#I like High School AUs you see

[kaiminluu]

happy birthday to our most beloved will byers :) here're some byler grease concept sketches

[gazkamurocho]

Thinking about the Kazumaji High School AU again

[applepixls]

watching ren's scootball episode and joel being the aggressive star scootball player? there is so much room for aus and rival scootball team stuff with etho...

[entropyvoid]

Joe and Cleo

For my second painting in my little alt fashion hermits series, I present to you Joe playing the role of every dude I knew in high school if they were just a lil bit braver with their fashion choices, and Cleo if she was a Monster High doll.

[bumblingbabooshka]

I think it's funny if every Voyager au has its own 'delta quadrant' and 'Maquis v Starfleet' circumstance that they're treating with the same level of seriousness and angst. Flight attendant Au but they're experiencing several long layovers and are from two competing airlines. High School Au but they're from different schools on a tense joint overnight trip.

[miusato]

Ahh yes, the autism brothers 🤝🤝🤝

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

heya, i have to wake up in three hours but! here's another lil human au snippet! ft. lightly implied Laughingstock! disclaimer i am so so tired so don't come at me for typos or strangely worded sentences or missing info <3

~

Before heading home, Eddie swings by a charming little store he’s been to once or twice before. He usually goes to the chain store by his house, but he doesn’t feel like dealing with the hustle and bustle and the endless aisles. This little store is quiet, nice, and strangely has everything anyone could need. 

The lot is mostly empty at this hour, so Eddie claims a spot right at the front. As with the other times, the windows are littered with displays and stickers - half off on this, sale on that. Eddie enters Howdy’s Place with the chime of the door’s shopkeeper’s bell. He’ll get what he needs and get out, quick and easy and peacefu-

Boisterous laughter slams into Eddie like a hammer, so sudden that he jumps in place. An employee stocking cans nearby glances weirdly at him. Eddie clears his throat and hurries into the nearest aisle as the laughter tapers off. The silence barely lasts a second before loud chatter starts up. It’s too fast and muffled for Eddie to understand, but he can pick out two distinct voices - one deep, one less so but still decidedly masculine. 

Eddie tries to tune it out as he gathers what he needs. Toothpaste, some paper towels, shampoo. For the hell of it, he nabs a box of classic bran muffins from the spacious food section. He lingers for a moment, enjoying how far-away the conversation seems at the other corner of the store. Unfortunately, theft is illegal, so Eddie is forced to move towards the noise.

A strange thing about the store - it’s a combination general store, antique shop, and diner, complete with a miniature gift shop separating the two. One long checkout counter stretches from the open store area, behind the gift shop, and into the diner, where the conversation is coming from. An interesting setup, but an understandable one. It allows anyone behind the counter to move fluidly between customers and sections.

As Eddie approaches, the conversation becomes slightly clearer. 

“-said, no wonder you didn’t get her number!” the deeper voice barks, and the two dissolve into that almost-too-loud laughter again. 

As it tapers off, the other voice says, “Sounds like a real charmer! But really, you oughta be careful, Barn. One of these days someone’s gonna throw a right hook at ya.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up. A transatlantic accent? He hasn’t heard that anywhere outside of real old movies and a queen he once knew. It sounds natural too, like the man was born to sound like he belongs on a 1920s radio show. It nudges something in the back of Eddie’s mind. He’s started to get really sick of that nudge.

“Oh, this guy did.”

“No kidding? I don’t see a shiner.”

“Well, yeah. I went left.”

Both of them laugh again, and Eddie feels a tiny tug at the corner of his mouth. That wasn’t funny enough to garner an actual laugh in his opinion, but it wasn’t unfunny. 

Eddie steps up to the counter and quietly puts his acquired items on it, not wanting to interrupt. He chances a glance to the side - walking space in front of the counter’s length lets him see right down into the diner.

A large man with dyed-blue hair and an interesting fashion sense is at the bar, talking to an employee leaning against the other side. The employee doesn’t really catch Eddie’s gaze, but the other man… Eddie swears he’s seen him before. He studies him from the corner of his eye, not wanting to be rude but unable to mind his business. 

“Our bouncer didn’t even get a chance at the action - the idiot knocked himself out tryin’ a second swing!” The customer says. His deep voice, wavering with humor, only adds to the sense of familiarity. Metal glints in his right ear. Eddie knows this man from somewhere.

The employee shakes his head, tutting. His busy hands polish a vintage pitcher. “I swear, you get all the crazies.”

“Makes for a good story, though.” The customer takes a sip from his tall milkshake and scoffs. “Though if it wasn’t all well-ending, amusing bull, I doubt I’d be so tolerant.”

Minutes drag by as the two keep talking. Eddie goes from patiently waiting to awkwardly trying to get the employees attention. If only there was someone else behind the counter, but the only other staff member is elsewhere, likely still stocking shelves. 

The two men are too absorbed in their little world, even though both are facing Eddie’s way. The customer has both elbows on the counter, one of them bent to prop up his chin. The employee has his hip leaned against the edge as they chat. They’re obviously very familiar with each other, and clearly deeply enjoy each other's company. 

