noonesnothing

[nohoney]

imagine: you just had a nasty breakup and you decide to take a break from serious dating and have a hot girl summer for yourself. just sex zero commitments fuck as many people as you want. the problem arises when the first guy you end up fucking, bakugou, is so good so you decide to keep him on as a fuck buddy while you continue looking for future conquests.

little do you know that bakugou fell head over heels for you after that first night together and now he’s doing everything within his power to get you to fall in love with him, that is everything short of actually telling you his feelings because he’s so emotionally constipated and damn near bites your head off when you playfully joke that he might have a crush on you.

oh my god oh my god (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)

bakugou tries to keep his cool so bad, doesn’t ask questions or doesn’t want to think about how you’re still out there seeing other people aside from him. he feels a little ridiculous that it seems to be a one sided thing—he’s got your contact pinned to the top of his text inbox, he keeps toiletries of your preference in his home, and hell he gave you his passwords for two of the streaming services he pays for!

it’s all shit that he thinks screams i fucking like you!

and yet he can’t muster up the actual words to say it out loud. because you don’t want to be tied down, you want to experience being single after your shit break up, and you don’t trust any person right now to handle your heart after what you’ve been through.

bakugou respects all that, but he really really wants you and you’re the only one he wants to be seeing. he’s so damn stupid though because you joked one time about him having some feels for you and he was too quick to snap at you.

“this is only for fun, that’s it.” he reacts instinctively even though he knew he should have said otherwise in that moment. and there was no awkward silence or weird look with how fast he reacted to your joke. only a laugh and an agreeing nod as you dipped a strawberry into a little bowl of nutella he had ready for you as a post sex snack.

“yeah, i’m sooo grateful that you’re my number one right now. can’t believe how lucky i was to get you on the first try!”

number one on your roster, it’s a title that bakugou is happy to have and also hates it at the same time. there’s others after him, numbers two to four or maybe you’ve got eight people on your list—fuck!!!

it drives him crazy!

he doesn’t want to drive you off with these stupid feelings, and he’s especially smug when you text him about some date that had pissed you off beforehand and that you’re heading over to his place. he hopes that the sex he gives you is so good that it’s enough for you to reconsider just making him your only fuck buddy. he quite literally prays on the downfall of your dating life so that he’s the only one around.

so for now he settles with letting you sleep in his bed when he fucks you too hard, hoping that the breakfast he makes you in the morning screams the message i can be your boyfriend.

[grub-hut]

I don't use Tiktok, never will, In my opinion I think the app should shut down. [ But that will never happen... So I will cope.] But god are ya'll are insufferable on there. The fact you have this strong par asocial attachment to Sebastian and claim that Zerum is ""ruining the character"" is just blasphemy and shows you guys know nothing to zero about writing and do not play the game whats so ever. I've talked to Zerum; Ive talked to the devs and mods ; and all the false claims and misinformation that's being spread like a wildfire IS CRAZY. Everyone's so exhausted. It takes just a couple of minutes to prove it's false but that would actually require these people to literally sit down and fucking read. Zerum never banned anybody. Zerum doesn't handle the bans in the server. If you got banned or muted, it was most likely the automod in the server that they have implemented to avoid people saying anything weird or sexual... [ A friend of mine got muted because they sent a gif that had a weird name to it; nothing related to the gif, the gif was fine and they filed a ticket and got unmuted. Its just the bot doing its job.] and even then the mods probably banned you for something completely unrelated...

and even then, can we STOP normalizing this??

Like this GRINDS my gears, it fucking rusts, it makes me want to break down and combust into flames- Stop. Stop. YOU ARE THE ISSUE. Creators want to create. Either for ourselves or for others, whatever it maybe people enjoy letting their creativity flow because ITS FUN. IT SHOULD BE--- FUN!!! We are giving you literally something free and something to ENJOY because we enjoy it just as much! This stupid fucking mindset being so normalized makes me SO SICK. " whatever is put on the internet is free reign!" you guys have ZERO respect for any creator; even yourselves and its so BLATANTLY OBVIOUS. You guys preach about "respecting artists/creators" till it doesnt fit with your agenda, because we should just "expect" our works to be disrespected and used. Like our feelings never mattered. Are we going to ignore the discussion of AI art too? Or copyright, or literally anything of that sort here? Yes, its the internet, there WILL be people who are so drastically cruel and do something you will not like. I do agree its best to ignore those kinds of people but that does not mean we should just LET it happen. It does not mean we should suck it up and take the blows. This is how people stop creating, youre killing artists, youre shunning them away because "its the internet, lol, dont get mad if ppl -" Stop it, you're teaching younger generations that it does not matter if you have boundaries or not and that your voice doesnt mean anything. I mean fuck, you put your oc here I can use it however I want then! Because you shouldve expected the moment you click post for other people to use it! Who cares right?! its OUR oc now >:)!!! No matter what the character is from, by a indie game, a comic, a book, yadda yadda. If youre gonna be scum, you are gonna BE scum. Artists should be respected and be listened to. If Zerum ships her oc to her oc, so fucking what? She created him. YES. SHE CREATED HIM. Just because she is a """co-owner" You forget she wrote and designed him. You forget its STILL HER CHARACTER. WHICH BTW, HE WOULDNT EXIST IF IT WASNT FOR ZERUM!! ITS HER CHARACTER- Not yours, and if your first thing that comes to mind " oh but shes ruining her character" then so what, its not MADE for you. Hell, Sebastian is only like 1% of the whole entire game! ENJOY THE GAME, ENJOY THE ACTUAL LORE. MAKE YOUR OWN OCS, GO WACKY WOOHOO AND ENJOY IT WITH OTHERS. If you make headcanons for Sebastian or any other characters! Great! As long as you are respectful who literally cares. HAVE FUN! Stop harassing and bullying and literally spreading misinfo; I am so sick of people with this mindset! This is why the internet is such a shit place to begin with because we just let this stuff happen. Grow up! Like PAInter said.." YOURE NO FUN AT ALL!"

[necrotic-nephilim]

this is an invitation to ramble about slade/batboy ships: sladick, sladejay, sladetim, sladedami, and other batfam member/villain ships, especially jayroman and ra'stim :)

AAAAAA this is so delightful oh my god thank you. adding a read more just because this one is going to get Long to cover all the ships and all my opinions. because my god do i love Slade.

firstly, the original Robin/villain ship, SlaDick. Slade Wilson, literally created to be a Teen Titans villains, with the original Robin he cannot be normal about ever. i'm so sad there's not much interest in Slade aside from making him a generic Evil Guy who canonically likes teenagers because i think to just boil down his complex with Dick to 'weird attraction' robs them of SUCH nuance. Slade *trusts* Dick, he trusts Dick enough to ask Dick to train his own daughter Rose. and initially Slade's complex over Dick isn't sexual, it's seeing Dick as a replacement for his dead son, Grant. that's messy as hell and i love them for it. i don't think there's a single villain that has the respect for Dick that Slade has. i'm always of the opinion Dick's attraction to Slade is rooted in daddy issues and Slade's attraction to Dick is rooted in dead son issues. do i think they could end up as an old married couple? yes but only in a world where Dick is completely broken and feels alone. my favorite SlaDick flavor is post-Jason's death. Dick and Bruce are arguably at their worst during that era to begin with so Dick is pretty isolated and emotionally unstable. and Slade would take such advantage of that, swooping in to offer Dick emotional stability and fucked up sex to get out pent up emotions. (i'm big a big fan of Dick fucking out his feelings tbh) and Slade is just. this sort of bad habit Dick will kick for a year or two then come crawling back to. you can directly track how well Bruce and Dick are getting along based on how many times Dick has slept with Slade recently. and that's the prize, for Slade. knowing Dick will come back to him, eventually. it's all about patience. and if something really extreme happened to Dick (like Bruce's fake death) i think they'd even date briefly. it's not entirely impossible for Dick to date someone he disagrees with morally (see: his flings with Helena) and i think Dick would keep trying to 'save' Slade, using the upper hand he has of filling in this role of Slade's dead son to try to domesticate him. would it work? who knows but if anyone is going to try over and over, it's going to be Dick. it's practically self-harm for Dick yet the only thing keeping him sane. i love them.

SladeJay is... an interesting one for me. because i like the *potential*. but they have no significant interactions pre-Flashpoint. and while usually i can forgive New-52 and Rebirth for their grievances if it has ship fodder i just... can't do that for Jason. Judd Winick's Jason is the only Jason that exists to me so even Slade and Jason's canon interactions matter little to me because it's not the version of Jason i care for. the upside of that though, is it's more of a sandbox to explore what they could be and there are no limitations. i can just run wild. which is fun bc. you're telling me Slade wouldn't be so drawn in by the idea of a dead Robin who's come back and is now the antithesis of Bruce's morality? i think at some point Slade would want to poke the bear, really see what Red Hood is made of. do i see them working long-term? no but i do think Jason would have zero qualms working with Slade if he got something out of it. and if he could fuck with Bruce or Dick by having a short, fucked up relationship with Slade? that's even better. i don't think Slade could ever truly respect Jason, at the end of the day the Dick Grayson standard is too high and Slade would sneer at the idea of a legacy who fucked it up so bad he got blown up. but, he'd see that as Bruce's failure more than Jason's. and for Jason to have someone look him in the eye and say that Bruce *failed* him? i think that'd just *do* something to Jason. and Slade has lost a son, he knows what that loss feels like, how you feel you failed as a father. would he have interest in being fatherly to Jason? no but i think he'd have fun momentarily manipulating Jason and seeing what reactions he gets out of what jeers. Jason's been calling himself a failure this whole time, so to have someone else say it is no real big deal, but to have someone else say it's Bruce's fault and voice Jason's feelings? they'd have the most fucked up sex with the most unhealthy dirty talk that's both gentle and degrading. i don't think Jason would ever let himself get too close, he's far too emotionally guarded. but for a second, i think he'd fantasize about having even *half* the amount of attention that Slade gives Dick. bc what has Jason always been, but in Dick's shadow.

SladeTim. my two blorbos. in one place. somewhere in my drafts i have a half-started longfic about SladeTim that's one half really fucked up porn and one half slowburn feelings. arguably Tim and Slade don't have many canon interactions, but it's fun to me that when they do, Slade always seems sort of startled by how well Tim fights back and Tim's willingness to fight dirty in a way even Dick doesn't. and to me, that's the crux of this ship. as far as Robins go, Tim should sort of slip under the radar for Slade. he's not the dead one turned villain, he's not the grandson of Ra's al Ghul, hell he's not even the child of a second-rate villain like Steph, he's not *the* Dick Grayson, he's just... the other one. grew up pretty rich and normal and fell for all of Bruce's wax poetic nonsense. so when Tim puts himself on the map as a hero, makes himself a worthy opponent against Slade that's interesting. even to Tim, Slade isn't a particularly remarkable villain since Slade cares to stay more on Dick's radar. so when they cross paths there's a lot of unexpected. neither of them have thought about the other too hard. so there's this interest and intrigue about it i love. i'm a big fan of the idea Tim is a massive masochist, both physically and emotionally and Slade is The Sadist Ever so. i like them falling into bed together and having the most fucked up sex. like Tim just being a Weird Little Freak so fucked up even Slade raises an eyebrow. because this isn't what you *expect* of a kid like Tim, who's had a pretty easy life before tangling with vigilantes. he should be like a fish out of water, but instead he's matching Slade's energy in ways even Dick doesn't. and of course, how smart he is, that's an asset. it takes a special kind of kid to have the audacity to poison Lady Shiva with hotel chocolates and pull it *off* no less. it earns a begrudging respect, and it's rare to get Slade to respect someone. i really like the idea of Tim seeking Slade out only for fucked up sex and somehow Slade falls for this weird little freak who's cold and clinical outside of sex and keeps him guessing.

i'll be honest i've only considered SladeDami in the context of seeing antis say 'omg Slade has been predatory toward Damian ewww' and going 'no the fuck he hasn't but if you want that so bad i'll ship it just to spite you all' but their canon interactions do fascinate me. a lot of how they interact is predicated on Slade as a father, even more so than SlaDick. like Slade will fight Damian and then be like 'hey be good to your old man fathers need their sons' and fucking dip. and then with the whole Respawn thing and Shadow War? that was extra crunchy. for a brief moment Slade had a son who was a brother to Damian and then he goes and *dies*? talk about the complex that would give him with Damian, the spitting image of Respawn. Make Slade Weird About Batkids That Remind Him of His Son 2024. Damian holds an utter contempt for Slade that is simply unmatched. so Slade not leaving that kid alone because of his weird issues, making sure that Bruce doesn't screw up with Damian the way he screwed up with Respawn is very fun. and Damian slowly building up a tolerance to Slade's annoying antics could be fun. Damian is, at his core, still just a kid who needs the approval of something father-shaped and he will Take What He Can Get. are they ever healthy or long lasting? no but i do think Damian would cling to Slade during his teen years for something incredibly fucked up and codependent until either Slade dumped him or he forced himself to get over it.

JayRoman. i will not lie love these two but i don't think i've read many Black Mask comics when he's not interacting with Jason. which is funny because my entire conception of Roman is him just getting humiliated by Jason and really what more is there to know about the man. Jason is so unserious in how he handles Roman and the best part is you can tell it's truly because he doesn't see Roman as a threat. Roman's just a pawn in the game of getting Bruce's attention and sure, Jason is aiming to kill Roman by the end of it, but he'll always have bigger fish to fry. and that's so *infuriating* for Roman. this new guy who's *clearly* a fucking teenager shows up, owns you so badly it shatters your empire, and then you only live bc he seems to have gotten bored of you. JayRoman is my particular favorite ship for the flavor of 'the sub in bed is in control of every other aspect of their relationship and their submission is a gift that can be revoked at any time' which we don't get enough. fucked up power dynamics always have the sub being the one lacking control. and whilst i enjoy when Roman is able to absolutely control and manipulate Jason through various means, i think in canon, it makes far more sense he's pathetic and begging Jason for even a *chance*. and Jason very specifically picking who he subs for based on someone who he could kill or destroy at the drop of the hat if he needed to is a very Jason thing to do. there will never be trust between these two. they will fuck nasty and Roman will be in love with Jason. but they are both carrying a gun during sex. the gun is probably involved during the sex.

Ra'sTim. my everything. Red Robin (2009) you will always be famous to me. what *don't* they have. forced proximity. enemies to lovers. forced partnership. one-sided obsession. ridiculously large age gap. deep unforgivable betrayal. i will never evacuate these two from my brain dear god. Ra's is another one of those villains who gets painted with one broad stroke of being cartoonishly evil with no exploration of his interesting nuance. making him nothing but a villain is boring. where is the Ra's who loves so deeply and fully and has to lose his loved ones over and over and will not let that happen to Tim. he wants to consume Tim in a 'cannibalism as a metaphor for love but also probably literal cannibalism' way. the amount of trust put in Ra's in order for Tim to be able to betray him as spectacularly as he did? that's glorious. Tim had full unfiltered access to Ra's' computers even when he was advised against trusting Tim so much. and then Tim wins against Ra's and willingly lets Ra's kill him. (obviously Dick saves him, but I'm of the opinion Tim was just committed to dying in that moment and he was Okay With That) 'i will betray you if it's the last thing i do' as an act of love. Tim is to Ra's what Dick is to Slade. you will never convince me Tim and Ra's didn't hatefuck at least once during RR (2009) with a questionable level of consent. i'm so serious i will never shut up about them. the way Tim talks about working with Ra's as if he's making a deal with the devil and Ra's talks about Tim like he's the precious, once in a life time thing, one of the only people worthy to produce an heir for Ra's. how's that not gay. what other ship involved one of them literally trying to have the other's baby to raise as an heir. Ra's would probably carry the baby himself if he could. memes aside they're just so. they're so it. i love when Tim is forced into a Situation where he has to work with Ra's and confronts the darker aspects of himself that Ra's wants to bring out but Tim wants to squash. it is The corruption kink. whether Ra's succeeds or not in corrupting Tim doesn't even matter because the real crux of this ship is the chase. it's the way the heart pounds when they reach out for each other and you don't know if it's for a kiss or a killing blow. it's very Hannigram to me, in that i don't even need or want them to kiss to know they're in love. love to them is not true love's kiss, it's the thoughtful place they decide to stab the other in. be the sheath to my dagger type ship. hold all this bloody violence i know you're capable of inside of you. let me cut the violence out of you ship. what more can you ask for from a ship. Ra's would tie Tim down and torture him both as foreplay and as a love language and Tim would be too fucked up and self-sacrificial to stop him. always playing the dangerous game of how far will the other let them go until someone tries to die or kill. listen i think i lost the plot here but my point is they're unwell about each other. Tim will make Ra's regret the day he met Tim Drake not just for the betrayal but because Ra's can never go back to a time Before Tim. before knowing what the chase felt like. they're so. them.

