rip out of Buck's hold.

"Manny! She's gonna be okay, I know you don't trust law enforcement but these are good ones. They're my family," Chris calmed(reprimanded??) his friend and led him towards the truck. Once they got to the truck, Hen ran over to inspect the injuries on Manny while Eddie checked Christopher to double-check if he was injured or not. A thump broke the inspection though. Looking up, Eddie saw Manny lying down in the truck with Hen panicked.

"Manny!" Chris yelled, leaning over his friend trying to wake him up.

"Oh my god-, Eddie I need gauze for pressure, he was shot in the stomach!" Scanning the boy, he noticed the splotch of blood on his white shirt over the torso was getting darker. Also spreading and staining the vehicle along with the boy's jacket. A brief sight at the jacket let Eddie read out a name on a patch on his right arm. U.S. Navy Airforce it read.

"Shit! Buck! Grab Chris!"

"No! Buck let me go! Manny!" Chris yelled trying to break free from his pop's arms. Looking back at the scene the kid was barely breathing but needed serious medical attention quickly.

"We need to get him to the hospital. Now!" Nodding her head, Hen and Eddie transferred him to one of the ambulances and rode off to the hospital nearby. 

"Stay with us kid, just a little longer!" Manny was looking around the ambulance looking at Eddie trying to respond to him. "No, no, no, don't talk, focus on breathing. I need you to stay with me! We're almost there!"

Looking out the window of the ambulance, Eddie's heart broke more. The sight of leaving Christopher behind in Buck's arms, still trying to break free and run after the ambulance. Eddie didn't doubt tears were streaming down his son's face.

-------------------------------------------

Later after arriving at the hospital and dropping the kid off, Eddie asked the nurses, whom he knew personally from all of his and his husband's escapades, to give him updates on Manny. She agreed relieved after inspecting the file quickly and said she'd let him know anything that happened.

After an hour of searching and a shot police officer, they were able to catch the girl responsible. Apparently, on Monday morning one of the teachers shamed her for her behavior. Saying it was her attitude wouldn't get her far in life especially because she didn't have a mom. the teacher didn't apologize and the people who she asked for help didn't do anything about it. That doesn't excuse the shooting and the lives it cost. The teacher she tried to get wasn't even hurt after the fact.

Parents were crying whilst firefighters and police officers consoled them. Returning to the scene for any additional tasks, Eddie scanned the area looking for his team. After catching sight of Buck and Chimney, he and Hen ran up to them.

"Where's Christopher?"

"Carla took him home, Bobby let me call her to make sure he was away from here," Buck said from behind him. Looking around slightly Eddie saw Ravi sitting on the curb with his head in his hands. "Ravi was up with some of the officers and Bobby trying to get the shooter. She aimed her gun at Ravi and a kid hiding in the corner jumped in front of him. It went right through his skull. Held him in his arms and took his parents into the building to mourn." Eddie grabbed Bucks' hand and walked up to Ravi.

This poor guy couldn't catch a break. Looking up, Ravi revealed his bloodshot eyes and pale face.

"It wasn't your fault," Buck said leaning on one knee with his partner copying. Putting an arm on the shoulder for comfort. Shaking his head, Ravi bit his lip to stop more tears.

"I'm sorry Buck, but right now I can't believe that. I don't think I ever will either."

After that Bobby told them all to go home and spend time with themselves and their families. Once opening the door to their house, Eddie and Buck were tackled into a hug by their son and then a softer one from Carla. After she left, Eddie gave Christopher an update on Manny. He was stable but wouldn't leave the hospital for a few days.

"Do you know his parent's phone number? I don't know if they followed to the hospital after getting a phone call." Chris gained a pained expression and rubbed his eyes, pushing his glass up in the process, before responding.

"They aren't home, they're in Miami. They're truckers, so they're never really around." Eddie took a glance at Buck who was looking down at the table saddened even more. "They're good people, just not around a lot. He was mainly with his uncle till last year. I can't say more than that, it's personal and should come from Manny."

-------------------------------------------

The next morning school was canceled for the next two weeks. Along with encouragement for parents to seek therapy for their kids. Chris already had one, but Manny had become a concern now in Eddie's mind. Birthday at the same time as shooting and almost dying was not a good combo.

"When Madison pulled out her gun she was in the English room. Me and Manny were walking down the hall from turning in papers when we heard the gunshots. We thought something loud hit the floor till she came out, saw us, and shot. I froze, but Manny reacted and shielded himself in front of me. Grabbed my hand and booked it downstairs. I was able to pull the fire alarm in time whilst someone else called the cops. Angie was the one that wasn't in the room so she dialed 9-1-1." By the end of retelling the incident, Chris was sobbing in his father's arms, trying to speak but couldn't.

After a small breakfast, they all headed to the hospital and saw the multitude of parents in the waiting room. Some with tears, others with anger on their face. Some blank.

"Why are we here?" 

"This is where we brought Manny, figured you'd want to see him. Plus he deserves a good party for his birthday. Sixteen's a big one." Chris brightened up at the idea but went back to somber at the idea of Manny connected to tubes keeping him alive.

"Hey there, you visiting that kid you brought in yesterday?" the same nurse from the other day asked. Smiling Eddie nodded, holding up a bag with a cake inside. They stopped at the store quickly to buy a mini one. Eddie hoped he loved carrot cake. It was the only one they had.