Still - and Eddie is sorry to say, but it’s bad customer service. He’s not in a rush, but he’d still like to be on his way home. He could be fishing out the complex keys right now. He checks his phone - he’s been here for nearly fifteen minutes. Picking out the items took less than five. 

Eddie sighs, staring at the various cigarette packs displayed behind the counter. He’s never seen the appeal in smoking, but as the laughter starts up again, he almost wishes he did. He’s going to treat himself to a very long shower once he gets home. 

The store’s other employee walks behind the counter, carrying a box. Eddie lights up. Finally - she pointedly clears her throat and heads into the back. 

The constant conversation stalls for the barest moment, and he looks over. The customer grins at him for a second - lord he’s handsome - before turning that grin towards his friend.

“You’re losin’ your touch, Howds,” he teases, bringing his shake straw to his lips.

“I resent that statement. You’re just distracting.”

“Lil’ me? Distracting? C’mon, you can just tell me I’m pretty to my face. I’ll take it like a champ, I swear!”

“Ha, good try.” The employee sets the pitcher down and starts to mosey in Eddie’s direction. “Your ego is big enough for the both of us as is. One more compliment and your head’ll pop like a balloon.”

“Well, given that most balloons don’t really pop, they just kinda deflate slowly-”

“Sorry for the wait!” the employee says loudly in a glaringly obvious customer service tone. He stops in front of Eddie with a cardboard smile. At the other end of the counter, the familiar man snickers and hides his grin behind his drink. “I trust you found everything you did - and didn’t! - need.”

Eddie just stares up at him for a moment. At six-one, Eddie hasn’t felt small in a very long time. He usually stands at least a full inch above other people. This employee - Howdy, his name tag states - has several more on him.

“Uh, y-yes, I uh, I did,” Eddie stammers, glancing at his items. 

“Wonderful! And again, my sincerest apologies for the delay. My friend makes a game out of keeping me from my job.” Howdy shoots his ‘friend’ a glare with enough heat in it to make an ice cube sweat. 

“No worries.”

Howdy scans the items at an almost frightening speed. Beep, into a paper bag. Beep, in. Beep, beep - “Oh, no.”

“What?” Eddie says, dread plucking at his ribs as Howdy holds the bran muffins and shakes his head. “Is there somethin’ wrong?”

“Indeed there is! You’re making a mistake with these. They’re absolutely horrible, I tell ya - and bad for you, too!” Howdy tuts and puts the box to the side. “No, no, you don’t want those.”

“I… don’t?”

“Not if you knew better! Lucky for you, I’m here to set you straight. What you need is-” he snaps his fingers, “Barnaby, be a pal and-”

“Already on it,” ‘Barnaby’ says, appearing next to Eddie.

If Eddie weren’t already paralyzed, he’d jump right out of his skin from how Barnaby towers over him. He has to be a scant inch or so shorter than Howdy, but he still makes Eddie feel tiny. Unfortunately, Barnaby is even more handsome up close. 

“Here ya go.” Barnaby hands a plastic container to Howdy and taps it, smiling lazily down at Eddie. “I’d take his advice on this one. Those bran-named muffins may sound fancy, but they’re pretty crumby! You want muffins of quality. Real breadwinners!

Eddie can’t help a soft laugh. “Breadwinners, heh, that’s a good one.”

“Are you selling these or am I?” Howdy says, raising a bushy eyebrow. 

“Hey, I’m just doin’ what you asked! I’m bein’ a pal.”

“And I - I’m sorry," Eddie interjects, "but you’re awfully familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”

“Eh, I’ve been around, but uh… you ever been to [INSERT GAY BAR NAME HERE]?”

Howdy clears his throat. “I’m trying to make a sale here, Barn. You can flirt on your own dime when you’re not costing me mine.”

“Didja know your nose gets redder when you’re jealous?”

Howdy rolls his eyes and shoves Barnaby in the diner’s direction. Barnaby goes with a hearty snicker. Despite the joke, Eddie thinks it has some merit as Howdy scans the final item and rings him up, considerably frostier than before.

Belatedly, Eddie realizes that he didn’t actually agree to the different muffins. Too late now. “Say, what kind of muffins are those?”

“Poppyseed-lemon.”

Eddie relaxes - that is a lot better than boring bran. “Y’know, my mother loved poppyseed-lemon muffins.”

“Did she now,” Howdy drawls.

“Like you wouldn’t believe! If baking was so much as mentioned, she’d jump right on houndin’ us to whip some up for her, or send us to go buy some. We’d never even get a taste! They’d be gone the moment they hit the air, I tell ya.” Eddie chuckles. “Took me a while to understand what all the fuss is about, but man was she right. They are good!”

“Uh-huh. Well, we have a fresh batch delivered every morning. They’re not the same type every time, mind you, but I can promise that they’re all of the highest quality.”

“Breadwinners, right?” Eddie jokes. Howdy doesn’t blink, but Barnaby snorts. He’ll take it. “I might have to come by more often, if that’s the case! Thank you kindly, sir.”