[komohine]

ok so I totally just scrolled through your entire blog and oh my god?? You actually might be a gift from heaven this has actually made my entire year

I genuinely thought I was the only james lover like ever - most of them just kinda disappeared from the face of the planet after 2020 😞 And JAITH!! Oh my goodness I am a jaith lover (jaith 🔛🔝) and your blog is genuinely just so good for jaith content I am actually set for the next 5 years minimum (I have zero artistic talent or skills so am unable to draw the jaith myself so people like you who are also jaith fans are actually the best thing in existence)

I literally check his ao3 tag DAILY 😭 There are so many cute fics for them (+sm cute fanart) but they’re all so old and I’ve read basically all of them, so seeing new content is a bit of a shock but a very welcome shock cuz woah wdym the jaith/james fandom is actually alive??

(Also I love the mandatory not klance tag on the posts, people mistaking james for lance is always hilarious so the tag makes me giggle lol)

sorry to ask anonymously btw, if I didn’t it’d expose my other blog 😭 (I have one that is non voltron related lmao)

LOLL IM SO GLAD IM COLLECTING ALK THE STILL ALIVE JAMES AND JAITH FANS there needs to be more of us (who dont also ship sheith lol) 😭

James is way over hated in the fandom (i didnt find this out till like yesterday guys why am i chronically like a decade late to fandom this happened with hetalia too note that i no longer am in the hetalia fandom i fucking hate hetalia) so ive taken it upon myself to contextualize his actions to make him more understandable and more of an actual character lol

Also small rant… ppl wishing he got killed off bcs of a few comments he made when he was like 14 years old at most? Bffr 😭 wishing for the death of a character for things they said as an angsty 14 year old vs claiming a literal geneva convention violator’s “redemption arc” was “ruined” is kind of insane lmfao (sorry lotor likers i dont fw him 😞) like come on guys. Also its very clear how much he’s changed like of all the characters in the show i would argue his redemption arc was the most effective. He was shown to be golden boy, super respectful of chain of command and a stickler for rules. So for him to go out of his way to disobey direct orders, break the rules, and not only put his life on the line but the lives of 3 others and possibly more to sneak Hunk to see his family, is actually like insane. Even if you disregard my jaith headcanons, the fact he would do that for hunk (and by extension, keith) is more than enough of a redemption arc imo.

Tldr james is my oc now ppl need to stop bullying him

[warmaidensrevenge]

Like magnets

Pairings: Eddie Munson x Fem!plus size reader

If you want to read my other work you can find it HERE

A/N: Hello there. Welcome back. This is just a one shot I had on my brain. Something a little smutty. I hope you like it. As always feedback is greatly appreciated. Feel free to comment/reblog. I am always open for suggestions on any fic I write. Okay let's give it a go. Love ya byyyyyeeee.

I do not give permission for my work to be posted anywhere else. Please respect all creators. Also, all pictures used are from a Google search. So a credit to the original posters.

Word count: 5,600+

Warnings: 18+ no minors please. Alcohol use, sexual situations, language, slight angst, light hurt/comfort, miscommunication and not proof read.

Summary: What a handsome stranger Eddie Munson is. Is it a bad thing to want him in ways you are scared to say out loud? Only time will tell.

It was weird how things started with Eddie Munson. But weird was what you needed.

Being in a new town, with zero family or friends was nerve wreaking. Still, you needed the change.

You were always a free spirit. Or at least tried to be. Trying new foods and exploring. Going on little excursions to waterfalls or experiencing the hidden gems across America was the best way to spend a life.

However, it was time to settle down and find a job.

To be honest, you never even heard of Hawkins. But somehow you found yourself there.

You had been in this cute small town for a good two months now. You had started work as a waitress at Benny's a month prior. Sure, it wasn't something you planned on doing forever. But the tips were really good.

Moving on to the night you met a handsome stranger.

You were invited out for drinks with a couple of coworkers. With no plans other than watching a movie, you went.

You drove to this tiny bar in the middle of nowhere around 10pm. You rummaged the back seat for something other than your uniform to wear. But to no avail. You gave up after a few minutes and sprayed yourself with body spray. You applied some watermelon lip gloss and unraveled your hair.

" It will have to do." You said before heading in.

It was pretty dark inside and there was a live band setting up. Not really paying attention to the guys on stage you searched for your coworkers. When you saw them you waved and went over.

You were two drinks in when the band started playing Hysteria by Def Leppard.

You gasped. " Oh my God! I love Def Leppard."

And for the first time you actually looked at the stage. Your eyes immediately locked with the lead guitarist. He. 👏Was. 👏Magnificent. Quite literally taking your breath away. So much so that you averted your gaze to see if it was you he was actually looking at. When you looked back he was grinning and still staring. With the sudden nervousness and shyness filling you, you turned around.

Calm down. Calm down.

It was then you had decided to stop drinking. You need an hour to sober up so you could drive home. You also needed to step outside and cool down. Because you had already started sweating buckets. He made you feel hot as hell.

Deanna, one of your coworkers went outside to smoke. So you followed her.

About 15 odd minutes later you were back in the bar and the band was breaking down.

A little disappointed in not seeing the guy with the pretty brown eyes. You sighed and went to the ladies room.

When you came out the guy from earlier was coming out of the men's room. He had a fresh sweat free shirt on and his hair was free from the bun you saw earlier.

He didn't say a word. He didn't need to. Instead he just stopped and grinned. Giving you a wink then looked away.

That's all he needed to do in order to have you back in the ladies room. With the door locked.

He had your ass at the edge of the sink. Fucking a thick 7 inches in you.

You didn't do shit like this. But this guy made you weak and made your core ache.

Heavy breathing, soft moans and grunts filled the air. He felt good. Maybe too good. Either way, he gave you one of the best orgasms you've had in a very long time.

You left the bar that night with a disbelief of what you did. But also with the biggest smile.

…

Next time you saw the guy was at the grocery store.

You quickly turned and apologized. " Oh crap! I-I'm so sorry."

You were shopping for dinner about two weeks after the hook up, when you rounded the corner into another aisle. You froze when you saw him. He was reaching for something on the top shelf. This caused his shirt to ride up a little. You caught a glimpse of his happy trail.

Feeling a bit flustered, you started backing away. Walking right into another customer.

Trying to fight the urge to look up, you lost. And of course this handsome man was staring at you. Then he did it. He smiled and winked.

Next thing you knew, you were face down ass up in the back of a van.

He had been pounding into you for a good 5 minutes before you were close.

What was it about this guy that made you cum so fast? Was it the bedroom eyes? Was it the way he touched you? Or was it the way his cock fit you so perfectly? Honestly, the guy knew how to perform. He wasn't too gentle. But also not brutal. Overall, he was flawless. Everything about him screamed to your core. Making you so happy to see him again.

He came right after you did. Both panting in satisfaction next to each other.

" I'm Eddie by the way."

You avoided his eyes as much as possible. Now feeling the embarrassment of not introducing yourself. Truthfully, it didn't seem necessary when it was supposed to be a one and done type of thing. But then it happened again. Which wasn't a terrible thing. It was just awkward now.

It was a dick thing to do. However, you were very awkward in social situations. Therefore you climbed out of the van and headed to your car.

So you quickly got up and put on your bottoms. Giving him a fake little smile. " It's uhh nice to meet you…ummm I need to go. Thanks. I-I had a wonderful time."

You felt like a piece of shit for not saying your name. And prayed that you never saw him again.

That wasn't the case though.

…

You saw him again during a late shift at Benny's. A group of people came in and sat in your section. You went for drink orders when one said that they were still waiting for two more.

After a couple of minutes you went back and saw the final members. One was this handsome guy with feathery light brown hair. The other was him. You froze for a second when you saw that he was already staring at you. But you took a deep breath and put on a smile.

You opened your order pad. " Hey guys. What can I get you to drink?"

You didn't look at him. But you could feel his eyes and his smile on you.

" Alright, are we ready to order or do you guys need a few more minutes?"

" Uhhh I think we're ready." Said one kid with curly hair.

When it was his turn you finally looked at him. "And what can I get you?"

He put down the menu and gave you a big ass grin. Making all his laugh lines show. " What would the lady recommend?"

You cleared your throat and looked away. Feeling yourself blush. " Umm well…it's not on the menu. But Benny makes this like cowboy burger for me sometimes. It's a quarter pounder patty with cheese and 4 slices of bacon. Topped with onion rings and homemade barbecue sauce. If you want to go the extra mile, I would suggest getting a side of jalapenos and waffle fries…it goes straight to my thighs but it's yum."

You looked back at him and saw that his eyes fell to your thighs. Then slowly went back up to meet yours.

You know exactly what he was thinking. His smirk said it all. And secretly, you wanted the same thing. For him to be between them again.

" That sounds good..." He said looking at your name tagged then back to you. "Y/n... I'll have that. Your way please."

You gulped and nodded.

A few others ordered the same thing after that. You went to put in their order and took a breather. This guy shouldn't have affected you like this. But he did. Something about him drew you in. And now he knew your name. He said so seductively that he had you weak again.

I wonder what it would sound like when he moans it.

You shook the need to jump his bones and went to start drinks. While making a shake you heard your name being called. You turned and he was standing by the counter.

God I can't with him.

You put on a small smile. " Hi. Umm what can I do for you?"

" I uhh I just wanted to say that ummm well…" he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. " I'm really happy to see you again."

Your eyes got a little bigger and your cheeks felt hot. Really?

" It's nice to see you too…umm about the other day…I'm sorry for not introducing myself. It was rude of-"

He let out a small chuckle. " Hey don't worry about it. I know that uhhh it was…a little weird."

You bit your lip and nodded. After that it was quiet for a minute.

" So how about we start over." He said, holding out his hand. " I'm Eddie Munson."

You felt yourself blush. " I'm y/n y/l. It's nice to meet you."

You guys shook hands.

" Well I'll let you get back to it."

You smiled at him again. But when he didn't let go of your hand, you knew what would happen tonight. And who were you to say no to an orgasm? Especially when Eddie was the one to give it to you.

Later that night while you and Benny closed up, you noticed there were still a few cars in the parking lot. You headed to yours and saw Eddie talking to his friend with the feathery hair. Your eyes locked and he winked at you.

You laughed to yourself and got into the car. Reaching for the passenger side lock. A minute later Eddie climbed in.

" Hey."

" Hey."

You both had silly grins on your face as you drove to his place.

How was it that you lived here for about three months and never noticed him? Especially since you guys lived in the same place. Your trailer was on the other side of the lot. But still. He wasn't that far from you.

Soon you found yourself being led to his room.

" It's not much but it's home."

You sat on the bed and looked around the room. It was most definitely a guys room. " I like it. It's bigger than mine."

He took off his jacket and sat next to you. " You live in a small apartment?"

" A small trailer." You answered.

" Wait, you live here too? How long?"

You moved your eyes to him then to your lap. " about three months."

" Huh…small world."

You smiled a little. " Really small."

" Well I'm glad it is." He smirked. "Do you want a beer or something?"

You looked at him. " A beer sounds great. Umm may I use your bathroom?"

" Yeah. First door on the left."

Once you were in the bathroom you quickly went pee and made sure you didn't smell all sweaty. Then you sprayed some body spray on your chest, butt and between your legs. While fanning yourself a little, you thought of a way to move things along.

When you walked out Eddie was putting on music. He must have thought the same thing you were thinking because his shirt was off and he was in sweatpants now.

This was the first time you've seen him without a shirt. And God was he perfect. Not too skinny and not too muscular.

He turned around and looked you up and down. Surprised to see you in just a shirt. You went to him and pushed him down onto the bed. After, you started kissing his jaw all the way down to his little happy trail. Then as you gently palmed his growing length you looked up. He was staring again. Only this time he was giving you his bedroom eyes.

You stood up and licked your lips. " Take those off."

He immediately went to push his bottoms. Once they were off you got comfy in his lap. Slowly rubbing your sex's together. Spreading your slick all over his shaft.

One of his hands went to take off your shirt after a few swirls of your hips. You abruptly stopped and grabbed it.

He got it instantly and put his hand back on your hip.

"S-sorry."

You shook your head and continued rocking your hips. Soon after, he put on a condom and you guided him in.

He held tight while you rocked back and forth. Swiveling your hips faster and faster to reach that high.

Once you did though you didn't stop. You were being extra selfish and needed another.

Who knew if you guys would hook up again? Going back to self pleasure wasn't looking too good right now. And you wanted him to put all previous orgasms to shame.

Oh boy did he. At one point you were flat on your stomach while he thrusted the ever living fuck out of you. Hitting your cervix at the right angle. Causing you to cry out his name over and over until all you could do was whimper and gasp.

You lost count of how many times you came. But you were more than certain that he came at least 3 times.

…

You woke the next morning completely exhausted and sore. But the night before was worth it.

You sighed softly and opened your eyes. Not expecting to see that you were still in Eddie's trailer. You looked around and found a clock.

Damn it!

You quietly slipped out of bed and tipped toed around trying to find your clothes. Then you heard him groan.

" Mmmmorning beautiful."

"Umm morning. Uhh sorry I-i tried to be quiet."

" It's cool…"

You heard him shuffle around a bit and felt his hands on your hips. Pulling you back into bed.

If you weren't going to be late for work, you would have spent the whole day there. But you couldn't. So you put a hand on his chest.

" S-sorry. I'm supposed to open today."

Eddie sighed and let you go. You finished putting on your shoes and looked at him.

" Umm I'll see you later okay?"

He didn't say anything but nodded.

Right before you left you went to him and gave him a quick peck on the lips without thinking. When you turned around you froze.

Shit!

You then heard him chuckle. " I'll see you soon babes."

Your eyes widened as you waved him goodbye.

The whole drive to work you were freaking out. First off, you woke up in his bed. Second, that was the first actually kiss you two shared and it was shit. Thirdly, he called you babes. Like as in his girl. It was cute. Very cute. But it was way too early to put labels on it.

…

The next few days you took the time your body needed to heal. You treated yourself to a spa day at home on a day off.

You were almost finished with your Mani Pedi when there was a knock on the door.

Yes! Pizza.

Instead of the pizza guy though it was Eddie.

" Hey beautiful."

" H-hi. Umm."

He grinned. " Sorry to drop in. I uhh wanted to see if you were hungry."

You pressed your lips together.

" I-I mean if you're not busy."

You smiled at his nervousness. It was absolutely adorable that he got flustered.

" I actually ordered a pizza. But if you want you could join me. I was just about to play a movie."

He sighed in relief. " I don't want to impose."

You laughed and motioned him to come in.

" Excuse me for a sec."

He nodded.

While hurrying down the hall you caught a glimpse of yourself in a mirror. You had your hair wrapped up in a towel and acne cream all over your face. You could've died from embarrassment. But that was a problem for another time.

You came back out moments later and found Eddie paying the pizza guy. You immediately went for your purse.

"No. No." He said putting the pie down and pulling your hand out of your bag.

" Eddie-"

" Don't worry, beautiful. It's the least I can do for interrupting your day off."

"Are you sure? I-"

He put a hand on your back and pulled you closer to him.

"I'm sure babes."

You blushed and looked down.

How are you this damn sexy?

The night you planned turned out way better than you thought. Eddie was not only amazing in bed. But he was actually funny and sweet. Though nothing happened that night, you enjoyed the time you spent getting to know him better.

He left you wanting more and with a kiss on the cheek.

…

Things didn't progress in the way you wanted them to. It had been two months since you met Eddie. And it seemed like he was into you. However, it also seemed like it was just sex.

You were running errands a week after the surprise visit when you saw him working.

You needed a new air filter for your car and went to the body shop he worked at.

You sneaked around so that he wouldn't see you. You didn't want him to think you were stalking him. So you quickly bought the filter and started for your car.

" Where are you going in such a hurry? Must be super important if you're not gonna say hi?"

Shit!

You turned around and put on a small smile. " H-hey. Sorry. I didn't want to bother you while you're working."

Eddie shook his head. " You could never bother me, beautiful."

He then came over and gave you a nice warm hug. Making everything in you go haywire. His smell was intoxicating and his body felt incredible against you.

When he pulled away you were already missing his arms.

" Whatcha got there?" He asked, pointing at the bag in your hands.

You shook off your need for him and showed him the air filter.

" I can put that in for you." He offered.

" Oh no. I can do it."

He then grabbed the bag and grinned. " I'm just gonna put in some paperwork and I'll do it."