"If that's okay. Don't wanna overwhelm him after yesterday." Buck coaxed, probably trying to subtly tell Chris they might not let him in due to not being on the emergency list.

"Yeah, honestly better you three than no one at all." That brought frowns to Eddie and Buck. His parents weren't home yet then. Going up the elevators and walking the halls down, they got to the room. Taking a deep breath Chris opened the door and saw Manny awake looking at something on his phone. Looking up he visibly relaxed yet still looked worried. Meanwhile, Chris was just happy to see his friend alive running over to hug him.

Buck had his arm over Eddie's shoulder and leaned his head on the latter. This kid wasn't so bad. And he deserved so much better than what the universe handed him this week.

[kazzy-boo-baby]

Old Fashion Way

CG! Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes and Little! Y/N Oneshot

Having caregivers that were born in the 1940's was way more complicated than you'd think. Bucky and Steve weren't really up to "new" societal norms when it came to Littles. Back in the day, things were way stricter when taking care of a little. Bedtimes was 8pm sharp, vegetables have to be finished off the plate with no excuses, no talking back, clean up your own messes, and plenty more. And of course when Bucky and Steve started taking care of Y/N, those rules would be in place almost instantly. But.. there were some new modifiers they added to enforce good behavior.

~~~

"Y/N? Why are all your toys on the floor?"

Steve stood over Y/N with a stern look. He was always the sternest out of the two, usually, Bucky would deal with things like this and let Y/N get out of it easy, but Y/N wasn't too lucky this time.

"I'm still playing.."

Y/N mumbled, (she/he/they) were just sitting on the bed watching TV.

Steve chuckled, "No, I don't think so. What I think you're doing is watching TV while ignoring that your room is a mess, kiddo."

He sighed and walked over to Y/N, shaking his head a bit.

"You know what that means.. you have to take a sticker off your good (boy/girl/kid) chart."

Y/N whined angrily, pouting up at Steve with an angry look.

"Papa! I no wanna take star away! I'll clean now! I promise."

Y/N tried to reason with Steve, something (she/he/they) often did with Bucky. But Steve was a hard nut to crack, almost no form of pleading worked on him.

"No, no. It's too late for that now. You can take a sticker off first then you can clean your room."

Y/N glared up at Steve with a pout, (she/he/they) groaned and got off the bed.

"Fine.."

Y/N walked over to the chart with (his/her/their) arms crossed and took a star sticker off of the chart. Everyday, Y/N started out with three stars on their chart. If three stars stayed on the chart, (they/he/she) can get a treat! But if all of them are taken off, some form of punishment gets in place. Which is usually just timeout or being grounded.

Steve chuckled and patted Y/N's hair,

"It's okay kiddo, you can always earn it back again. But you have to promise me that your room won't be messy by the time it's dinner time, okay?"

He held out his pinky to make the promise. Y/N's pout shifted into a smile at the gesture, even giggling a bit. Y/N wrapped (his/her/their) pinky around Steve's and smiled,

"I promise papa."

~~~

"Y/N, it's bath time."

Bucky yelled out from the bathroom, he was waiting for Y/N in there. He already had the bath filled up with water and bubbles just like Y/N liked, even some toy figures so (she/he/they) didn't get bored.

Y/N was playing with (his/her/their) toys in the living room when Bucky said this. But Y/N didn't move. (She/he/they) wanted to play some more! Not go in a boring bath.

"No Bubba! I playing!"

(He/She/They) yelled back. It instantly made Bucky come out of the bathroom to face Y/N, he stood over (him/her/them) with his hands on his hips.

"What was that? You want to repeat that for me?" His tone was stern, but there was a slight smirk on his face too.

Y/N looked up at him with the most innocent look (he/she/they) could muster,

"I-I said.. No want to, maybe later?"

(He/She/They) babbled, Bucky just shook his head with a chuckle. He picked Y/N up so they were face to face, "No that's not what I heard, sweet pea. What I did hear was you saying no when I said it's time for your bath."

Y/N whined and tried to squirm out of Bucky's grasp, (she/he/they) didn't want to get in trouble! The stars would be almost gone!

"Bubba I sorry.. no meant it! I promise."

(She/He/They) looked up at Bucky with the saddest pouty look possible, "I sorry for talkin' back, won't do it again."

Bucky rolled his eyes playfully, he couldn't stay mad at Y/N. He kissed the top of (his/her/their) head and smiled.

"I know you didn't, baby. But let's not do that again, alright?"

He asked, carrying Y/N to the bathroom so he could get (her/him/them) ready for bath time.

Y/N nodded quickly in response,

"Uh huh. No gonna do it again."

"That's my good (girl/boy/baby.)"

Bucky gave a small mischievous look to Y/N, leaning in close to (his/her/their) ear.

"Now.. I won't tell Papa if you won't tell him. We can pretend this never happened.. and if bath time goes off with no problems, I'll give you a star. Deal?"

Y/N instantly giggled and nodded,

"Deal!"

[pink-bunny-angel]

omg!! can u plz write anything abt john bender 🙏🙏 there r like no fics of him im in the trenches out here. THANK U😁

Of course!!! This is my first one, I hope you like it! Sorry if it's not the best!

John Bender X Reader

(warnings: briefly mentions abusive parents)

Today has been the worst. I got up at 2 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I was looking forward to having my morning coffee to keep me awake but, no, the coffee maker was broken. I thought surely that would be it but when I got to school I was quickly proven wrong... We had a math test. Great. All day I was looking forward to seeing my boyfriend, John Bender, but my mom told me no one could come over since I had an F in science.