“Mhm, have a good day.” Howdy hands him the bag and strides away without a glance. The dismissal is clear as day. “Say, Barn, did you hear about the racket one of those cult crackpots stirred up at our dear friend’s tearoom?”

Eddie doesn’t catch the tail-end of the sentence as he hurries away, but he frowns. Cult? What cult? There’s a cult? He certainly didn’t hear of one before moving here, and none of his background checks had turned up anything of the sort. He hopes it was just a figure of speech. 

The door chimes again as Eddie leaves. It isn’t until he’s in his car that the embarrassment of that whole exchange catches up with him. If he had a nickel for every time he’d made a fool of himself in front of a gorgeous, strangely familiar man, he’d have three nickels. At the rate he’s going, he’ll either be rich, or he’ll have to move. 

Eddie subtly tries to peek around the store’s window displays from the safety of his car. He catches a scant glimpse of blue hair - come to think of it, it’s a similar shade to Wally’s. But where Wally’s had, to Eddie’s memory, been uniformly dyed right down to his eyebrows, Barnaby’s rich brown roots were obvious. His beard and eyebrows weren’t dyed, either. 

As Eddie relaxes back into his seat, he re-reads at the store’s name. The color drains from his face and he barely restrains himself from slamming his forehead against the steering wheel.

Oh, of course. Of course he made a fool of himself in front of the owner. Eddie can never come back here again. And it was such a nice store…

[jichanxo]

kitakata sensei au stuff [from sept/2023]

[tartarusknight]

King of the Freaks | Part 12

Ao3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Eddie wakes up by staticky sobbing. A female voice whispered, “Steve? Steve, come in. Please, Steve, are you there?” Eddie blinks awake and glances around until he spots the walkie on the desk. “Steve please, are you okay?” The girl is crying and Eddie picks it up. He thinks about answering but he doesn’t want to make whoever’s talking, feel uncomfortable. And since it sounds like Max, he knows she’d feel uncomfortable.

 So, he hurries downstairs but Steve’s not in the living room. He heads further down and instantly notices the light on. Just a couple of lamps turned on around the area. And in the middle is Steve sitting up on the couch playing solitaire like it wasn’t 4 in the morning. He’s got a Walkman over his ears and he looks incredibly tense. Eddie moves over and the minute he touches Steve, Steve wheels around and looks like he’s about to punch Eddie. However, he pauses and his eyes widen at the sight of Eddie. Then he glances at the walkie in Eddie’s hand and pales.

 He pushes his headphones off and grabs the walkie, Max’s frantic sobs still echoing. “Max, hey I’m so sorry. I didn’t- I’m here now.” Eddie pauses and takes Steve in. The tension in his body, the fear in his eyes, and the bags under his eyes. “Byers or Junkyard?”

Max sobs, “B-Byers.”

Steve squeezes his eyes shut, “Billy, Will, or the dogs?”

“Billy,” The word is so quiet and Eddie watches Steve’s shoulders slump. Steve glances back at him and he’s silently begging Eddie but Eddie has no clue what he wants.

“Do you want me to come and get you?” Steve offered but he got a no.

 Everything was quiet as Steve took a deep breath before he started. “Alright, listen closely Max,” Steve says and Eddie takes a step back, forcing himself to let them have this conversation, let them have privacy. “Lucas is fine, Billy wasn’t able to touch him. We stopped him, Max. You and I stopped him. Billy’s not a problem anymore. He’s left you and your friends alone.” Steve murmurs into the walkie as Eddie heads upstairs. His movements are slow as he grabs the cup Steve had been using and refills it, along with another cup. His mind whirls as he pictures the kids freaking out because of Billy Hargrove. He pictures them watching as Steve went down… but Steve said that Max helped.

 Suddenly he’s got this image of Steve on the ground, barely breathing as Max beats Billy into the ground. It’s stupid and he knows he doesn’t know what actually happened, but it was traumatizing enough to give the kids nightmares. And then there was the obvious fact. Max had gotten Billy to back off of her and her friends, but Steve hadn’t been let off the hook. Billy still took his anger out on Steve and Steve kept that from Max, from all the kids. Shielding them from the sharp truth that Billy Hargrove was an asshole.

 Eddie isn’t tired enough to not wait and make sure Steve's okay. So he just stands in the kitchen. Watching time tick by until he felt okay heading back down there. Because there was no way he’d leave Steve alone after that. Not after seeing how Steve hides. After around 30 minutes he grabs the two cups and heads back down. The walkie is silent on the coffee table and Steve’s holding himself close, like if he didn’t move everything would be okay. Eddie gently sets the two cups down and sits down next to Steve. He doesn’t even look at Eddie, but it’s okay.

