#It would have meant so much to see friendship instead of romance there

[wierdshenanigans]

Imagine if Leo and Calypso didn't fall in love but instead just...talked? If they befriended each other? Because Calypso is eager to find someone to vent to and really, Leo needs to find someone to share his sorrows with,and who would understand his insecurities better than a girl who was left alon in Ogygia for so many years with every person she falls in love with having another whom they have to return to?

IMAGINE THE IMPACT ON THE READERS IF CALEO WAS PLATONIC, IF LEO WAS SAILING AWAY IN A BOAT HE BUILT PROMISING ON THE RIVER STYX HE WOULD COME BACK FOR CALYPSO BECAUSE SHE DESERVES BETTER AND IS HIS FRIEND, AND HE KNOWS FIRSTHAND WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING THE SECOND CHOICE AND SHE DESERVES, FOR ONCE, FOR SOMEONE TO LET HER OUT???THE PLATONIC IMPACT, THE MEANINGFULLNESS AND FRIENDSHIP OF THAT

[yuri-is-online]

And in With the New (Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignihyde, and Diasomnia x Yuu)

"Look I would get rid of this thing if I could afford a new sweatshirt." You drag the offensive article of clothing over your head completely missing the spark of curiosity and mischief in your companion's eye. "I've got a lot of bad memories associated with this."

"If it's that uncomfortable we can go look for a replacement instead of-"

"Oh no not like that, it's super comfy. I just don't like it because it technically belongs to my ex."

notes: they/them used for Yuu, their ex is implied to be kind of a shit person, other dorms can be found here (x) Ortho is somewhat included in Idia's part but does not have one of his own.

Kalim- "Do you have any other things from your world?"

Kalim has expressed a desire for you to see as much of Twisted Wonderland as possible, and he stands by that, but it would really suck if the only physical connection you had to your home was something that brought up painful memories. Your past relationship isn't something that makes him jealous, just concerned since it clearly causes you distress. He can wait to get you more appropriate clothing until after he makes sure you're ok. If the sweatshirt really is the only thing you have from home, he'll be asking if there are any foods you remember or activities you liked to do with the people you actually cared about that the two of you can recreate in Twisted Wonderland. That way you won't have to feel the need to hold onto something painful and he gets to make you happy.

Jamil- "Then why didn't you get rid of it before you came here?"

On the one hand he does feel a bit second rate at the thought of you holding onto something form an ex, but his primary concern is the implication that your financial straights have always been this... dire. He definitely wants to know about your previous relationship so he can judge them for how much better he is, but once he notices that the memories are a bit on the traumatic side he stops pushing and feels just the slightest bit guilty. But really, if it's something that hurts you to hold onto then why do it? You aren't him, you don't need to do that, people love you and want to take care of you, him included. He's not going to just give you his hoodie, he would literally die of embarrassment, but he does get you a sweatshirt. If for no other reason than to keep him from staring holes into your back now that he knows where the other one came from.

Vil- "It doesn't suit you at all."

If his treatment of Epel is anything to go by, Vil is not above spending money on something he considers to be a pet project. Not that this... friendship is one of those, nor is he particularly jealous of some no name extra who was too blind to beg on their hands and knees to get back in your good graces. Not that he needs to do that you understand; as arrogant as Vil has a reputation for being, he is one of the people who has been more genuine when expressing concern and gratitude for you. His comment isn't meant to be a slight, clothing that makes you feel bad about yourself is failing to do its job as fashion, and as a world class super model that is unacceptable. In other words get in the car looser we're going shopping.

Rook- "Ah, I thought it was something like that."

Is it bad if he says he meant he hoped it was something like that? Not that he was rooting for your ex to be a bad person, he would never wish a subpar lover on you. But when he saw the tattered edges of your sweatshirt and how it clashed with the things you bought for yourself, he hoped that maybe someone in your world hadn't wanted your hands to be cold. If that's not the case, then if you are ok with letting it go as a lover of romance who is he to deny you your freedom? Granted tossing roses onto a fire while you burn an ugly sweatshirt is both very extra and very Rook but hey. He's having fun and you've got a new jacket.

Epel- "Afford shamford I could'a just made ya one!"

Offering their sweetheart their hoodie is something manly tall guys get to do and Epel has really really REALLY. Been looking forward to getting to that point in his relationship with you. He wants to feel like a real man, like your real man to be specific. The thought of some other piece of shit getting to do that first and treating you like a used dish rag pisses him off. Best believe he is huffing and puffing his way back to Grandma Felmier's boot camp with a mission to do you one and your ex two better by knitting you a pullover to go with your uniform. Everything that comes from Harveston is a top quality product prefect, better than whatever you left behind he guarantees it.

Idia- "So this is that kind of route huh..."

Of course you had a partner back in your world, if he can see your good points then a normie absolutely could. That doesn't make you less appealing, it just makes him feel all that more convinced he doesn't have a chance. He's halfway through whipping out his tablet to excuse himself when Ortho asks what you meant by "shitty memories" and they both get blindsided by just how much vitriol you have for a person whose clothing you technically kept on you. And suddenly he's back in business because there are few things that unite Idia with someone faster than a good old fashion bitch fest. Sure, his insults are weirdly possessive of you, but if he had any doubts about your feelings for this person he doesn't now! He's never heard you talk about anyone like this before and he finds it so attractive he almost forgets to short circuit when Ortho convinces you to try on his hoodie. Almost.

Malleus- "..."

Sometimes he feels like a broken record, constantly marveling at how little fear you have of him, but really child of man, you have no fear. Malleus has very little in the way of emotional intelligence, so he doesn't fully understand that what he is feeling is jealousy he just knows the thought of you with someone else's clothes hurts. Unfortunately for you both, in addition to not being emotionally intelligent he also isn't with the times and there is a non zero percent chance he will be bringing you a cloak and be genuinely confused when you don't immediately replace your old hide for his. (Lilia takes responsibility for that, he was making a joke honest.) Oh? The point was it's supposed to be something he wore so you can feel closer to him when he's gone? Well why didn't you say so child of man, he is more than willing to offer you a scale- what do you mean you can't wear that either?

Lilia- "Oh? Are you asking for one of mine?"

Shame has not been a word in Lilia's vocabulary since long before you showed up prefect. He always buys oversized clothing because of how cute the long sleeves look on him, but oh they would be so much cuter on you prefect, don't you want to see? Oh and while the two of you are at it, why don't you let him paint your nails and do your eye shadow. He's never had one of those slumber party things you humans do, you should make a night of this so you can both get a new experience out of this. He can have a slumber party and you can be the center of someone's world. Also what do you mean you're supposed to summon the devil at these things, he's already here.

Silver- "Would you like one of mine?"

Lilia raised a very good boy who thinks nothing of offering the shirt off his back to save someone in distress. Silver isn't a jealous person by nature, he's more concerned with making sure you are safe and taken care of than he is making sure you don't still have feelings for your ex. Above all else, Silver wants to be a safe space for you to come home to at the end of the day, like a proper knight in shining armor. Though he does have to admit, you look really nice in Diasomnia colors, they're really close to Briar Valley's so if you decide to come and visit he's assures you that you will fit right in. He's sure his father would be very happy to play host. Maybe too happy.

Sebek- "HOW UTTERLY DISGRACEFUL."

You think he's upset at you but he's not, that's made painfully clear with the rant he starts to go on about proper courtship procedure. Offering clothing to someone is supposed to be a sign of high affection, nay eternal devotion! And it suddenly becomes clear to you that Sebek has somehow managed to confuse the concept of a stolen hoodie and a knight's favor. He seems to have managed to convince himself, in the span of two seconds, that you are wearing this not because it is one of your only pieces of clothing, but because your ex convinced you that they're the only one who could love you which IS NOT TRUE. YOU UNDERSTAND HUMAN? DO YOU UNDERSTAAAAAAAAND?

[galedekarios]

seeing a post that basically confirmed the obvious disparity in content made me think more about a scene i would have liked to see with gale and that i've been thinking about for a while now.

i always felt a bit sad that his condition is so often treated as a joke by the fandom and to a lesser extent by the game itself. i always thought that this is partially down to the fact that we don't truly get so see gale actively be in pain due to his condition, other than brief glimpses and hints:

we do hear the urgency in his voice when he explains when and why he needs an artefact and the relief in his voice when the protag chooses to help him.

we see it, too, when he is afflicted by the arcane hunger condition:

we get glimpses of it when he consumes an artefact:

he mentions it, too, in his dialogues, but it's very much downplayed by gale or phrased in such a way that is meant to overplay it with humour, or perhaps even to distance himself from it by using metaphors:

that is until we actually get to see it through his eyes, if only for the briefest of moments:

*Its teeth, its claws, it's unstoppable as it digs through and becomes part of you. And gods, it is ever-hungry...*

gale also has an idle animation where he--quite often--reaches up to touch the orb, perhaps because it flares with pain, like an old wound is wont to do:

(gif by @bladeofavernus)

from the last conversation we have with gale, and after catching all of these little moments of things he says or does with how the orb affects him, we learn that consuming the magic from artefacts no longer has any effect at all. the only solution that tara and he were able to find no longer works:

it would scare him and imbalance him, and it would finally destabilise the orb, make it more volatile.

but what happens in the game after that? the orb becoming volatile enough for the artefacts to no longer have an effect has no consequences at all: you are able to do the tiefling party, all quests in the underdark, the entirety of the grymforge, and, should you choose to do so, the entirety of the mountain pass and rosymorn monastery without an incident at all or any mention of the condition itself/any discomfort or fear it might cause.

there's no urgency here, no follow-up, to what the narrative set up... and then we meet deus ex elminster and the orb is stabilised, and the urgency that came before literally is handwaved out of existence.

what i would have liked instead to happen--or at least to bridge the gap between the artefacts no longer working and elminster stabilising it to be used on mystra's behalf--is the following:

i think it would have been nice to have a scene with gale where we do get to see--on a much smaller scale--him losing control over the orb, have the protag and the companions see what he is trying desperately to keep contained within himself, what gnaws at him, what continues to haunt him.

it could happen perhaps after a particular gruelling and intense fight--and there are enough of that in the underdark and at the mountain pass. it could have been a ! conversation, providing both friendship and romance content.

have the orb act up after expending so much energy to manipulate the weave to the fullest of his abilities, have gale manage to reign it in, but barely, show that it takes a lot of power and effort for him to do so.

that it hurts, with none of gale's metaphors to hide behind or jokes to play it off.

have the audience truly see the gravity of what he is going through.

[jeongharine]

a fruit made for two

⚝ jeonghan x reader

⚝ comfort, romance, established couple

⚝ notes: you might think "how lame" when you will be done with it, or "can she write about anything else other than tangerines" and yes, while i acknowledge my problem with tangerines, i can tell you that i'm done writing about them. but enough of my rambles, just wanted to post this little (maybe a bit sad) scenario that i have come up with during these days.

wishing you a good start of the year and a not so rough january (i personally dread this month) :)

enjoy and thank you for taking time to read this short fic x

you have always liked to peel tangerines neatly. jeonghan was focusing his attention on your fingers work. the sections coming apart cleanly in your hands.

he’s trying to cut out the noise, the laughters of the other guests at the table, the cracking open of the nuts, the clinking of the glasses and the cutlery, your aunt bragging about your cousins to your mom and your nan nearly tripping into the dog.

“that’s the limit, from then on her eyesight will worsen to blindness and there’s nothing they can do,” that’s what your father had told jeonghan before christmas lunch.

he reasoned you didn’t have the courage to confront jeonghan with the matter. so, he took it in his hands.

your thick eye-glasses nearly falling off your nose while you’re peeling away neatly the white parts.

“hannie,” you said, “i don’t know how you do it. always tearing holes when you peel tangerines and oranges, juice going in every direction,”

you’re jeonghan’s love of his life.

“i hope you never learn how to peel them, hannie. i want to do it for you for a lifetime.”

x

“where’d you get these?” you nearly shouted in the college backyard, while jeonghan handed you an orange.

“just took them out of a plastic bag someone left behind in class,” he said.

you laughed. you started to peel the orange, separating it in two perfect halves to give one of them to him. “you know, when i won’t be able to see no more i will miss terribly peeling citrus..”

if he could have wore his half like a friendship bracelet, he would have. “i mean, i still will be able to do it but man how it satisfies me to see the colour of the fruit changing: different shades of orange, white and then orange again,”

instead, jeonghan just swallowed each segment one by one and told himself that this, this exact moment, would have always meant so much more.

“... and your face, to see your face so focused on how i peel citrus fruits! i have to start giving you lesson,”

to share it with you. to chew and to swallow with you the sections that you so dutifully and accurately peeled, listening to all the possible rambles you might have had to tell him. to just taste the same thing in the same moment.

“here you go hannie,” you handed to jeonghan his perfectly peeled half.

the air around you filled up with the smell of peeled orange.

x

it was christmas’ eve. no festivities at home this year. closing the front door, jeonghan longed to hear your hasty steps down the corridor.

longing to slip an orange or a tangerine into the pocket of your wool coat before heading to town.

instead, he ignited the engine of his car and drove to the hospital where you had been staying. your eyesight barely spots of colour and light by now.

you were looking out the window into the wintery morning haze with a smile on your lips, when jeonghan entered the room. “hannie you’re here,” you recognized his footsteps and his scent. the sweetest kind.

he brought tangerines with him, peeled three of them in his car. he peeled them perfectly, peeled away every little part of the white stuff until they were all orange like you did. so you wouldn’t have to worry about not enjoy one of his favourite things.

it took him some time, but love always does.

[exhaslo]

Here me out….Miguel x femvillian reader who gets defeated in a fight by him. She has a rough life and turned to crime just to try to do anything to better her situation…it doesn’t.

Before Miguel can take her to custody she tells him to kill her. This strikes a cord with Miguel so he takes her to HQ instead to keep an eye on her. Maybe after so time they see past their differences and bond over them having bad home lives or trauma or something.

She starts to turn her life around and Miguel still checks in on her, they have a banter and friendship despite everything.

Then maybe they fall in love confessing to each other….👉👈 idk just some sweet romance maybe smut? Honestly whatever you think.

Awe, I can totally do this. I think it would be best to keep it fluff due to how I plan on writing the beginning of this story, but hell, if I ever get time for a part 2, smut all the way!!