My mental health has already been plummeting. This is just great. I currently am sitting in my room, crying on my bed and reading my Bible, it's comforting. I gently put it down on my nightstand and stare at the ceiling. I think and think, trying to find anything to look forward to, but it's getting difficult. I stand up with a groan. Everything looks so dull. It's funny how a couple tiny things going wrong can impact someone's day so much, especially when they were already feeling terrible. I pick up my telephone and dial Bender's number and it rings.

"Hello?" I can hear his dad in the background yelling with his friend about something. I hear a couple of things about Bender from his dad. He must've been mad at him

"Um. Hi, Bender we can't hang out tonight.." I utter with a hint of anxiety in my voice. He doesn't pick up on it, he has always struggled to sense emotion over the telephone.

"What do you mean? Come on, y/n. I was really counting on you. My dad has been freaking out over everything all day. This is ruining my night." I know he wasn't purposefully trying to guilt trip me, he just does it subconsciously. I understand why he would be counting on me and why he would want to come over. I feel guilty, which makes me feel even worse.

"I'm sorry, John. My mom said we can't tonight. I wish you could come over. I miss you so much. I've been having a bad day too, not as bad as yours though-" He interrupts.

"I'm sorry. Let's not compare bad days, okay? Lay down. I'll be there in a minute." His voice is oddly gentle. I feel comforted for a second before I'm flooded with confusion.

"My mom said no, John-"

"Honey, I'll be there."

He hangs up. I feel panicked. My mom is not gonna be happy if he shows up. She's gonna think I didn't tell him. She's gonna tell me I did it on purpose... Great. She's gonna send him home and I'm gonna be in trouble. I flop on to my bed and let out a noise of frustration, I don't know who or what I'm angry at, I just feel angry. I hear a light knock on my window... You've got to be kidding me. I stand up and tiptoe hastily to the window. When I open it I see Bender, his medium brown hair is getting blown in his face as he frantically tries to pry open the window from the outside. I chuckle and open it. He slides in. His hair is messy and he is glaring.

"Took you long enough. I could've been blown down and killed!" I hug him. He hesitates. He huffs and hugs me back.

"I'm glad you're here. But I don't want to get in trouble." I look down, I feel my anxiety getting worse and worse. My mom can't know he is here. He holds me closer and buries his face in my hair.

"Don't worry, y/n. I'm sneaky." I can feel him smirking. I scoff.

"Keep telling yourself that." I mutter.

"Woah. You're grumpy." He takes off his boots and coats, throwing them to the ground. He walks over to my TV and grabs the Liar's Moon VHS tape.

"Liar's Moon? I thought you don't like romance movies?" I snicker. He always complains about romance movies, he always wants to watch action movies.

"I don't but.. it's your favorite or something." He says the last part very quiet, as if he doesn't want to get caught doing something sweet. He's trying to change, I remember the night he cried to me about wanting to change. He wants to be nicer and more caring. He's trying so hard. I decide not to tease him about his embarrassment from being caring. I'm so proud of him for trying.

"I love you." I say softly. I can't help but stare at him. He's so beautiful.

"I love you too.. I gue- actually.. I know for sure I love you too." He responds, trying to seem confident. I smile and he tries to look unbothered, I can tell love is still difficult for him to express, but that's okay. We're healing together.

I gently grab his arm and pull him to my bed. He flops on to it.

"Bender, my mom will hear...! Keep it down...!" I scold him quietly. He giggles. I can't help but smile. I quietly climb on to the bed with him. He had started the movie. I lay my head gently on his chest and feel him start to stroke my back with his fingertips. He can be so gentle. Who knew? I yawn and curl into him.

"Sleepy, baby?" He asks softly. I nod and rub my eyes. He gives my forehead the most soft, sweet kiss. "Goodnight, y/n. Sleep tight... I hope the bedbugs bite." I hear him snicker.

"Really..!"

[heliads]

:D yay!!! I love your Newsies stuff sm (and yes you absolutely should rewatch its amazing). If you have time could you maybe write a Race x fem!reader where she's like Spot's second command and kinda like the "mum" of the Brooklyn kids - they go to her for like comfort and when they have injuries or have problems etc. And she's kinda reserved and such but became friends with Race from when he'd spend time in Brooklyn, and after the strike (during like KONY I guess) he goes to find her to ask for her help like getting everyone fixed up and the like, and at some point from there onwards it's like FEELINGS yknow? No worries if not! Only if you're inspired and have time and such :) I love your writing - you're so v talented xx

grateful for your support in my rewatching newsies agenda. anything for you anon xoxo

masterlist

There’s a newsie from Manhattan wandering your streets again. He’s not supposed to be crossing over into Brooklyn like this, none of them are, but for some reason that hasn’t stopped Race Higgins from showing up time and time again. 

It’s not like this should really matter. Shouldn’t, anyway. Brooklyn is messy and getting messier. One particularly plucky Manhattan boy shouldn’t have an impact on what you’re doing on a day to day basis. Spot’ll do some nonsense involving a good threat or two to scare the guy off. This sort of thing happens once a month, but Brooklyn always ends up on top. Always.

That hasn’t seemed to sway Race, though. Last time he tried this, one of the other Brooklyn generals was in a fighting mood and nearly left the blond with a black eye had you not stepped in and put a stop to the scuffle before it started. No one needed any more trouble when you’ve already got so much as is, or so you claimed.