 He's careful as he shifts, but he stays firm. Sure, his brain isn’t completely on and he’s too exhausted to really think twice about his actions. But it doesn’t matter, he just pulls Steve so Steve’s back is against his chest and he holds him. Steve is tense for a moment before letting out a small sob. Eddie lays back against one of the pillows and Steve shifts so he’s on his side, curled around Eddie with his head on Eddie’s chest. They lay like that as Steve shakes. Eddie rubs gentle circles on his back and eventually, Steve falls asleep like that. Eddie holds him close and looks up at the ceiling of the basement. No stains, perfect just like the rest of the house. He wonders what it was like growing up here. Eddie thinks it's more of a show house than an actual home.

 ***

 When Eddie wakes up and Steve’s gone. It takes him a moment to get his brain back up and running but as he fully wakes up, he’s alone. There’s a blanket over him and Steve’s cup is gone. As if he wasn’t ever in Eddie’s arms. He rubs his eyes and heads up the stairs. Grant is awake and at the kitchen island as Steve is moving around making some coffee. His hair is freshly washed and Eddie wondered how long he’s been awake.

 “Wow, it’s before 10, and you're awake?” Grant teases and Eddie flips him off. He glances at Steve who looks content acting like nothing was amiss. That he didn’t break down last night in Eddie’s arms… he just looked like he wasn’t sure what to do around Eddie.

Eddie blinks, “okay, I can’t cook anything but breakfast foods. So,” he drawls and Grant rolls his eyes as Steve watches him. He starts pulling things out and Steve moves out of his way, looking like he wants to offer a hand.

 “Favorite breakfast food,” Eddie points at Steve, and Steve looks honestly shocked that he was asked.

He shifts and looks uncomfortable, “Er- I don’t normally eat breakfast.”

Eddie glances over, “but do you have a favorite?”

Steve shrugs half-heartedly. “I think the kids would kill me if I said anything other than waffles.” He’s got a small smile on his face and Eddie grins.

“I can work with that,” he nods and Steve helps him pull out the last few items.

 He works with Steve smoothly and Grant even makes some bacon to go with it. By the time Jeff and Gareth come down, there’s a feast fit for kings. Throughout breakfast, he keeps an eye on Steve and he looks fine for the most part. Like he’s used to being up at 4 in the morning. Like he’s used to kids calling him crying about a nightmare. Like he’s unfazed by it all even as he barely sleeps. There’s a small tension in his shoulders but somehow Eddie knows it’s because he got to see Steve break down. It makes him think about their meeting. Steve had been panicking in a closet, full-on melting down. Steve’s got his fair number of problems and Eddie might only be touching the surface of them. But he wants to keep digging.

 Eventually, they end up at the table and Steve teaches most of them (minus Grant who already knew) how to play poker. They bet with pretzels and Eddie is having fun even as he goes broke. Grant is winning and Steve isn’t too far behind him. However, around 1 his phone rings. “Excuse me,” he mumbles and leaves the room. Gareth takes the moment to look at his cards.

“Dude,” Jeff huffs but he just looks amused.

 Surprisingly, they could hear everything Steve said from the other room. “Hello--- good afternoon to you to Dustin… I’m actually busy ask Jon--- yes, with Eddie but I don’t see how- Kid, what the hell are you going on about? No- I’ve got more than just Eddie here. Why are you so focused on Ed--- I’m not- Dustin- I don’t understand what’s up… I still hang out with you every Wednesday… yes, I know that… Oh, you’re- um, kid, you’re still my favorite, I promise... Yeah, sounds like a plan, dipshit… I promise not to have too much fun without you--- Sure, dumbass, I believe you.” It goes quiet and Eddie can’t help but smile at all the care in Steve’s voice.

 As Steve enters, he’s got a small smile on his face but his eyes narrow at Gareth, “you looked at my cards didn’t you?” They all gave him their most innocent smiles which made him laugh. “Yeah okay,” he rolls his eyes and sits back down. He takes all the cards which makes Gareth groan. However, no one actually fights it, letting Steve deal it back out easily.

 “What did Dustin want?” Eddie can’t help but ask.

Steve smirks, “he and the brats wanted a ride to the arcade.”

Eddie nods and Steve pauses, tapping his fingers on the table. “Actually, Eddie did he act-”

“Like I was his biggest enemy? Like a little ball of jealousy?” He offered and Steve laughed, nodding.

 They played until both Eddie and Gareth were ‘broke’ and then Jeff moved to make up some dinner. Eddie bounced in his spot, “so movie and then smoke?” He questioned and everyone easily agreed. Steve moved to help Eddie get out all of his movies and they sat down on the carpet to go through them.

 Eddie couldn’t help but check on Steve throughout the day but now in this small bubble of peace… he felt like he could ask. “Are you alright?”

Steve looked over at him and blinked in surprise. “Uh, yeah. I’m alright, and you?” He asked softly, his body growing stiff.

Eddie tries to smile and relieve some tension, “I’m pretty good. Just concerned about you,” he says honestly. Steve doesn’t seem to take that well, his eyes refusing to meet his. “You know, it’s okay to cry. And I-”

Steve huffs, “I’m fine, Eddie. Okay, sure I- Max doesn’t-” He shakes his head like he can’t find the words.