You could have argued. But did you want to? Of course not. You would pretty much do anything to be near him.

So you waited patiently for him. It was about 15 minutes later when he asked you to pull the car into the garage. Once you did he closed the door.

" My boss is leaving early…"

You bit your lip knowing what that meant.

Again you found yourself under him. Only this time you were in the backseat of your car, with your leg perched up on the seat. He was going so deep that your legs were trembling. And like all the times before, it wasn't long before you were cumming.

When you guys were done he just laid down on you.

" Uhhh so…about that air filter…"

You giggled a little. " If this is what you do in addition to changing it. I'll be in twice a week."

He raised his head and grinned at you. " It's a date."

A little after, you guys left. Eddie wanted to come by later. So you hurried home to shower and shave. Hoping to finally have your body nice and hairless for once. Everytime you guys hooked up you were never expecting to hook up. This time though, you were going to be ready.

-

You made some spaghetti and put on The Golden Girls. When Eddie came you practically ran to the door.

" Hey beautiful."

" Hi."

You guys are and snuggled on the couch for a bit. Laughing so much at that banter on the screen. Then out of nowhere Eddie's hand that was rubbing your arm, went under your shirt. Your body instantly tensed up. When he noticed he pulled his hand out.

" Are you okay?"

You sat up and moved to the other side of the couch. " Y-yeah. I'm fine."

Eddie reached for the remote to mute the show. " I'm…I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

You couldn't look at him. You knew if you did, you would probably cry.

" N-no. It's not you…I…umm."

He slid over and grabbed your hand. You took a minute before explaining your insecurities about your not so flat tummy and how you hate your boobs.

" I think you're insane."

Your brows pinched together while you looked at him.

Then he smiled sweetly at you. " You're ridiculously beautiful…and very very sexy."

You scoffed and looked down at your guys hands. Fingers now intertwined. " You haven't seen me completely naked."

Eddie was quick to reply. " And I look forward to the day you let me."

That wasn't a response you were prepared for. And though you were skeptical that would ever happen, a vacation in Florida would change things.

…

It had been five months since the sexual relationship you had with Eddie started.

Was it ever going to be more? You weren't getting any younger. And a committed relationship sounded very good.

In order to see where Eddie's head was at, you had invited him and a mini vacation to the Key West.

The trip started out amazing. The first night you guys had dinner and slept away the jet lag. The second day was spent on a beach and exploring.

On the third and final night things took a step in the right direction.

You guys had gone to the hotel after a night out dancing.

You had just changed and was moisturizing when Eddie stepped out of the bathroom in his boxers. He must have seen you blushing because he immediately crawled on the bed and started kissing your neck. His arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you closer to him.

You softly sighed feeling him suck a light bruise. When he pulled away he looked so beautiful. Eyes all big and lips slightly moistened. He was phenomenal.

With his free hand he lightly massaged your breast. Then hovered lower. Heading for you panties. But before he did he looked at you. Silently asking for permission. He had never done that before and you liked him so much more for it.

" Eddie, before you do that…maybe you could take off my shirt?"

He licked his lips before answering. " Are you sure?"

With a small gulp you nodded.

Once your shirt was off you laid down and lifted your knees. You also closed your eyes so that you wouldn't catch his look of disgust in his. But what he said changed how you felt.

" Sh-shit." He sighed. "Sooo sexy baby."

You met his gaze and saw the desire in his eyes. No one has ever looked at you like that. Especially not someone as good looking as Eddie.

You wanted nothing more than to kiss him. So you raised your hand and with your index finger you did a come here motion.

He smirked and laid between your legs. Face hovering over yours. One of your hands wrapped in his curls and the other held on to his neck. He leaned in and you lifted. If you could explain this kiss, you would describe it as soft and sweet, but yet full of passion. Everything you could imagine and more.

Suddenly he pushed up against your core. Causing you to mewle into his mouth. Right after, the next kiss turned into straight desperation. Both were desperate for each other. Both needed to feel one another.

It was only seconds after that his mouth moved from yours down to your chin. He went lower and lower until he reached your tummy.

You screwed your eyes shut and gripped the sheets. While trying to relax, you felt Eddie kiss all over your stomach. You got anxious again and sucked in a little.

He looked up. " You okay?"

You let out a shuddered. "Uh-huh."

He wasn't convinced by your answer. "I'll stop."

You lifted your head and shook it. "N-no…please don't. I-I want this…I want you."

He nodded but instead of going back to kissing, he took off your panties and kneeled between your thighs.

" All of you is beautiful. And I want to show you how sexy I think you are."

You tugged at your bottom lip and watched him put on a condom. He climbed on top and guided his rock hard cock up and down your folds.

He looked up at you. " Never been this hard for anyone else."

"N-no?"

He shook his head and kissed you. "Ugh. I swear I can't get enough of you."

He started pushing in and though it felt good, feeling his bare belly on yours made you tense up.

" Shush. It's okay. It's all okay. Let me in." He said just above a whisper. Then kissed you until you relaxed.

"That's it. God that's it."

Eddie dragged his cock in and out of you so slowly. It had your skin raised.

You came pretty quickly, but as soon as you did he lifted both of your knees towards your chest. You held onto them while he got to his knees again. He looked you up and down. Settling on your cunt.

" Jesus I swear." He groaned. " I gotta-"

He moved down a little and hunched over. His face only centimeters away from core. You then felt his tongue and heard him hiss.

"Mmmm fuck! Oh sh-...sooo good." He praised.

Once he cleaned you up a bit, he raised back up and grabbed his dick. Slapping it on your very exposed pussy. He then guided himself inside. This time he held the back of your thigh with one hand and rubbing circles on your clit with the other. All the while slamming into you. The hard clap of his thighs hitting your ass bounced off the walls. Along with his grunts and your panting.

You could feel your legs and tummy jiggling, but you didn't care. All you could focus on was how incredible he was making you feel.

And with a loud cry and heavy groan, you and he came together.

You let go of your legs and Eddie slumped down on you. Cursing at how good it was.

You were so tired that you had actually fallen asleep with him still in you. That was until you recoiled at the sensitivity when he pulled out.

" Sorry baby."

You hummed and turned to your side. You heard him sigh and rustle a bit before feeling his arm around your waist. Suddenly, he pulled you closer and snuggled behind you.

You smiled to yourself then fell back asleep

…

In the morning you woke up before him. Feeling extra happy, you went to go get some breakfast for both of you. When you came back Eddie was sitting in bed watching cartoons.

" Hey! I thought you bailed on me again."

You held up coffee and a paper bag filled with breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. "Sorry. Thought you might want breakfast in bed."

He gave you a breath taking smile and held up his arms for you.

You put down the stuff and took off your shoes before going to him. He kissed you deeply and if his stomach hadn't growled, the kissing would have turned into morning sex. Which wasn't a bad idea. But you guys needed to eat and pack.

While you guys ate, Eddie asked you something you were not prepared for.

" Y/n? Ummm since we're going back to the real world…I kinda want to know where you and I stand."

With a mouth full of croissant you looked at him. "Uhhh." You covered your mouth so he wouldn't be grossed out. " What do you think?"

He looked at his coffee cup and shrugged. "I umm we're just having fun. Right?"

You felt a stab you in your heart. How does someone respond to that? Then you thought about last night. Maybe you were too much. Maybe now that he saw all of you, he didn't want you like you wanted him.

You mentally shook away the hurt and faked a smile. " Y-yeah. Totally."

You couldn't even finish your food after that. So you sat there until he was done and started packing.

The whole way home you pretend to be fine. Deep down though you wanted to cry and tell him the truth. To tell him that you sorry for being big.

When you finally got home he tried to give you a kiss but you moved and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

" I'll call you." You said before going inside.

-

Eddie felt like shit. That wasn't what he meant. He didn't think you guys were having "fun" anymore. To him it felt like something real had started.

When he took off your shirt, that meant you were ready to be vulnerable with him. That you were ready to take the next step in the relationship. At least that's what he thought. However, once he said the wrong thing, it was like you didn't want a relationship. And that hurt his feelings.

…

Two weeks had gone by and you hadn't spoken to him. Now that he knew where you lived, you spent as much time as you could not being there.

You felt ashamed of yourself. Embarrassed for developing feelings for a guy who was supposed to be a one night stand. And even more so towards the fact that you let him see you. It had been so long since you let someone see you like that. Now the thing you had with Eddie was over because of it.

You tried talking yourself into moving forward. Though your feelings didn't change for Eddie, you had to try.

By the third week since Florida, you went on a date. It wasn't a big deal or anything. It went okay. Well, okay as first dates go. He was no Eddie though.

When he pulled up to your place, he walked you to the door. You knew what he wanted. But when he leaned in for a kiss you turned your face. He ended up getting your cheek.

He smiled. " Let's do this again soon okay?"

" I'll uhhh I'll call you."

He gave you a hug and you watched him drive away.

" Ouch! Poor guy. He got the 'I'll call you' too."

You looked over and saw Eddie coming towards you.

" H-hey. Are you stalking me now?"

He chuckled. " Maybe. Or maybe I just wanted to see how your date went."

You pressed your lips together and shrugged. "It was nice."

Eddie smirked to himself. " But?"

" But nothing. It was a nice date."

You sighed and went to sit on the steps. He squatted in front of you.

" Can I ask you something?"

You met his eyes and nodded.

" Why didn't you call me?"

"Well ummm." You started then looked away. "I guess I made a mistake. I assumed something. But I know now. I get that I'm not most people's cup of tea. And rejection hurts but I'll get over it."

Eddie jerked his head back. Confused as hell. "What? Who's rejecting you?"

You gulped and looked back at him. " It doesn't matter."

He stood up when you did. Grabbing your hand before you could walk away.

"I didn't reject you. If that's what you think."

You sighed. " Just having fun."

He then let go and put his hands in his pockets. " I-I see."

You gave him a thin lip smile.

" Look y/n. I know how it sounded. But I promise you. That wasn't what-"

"Eddie it's fine. You don't have to explain yourself. It's cool."

He shook his head. " But it's not cool…not talking to you and not seeing you isn't cool."

There was this awkward pause before you had to say something to break the tension.

" Eddie, if you want to be friends then that's fine. But I have to say…I uhh I have feelings for you and I'm gonna need some time-"

" I have feelings for you too."

You pressed your lips again. Only this time it was to stop you from saying something stupid.

Eddie noticed you weren't expecting that and he felt dumb for not saying it sooner.

" I've been feeling this way for a while…when we were in the Keys I wanted to see if you might want more than what we were doing. But it came out wrong. And I'm so sorry that I made you feel rejected. I never meant to hurt you."

You stepped closer to him and cupped his cheek. " Yeah. I would love to go out with you. On one condition."

He climbed a couple of steps to face you. Bodies only inches apart. " I umm I know you just got back from a date. But-"

He smiled. "Anything. I'll do anything."

You stepped even closer so that your bodies were touching. " Stay with me tonight."

His smile turned into a smirk. " I would love to. But uhh I gotta tell you something." He leaned in so that your lips were almost touching. " I'm a virgin."

" Oh my god." You said while playfully pushing away.

He chuckled and pulled you back to him. Giving you a quick kiss before reaching to open the door for you.

" After you beautiful."

You gave him a kiss on the cheek and went in.

Sure you didn't know if it was gonna work out between you and him. But right now you were excited. And you were gonna try and keep him for as long as you could. Little did you know though, Eddie had already planned out your guy's future. He planned on keeping you too.

...

[growling]

Top 10 favourite narcissist moments

parasocial hatred. we never talked and I'm not sure you know I exist but I fucking hate you and hope the worst happens to you

getting so pissed over actual talented people that get like 50+ notes minimum for every art and endless praise from their 100+ followers every damn day whining about how much their art sucks and nobody appreciates them or whatever. like shut the fuck up do you just not know how good you have it or are you just fishing for attention. nevermind i have already decided which one and i decided i want you boiled in a pot

not being able to have a normal one without a constant string of supply aka attention and praise from everyone. every time someone talks to me or compliments my epic art skillz or acknowledges me in any way I get such a high I feel like a literal god and feeling giddy nonstop for the whole day, then it fades i start to feel a bit too ignored these past 2 days and a half and i just feel so empty and terrible and my world is destroyed and i need to hurt something now- oh someone said im cool again nevermind i have been fixed the universe is beautiful my future is bright mentally healthy people want me carnally

having a really fucked relationship with the concept of "unconditional love" everything is conditional what are you talking about. and "love" in general, when i say i'm loveless, whether romantically or platonically, i mean it. that doesn't mean i cannot get attached to people or care about them in some other way, no i am not going to explain it in detail right now

there is zero point in talking to anyone else or getting into any relationships because none of these people could ever be on my level. their thinking is so shallow and stupid and they all behave so predictably and enjoy the most nonsensical of things and it's like everyone just gets something that i don't and they're inferior in every way but it feels like they are out for me specifically because I'm not like them and as soon as they find me out I will never be safe there. It's lonely and terrifying but yeah sure I'm the asshole apparently because I secretly feel superior or whatever. contrary to popular opinion being extremely self-centered is not a positive thing for the guy that has it

not caring about anything that doesn't concern me specifically in any way. it's all "support people with low empathy" until they can't ""make up"" for it with high sympathy or just trying harder or something. Everything bad that ever happens is here just for my entertainment or an annoyance. vents and crying and whatnot make me incredibly uncomfortable or annoyed and i mean i will try to listen (because i am a wonderful kind person) but i will have zero idea on how to respond because thorought the entirety of it i didn't really pay attention and just kinda thought "oh my god stfu i don't careeee when can i leave" while envisioning rain code amvs in my mind. unless you unlock my easter egg that is

only doing nice things for praise and making people love me or just to feel good for being such a great person, and getting incredibly dissapointed and sometimes really pissed whenever they're not grateful enough

wow society is a shitshow i don't respect literally any of you people. i should run away and live away from everybody forever but i need to acquire my riches and fame first which will not be hard whatsoever. the struggle never ends

just. lying all the time. and not being able to tell whether you actually like somebody or their attention.

not seeing other people as people (i know they are, it doesn't change that i still feel they aren't), having to slowly spend enough time talking with them and find out enough information on them in order to start seeing them as an actual person. if i don't know who you are then you just aren't that important in the great scheme of things. and if i do know you and get attached (and maybe you also happen to have traits that make you special and better than others almost like me which makes me like you even more) then I decide you're my person now. not in a weird or entitled way, it's just how many of us show protectiveness and whatnot thanks radiostaticsmile for putting that into words. I do feel a bit of an ownership over people I like, kinda like a cat or dog with their people. i'm really not escaping the kittycat allegations am i. god damn it.

[myxomat0s1s]

Schoolhouse Rankings: Part 2

The 11 Where It Starts To Get Good

Symbol key: ⭐"big one" most popular song of the season 🟩highest ranking song of the season 🟥lowest ranking song of the season ⚡seizure warning! prevalent flashing lights 👍i have an interesting fact to share ✖multiplication rock 🇺🇲america 🖥computer💲money 🖋grammar 🧪science

38. 🇺🇲I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College👍

The 30th anniversary special of Schoolhouse Rock! And it's... alright. Like, I'm not a huge fan, and I can honestly see why it's so commonly put in people's bottom fives. It's a bit tough to pinpoint why it's so middle-of-the-road, but when I think about it, that's because everything's off. The instrumental is good, but the rest is shaky. Jack Sheldon's delivery is stilted and at times offbeat, and you can tell in his voice he's aging. I forgot to mention it in Presidential Minute, and it was especially bad in that song. The animation is also pretty stiff sometimes. The biggest flaw in this song, though, is there's too much going on. There's so many sound effects and prominent characters and random shit going on that it's really muddled. I hear that complaint all the time with Busy Prepositions(more on that later), but I think it's worse here because no one and nothing is really introduced, everything sort of just meanders in a well-meaning but clumsy way. That's not to say this short is devoid of good qualities, though; I find Boothy endearing as fuck. Like, besides Scooter and Mr. Chips, he's the first leading guy I actually really vibe with. I would get him confused with Bill all the time when I was little, which is weird because they're very dissimilar in a lot of aspects, but I knew what was going on as a kid because I liked him then too. He also has a couple of really smoothly animated moments, such as when he pulls the screen back like a curtain with his little hook. I will say, it really does drum up hype for the 30th anniversary, becaue it's big and overwhelming and bloated. Grandiose and indulgent, maybe a little too much so, but still. My last comment is that this song was the only one of the entire series that taught me literally nothing as a kid. It's not like I straight up didn't remember it like Tax Man Max, but I watched it several times and had no damn idea what the electoral college was afterwards. I don't know if that's just because it's a tough concept to explain to children, or if it really did fail to educate, or if I was just a stupid child, but even nowadays I think how they explain it is a little confusing. It really get swept up in the clutteredness of the rest of the song. A whirlwind, for sure.