Truth be told, you’re not really sure why you helped Race out. It’s not like you’ve got any particular fondness for the guy, he keeps bothering you whenever he sneaks over the turf boundaries. It’s like he has a sixth sense for figuring out where you are whenever you’re selling papes. Even when you tell him to bug off and leave you alone, he’ll just start selling half a block down from you, or right across the street. Just close enough that you can see the trademark grin on his face when you roll your eyes and do your best to ignore him.

At the end of the day, it’s not something that should be the pull of too much of your attention. It’s Race, for goodness’ sake, not a rogue Delancey brother or someone who could actually cause you grief. Race just wants to make you laugh, which is weird of him to do but not actually dangerous.

Dangerous is the rest of Brooklyn. Dangerous is what waits for Race when he’s not halfway in your shadow. Dangerous is what made you Spot Conlon’s second in command when there were so many other newsies vying for the title. You know dangerous, and you know how to handle it, how to keep your boys safe. That’s what you should be focusing on the most, not errant Manhattan newsboys who keep getting alarmingly close to making you crack a smile.

But. Well. It is easier to think of boys than trouble. Boys try to make you laugh, for the most part. They don’t come back under the cover of the dead of night, bloody and trembling, talking to you about cops and thugs busting up strikes, about workers from the Refuge who want to brazenly take kids off the street just so they can keep up their numbers. They didn’t always.

Then they did, and suddenly you weren’t quite so easy with your temper and gait anymore. Race was usually quick to a smile, a laugh, a joke. He’d offer you a cigar free of charge, then swear like a sailor at any other boy who tried to even look at his prized possession. You were different, he didn’t want to trouble you. 

So he said. Didn’t stop him from hanging outside your window until you climbed onto your fire escape just to get him to stop throwing pebbles at the dusty glass. You might have spent more than an hour outside that night, and the next one, and the next, but it was only so he’d let the others rest. You falling asleep on his shoulder at least once, then waking to find his jacket wrapped around your shoulders, was pure coincidence.

Race was always carefree. It was his job, you think, his role to play amongst the Manhattan newsies, just as yours was to keep track of your Brooklyn kids. Race used to tease you relentlessly about how the Brooklyn newspaper distribution system would completely grind to a standstill if you so much as got a cold.

It wasn’t entirely a joke, it was true. Race knew it. The two of you could hardly talk for longer than ten minutes before a boy or twelve would come up to you, asking for help on something else. He saw how long you faked your smiles just for the happy expression to start fading into an exhausted sigh whenever no one was around but him. You liked your position in the newsie ranks, truly you did, but it drained everything from you.

Sometimes it felt like it was just you and Spot fighting a losing war trying to keep all of your boys out of trouble. You teach them to be tough and loud and unapproachable, but it will never be enough? How could it be, in this city? Race tells his jokes and you laugh and you try not to pretend that everything is falling to ribbons. At least then you could marvel at the colors.

Still. Race stayed. Longer than you expected, in all honesty. You kept waiting for him to have his fun and leave you to your city that never sleeps, but he came around and it felt more natural by the day. Instead of being surprised that he showed up, you started feeling confused if a week went by without you seeing him.

And, when two newsies come to Brooklyn from Manhattan talking about a strike, and neither one of them is Race but both of them need your help anyway, you listen. More than Spot, at least. Spot gets wind of trouble and he shuts down their plea in an instant. Despite the fact that you think this is the best chance any of you will have to change something around here, Spot can’t risk his guys.

You never know when someone will back out without telling you, he tells you later, and then all of you would be stuck out there on the front lines without backup. The ace without the sleeve up which to hide. Brooklyn kids are tough, and they wouldn’t run, but who knows a damn thing about anyone else?

It made you want to scream and cry and run out there anyway, just to prove a point. You heard how the strike went later, how no one showed up except the Manhattan boys because no other borough would come without Brooklyn’s express approval. You catch whispers and threads of the story, but you don’t learn the whole thing until Race shows up.

He’s alone this time, beaten and bruised. You flinch when you see him, even though he’s not swinging. The look in his eyes, though– that’s enough to leave you bloody.

Race puts a hand on your shoulder. The knuckles are bruised, and you try not to notice the spatterings of skin already turning a mottled purple and green. “It’s not your fault. Jackie boy told me you tried to convince Spot to join us.”

You frown, look away. “You got hurt and we could have done something. That sounds an awful lot like I failed.”

Race shakes his head, puts a hand on your cheek so you have to look at him again. “I’m not here for that. This isn’t your fault, it’s his. Pulitzer’s. Him and those damn thugs. Not you.”

You nod slowly. It’ll take some time before you’re able to absolve yourself of the guilt, but you can try. “Let me get my first aid kit, I’ll come back with you, try to patch some of the kids up. Can I assume that a lot of them are worse than you?”

Race’s expression drops. “Yeah. The thugs came hitting pretty hard.”

“Well,” you say in an attempt to cheer him up, “I’d wager it’s because they knew your lot were the toughest around.”

Race cracks a smile, even though you’re sure it must be painful. “Oh, absolutely. I’d topple a building with a single punch.”

You can’t help but cast another worried look towards his hands. Damaged, bruised, and they had tipped his cap towards you just a morning or two ago. Race always liked to playact a gentleman when you were around. As if any of you have money or morals to spare. The only mansion you’ve got is the wide sky above you, the expensive habits of running too fast on green grass. Your gold is a rusty coin or two, your finery hand-me-down clothes. Your mockery of manners is the closest you’ll get to that sort of lifestyle, but it was always fun to fake it, anyway.