 “I used to get really bad panic attacks when I was growing up.” Eddie blurts and Steve finally looks at him. “My mom, she died when I was a kid. Overdosed when my dad was off doing some shit. I was young and I didn’t understand why she wasn’t waking up. My old man took it out on me. I lived terrified for years until he did something stupid and got arrested for it. After that, I lived with Wayne. I was 12.” He rambles and Steve stares at him. “I was too young to understand why my dad hit me. So, I didn’t know how to tell if Wayne was going to be the same way. Everything set me off and Wayne would hold me until I could breathe again. He’d get them to, from the war. We dealt with them together,” Eddie blinks as Steve reached over and take his hand.

 He looked at Steve and held tighter. “I’ve helped a lot of people calm down after someone bullies them because I wish someone would’ve held me after my dad-” he cuts himself off. “So, if you need someone to lean on, you can lean on me.” He says, “I’d feel better if you did.”

Steve looks at him and he draws in a sharp breath, “okay. I- I promise to let you hold me next time I break down.” He smiles at Eddie and while it’s in a teasing tone, they both know it’s honest. Eddie knows Steve’s hiding with jokes and smiles, just like Eddie hides behind leather jackets and taunting words.

 They pick out a movie after that, and Steve doesn't want to talk anymore. It doesn’t hurt Eddie but he hopes it’s enough. They end up deciding to bring the TV down in the basement. He helps Steve haul it down and it's awkward but they make it work. Gareth starts setting it up, stating that he's great at this kind of shit. They all watch him as Jeff brings down dinner and they have dinner down there. Jeff had made Avocado cucumber rolls that reminded Eddie of egg rolls. He didn't complain about the vegetables not when Steve was actually eating. Instead he forced it down and hated that it didn't taste bad. 

 Once their done eating, Gareth had it hooked up and they put on Slumber Party Massacre because Eddie thought it would be funny. While Steve didn't look super happy with the choice he didn't argue. Plus it was his movie, so Eddie knew he at least had seen it. Eddie rolls a joint and sits down next to Steve. lighting it up. They all pass them around until their all a little high. Steve is surprisingly a lightweight. He leans against Eddie as they trade back and forth. “You don’t smoke much?” Grant asks and Steve blinks like he’s trying to focus.

He shakes his head, “Tommy didn’t like me to do it often.” He murmurs and Eddie’s eyes narrow as Steve snuggles a little closer to Eddie.

“Why not?” Gareth asks and Steve hums, taking a hit before passing it.

He shrugs, “He only ever wanted to when it was just him, Carol, and me. I get super clingy and they said it’s better if I didn’t smoke at parties.”

 Steve stands and grabs a soda from the small stack they made but he doesn’t come back to sit next to Eddie. Instead, he drops down in Jeff’s space. Jeff blinks but doesn’t say anything as Steve gets comfortable wrapped around him. Eddie can’t help the flip in his chest, wishing Steve would do that to him. Before he realized they did just this morning. “Okay?” Steve questions, ever the gentleman even high.

Jeff wraps one of his arms around Steve who grins at the touch. “Yeah, this is fine.” Steve takes a sip of the soda, making a noise in the back of his throat like a pleased cat.

 Gareth is snickering but no one says anything to make Steve feel uncomfortable and take his movements back. It was getting late but they all stayed right there, on the couches, relaxing easily. Steve had brought down blankets earlier and it felt like a slumber party. A slumber party for seniors who were high out of their minds. Eddie glanced over at Steve and tried not to let this little green monster out as Steve sits on Jeff’s lap sideways, curled into his arms with a tired smile on his face. No, Eddie couldn’t be jealous, not when Steve actually looked happy and was the one to reach out first.

@zerokrox-blog @cyranx @adaed5 @the-redthread @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @failedstarsandgoldenclouds  @bisexualdisastersworld @deadlydodos @anythingyouwanttobe @nburkhardtt @bestwifehaver @thehumblefigtree @megzdoodle @swimmingbirdrunningrock @mightbeasleep @bxlthazar @autumnal-dawn @chillichats @nonbinary-eddie-munson @the-daydreamer-in-the-corner @eddie-munson-is-my-wife @a-little-unsteddie @sharingisntkaren @a-huge-nerdy-nerd @0o-queendean-o0 @beckkthewreck @vi-an-te @vampireinthesun @newtstabber @dinosareawesome2137  @spicemallow @hellomynameismoo  @luthienstormblessed @briceslayed @angeldreamsoffanfic @dbquills @prideandsensibility @iwouldsail @ponfarrtimeatthevulcannightclub @spectrum-spectre @the-chilly-kat @yearningagain @loopsmd @starlight-archer @sleepy-time @goodolefashionedloverboi  @crazyshipper67  @sherrylyn628  @bidisastersworld  @v3lnys  @n0connections @pyrohonk  @cherixxx69 @theotalksalot @tailsfromthecrypt @ledleaf @grimmfitzz

(I can’t tag any more people I’m sorry!!! If you want to stay updated pls follow me or go onto Ao3 and subscribe to the story!)

[akechi-if-he-slayed]

imo the perfect series finale for south park would be for them to dedicate their last couple of seasons to their junior + senior year of high school (yes live action because i think it would be awesome if done right, not insanely gritty and emo like riverdale). same startling humor and amusement, but kind of with a slightly more mature feel (because they are teenagers now after all; even though they don’t exactly “act their age” in the show, you can still tell their naive youth plays a big factor in a lot of their reasonings and motivations behind their actions and decisions) like yeah, they’re still being stupid and getting caught up in the weirdest shit, but this time they’re being dumb teenagers instead of dumb kids. also! feel like romance would definitely be a core thing, because you know. teenage hormones. no explicit scenes, but definitely make outs and the like, and their relationships would play a more crucial factor in the show. for example, i think that at the start of the live-action saga, wendy and stan would still be entertaining their on-and-off-again-friends-who-make-out-and-have-a-different-response-each-day-if-you-ask-whether-or-not-they’re-together and pretty soon, they’d eventually just break it off for good, and that would be a major coming of age moment for stan as he realizes he was only staying with wendy because she was “safe” and reminded him of being a kid.

PROM EPISODE (for junior year)!!! it would be so lit. huge, huge potential there to get everyone dolled up. stan and wendy would already be broken up by that time, so naturally stan and kyle would just go together as FRIENDS. MUTUAL BACHELORS. DEFINITELY NOTHING MORE….not like kyle turned down heidi’s ask because “i don’t want stan to feel alone” even though cartman and kenny don’t have dates either? also stan definitely doesn’t sneak a bottle in and definitely doesn’t skulk outside and kyle definitely doesn’t find him and just. sits and talks and just laughs and talks shit with him outside for the rest of the night and nothing is said about any sort of feelings kyle might have (if he’s even fully aware of them yet now that stan is 100% available for the first time in years) but. you can tell, everyone can tell that something is there, something is starting.

main highlights for this adaptation idea!

- bebe (cheer captain!) and wendy (heavily involved in asb, voted president senior year; there’s a whole episode dedicated to her campaign against kyle at the end of junior year, she wins by just a few votes) as the queens of the school, most popular girls (bebe in more of a gorgeous-can-have-any-guy-do-whatever-she-wants-and-have-them-all-want-her kind of way and wendy in a beautiful-and-powerful-top-of-the-class-but-definitely-not-an-outcast way)

- cartman still cartman but not nearly as volatile as he once was, still generally considered to be a dick, though. at first glance you think he’s a stupid football player meathead, but he’s actually incredibly smart when he wants to be, kyle is annoyed by this every time he shares an ap period with him and he actually does well.

- ordered class rankings (top 5): wendy (valedictorian), kyle, butters, cartman, heidi

- shelley moved across the country for college the second she graduated, so it’s just stan, randy, and sharon. naturally he spends the night at kyle’s so often that he leaves an overnight bag there and the broflovskis are never surprised to see him stumble out of kyle’s room in the morning

- bendy canon literally like two months after permanent stendy breakup. poor stan is helplessly confused: “has she been a lesbian this whole time????? did she think i was feminine??? is that why we were together for so long???”

- creek thriving as per

- kenny does musical theater and show choir. greatly enjoys it! butters is always front row and has never missed a performance.

- kyle captain of the debate team! wendy is vp, and there’s kind of been a weird tension between them ever since stendy split, you can practically hear her say “i know what you are.”

- stan enjoys volunteering at an animal shelter whenever he can, he keeps this a secret for as long as physically possible and this becomes a big plot point as he makes up increasingly suspicious and not very believable stories and excuses as for why he is rarely available after school despite having no job or clubs. rumors that spread: | randy has managed to get access to harder drugs and is using stan to deal them across south park | stan is a whore-for-hire and will give you an excellent bj if you pay up and meet him somewhere discreet (cartman started that one) | stan is part of a crime group conspiring to kill the mayor and control the city (this one has him end up at the police station with his head in his hands).

- gerald really wants kyle to be a lawyer and practically has all of his schools picked out for him, thereby unintentionally giving his son an existential crisis on what the heck he wants to do with his life because he does not want to do what his dad does but he also doesn’t have a good enough alternative to combat him.

- heavily hinted bunny, it’s literally right there but they tell everyone they’re just friends. ongoing gag of them being caught in compromising and/or suspicious positions but somehow having a seemingly reasonable explanation each time.

- college decisions would for sure be a big plot point towards the middle of their senior year, especially for kyle. he only applies to two schools and is accepted to both of them: princeton (college of his parents, their pick for him to study pre-law) and stanford (his pick, unknown to his parents that he even applied, to study psychology). yes it is absolutely insane that he only applied to two ivy leagues but what is even more insane is that his parents only wanted him to apply to princeton and no other schools. haha well now he has to explain to them that he is going to california and is not following their carefully constructed plan for his future haha

- stan is similar to shelley, he doesn’t really care where he goes as long as he gets to leave south park! he also knows he wants to do some sort of career helping animals but is unsure what exactly, so he just puts zoology as his major and applies to a lot of different schools. he ends up committing to uc davis! sharon is incredibly proud of him and cries when she sees the acceptance letter, randy is kind of bitter because he wanted stan to stay and help out with the farm since shelley booked it but eventually comes around (also stan would’ve gotten a job at 7/11 before he started working at tegridy alongside his dad).