-Fun fact! This is the only song in Schoolhouse Rock to consistently go over the three minute limit. All Scooter Computer episodes are three minutes minus their intros, and Three Is A Magic Number and My Hero, Zero, while initially being more than three minutes, were cut down due to false information and time constraints respectively. Since this episode wasn't aired on TV, it was able to go over three minutes.

37. 🖋Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs🟥

Very quaint setting, and I enjoy the premise. The adverbs store makes for some elaborate visuals despite the limited color palette. I also enjoy the little interludes between verses where the owners film their TV commercials, very cute. A classic in these aspects, but oh god the chipmunk vocals… I initially didn’t find them too annoying, but they wear horribly quickly. Don’t even care how packed and fun the lyrics are because I just dislike the vocals so damn much. The characters also aren’t too compelling, which holds it back further because I honestly don’t care much for the Lolly family. Finally, I’ve heard lots of people praise the instrumental, but I don’t quite get it, as it’s sort of just the standard Schoolh

-Lowest placement in Grammar Rock

36. 🖋A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing

I heard someone describe this song as "harmless" once, and yeah, that's a good way of summing it up. It's definitely one of the most generic Schoolhouse Rock songs. It does not instill much emotion, but it's definitely not bad! In fact, I think this is where the songs start truly getting good. It's pretty breezy and blows by quick. There's some cool instruments used, like when you can hear kazoo in the Mrs. Jones verse, or a flute in the ferry verse. It's dynamic enough to be praised, but not so dymanic that it's truly standout. Animation is simple, but not great or bad. The characters are okay. Those are both middle of the road. I will say, this is one of Lynn Ahren's best deliveries. I'm not a big fan of most of her songs, or at least most of her deliveries, but I like this more relaxed one from her. She's not pushing herself too hard, and that's good for a song like this. That's really it, it's good, but not great enough to stand out from the crowd.

35. 🧪A Victim of Gravity 🟥👍

This song would probably be higher up if I was a fan of the doo-wop style it goes for. It really does sound nice, don't get me wrong, but this is probably the only song very heavily skewed based on preference. Your mileage may vary. It's a pretty fun animation though! Like, really, I don't have much on this song besides that the greaser guy is fun and the rest is not for me.

-Fun fact! This is the only Schoolhouse Rock song to be primarily sung by a preexisting band- Performed by The Tokens -Lowest placement in Science Rock

34. 💲Walkin' On Wall Street

Another entry from newcomer Money Rock, Walkin’ On Wall Street has a few attributes that are nice, but don’t do too much to set it apart from the crowd. The most obvious thing is the artstyle; I love how experimental they got with the SHR art style in this season, and this is one of the more radical changes that goes over pretty darn well. I like Lester and Leroy, they’rw a fun duo, and the newsboy is fun although mor as iconic as Fireworks’ newsboy. The instrumental is nice and jazzy, and that’s about the end of my praise. Dave Frishburg has a distinct voice when he wants to. In his other song, $7.50 Once a Week, he’s got a nice Bostonian accent that makes the way he stretches his words more interesting, but he supresses not just that, but also a lot of his range. He doesn’t have much of one in his other appearances, but $7.50 had a lot more variety in his tones. Same with instrumentals. Not to compare too much, but it never changes a lot and it’s a little boring when lots of other songs from Money Rock have better style. The style points from the animation are big helps, but it falls a little short sonically, and since that’s what I’m mostly basing this on, this song places lower.

-Lowest placement for Dave Frishburg

33. 🇺🇲The Shot Heard Round the World

I have a love-hate relationship with this song, as in I both love and hate everything it does. Bob Dorough's voice is stern and aggressive at points, which is great for the feel it's going for and the subject, but it makes for some really bland deliveries. The animation is a fun twist on the Schoolhouse Rock style, and I like how the people look, but a lot of really stiff, stilted moments. The instrumental is consistently strong, but there's not enough fluctuation. I'm really hot and cold on this song. On a good day you could see this around the mid twenties, and on a bad day this could be in the bottom ten. I dunno, ask me tomorrow and my ranking will probably change.

32. 🧪The Greatest Show on Earth/The Weather Show ⚡👍

The episode that was almost lost... A.K.A. essentially the precursor for Tax Man Max. It's definitely a more developed version of that Broadway feel, not in style, but actually format. It's divided into a three-act structure, which is a pretty endearing way to structure it. I'm a fan. As for sound, though, it's nothing special really. Instrumental is alright, but I'm not a big fan of Bob Kaliban's voice. Not that it's bad, it's just not great like Dorough's or Sheldon's, or even interesting like Patrick Donovan's or Dave Frishburg's beyond the I'm gonna assume British accent he's got. But the character he's attached to??? So fun. I love the little broadway guy, he's so bouncy and goofy and great... I often see Greatest Show on Earth ranked way down with Tax Man Max, usually right next to it, and a common reason between the two is that no one likes the Weather Show guy or Max. That's one of the only aspects I find consistently stellar between the two. Weather Show guy is so awesome. The ladies he performs with kind of look like fish, though. Not a fan of how they're stylized, but the singers attached to them are serviceable. There's specific sections I really like about this song- the opening and closing segments sandwiching the acts come to mind, but the rest is just okay. Coloring is also pretty good here! It keeps up the respectable trait of Science Rock that is a lack of plain white backgrounds, which I'm glad for. Comparing the various aspects of this song is like a rollercoaster: Lots of highs and lows, but unlike a rollercoaster it's not super exciting.

-Fun fact! This song was pulled from airing during a copyright dispute with the Ringling Bros. over the phrase "The Greatest Show on Earth," a term trademarked for their circus. The episode remained unaired from then until it was changed to remove any mention of the phrase, including the title, which was changed to merely "The Weather Show." I personally listened to the original version for this ranking, though there isn't much difference.

31. 🖋Unpack Your Adjectives

This is a far more chipper tune than Figure Eight, which initially may seem like a negative when you read the feedback I had on Blossom Dearie's ghostly, creepy doll-esque delivery, but she works just as well as a cheery little girl on her way back from a camping trip. Yeah, the premise here is pretty cute, big fan of Molly the camper and her little turtle guy. Love their little camping adventure and how it ties into the way they label everything with adjective signs. I think adjectives, despite them literally being describing words, thus conveying things such as physical traits that'd make the animation easier, are one of the hardest parts of speech to make an entire song around. You can make it, but making it compelling is the thing. Giving a little bite-sized story along with the facts. And this definitely held 4-year-old me's attention. The flute really shines in the instrumental, which is really cool because this song has a strong lightweight feel that goes very well with everything else. And the animation is colored in the watercolor style Elbow Room had, but taken up a notch further; It looks like whiteboard markers at some point. The simple, airy colors finish off this very consistent, overall good song. Cute, but as much praise as I've given it, it's not great, and definitely not my favorite. Dearie's deliveries still aren't as great as they are in Figure Eight, and a few sections such as the section on comparisons fall a little short of the podium. I also would have liked a little more color, as the white patches make the coloring look half-finished.

-Highest placement for Blossom Dearie

30. 🧪Do the Circulation

Great song, don’t get me wrong, but you have to be in the mood for it. This is another touchy one for me, because everything ties into the premise super well. Which is great! I love that it truly embraces the creativity! It's going for a dance craze type thing, hence the title, and it's exactly what you think when you hear it. I'm shocked that the women singing, Joshie Armstead, Mary Sue Berry, and Maeretha Stewart, weren't already performing together before this, because they have great synergy. There's a few times where they harmonize and it doesn't sound great, but for the most part they're pretty great. The song keeps its pace very well, like by the halfway point it barely feels like a minute has passed. Characters are mostly cool too! Though overall the animation is a little plain. It's sort of like A Victim of Gravity, where I'm overall just not the world's biggest fan of this sort of style. There's days where it'll hit hard and I'll listen a couple times, and days where I don't wanna be anywhere near it, so I think near the middle of the list is where I'd average it.

29. 💲Where the Money Goes

The artstyle of this short falls somewhere in the middle of the more faithful Money Rocks and the experimental ones, where it definitely keeps the spirit of old Schoolhouse Rock, but it features a choppier framerate with thinner lineart and chunky shadows/highlights. I'm a fan of it, and I love the dad and his little tuba kid, Red(as confirmed in a design sheet shown off on the DVD!). They're such a fun duo, and the ending where Red can't even fit into the bus with the tuba did get me to chuckle. Since this is about family finances, it takes place in a more domestic setting, but it doesn't utilize that in a particularly outstanding way like, for example, The Tale of Mr. Morton. Rather than focus on details, the backgrounds are simple gradients, which is a little disappointing since this came out after that short. They don't really run away with the subject either, which totally makes sense and isn't really their fault as it's a pretty grounded concept, but it's not very replayable because of that. A good showing from Money rock, but there's better coming up.

28. 🧪Electricity, Electricity ⚡👍

Holy crap is this song a bombshell. This is top 15, possibly top 10 sonically. Zachary Sanders has a hell of a voice, and he doesn’t flex it too much here, but there’s a few little vocal flairs here and there that are so endearing. The delivery of “Turn that generator by any means” still has me closing my eyes and humming contentedly. The recurring utterance of “Electricity, eeee-lec-tri-city!” every ten or so seconds never gets boring no matter how repetitive it is, and it’s such an earworm that no matter how little I used to think about the show, something as simple as flicking on a lightswitch would make the melody buzz around in my head for a bit. It’s sticky in a really stellar way. The instrumental is bouncy and really helps carry things along, and it’s not my fave but a few stray guitar strums keep my ears open. The music does a bangup job of carrying this thing, which is good, because the animation really brings it down… It isn’t too special at first. The main overalls guy and the sheep are cute and kinda funny sometimes, but they aren’t my fave characters. The fatal flaw of this short, however, is the rapid flashing of “ELECTRICITY” onscreen every time the word is said. It isn’t small like in Telegraph Line, or short like Tax Man Max or The Check’s In the Mail, but it takes up the entire screen and can last upwards of four seconds at a time. If you aren’t epileptic, you’ll probably have a headache by the end of it. I know I get one sometimes. I was scared of this short as a kid because of the flashing lights. The fact that maybe a third of this animation is just “ELECTRICITY” in yellow and black flashing at my sensetive little blue eyes is not sliding. Killer short with a killer flaw.

-Fun fact! This song is why I have the epilepsy/eyestrain warning symbol. It was sort of just a booby prize for this song, as the flashing lights were so common and large, the Disney+ version slows down the lights. This happens in most others with the lightning bolt emoji next to them, but those are lesser instances; The slowed lights make the Disney+ version of this song actively worse, as parts are slowed in a way that leaves some animation sequences incomplete. -Lowest placement for Zachary Sanders

[cloud-somersault]

Soul anon here, stalking your blog

I hard agree with you. I dislike so much of how the fandom treats the LMK characters. I don't understand how the fandom loves the show so much and doesn't seem to be able to grasp the characters at all.

Mk isn't written hardly with respect. He's so often reduced to empty air head adhd silly guy when he does have a lot of serious moments or otherwise when it's shown that he is intuitive, intelligent, and has a lot of good instincts.

Macaque is either constantly character bashed or woobified by the fandom, and so many fucking people in the audience fall for the facade he puts up. Like holy shit it's so bad. He's such an interesting character and a joy to watch and people just...seem like they hate him or love him and there's hardly any room for analysis on his motivations and behavior in a way that makes any sense when given full context.

Wukong is like...so loved by the fandom but ALSO is treated with zero respect somehow? Like they think he can't read? And the whole fandom sometimes feels like he can do no wrong when it's shown that he's still making mistakes but he is learning and growing (still! Even after his journey!) And that's a lot of the point to his character too! He's a silly little guy yes, but he's not a baby that the fandom makes him out to be who never does anything wrong. I don't get how he's so beloved by fandom and yet so many fan depictions are so...bad.

And Mei? Oh my god she has such good characterization in the show and so many good moments and yet I can't think of a comic, character analysis or fic where anyone gets her? She's shown to be strong, compassionate and analytical and yet so many people don't bother to let her be any of those things.

(I could keep going. Red Son. Pigsy. Tang. Etc.)

The fandom is small and there's great fanmade art and fic, but it always feels like so many people will get a couple of characters right and then just. Shit on the rest of the characters they don't like. I think it's partially due to that it's a small fandom and lack of people who can view any media with any level of nuance. All that said, it's why I love your fic so much, it feels like you nailed the monkey boys so well.

ohh yeah. there's a lot of younger people in the fandom (not that that's a bad thing but uh) so they're kind of lacking that critical thinking and life experience. not trying to be mean, but that's. literally how growing up works. and y'know, not being able to see the complexity to characters, thinking things are very black and white, etc. It's very frustrating!

MK will always be a great example of this, because the hints of deeper character he has in the show are just outright ignored for funnies and silly haha's for the fandom to enjoy. And Macaque isn't seen for who he truly is. like MK called him out explicitly in the show, and it's like everyone forgot about that. Like all it took for Macaque to drop his facade was someone looking at him for who he is and understanding him. and saying that...who he is okay.

it's just really sad because. you know it's a writing technique/literary device to put these sprinkles of character in, especially when you're working on a show that runs so short. that means every instance of dialogue matters. it's intentional. if they had more time, they could be more forthcoming with this stuff, but that's why there's a lot of things built into the background, too. they're literally using every trick in the book to tell a story BEHIND the story to make up for the small amount of time they have. and dealing with constraints and mandates. like "there has to be a big bad so we can sell sets with the mechs and weapons each season" and they writers are like "okay let's come up with a seasonal villain and everything. again."

But getting back to it -- yeah, Mei, too, is mischaracterized and it's such a shame. she's SO COOL. I love how out there and bright and funny she is! I love that she's so protective and determined. and she CARES about MK, they are best friends they get into some stupid shit together. i'd love to write their friendship, i wanna do that SO BAD PLEASE.

how the fandom treats wukong is part of what inspired me to write this big long fic in the first place. if they're not grossly misinterpreting something he's said/done, they're diluting him down to his cuteness and sweetness and ignoring everything else. and it SUCKS because I LOVE how the show demonstrates that he's not perfect and still needs to develop. Like he IS NOT a good mentor and is actually terrible LMFAO but he's trying!! he's trying. that's why there's so many sunburst duo moments in my fic because, after season 3, i really just see wukong going "okay, i have to take this seriously. for real this time. I don't like how I've been doing things and I need to do better"

and you know, a lot of the time in fandom, people don't know how to respectfully tackle these subjects? so they just focus on the good and ignore the bad -- much easier to handle the good. but straight up ignoring it isn't the way to go, either. ignoring a character's flaws is ignoring half of the character. take away wukong's flaws and that's not wukong anymore. people don't get that. they see flaws as this purely negative thing when they're essential to making characters be characters.

and there's also this tendency to just. take what one person says and parade it around as fact. that's how we got that "wukong can't read" thing going on. when i first saw that, i was so confused because it went against canon. we've seen him read...in the show...he has a laptop i don't. how did we get here LMFAO

and yeah, it extends to every character. it takes time to get characters right. you really have to like. study them. that's why roleplaying is a good way to like develop those characterization skills, but it only works if you're roleplaying with someone who has a good grasp of the show. or just being able to discern a good interpretation from a bad one. discernment is so pivotal. it's just like how, in film and television, you watch bad shows to learn what NOT to do. same thing here. you look at bad interpretations, you look at good ones. then you decide what's good.

not to say that's not what's happening, because that's how we get variance in interpretations. and you know, some people may not care about characterization and are having fun with their dolls. because that's also what fandom is. and it can be a good thing! but it can also be an aggravating thing.

I actually don't think the fandom is small at all. listen -- i know what a small fandom is. on my main, it's a small fandom, because it's me and 9 other people regularly making content for this pairing. like, every day in LMK land, there are new fics. like there are multiple artists making fanart! not so in where i came from

on main i think i'm one of ... five fic authors making content atm LMFAIJOWLMKA

thank you for saying you enjoy my fic! i'm doing my best, and i mostly wrote it out of spite LMFAO but i'll get into that more during my podcast whatever thingy. but thank you for sending this. it's nice to feel seen, i'm glad you agree! that's why you gotta follow/support people who do make content that suits you and makes sense, because then THEY feel encouraged to continue and do greater things!

[arcplaysgames]

So as far as beach episodes go: P4G > P3P > P5R

this one was a snoozefest, so let's touch on the important bits that stand out and then talk about Beige Boy and Solid Snake.