“No more punches,” you tell him. “I’m serious.”

“So am I,” Race retorts, “we’ve got to be out there again tomorrow for the strike. We’se not giving up so easily.”

The thought makes your stomach twist. Race, back out there, ready to get dealt another blow. Maybe this time he won’t be able to pick himself up so easily. Maybe this time he won’t be able to pick himself up at all.

No. You won’t let it happen. This is still your city, damn it, and you have not spent all these years sweating out your sunrises and sunsets to keep it informed just for the last bits of your control to be ripped out from between your desperate fingers.

“You won’t be alone tomorrow,” you decide, “I’ll get Spot to join you.”

Race frowns. “Jack and Davey tried that already, I thought. He said no. Isn’t Spot a dead end at this point? Unless there’s something else you know to change his mind.”

You sigh. “You’re not wrong. I talked to him, though, after your boys left yesterday. I tried. As much as anyone can try to talk to Spot, y’know. I’ll try again, though. The choice he made was–” There are a lot of words you could attribute to Spot’s decision to stay out of the strike. Stupid. Pointless. Backstabbing. You end up saying something a little more polite. “Not what I agreed with, to say the least.”

Race’s lips quirk up in a half smile. “Glad to hear it. I always liked it best when you were on our side.”

You snort. “I’se a Brooklyn newsie, remember? I don’t think we was ever on the same side.”

Race shrugs. “Maybe not in a turf war, but other times we got along just fine.”

You feel your cheeks heat up. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Race grins, leans a little closer to you. It feels like your whole world is tunneling– you can look at his eyes or his lips, but not both, and it’s enough to make you dizzy. “The last month or two, I swear you almost liked me. Sure, you’re a tough girl if anyone asks, but I know what I know.”

“And what do you know?” You ask carefully. It takes every fiber of focus in your being to keep breathing, chasing every word he says like a high price headline.

Race tilts his head to the side, considering this. Considering you. “I know that you’ve been hanging around me more and more. I know that you aren’t trying to run anymore. I know that no Brooklyn newsie sticks their neck out for someone from ‘Hattan unless they’ve got a pretty good reason. Most importantly, I know that I want to kiss you, but only if you want that too. Do you?”

He’s so close to you now, practically a breath away. Just enough room for you to run if you wanted to, but also for you to do something else, something you’ve been thinking about even when you swore you wouldn’t.

“I do,” you breathe, and that’s all Race needs to lean forward and kiss you at last. He tastes like blood and foolish hope and promises you know he’ll always keep. It’s a damn good mix, enough to make you kiss him again when he starts to break away.

This is how you keep him safe, then. You love him too much and you convince Spot to lend Brooklyn’s support by hook or by crook. You defend the strike and you defend your boy. There are a hundred reasons this could all go wrong, but thousands, thousands more, that all shout for you to keep going. 

Well, you’ve always liked a little bit of danger. Race is good trouble, and you are well inclined to keep him.

newsies tag list: @lovesanimals0000, @misguidedswagger, @mayfieldss, @amortensie

[overlydramaticinephile]

You and me, we're endgame.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!rader (no physical descriptions)

Summary: Steve and Y/N finishing high school, what could go wrong in their relationship?

Word count: 3.7k

Warnings: Season 2-3, Nancy and Steve never dated, reader is 18, controversial mentions of marriage, college, cussing, fluff and angst. Idk if this counts as AU so... beware just in case. English is NOT my first language. Not proof read oops. ngl this writing is chaotic....

A/N: so, if you been following me by now you can tell i love changing canon relationships from other tv shows and making them Steve Harrington and reader. I thought I would re-write finchel which is just hilarious and sad to me. Anyway, i hope you guys like it <3

Steve Harrington and Y/N L/N, Hawkins High 1984 it couple.

They have been dating over a year now, and they have been head over heels in love with each other. Their love was pure, real and above all, epic. There was nothing they couldn't face together which was honestly vomit inducing for some, and for others their clingy nature every other hour was cringe worthy, yet they didn't care. There were a lot of things they didn't care about.

In 1984 when Steve and Y/N were finishing their senior year, college applications were due soon and to say it was messy would be an understatement. Y/N had always wanted to go to New York, she was very font of the place, and she hoped Steve would want to go there too because there was no way they were going their separate ways...right?

Steve on the other hand was not as excited as her probably valedictorian of a girlfriend. He didn't know what he wanted to do if he went to college. Emphasis on if. There was never anything sure in his life, except for Y/N. He loved her more than anything, and he would not fuck that up.

Which brings us to today. May 16, 1984.

Steve was looking at a family photo from when he was 13 years old. The last family photo they would be taking. He couldn't help but feel a void inside, like something wasn't right, or was it just nerves?

"You have his eyes. His mouth a little bit, too." said Y/N while entering the room and watching Steve from behind.

Without turning around just yet, Steve decided to share his thoughts.

"I've always had trouble finding myself in his face. You know, when I was a kid, I used to stare up at the wall, his picture hanging there, and I used to convince myself we were, like, twins." he couldn't help but chuckle, how naive he was.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Y/N knew Steve had major family issues, and she has never pushed him into talking about it, but she was always ready if there would be a time he wanted to.