- butters gets accepted to the university of rochester for biomedical sciences. kenny doesn’t plan on going to college, but him and butters decide to share a flat in the city, and kenny works odd jobs while also doing performances at various clubs in the at the area. also him and butters choosing to live together across the country is purely platonic!!! there is nothing romantic going on at all, they are just really good friends!! nobody buys this anymore

- cartman literally gets accepted to ucla on a full ride football scholarship for business management and it makes kyle want to tear him to shreds! liane would’ve absolutely somehow paid for his entire tuition anyway if she had to

i feel like the length of each episode would be about 45 minutes with the series finale being like 90 minutes, the first half being their graduation with wendy giving an incredibly corny yet oddly emotional speech as valedictorian that pretty much summarizes their entire lives in south park. and then the second half would kind of be just like providing conclusions and tying up loose ends such as:

- shelley flying back home for stan’s graduation and reconciling with him; she’s a junior at NYU and actually became a lot nicer and at peace with the world + herself after she was able to leave colorado

- randy actually having a good father-son moment with stan as they discuss his going off to school in california; stan realizes that his father definitely is not great, but he maybe also isn’t the worst person in the world

- a moment of “this is the last we’re ever gonna be like this, huh?” when the main four are hanging out at cartman’s, traditional teen paranoia of the future

- bunny finally 100% confirmed as scene shows with Kenny having his arm loosely hung around butters on someone’s couch, lightly pressed kiss on his cheek

ok i have a lot more but my #1 idea for the finale would be this:

- stan and kyle just aimlessly hanging out in the latter’s room about a week or two after graduation, easily talking about everything from college to music to new films to their friends; just enjoying each other’s company before fall comes (they are unbelievably dramatic. uc davis and stanford are like a hour’s drive away from each other but coming from best friends who have lived in the same city together their entire lives, an hour away may as well be a whole ass country away)

- occasional comfortable silence. kyle has come to terms with his feelings about stan at this point, but has chosen not to act on it in favor of keeping his longest friendship intact. nobody knows, he never told a soul. unbeknownst to him, stan has been accumulating the same feelings towards kyle, but likewise has been keeping them sealed tightly in so as not to ruin anything.

- eventually, they somehow start talking about relationships. stan never dated anyone else after breaking up with wendy at the start of junior year, and kyle has never truly dated anyone, not if you don’t count a faint fling with some loud city girl when he spent most of sophomore year summer with his mom’s family in new jersey. he came back from summer break more certain than ever that he was 100% gay. he recounts this story to stan for the first time (he’d been too embarrassed to tell anyone when he had come home) and it’s met with an enormous fit of laughter.

- they start talking about how weird it is to love someone, to have these strong urges and desires towards someone in a way that’s entirely unprovoked. to feel like you would do absolutely anything for this person, and to have life be unfathomable without them. they both agree on all their points, but no names are mentioned though!

- it’s the early morning hours before stan realizes how long they’ve been talking, and despite knowing he could stay the night, he decides to head home, suddenly flushed and overwhelmed with some sort of..something. does he really love kyle that much? in that way?

- the air is lightly tense as he leaves, kyle left feeling confused and slightly perturbed. against his butter judgment, he chases after stan outside, as he’s placing his key in his driver-side door to unlock his car.

- “wait!”

- stan turns his head, looking puzzled and faintly apprehensive. it’s summer, so the early morning is not bone-chillingly cold, yet also not as scorching hot as it will be come afternoon. it’s the perfect temperature, and it’s the perfect time, and before he knows what he’s doing, his feet are carrying his stiff, trembling body towards stan, whose eyes tell a thousand pictures despite his frame not moving a muscle.

- he stops in front of stan so that they’re gazing slowly, directly, meaningfully into each other’s eyes, and stan feels his throat go dry and his mind go blissfully blank. it’s slow and tender, the gentle yet firm way kyle stares up into his eyes, like he’s been waiting a lifetime for it (and he probably has) and he can feel his familiar breath whispering across his face, and all of sudden the careful movements, the gentle intention, all of it is gone in a flash.

- the very last scene of the very last episode of south park shows kyle slam his lips against stan’s, and then, lips still pressed together, the show ends.

[ratwithhands]

School's done!!! I mean there's still like two random days I have to go back before it's completely over but I'm not getting anymore assignments!

Here's the drawings of high school Ingo and Emmet that made the advert and cover of my magazine culminating this semester. They also made it into the advice column for that project (though technically that was Ingo talking about Emmet in a message to the magazine). Fun fact I freehanded the perspective on Emmet in like 20 minutes because I had to rush. I think it came out alright considering I've never done that before ^^. Anyways I'll se if I can put up some doodles later for Burst.

We made it fellas :) I'll see you later, have a good night

[transsweet]

THEY ARE EVERYTHING TO ME RAGGHGHH

mn - r0b0-writes

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tuvok & Neelix are both cringe but only Neelix is free

[thelegendofmrrager]

Revamping and finishing an old fic from high school feels like walking into a totally wrecked house with your minimal carpentry tools and going "WHEWWW, who mucked up the place??"

[kyouka-supremacy]

I am totally pushing the aku top of the school agenda HOWEVER this mf would pop a vein before tutoring anyone (teaching math would end up in murder)

I swear I am extremely fascinated by and genuinely interested to understand what prompts this fairly spread perception of smart Akutagawa because I really can't see it.

Akutagawa is THE flawed character of the franchise. He has barely any redeemeing qualities. His being a ruthless, mindless dog, a beast, an animal is a central theme of his character: he's one of the most inhuman characters, no rationality, no emotions. It only makes sense he'd also be lacking in intellect, one of the most intrinsically human qualities, right? Let's also keep in mind that when it comes to intelligence, he was specifically trained since a very early age so that he wouldn't develop any critical thinking skill or wisdom. He was appositely built to be an executor, never a thinker. A killing machine, a mindless beast. He was made to be a tool, not a person. He is the very epitome of irrationality- and that much shows in everything he does! There's plenty canon evidence to support it. His actions are never guided by preliminary thoughts, he just acts on instinct, akin to an animal. He will kill his target in chapter 4 although his mission is specifically not to, he will barge into a building full of security guards right through the front door without even ordering his subordinates to offer support, he will go rogue and storm into the Moby Dick destroying everything in his path no matter the consequences, he will naïvely jump off a balcony to catch a repetitor just because his worst enemy said it had Dazai-san on the line- do I have to continue? His whole character is exclusively driven either by orders, or by instinct and irrationality. Guys, it would have been SO MUCH EASIER if upon seeing Ranpo's message Akutagawa had just took out his phone and gone “hey Chuuya-san, it's likely we've found the mastermind and the whole thing will be solved here at this place, can you come over one second?”. But he didn't, and it's not simply a matter of suspension of disbelief (in the way that the events are more satisfying this way). Was it for his pride then? Indeed, but Akutagawa's pride and irrationality are in a perpetual concomitant relationship of cause and effect, where one is constantly born from the other. I do think his very simple and straight-forward objectives (1. kill the Jinko 2. be acknowledge by Dazai-san 3. die) are themselves expression of his simple mindset, and so is a certain naïvety he has, that I honestly wish more people took into account when characterizing him.

It's funny because, the thematic relevance of it is the whole point- in reality, I don't think there's such a thing as a stupid person, I firmly believe everyone has their own kind of intelligence, a field each of us excells in. But it's exactly because Akutagawa isn't a person (well. in this context at least), but a character, that one can push a characteristic to its extremes in order to make it symbolic of something, in order to make an archetype out of his character. And Akutagawa at his core is irrationality, he is Dazai's failed trainee and ugliest foil, he is the ultimate pawn, he is the beast. The fact that Akutagawa is a character– it's relevant. He's not a person, he's a vassel for themes. I can dare to rudely talk about him like he was an animal because it's the narrative itself that before anyone else pushes the reader to see him in a dehumanizing way. Akutagawa once literally tore the skin off a man's neck with his teeth effectively killing them. It's quite not simple dog coding anymore lol. But he's just a dude from a book really, he's just symbolism: and that's why he can become a dog, or a pawn, or the stupidest person of Yokohama, as the author or reader pleases. It's really not that deep ahah

I can guess a possible counterpoint would be that perhaps, in a universe where he wasn't subject to the slums and Dazai's abuse such as high schools aus, Akutagawa would get his chance to be witty? But then I can't help but think, if you don't make Akutagawa stupid... Aren't you taking a fundamental trait of his character away from him? What's left of Akutagawa then? What would be the point of reading, let's say, a sskk high school fic if you can't recognize Akutagawa in it? But then again I guess this is exactly the reason why I can't bring myself to like most of alternative universe bsd fics (╥﹏╥)

Also, ultimately, there *are* personal preference components to it. In my headcanon Akutagawa has autism / adhd, and although those don't always have a negative impact on one's academic results, there is a chance they do. And I'd honestly lean towards that chance more when it comes with Akutagawa, because he is the pathetic man that has everything going wrong for him. There's symptoms in his impulsivity and scarce self-control, and I believe they'd make school life very hard for him, especially when it comes to focusing in classes and for studying- which is fitting tbh, can you imagine Akutagawa ever having a happy life? (I'm jk I swear I love him)

Besides, I must have mentioned how one of the main appeals of sskk for me is how despite being thoroughly flawed people they can still be loved. It's surprisingly comforting to think that even the most evil of people can be loved, and it's the same when it comes for stupidity. Stretching Akutagawa's flaws just makes him more symphatetic and enjoyable to read about.

[livebloggingkidshows]

And we have a cover! I am so freaking proud of this. I traced "Clara" (you'll find out who it actually is in Chapter 3) and the background from images of an actual ballet production. Trans Nutcracker for ~reasons~ (although those reasons are pretty easy to guess if you know me as an author).