One, I have fully turned against Ryuji on the basis of his frequent and repeated disregard for Morgana as a part of the team and frankly as a full person. I am getting really teed the fuck off because for the last five hours or so of gametime, I have been watching Mona get more and more anxious about his place and about whether anyone on the team cares about him and his journey to the heart of Mementos

and at every fucking opportunity, Ryuji basically reinforces to Morgana yeah, you're not really one of the guys, you're not really part of the team, you're the mascot.

If I had agency in the world of this game, I would take Ryuji aside for a Fucking Discussion about this, because the fuse is lit and I am certain we are headed for a rift between Morgana and the team,a nd you know what? I'm on Morgana's side. He should be pissed, he should be hurt, because I'm hurt on his behalf just watching this unfold.

Fucking Ryuji, you are the bottom barrel of the Token Best Friends. Yosuke would never do me like this*. And if Junpei were here, he'd be Morgana's BFF, are you kidding.

(* in fact yosuke did the Literal Opposite and adopted the 'mascot character' lmao fuck you ryuji)

Yusuke is the fucking load-bearing column holding this game up, i swear to god. I have never understood the Moronsexual joke until right now. I imagine Reverie is like "I have to marry him, he'd be fucking hopeless without me???? it's just the right thing to DO"

Alas, Atlus hates me.

Futaba trying to grab the lobsters while Yusuke holds them out of her reach is the best rigging and animation this game has given us thus far.

Futaba picks her name, Oracle. And she is explicitly here to learn more about her mother's research, less to save people. Which is respectable and she's very up front about it.

THAT'S THE BEACH TRIP. like this one just was..... ugh. it had the weird queerphobic stuff again and it pulled the "the boys try to pull girls and fail" gag again but this time with ZERO charm at all. I remember that scene in P4G with Kanji, Yosuke, and Reverie was one of my favorites because it was genuinely really funny. This had nothing.

SIGH. WHATEVER. LET'S TALK ABOUT MORE INTERESTING STUFF.

blah blah blah evil evil evil blah blah blah

i have at this point accepted that Persona just sucks at foreshadowing the Big Bad of their games and P3 was a fluke. interested to see how P2 does when I eventually play it.

oh shit this game caught some of the Sony Hot Sad Dads disease, huh? Iwai has a dweeby looking son named Kaoru and he's ex-yakuza.

Do I like Iwai or do i just miss MGS2 Solid Snake? Who could say.

Also his shop theme tune fucks severely, it sounds like SMT4.

Anyway, after that we're having very domestic funtime at the cafe when

oh shit Beige Alert

Futaba immediately hides behind Reverie because she got Vibe Radar. Vibedar, if you will.

I feel like when Akechi enters your vicinity, your phone should get one of those emergency PSAs. Like when a tornado touches down in your county.

Okay so. /points. Eyes closed.

/points.

The fuck is happening here. Like, bruh, you showed up and immediately mentioned the lady who threatened Sojiro's custody of his daughter, and now you are looking like a wounded puppy because it turned the atmosphere frosty.

You did that, homeboy, that was you. I know you are astute enough to know that.

He sadly drinks his coffee and reveals his backstory: he was raised by a single mom who died soon after, then got stuck in the foster care system for a while.

THAT FAKEASS SMILE AGAIN. See, this is why I know he stirred up the hostile energy on his arrival on purpose, he is extremely good at tone and social cues, enough so that he can use or not use them to his advantage.

I would tell Reverie to install a deadbolt on his door but he doesn't have a door lmao this is going to be great

I keep saying this but: Bryan Fuller vibes. My god, Bryan Fuller vibes.

Futaba realizes she missed the fireworks festival so she runs out to get some small fireworks, and Morgana goes with her to make sure she's okay.

Morgana is the fucking best. He really gives a shit and puts himself out there for people and I just want him to be appreciated dammit!

This is Reverie's family now, yep. See that gurl? She is his sister. See that old man? That's his dad. Yep!

Also Sojiro doesn't even know Morgana is a person and treats him better than Ryuji.

yeah this is me going full kill bill sirens on Ryuji, sorry. i will slam dunk him into a fucking dumpster, i'm so angry with him for his MANY MANY fuck ups and, specifically, how he doesn't seem to learn or grow from any of them.

I think that's my beef with him. Like, P3P, Junpei did multiple big fuck ups, but he both apologized explicitly for them and also learned from them and became a better person for it. He was my ultimate ride or die. I romanced Akihiko but my true love was my broship with Junpei.

Yosuke also fucked up a lot and even went full Joker Mode once, but he also experienced one of the longest arcs of character growth in the game. I remember when I started to like him after being tepid on him for the first third of the game and how annoyed I was that he was growing as a person!!!! But he wound up being a fave.

I need Ryuji to get his shit together and start growing tf up bc I am real sick of his self-important bullshit and how he steps on Morgana's feelings. I am hoping whatever the upcoming blow-up with Morgana is leads him to wake tf up, but also I'm not holding my breath.

At least I have Ann and Yusuke.

[myrfing]

6.4 msq spoiler thread

YES! YES....ZERO GOURD FEAST BEASTS

i need this buff PERMANENTLY

EW

ESTINIEN

MAN WHAT

HURLING

DIDNT NEED TO SEE THAT

ZERO LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

yshtola is so good at indirectly cheering people up in that shrewd old lady way. not that she's old just well matoya

I like how they put pen and paper in estinien's room like he's literate

dragons are always wanting to pop out their eyeballs

erenville are you...? the golled more...? can i go with you..

can we kiss

god he appeared on screen and SORRY vrtra but i need him to continue and tell me about his life and I need to go with him

now they're blueballing us about a mysterious letter

i like how zero's just been there like well I guess you know everybody on earth then

margrat. i need more of her bizarre behaviors

i forgort

thancred calling it "social struggles" YOU GUYS ARE MAKING THIS AWKWARD FOR ZEROOOO

these drake ass polar bears

the aetherfont is sooo gorgeous also I forgot my codex broke and nearly let thancred die. long time since ive healed a trust party as well but we go slow smell the ice bears

oh my god :U

thancred: just stick stay close to this one

gourd: slowly turning head with his o_o frontal bird face

they just let thancred tag along just beacause. not to be mean but we could also just meet new people

U Guys Are Leaving Gourd OUt of the Conversation Hinting At Something Happening To Come What The Hell So He Doesn't Get Alone Time And You Guys Are Getting Jobs Without Him Anyway

zero voice Idgaf about that

can the garleans get over their magic fear already you live in a world where there are glowing horses

damn that's crazy

msq is always very strangely gentle and thorough relative to others when it comes to dealing with garlean trauma or maybe thats just my hater lens. anyway the whole they are bigoted and small minded because they'd been hurt stuff is getting old and it's kind of crazy how this hurt people hurt people stuff is the limit here

trust me i dont really want 2

a weird bit about the whole garlemald thing is the bizarre angelic benevolence of the ilsabard contingent. not ONE person has been like you know you guys spent the past half century fucking up the entire world and you still demand respect for your gay ass tower because the imperial family sat their asses in it. anyway i have problems with the whole we're actually a totally 100% saintlike patience goodhearted pure intentioned foreign aid group thing We Have To Save The People Of Garlemald on the side of the alliance since the start but whatever

warmachina.

i dont want the thank you from this man LMFAO

zerooo 8[ also so much of what zero recounts explains. Cylva.

aw that's true jullus

LMFAOOOOO THEYRE MAKING THE WOL THINK OF ZENOS BECAUSE OF THIS CONVO? gourd did NOT trust that man unless you mean trust him to be awful. and what did zenos trust in the wol that he'd fight him eventually? I GUESS? MAYBE THEY MEANT HE WANTED TO TRUST US BUT I ALSO DO NOT CARE?

we're not friends just because someone calls you their friend 29083902 times 💀 i think that dude barely had a concept of gourd as a human being with his own life

an act of trade also can be an act of charity. THIS IS WHAT I MEAN THEIR POLITICAL WRITING IS SOMETIMES SO.....garlemald is still absolutely at the alliance's mercy + they still obviously believe in right by might re: that one line from the old dudes so there's no reason for them to not be cognizant of the fact we can just take by force and doesn't handle the hanging But Why Aren't They? question at all. this was a pity deal and everyone's like friendship and hope <3. im not saying goodwill and sincerity cannot exist between groups but this requires a sense of solidarity that we do NOT have with garlemald considering we still have to step entirely around the subject of their imperial affairs

you see as a nation they're not equals. they're the languishing half dead scattering remnant of an empire that built its wealth and prosperity for a time on war, theft, and enslavement of the rest of the world and radz and the alliance absolutely could just turn the tables and invade and probably just wipe out everyone here without breaking a sweat. of course that's abhorrent but it's crazy that THIS particular pain even the mere thought of it is made to not exist while the garleans get to be complicated about it. they want to keep their national name and pride with none of the consequences and we don't even demand that as if a nation is sacred and untouchable even after everything. I don't get it bro

i like the way varshahn says wyrm

THE LITTLE SQUICH SOUND WHEN I TAKE HER EYE?

glitter guy....

[tipsygnostalgy]

The Stranger: Post-Read Review

Finished The Stranger. The main character is this absolutely insufferable autistic girlfailure of a man who continuously pretends he's divorced from the world when he isn't. I want to put him in a washing machine and spin cycle him until his brain matter falls out of him like black ballpoint pen ink from fabric. It's an incredible book, 9/10, could not recommend enough.

The last three pages are absolutely breathtaking, but even before then the imagery, the build-up, the focus on color/senses/heat and the complications of a man who is so utterly removed from the world, just as much as it is removed from him, and finds peace in that. He has no hope (which IMO is a lie, but I digress) and he's ready to start over, he's opened himself to the gentle indifference of the world by obtaining the ability of being indifferent to it back. Man, I need to case-study this guy. I'll probably end up writing a full review once I've re-read it. Some rudimentary thoughts, not intended for anyone to understand, but I'm thinking twelve miles per hour.

He can think of me as annoying all he wants, but this is kind of a loser way of thinking. I honestly can't tell if he's aroarce or just has zero emotional "object permanence."

He does this thing where he rids himself of all hope and finds comfort in a guaranteed death/outcome and although I respect the grindset, I can't help but note that he purposefully rids himself of all hope. It's almost cowardly?

Marie deserved better. Does he have any idea how lucky he is to have a hot French fiancé who likes swimming and loves him for his insanity, oh my god. I could treat her better, I know I could.

He's not divorced from the world?? He has a fiancé (though he notably doesn't tell her he loves her/tells her it doesn't matter), he has wants and desires and needs, and he has a fuckton of influence on other people. Almost adventurer-like in that sense.

He reads as very repressive, someone who realized that "to will is to stir up paradoxes" but never quite reached the "fuck it we ball" stage. He actively tries not to will, and it's just eugh. Like I said, insufferable.

Absolutely loving the idea of a definitive end allowing for freedom. If you know for certain you are going to die in an XYZ way, it gives you opportunity to do whatever the fuck you want until then. Trying to escape it only makes things worse/fulfills your prophecy—kind of like the Oracle of Delphi.

This guy was canonically autistic before autism was even established as a diagnosis. And though I myself don't have an autism DX, I have a good number of the traits, and I can see myself in him. No concept of time, texture-temperature sensitive, shot-dead emotional OP/OP in general, taking unfamiliar metaphors very literally, being annoyed by people imposing expressions and meaning and "actually you feel this way! :)" onto me. Oh, and never being able to identify my emotions. Camus slayed.

[voxxphantasma]

ARE PEOPLE REALLY STILL SAYING GALAHAD WOULD CALL THEM SLURS? IN THE MAIN TAGS? die 💖

[blog-name-idk]

Everything Falls (Into Place) | 17

*Banner by the incredible @bangtansmauyeondan

Pairing: OT7 x Fem Reader

Genre: College!AU, Roommate!AU, Fluff, Humor, Smut

Summary: Your new roommates are unbearably nice and unbearably hot. Good thing you're an adult who is fully capable of platonic friendships with the opposite sex, right?

Word Count: 2766

~~~~~

Namjoon Guys, I have a problem

Jin What did you break this time? You've already burned through your security deposit

Yoongi maybe he got an A- on his last assignment

Namjoon Please guys, I'm serious I don't know what to do

Taehyung Hyung, what's wrong?

Namjoon I think I'm in love

Jimin !!!!!!!

Hobi !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yoongi about time your balls dropped

Jin Ah, to be young again…

Namjoon Hyung, you're only 2 years older than me Also, please guys It'll never happen I'm doomed I have no idea how to proceed

Hobi What are you talking about?? How could anyone turn down that face?

Jimin Yeah, hyung! You're a total catch!

Jin Yeah Joon, you're almost as beautiful as me, don't sell yourself short

Namjoon Thanks guys… But really, I'm not fishing for compliments I just want to know how I can get over someone who is literally perfect

Jungkook Hyung if she's not willing to give you a chance then she's prob not worth your time You deserve someone who can see how amazing you are

Jimin OMG Kookie!!! Yes!

Jin From the mouths of babes…

Namjoon Well, she doesn't actually KNOW I like her

Yoongi dude

Taehyung Aw, it's cute that you're being so shy!

Namjoon No, like I CAN'T like her She can't find out

Jin ?

Jungkook Oh goddammit

Taehyung ??

Hobi ???

Jimin ????

Jungkook It's [y/n], isn't it

Namjoon … Yes

Yoongi join the fucking club

Jin Wait what

Yoongi what

Jimin Kookie, how did you know??

Jungkook Are you guys idiots It's obvious we're all in love with her

Taehyung Shit, it is?

Hobi OMG I thought I was the only one! Wait, should I be happy or sad?

Jin Wow kids Your first female roommate and you all have the hots for her?

Jimin I mean, do you not?

Jin Nevermind

Namjoon Fuck Jackson is going to murder all of us House meeting tonight [Y/n]'s having a girls night with Mina

Jimin Wait how do you know that?

Yoongi probably because unlike some people he actually asks about her day instead of staring at her tits

Jimin RUDE

Jungkook Lmao rekt

Taehyung To be fair, they're pretty nice

Hobi Do you guys think she knows?

Jungkook Doubt it She's the only one more oblivious than you morons

Hobi LOL

Jin Don't talk about my wife that way!

Jungkook changed the group name to Boys in Luv

Namjoon Why did God put me on this earth just to suffer

~~~~~

"Why are we getting ready here again when your place is closer to the club?" you complained as Mina fussed with her hair in the mirror. Both of your last exams had been today, and you had already either finished or turned in all of your final projects. The two of you were long overdue for some irresponsible fun.

"Because you have double sinks," she said as if it was the most obvious response in the world. Well, actually it kind of was. "Which is so unfair by the way."

"I mean one of them is Hobi's," you hedged, though you were secretly incredibly smug at your good fortune. Not only did you basically have an ensuite bathroom, the boy you shared it with was tidy and respectful. Besides the shower debacle, there had been zero issues sharing.

"Yeah but he keeps it so clean," she whined, and you grinned.

"I know, it's great."

"Man, he's gorgeous, sweet, funny, clean, AND has a huge - "

"MINA!" you screeched, hoping your friend wasn't in his room. He was actually in the living room with the other boys waiting for the two of you to leave, but you had no way of knowing that.

"Heart," she finished with a smirk. "What? What did you think I was going to say?"

"Why do I love you?" you asked with a groan, making sure your mascara had dried without smudging.

"Because I'm amazing, and still your best friend despite the fact that you've been ditching me for your hot harem for the past semester."

You winced, knowing she was right. It hadn't been on purpose - it was just easier to study and make plans with people you literally saw every day. Tonight was in fact one of the ways you were making it up to her. You didn't actually hate clubbing - every once in a while you were in the mood to dance - but you usually preferred house parties or smaller groups where you could relax and not worry too much about things like getting roofied or bending over and flashing your ass at everyone.

Today however, you submitted yourself to Mina's whims. So you put on your finest hooker heels and shoved yourself into a tight dress that made you feel like an overstuffed sausage. You knew you actually looked amazing, even if you felt like you were one wardrobe malfunction away from getting written up for indecent exposure. Your eyes were smokey and alluring, and your hair had been painstakingly styled to look effortlessly breezy.

"I know, I know. I'm the worst. Tonight I will partially make it up to you by dancing my heart out and hip bumping any gross randos away from your beautiful butt," you promised, taking a swig of your whiskey and ginger beer. You'd need a healthy buzz going before you started believing you had good dance moves, and you weren't about to rely on overpriced, watered-down bar drinks.

"You better," your best friend responded with a wink. "I called an Uber, I think we're about as hot as we're going to get."