Steve turned around, instantly remembering why he asked Y/N to come meet him there, at their favorite coffee shop that was now closed; he wanted to ask her something.

"No, no. I, uh, I want to talk about you. About us. I was gonna lay out a picnic, like the one you had for our first date, but I couldn't really figure out where you got those cool airplane cups, so…"

Y/N couldn't help but smile at the memory, she really went for it, not knowing if Steve liked her that way, but she was optimistic. And well, that was enough.

"And I told you, you could kiss me if you wanted to. I never understood why you ran off so quickly, though."

"Yeah, I was just nervous." Steve said, looking down.

"Oh, I could never make you nervous." Y/N giggled out of embarrassment and shock. Till this day, Steve made Y/N nervous every time, in a good way that is, so to think of Steve feeling nervous because of her...

"Kind of nervous right now." he couldn't look at her, he wanted to so bad, but he had it all planned, he couldn't risk it now and also yeah...he was terrified. More terrified than any life or death threats he faced in the past.

"Wait, what's going on?" Y/N was now worried.

"Look, uh, I have something to talk to you about, but I want you to promise me that you won't say a word until I'm done. Okay, and I know that's sort of hard for you, so I need you to promise me."

"Okay, I promise." Well, as if she wasn't nervous already.

"Um, I just feel like, all my life, I've been, you know, wondering if I was gonna be as much of a man as my father is. Now, all of a sudden, I'm up at night worried that I'm gonna become the man who he is."

Y/N was giving him the softest eyes, not in a pityful way, but a compassionate one. So Steve knew it was safe to continue without Y/N interrupting him.

"Let's face it, I've got high school hero, life zero written all over me." he said chuckling but when Y/N just glared at him not finding it very funny, he stopped, going back to the point.

"You. You're like a beacon of light guiding me through the darkness. You're like this big gold star, and for some bizarre reason, you chose to let me love you. And... I feel like if I can just convince you to let me keep doing that, I'm going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay."

This was it. He has been practicing this moment for a while now, yet it was like the words couldn't come out fast enough.

"Uh... I opened up my first personal c-credit card to get this." Steve reached his jeans pocket to take out a small, red velvet box.

"I know it's not a swimming pool full of dancers or a tux or...it's not very big, but it's a promise... a promise to keep loving you for the rest of my life. All you've got to do is say yes. Y/N L/N...will you marry me?"

"Oh Steve-"

----------------------------

Later that week...

Y/N was taking her books out when Steve approached her feeling uneasy. The last few days were stressful as hell and Steve still had some unfinished business.

"Okay, it's been exactly 3 days to the minute since I proposed to you, which is the amount of time you said you needed before you'd give me an answer."

Steve hated being that guy. The one that doesn't give you space or the one that is really impatient. Who could blame him though? it wasn't how he imagined the whole thing going down. He didn't even imagine doing it right now until recently...but that wasn't important...

Y/N closed her locker turning to Steve and gave a good thought to her next answer.

"Look, this isn't the kind of decision you can make on a deadline."

"Y/N/N, I understand, you said you needed some time, but... to be perfectly honest not hearing a decision's kind of bummin' me out."

Y/N got closer and took Steve's hands, gently squeezing them to give him a little reassurance.

"No. Look...I love you, okay? And... I want to marry you someday, and... I'm open to anything. This is all just happening so fast, and I don't understand it. I mean, I... I need you to help me understand."

Steve sighed. He knew Y/N was being fair and she was right, an explanation was in order.

"Okay, well, even if you don't get into NYU, you're still gonna go to New York."

"Yes, and I want you to come with me."

"And I will, but... we're crazy if we think that it's gonna be easier to be a couple there than it is here. My point is that those rings are-are...will always be a reminder of exactly how we feel right now. They're gonna let us take a piece of our little world into the big city."

Y/N eyes soften, she could see Steve was projecting his insecurities. "Look, that's really romantic, but I have to be honest—this all just sounds really crazy to me, okay? I don't need to marry you to keep from straying—you're the only guy for me. Okay, I guess...my answer for now is…"

"No, no, don't...don't say anything. You're right, we shouldn't make this kind of a decision on a deadline. Just, uh...take a couple more days, okay?"

-------------------------------

Next day...

Y/N knew it was a crazy idea. Getting married at eighteen? She always pictured herself traveling, getting out of Hawkins, but the more she thought about it, all those things? she pictured Steve by her side. She knew sooner or later they would get married. She couldn't imagine loving anyone else the way she loves Steve Harrington. So... i guess that answered the question.

She asked Steve to meet her at Lover's lake, the place where they first said their i love you's to each other.

Steve saw Y/N playing with her fingers while she waited for him, that made him even more nervous...had he fucked up? Was it too soon? What would happen next if she said no?

"Hey..." Steve said while sitting across from Y/N to see her face properly.

Y/N sighed, preparing herself for the next words that would come out of her mouth.

"You're the love of my life. And...I may not get to have it all, but...I'll have what matters the most if we're together. "

Steve's eyes widen. "Is that a...?"

"Yes." Y/N couldn't help but chuckle. She was truly happy.

"Yes?" Steve couldn't believe it, was his mind playing tricks on him? He needed to hear it again.

"Yes, I will marry you."

"Got to get the ring here." Steve hands were shaking in excitement while he took the ring out of his jacket because of course he would carry it everywhere.

-----------------------

Next week....