Also, I'm so sorry this was so late. Now that the holidays are over with, I was able to get back to requests!!!

Warning: Thoughts of suicide, depression, language, praise, fluff

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Why?

Why did everything always happen to you?

Why couldn't you just live an easy life for once?! Why couldn't anything go your way for once?! You screamed at the top of your lungs as you watched your small shabby apartment building burn down to the ground.

It wasn't fair.

What was the point of even living at this point? You had no family to go back to. No home to live at and no friends to crash with. Your job was absolute dog shit and you barely made enough to afford the apartment that just got destroyed.

Everything you owned was gone. Everything that you had was gone. All you had left were the clothes on your back. Like that was enough to survive these streets.

As much as you thought about the sweet embrace of death, you also feared it. You still wanted to live and there were still things you wanted to do. Cussing under your breathe, you decided to turn to a life of crime. How else were you going to build yourself back up?

At least you were until you got caught.

Not even on your third night of stealing, you got webbed up by the one and only, Spiderman. You tried your best not to cry because this was all you had left. You were going to steal to try and better your life and now you couldn't.

"Alright, want me to drop you off at the station or have them find you here?" Spiderman asked with a bit of sarcasm in his tone. You sniffed, unable to hold back,

"Just kill me," You begged.

--------

Miguel flinched at your request. You were sincere. Normally his enemies said that just to trick him or have him pity them, but not you. Miguel could sense how true you meant those words and how hurt you were.

"C'mon," He sighed.

Miguel had no choice but to take pity on you. How could you leave you to rot in a cell if you were going to kill yourself? It wouldn't be heroic of him to do so. That and Miguel would probably eat himself alive at the thought of you being dead because of him.

Instead, Miguel was going to take a different approach with you. You seemed harmless enough, that and you were clumsy. Obviously, you had never stolen anything before and it showed.

Watching you follow him defeated, Miguel let out another sigh. He picked you up and threw you over his shoulder before swinging off. You weren't even complaining, just whimpering and sniffling. Honestly, Miguel might have to put this in the list of saddest captures.

By the time he reached HQ, Miguel made sure to use a secret entrance. He informed Lyla to keep everyone out of his office as he brought you inside. It was fair to say that you looked confused, yet amazed.

"This is the Spider Society, it's where every Spiderman and woman from every universe come to help stop a common goal."

"Common goal?" You whispered, taking in the scenery of the city from a large window. Miguel brought you attention back to him,

"Classified. Think of it as a hang out," He said instead and motioned you to follow him, "I will allow you to stay here under certain conditions."

------

Was this really going to be your second chance at life? Who would have thought Spiderman was this generous to someone like you? You had expected him to just toss you in jail since you've never actually seen the hero kill anyone.

You were ready to die.

Listening to all of Spiderman's conditions, you just agreed. What other choice was there? At least he was giving you a place to stay, even if you were going to be watched the whole time.

"I'll check up on you every day to see how you're keeping." Spiderman added as he showed you a room. You just furrowed your brows, avoiding tears,

"Why are you doing so much for me? You just met me..."

"Because I don't want you turning around and killing yourself. It's my job to save people, and that includes you." He said honestly. You nearly shuddered a breathe,

"...Thank you..." Was all you could whisper.

"If you need anything, just call for Lyla and she will inform me of anything you need."

"Thanks...but...how did you know-" You were cut off as Spiderman revealed Lyla and a hologram of your burnt down apartment building, "Wow."

"Just let me know."

Right as Spiderman left, you finally felt the weight of everything come crashing down. You fell on your knees and started sobbing. This was not how you expected the night to go, but honestly, this could be for the best.

Who knows, maybe Spiderman will give you a reason to live after all.

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

You had been staying at the Spider Society for a few weeks now. Spiderman aka Miguel, had been helping you get back on your own two feet. The two of you had been getting comfortable with each other to the point where Miguel revealed his identity.

And lord did you feel like it was love at first sight. You had already started to fall for the masked hero with just his wit and personality alone. It was a great surprise to see that matched with such a handsome face.

The only thing you were worried about was if your feelings were one sided. Miguel always checked up on you, making sure that you weren't still down in the dumps. Honestly, some days you were, but they grew less thanks to him.

Today, you were feeling great. Thanks to Miguel's help, you had gotten a job and finally saved enough for a place of your own again. This time in a better location that won't burn down so easy. There was no need for you to go back to stealing.

"I heard you were apartment hunting?" Miguel questioned as he entered your room. You felt your cheeks flush as you stared at the handsome man,

"Um....Yea...I've done so much better thanks to you."

"Do you not like it here?" Miguel whispered as his eyes soften towards you.

"I do, but...aren't I a burden just being here all the time?"

"No," Miguel sat beside you, glancing at the website you were on, "I just think that it's safer here. I can take care of you...if you don't mind," His voice grew lower as he looked away.

"Miguel..." You felt embarrassed to ask, but hell, he was acting strange as hell too, "Do you want me to stay?"

"..." Miguel stayed quiet for a moment, "Yes."

You couldn't stop your heart from racing as the two of you stayed quiet for a moment. You were shaking from nervousness. Perhaps, Miguel did like you back? Trying to control your breathing, you hesitating grabbed his hand,

"T-Then...I'll stay," You said, nearly stuttering on your words.

Miguel fixed his hand to intertwine with yours. He scooted closer to you and finally faced in your direction. You nearly squeaked, surprised by how close he was.

"(Y/N), you're such a clumsy thief," Miguel said with a sigh as he cupped your cheek and stole your lips with a kiss, "But, you're my thief...If you'd let me have you."

"Yes." You said so fast with no hesitation. Rolling your lips inward, you watched as Miguel just stared at you before laughing, "W-What I meant was...I-I am totally fine with, garh, stop laughing at me! I'm nervous!"

"Sorry, sorry," Miguel chuckled softly as he stroked your flustered cheeks, "I promise to take good care of you, (Y/N)."

You huffed your cheeks out slightly, "How on earth can I take care of the one and only Spiderman? This seems a little unfair." You said with a whine. Miguel chuckled once more,

"Just...be there for me like you always are,"

Confused, you went to look at Miguel, but he stole your lips again in another kiss. You closed your eyes, melting into the kiss before Miguel had to break it due to an anomaly. He let out a heavy sigh and stood,

"Dinner?"

"By the beach?"

"That place is so greasy," Miguel grumbled. You just grinned from ear to ear,

"I'll be ready when you get back."

"It's a date then."

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AGAIN SO SORRY THIS WAS LATE!!! I'M TRYING TO COMPLETE THE REMAINING REQUESTS I HAD LEFT!!!!!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!!

[zabiume]

meant to post this on valentine's day, but ended up running late so turned it into a white day thing instead! happy valentine's day/white day, origos!!!! (read on ao3)

It was stupid, really. The whole thing.

Valentine's was one of those holidays that Ichigo never paid attention to, which was probably why it snuck up on him every year. Back in high school, everything would be fine, and then he'd walk onto campus and there'd be giggling and bold hand-holding and more giggling. There would be chocolates. There would be the embarrassing ordeal of having to hear about love and romance – since everyone would be talking about it the whole day.

Ichigo didn't think he would ever miss it after graduation. He was glad to be rid of awkward adolescence and he knew he wasn't going to be mourning it any time soon.

Yet, as February came around and he watched his sisters make a big fuss about fancy boxes and ribbons, he realized it was that time of the year again. And it wasn't that it snuck up on him this time — not entirely. Valentine's Day in college was so much more understated than it was in high school. There were few friendship chocolates being passed around and fewer couples being overly public about their affection, and Ichigo couldn't help but feel strangely displaced by this subtlety. Chocolates now were more exclusive, and the gesture of giving them meant something. 

In school, no one had ever given him chocolates that first year, mostly because he had a scary face and drove girls away (a matter Keigo repeatedly complained about – as if he wasn't doing a good enough job on his own). 

Then came Orihime, who began making chocolates for her friends shortly after she picked up the bakery job in second year. He usually ate those, even if he always made sure to ask if they were edible first. Her cheeks would inevitably puff up in annoyance, which he privately found amusing, even if it meant enduring a kick from Tatsuki for his lack of tact.

There wasn't anything exclusive about it. Orihime was a dear friend and went out of her way to make people feel loved and seen and happy. It had mostly been fine, and since she didn't make a big deal out of it, he wasn't embarrassed by it either. Besides, he wasn't the only recipient. She was always careful to customize a small box for all their friends, and teasing aside, they were always really good. More than the chocolates themselves was Orihime's demeanor, the way she'd light up when she spotted him and the other guys walking down the corridor and abandon whatever conversation she was in to come up to them. She was so free, handing them their boxes, laughing quietly when Ichigo reigned in an overexcited Keigo.

Then, of course, she would say, very sweetly, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Kurosaki-kun!” 

He wondered if ABCookies was open. 

It wasn’t that he wanted anything, really. It would be a good opportunity to check in, that’s all. See how Orihime was doing. He had the hour before lunch off today anyway, so he could take an extended break — come back to town for just a little chat. 

It wasn’t until he was on the train that he realized it would be awfully forward of him to pop in at her workplace at random. He considered shooting her a text, then decided against it. It would be better if it seemed like he was in the area, more casual. That way she wouldn’t feel like preparing anything special for him, or going out of her way to accommodate him. 

So deciding, he stepped off the train and began walking down the familiar set of roads that led to ABCookies. The afternoon crowd had been sparse, mostly people who had early lunch breaks like him, and he enjoyed the quietness of it. It wasn’t always that you got lucky enough to take the train during lull hours. Heck, even as he walked down to the bakery, he couldn’t help but feel at ease as he passed the familiar signs of Karakura Town. This was what he wanted when he was looking for colleges as a teenager — a place close enough to home, just a stone’s throw away. Or in this case, a really peaceful train ride. 

By the time he walked onto the curb of the bakery, he couldn’t help but notice the whizz of a bicycle approaching him from past his blind spot. It slowed as it got closer, and he was further shocked when he noticed the rider. 

“Inoue,” he said, startled. 

“Hi, Kurosaki-kun!” Her cheeks were flushed, velcro helmet straps digging into the skin on either cheek. She looked ridiculous. “What are you doing here?!” 

“I was in the area,” he replied. “You look ridiculous with that helmet on.” 

Orihime huffed. “Helmet safety is important, Kurosaki-kun.” 

Ichigo was too baffled to say anything to that. In his private opinion, that head of hers could probably survive anything, but whatever. 

Orihime hopped off her bike and began walking it instead so she could keep up pace with him. Her long dress swayed around her shoe-covered feet, an apron tucked around her waist. The bike, on the other hand, looked sleek and efficient. If anything, she had probably been out making deliveries and was just coming in for lunch. 

“Glad I caught you at the right time,” he said, nodding at the bike. “Is that new?” 

Orihime nodded, glowing with pride. “I bought it just this last week so I could do pick-ups and drop-offs faster. How do you like it? Isn’t it totally cool?” 

“How many times have you nearly fallen off so far?” 

Orihime shot him a dirty glare but on her sun-glowing face it just looked plain adorable. Ichigo ducked his head and coughed, trying to cover up a laugh. Still, she must not have been too mad, since she was still smiling as she led her bike to its lot. 

“So,” she declared, dusting off her palms, unclicking her helmet so she could perch it onto her bike. “What brings Kurosaki-kun to this part of town, at this time of day?” She tapped her nose, clearly not finished, so Ichigo waited. Her eyes widened in theatrical realization and she leaned in closer. “Could it be that you were craving…” 

Ichigo felt his cheeks turn warm for some odd reason. 

“...our very special milk bread, which is incidentally on sale today?” She drew back and beamed as if she’d gotten away with something. 

Ichigo released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “I told you I was in the area,” he said, “but I’ll buy the milk bread if it’s that good.” 

Orihime grinned and led him through the glass doors of the bakery. “It’s my lunch break right now, but if you can afford to wait a few minutes I can pack it up for you right after.” 

Ichigo shook his head, warily glancing at the pink-and-red heart decorations all over the establishment. “Why don’t you bring your lunch with you and we can eat it outside? Like, at a park or something.” 

Orihime’s mouth fell open slightly at that, but she quickly recovered and nodded. “Tsukidai is only a few minutes away. We can even go on my bike!” 

“I’m not sitting in the back of that thing,” Ichigo told her. 

Orihime looked thwarted, but she went into the back to grab her lunch anyway, and then they left for Tsukidai Park, leaving ABCookies far behind them. 

If Orihime noticed Ichigo’s haste to leave the Valentines-themed bakery, she didn’t say anything, choosing instead to fill him in on what NHK was saying about the weather today. She looked happy as usual, practically vibrating with it, and Ichigo couldn’t help but smile at that. If there was anyone with enough reasons to wake up cranky and grumpy it was Orihime, but she seemed content, her hands swinging by her sides. 

As the vibrant green of the park came into view, they picked a spot with abundant shade under a big tree. Orihime laid out her apron under her, then brightened when Ichigo did the same with his jacket. 

“We really should have brought a blanket,” she remarked idly, tucking her dress under her legs as she moved to open her bento. “I think we had one in the back, too.” 

“I’m fine with this,” he reassured her. And he really was. It was a nice day outside, and the spread of the park was wide enough that many passersby could go about their day without disturbing anyone else. 

Beside him, Orihime was happily picking at her rice, her half-updo keeping hair out of her face. When she noticed him looking, she nudged her box towards him, but he shook his head, gesturing towards his own sandwich as an explanation. 

“Do you make your own lunch, Kurosaki-kun?” she asked through bites. 

“Every day except Mondays and weekends,” Ichigo explains. “Yuzu’s really busy with high school now, so I had her teach me some stuff.” He shrugs. “I skip breakfast and I come home for dinner anyway, so one meal is doable. Trying to save up as much as I can.”

“That’s smart,” Orihime agreed. 

“What about you? You get in, like, way early in the morning right?” 

“I get in at five, and I’m out by two.” Orihime held up two fingers. “So I usually have lunch at home, but our boss makes us breakfast most of the time.” 

“Wait.” Ichigo frowned and checked his watch. “So, you get off in two hours?” 

Orihime nodded and giggled a little at his expression. “What?” 

“Nothing, I’m just used to my day starting a little later,” he replied. “I think my earliest class is at 10.” 

“Well, I take a nap when I get home, so it’s not like I’m on the go all day or anything.” Orihime set aside her empty box and picked up a juice carton to poke a straw through. Green apple, the same thing she drank at school, too. The familiarity of that softened something in him and he smiled. After all, he’d been thinking about school earlier in the day — mainly about how he didn’t miss it all that much, but there were some things, like seeing his friends every day, that he wouldn’t mind getting back.  

Eventually, they packed up and headed back to the bakery. Ichigo had to take the train back for his next few classes, and Orihime had one more hour to kill before she went home for the day. Even though Ichigo had enjoyed lunch a lot, he couldn’t help but feel like an earlier craving was still lingering around, unsatisfied. It was mildly disappointing, but he supposed this was just one of those things he’d have to get used to now in adulthood. 

(“Or get a girlfriend so she’ll make chocolates for you every year,” the devil on his shoulder that looked suspiciously like Karin said. Hah. Yeah right. That sounded like an evil reason to get a girlfriend either way) 

As they reached the familiar curb, however, Orihime stopped and said, “Um, Kurosaki-kun…” 

Ichigo glanced down at her and raised a brow. 

She smiled, almost guiltily. “It’s weird, but I was thinking about school earlier this morning. You know, it’s Valentine’s Day…” 

Ichigo’s heartbeat quickened. Somehow, despite her working in a bakery that was decorated for Valentine’s Day, he had hoped she hadn’t noticed, which he knew was naive, but in his defense he had wanted to avoid this becoming a thing. Things were complicated, and demanded energy towards long-repressed thoughts and feelings. And God forbid he had a feeling on Valentine’s Day. 

“...and I guess I was remembering how I used to make chocolates for everyone,” she continued. “And how Tatsuki-chan is with her students, and Ishida-kun is away at school and Sado-kun is training in Okinawa. It made me miss the old days a little.” 

“Yeah,” Ichigo said, unsure of where she was going with this. “I mean, me too.” 

Orihime held his eyes and smiled, before dropping her gaze to the footpath. “But I did, um. Make chocolates today,” she whispered, her cheeks pink. Ichigo’s heart nearly stopped.  “I didn’t think I’d see you today or anything, but I guess I was just feeling nostalgic and it’s—” She bit her lip, flailing a little when she saw the wide-eyed look on his face. “— I mean, you don’t have to accept them or anything! I know it’s a little silly to still be making them, but I guess I just…missed everyone…” She trailed off pathetically. 

“I’ll take them, Inoue,” he said warmly, and her eyes flew up to his, amazed. 

 “Oh!” She froze, then soldiered on, still a little dazed. “They’re—they’re in the back, so I’ll just go get them. Please wait here.” She turned tail and rushed to the bakery, glancing over her shoulder once to check if he was still there. 

Ichigo, on the other hand, could hardly contain the giddy thrill threatening to spill all over his face. Chocolates, he thought, almost grinning. If any bakery-goers shot him odd looks, he didn’t notice — or even care. 

Orihime returned moments later, a little more composed. Her eyes flitted around like a drug dealer about to make a drop-off, and then she extended a cream, red-ribboned box in his direction. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Kurosaki-kun!” she cheered. “They’re homemade, so let me know if you liked them, okay?”

This time Ichigo really did smile. “Thanks, Inoue.” Also, “Thanks for lunch, too. It was good to catch up.” 

Orihime cheeks dimpled. “Stop by any time!” 

Later, after they parted ways and Ichigo went to class and eventually came back home, his sisters noticed the box in his hands and exchanged an intrigued look. He’d tucked the box in his bag during class to ward away unwanted attention but now that he was home, he had brought it out to stop it from melting. 

“Don’t give me that look,” he said to his shocked sisters. “They’re from Inoue.”

Yuzu’s brows lifted higher. “Did you see her today?” 

Ichigo cleared his throat. “I had an hour off and nothing else to do.” Like he was going to tell his sisters he was craving chocolate. 

“Right.” Karin eyed the box. “So can we have some?” 

Ichigo held it to his chest protectively and frowned. “Girls are supposed to give boys treats today, you know. You can have your turn on White Day.” 

“That is so outdated,” Yuzu remarked, sounding so much like a teenager that Ichigo was starting to feel a little old. “You just don’t want to share your chocolates with us.” 

Well they’re mine, he wanted to say, childish as it was. He shared most everything with them, but wasn’t there anything that was off-limits anymore? He’d been craving this. 

“Besides,” Karin said, snapping him out of it. “Doesn’t that mean you’ve got to get Orihime-chan something for White Day?” 

Everyone paused. 

Ichigo blinked. 

__________

The craving, unfortunately, persisted. He had no way of explaining it, but there was a strange tug within his rib cage, a bizarre hunger that persisted in the back of his mind despite the chocolates (which had been deliciously creamy and nearly made him see stars). Assuming it to be boredom, then, he went Hollow hunting and satiated himself with having something to do. Then it’d go away, or he’d be preoccupied with thoughts of something else — the everyday motions of life, with places to go and commitments to meet. 

At times, he imagined Orihime’s life running parallel to his, mostly out of awe that by the time he’d woken up, she would have already gotten so much done. Or that by noon, her day was ending while his was just beginning. He suspected she spent most of her off-hours as he did, doing chores or watching television or taking glorious naps. 

It was strange to be living in the after of things — to have time actually stretch on without any strings, no battles to fight, or people to rescue. It was a full kind of boredom, so different from the desolation of his teenage years — the years before he got his powers, or maybe the 17 months when he temporarily lost them. The heavy fog of despair had slowly been dissipating for a while now, giving him time to think, to just be. 

It was a state he’d never been in before. 

“Maybe you should travel,” Orihime suggested, eyes nearly glowing at the thought. Her hands were resting on the grass behind her, legs outstretched in front of her. She was wearing a shorter dress this time. It was a Wednesday, and he had that pre-lunch free period again. He’d been almost sheepish when he showed up at the bakery, but she hadn’t seemed to mind the prospect of his company much. 

“What, like student hostels and all that hashtag instatravel crap?” 

Orihime rolled her eyes, but in a fond way that seemed teasing more than anything. “Kurosaki-kun,” she chastised. 

Ichigo shook his head. “I’d miss my bed too much,” he said, mainly to make her laugh, but it wasn’t not true. 

“I know what you mean though,” Orihime said, addressing his earlier point, her eyes faraway and contemplative. “It’s hard to trust how peaceful everything is sometimes.” 

And that was exactly the heart of it, though he was a little startled at the accuracy with which she’d captured his feelings. All he’d said to start the conversation had been, “It’s so quiet.” 

“Yeah,” he replied. It shouldn’t have been surprising that she’d been thinking about it too. She had been there, right at the end of it, and then those last few weeks before graduation where nothing had felt real at all. So much of their minds had been on Soul Society in its shambles, the crumbled ruins of the Royal Realm, their friends torn apart and injured. He’d take this mild aimlessness over that any day. 

“But if something happened,” she said quietly, “we’d be ready, right?” 

Something twisted in his chest at her tone and he said, a little strongly, “Nothing’s going to happen.” She looked up, startled, so he softened the blow with, “But yeah. So don’t worry about it.” 

A little smile broke out onto Orihime’s face.

It wasn't that he made a conscious habit out of it or anything. Wednesdays and Fridays were the two days a week he had the hour before lunch off, and he liked getting on the train and watching the blur of Karakura Town's outskirts pass him by. He always brought his headphones, listening to bands he had forgotten he even liked back in high school. So much of life had passed him by in the last four years that rediscovering those felt like a pleasant surprise. Like rediscovering parts of himself that had been buried away by more pressing concerns. 

And of course, there was Orihime at the end of his journey, vibrant and appropriately conversational. He liked those little interludes where they talked about nothing and everything, the vision of her waving to him as he left each time burned in the back of his mind. Sometimes he felt shy about it, especially on days she wore those free-flowing dresses that gave her a real glow. People often did a double-take when she passed them by—something that mildly irked Ichigo, even though he was well used to her constant throng of admirers by now. 

It was a fluttery kind of feeling, watching her put on his headphones so he could play her a song he liked on his phone. He was always nervous in those moments—moments where her approval of his tastes and interests suddenly became very important to him. 

But he always found himself getting on the train like clockwork every time anyway. 

Despite the pleasure, though, there was always a thought, a tiny anxiety: White Day. He still had no idea what to get her and their conversations did little to help. Some of the websites he scrolled through embarrassed him, since they often began with words like, if you're not sure what to get your girlfriend this White Day, and that was a line of thought that just didn't bear thinking. 

Of course, his friends were no help either, since Sado wasn't doing anything for the holiday, Mizuiro was doing something he definitely couldn't do with Orihime, and Keigo had recently begun to declare that White Day was a marketing scam created by corporations to sell more products (he'd been dumped by a girlfriend recently). Asking the one guy he was friends with in college was just too much, since that guy would definitely make some assumptions about Ichigo's private life. 

He knew he could always get her a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolate. He knew that. It didn't have to be special and Orihime wouldn't even be mad if it wasn't. But Orihime was such a cherished friend, he cared about her so much, and he'd been kicked in the head enough times by enough people to realize that when a girl meant something to you, you couldn't half-ass things like this. He didn't want to be too forward, but he still wanted Orihime to know he appreciated her. He still wanted to get her a gift that would equal, somehow, the heartfelt sincerity of her own affection. 

(“Equal?” Ikumi demanded, one hand on her hip, when he confessed at the end of a shift that he needed an advance that month. “You’re supposed to get something worth three times the original! God, I can’t even look at you, you’re so bad, take this.” She’d thrusted his bonus at him and asked him to never show his face there again, even if he had a shift there the next evening)

But despite the extra income, he still had no idea what to get. And since desperate times called for desperate measures, he called the one guy who did have an idea about things like this. Even if that guy was kind of an asshole. 

“Kurosaki, you do realize White Day is only three days away,” Uryu remarked dryly, no hellos or how are you’s as he walked past Ichigo. He seemed equally annoyed to be seen in public with Ichigo as Ichigo was to be seen with him, but deep down, somewhere deep, deep down, Ichigo was glad to see him alive and well. Uryu was a tough guy to stay in touch with. 

“Shut up,” Ichigo said, following him as they hit a familiar block of stores. “I had been thinking, I just didn’t come up with anything.” 

Uryu tsked. “Well, Inoue-san is very fond of this area, so if you’re looking to gift her something personal, this would be a good place to start.” 

Ichigo ignored the burning in his cheeks at the mention of ‘personal’ (seriously, why did the guy phrase things like that?) and frowned. “Why do you know that?”

Uryu gave him a mild look. “We took many excursions here for Handicrafts Club events.” 

“Oh.” Ichigo took one glance around and noticed a chain of stores selling all kinds of wares—clothes, cosmetics, jewelry—and winced. “Where do we start?” 

“I suppose women like jewelry,” Uryu began, staring at the store ahead of them. 

“Are you crazy?! I barely have the budget for something like that!” 

Uryu gave him a pointed look. “Then how about we buy her a card and be done with it.” The way he pronounced the word sounded acerbic, like he couldn’t help but look down on people who gave cards. 

“Fine, let’s go in there.” Ichigo shoved him through the door, wishing for the billionth time that Chad had come instead. (Though, he had a sinking suspicion that Chad wouldn’t have been any more useful either. Why did he have the most annoying friends?)

The situation in the store wasn’t any better, either. The store-owner kept giving him knowing looks despite Ichigo insisting that Orihime wasn’t his girlfriend, and no, calling her his special lady friend wasn’t any better—even if Orihime was special, and a lady, and a friend. Just not all at once. Alright? 

“For God’s sake,” Uryu muttered at Ichigo’s hundredth go-around. Nothing he looked at really caught his eye, and everything that did was way too expensive. Uryu turned to the attendant. “Do you have something within his price range?” 

The attendant paled a little but nodded at his direct tone. She turned to pull out their White Day collection, which mostly just consisted of racks of earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings they had on sale. 

“How about a bracelet?” Uryu pulled one up delicately. It had a clover on it. 

Ichigo made a face. “Damn, your taste is so much worse than mine.” 

Uryu positioned his wrist as if to throw the bracelet at Ichigo’s face. 

“Alright, calm down, you’re making a scene,” Ichigo barked, glancing warily at the attendant, who was watching them with one hand on the phone. The last thing he needed was to get kicked out of the store without having bought a present. “She can’t wear bracelets at work anyway, she’s got to keep her wrists bare when she’s baking.” 

Uryu looked surprised at that. Ichigo, too, was slightly surprised he knew that. 

Uryu recovered and pointed to a pair of earrings. “How about these?”

Ichigo clucked his tongue in annoyance. “She doesn't have her ears pierced, dumbass.” 

Uryu blinked. 

“Did you really not know that?” Ichigo asked dubiously, moving past Uryu to examine a pair of cufflinks with mild curiosity. Some were in the shape of a diamond, others had some kind of Sanrio character on them, but the one that caught Ichigo's eye was a heart. 

He smiled unthinkingly. A heart on the sleeve was just. So typically her. He found himself reaching for it, surprised it was on discount. It was just a small heart attached to the cuff, but Orihime wore sweaters when it was chilly and now that his eyes had landed on this, he knew he didn't want to buy anything else.

“Uh.” He held it up. “This one, please.” 

Uryu sighed in relief. 

__________

Ichigo arrived at the bakery on White Day, a neatly packaged box sitting inside his pocket. It was a Saturday, so he was well-rested, having crashed the previous evening and slept fourteen hours straight. He'd texted Orihime to meet him outside for a minute, a text she'd replied to with: Sure! :)

He wondered if she knew what the date was. 

As he approached the familiar glass doors, he noticed Orihime crouching by the board outside, chalk in hand. She seemed to be writing the day's discounts and special offers in some kind of fancy, bubbly handwriting. 

“Yo, Inoue,” he greeted. 

“Kurosaki-kun!” She bounced up to her feet and grinned. 

Ichigo felt nervous for some reason, so he stalled. “They've got you out here doing this kind of stuff, huh.” 

Orihime huffed. “They didn't get me to do anything, I volunteered.” 

Ichigo shook his head. “You're too nice, Inoue.” 

“There's no such thing as too nice,” she replied in a put-upon, matter-of-fact way that was adorable, really. Ichigo wanted to pinch her cheeks. 

He coughed. “Anyway. I uh.” 

Orihime looked up at him curiously. His palms suddenly turned sweaty, heart in his throat as he pulled the box out of his pocket. Better to just get on with it, right? 

“I got you something,” he explained, holding his palm open so she could see the box. “You know. For White Day.” 

Orihime's eyes widened, her cheeks fast-filling with color as her mouth dropped open in surprise. “Oh,” she said, barely a whisper. “What is it?” 

Ichigo chuckled. “Open it yourself, idiot.” 

Orihime wiped her hands on her apron and gingerly took the box from him like she was too afraid of touching it wrong. With one careful finger, she undid the bow, releasing the lid from its tight hold until it sprang free. 

“Oh,” she whispered again when she caught a glimpse of the little silver heart. “Oh, Kurosaki-kun, it's beautiful. You really shouldn't have.” She sounded like she was trying to hold back tears, though her red nose and glistening eyes were kind of a dead giveaway. 

Insurmountable pride filled Ichigo's chest as he watched her fingers delicately trace the little charm. 

“I'm sure it's not worth three times your gift, but,” Ichigo said, smiling, “happy White Day, Inoue.” 

Orihime laughed, cradling it to her chest with joy. “You didn’t even have to get me anything, but thank you. I love it.” 

Ichigo felt his chest seize at the image of her, soft sunlight bathing her as she hugged the blue box he’d picked out for her. Affection pulsed within him. Unsure of what to do with it, he tucked his hands in his pockets. 

“I guess I should get going,” Ichigo said reluctantly. “I really only came by to give you this.” 

“Mm. It was good seeing you, though,” Orihime said softly, then perked, startling Ichigo. “Should I walk you home?” She sounded mischievous, teasing. 

Ichigo shook his head, trying not to smile as he said, dryly, “Nah, you should get back to your chalk drawings. They seemed important.” 

“They are,” Orihime said stubbornly, like she saw right through his sarcasm—and wasn’t going to rise to its bait. But at the corners of her mouth was a smile threatening to spill, a smile he knew he could fully take credit for. 

And really, what was better than that? 

[tiannasfanfic]

Second Place

Eddie Munson x Reader (Angst)

| Eddie & Steddie Masterlist | AO3 Link |

Summary: Four years ago, when Eddie Munson chose Chrissy Cunningham over you, it sealed the coffin on your budding romance, as well as your longtime friendship. Now, seeing him at a bar one night brings back a lot of painful memories.

Rating: General Audiences

Author Note: Gender neutral Reader, they/them pronouns used (if any). Angst and Hurt. I have no idea where this came from, I had the idea today and put everything else on hold to write it.

CW: Eddie being a dick; two different breakups; social alcohol use; tobacco use; mentions of past sexual encounters (suggestive, no details); suggestive dialogue.

Word Count: 2,123

“We’ve only been dating for three weeks, Y/N. I don’t see what the big deal is. We can just go back to being friends while I see how this plays out.”

“It doesn’t fucking work like that, Eddie! Not for something like this!”

You sighed, remembering that night four years ago as if it were yesterday.

The memory of all the pain, the hurt, the anger you felt back then rose up to the surface of your mind. You vividly remembered how sick you felt, how fuzzy your head became, how much your heart broke.

“If things don’t work out with Chrissy, we can pick this up right where we left off, I promise.”

But instead of making you rage or even have a panic attack, watching Eddie on stage from across the bar just made you sad.

Sad for so many years of friendship ended.

Sad for a romance that had only just begun.

And sad that looking at him still made your heart ache.

“I’m not going to settle for being second place, Eddie.”

It had all been so great at first, all those years ago. Eddie asking you out had been a dream come true after falling hard for him years before in middle school. While you knew he had a sweet side, you didn’t know how sweet until you were the object of his affection.

There were a few dates, a few hangouts, a few steamy nights in the back of his van. It was amazing and everything you had ever wanted with Eddie

But then he started dealing to the newly single head cheerleader at the start of Spring Break and soon it was all over.

Despite the fact they hadn’t spent time together since middle school, Eddie’s childhood crush on Chrissy Cunningham had carried over throughout the years. Seeing and talking to her on a regular basis brought it right back to the surface, especially once they began hanging out after each deal.

Since your relationship was so new, not many people had really figured out that the two of you had made the transition from best friends to lovers. The guys in Hellfire knew, your other best friends, Robin and Nancy, knew but that was really about it.

And so, when Eddie told you that Chrissy asked him out, you couldn’t be mad at her. It was an honest mistake, especially since you and Eddie were on the opposite end of the social caste from Chrissy.

However, you could be mad at Eddie since he told her yes.

It was the most bizarre experience of your life, listening to him tell you how much this meant to him having Chrissy notice him, and how excited he was about it, and how he knew with you being his best friend that you would understand that he had to see where things went with her.

You most certainly did not understand. Who would?

This resulted in an argument that ended all aspects of your relationship with Eddie, both the long term friendship and the new romance.

Once the words were said and ties were severed, you were both quiet as you gathered up the belongings you had left at the trailer over the years. You were quiet as you walked through the living room, passing by were Eddie sat on the couch, eyes downcast. You were quiet when you walked out the front door, careful like you always were to not let the screen door slam behind you.

And you somehow managed to stay quiet until you were alone in the confines of your room, where the dam finally broke.

Luckily, you only had to put up with seeing them together at school for a little over one month. Once you all graduated, you hadn’t seen Eddie at all except for in passing, neither of you acknowledging the other.

Presently, your friend, Gina, elbowed you a bit roughly in the ribs.

“Hey, no sad faces on my birthday!” she giggled at you, already a bit tipsy.

“Hmm?” you said, finally breaking your gaze away from Eddie to look at her. “Oh! Sorry.”

“You alright?” she said, eyeing you worriedly. “For a second there, you looked like you were about to charge the stage and punch that lead singer in the mouth.”

The visual her words conjured up in your brain made you chuckle, but you shook your head.

“Nah,” you said. “That song just reminded me of someone I used to know.”

Gina nodded knowingly and patted you on the arm. She understood all too well what kind of power music had. Sensing the need to cheer you up, she broke off that line of questioning and steered you back into the conversation at the table, which steered your thoughts away from Eddie.

The conversation flowed for the remainder of Corroded Coffin’s set, as well as afterwards. Once the band was offstage and the sound system switched back over to the jukebox, it was a lot easier to hear each other.

Having spotted you in the crowd, it wasn’t long before Gareth, Jeff and Grant made their way over to you to say hello.

They never stopped being your friends after the breakup. They had been just as surprised as you by it, always figuring the two of you would end up together, and we’re a bit angry about the whole thing.

So angry, in fact, that when Chrissy broke up with Eddie two months after graduation, Jeff called to excitedly tell you all about it.

Chrissy thought they were just too different. They didn’t have much in common, she said. Their interests were too varied, their life goals on different paths.

While you could have told Eddie all of that yourself beforehand, and did, you didn’t feel vindicated like Jeff sounded.

No, you actually felt really bad for Eddie as Jeff was filling you in about it all.

Despite how hurt you were, you did still care about Eddie and you really hoped it would work out for them. You didn’t want Eddie to go through what he put you through. Plus, now he had to live with the knowledge that he sacrificed one of his oldest friendships with someone who truly loved him for nothing.

Okay, so, maybe you were a little vindictive and that latter bit was nothing more than wishful thinking on your part, nut everyone has dark thoughts like that from time to time when they have been hurt.

But, from the sound of it, Jeff was feeling vindictive enough that he really wanted Eddie to think about that exact thing, too.

“Give him a few months,” he said. “He’s going to realize how much of a dumbass he was. You’ll have him back before you know it.”

“Jeff,” you sighed. “I don’t want him back.”

“Don’t you still love him?” he asked. “Four months isn’t long enough to get over someone you liked that much for so long.”

He was right and there was no point in trying to deny it.

“Of course I do,” you said. “But no matter what, I’d always be his second choice. I would think about that every day, that he’s only with me because Chrissy didn’t want him anymore. I’m not going to do that to myself.”

Thankfully, the topic never came up again, but you were even more thankful that Jeff’s prediction didn’t come true. Eddie never tried to contact you in the years since then.

The guys didn’t visit for long before going to hang out with their friends who came out to see them play.

After some time had passed, the bar had gotten busier and the noise level of the crowd started to get under your skin. You excused yourself away from your friends to step outside for a cigarette and a bit of fresh air.

Not long after you settled back against the building to smoke, you heard the door of the bar open.

“Those things will kill you, you know,” came a familiar voice.

You looked over to see Eddie walking towards you, lighting his own cigarette.

“So I���ve heard,” you said, taking a drag off yours.

Eddie came to a stop near you and, leaving a few feet between you, also leaned against back the building.

“Nice night tonight,” he said, looking up at the sky.

“Yeah, it is,” you agreed, as you gazed across the parking lot.

And then silence.

While you’d imagined what you would say to Eddie if he ever talked to you again plenty of times, you found that you weren’t as riled up by his presence as you’d pictured yourself in those scenarios. You felt pretty neutral about his presence, not really bothered by it except to wonder why he followed you out here.

You didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“Hey, um,” Eddie said, breaking the silence. “I just wanted to say, I’m sorry I was such a dick to you. That was a bullshit move I pulled, and I’m really sorry.”

You turned your head to look at him. Eddie was still looking at the sky but lowered his gaze to meet yours. You could see that he was genuine. It was all over his face and in his eyes.

While you’d also imagined what you would say on what you thought was the incredibly rare off chance you ever got an apology from Eddie, you suddenly realized none of those responses you always saw yourself saying seemed appropriate anymore.

Instead, you nodded politely to him.

“Thank you,” you said. “I really appreciate that.”

Eddie nodded in return, then you both looked away to stare at the pavement.

Neither of you spoke again until after you had finished your cigarette and ground it out on the sidewalk with your heel.

“Hey, Y/N?”

You looked by over to Eddie to find him watching you with a nervous expression.

“Would you ever want to go out sometime?”

You stared at him for a moment, seriously thinking it over. He watched you, waiting patiently for your answer.

This was another one of those scenarios you had thought of often, especially after Jeff had put the idea in your mind. But, unlike all those other scenarios you had thought of, this one you never could imagine how you would react to.

After you thought it over, you met his gaze and slowly shook your head.

“I told you, Eddie,” you said. “I won’t settle for second place.”

The disappointment was evident in his face, but he nodded understandingly.

“Can’t blame a guy for asking, can ya?” he asked, throwing you a halfhearted grin.

“No, I can’t,” you agreed, but didn’t return his smile.

You walked past him to head back inside, but then stopped halfway to the door. A spark of anger suddenly ignited into a tiny fire in your brain. It took a lot longer than anyone would’ve thought, but Jeff’s prediction had come true.

And, after four years of radio silence, that suddenly struck you as the most ridiculous thing you had ever heard.

Suddenly, you found yourself turning around.

“Hey, Eddie?” you said, keeping your voice steady despite your sudden anger. “Can I ask you something?”

He turned to you with a hopeful look on his face.

“Anything, sweetheart.”

It took you a moment to figure out the way you wanted to phrase your question.

In the meantime, you looked him over while he patiently waited. You couldn’t deny he was as gorgeous as ever, especially when he was still flushed and hot from the flushed high of adrenaline of performing on stage.

Briefly, your mind flickered back to the memories of the nights you came to see Corroded Coffin perform while you were dating. Eddie nearly ravaged you after each show, leaving you sore, walking slow and grinning for days.

Judging from the slight dilation of his eyes, and the way they kept flickering to key spots on your body, you knew all it would take is a word from you and his lips would be at your throat, his hands wandering all over your body in all the places you’ve missed them.

But even as your anger drained away as you looked at him, you decided you needed to know the answer now that the question crossed your mind.

“Looking back on it now,” you said slowly, keeping your tone even and measured. “Was it all worth it?”

Eddie studied your face for a moment then his expression fell into one of regret as sighed sadly and looked down at the ground.

Even though he said nothing, he spoke volumes. It was all you needed for an answer.

You turned around and went back inside the bar, not feeling any happier now in the least.

Eddie Munson Taglist: @eddie-swhore @tayhar811

[creedslove]

bestie??? that marcus pike headcanon you just wrote??? we, pike girlies, NEED a part 2, marcus and reader getting together after Lisbon broke up with him

(mari, você é uma das melhores coisas que já aconteceu nesse site e você deveria ser tombada como patrimônio cultural pela UNESCO. Não é a mesma pessoa da primeira ask do marcus, to feliz que meu menino tá sendo lembrado por outras pessoas 😭)

Marcus Pike x f!reader

PART ONE

A/N: aí meu amor, obrigada pela sua ask! Que linda, de vdd, vc eh um amor ❤️🥺 o Marcus merece o mundo inteiro ❤️🥺

• when you left Marcus' house after the small argument you had with Lisbon and Marcus had overheard it, you were so deeply embarrassed, you couldn't even word it properly

• you knew feelings weren't supposed to be recriminated and you couldn't actually control them, but still, it was such an awkward situation, the way she'd talked to you, how you realized maybe your feelings were easier to read than you originally thought, how it was so easy for her to go all territorial over him just because you were around and yet anyone could see she wasn't even that into him, not as much as he was into her

• but she was right though; she was his girlfriend and not you, as much as it broke your heart, underneath all that poison Teresa shed, she was telling the truth: she was Marcus' girlfriend, she was the one who was going to move with him and become his wife and if Marcus had any romantic feelings towards you, he would've acted on it already

• and just to think he had heard every single word that went on, he saw how you never denied your feelings for him and how your eyes flooded with tears that insisted on spilling down your cheeks the moment you left his house abruptly, it was mortifying to you

• the fact that Marcus didn't go after you was both crushing and relieving all at once; you understood it, you really did; you wouldn't want your boyfriend running after the friend who stormed off instead of staying by your side, your rational side kept warning you of it

• but your sentimental side, mostly your heart, kept reminding you of how long you'd been friends and how important you had been to each other, the way you would just be inseparable before that woman came along and how Marcus wouldn't hesitate in taking your side

• you weren't selfish or delusional and you were fully aware that if you were his girlfriend or fiancee as that annoying woman liked to state, you would disapprove him having such intimate and intense friendship with another woman, many times you thought of back off from them, but Teresa didn't care about him, not as much as he cared about her; anyone could always see how reluctantly she was around him all the time, and you couldn't stay away from him, being so emotionally dependant from him, it hurt you at the same time it healed you to be so close and yet far away

• so when all of that happened, you saw it was your turn to stay away; you had to do it in order to feel better and let Marcus live his romance in peace, so when Marcus called you up a few times and you didn't pick up, he understood what it meant, he didn't want to overstep it, but it also pained him to think you'd be away for a while

• still, you sent him a text explaining why you had to keep your distance, you explained how much you cared about him and how you hoped he was going to be happy with the woman he chose; you also wished him a nice and safe trip and told him one day you'd go to DC to visit him

• and a few months went by as your friendship with Marcus was shaken up, you hadn't asked him any personal questions in the moments you texted and he didn't say anything about his relationship with Teresa, so you assumed eventually you'd get a wedding invitation or you wouldn't get one at all

• it didn't really matter anymore, you'd lost Marcus, or so you thought

• until the day a bearded Marcus showed up at your work during lunch break; he was in his regular dark suit, his FBI credential dangling from his pocket but he'd grown a beard and his hair seemed longer too

"Marcus..."

• you whispered as you weren't expecting to see him there, especially now that he was so different. He had his hands in his pockets and smiled shyly, chuckling as you complimented his new look, shrugging in a cute way as he explained he had been out undercover

"listen, I know the things haven't been great between us for the past few months, but I miss you, I really do, you've been the best person in my life for so long, I could call you a best friend, but you're so much more than that, and I'm sorry about things and Teresa, I-"

• you didn't even let him finish, going to Marcus and wrapping your arms around him, only then realizing how much you'd missed him. At that moment it didn't really matter what happened or if he was with Teresa anymore, all you wanted was to be close to him

"Pancakes? You can tell me everything over pancakes!"

• you suggested with a sweet, lovely smile, feeling excited and cheerful to see him again; Marcus took you to your favorite diner, where you are your favorite treats together and he told you about how things didn't work with Teresa and she's left him for Jane, he admitted he didn't call you earlier because he was ashamed of everything went on and asked you if you could both work on your friendship together once more; you agreed as you'd missed him very much

• and like that you and Marcus got closer again, enjoying each other's presence and he finally invited you to visit him in DC; one thing led to another and you and Marcus finally became more than friends

• a year later when you were back home for the wedding, you and him ended up running into Teresa and Jane, she didn't seem pleased to see you with Marcus, but in the end you couldn't care less, she'd made her choice and you were pretty happy about it, as you were finally with the man of your dreams and it couldn't be any better than that

____

[honkytonk-hangman]

... And In Health

Jake Seresin x Aviator!Reader

Summary: A year after Jake has come to terms with his sickness, he might just have the opportunity to find the cure.

Notes/Warnings: note much, maybe some language? mostly just Jake being a sweety and being cute <3 This part is set about a year after the first one.

In Sickness...

Masterlist

When the waitress stops by your table for the fourth time, with a free pity-drink, your lip begins to wobble as she walks away. An hour ago you promised yourself you weren’t going to cry, at least not until you got home.

You’ve always been quick to emote, but even more so since your last breakup. Although you were shy and quiet, you hadn’t always lacked confidence in the romance department, but after finding your boyfriend sleeping with someone else, you hadn't realised the hit your self-esteem had taken until recently, when you’d started putting yourself out there again.

Suddenly instead of worrying about how your butt looked or what your hair was doing, you had deeper, far more troubling worries, like not ever being enough, and feeling like a constant burden.

Being stood up tonight was really, honestly, the very last thing you needed. Worse still, you knew that when you called your pickup, you were likely going to have to explain the situation, and that you weren’t looking forward to whatsoever. Which is why you’d been waiting out the time, so at least you might be able to convince Jake that your date had shown up.

You doubt he’ll believe you if you tried lying, your feelings were always much too clear on your face, you were practically an open book. Jake in particular always seemed to see right through you, like he was paying more attention to you, but you think he might just be observant of everyone. You wouldn’t allow yourself to go on thinking you were special in some way to him, even if the two of you had been slightly closer since your previous breakup.

You appreciated it, that’s as far as you would let yourself go. Jake had told you that he saw you as a friend, and even if you lacked self confidence in that friendship, you knew Jake was the sort of person who went hard for his friends.

Which was the whole reason he’d offered to pick you up tonight in the first place.

Your own car had been playing up and when you’d finally gotten it in the mechanics, they’d given you the unfortunate news that they weren’t going to have it back to you in time for your date tonight. You’d been telling Phoenix that you were going to cancel, as you didn’t feel comfortable being picked up by a date you didn’t know all that well, when Jake had chimed in that he would be your ride, if you still wanted to go. Although he still made you flustered when he fixed you with one of his looks, you really did trust Jake, and you wouldn’t have accepted if it were anyone else, because you also knew he would never have offered if he hadn’t meant it.

You have had a few regrets now, but you don’t let yourself linger on them. This whole situation was already pushing you to the edge, you know that Jake picking you up and likely being annoyed on your behalf shouldn’t count towards that… even if part of you feared he might start an ongoing joke about that time you were stood up.

You cringe when you shoot off an ‘all done’ text, and receive an ‘already??’ In reply, but you force yourself not to elaborate.

You don’t even have his car door shut before you’ve burst into tears.

“Hey, woah! What the hell happened?!” Jake’s voice is bewildered and slightly panicked, but quickly it turns hard. “Is he still in there? Wait here.”

Hurriedly you reach across to grab his shirt sleeve, one hand still rapidly trying to wipe your eyes, now filled with scratchy mascara specks.

“It’s fine, please. Just take me home?” You sniffle, trying your best to calm down and hope he looks past your sobbing and does as you ask. He doesn’t though, looking at you like you had absolutely lost your mind.

“You’re crying!” He gestures at you as if you weren’t away. You shake your head, before realising you can’t exactly deny it, and nod.

When he pulls open his door and steps out, he pulls himself from your grasp with little effort. Pathetically you let your hand drop and desperately wipe more at your eyes, trying to see where he’s going. You almost jump when your car door opens again and Jake appears, ducking down into your line of sight, his face stern, but his eyes slightly wide and very concerned. You feel bad for making him worry.

“Cricket,” Jake begins, digging into his glove box and pulling out a wad of face wipes. “I’m going to need you to explain to me why you are crying, otherwise I’m going in there.” He isn’t using his normal friendly voice, right now you’re confronted with Hangman, not Jake, and it actually comforts you a little. You knew how Hangman worked, Jake often gave you more cause for confusion.

“He didn’t come. I know I shouldn’t be so upset, I’m sorry. I’m just tired and—”

“—He didn’t come?!” He cuts you off, sounding disgusted, and when you look up at him, you see his lip curled and his face pulled into a snarl. You drop your gaze, and all of sudden his temper seems to disappear and change entirely.

“So you’re saying he’s not even in there for me to chat to?”

It makes you snort a little, and when you glance up at him, Hangman is gone and once again you’re with Jake. You watch him look away from you, over the top of his car roof, and let out a deep sigh, before he looks back at you, his expression unreadable, but soft.

“Here,” Jake takes the wad of wipes you’ve been holding on to and you’re too tired and worn out emotionally to protest when he tips your face up and begins cleaning off your ruined makeup. He goes about it a lot more diligently than you’d have expected, and about five minutes later, he grabs the fistful of now filthy, makeup covered tissues, and steps briefly away to throw them in a nearby bin.

When Jake returns, he doesn’t come to stand at your side again, instead he closes it and returns to the driver's seat.

“Have you eaten yet?” He asks, like the last ten minutes hadn’t happened. You shake your head, and rest it against the window as he lets out a breath, and begins to pull out. The hand he reaches out to balance on your car seat as he checks behind him almost makes you wish you could just hug him, but you push that feeling down.

“Alright. Let’s go get you some food then, sweetheart.”

It’s not the first time Jake has ever called you ‘sweetheart’, but it’s the first time he hasn’t been teasing you when he’s said it. Your pulse jumps at the almost casual intimacy of the way he says it, like he’d said it this way a hundred times before. Like this was something you did regularly with one another.

It’s almost a blessing he doesn’t say much else for the rest of the short drive, if you’re overthinking this much already. You feel stretched thin, tired from your work week, and even more tired now that you've expended all the effort and emotional preparation in order to come out tonight only for it to end in pure disappointment. All you want to do is hide under your blankets for the rest of the weekend, and maybe drink a bottle of red wine through a curly straw while you do.

Jake seems to have other plans though, as when the car stops at last, you aren’t outside your apartment building. Before you can even open your mouth and ask him where you are, he’s at your door again, pulling it open and holding out his hand.

“Where are we?” You know you sound silly, seeing as the big neon sign flashed bright in front of you through the window.

“At a restaurant. A good one, this time.” Is as far as Jake goes to explain to you. Dumbly, you unbuckle yourself and go to hop out of the car, forgetting that he holds a hand out for you. Jake doesn’t forget though, and quickly moves to take your hand before you can balance it on the car door.

The movement makes your pulse jump again, and this time it doesn’t stop, seemingly keeping its new fast pace going. You blink rapidly up at the blind who watches you carefully, your mouth opening, working like a fish for a moment as you try to get your brain working again, but Jake gets there before you.

“Humour me,” he says sweetly, giving your fingers a slight squeeze as he does, doubling your heartbeat again, but you can’t stop yourself from nodding. When he smiles at you, you half expect it to be a familiar cheeky smirk, but it’s not.

You let Jake help you from the car, and try to get ahold of yourself as he guides you away and toward the front door. He even leads you around the grating in the sidewalk which your high heels would surely fall through, and you wonder why you’d never considered that Jake would be a good date before. At least, you’ve never considered it beyond his cocky persona. You’ve never thought about how he would open your door for you, or gently hold your hand, or make sure you didn’t have to contend with holes in the pavement.

You’re still tired, but this turn of events shocks a small amount of adrenaline into you, and you decide that you have enough energy at least for whatever Jake has planned. Or, at the very least, you don’t have the energy to fight it, but you trust him, so you choose to trust that whatever it is, he means the best.

Jake releases your hand when he reaches for the door, and you find yourself startled by the feeling of loss that overcomes you when he does. You notice then for the first time that Jake wears a simple pair of slacks and a knit polo shirt that still sits a little rumpled from where you’d grabbed him by the sleeve earlier.

Once you’ve allowed yourself to be ushered inside the restaurant, you turn back and quickly smooth out the soft material, doing your best to be impartial to the feeling of his firm bicep under your fingertips, even though you find yourself needing to pull down the fabric where it seems to stretch even tighter around his muscled arm. Normally you really only take notice of Jake’s physique when he’s purposefully using it against you, to make you tongue-tied for his amusement, but this is really the first time you’ve found yourself up-close and personal, and you’re once more surprised by the intense desire you have to be hugged by him, to press yourself up against what you know to be his incredible strong body, feel that strength wrap itself around you.

Briefly you glance up at his face, expecting an amused smirk, but all you find is another unreadable expression, though his eyes do follow your movements closely. You finish your smoothing with a small pat, and turn away again. It takes another moment for you to feel him stir back into action behind you, and you find yourself again caught up in your thoughts as he steps slightly around you, to speak to a waiter who pops out to see you seated.

You’re vaguely aware that when you’re shown to your table, Jake pulls your chair out for you, and rests his hand briefly on your shoulder as you’re settled, squeezing it gently before he steps away to his own seat.

For a while the both of you are quiet as you mull over the menu, but the more your stomach begins to grumble, the more your senses seem to come back to you properly at last, and the bitter taste of disappointment and embarrassment that has been swirling around inside your chest and head all night begins to recede. This was just Jake, and even though sometimes he confused you, you knew Jake. You know that what he’s doing right now is his own way of hugging you and telling you it’ll be okay, like Phoenix would if she were in his place.

Your shoulders, which you hadn’t even realised had been slightly raised, relax as you place down your menu and take to studying the man in front of you instead. You’re able to watch him for a good minute before he turns the page of his menu, long enough to know he wasn’t reading it at all.

“I like Italian,” you venture, though your inflection makes it sound a little like a question, one you’re not sure you have the courage yet to ask.

“I know.” Jake replies, at last dropping the laminated booklet and linking his hands together on the table in front of him. You want to challenge him, but you stop yourself, figuring that knowing what your friends liked was the least someone could do.

You soften a little then, and drop your gaze to your place setting, straightening the silverware nervously, feeling his gaze locked on to you, and you chance peeking up at him as you talk.

“You really don’t have to–” you don’t even get to finish speaking before his sharp gaze flashes, eyes narrowing and he lowers his chin. “If you want dessert you won’t finish that sentence,” his words are humorous, but his voice maintains a level of sternness that you’d heard earlier when he’d been worried. You wonder if he usually masked his concern or anxiety with hardness. You wonder if that worked for him like it worked for you. You can’t deny that his cutting through your shit to get at the real problem was helpful when you were so prone to brushing off your own comfort for the sake of others.

Jake sighs then, but doesn’t even look away from you as he picks up the carafe of water and pours you each a glass.

“I’m not letting you go home tonight with that being the last date under your belt,” he sounds more casual now, and there's an offended scoff that punctuates his words, like the idea insulted him as well as you.

“This isn’t a date, though,” you hear yourself argue, though it's more out of sheer confusion than any real protest. You regret it immediately though, as Jake’s signature smirk makes an appearance, and he unfolds his hands to fix you with pure amusement.

You almost jump right out of your skin when something warm brushes over your hand again, and you realise too late that he’s taking it in his own, leaning toward you and cocking his head as his thumb begins brushing softly across the tops of your fingers, like he knew his actions have frozen you in place.

“Sure it is,” he tells you, and that seems to be that.

It takes you a moment to reboot your brain.

“You took all my makeup off…!” you protest after a moment, letting your arm go more slack as the feeling returns to the hand he holds. Jake raises an eyebrow, lips twitching.

“Don’t need it,” he shrugs, before relenting some. “For what it’s worth, in the two seconds I saw you before you started crying, it looked nice.”

You’re forced to reconcile with the idea that Jake thought you looked nice, and attempt to work out what that means for you now.

“Oh… Thank you…” is all you’re able to say, and are immediately greeted once again with his regular smirk, though it feels a little softer around the edges now, almost tender, but you think that must be only in your imagination.

“This is when you tell me how handsome I look,” Jake prompts, and you could roll your eyes and laugh him off, but the more you think about it, the more you actually agree with him.

“You look very handsome tonight.” you say, meaning it, finally able to laugh softly when he preens obviously at the praise.

“And have I been working out?” he’s definitely teasing you now, but you don’t mind so much, because his thumb is still slowly moving in circles over your fingers, which you’ve only just realised do feel rather cold.

“You’re always working out.” you tell him, your brows furrowing just a little but only for show. Jake fixes you with an amused expression and shakes his head. His hand tightens around yours just a little.

“Not always. Sometimes I take beautiful, lovely women out on dates.” he corrects you. Your heart leaps into your throat, and you blink at him, dazed.

“Sorry to interrupt your plans, then,” you joke, but it comes out a little more self-deprecating than you really mean. Jake narrows his eyes at you again.

“Are you questioning my tastes?”

“Almost always.”

“I’ll have you know that you are both beautiful, and inarguably lovely, Cricket.”

His words make you stare dumbly at him, mouth once more working like a fish to try and figure out what it is you’re supposed to say to that. You don't realise until it's too late that you’ve said those words aloud.

Jake smiles, full and wide and not teasing at all this time.

“You say ‘thank you, baby. This is the best date I’ve ever been on’,” he almost sing-songs.

“I’m not calling you ‘baby’!” you sputter, your brain going into overdrive at the thought of Jake calling you baby.

“Not yet you aren’t,” Jake blinks slowly at you, but he doesn’t back down from the statement, staring at you until you’re the one forced to look away, and he speaks again. “But I can be patient. I’ve been patient.”

You find yourself transfixed by what he could possibly mean by the fact that he’s been patient, but you don’t get the opportunity to ask, because your waiter returns and watch enamoured as Jake orders for you, not really that surprised that he knows what you want, but surprised that you’re so quickly becoming normalised to this behaviour from him.

Oddly, as dinner goes on, you almost forget that it’s Jake you’re with. He seems softer, gentler in a way that you hadn’t been aware existed within him, but in a way that you aren’t sure how you’re going to live without once he drops you home again and the spell is broken. In your minds eye, you realise that day to day you’ve seen glimpses of this Jake, when he’d wordlessly begun offering you a hand when you’d climb up to your jet around a year ago now, or how he’d normally complain about the amount of time everybody else took with their shots at darts, but sometimes when it was just the two of you he simply waits quietly for you to line yourself up properly, even occasionally giving you an ego-free pointer that always helped.

You wonder how often other people saw this side of Jake, and if you might be able to convince you into showing you more. For once his perpetual amusement and teasing seems to be at bay, and you’d like to think that this is the way he is in the quiet times, in the morning before his coffee, or in the grocery store. You can picture him in these times, but more importantly you want to see him in these times, more than you might have thought you would, more than out of simple curiosity.

His fingers lacing with yours after your plates are cleared makes you think once more of his talk of patience, and you wonder briefly if he wanted you to see him like this too.

“Absolutely not,” Jake quickly cuts in when you both stand by back near the entrance, reviewing the bill. The card you hold out, and the hand it’s in are engulfed suddenly by his much larger one, and even as the waiter smiles between the two of you, Jake doesn��t let you escape his grasp, holding you firmly in place as he hands his own card over.

“Jake!” you grumble, trying to pull your fist out of his, but he simply tightens his hold and gives the waiter a look like ‘can you believe this woman’.

“I’m so sorry about her, she hasn’t been taken out properly in a while, she’s forgotten all about how dates are supposed to work,” Jake tells the waiter conspiratorially, voice thick with faux-sympathy, like your cause was truly tragic. Your protests are fully silenced however, when he shoots you a pitying look, and brings your enclosed fist to his lips, kissing it softly like you were a sick puppy or something of the like.

You know he’s aware of the effect he has on you, it was why he teased you so much, but for the first time ever, you think he’s actually using it properly against you to get his way, and unfortunately, you aren’t even able to summon much annoyance about it. Quite the opposite in fact, his display makes your argument fall quiet and your heart skip several beats as he kisses your fingers tenderly again, before offering it back to you at last.

Quietly, you put your card away and bite your lip as he finishes paying.

—

“Jake,” you begin slowly, having taken most of the car ride so far to gather your thoughts together.

“Cricket,” Jake matches your tone and cadence, while shooting you an amused smile.

“Why did you hold my hand?” you try your best to ignore him, and shift slightly in your seat. Jake seems to shift too, but he only glances briefly over at you this time.

“Do you mean ‘why am I still holding your hand?’?” he squeezes your aforementioned hand, still in his grip and laying on the centre console. When he shoots you another amused grin, he’s met only with your pursed lips. Placing his gaze back toward the road, he rolls his eyes a little.

“Because I want to? I don’t know, feels kinda nice, don’t ya think?” Jake clears his throat a little, before a frown begins forming between his eyebrows and he seems to lurch. “Unless it doesn’t, in which case–” he begins to loosen his grip on you, but before you can think too much about what you’re doing, you tighten your own fingers laced through his, and give him an even more unimpressed look.

“So it does feel nice, note taken.”

You sit in silence for a few more minutes, in which time Jake begins slowly stroking his thumb across the back of your hand. When you do finally pull up to your apartment block, you feel the need to say something, but you don’t know what, so you keep quiet as Jake puts his car into park.

“Wait here,” he tells you and before you can really respond, he’s jumping out of the car and loping around to your side, opening the door with a gallant smile.

“You know, you’re a pretty good date, Jake,” you say softly, letting him take your hand once again and help you out of the car. Jake beams at you in an almost boyish manner that makes you want to squish his cheeks, but you refrain.

“Why thank you,” he says proudly, making you smile too.

You stand and stare at one another for a moment once you’re settled on your heels, and Jake cocks his head at you, before offering out his hand for you. Biting your lip slightly, you can’t help but look at your feet as you reach out and take the offered hand, feeling your chest go all warm again when he adjusts his hold to be more firm, and you both begin walking again.

Jake lets you take more of a lead, even though you know he knows where you live, considering he had been one of the friends you’d enlisted to help you move out of your old place. You can’t help but wonder if all this hand-holding was going to affect your friendship now, or what it even meant for your friendship. Your mind goes back to what Jake had said about patience at dinner, and what that meant.

Biting your lip again, you come to a stop in front of your apartment door, taking your hand back reluctantly so that you can pull your key from your purse and unlock your door.

“You aren’t going to cry again once I’m gone, are you?” Jake suddenly asks, making you blink back at him. He shoves both hands in his pockets and purses his lips. “Can’t be having that, now can we?” he says as if that explained his concern.

“No… No, I feel a lot better now,” you tell him, and you really do mean it. “Thank you for dinner.”

Jake stares at you, like he often does when he’s trying to make someone crack. Usually it worked pretty well on you, but you have nothing to crack over right now, so you simply stare back at him and shrug.

“I’m glad you feel better, Cricket. I don’t like seeing you upset.” Jake tells you, and even though his expression is humorous, his voice is stern and sincere, and it makes your stomach twist and turn violently in a way you’ve felt it attempt to do several times recently, but you’ve never let yourself linger on. It's as though all at once you can’t stop it, and an explosion of butterflies takes the place of all your internal organs.

“What was that?” Jake murmurs, and you blink at the step he takes forward, his brow furrowed in concern. You realise you’ve spoken the question that’s been on your mind out loud, and you swallow thickly as you try to gather yourself again.

“I… Earlier, you said you’ve been patient… what did that mean?” you ask, chewing the inside of your lip, wondering if you even want this question answered in the first place.

Jake cocks his head at you, and you can’t help but take note of how his lips quirk in the corners, like he thought it was adorable that you even had to ask.

“It means,” Jake begins, stepping even closer, and resting his arm on the wall above your head. “That about a year ago, I realised that I wanted to kiss you, and a year later, I still do.”

You stare up at him, and try to refrain from moving too much, as if he might disappear if you did.

“But only if you want me to,” he adds after a moment, beginning to peel back from you. Once more you don’t think too hard about what your body does, and you realise too late that your hand has shot out to rest against his chest, smoothing over his collar. Jake stops in his retreat and fixes you in his gaze again, even as your mouth opens and closes silently. You frown at your own inability to talk, and feel a pit begin to open in your stomach, sucking up the butterflies let loose there.

Jake frowns down at you, as if he can read your thoughts, and gently covers your hand with his own.

“Do you want me to?” he asks softly, and you’re glad he doesn’t make you say it, you aren’t sure you’re ready to ask yet, but you think he might understand this about you.

You nod at him and hold your breath as he seems to cock his head again. Briefly you see him smile, full and warm, but quickly you’re gasping softly as he kisses you.

Kissing Jake has been something you’ve refused to let yourself think about, repressing the thought so much that you’re truly surprised by how good he is at it. It makes sense, you think, that Jake would be a great kisser, and you’re fairly certain that you’ve never ever been kissed like this before, either. If this was what you’d been missing out on for a year, you feel foolish and idiot, because right now you vow that you will let Jake kiss you whenever he wants, wherever he wants from now on.

When at last he pulls away, you relish in the way his hand cups your cheek, thumb swiping back and forth tenderly.

“I don’t know about you, Cricket,” he says, making your chest flutter when he nuzzles at your nose sweetly. “But I think that feels kinda nice too, don’t you think?” he places another, much chaster kiss to your lips, and you can’t help but let out a soft laugh.

“Yes, Jake. I think it feels nice, too.”

@starlightstories @fox-bee926 @startrekfangirl2233 @izzyomfg @shanimallina87 @phoenix1388 @t-nd-rfoot @sehnsuchts-trunken @dagger-wren @bradshawsbitch @penwieldingdreamer @roleycoleyland @ussgallifrey just tagging some possibly interested folks!!!!

[lerihon-posts]

Dark Urge and Grieving Gortash

This might be a bit disjointed cuz I'm typing this instead of sleeping but thinking about Durge and the aftermath of Gortash's inevitable death. Especially in endings where the party breaks the alliance and kills him. Especially a Durge that's been fairly successful in their quest lines. (Keeps Isobel from being kidnapped, saves all the Tieflings and Zevlor ECT from moonrise)

Do we think Durge even realizes at first that they are grieving? Like yeah absolutely they are aware that grief is a thing and maybe they've felt something they thought was like it about Alfira. But being aware of something is one thing and experiencing it a whole other ball game. Like thinking about it pre-amnesia they're this peak, hand designed by Bhaal Bhaalspawn right? Literally designed to deal out death in droves. Grief would be a pretty useless and largely if not near entirely unfelt emotion by Durge at this point. Grief is something they inflict not experience.

Then you get to Durgetash era, weather platonic or romantic, and it's all kinda agreed by fandom that Gortash is the first person not only to care about Durge but the first person Durge themselves actually care about. A friendship and/or romance so impactful it freaks Durge out. This is what got me thinking; if this is Durge having a crisis over feeling attached to someone and reluctant to kill them for the first time theres no likely way they would have gotten to the point of truly mourning someone before or at least not since climbing the ranks to be papa bhaal's favorite prince/princess.

Now just thinking about an end game Act three resisting Durge standing in Gortash's office with Karlach and very likely their new LI (mine was Gale), deed done and looking down at Gortash's -"no, Enver, he's Enver to us" that persistent voice a the back of their head says- body and feeling that first bit of cold numbness spreading from their heart throughout their chest. Pressure behind their eyes and nose as an Urge, not to harm but to cry, build just as slowly. If it's another character that got the killing blow in maybe unable to look them in the eye with out feeling this sense to *Scream*. A Durge recently born a new free of Bhaal but not their lingering past self, still new to being a honest to gods person and not knowing what was *wrong* with themselves??. They cast speak with dead and hear Bane from Enver's lips and suddenly their body feels like something they have to pilot remotely, their throat burns with a vague wish to be sick.

Do they go to Halsin or Shadowheart later once back at the Elfsong tavern and forcing themselves through whatever this is to comfort Karlach? Chest aching and something all together bitter they don't want to admit to churning in their gut. Do they seek a one of them quietly to ask for a magical heal for this obviously physical poison they must be suffering from only to be told nothing seems to be wrong with them? Do they go through their symptoms confused and feeling numbed and overwhelmed at the same time only for Halsin or Shadowheart to finally reach in through their tadpoles to see what Durge is feeling and then have to explain to Durge that " oak father preserve you, but yours is but a profound sadness; your grieving," Halsin says, or Shadowheart with "you suffer no mere flesh wound im afraid, but that of a much deeper experience; Loss."

Just. All those posts about the dark urge coming to grips with what Gortash actually meant to their old selves, the only people that understood and cared for each other, the only two people who mattered. But then also with the added angst of someone navigating that sadness for probably the first time with no knowledge of how to do that while surrounded by people who wouldn't be able to really understand why you felt that way about someone like Gortash and also yeah there's no real time to process this you gotta fight an elder brain in the morning.

[cherish--these--times]

Okay. BUCKLE UP.

To the people who say that we have no media literacy because we hoped til the very end that Ted and Rebecca would end up together: you can FUCK RIGHT OFF.

Recently, Hannah W. declared: "Is there chemistry beyond friendship? Yes, I think they do have that as well."

But beyond that, there were A MILLION OTHER WAYS they could have done the last season (and arguably season 2) differently than what they did to avoid any ambiguity as to Ted and Rebecca's relationship. They could have had them hang out all the bloody time and be the rock solid best friends in the world. Ted and Rebecca were never more than friendly co-workers since season 1 ended. That BFF, platonic bullshit was never a thing. If that was true, Ted would have had NO PROBLEM hugging the shit out of her in the stands in the last episode when she begged him to stay. Or again in the airport. They would have gushed over how they made each other's life better and it would have been beautiful and moving and perfectly reasonable. Instead it was loaded with unsaid stuff between two people who never dared to get too close to one another. Keeley was Rebecca's rock. Beard was Ted's. Ted and Rebecca were something else. They were connected in unfathomable, cosmic ways. A perfect set up for a romcom, even if you dislike the idea.

But okay, playing the devil's advocate here, if the platonic soulmates shtick was always the intent (and I don't care what people think, I'm not sure it was), why not have them fall in love with other people early on but keep them as a tightly-knit tandem? Why keep them apart so much throughout the show and both single for most of it???? Why even establish they were born to meet then they never see each other again at the end?? Romance aside, what was the fucking point of that??

Let's address your fucking condescension, shall we? I'll tell you what media literacy fucking taught me:

That Rebecca immediately sensing Ted was having a panic attack, following him, and missing him by a hair, is a classic trick for lovers in a "right place, wrong time" kinda way. If they didn't want to leave any space for ambiguity, she would have found him, comforted him and took him to Dr Fieldstone's office herself without this need to overdramatise and make us long for said comfort that she was unable but clearly desperate to provide.

That Ted texting her for the first time on screen (15 times!!!) because he wanted to hang out at night in a foreign city JUST WHEN SHE LOSES HER PHONE IN A CANAL is a classic SEE ABOVE!! Fuck all of you, honestly.

That one half of the equation carrying a matchbook in his pocket the other half had been obsessing over for months means he is the answer to her romantic quest. And before you go and say that everyone got a matchbook that night, THAT'S NOT THE FUCKING POINT. They chose to show that Ted, of aaaaaaall the people in the restaurant that night, had been carrying Rebecca's hopes and dreams in his pocket THE ENTIRE BLOODY TIME. It was an intentional, purposeful decision. They decided to drop that hot potato later on but you can't blame us for thinking it would lead somewhere!

That one half of the equation carried a trinket in her bag the other half gave her YEARS BEFORE, means he is the one for her. Why? Because this was something he gave her to make her feel safe! Letting someone wonderful love her without fear of being safe was the thing she canonically admitted she was afraid of in a ROMANTIC relationship! The fact that the army man happened to be stuck in the green matchbook was frankly TAKING THE PISS.

That Ted's official love interest having admitted she disliked his puns and having Rebecca laugh at one of his puns IN THE SAME EPISODE is meant to convey she's the one and right under his nose!

That her love interest for the night unloading his marital struggles on her unprompted just like Ted did, loving the same songs as Ted and making her tea that had the same impact on her as Ted's first biscuits means that what she looks for in a partner is right under her nose!

That having her bump into Ted in a corridor and both sensing each other in a choreographed dance MOMENTS after Higgins gave her a whole ass speech about how psychics could help her see in herself what she's missing means IT WAS ALWAYS TED. Don't even get me started on the fact that during said speech, the pink biscuit box was very conveniently placed just behind the green matchbook! A speech about her not seeing something about herself?? Uh??? FUCK OFF.

That Rebecca being told she will have a family and have her instigate Ted getting closer to his son and gushing over his mother is a clear indicator that she would fit in the Lasso household like a glove!

That having Ted canonically never ask for help and Rebecca being the one who doesn't need him to because she always knows when he is unwell means she's framed as being the right person for him. She also uses a trick his EX-WIFE used in the past for that exact purpose.

That their baggage matching right up meant they would have been perfect for each other. His biggest fear is being abandoned and hers is ending up alone. Ted and Rebecca were the logical option for a couple. Ted even had to begrudgingly admit it worked for Jane and Beard. The only canonically happy couple at the end (and ain't that fucking mental...).

That having the line "Remember to let her into your heart" from the Hey Jude song coincide with Ted looking down at his phone and seeing Rebecca's name means that she's the woman he should allow himself to end up with.

Why keep them both single and desperate for love until the very last episode? Why not have Michelle beg Ted to come back and Dutch Guy find Rebecca thanks to newspaper clips about football in Holland 10 episodes ago and be done with it?? Why even not have Rebecca pine for him on screen ever since they parted ways??

Everything in this show was intentional. You can't marvel over this fact for everything BUT Ted and Rebecca and suddenly claim we read too much into things! We were played. Multiple times. At various degrees. And it doesn't take being a fan of the show to see it:

An LA Times journalist made an article about the hints and clues in the show after she interviewed TedBecca fans. And she BELIEVED IT. She got convinced. She told Hannah W. in an interview.

Another journalist on CBR.com (male, so you can shove your "desperate women wanting the straight couple to be together at the end" where the sun ain't shining) lamented the way the TedBecca shippers were treated.

Keep your passive-aggressive posts to yourselves. We've been dangled a carrot since day one and just because we never got to eat it doesn't mean it was never there.

[toorumlk]

Harry/Ginny

AH HINNY!

oh man, i oscillate between really liking hinny one day and feeling completely indifferent towards them the next.

hinny might be the relationship i like the most for harry, and it's all because because of the family aspect. through marriage w ginny, harry officially became a weasley family member. and, of course he always was one, but he actually is a weasley on paper and i think having that in writing would mean a lot to harry. and my golden trio heart can't not mention that by hinny being married - ron and hermione are literally harry's brother and sister (in-law) now and !!!!! that just makes my heart melt (i know those two were always harry's family but bc of the aforementioned reason, etc. you get it)

so right off the bat, when i try to organize my more positive thoughts on hinny, i'm mostly focused on how the relationship best serves harry, and only harry. and this is where my frustrations with the ship begins: it's so hard to think the other way around because ginny's narrative purpose is just to be harry's ideal love interest, instead of being a fully fleshed character. i really love ginny with all her spunk and feistiness, but she's so underutilized. she had a cute crush on him in the start of the series which was adorable, but her character was inarguably just "ron's younger sister". and after she gets possessed by volde/gets saved from the CoS by harry, she still continues to have a puppy-love crush on harry until OoTP!!! GAAHHHH!!! Apparently joanne said hinny were always meant to be soulmates and i think if these two had a consistent "invisible string" motif throughout the series, it would've been so good (and almost as good as romione's slow burn). So...

here's how i'd fix hinny (lmao):

i wouldve made the ginny a much more prominent character in PoA and beyond.

we get to see hinny actually have heart-to-hearts about the incidents of CoS - for ginny to play such an IMPORTANT role in the titular plotline of the second book, then to just have her blend into the background afterwards just boggles my mind - that was the perfect oppurtunity to make ginny an invaluable character in the cast. she has this huge experience in common with harry - being personally victimized by voldemort - that harry doesn't have w ron or hermione at that point and it would've been so nice to see harry find an equal, a confidant in ginny from then on - like, dont let the readers forget that harry and ginny have this huge thing in common, have it be with us in the back of our heads the whole time!

start the hinny romance subplot fr fr in GoF

the potential of ginny being a maybe date for harry to the yule ball, harry feeling jealousy towards neville for getting to dance and spend time w ginny and harry being like "wait a minute! i'm supposed to crush on cho! im jealous of neville??" that wouldve been FUN - again, they couldve been a less insane version of romione hello

having the hinny subplot unravel in tandem with harry's crush and relationship with Cho in ootp

in ootp, you can argue that the story attempts to make a foil between cho and ginny's characters but if that were the case, it could've done a way better job of it

with harry's relationship w cho - harry likes her bc she's cool and pretty but she wants to connect with him through their connection via cedric and his death, which is off the bat a hugely touchy/traumatic topic for both of them and cho couldn't possibly fathom what it's like to be in the presence of voldemort/tom but guess which other character does ehehe...

now we're at hbp and this is where the good stuff starts bc if i'd had it my way, we'd have gotten their friendship in poa and two books of solid romantic build-up up until now

i honestly had a such a fun time with hinny in hbp, ginny in her OWL year being so cool and harry's hugeass crush on her- harry being a hormonal teenager was hilarious to read like its implied that harry is having increasingly inappropriate thoughts about her throughout the novel and theyre just intercut with "BUT RON-" that's some good shit

my one gripe w hbp's hinny is that i wish we actually got to see their dates sneaking around hogwarts, finding the perfect hideaways for makeout sessions, etc etc i know hp wasn't a romance fantasy by any means but imagine how swoony it wouldve been if we got to actually see these sunset dates instead of just being told about them - it wouldve been cathartic to actually see harry actually live the life of a normal teen boy before everything fell apart lol

if we got all these invisible string moments between them throughout the series, harry thinking about ginny and how good it felt to kiss her lips before he walks to his death in DH would've felt so much more earned

from a storytelling perspective, the case with hinny begs the question of if you can have a love interest for the jesus figure of your narrative? can you make a believable, grounded and balanced love story for the chosen one? i honestly think so but then you'd have to put equal amounts of effort and work into creating two nuanced characters and unfortunately we don't see that effort be put in ginny's character and that's why harry's endgame falls short for so many people. earlier, i said that this is the ship i like most for harry, but honestly that isn't saying a lot - i think with an almost saint-like character like harry, its hard to imagine a satisfying love and partnership for this kid. i like tomarry as a ship for when im feeling a bit insane but other than that, my main harry ship is him with a lifetime of peace and healing.

i also want to argue that hinny was never meant to be a primary romance in this story - the main romance/love story in the series is ron and hermione's and i think joanne's romance prowess all went into romione and i'm so thankful for that because i think it makes for better story (also i'm totally biased)

i also cant not mention the freudianess of it all with hinny, right? like god freud would Love hinny bc what do you mean they look identical to jily, what is going on here. that and the fact they had their first kid at 22/23 years old like my god, WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING you should be at the club!!!!! i do dig the failmarriage vibes they were serving in TCC, also.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Okay but y'know who would've been the perfect character to use as a secondary foil to Dabi in addition to Shouto being the first instead of Bird Bitch?Momo.Their upbringings are significantly different but not entierly-Momo was abused by her parents with adultification and verbally abused by them in a way that's so normalized that she has no clue of either of those things even happened to her,Dabi was abused by Endeavor in the classic way with constant verbal degragation and physical assaults.And they both had the same motivation and justification behind them:They wanted them to be the perfect child.Momo's abusers in the sense of her becoming the ideal proper 'mature' woman,Dabi's abuser in the sense of the most powerful hero.They parallel eachother in a contrasting way and so do their trauma responses by extension and their dynamic has so much untapped potential that i genuinely think it's one of Horikoshi's dropping the ball moment's that he never had them share a bond or at least pointed out their different similarities

It's shown that despite his lack of care for strangers generally,Dabi looks out for his own.He treats Toga like his little sister because she had a rough childhood due to her quirk too and his best friendship with Jin is so tender and strong that it borderlines on romantic and we all saw what he did and said to Hawks for his ableism motivated murder of him and it's not a coincidence that he's even more brotherly to Toga and unhinged after that event specifically.In addition to their shared history of parental abuse,Momo herself also has a bunch of disorders which unlike with Jin were not intentional-Let's be honest,if Horikoshi had made her autistic,adhd,anxiety and ocd intentionally,i don't even wanna think about how horrifically she would've been treated by both other characters and the narrative-but are too intertwined with her story to remove them and still have her be in-character so it's fun and interesting to think of Momo and Dabi having to interact with eachother due to her being a heroine in training and him a villain who's team's main enemies are friends and mentors

Both of them have also not fully escaped the treatment they got growing up-Momo was given a costume that was blatantly meant to sexualize her and gets put in charge of leading her classmates into war as literal child soldiers,Dabi still dosen't get believed as a victim of his father because he's 'too mean' to count as one.I would love to see stories of them slowly accidentally befriending eachother right after the Bakugou rescue arc and Dabi helping Momo see hero society isn't fair or kind to her either and Momo realizing just how often it is that situations like Dabi's happen-Hell,she helped rescue someone who's the same as Endeavor,only on a smaller scale.I don't think she'd instantly go villain nor that Dabi would force her to but the prelude to the war arc has her getting kicked out by her parents for standing up to them and because they found out she's been doing vigilanteism so she joins him because she knows he's right and because he's treated her better than almost every other adult in her life and in turn,she's made him realize that not every hero is thrown into it willingly and are just hurt kids like he used to be and that they're the real ones.'Creati' becomes 'Destruct' but before this all unfolds,we get Shouto and Momo being closer than ever as the series progresses due to the differences in Momo's plot and Dabi's involvement in it pulling Shouto into their orbits and Todomomo goes from a subtle but potent romance to a constant and in your face 'They're soulmates by choice' type of beat in the best and healthiest way possible

Momo gets to be written as a multidimensional teen girl character with no demonization for being an anti-heroine and not be erased as the second real first friend Shouto made in favor of a lifelong bully who told his number one victim to kill himself and Dabi gets to redeem himself by being the good older brother he never got to be as Touya and entering rehibilitation after the war ends because he refuses to die after getting to save Jin from Hawks so they can live out the rest of their lives together.Breaking the cycle of abuse is a much better story than shonen fuckery bullshit disguised as superhero homages when in reality it's disrespecting the history behind and core of comics

[thestrangestthing89]

So I'm gonna say the kinda mean/exasperated thing because I keep seeing a lot of comments lately where people think Mike and El are going to be BFFs next season and they are all excited about it. People have made this relationship into more than it is.

Having headcanons is fine but some people are genuinely convinced they have a friendship and it's coming solely from fan fiction and not the narrative. Next season isn't going to show them suddenly working together and communicating. It isn't realistic and it's never been their story.

If Mike and El were friends they wouldn't be having the following problems:

El wouldn't feel insecure in their relationship in S4 because Mike didn't tell her he loved her. She would feel like they have a bond even if it's platonic. But instead she feels neglected and like he's pulling away.

Mike wouldn't feel insecure in S4 and tell Will several times that he doesn't feel like he has a place in her life because they fought. If they had a friendship as the basis of their relationship, it wouldn't matter if they fought. He'd still feel bad but he wouldn't worry she doesn't need him. He would know their friendship is still there and that they can talk it through.

They would have shown them bonding over something in S3. Instead all we get is them making out. They make a point to go out of their way and show they have nothing in common and they don't bond over things. They don't have shopping and sleepovers like El and Max and they don't have D&D and the arcade like Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin. They don't have anything that they share besides trauma. They could have easily given us a moment here where they were playing board games, watching movies, or talking and they don't. And it's implied by Hopper and everyone else that those moments don't exist.

Mike wouldn't have been jealous she was hanging out with Max. He is upset Max became instant friends with her and bonded with her. It's a relationship that he wants - a plantonic one - and one that they can't manage to have.

Mike brings up very platonic things at the end of S3 when they move out. He wants her and Will to visit. It's a conversation about friendship. El quickly shifts the conversation to something romantic and it halts any friendship they could have established at this point. It's clearly something Mike would prefer to have and he's confused she pushes for romance instead.

S1 doesn't give them time to bond over anything. They are in danger and focused on saving Will. They don't talk about anything else except bullying for 1 min. Mike tries to bring up this brief moment of connection in S4 and gets shut down immediately by El. Bullying is not a conversation that brought them closer.

Mike also spends 1 day at home with her when they first find her. He shows her around the house and it's one of the few times this season we see them acting like kids. But bonding over how to work a La-z-boy isn't the foundation of a friendship. It's a very small moment. And it's tied to El's introduction to the real world. It's the bsy trope which doesn't represent healthy relationships.

They are apart for most of S2 and the only moment of potential bonding is the Snow Ball. We don't see much of this. Only Mike being upset that Will is dancing with someone and him looking pretty despondent even after El arrives. Since these two never talk I doubt they suddenly did here. What's more likely is the group hung out. Even though it's established they stop hanging out with them later, it's made clear by Will they were only getting ditched for the summer. The Snow Ball is never referenced by either of them again. They don't bring up that it was fun or reminisce or anything like that. They don't seem to have pictures either besides the one really awkward one that may just be of Finn and Millie behind the scenes and not meant to be them as a couple. They have very little time together and very little screen time. if they wanted to establish a close relationship they would have written it differently. Instead we get a very superficial relationship built off of their shared trauma. And this trauma could have been something that bonded them and gave them a deeper understanding of each other. Instead it's in stark contrast to the way the Nancy and Jonathan, and Mike and Will, and Lucas and Max respond to trauma together. They help each other through these moments and understand each other. Mike and El don't. So season 5 isn't suddenly going to show them bonding. They aren't going to be hanging out and watching movies just the two of them. Because it's established they don't have anything in common.The time for that in the narrative is passed. This doesn't mean they don't care about each other. They do. But you can care about people and not be close with them. Their character arcs have been about them learning how to exist without each other and be true to themselves. Mike uses her to hide his true feelings for Will and his sexuality, and El uses Mike to hide and be like the other kids. They use each other to feel normal. The whole point is that they find themselves and stop pretending and they can't do that with each other. Now at some point in the future it's possible for them to build some kind of friendship. But at this point their entire character development relies on them being separate from each other. They can't find independence when they are together. It causes them both to regress. Right now they basically forced a romantic relationship and coexist because of trauma. It's not a healthy foundation for any relationship. Having them be separated at this point in their development/character arc is the only way each of them will manage to progress. After they get some space from each other it's possible for them to form a friendship, but they can't do that when they don't establish a stronger sense of self because they end up creating codependency between them. It's the healthiest thing for them to be apart. They share the same friend group so it's not like they won't interact. But we aren't going to suddenly see them being close and being BFFs especially one on one. I'd be surprised if we even get a scene of just the two of them post-breakup. They'll likely be with the group. Their paths are different now and they don't need each other to fulfill a sense of normalcy the way they once did. And this is ok. It's good even. Mike's identity and character development involves Will and his friendships with Lucas and Dustin. I would also like to see him establish stronger familial bonds with Nancy and his mother specifically. And El's character arc has always been about finding family so it's much more important to see her with Will, Jonathan, Hopper, and Joyce. Her forming healthy friendships and actually hanging out and having fun with Max, Lucas, and Dustin in particular is so important for her character development. But they have more than established the Mike and El hold each other back. That's been the whole point.

[velvet4510]

i saw these two people in the tolkien discord server i’m in say this, and while i can see their point (i 100% believe that men should be able to be affectionate without romantic undertones), i just feel like so many people get the wrong idea that samfro shippers merely see them as “gay and cute”

most of us accept all interpretations of their relationship, whether that’s soulmates, queer-platonic, romantic, etc

i was wondering what your opinion on this is??

Great question! SO sorry for the delay in responding. I hope to make my reply worth the wait. Also, this answer will be really long - sorry again - but I have many thoughts on this.

I completely agree that men should be able to be affectionate without it being romantic. Women do not have this problem of fearing open affection due to assumptions about sexuality, and I think it’s a terrible symptom of toxic masculinity for men to forbid themselves from showing affection out of fear of it being misinterpreted. LOTR is full of many beautiful examples of how men can be emotionally vulnerable with each other and how platonic friends can still physically express innocent affection (Aragorn’s kiss to Boromir’s forehead is a great example). Modern society should definitely follow the examples set by these characters.

The thing is, as a straight woman, I did not go into LOTR expecting to see any same-sex romances at all. And the majority of male friendships depicted in the book and films never gave me any sense of romantic undertones. Unlike many fans, I do not ship Legolas and Gimli because I recognize that their relationship is a bridge between Elves and Dwarves, proof that they can get along, that despite their differences, they can still find common ground and respect each other and be friends. This to me is a far more important message than a generic “forbidden romantic love story” that many view their relationship as. Their bond isn’t necessarily about wanting to sleep together, but more about recognizing that they can like and be fond of each other, and not allow their parents or cultures to influence how they view each other. I do not hate the Gigolas ship, of course, and people can feel free to ship them if they want to. But to me, they fall under the category described in the discord that you have shared: their friendly intimacy does not necessarily signify anything romantic. Even their journey into the West together does not have to be a romantic thing; I see it as Gimli not wanting to say goodbye to any more of his friends, after losing Merry, Pippin, and Aragorn, and instead going on one last adventure with his soul-brother Legolas.

Frodo and Sam, however, have always stood out to me as being different from all the other friendships in LOTR. I didn’t even take any pause in the fact that they’re both male. I just saw two people in love. It’s just in how they are written, and in Elijah and Sean’s beautiful performances. I totally agree that ANY interpretation of their relationship is valid. I think it is very wrong for any shipper of these two to insult or declare someone “wrong” to see them as just friends. But it’s the same the other way around. It is unfair for non-shippers to hate on shippers. While the argument regarding Tolkien’s Catholicism is an understandable one, texts and characters do develop lives of their own over time. Texts are meant to be interpreted. Tolkien himself wrote that he did not want to enforce his own beliefs within the story, and instead preferred to leave it open to readers to apply their own views and perspectives to it. He basically was inviting us to make interpretations that deviate from his own. He may not have had sexuality in mind when he wrote this, but if he were alive, I very much doubt he’d be hypocritical enough to criticize people for doing the very thing he encouraged them to do, especially since he was smart enough to know that not every reader of his work was or would be Catholic, and thus may not see certain aspects the way he did.

The main, unchangeable, factual point about Frodo and Sam’s relationship is that they love each other. That’s it. They go from formal master and servant to two people who have been through hell and back together, and in the process, formed a bond that nobody else will ever understand. This point stands, whether their specific feelings for each other are platonic or romantic. To view them as lovers does not take away from or undermine the foundations of how Tolkien shaped their characters and the connection they build.

It also bothers me how those who criticize this ship use the word “gay.” Bear in mind, of course, that I’m not an actual member of the LGBT community, and I’m speaking based on my love for my many LGBT friends and relatives, and the efforts I’ve made to understand and empathize with this community, and to never be among those who hate people based on who they love. But I’ve learned enough by now to know that it is quite ignorant of people to truncate the idea of Frodo and Sam being in love as “they’re gay.” Sam is not gay, as shown by his love for Rosie. To ship Frodo and Sam is not to erase Rosie or pretend Sam doesn’t love her. Sam has the biggest heart of any fictional character I’ve ever seen, and I, like many shippers, don’t find it implausible that he has room enough in that heart to have two great loves.

On that note, I’ll now signify that in the text Frodo and Sam have many moments that no other pair of male characters have, which serve as actual potential evidence of a romance. It says in the text itself that he is “torn in two” between Frodo and Rosie. No other pair of male characters in LOTR has any moment like this. Aragorn does not feel torn between Arwen and his friends, for instance. Sam hesitating to marry Rosie if it means he can’t be near Frodo is a very unique detail that adds weight to this “ship.” Not to mention the way Sam strokes Frodo’s hand in Rivendell and blushes, or calls himself “your Sam,” or has a Romeo-like moment of falsely believing Frodo is dead, or longs for the touch of Frodo’s hand in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Plus, don’t forget that in another of Tolkien’s writings, Elanor directly compares Sam losing Frodo to Celeborn losing his wife. Also, I and many others have described how Frodo and Sam’s story directly parallels that of two canon lovers, Beren and Lúthien. Again, platonic interpretations of all this are valid, but it’s important to remember that shippers are not making things up. We’re not saying or believing that Frodo and Sam are in love “because they’re cute”. There are many moments between them in the text that support this interpretation, not the least of which is a direct parallel to a canon romantic couple - and without context, many of their exchanges and moments could easily be seen in a romantic light. (Sam watching Frodo sleep and saying “I love him, whether or no,” and declaring his one wish after potentially completing the Quest alone is not to return to the Shire and Rosie, but to return to Frodo’s body and never leave him again … all these things are right there in the text. Merry and Pippin, Legolas and Gimli, Aragorn and Boromir, none of them have any moments like this.)

And Sam’s journey across the Sea does not have nearly as much ambiguity as Gimli’s. Gimli has more to gain by going than staying; to stay would be to be left alone with no family and no more Elves or hobbits around, while to go would be to stand by his best friend, see the woman he loves/deeply admires again (Galadriel), and not face any more goodbyes. He wouldn’t really lose anything by leaving with Legolas, only gain. Sam’s circumstances are completely different. He has many people in the Shire; 13 children and countless grandchildren who could take care of him. He could easily spend his last days peacefully living with Elanor and watching her children grow, as any old hobbit would typically do. To sail West would be to lose and permanently be separated from a countless number of loved ones. And though he was affected by the Ring as a Ring-bearer, he held it for a very brief time, short enough for it to not prevent him from having a normal life after the war. It cannot be easily assumed that the lasting effect of the Ring on him was so powerful that it made him happier to leave his family than to stay with them. Because what would be waiting for him in Valinor? Gimli had two people in Valinor to whom he was very close, Legolas and Galadriel, as opposed to no loved ones back in Middle-earth. But Sam had one person in Valinor to whom he was very close, Frodo, as opposed to dozens of loved ones back in Middle-earth. The fact that he chooses Frodo over his family, to live with Frodo rather than die with and rest beside Rosie, to see Frodo again rather than see his family as much as possible in his remaining days…is a major point worth considering, and another thing that adds a layer of credibility to the idea of shipping them.

So to sum it all up, to say “you just ship Frodo and Sam because you don’t know what friendship is, because you think they’re cute so they must want to sleep together” is a MASSIVE trivialization/oversimplification/misunderstanding and completely ignores the things I’ve just laid out, particularly the distinctions between their relationship and those of other male pairings in LOTR.

Ok, ramble time is over…Boy, I hope that made at least one lick of sense! Haha.

[talknerdytome18]

After studying for my HSC, it's time to drop my 10 hot takes about HSMTMTS. (For the love of my sanity, do not go after me Twitter lurkers. I already dealt with your bs back in April)

Disclaimer: THESE ARE MY OPINIONS. For the love of my sanity, do not come for me if we don't have the same opinion. Got it? Good, let's go!

I prefer S3 over S4. Yes, S4 was hilarious and had some of the best songs (Over Again, CIWYW, Dreams Don't Die, etc), but I feel S4 focused too much on romantic relationships rather than friendships. S3 gave us different platonic dynamics such as Ricky and Carlos, Kourtney and Carlos, Kourtney and Gina, Ricky and Jet and the Tercet. S4 kind of failed to serve on these dynamics and instead, focused too much on romance. S3 was also just buzzier and I was so hyped for it because of the camp environment, but S4 is still great!

Mack and Dani were unnecessary. I understand that not everyone needs to have a major arc, but these two were just nonexistent and weren't needed. I expected that they would play major roles due to the hype, but all they did was cause some drama and then vanish until the finale. How boring is that? At least Mack was interesting, while Dani was just Knockoff Lily.

JETNEY DESERVED MORE SCREENTIME. Do I even need to explain? It feels like we got nothing of them and I hate it so much! All we got was an implied endgame when it was being hyped that Jet would confess his feelings for Kourtney, but he didn't even do it??? SPINOFF WITH JETNEY IS A MUST SO WE CAN SEE THEM AS A COUPLE.

4x06 was a great episode, BUT GOD THE INCONSISTENCIES WERE ANNOYING ME. I really hate to say this, but the Kourtney and Ashlyn scene didn't make much sense because Kourtney knew that EJ and Nini were auditioning for HSM! SHE WAS WITH THEM AT LUNCH WHEN THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT IT! I love this episode primarily because of Over Again but God, that writing was LAZY.

I would speak on the cheating plotline, but that would turn into a full essay, so I will just summarise it: AWFUL. Literally just awful and if they wanted to make Seblos drama that badly, then I would have done more with Seb's coming out dilemma with his dad.

Scream... listen, I know that Ricky had just received some big news about Gina, but Scream was not that good. Maybe they told Joshua to sing "pretty", which usually works with ballads, but it doesn't work with Scream. Scream is meant to be angsty as Troy is meant to be angry that people are telling him what his future should be. However, Ricky sings it too soft and it feels very weak, which is a shame because this song was so anticipated and I felt very disappointed by it. This is not to discredit Joshua's talent because he still did a great job! However, I would not listen to his version of Scream in my free time, rather I'd put on the OG instead.

WE DESERVED I DON'T DANCE ON THE SHOW. MISSED OPPORTUNITY.

Maddox and Jet getting reduced to love interests made me so sad. I get they were recurring this season but they were so fleshed out in S3 and I wish they had more to do besides being love interests. Also... we didn't get their last name... RUDE.

Antoine and Big Red getting together in the end felt like it was just so everyone (excluding Emmy) had a partner at the end. Antoine has never been my fave so I don't really care for him and Big Red.

I don't care what anyone says about Seblos: They are still my fave pairing and nothing S4 did convinced me to hate them. I've been a loyal Seblos stan since 2021 I ain't leaving them anytime soon.

That's it. Now time to cry about Legal Studies! - Em