"Which is incredibly hot," you finished for her. You clinked your glasses together, downed your drinks, then went downstairs to await your night's chariot.

~~~~~

Mina grinned in anticipation as the two of you headed down the stairs. She could not wait to see the reaction of your housemates. Would it be obvious if she pulled out her phone to take a picture?

"You two heading out?" Jin asked when they reached the bottom, turning to look at the two of you with a smile. His face froze when he got a good look at you, and Mina internally snorted. And you thought he wasn't whipped for you? For someone so brilliant you could be so endearly stupid sometimes.

The other boys turned as well, and if she had lower self-esteem she might have been a little miffed that they only had eyes for you. Luckily for everyone involved, she had a great therapist.

It was hard to contain her amusement at the various ranges of emotional constipation on display. Namjoon was staring, a forgotten book dangling from his hands. Handsome Jin had recovered somewhat and rearranged his expression, but his ears were bright red. Hobi's eyes darted from your face, to your bare feet, and then back up to your face as if he wasn't sure where it was safe to set his eyes. The grumpy one, Yoongi, was actually licking his lips.

The youngest had the most hilarious (and adorable) reactions, though. The three had turned to look at you at the same time, and their eyes bugged and jaws dropped in perfect unison. Jungkook's eyes, already naturally large, had widened into saucers. She could really see what you meant when you said he was a mixture of cute woodland creatures. Taehyung's eyes held a deep longing that actually made Mina feel a little bad for the guy. You loved reading - how did you not see the emotions written so plainly on his face?

The deafening silence was finally broken by pretty Jimin, whose face was dusted a pretty pink.

"Y-you two look great," he squeaked, chewing on his lip as if trying to prevent other words from spilling out.

"Thanks Chim!" you said cheerfully, and Mina almost rolled her eyes at the way your smile made him melt into the couch.

"Bye guys! Have a good night! Don't wait up!" You called as you headed to the front door with your heels in hand, apparently oblivious to the tangible yearning in the air. God, you were more clueless than an anime protagonist. Mina, however, was not. She smirked and waggled her fingers at the stunned group.

"Bye boys. I'll do my best to keep her in line, but no promises," she teased with a wink, enjoying the different degrees of jealousy flashing across their faces. So she wanted to stir the pot a little. Sue her. They were all good guys. Things might get weird or embarrassing or messy for a while, but you were all adults enough to resolve things in a healthy way. Life was all about change, and one of them (or more, she wasn't going to judge), might be the one to help you grow into living for yourself as much as you did for others.

Or maybe it would all end in disaster. It was certainly a possibility - nothing was absolute, after all - but she had a feeling things would end up just fine. And if they didn't, well, she would be there to help you back up when you fell. Just like you always did for her.

Shaking the alcohol-induced sappiness out of her mind, Mina followed you to the door and sat next to you to put on her shoes. It was time to forget about schoolwork and boys and problems and get jiggy with her best friend.

~~~~~

As soon as the front door closed behind you and Mina, the group in the living room let out a collective exhale.

"I kind of feel like going out tonight, actually," said Jungkook casually, starting to rise from the couch.

"Me too," chirped Jimin, moving to follow.

"Sit. Down."

At Namjoon's authoritative command, the two troublemakers immediately dropped back into their seats, looking chastened. He took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts and trying to scrub the image of you looking like sex personified out of his brain. Well, not scrub it completely - more like cache it for later perusal.

"Okay," he began, looking at his friends - his brothers. "Okay."

Despite the topic having consumed his thoughts since that disastrous group text, he still wasn't quite sure how to start. So he stood there like a lump, letting the silence grow to suffocating levels.

"We all like [y/n]. We don't know how she feels about us. Also we all love each other so we have to figure out how to deal without letting this get between us."

Everyone stared at Jungkook, who shrugged. Despite being the youngest, he often surprised them by showing his deeper, more mature side. It was easy to forget that he was actually quite astute and intelligent when he was rage quitting a video game or pouting for attention.

"That's… a pretty accurate overview of the situation," Namjoon agreed lamely. "So… We should talk about possible outcomes and how to handle them, maybe set some ground rules."

"That makes sense," Hobi agreed, though he looked uncomfortable. Well, most of them did. They had all been through a lot together, but this was an awkward, unprecedented situation.

"Before we continue, I need a drink," Jimin announced, bouncing up to head to the kitchen. "This is too much to think about sober."

In the end, everyone ended up joining him to get a glass or bottle of something. The dancer was right, a little social lubricant would make this entire situation easier to deal with.

"Alright, so let's discuss the possible outcomes," announced Namjoon when everyone had settled. He had taken the opportunity to grab the small whiteboard and easel from his room and set it up in the corner despite the teasing from his friends.

"One: She chooses me," said Jin immediately, snickering at the glares from the other boys. Namjoon rolled his eyes while uncapping his marker. The brainstorm went more smoothly after that, and by the end of a discussion filled with jibs, pouts, and giggles, they had settled on a final list.

1. She chooses one of us. 2. She chooses some of us. 3. She chooses none of us.

"Anything we're not thinking of?" asked the leader, looking around the room. Taehyung raised his hand.

"What if she liked all of us?"

Everyone stared, and Namjoon sighed. He couldn't say the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but it just seemed so unlikely. Still, it was a possibility, however remote it might be, so he added it to the board.

4. She chooses all of us.

With the options laid bare, the floor was now open for discussion. Unfortunately it seemed no one knew where to begin, until Hobi bravely made the first comment.

"Well… as long as she's happy I guess I can accept any outcome," he said bashfully. "I mean, I guess it would kind of hurt to see her with someone else, but I'd like to think I could eventually get over it."

"I'd rather see her with you guys than anyone else," Taehyung added with a nod, blushing. "At least then I'd know she was being treated well."

"Speaking of which, what are we going to do about Dongmin?" Jimin asked suddenly, looking pointedly at the older dancer. "He's sniffing around [y/n] and she's way too good for him!"

Namjoon sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. As much as he didn't like the idea of you with someone he didn't know, it definitely wasn't right to interfere in your life to that extent.

"[Y/n] is an adult and her own person," he said sternly. "If she decides to date someone else, we have to respect that." Jimin pouted and gave a sulky nod.

"So… what happens if she likes more than one of us?" asked Yoongi, speaking up for the first time that night.

"I mean, I was in an open relationship once, but it didn't really work out," Taehyung offered, frowning in thought. "I think it was more because of poor communication than the situation itself, though."

"I've only been in monogamous relationships," Jin mused. "I'll have to think about it."

The boys were all nodding thoughtfully, and Namjoon was pleasantly taken aback that no one looked offended or scandalized. Then again, perhaps it wasn't that surprising - the reason they all got along so well was that while their differences complimented each other, they were generally on the same fundamental wavelength. Huh, maybe this would be less complicated than he thought. Though these were all hypotheticals - there was no guarantee that you wouldn't eventually just fuck off and ride off into the sunset with this Dongmin guy.

And then Jungkook had to go and make it awkward.

"So, what about like threesomes or - "

"OKAY! Remember, these are theoretical situations, and if they come to pass, this would be something to discuss with [y/n] present!" Namjoon interjected in a strangled voice.

As if the exchange had broken the ice, everyone started laughing and the air in the room lightened visibly. The guys began falling into their usual interactions as they grew more comfortable, and eventually the conversation devolved into what almost felt like a [y/n] fanclub. Finally, Namjoon called an end to the meeting, feeling satisfied. He headed back to his room then sent the house group chat (minus you) a text with the final "rules" before erasing the whiteboard.

Namjoon Just sending this out for reference

1. No matter what, [y/n] is our friend and we will be supportive no matter what happens (even if it sucks at first) 2. We each decide for ourselves if we want to pursue this or not 3. Don't out anyone else 4. Jealousy happens, but try not to be an asshole 5. Communication and consent are the golden rules - if we get angry or upset about something someone else has done, we will discuss it like adults

Anyway, good talk everyone This is uncharted territory, so I'm sure things will be harder than we're thinking but I hope that we can all be open and honest about this stuff with each other Remember, we're all a team It'll always be us against a problem, not each other I love you guys

Yoongi you forgot one 6. no glove no love but i love you guys too I guess

Jimin Awww, hyung I'm gonna cry! Love you <3

Jin You kids make an old man sentimental

Taehyung You guys are the best :)

Hobi Love all of you!!!

Jungkook Love you guys

Taehyung Oh, the semester ending means that Jackson-hyung will be back soon, right? Should we invite him over for dinner some time?