Steve talked to Dustin, told him about asking Y/N to marry him and he didn't take the news as he hoped. Don't get me wrong, Dustin loved Y/N like a sister but he thought Steve was taking the easy way out. Following his girlfriend, now fiancé around the world without doing anything for himself.

This made Steve question everything, well almost everything. He knew he still wanted to marry Y/N but New York? Was that actually his dream?

So...with Steve's confusion he started drifting apart to think about it. Y/N noticed of course and she would do anything to make it work.

That's when Y/N was waiting again for Steve to show, she hoped he would.

And of course he did.

"I got your note. Anyone who's engaged to me should come to the gymnasium. You could've just ask for me."

Y/N smiled shyly. "Yeah, but I wasn't sure if we were speaking. I miss you."

"I miss you, too." he said getting closer so he could hold her.

He needed that and so did she. Badly.

"Now I feel like I'm finally reentering my body." Y/N sighed with content.

"I really don't like not talking to you. I mean, nothing feels real unless you're there to tell it to. I never realized how much time we spent talking." Steve said while cupping Y/N's face.

"I've been thinking, and if you don't want to go to New York, then we don't have to." Y/N mentioned without hesitation.

Steve took a step back for a moment. "Wh... Wh... That's crazy. I don't want to stand in the way of your dreams."

Y/N reached for Steve hand. "Look, the only reason why we've been focusing on my dreams is because we haven't taken the time to look into yours. What if your dreams are bigger than mine?"

That made Steve chuckle, he found it really ironic. "I don't think that's going to be a problem. I mean, I did one of those quizzes that was supposed to tell you what job you'd be good at, and my results were competitive eating champion."

Y/N felt sadness, sad that Steve didn't see how special he is. She wished he could see himself in her eyes. So she prepared herself for another speech.

"Okay, sit down. My whole life, I felt like I was in the wrong place. Like I was just some alien, an-and... no one understood me. But all I had to do was just go to New York and then everything would be fine. But I was wrong. My home isn't some place, it's... someone. It's you. Of course, I want us to go to New York, and... maybe we will. But not until we give your dreams an equal shot."

Steve's eyes were becoming cloudy while giving Y/N a tiny smile. "You love me that much?"

"Are you just figuring that out now?"

--------------------

Y/N and Steve were looking at college and jobs options trying to figure out what would make Steve happy, what he wanted to do with his life.

He smiled and nodded, acting like he was interested but the truth was he didn't imagine himself in any of those places yet he didn't have the heart to tell Y/N, he couldn't bare to disappoint her. Which he could never do but he didn't really believe that.

Steve entered his house to see Robin sitting in the living room. One would think that's weird but she basically lived there by now.

"Come with me." Robin said to Steve.

She took some papers from her bag, the college papers he had thrown away earlier that day.

"What, are you going through the garbage now?"

"Oh, come on. I know you were just humoring us in there. I could see it in your face. So I followed you out."

"What was I supposed to say, Robin? S-Sorry, I'd rather puke than spend a minute in any of those places? Right in front of Y/N, with... a big smile on her face, all proud of me?" Steve got defensive.

"She just wants what's best for you." Robin said as a matter of factly, she hated seeing Steve giving up.

"Yeah, she does. Until she realizes her fiancé is a total loser."

Robin narrowed her eyes in annoyance. How could he be so oblivious? "Is that what you're scared of?"

"It's the truth. Doesn't anybody understand that maybe the reason I don't know what to do with my life is because I'm not qualified to do anything."

"You just don't know what you want yet."

Steve got up, he couldn't have this conversation again, he had it with his parents, his girlfriend, his best friend who happened to be a pre-teen, now from Robin? Fuck no.

"What I want is for time to stop. Okay? I want it to feel like I'm on the basketball court and the crowd's going nuts! Or I-I want it to feel like I'm fighting some fucked up thing and everybody's counting on me."

"So let's find something out there that gives you that feeling." Robin got up as well. She wasn't about to quit this argument.

"Of being young? Where is it? Show me."

Silence. Complete, utter silence.

Robin sighed taking something else out of her bag. It seemed to be a video tape.

"I want you to watch this for me."

"Look, Rob, I don't really feel like doing any movie lessons right now. I just-"

"I think you know what you want for your life. I think you're just scared to say it out loud. I want you to see what it looks like when someone follows their dream, even though everyone else tells them it's impossible. You can do anything you want to, Steve. It's not the broken dreams that break us. It's the ones we didn't dare to dream."

Robin left the tape on the coffee table and exit Steve's house. He should watch this movie alone.

"(Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" playing over TV)"

--------------------------

Steve was playing basketball in his backyard, practicing for tonight's game, when Y/N showed from behind.

"That was amazing! You're definitely gonna win."

"I already did. But look, there's more. I figured out what I'm gonna do next year. Can we sit down?"

Shit, thought Y/N. Was he about to break up with her?

"Oh, why am I nervous?"

Steve smiled. "Don't be nervous. Robin made me watch Saturday Night Fever. It was really good, and I realized I'm a lot like Tony Manero. Except for the whole being-able-to-dance thing. When I saw that movie, I realized the way that Tony took on the world... I want to do that, too. I want to move to New York. Like Tony. Like you. I want to live in New York City with you."

Y/N gasped. "Really, are you serious?!"

Steve couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Yeah. Just... there's more. Just wait. Uh, what was that acting show, on Bravo, with the swear words and the cool dude you made me watch?"

"James Lipton."