Namjoon Oh fuck

~~~~~

Next | Masterlist

Tags: @singukieee @persphonesorchid @xmochiloverx @taestefully-in-luv @meavie @silscintilla @forpunishers @jnghs

[mackenzielovee]

my girl (part 4) - rafe cameron

a/n: SURPRISE! I wrote a part 4 ;) i had this idea right after i said i was only doing 3 parts - but this really is the final one! I really hope ya'll enjoy. It's a little shorter than the rest! (not my gif)

Summary: Nope sorry you have to read!

Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex, kissing, and test anxiety

Word Count: 4.4k

series masterlist

my writing

Your phone buzzing on your nightstand distracts you get again from cramming for your Chemistry final. The exam happens in two days, yet you feel like it might as well be in two hours with the amount of anxiety you have. It's your second year of college, and boy, it hasn't gotten any easier. Thankfully, your roommate is out for the night so you have your entire dorm to yourself to study.

You lean over and check your phone. Another missed call from your fiancee, Rafe. Beside your phone on your nightstand sits your engagement ring. You stare at it for a moment and swallow your feelings, then move back over to your chemistry textbook. Your phone buzzes again - a voicemail from Rafe this time, which you don't bother to listen to.

Chemistry is your focus tonight. Chemistry is what you need to be studying for, what you need to know inside and out. You throw yourself back into it, shutting off your phone when it buzzes yet again. You need absolutely zero distractions.

About twenty minutes into it, you hear a loud knock on the door. You sigh, figuring your roommate forgot her ID or keys again. You pull open the door and sigh, fully shocked when you find Rafe standing at your door. He's out of breath from running inside from the parking lot, and he looks pissed off.

"Oh, good, you're alive," he snaps, pushing his way into your room before you can even invite him.

"What are you doing here?" you ask him, closing the door so none of your nosy neighbors can listen to yet another argument between the two of you.

Things haven't been good. You're sick of him calling and texting you all the time, him begging you to come home, and constantly asking who you're with when you go out. On top of all of that, your classes this semester are harder than they've ever been, but Rafe never respects when you say you need space and time to study.

"Checking to see if my fucking fiancee is breathing!" he shouts, throwing his hands up in the air, "I mean, shit, Y/N, I called you, like, twenty times."

You glance over to the nightstand at your phone, realizing your ring was over there, too. You know he won't like that.

"I shut my phone off. I really need to study, Rafe," you tell him, but he's not listening.

Instead, he collapses onto your bed and puts his head in his hands, sitting directly on your Chem textbook and notes.

"Oh, my God, what the hell? Get up," you snap at him, walking over and pushing him off so he doesn't ruin your notes or textbook pages.

"It's fucking fine," he replies as he stands, barely glancing at your papers.

"No, it's not. I need this shit to pass my exam-" you hold the wrinkled papers up.

"They're literally fine, Y/N," his voice raises, "Stop being so dramatic."

You take a deep breath before you speak again, knowing whatever comes out will not be very nice. You've really been trying to be patient with him, but it's getting harder and harder.

"I'm not being dramatic, Rafe," you say calmly, "I just really need to study and I need peace and quiet."

He sighs and rubs the back of his neck as he debates what to say next. Neither of you want to start a fight, but you both have a lot of shit to say. His eye catches the shiny object on the nightstand and he looks over, figuring out it's your engagement ring.

"What the fuck?" he gasps, picking it up and holding it out to you, "Since when do you take this off?"

You put your hands on your forehead and sigh, realizing this is going to take up a lot of time that you don't have. And the fact that Rafe drove eight hours on a whim because you didn't pick up his calls all day has made you crazy.

"I cannot do this with you right now," you tell him, stepping toward your Chemistry stuff.

You'll just have to go to the library and study if he's going to be here. There's no way you can get any of your shit done with him bitching about your ring.

"Oh, my bad, when can you do it, then?" he rolls his eyes, "Huh? Can you give me, like, a window of time where you're actually available to talk?"

"Rafe-" you start, but he holds his hand up.

"No, because, I mean, I don't hear from you all day, and I'm fucking worried about you, so I make the long ass drive to come check on my soon-to-be wife, and now I'm the bad guy? Yeah, no, I get it now!" he exclaims.

"Jesus, okay, I have to go," you say, grabbing your backpack from the floor and sliding some slippers on.

"Right, to study," he grumbles.

"Yeah, to study," you snap back, "Just because you didn't go to school doesn't mean you can't at least try to understand!"

You rarely raise your voice at him, so Rafe knows you're mad. He stares at you for a second, deciding if he should acknowledge your comment about him not attending school.

"It's not about whether or not I understand, it's about time management," he lectures, making you roll your eyes, "Don't roll your fucking eyes at me."

"Don't show up at my dorm unannounced!" you yell back.

"I wouldn't have been unannounced if you would answer your goddamn phone!"

You take a deep breath and exhale loudly, then step closer to the door. Rafe walks over to you and grabs your arm, spinning you around. You stare up at him like he's crazy, he's never laid a hand on you like that before.

"Put your ring back on," he demands, holding it out in his hand.

"What the fuck is your problem, Rafe? You think I'm gonna get hit on walking to the damn library? Get a grip," you mutter, trying to yank your arm from his grasp but failing.

"I'm not playing," he tells you, holding the ring up in his other hand.

"Neither am I," you snap, "Let go of me."

He stares at you for another few seconds and then releases you, groaning loudly when he does. He steps away from you and runs his hand through his hair, then sets your ring back down on the nightstand.

"What's going on with us?" he grumbles, sitting down on your bed again.

You start to feel bad as you look at him, so you step closer and set your books down on you desk. You open your mouth to speak, to apologize and return your ring to your finger, when he speaks out again.

"Why didn't you answer the fucking phone when I called?"

You close your mouth quickly, swallowing the words you were about to say. You stare at him for a moment, then you decide that it's just best to tell him the absolute, stone cold truth.

"Because I have shit going on, Rafe. I have a Chem final in two days and I'm not at all prepared, I have other finals and an entire paper due by the end of the week, and I have you up my ass about everything in between and it's just a little overwhelming right now."

He brings his head out of his hands and looks up at you. His expression changes from hurt to angry in about one second, so you brace yourself.

"So what do you want me to do to help you, then?" he asks, his voice agitated. You can tell he's trying to be patient, but he really wants to yell.

"I just need you to give me some space right now," you state.

He nods his head, moving his eyes away from yours and down to the floor.

"Space," he repeats, "You want space."

You nod your head slowly, afraid now to speak. You can't tell what his reaction is about to be, but obviously it isn't going to be a good one.

"So, you ignore my phone calls," he holds up one finger, "You take off your engagement ring," another finger, "And now you want space. Do you think I'm a fucking moron?"

He stands up off the bed, now towering over you. Your hands come up to your face, rubbing your eyes to try and relieve some form of stress.

"God, Rafe, you're making this out to be something it's not-"

"Am I?" he shouts, "Do you want to marry me or not? I mean, I really think that's what this boils down to. Am I what you want, or not?"

His yelling combined with your stress and confusion makes you yell back at him.

"I don't know!"

He steps back, almost like you've hurt him, and stares at you with a look you've never seen before. It's anger, betrayal, confusion, and sadness all rolled into one, heartbroken expression. It makes your stomach turn thinking about the fact that you're hurting him.

"Well, there it is," he says, his voice cracking, "I'll just get out of your way, then."

He leans down and grabs the ring from your nightstand, wrapping his large hand around it and then stepping toward the door.

"Rafe, wait," you say, "Where are you going to go? You can't drive home in the dark."

He doesn't turn around, he can't look at you. Not when you're not sure what you want.

"I'll sleep in the truck," he says, his voice weak and quiet.

"No," you protest, "Rafe, I'm sorry."

He stands there for a few seconds, then turns, and you see the tears in his eyes. One has fallen, and rests on the bottom of his cheek. He wipes it away, but not quick enough.

"Why are you sorry? I'm not what you want anymore," he laughs, but nothing is funny.

Another tear falls and you step forward quickly, reaching up to wipe it away. He closes his eyes under your touch, always loving feeling your skin on his.

"I didn't say that," you say gently, tears welling in your eyes from seeing him like this.

"Just..." he trails off, finally opening his red eyes, "Go ace your Chem final. I'll see you at home in a few days."

He reaches up and grabs your hand, removing it from his cheek. He lays a quick kiss on your knuckles, then closes his eyes again when he lets go of you. Not sure if it's his last time feeling you.

He turns to leave, opening the door up before he turns back to you.

"I love you. I always will."

He doesn't wait for your response, he just closes the door behind him. You turn and look at the nightstand where your ring once sat, wishing to God that it was still there. You want to tun after him, but you know you can't. You two just need some cooling off time, you tell yourself. You'll come back again atfer finals when you get home for Christmas break. He'll hold onto your ring for you, you convince yourself of that.

You can't focus. The next day, you spend all your time in the library, staring at a page in your Chem textbook, and all you can focus on is your empty finger. No pretty ring that reflects every ounce of Rafe's love for you. You check your phone, but all you see is an empty screen. Your wallpaper is a cheesy picture of Rafe holding a wine glass. You took it on your anniversary last year and love everything about it, especially his cheesy grin.

Tears start to form in your eyes, so you do what you have to do. You call him. It rings and rings and rings, then you hear his familiar, raspy voice on his voicemail.

Yo, it's Rafe. Leave a message and I might hit you back.

You close your eyes, those two sentences being the most you've heard from him in almost twenty-four hours.

"Hey," you start your message, "Look, I'm sorry about last night. I really want to talk. Please call me back. Love you, bye."

You sigh and hang up the phone, then look down to your book again. You try and try to focus, but you can't. It just is impossible with everything spinning around your brain. You can still see the look on his face when you said you weren't sure, you can still hear him say 'I love you' right before he left.

And it's all you want to hear again.

You slam your book shut and grab your stuff, then make your way out of the library. Once you get outside, you call Rafe again. You hear the same ringing and the same message from his voicemail, so you leave another.

"Baby, please call me. I'm worried about you. I just want us to talk. Please call. I love you."

You hang up and walk back to your dorm, checking every five seconds to see if he's called you back. You really just want to hear his voice, to apologize, and to be able to focus on Chemistry again. Knowing that Rafe is out there hurting is just too distracting.

You call hm again after you get back to your dorm, giving him about thirty minutes to call back before you try him again. When he doesn't answer, you leave another message.

"Hey," you say, your voice sounding more desperate, "I'm going to call Dad and have him come get me. I'm skipping out on my Chem final. I just want to come home and work things out with you. Call me, please. Love you."

And you mean every word. You sit down on your bed and you remember how Rafe had helped you move in on your first day of freshman year. You remember how he made love to you and how he proposed to you in the parking lot before he left. And you remember all the times he came to visit and you two laid in bed and planned out your whole wedding reception together, laughing and joking about who to invite and who to sit together.

As you sit there and remember it all, remember the kisses and the laughs and the feelings you have when you're with him, you've never been more sure in your life. It's Rafe. It will always be Rafe.

You hear a knock on your dorm room door and hop out of bed, rushing over to it. It's him, you hope. Coming to rescue you, coming to hold you, coming to give you your ring back. You pull open the door with a big smile, only to find your roommate, Alex, standing on the other side.

"Hey," she says, looking confused at why you opened the door like that, "Sorry. I forgot my keys."

You drop your shoulders and nod, moving her out of the way. She leaves the door open as she moves over to her side of the room to search for them. You sit back down on your bed, checking your phone once again. He has to call back eventually.

"You're not ditching your Chemistry final."

You look up and see him, standing in the doorway, staring at you. His eyes are tired, his hair is a mess, and he looks like he's hung over. You don't even want to know where the hell he's been for the past day.

"Rafe," you breathe, hopping up from your bed.

You want to throw your arms around him, hug him, and have you hold him. He stops you when you get close to him, holding out his hand to keep distance between the two of you, which practically breaks your heart in two.

"You're not coming home until you take that test," he repeats, "You've been studying for it and if you don't take it, you fail. So, you're staying. I called your dad."

You frown. This is not how you imagined it. He seems colder somehow.

"Okay," you say, "Fine. But I want us to talk."

Rafe shakes his head, leaning against the doorframe. Alex walks up behind you, whispering she will be back later, and leaves with a quick smile to Rafe.

"I'm giving you your space so you can focus. We'll work on us when you're done with the semester."

He sounds firm, but you know you can win this one. You step forward, so close that he can almost feel your skin on his. Your scent fills the air, and you watch as he swallows his feelings.

"Rafe," you say, your voice soft, "I can't focus on anything knowing that I hurt you. I need to talk about us and figure things out. Please."

"Baby," he sighs, and you know you've won just by the return of your nickname. It's your favorite, which is why he calls you it so often.

"Please," you say, taking his hand. Your fingers wrap through his, pulling him inside.

He groans but enters anyway, both of you knowing that he would do anything for you. The door closes behind him, which you're thankful for. You sit him down on your bed and instantly crawl onto his lap, not caring if that's what he wants or not. That's what you need. Your head buries into his chest and your arms wrap around his neck.

"Baby," he says again, this time with more authority.

You bring your lips up to his neck to soften him up, listening to the small moans that come out of his mouth as you work.

"Rafe," you say against his skin, "I'm so sorry for what I said yesterday."

He hums, so you give him a few more kisses on his neck before you pull back to look at him. He stares at you with soft eyes, and you know you've already won him over. But you still need to say what you need to say.

"Truly, baby. I was wrong. I was angry. You are all I want in this world and I couldn't handle any of this without you. I was acting extremely ungrateful and I'm really, really sorry," you continue, watching him smile sadly at you.

"Well," he smirks, moving his hands from your back down to your butt, "I've always known you're a brat, so."

"Hey," you pretend to pout, but really, you just want a kiss. He gives you a slow, gentle one, one that makes you want to melt into him.

"You are the love of my life," he says, "You could never say anything to make me walk. And I'm sorry for being such a dick yesterday and for not respecting your school. I'm gonna get better. This shit is just hard for me, having you all the way here. I just miss you when I'm home."

You nod, reaching up and brushing his hair away from his eyes with your fingers. Even when he hasn't showered, is in the same clothes as yesterday, hasn't styled his hair or even slept well, he still is the most handsome to you.

"I understand. I'm sorry for being so hard on you," you say, kissing him on the cheek.

He smiles against your lips, bringing his hands up to your face to move you down to his lips.

"Are we okay?" he asks you in between kisses.

You hum against his lips, and he takes that as a yes, so he flips you over and lays down on top of you, kissing you like his life depends on it. He quickly moves down to your neck, his hands going underneath your shirt.

"Oh, my God, I missed you, baby," he tells you as you feel him leaving a hickey on your neck.

"Always marking me up," you laugh at him, feeling him smirk against you, "I missed you, too."

"It killed me not calling you back," he continues against your neck, "But I wanted to do right by you, you know?"

You gasp when he bites you slightly, then laugh when you feel his big grin on your neck.

"That's why I love you the way I do," you say sweetly.

He sits up and looks down at you, smirking widely, "Can you love me like you do right now and then get back to your studying?"

You bite your lip and nod, pulling him back down on top of you.

A little while later, you and Rafe lay naked in your bed, just breathing in the other. Rafe is drawing hearts into the skin on your stomach, leaving little kisses every so often on any inch of skin he could reach with his mouth.

"You need to get back to studying," he says, but doesn't stop with his kisses.

"Can I have my ring back first?"

He looks up at you with wide eyes, wondering if you really mean it. He didn't want to bring up the ring, just in case you had changed your mind about the engagement.

"You sure?" he asks quietly.

You grab his chin and pull him up to you, stroking his hair as you give him a couple quick kisses.

"I've never been more sure of anything," you tell him.

He nods and kisses you again, then hops off the bed and pulls the ring out of the zipped up pocket of his shorts. He grins at you and then jumps back in bed, of course landing on you when he does.

"This is a twin bed, you ogre. You can't be jumping and shit, there's not enough room for you!" you say as you try to free your left side from underneath him.

He moves and lets you get situated, then holds out the ring. You hold up your left hand for him ti put it on you once again.

"Will you marry me?" he asks, and you would've laughed at him if his voice wasn't so gentle and nervous.

"Of course I will, Rafe Cameron," you tell him, smiling.

He slides your ring back on your finger and you somehow feel more complete, more whole, knowing it's there.

"It's never coming off again," you tell him, meaning it.

He kisses you softly, "No, it's not."

Rafe takes a shower and then hangs out on your bed on his phone later on to keep himself occupied while you study for Chem at your desk. You ask him to quiz you and he does, even though he knows nothing about Chemistry.

It gets late, so you tell him you'll study the rest tomorrow and hope to be prepared the following day for the exam. You put your book and notes on your desk, then slide into bed with Rafe, who you made stay with you tonight. Although it didn't take much convincing.

"I can't believe your dad is just letting you take all this time off," you mumble against his chest.

"Hmm," Rafe hums, so you know you're wrong, "I've kinda been dodging his calls."

"He'll be mad," you tell him, and he nods.

"I don't care, though. I got what I came here for."

You spend all day the next day studying in the library for Chem and writing your paper, while Rafe packs your things for you. He figures it's one less thing for you to worry about, and then you can just come with him after you finish your exam. He had told you he wanted to be the one to bring you, his soon-to-be wife, home.

Rafe waits for you outside your building on exam day. One by one, students file out of the building, and he gets even more anxious every time you aren't one of them. Eventually, he stops pacing and sits down on a bench, praying that you do well.

He sees you emerge from the building with only ten minutes to spare, and jumps up to greet you.

"So?" he asks, his voice hopeful.

"I won't know for a few days," you tell him, "But I'm confident. I felt like I had most of it under control."

He smiles, taking your hand in his and kissing it, "I'm so proud of you, baby."

You smile and thank him, then put your head on his chest in hopes that he'll wrap his arms around you. With the amount of stress you've been under the past few days, all you want is just for him to hold you right now.

"I'm so proud of you," he repeats, swallowing you up in his arms.

You breathe in his scent and relax, knowing that even if you fail every class you ever take for the rest of your life, you will always have a place in the arms of this boy.

After a few minutes, you move to look up at him by resting your chin on his sternum, staring up at him. He smiles down at you, running a hand through your hair as an attempt to calm you down.

"Take me home, Rafe," you tell him quietly, and he nods.

He reaches down and takes your hand, leading you away from the building. You two go back and grab the remaining items you need to bring home, the rest Rafe already packed in the truck, and then go out to the parking lot to head home.

You feel relieved, ready to spend some quality time with Rafe and really make sure to work on things so that nothing ever gets bad between the two of you again.

He puts you into the truck and closes your door, then hops into the driver's side. He reaches over and takes your hand, staring at the ring on your finger and smiling softly.

"Let's just elope and get it over with," he looks up at you, already laughing because he knows you'll never agree.

"Yeah, I'm glad our wedding is something you just wanna get over with," you roll your eyes, but can't help your smile.

"You know what I mean," Rafe groans, "We don't need all the bullshit and the drama. I just need you. And a minister."

You laugh at him and nod, understanding what he means. He looks down at your hand in his, at the diamond on your finger, and so do you. You honestly can't remember why you took it off, you just know you never will again.

"A small wedding it is," you whisper.

He leans over and gives you a kiss. Then another. Then another. He pulls away and starts the truck, then looks back over a you.

"Baby, I'll do whatever you want."

That sentence combined with the cheesy smile he gives you afterward is what convinces you that, no matter what, Rafe will always be yours, and you will always be his.

Tags: @cmrxac

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Hollow Pass (Part 1)

Summary: When the reader has to spend a day in the mines for work, she’s less than thrilled. When the miner showing her around for the day, Dean Winchester, is an ass, she’s even less thrilled. But an accident will change all of that and if they want a chance of getting out of the mess they’re in, they’ll need to put their lives in each others hands, literally...

Pairing: Miner!Dean x reader

Word Count: 4,100ish

Warnings: language, injury, frightening/claustrophobic/near death situations

A/N: Please enjoy the first of this 2 parter!

_______

You sighed as you stood in the trailer of the manager’s office, a jumpsuit and a pair of boots sat in a chair. Your boss, bless his heart, thought it was always a good idea for corporate positions to experience a day in the mines to truly understand the product and what the little guy went through on a day to day basis. The argument that you were not really corporate, not even close, seemed to go over his head.