"Yeah. I applied to his school. I want to go to Inside the Actors' Studio.

"It's... It's just The Actors' Studio, but that's great! It's a perfect, perfect fit for you." Y/N smiled. Steve becoming an actor? She could definitely see that.

But Y/N couldn't help but wonder...

"You just, you know, you can't... do this for me, right? It has to be for you. It's too much pressure for me to handle."

Steve locked his arms with Y/N's. "It is for you, but it's also what I want. It's my dream. I want to be an actor. I guess I was always afraid to admit it because I was scared of failing, but I'm not scared anymore...'cause of you. I want to be a great man for you, Y/N/N. And I want to see myself the way you see me; as though I'm capable of anything. Dreaming big. I love you so much...and you deserve that."

Y/N felt this warm feeling enter her body, something only Steve could do.

"You're my hero; you know that, right?"

"You're mine."

-----------------------

Three weeks later...

Steve wasn't accepted to The Actors' Studio. Which meant Y/N had a lot of thinking to do...

Y/N was getting ready with the help of Nancy, her best friend.

"I can't bring Steve to New York." Y/N said in an almost whisper-like voice.

"What? Why?" Nancy was truly confused.

"He'll be reminded of his rejection every day. So I've decided. I'm deferring my acceptance to NYU for a year and guarantee we'll go there together next year. I'm actually thankful for this whole mess. I'm so glad something has made me come to my senses."

Nancy wasn't convinced but Y/N seemed to have made up her mind already and who was she to judge?

"Come on, you're going to be late to your own wedding."

---------------------------

Y/N got in Steve's car. Their parents weren't really on board with the marriage idea, so they decided to have a ceremony just the two of them and... well the party of course.

"Hi." said Steve with no real emotion in his voice but Y/N let it slide, not thinking much of it.

"Hi. Okay, so you have my dress and my shoes, and I have my makeup and my epic love for you. Let's get married." she said with a genuine smile.

"Okay." that's all Steve could say as he drove away.

"My parents are still being kind of weird about the wedding. I brought it up last night and they were really quiet, but it's fine." said Y/N like it didn't affect her, the fact that her parents didn't support her on this big day.

Steve made a right turn that threw Y/N off... was he taking a short cut?

"Are you sure that we're going the right way?"

Silence.

"We're here." Steve said after stopping at a train station.

"Are you joking? 'Cause it's not funny. We're gonna be late." said Y/N with a frown on her face.

"You're on the 4:25 to New York. Your parents are gonna meet you there and they're gonna help you look at dorms at the new school. You're gonna spend four years of your life there and you've never even set foot in the place, so…"

Y/N was confused to say the least.

"But I... I have all year to go and look at it."

"You're gonna go there in the fall. All right? You're not deferring. We're not getting married."

Heartbreak.

"You don't want to marry me?" said Y/N with the saddest expression Steve had ever seen on her.

"I want to marry you so badly I can't go through with it. The thought of you being stuck here for another year because of me, it makes me sick."

"Then come with me. Okay? We can get married in New York and live in a little shoebox apartment together. It'll be romantic." Y/N was trying to make this work. She couldn't lose Steve.

"Do you love me?" Steve asked, plain and simple.

"Of course I do."

"Then tell me the truth and not just something you think I want to hear. Are you 100% sure you want to marry me?" Again, Steve couldn't have said all of this with a more serious expression.

"N-No-no one is 100% sure of anything." Deep down Y/N was still thinking eighteen was too young but... this was Steve, Steve the love of her life.

Steve looked deep into her eyes. "I am. I am that sure you're something special. That this is just the beginning for you. Okay? That you're gonna do amazing things. But to get there, you have to have these experiences on your own…"

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute." Y/N started panicking.

"Listen to me. You've got to have these experiences on your own."

"Wait a minute." Was this really happening?

"I can't to be there with you."

"Wait a minute. Are you breaking up with me?" Y/N voice broke.

"I'm setting you free." and there it was.

"Oh, my God." Y/N couldn't breathe properly, it was like someone was choking the life out of her.

"Look, d-do you know how hard this is for me? How many times have I've cried about this?" Steve face was getting red from all the emotion, tears were forming in too.

"No, I'm not going. I'm not going, not without you." Y/N wouldn't give up. She would never give up on Steve.

"You don't have a choice; I can't come with you."

"Well, then I'll stay here! I'll go wherever it is that you're going!" Y/N felt like begging right now. A life without Steve? That sounded like literal hell.

"Fort Benning, Georgia? Look, I-I need a chance to try and redeem myself, okay?"

That's when something clicked in Y/N's mind.

"I-I... Oh, my God! Oh, my God, wait a minute. You're joining the Army? Are you insane?! I can't believe that this is happening right now."

"It's also one of the places I knew you couldn't follow me. Look, you're-you're gonna get on that train. Okay? And you're gonna go to New York, and you're gonna be a star. Without me. That's how much I love you. You know what we're gonna do? Surrender. I know how hard that is for you because of how hard you hold on to stuff. But-but we're just gonna, we're gonna sit here and we're just gonna let go. Okay, and-and let the universe do it's thing. And if we're meant to be together, then we're gonna be together. Whether it's in a little shoebox apartment in New York or on the other side of the world. Okay? Will you do that with me? Will you surrender?" Steve said while trying to keep the tears out of Y/N's face.

Y/N felt numb by now. "I love you so much."

"I love you."

THE END <3 thinking about pt. 2....?