“Y/N, you gonna change? I need my office back,” said the manager through the door. You pulled it open and pouted. “I don’t want you going down in the mines anymore than you do but if you want to make corporate, you gotta do what the CEO says.”

“Dad I don’t even want to work there. I like my simple office job.”

“Then why have you been in all those development programs at work?” he asked. You shrugged and he sighed. “Cause you can’t say no.”

“Do I have to?” you asked, looking back at the overalls.

“Do you want to quit?” he asked.

“I don’t want to lose a good paycheck. But I don’t want a corporate job either,” you said. 

“Then you’re shit outta luck,” he said. “I’m gonna put you with the Winchester boy. He’s on safety checks in our most secure mines.”

“You mean the ones that never have problems.”

“Funny how that all coincidentally happened today of all days,” he said with a smile.

“Thanks dad.”

“I don’t want you going anywhere near explosives. You’ll be safe doing the checks with Dean for the day.”

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” you said twenty minutes later. The man in overalls and a hard hat rolled his eyes.

“I’m ten minutes late because of you which means I’m gonna get docked those ten minutes of pay so thank you little miss corporate.”

“I’m your boss’ daughter, jackass.”

“Still ain’t my boss,” he said. You huffed and headed over towards the mine entrance when he grabbed the back of your overalls. “No, dummy. You have zero safety gear so unless you want to die, you’re coming with me.”

“Asshole.”

“Dean Winchester at your service,” he said, dragging you over with him to some lockers. He punched a card and went to the storage racks, seemingly grabbing a few items and putting them on. He picked the hard hat off your head and grabbed one with a light and a wire attached to it, clipping it on your belt. He put something over your shoulder you put your arm through like a sling and clipped a mask onto the back of your belt, a flashlight and a small hand pickaxe going through your other loops. “Turn this lamp on anytime you’re in the mine and never, ever, take off your hat. If I yell at you or you smell something funny, get that mask on. Flashlight and the axe are backup for emergencies.”

He put a radio in your pocket and looked you over.

“Oh and for the love of God, do not wander off. I don’t care if you see a bug or break a nail or gotta piss.”

“What do you do if you have to…” you said.

“Normally you piss against some rock like a man but special manager’s daughter we’ll walk you back out here, take our slow ass time, make me go longer than my shift and because I was late today, I don’t get overtime.”

“That sounds kinda illegal.”

“The contracts for this company are a fucking nightmare,” he said, walking out of storage.

“Why work here then?” you asked as he went to an area and grabbed a clipboard. He took two water bottles and clipped them on each of your belts before whistling for you to follow after.

“Well somebody had to pay for his baby brother to go to law school and it wasn’t going to be my drunk of a father now was it,” said Dean, stopping and writing something down. 

“So you didn’t grow up with mining in your family?” you asked.

“No. I’m not some redneck hillbilly like you imagine either,” he said. He flipped on his light and turned yours on when you got to the mine entrance. “Crouch.”

“Huh?”

“We ain’t riding the cart which is missing, dumbass. Crouch down so you can fit in the tunnel,” he said. You swallowed and had to bend down some, following Dean closely. “Ain’t claustrophobic are ya cause now’s the time to tell me.”

“No,” you said. “Jerk.”

“Ah, see? We’re getting along already.”

You walked for five or so minutes before the ground sloped down further and an entrance to the right opened up. Dean straightened up and you did the same, stretching out as he grabbed the back of your jumpsuit.

“Dude, would you stop doing that?” you said.

“Would you stay in my line of sight?”

“That’s harassment. You can’t touch me without my permission,” you said, crossing your arms. He blinked a few times and rolled his eyes quite possibly the most dramatically you’d ever seen in your life.

“This? This is not an office building. Every single time you step in here you run the risk of dying and you have zero clue on how to stay safe down here. I hate it when you people with your big offices and penny pinching bullshit come down here and complain about every goddamn little thing. If you want out, get out of the fucking mining business.”

“You’re an irritable person,” you said. He grumbled and tugged you along with him until you brushed him off. You followed him down a hallway and another, Dean checking things off on his clipboard as he went. “Are you gonna explain any of this stuff?”

“What do you think?” he said. He whistled and you followed him down a few more hallways when he stopped a gauge looking contraption. He checked a few different numbers and valves on it as you spun around. 

“I guess it is kinda cool. That somehow you guys know how to block up rocks and leave all these cracks and know how to make it so it doesn’t all come crashing down.”

“Cracks?” he asked as he squatted down and read off a meter.

“Yeah like that big one,” you said, pointing at the wall across the way. He turned around and looked at it for barely a second before he grabbed your arm. 

“Move. Now,” he said. He pulled out his radio and pressed down the button. “We have a grade five crack in Lodge Six West. Do not blow. I repeat do not-”

The ground rumbled and you heard a splintering noise, Dean pushing you back into the hallway you’d been in. He jumped on top of you and covered your body with his, all the lights going out, a loud thundering of falling rocks happening close by. It seemed to go on and on before it finally stilled, the hallway pitch black.

“You alright?” he asked.

“I think so,” you said, coughing when you felt dust in the air.

“Don’t move,” he said. He lifted his head and there was some light, Dean looking around before climbing off of you and staring at a new wall of rock. He looked at the hallway you’d been in, clicking on his flashlight and you saw where the rock dropped off about a hundred feet away. “Well. Shit.”

“What just happened?”

“The rock was unstable and they already set off the charges and it shook the mountain so now there’s a giant hole over there and our exit is blocked.”

“What’s that way?” you asked, nodding down the only unobstructed hallway.

“Further down into the mine before you hit the decommissioned area.”

“Is there a way out,” you asked, Dean patting his side.

“Fuck. My radio is under all that,” he said. He took out yours and handed it to him, Dean nodding before he turned it on. “Main do you copy, over?”

There was silence on the other end and Dean hit the button again.

“Main this is Winchester in Lodge Six West with…what’s your name?” he asked.

“Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Y/N Y/L/N, manager’s kid. Copy, over.”

“Winchester this is Main. We got lots of calls coming in from ground crews about a shaking.”

“Lodge Six West Hall K is a giant crater of death and Hall H is buried, right up to the entrance of junction HJ.”

“Injuries?”

“We’re okay,” said Dean.

“Give me a second.”

Dean took a deep breath and coughed. He tapped your mask on your belt and you put it on, the air a bit easier to breath. 

“Winchester this is Melvin.”

“She’s okay, boss. Just a little shook up. Saved our asses from winding up in the ground even if she doesn’t know it yet,” he said. He held out the radio and you pulled down the mask. 

“Dad I’m fine, really. We both are. It’s just kinda dark and smelly is all.”

“I know. Put your mask on sweetie until you can get to some cleaner air,” he said. You put it back on, Dean, getting to his feet. He pulled you up and looked back at your blocked path. 

“Any other collapses?” asked Dean.

“None reported so far. Everyone should be out of the mine’s or on their way. Alarm is blasting.” You looked back at Dean, his eyes shutting.

“Melvin we can’t hear it. At all.”

“Rodney’s out checking where our side of the collapse starts. We’ll get you out,” he said, someone panting in the background.

“Hall B, Mel,” he said. Dean turned away from you and sighed. No one said anything for a long time until Dean finally raised his head.

“We got two 16 ounces bottles of water. If she rations it, she’s got a shot,” said Dean quietly.

“No, she doesn’t,” said your dad, his voice softer than you’d ever heard it. “How long does your radio have?”

“Mine got crushed. Hers was on a quarter charge. I’d guess maybe an hour or two tops,” he said.

“Should we call your brother?”

“He’s hiking in Glacier Park this week. No cell service,” said Dean quietly. “Just tell him to check my bottom desk drawer. There’s something for him there.”

“I can do that,” he said. “Is there anyone...parents-”

“All due respect sir, I’d rather you talk to your daughter,” he said. Dean held out the radio to you and you picked it up, Dean skirting around the corner to the one unblocked hallway.

“Dean?” you asked, following over there. He was leaned against the wall and looked over his shoulder at you. “What’s going on?”

“They can’t dig us out in time.”

“What do you mean-”

“Talk to your dad. You’re wasting time. That battery won’t last forever,” he said. He turned back and you walked back around the corner, sitting down against the wall.

“Hi dad,” you said.

“Hey,” he said, his voice shaky. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. “Mom’s on her way down to talk, okay? She’ll be here in ten minutes.”

“I so quit this job,” you said, wiping off your eyes with the back of your hand. He laughed and you threw your head back. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m gonna stay on the line as long as I can, okay?”

“Okay. Okay.”

Two Hours Later

The battery in the radio had died about fifteen minutes ago. There was no sound aside from your sniffling and Dean’s down the hall. You got up eventually and went into the hall, sitting down beside him. You handed him the radio and he clipped it back on his belt.

“You okay?” you asked, voice hoarse.

“You try listening to someone say goodbye to their parents and not bawl,” he said. He wiped off his face and took a deep breath. “Air’s better now at least.”

“What do we do now?”

“Now,” he said, clipping his water bottle onto your belt. “You sit there and try not to exert a lot of energy and that water will last you a few days.”

“We both heard my father. They can’t drill or dig or do anything fast enough. It’d take weeks. I’m not sitting here next to your dead ass so take your damn water back,” you said, shoving it back in his chest. He didn’t speak but put it on his belt, pulling his knees into his chest. “Why were you so mean to me before? You gave up time on the phone for me. I don’t think you’re what you pretend to be.”

“I’m a dead man walking and that’s a fact.”

“Technically you’re sitting.”

He smiled and rested his face in his knees. He sat up and reached over behind you, hitting off your headlight.

“We need to conserve power as long as possible,” he said.

“Will our lights go out before we dehydrate to death?” you asked.

“Yes,” he said. “This is what it’ll be like.”

He flipped off his lamp and you swore you’d never experienced a darkness so deep. You felt his hand graze yours before holding it and you swallowed.

“Kinda less scary knowing you can turn it back on again,” he said.

“You didn’t answer my question. Why such a brute?”

“You do this job long enough and most people think you’re a dumb sack of shit with nothing in his head. You’re dead weight, odds are you’ll die down here or get into some kind of accident and have to go on disability the rest of your life. You corporate people are always so stuck up, like I’m not even good enough to be the dirt on your shoes. I didn’t give you a chance because odds were you were like all the rest of them. You’re the only reason we didn’t die in that hole, very painfully.”

“Wouldn’t we have-”

“No. It’s not a simple hole we would have fell in. Falling rocks, crushing and hitting, landing on you, ones you hit yourself. Might not kill you immediately. You’d feel it.”

“Dying of thirst is better?”

“I’d say so. Still get to keep this handsome face, or what’ll be left of it,” he said. He flipped his light back on and you scooted closer. “I think you’re very attractive.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m gonna die in like three or four days. Life has no consequences now and I happen to find you very attractive and you seem like a smart, sweet woman that put her parents a little at ease during the worst moment of their lives.”

“Who’s your brother?” you asked. “No consequences after all.”

“He’s a lawyer...and my best friend.”

“You said you did this job for him.”

“Student debt is a bitch. I try to help him out and the overtime helps make dents in it,” he said. “Our parents had debt out their asses. It caused so many problems for us. I wanted him safe, never have to worry about the next meal on the plate or the roof over his head or having to wear my hand me downs ever again. At least he’ll get my life insurance policy. That should help.”

“I have been busting my ass since I was a college freshman in that office to move up the chain for a job I didn’t even want. I completely lost nearly all of my twenties to work. All so I could die in here.”

“Well I know this doesn't sound good but I’m glad I didn’t die all super painful. Or that I’ll be alone,” he said. You smiled and nodded, Dean returning it. “Got any bucket list shit we can pull off down here?”

“We could make out,” you said. “Never knew anyone could make that jumpsuit look good.”

“Why the fuck not,” he chuckled. He leaned in close and your helmets bonked, Dean pulling his off and yours, quickly cupping your face. 

His lips were gentler than you thought, the two of you stopping when your lips were pressed together. You rested your forehead against his and broke off only an inch.

“Not as much fun at the moment as it sounded,” you breathed out.

“Pretty good last kiss though,” he said. You put your helmets back on and you grabbed his hand again. 

“Don’t let go down here. Please.”

He reached to his belt and undid a little pouch, pulling out a small tether of rope. He clipped one end onto him and the other to you.

“For when the lights go out,” he said.

“How long do we got?”

“About a day, maybe a little more,” he said. You sighed and turned your head, staring down the rest of the hall. “It’s decommissioned, Y/N. It’s a death trap.”

“Is there a way out?” you asked.

“Maybe. Maybe they never find us though,” he said. You stared at him and he nodded, hitting your headlamp back on. “Enough of the pity party. Let’s go get out of here or die trying.”

He stood and held out a hand, hoisting you to your feet. 

“So. What’s our best option?” you asked.

“It’s alright for a bit until we get to the decommissioned section. When we get there, that’s when it gets dangerous. Technically it’s dangerous now considering the blast but we’re okay for a bit,” he said. 

“Let’s go then,” you said. He nodded and you followed him down the hall, walking side by side. 

“Alright so the decommissioned section is called Hollow Pass. Beyond that is Upper Seven. If we can get to Upper Seven, we can get out the old entrance I’m pretty sure. Never been in there but hopefully it’s not a maze over there.”

“So Hollow Pass is the hard part.”

“Yeah.”

“Why was it decommissioned?”

“Unstable ground. Holes, pockets of air, rotted support beams, wood planks.”

“So it’s a death trap.”

“Yup,” he said. “We’re probably gonna die down there.”

“What do you think our odds are?”

“Well it’s been out of order for over fifty years, we have no map, I have no real idea where exactly to go...I give us 1% odds.”

“Beats are 0% odds here.”

“Good way to think about it considering we’re going to most likely die.” He stopped walking and took a deep breath. “If I fall or whatever, follow the widest hall possible and keep away from wood and cracks as best as possible. Ration your water and eventually you’ll find your way out.”

“If you fall I’m definitely not gonna make it.”

“Well at least try. You can tell my brother how devastatingly brave I was that way.”

“You just spent the past hour crying.”

“So did you,” he said. You bumped his shoulder and he returned it but it was playful and soft. You walked together quietly for a moment until Dean rounded a corner and took a deep breath.

There were a few planks across a hallway, Dean kicking them down, frowning when they broke pretty easily.

“There’s gonna be rot.”

“Lovely.”

“We don’t have to go,” he said. “You don’t have to. There’s a chance-“

“There’s no chance Dean. Not if we stay up there. If you don’t want to go, I will. Maybe I can get help back in-“

“We’re doing this together or you’re staying. I can go and you-“

“We both go,” you said. 

“I go first. You step where I step and if I tell you to do anything, you do it.”

“Dean. We already established that you’re not a hardass. You can lead the way but you know, nicely.”

“Alright, alright,” he said. He gave more slack in the rope attached to the two of you and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

He was calm for a few minutes until you were turning down a hallway, Dean suddenly stopping in front of you.

“What is it?” you asked.

“Look,” he said. You poked your head around him, swallowing at the rotted wood on the ground, holes worn into the planking. “Y/N that’s not good. Rot means there’s water and water means erosion and erosion means big shafts hundreds of feet straight down under those wood planks.”

“How much of it is wood?” you asked. You both looked ahead and sighed, the whole hall flooring covered in wood. “Shit.”

“Y/N. This is too dangerous. I’ve worked in mines since I was 18 and it’s way too dangerous.”

“Dean. I don’t want to die. If we don’t do anything, we’re dead in three days, maybe less.”

“Maybe they come up the decommissioned mine and get us,” he said. 

“Dean. The mountain collapsed from what my dad said. They are not coming in here, risking even more lives, in this mine. It might even have collapsed on the other side on the way out. We don’t know. All we do know is we stay and we’re dead or we go and we’re maybe dead.”

“You still won’t let me go on ahead on my own to try to get some help?”

“You’re not leaving me alone,” you said. You stepped ahead and he yanked on the rope, pulling you back. “Dean. Stop.”

“I go first,” he said. You held up your hands and he swallowed, Dean stepping past you, carefully putting his weight down on each plank. “Follow. Every footstep exactly where mine go.”

You followed after, the only sounds your breathing and the occasional board creaking. Dean put a foot down and stopped moving forward when you heard snapping. 

“Go back. Slowly.”

You stepped a foot backwards, putting weight on it and your foot going straight through. Dean grabbed your arm as you pulled your foot up, a few sticks falling into a deep dark pit. 

“What do we do,” you breathed out.

“Well we’re over rock that fell away so there’s a big hole beneath us if the rotted wood is anything to go by,” he said. You heard the slight waiver in his voice and sighed. “We make a choice. Forwards or backwards.”

“Back looks bad. Plus we already probably broke the supports.”

“I think solid ground is in front. But I have to jump for it,” he said. You looked past him and shook your head. 

“Dean, it's way too far. I can try to walk over there if you let out the rope. I get to solid ground and then you walk and if you fall, I got you with the rope.”

“Sweetheart, there’s no way.”

“You’re too heavy and we can’t stay here,” you said. You slipped past him and he tried to grab you but you went quickly. “Dean let out the rope. Now.”

“Fuck. We’re gonna die.”

“No we’re not,” you said, walking quickly, planks creaking but you sighed when you had solid rock under your feet again. “Alright. Just go where I did and fast.”

He took a deep breath and walked a few steps, a loud groaning of the wood making him move faster.

You hit the ground the second you saw him go down, the wood breaking away. Dean shouted and you dug your heels into the dirt. 

“Y/N!” he said, falling straight down into a hole and out of view.

_____

A/N: Read Part 2 here!

[tapejob]

uhh why was china getting kicked out of the olympics

long story short: no but actually yes

currently, china's men's hockey team is the ranked 32rd worldwide, aka the lowest ranked team to qualify for the men's olympics in... a while

+ there's only uhh 12 teams in the men's tournament

now how they qualified at all was because after winning the olympic bid, china was granted automatic berths in both men's and women's hockey tournaments by the iihf

(in theory this is fine: iihf did this for south korea in 2018 + promising move to grow the game in china while also forcing china to buff its hockey programs in general + give china a chance to actually make headway in a major winter sport, which we've been historically abysmal at)

in practice this is very not fine

in preliminary qualifiers for the 2018 olympics, team china came dead last in group L, winning 0 games with a grand -21 goal differential against serbia, spain, and iceland (currently ranked #29, #31, and #35 respectively). it was so brutal i gaslighted myself into totally forgetting about it until i came across it again today

and btw china hasn't played an international game since 2019 bc of COVID

anyway remember back in april when they announced the olympic groupings:

what's that? what's that in the front? we have canada (#1), US (#6), germany (#7) and china (#32). okay.

also, in case you've forgotten (you haven't). daddy bettman is letting the nhl loose on the olympics this year, with crosby and mcdavid definitely out to tear up in team canada and who knows who else in the rest of the group. china gets net zero benefit from this whole ordeal: we have one (1) nhl player currently living his best life in cornell. he spent last year becoming a business analyst.

this isn't even like a regular year. the nhl talent pool alone right now? absolutely off the shits. scmp aptly puts it as "the planet’s most talent-rich ice hockey tournament in eight years"

bringing back this quote from a former coach because i think it sums up quintessential team china hockey:

you have got to help me

so basically no development internationally, abysmal roster at best with little changes at the senior level compared to the last olympics where we got completely rimmed blind

anyway

because the iihf is desperately trying not to rapidly descend into clown representation, we leave china with two options:

get china to recruit some boys from north america/europe with chinese heritage + naturalize them in time for the olympics so we have a decent roster

get kicked out

option 1 sounds pretty good, tbh, except for the fact that the iihf has a rule that players have to play in their new country for at least 2 years before switching nationalities. bit too late for that but this is okay because apparently we are so catastrophically bad that the iihf is willing to bend the eligibility rules to avoid a murder on international ice

option 1 would also sound pretty good because we've actually been recruiting a lot of our heritage boys via Kunlun Red Stars. not a bad choice, since it gives them runtime in the KHL

we are ignoring the fact that they haven't qualified for playoffs since their founding, and had the worst season in their history in 20-21

IT WOULD BE PRETTY GOOD except for the fact that apparently the KRS had a "falling out" with the chinese ice hockey association. now all our potential recruits (read: literally all ethnically chinese players) are unusable until the general administration of sports gets its shit together

you fucked up a perfectly good team is what they did. look at it. it's god anxiety.

"there are reports that players from the Soviet bloc are being considered, perhaps those from Central Asia, who look at least a little “Chinese”" stop stop stop stop stop oh my fucking god

there's also an emergency option which is to beg a ton of white guys to join. this is how we got our coach. we hired a canadian coach for team china hockey. who are we

we're on the trajectory to get pretty historically bodied which is something that the iihf would love to prevent and the US would love to enable. also read this hot take i found that made me start crying

"avoid rubbing it in" you have GOT TO HELP ME

anyway, there was a source from iihf that said there's nothing expected to change with china's participation, but luc tardif said there would be an official decision by end of october as to whether china gets the chopping block out of their very own tournament or face global demolition on the world stage

pray for me besties i am unwell

also bonus for some incredible headlines we got out of this: