#OR. OR. MAYBE i should make him a lifeguard instead?

[saltcove]

pairing: antonio/lovino theme: lifeguards, liars, & seasalt

summer sinks into lovino’s skin, and the morning slaughters itself across the shoreline. it’s as warm as warm days come, salt wetting his upper lip, a leg hinged over the other; he’s been there for hours, hoping the heat will temper tomorrow’s monday. it never does, and he never learns, and the beach still organises itself one folding wave after the next.

a paper coffee cup is pushed into the sand beside him, the double espresso too shallow to need the size, too hot to drink, too dark to remove the stained-proof of it on his swimsuit. lovino closes his eyes, feels the peeling burn behind them; the sun sits inside him, miele, a honeycomb heat that might just kill him. 

“hey!”

or might make me kill instead. 

lovino doesn’t open his eyes, not until a cool silhouette eclipses him. 

“what?” he snaps, italian sharpening his tongue. it takes a moment to focus, but green eyes and brown skin meet him halfway, a scar notching over the man’s smile. a drop of sea water hits lovino’s cheek; the man’s soaked, lashline heavy and dark, mouth vibrant. 

“just checking that you weren’t asleep,” is the english response, “you’re close to the water, the tide’s going to rise soon.”

“madre de dio, i wasn’t born last night,” lovino hisses, wipes the water off with the back of his hand. “jesus, get out of my face, you’re wet!”

the man laughs and pulls back, enough space between them for lovino to notice the cherry-skin shorts. lifeguard. “lo siento.” 

“do you want me to just fuck off?” lovino sits up, knocking over the coffee with his elbow. they watch the liquid sink down into the sand for a long, silent second. “great. grande. i’m going home.”

“but it’s a good day!”

“not good enough,” lovino mumbles and works his body to a stand. the man’s wet hand finds his wrist. 

“really, you shouldn’t go—” he’s smiling, but there’s something calmer about it. “enjoy it.”

lovino looked back at him. the way those eyes lid, the seams of his mouth pushing in to tame a smile. and then it strikes like a pulled rubber band. lovino’s brow hitches. “are you coming onto me?”

the man’s laugh is baritone thick. “i’m on the job!”

lovino stares. “right. and now that you’ve saved me from—what, getting my toes wet? you should focus on the kid about to meet his maker.”

the man’s face hardens, head snapping to the sea. a whistle nearly knocks lovino off his feet. he almost regrets the lie. almost. “do that when you’re not inches from my ear, stronzo.”

“maybe don’t bluff, then,” the man chastises, a little peeved himself. “i’m antonio. you?”

lovino sneers. “what’s it to you?”

antonio leans in, annoyance forgotten and smile smitten, disingenuous. “everything.”

lovino’s burnt skin hides his shame. “fuck off, who has that worked on?”

“you, for starters,” antonio chuckles, wipes down his damp curls with a hand. “want to see how well it works after hours?”

lovino scoffs, but he keeps the amusement apparent. “testing the waters?”

antonio grins. “testing the waters.”

[windlullaby-arts]

The water’s EXTRA fine today 😎

[bigdumbbambieyes]

okay, hear me out. S3 rewrite with Billy in Robin’s role while the Mindflayer makes Neil it’s host.

like, picture it for a sec: we’d get the Billy-Steve friendship we deserved, we’d have an actual human antagonist who was shown to be canonically abusive and controlling in S2, and Billy could be a reluctant (but important) addition to The Party for S4. he’s the brawn and brains that they need.

things to consider:

we’d get Steve and Billy in matching Scoops Ahoy uniforms. maybe they both applied as lifeguards but had a fight in front of the manager so they both didn’t get the position, and they applied everywhere in Starcourt once it opened and surprise!! they were both hired at Scoops and now they have to get along or else they’ll be broke the whole summer!

Billy watching in amusement as Steve fails to hook up with girls, maybe he even makes the same scoreboard. there also wouldn’t be a need to have the moms lusting over Billy bc he has no reason to meet Karen at the motel - no predatory behaviour from her in this timeline!!

imagine the banter. billy would have something to say to everyone and it would be so funny, especially between he and Max. give me one proper sibling fight please!

while a coming out scene would be great for Billy, and i would love to see Steve react to that (like, his reaction to a gay woman he had a crush on would be sooo different from a gay man he used to beef with, let’s be real), i also want more depth from Billy since he’s not flayed and El wouldn’t be looking into his past for us. so maybe instead of a coming out scene, they talk about the fight at the Byers’ during the bathroom scene. we get a glimpse into Billy’s carefully guarded emotions (maybe even his relationship w his dad) and both Steve and Billy get to move on from that night. closure and moving on from it together as newfound friends!

Billy could be shown that he is actually a smart cookie and cracks the Russian’s code (with Steve’s help). Dustin and Steve are impressed and Dustin begins to warm up to Billy a little.

new Scoops Troop!! Billy and Steve and Dustin dynamic omg. and Erica and Billy?? imagine she kinda confronts him about what happened with him and Lucas in S2, so she’s uncertain of him bc of that, but now Billy has the chance to make things right and clear up misunderstandings. and in this timeline, he apologizes to Lucas. because Lucas deserves that so. much. and Billy should have the chance to become a better person like Steve did. and maybe Lucas doesn’t forgive him, which is justified bc he doesn’t have to forgive him at all, but he gets the apology he deserves at the very least.

Steve and Billy getting tortured together oof. that would hit hard bc imagine Billy is being punched and slapped and he’s just laughing and taunting and Steve’s like wtf. it would be a great set up for the bathroom scene - like ‘why were you laughing while we were being literally tortured??’

Billy getting to see Steve draw a charge during his ‘fight’ with the Russian soldier and being proud of him, clapping him on the back with a grin while Steve gives him a shy smile. perhaps even…a meaningful, lingering look?? a spark between them??

also Steve and Billy high as fuck together lol i just want that so bad, please!!

and while Billy is with the Scoops Troop, The Party is focused on Neil. it would be a great chance to see Max’s relationship with her step father and she notices how weird he’s being. he’s nicer to Susan, even nicer to her, but then her mom starts acting weird, too. and when she finally meets up with Billy at Starcourt when the Mindflayer manifests, they discuss everything and Billy is conflicted. he’s happy that his old man is finally getting what’s been coming to him all these years, but that’s still his dad. it’s complicated but not really touched upon but implied. (and i think that would also be a great set up for S4. he gets those weird feelings in S4, thinking ‘i wanted him to die’ but also feeling guilt because his relationship with his father is so twisted from years of abuse).

we could explore Neil’s past a bit with this timeline, too. we could get a glimpse of why he is the way he is, like we did with Billy. El could see the abuse he put Billy and his mom through. she sympathizes with Billy, but she also sees how Neil was abused, too, and feels this empathy for him. which is how she brings him out of the possession, because El is empathetic by nature, under all that anger and naivety. she knows what it’s like to abuse and be abused and want to be better than those who hurt her. and when Neil does break through, he is killed just like Billy was in S3, and Billy runs over once his dad flops to the ground. Neil grits out ‘i’m sorry’ but Billy doesn’t say anything, doesn’t forgive him. he doesn’t even cry. he just…stares, looking like the lost little boy he’s always been. and Max finally runs over to pull her brother up, to drag them both away from Neil, and Billy can’t look away from his dad’s body until it’s finally out of sight.

and ofc the season ends with Steve and Billy both working at Family Video!! with Neil and Susan gone (she would’ve been part of the MF’s army), it’s just Billy and Max now, living in that trailer. that would be such an interesting dynamic to write for S4.

anyways that’s all!! that’s my silly rewrite. Billy deserved to have a support system and a real relationship with his sister and a boy his age and it could’ve been done in S3. 🤍

[bylerschmyler]

Mike Wheeler's guitar

Ever since someone found the guitar in Mike's room in S4 there is a lot of speculation about what it means. So I decided to make a little post about my thought on this topic.

The guitar in Mike's bedroom is only shown shortly in S4E1.

It seems to be an acoustic guitar but could maybe be a gibson les paul e-guitar or similiar model instead. Because we only see the neck we can't really tell 100% but the acoustic guitar is more likely.

It's actually not the 1st time guitars are mentioned in stranger things. In S3, while El and Max are searching for heather at the pool, there is a guitar lessons poster pinned on the cork board with the lifeguard pictures.

This scene is not directly connected to Mike (as far as we can tell right now) but it is the first time a guitar us brought up visually in the show (as far as I am aware right now).

Mike's bedroom scene isn't the only time a guitar is shown in direct context of his presence.

In S4E4, when the FBI is keeping the cali crew in house arrest and Will is rambling about how they need El and her powers in order to save hawkins and Mike is moping about El letter which she signed "From El", Mike throws the letter in an a bucket. And guess what's behind the bucket. Right a guitar.

Again it is most likely a acoustic guitar.

A very more subtile hint off Mike's connection to guitars and only recognizable if you make a deep dive into the set design of stranger things is another interesting detail from Mike's room in S4. In this post @runninguplenorahills found a cool hidden detail.

It's this cool little trading card:

Yet another visible connection between Mike and guitars. This time it's an electric guitar.

Mike is barely shown to be very music interested. In S1 he says "he sang that weird song he likes" about Will singing "Should I stay or should I go" through the walkie the night they found his body in the quarry. It gives us a contrast between Mike and Will. Will loves Music (thanks to Jonathan) but Mike doesn't seem interested in it. But in S3 he shows us a different version of himself regarding Music.

He sings a long to Corey Harts Never surrender and not only knows the lyrics by heart but gives his own interpretation (with growling at the end). Also see how the subtitles say "Imitates guitar break". Like Mike knows this song really well.

Important to notice here. The song plays off a tape that Mike most likely brought with him so they could listen to it.

There are a lot off headcanons and thoughts about the possibility that Eddie inspired Mike to learn guitar or even be his teacher. But I really doubt that Mike had this kind of relationship with Eddie. While Eddie is obviously an inspiration for Mike in form of looks (Growing out his hair, the clothes he is wearing in S4E1 are very Eddie like) there is no indication that Mike likes the same music. Eddie is a metalhead and the only time Mike is shown to be interested in music he is singing a Pop-Rock song. If Eddie knew he would be most likely laughing about that.

I honestly think that Mike did learn to play the guitar before he met Eddie. We don't see his room in S2 and S3 so he could already been playing for a while.

I don't have proof honestly but one thing made me think. In S4 we see a upright piano in the wheeler's house.

The interesting thing about it are the sheets of music. Why? Well we all know how clean Karen is. She wouldn't let sheets of music on the piano if nobody was using it. So one off the Wheelers was playing quite recently.

Also the piano is shown in a direct pan transition from Max to Chief Powell. We are meant to notice it (while a lot of people possibly didn't).

If someone in the family is playing piano it's not so far off that Mike is playing guitar and since he was a Pop rock enthusiast in S3 he could have been playing already. A typical thing in music lessons is to add current hits/modern music in the rehearsal to give the students interesting stuff to work with.

Important to notice with Mike's guitar is that it's in his bedroom. It's something intimate that possibly his friends don't even know about. He doesn't have it in the basement where he spends most of his time and could show his skills to his friends or have at least a very cool decoration and where he couldn't annoy anyone when he is playing. No he keeps it in his bedroom where his friends very rarely go to. Where he can be by himself and if he would play to loud he would totally annoy his family who want to sleep when he goes up into his bedroom.

What I want to mention too, is that Will's art evolved in S4 in order to show us his feelings for Mike. Mike could parallel this. While Will's art evolved from pencil and crayon to and literal (oil?) painting Mike's art could evolve from campaigns (and letters) to a song he wrote for Will.

A side note I want to give. Finn Wolfhard can play "Should I stay or should I go". While this clip is from late 2017 (after S2) the original is older I think (I found a short from January 2017 - before S2). While yes it's only the beginning and it's everything but smooth I keep thinking about how the duffers said that they had way more ideas for S2 than they could have included. Maybe Mike playing should I stay or should I go was one of them.

I think that was everything for now. If you found anything else that could be in anyway related to this please share with the class.

Thanks for reading <3

[try-set-me-on-fire]

Hello I was tagged by a lot of people for wip Wednesday thank you @devirnis @rogerzsteven @wildlife4life @rewritetheending @homerforsure @jeeyuns! Now. Are you all going to kill me with hammers if I say that when I sat down this morning to work on literally any of the many wips I have open, I instead wrote a short drabble set in the future of ER nurse Eddie au? Well. Here you go!

Warnings for alcohol and some mostly glossed over nsfw content

Was listening to this song on repeat while writing

"Your sister isn't, like, a secret Olympian is she?"

"Well, if it's secret enough, why would I know? Thank you." That second part Eddie aims at Adriana as she hands him a drink. He assumes she's not the athlete in question. "Why?"

"There's nets a little down the way, I asked if she wanted to play some volleyball and she got, like, this look on her face."

Eddie very carefully tries not to also get a look on his face, and somewhere to his left Adriana stirs the margarita mix a little harder to mask a tiny laugh. "Oh. Well I'm sure that's fine."

Buck smiles at him in a studious sort of way, tongue in the side of his mouth. "Now, I wouldn't be getting tricked in some way, would I?"

"Mm?" Eddie responds, neutrally.

"Or, perhaps, fooled?"

"Hm." He takes a sip of his drink.

Buck steps closer, looming over him, grin growing into something wide and conspiratorial. “Hoodwinked, maybe?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eddie says, aiming for lofty but landing somewhere around embarrassingly giddy as Buck kisses him once, twice. “No all state varsity girls softball champions in my family. Sophia has never in her life accidentally broken anybody’s arm with how fast her spike is.”

“Jesus,” Buck laughs, puffs of air against Eddie’s skin. “You’re just gonna let me go out there and face possible bodily harm?”

“Her aim has improved.”

He laughs, and pulls Eddie in for another kiss. There's sand in Buck's hair, but there aren't many places sand isn't in this Air BNB up the coast with a backyard that opens right onto the dunes. They'd only got there yesterday and already the grit is under Eddie's nails, dragged across his skin, in his clothes and bedsheets. It’s an abrasive sort of dirtiness that Eddie doesn’t really mind, he feels like he’ll come home at the end of the weekend scrubbed clean by it, but he’d wondered, worried, that being so close to the beach for so long might make old fears rise up in Chris or Buck. They’d both tossed themselves right into the waves with the cousins all day long, though, and had gone out to do so again today, and it was only very late at night that Buck admitted in a whisper that it’s not the feeling of the water or the sand, but the endless roar of the tide when the rest of the world was quiet that left him feeling helpless and awake. Eddie had reached out for his hand, and they’d fucked slowly and silently, surrounded by thin walls in a house full of people, and the heady thrill of restraint had his hands and legs and everything shaking by the time he’d come. Buck — and Eddie is not not smug about this — had slept soundly the rest of the night.

Anyway. They kiss in the kitchen until Adriana stirs the pitcher with even louder, more pointed clanging. Buck pulls back first. “You wanna come play on my team?”

“No,” Eddie says, making a face that has Buck laughing again. “I’m staying in the shade and drinking margaritas.” He clanks the ice around his beverage in demonstration.

“Great plan,” Buck says, stealing a small sip. Eddie feels like he should say something about sobriety and childcare, but they’re on vacation and Sophia is out there and responsibly dry even if she may or may not be planning sports related manslaughter.

“I’ll meet you out there later.”

“Okay,” Bucks says, kissing his cheek. “I was a lifeguard for a few weeks once, so if you get really drunk and fall in the sea I’ll come fish you out.”

“My hero,” Eddie salutes him with the glass. Buck is several feet away into the sand when Eddie blinks and calls out. “Hey- wait, Buck! Wait!” Eddie grabs the sunscreen off the counter and follows a few feet off the porch. “Mi vida, wait,” he laughs the words as Buck skids to a clumsy turn and stumbles back to him. Eddie holds up the sunscreen. “Come on, don’t get lobstered, I won’t rub aloe on you later.”

Buck takes the bottle and applies a quick but generous layer. “I think you would,” he says quietly, voice and mouth curved all sly.

“Mm,” Eddie says again, neutrally, making steady eye contact as he accepts the bottle back and takes a sip of his drink slow enough that the alcohol burns in his mouth. Buck lets out one last huff of a laugh, kisses his cheek again, and marches off towards certain doom.

Eddie retreats back into the shade, with the drinks.

Adriana, at the counter, is staring at him.

“What?” Eddie absolutely does not hide behind his glass.

“Mi vida?” She asks, face tipped more towards surprised than teasing. “So it’s serious.”

Fuck. Eddie regrets saying it in front of someone who understands the words. Not the language but the context, what it might mean for Eddie to admit to thinking of a relationship in that way. Someone who knew him, during Shannon and the mess that came after, and after again. Someone who knows him, knows what a fearful man he grew into, knows the protective armor he forges out of carefully kept distance. Eddie was never good at commitment, and has learned to be perpetually frightened of the word forever because he's become intimately familiar with how quickly it can be ripped away. Mi vida, my life. It's terribly revealing. What a promise, what an act of trust. Buck, my life. He'd said it so easily, and staring back at his youngest sister now he doesn't think he can convincingly deny any conclusions she's drawing.

So. "Yes," he says, finishing his drink and holding out the glass for another. "I… it's serious." Gulp, gulp. “He… it’s serious.”

She nods, eyebrows raised all the way up, sipping her own drink. “I mean, clearly you’re all over each other, but I thought it was because he’s, like, tall and hot-“

“Ugh.”

“But like…” her glass tips towards him, liquid dangerously close to spilling. “You’re for real. Are you going to marry this man?”

Jesus. “Jesus, Ri.” Christ. Eddie finishes this drink, too. “I don’t- I don’t know. I can’t even think about that. I don’t know.”

“Okay, well, not marriage then,” she waves one hand to brush away the concept, while the other hand pours him another drink. “But like… You love him.”

Yes. He does, down to his bones he does, all consuming in a way he sometimes forgets to be scared of because it’s Buck, who makes it easy. He loves him, and has loved him, probably, he’ll admit it because of the two margaritas, since he was a stranger that once held his hand who’d pulled his son from a tsunami. It’s only been a year since they’d shared a cigarette and gone home together, but Eddie hardly needed any of that time to know the terrifying scale of this, the you’re it for me of it. He’d known, probably, two margaritas, since that first morning in the same bed. “I love him.”

It comes out awful and whispery and it makes Adriana move around the bar to wrap her arms around him. He leans his head on hers, lets himself be comforted in a way he wouldn’t have in his father’s house when they were young and there wasn’t really space for them to be friends around the roles of protector and protected they’d been slotted into. She smells like sunscreen and salt and limes, and is lovely and warm.

“You seem a lot happier,” she says quietly into his shoulder. “We- I don’t know. I was worried about you.” She leans back, knocks his arm with her knuckles. “So far away.” He doesn’t think she’s talking about the distance between California and Texas. “But he makes you, like… happy and goofy. It’s been a long time.”

He doesn’t point out that they’re on vacation, and it’s summer, and it isn’t always like this; that sometimes their sharp edges fit together wrong and there's a lot of horrible grinding sounds until they align again. But. "He makes me feel safe."

Her eyes glisten a little at the implication that a lot of the time he doesn't. "I'm glad you found each other."

Eddie smiles, genuinely, despite the circumstances of the finding. "Me too."

She knocks back her drink. "Are you going to tell mom and dad?"

"God." He scrubs a hand over his face, and then back through his hair for good measure. A year ago the answer had been a firm no. Texas was far away, he could live a whole life out here exactly as he wanted it and answer to no one. But Buck and Pepa go to bridge, now, and Buck is here on this Diaz Siblings trip when no other partners are because his sisters wanted to meet him, and the cousins all adore him, and Texas is far away but it's where Isabel lives now and Eddie knows- hopes- knows that she would love him, too. And he's taught himself fear for so long that he can't imagine it going any way but badly, but maybe he owes Ramon and Helena the chance to see his whole life and be happy for him, with him. "Maybe. I think… yeah, maybe."

She hugs him again, tight, and then puts her hands on her hips. "You know you still have us as backup. We won't let them be shitty."

He laughs. "I don't know if you can let them do anything."

"Mm," she says, moving to fill her glass again. "Me and Sophia are in possession of more grandchildren than you, that's a lot of leverage."

"Hey, I have Chris, quality over quantity," he grins and then dodges the drops of margarita she flicks at him.

"Fucker. Offer rescinded, I won't forbid them from seeing the kids if they don't immediately put up a pride flag."

He snorts, but he can feel his smile twisting sideways. "Adriana. I don't want you to fuck up your relationship with them for me."

"You think you have exclusive rights to childhood trauma in the Diaz family?" She shrugs, takes a drink, and then shrugs again a little sadder. "It's… it can be easier to stand up for someone else."

He takes a steadying breath against the regret of only being there for his sisters in some ways and not others, and nods, and holds a hand across the bar for her to take. "Here's to ruining Christmas," he says, glass in the air. They drink.

"You wanna go watch your boy get destroyed in the fine arena of weirdly competitive vacation volleyball?" She asks, setting her empty glass down.

He sets his next to hers, and contemplates just how clumsily he's about to go stumbling across the sand from all that rapidly digested tequila. "Sure." Buck will be too busy fighting for his life out there to notice him looking foolish. Though, and he can blame the sappy smile on the third margarita, he thinks Buck would still, always, catch him if he fell. “It’s so sad that I’ll have to tell them that I had a boyfriend who tragically died because Sophia spiked him into the earth’s core.”

She laughs, and they hook their arms together, and walk out into the sun.

[im-not-a-l0ser]

Okay, so apparently when I posted this beach idea, I didn't include anything about Michie, so. Here's a few about that.

Max walks to the beach on a cloudy day, when he expects no one to be there, and instead he finds Richie, swimming laps. Apparently he really enjoys it and is really good at it.... maybe he should join the swim team.

Max is a lifeguard because big, strong, need money. Richie has an asthma attack out in the water. When Richie asks why he saved him, Max freaks out over the fact that his victims think he'd leave them to die when he is capable of saving them. (Maybe he wouldn't save them if it meant he would die, but it was literally his job! And Richie still thought Max wouldn't save him.)

Richie may or may not ogle Max when they're both at the beach (pretty often when teens don't have a bunch of places to go). Max may or my not ogle Richie when Pete and Ruth drag him out into the water.

Angst! Max building a sandcastle and remembering his childhood with Richie If you want to make it fluffier, have Richie join him. 100% based on this post by @24-guy

[sweetiesicheng]

s.coups - babysitting

word count : 689

made a part two !

-

"noona! i can make a big cannonball! watch!" one of the kids you were babysitting exclaimed before jumping into the pool, making a small splash instead of a big one. the boy swam back up to the surface within seconds. "wasn't that cool?" he asked you, waiting for your approval.

"sure was," you replied to him with a smile.

you continued watching the three kids as they played in the pool with other people who were visiting the pool.

"hey guys, no running. you might slip," you heard someone say and saw one of the lifeguards walking around. he looked at you, "are they your siblings?" he asked you.

you shook your head, "no, i'm their babysitter," you mentioned to him.

"oh, well just make sure that they don't run around. they could slip on the water that splashed onto the concrete," he said to you and you nodded.

"yea, will do," you smiled at him.

the lifeguard smiled back at you with one of the cutest smiles you have ever seen on a guy. you watched him walk away before putting your attention back into the kids. you stood up and went over to the pool, sitting on the concrete and putting your feet in the water.

the kids played with toys that another family had let them play with. you watched them play with a few toys, swimming down a few times to pick up anything that had fallen.

you looked at the time on your watch and realized that you needed to take the kids home.

"hey guys, we need to go home," you said to the kids.

"but noona! we wanna stay here longer!" the boy said while his sister swam over to you.

"yea, can we stay longer please?" their neighbor, that you also babysit, pleaded.

"you guys need to go home. we can come again next week if it's still warm," you said to them.

the younger sister of the boy climbed out of the pool and sat next to you. the two other kids reluctantly returned the toys they were playing with to the family they borrowed them from while you and the sister dried off.

"unnie, is this paper yours?" the sister asked while holding the towel wrapped around her with one hand and holding a piece of paper in the other.

you held your hand out and she placed the paper in your hand. it was slightly wet since the girl's hand was still wet from the water but the text was legible. you looked and saw a phone number on it with a message: "text me -lifeguard."

you looked around the area to see if you could find the lifeguard from earlier, but he was no where to be seen.

"who's phone number is that?" the sister asked while slipping her flip flops on.

"mm...it's from one of the lifeguards," you mentioned.

"is unnie gonna get a boyfriend?" she asked and you smiled while putting the paper in your back pocket.

"maybe, maybe not," you said and laughed. "guys, come on!" you called out to the two other kids, who were at the edge of the pool.

"five more minutes!" the other girl demanded.

"both of your parents will be home soon. you guys need to get ready for dinner and for bed," you said to them as they finally got out of the pool.

you helped them dry off a little bit before you left the pool with all of the kids. you started walking along the sidewalk and took your phone out, putting in the phone number and texting the person.

-

17:35

unknown number

[ y/n ]

so which lifeguard is this?

[ unknown number ]

why don't you come

back and find out?

[ y/n ]

haha, wish i could but

it's time for the kids to

go home

[ unknown number ]

you should take them to

the pool again sometime

so i can see you

[ y/n ]

tempting offer

but i'm gonna need a name

first

[ unknown number ]

choi seungcheol

so what's yours?

[ y/n ]

maybe come find me and ask

[ unknown number ]

very tempting

maybe i will

[stupidsagestars]

𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝! 𝐔𝐤𝐚𝐢 who's having the time of his life. He decided to get a saturday job at the local pool and god is it the best. He pays attention to absolutely nothing, stupid kids who have fights,even strangling each other with inflatables. Those teenage girls who sneak looks at him,whispering their dirty fantasies, those mothers who cheer for their children 's shit swimming - the list could go on.

It was a normal day at the pool, with 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝! 𝐔𝐤𝐚𝐢 wearing a yellow cap and holding a huge reading book which hid a comic inside, all he needed now was a can of beer and he'd officially be in his golden age. Until he can hear someone aggressively banging on the legs of his chair.

"EXCUSE ME!!" You shout looking up at the confused blondie.

"Uh hello??" Ukai says, looking down at you, quickly closing both books.

"Do you mind coming down, I need to talk to you." You say and he nods quickly. When he gets down he realises that you were absolutely drenched. You were wearing a pretty yellow sundress and he was entranced in not just your clothing but beauty. Your eyes,your lips,your whole face was cute especially the annoyed expression you were giving him now.

"I don't want to cause a scene so I think we should go somewhere more private." You snap, struggling to not shout at him right then and there.

"Sure." He said casually, he led you to the lifeguards' changing room and sat on a bench.

"You must be wondering why I'm drenched. Well that's became you couldn't do your fucking job and instead left me to save my drowning brother." You pause to look at him. He seems unbothered, he's laying flat out on the bench, humming some stupid tune.

"And you're not even following the guidebook properly." You say shoving a tiny book in his face to which he immediately sits up.

"Where'd you get this?" He flicks through the pages but places it down immediately.

"At the kiosk for 5 bucks so you better not throw it in the bin."

"I'm actually kinda flattered, you bought me a book." Ukai says, smirking at you.

"Where are the towels." You ask, feeling the coldness of your dress extremely uncomfortable.

"To the left of you."

He continues on, " so you have a brother."

You sigh, "yeah, he wanted to go with his friends so me being the busy, working,tired daughter meant that I was the perfect one to go!"

"I assume from that you have siblings who do not work at home too."

"Yep 2 of them."

"Well that sucks." He says, not knowing how else to respond.

"Are you trying to change the subject." You say glaring at him.

"No of course not I enjoy you telling me what to do, in fact come here run through this guidebook with me."

--

Maybe it was the heat, the fact that your dress was stuck to you, your sheer boldness or Ukai's endlessly horny self that resulted in him currently fucking you into oblivion. Hands gripping your lower abdomen as he pushed his thick cock in and out of you. Your moans and mewls just pushed him to go faster.

He tuts at you, "You see, I'm not sure if this is a reward or punishment. I'm either taking care of you for being hard-working and a good sister or I'm punishing you for tryna boss me around, can't decide between the two."

You can formulate any words to snap back at him instead you're just left to continuously moan in response to this heavenly feeling.

" I think I've fucked you dumb and we're not even close to finishing yet." He teases, you manage to your roll eyes.

His thrusts become sloppier and you can hear his grunts more, he was definitely close.

"See, you're such a brat, r-rolling your eyes at me. How about I just breed you right then and there, make you my pretty housewife- might learn some fuckin' manners"

"Fuck do it- do it." You beg, the pleasure overriding your senses.

"Okay if you insist." He says sarcastically but the moan that comes out of his mouth just after he released his load into you can't be faked. He slowly takes some of the cum out and spreads it on your stomach,eyes glued to yours, a lewd smile plastered on his face.

"You wanna taste?" But before you can formulate an answer he's already shoving his veiny,long rough fingers into your mouth.

"Of course you do."

--

"Oh, I should tell you this, I'm not gonna get pregnant since I'm on birth control." You say resting your face on Ukai's abs.

He breathes out a sigh relief, "thank goodness." He mutters playing with your hair.

"are we gonna hang out after this?"

"duh and then we can make a kid in a few weeks." he mumbles.

"maybe not a few weeks more like a few months or years kei."

"I'll convince ya." He yawns, " I've got my own convenience store y'know. I can take ya there"

"that seems fun."

---★--- Ik this one was like 70% plot, 30% smut but I liked it, this isn't proofread so feel free to point out mistakes. Follow for more stories!!

[astridthevalkyrie]

A Scene Popped Into My Head But Instead Of Writing A Whole AU I’m Just Going To Write That One Scene <3

—> Scene Capture Fics Masterlist

—> Today’s Feature: Swimmer Levi!

—> a/n: god fuck me i want to make out with him so bad

Swimming is, in every sense of the word, a complicated sport. Unlike other sports, which someone could easily claim they're good or bad at, swimming fell somewhere in the middle, where people could either not know how to do it at all, they could do it well enough, or they could move so gracefully it was almost as if they were meant to be in the water.

You, for example, are in the first group. Your boyfriend, however, is in the last one, almost like you're made for each other.

(Mikasa had made a face the first time you said that, and you couldn't tell if it was because you were talking about her brother or because she didn't think the term star-crossed lovers referred to people who couldn't swim and people who could.)

But swimming had played such a critical role in the two of you finally dating that it feels silly not to mention it.

You'd known Levi your whole life, being best friends with Mikasa since you two were in pre-school, and being only one year younger than him. Since you two went to the same college, you were even in a couple classes together. He was closer to you than some friends, but he was still mostly Mikasa's brother, who'd taught you how to ride a bike almost a day after he'd learned and carried you on his back when the bike tipped over and left you with a nasty scab on your knee.

But it was one fateful day at the water park, where Kenny had basically ordered Levi and Mikasa to "stop being friendless" and invite people they actually liked (quite a small list for both of them). During that mostly-fun trip, you'd gotten overzealous in the wave pool and gone in much further than you should have. Your logic at the time had been, that if you just jumped at the right times, you wouldn't go under.

The problem was you underestimated how doing that would increase in difficulty the deeper you went in.

Arms flailing, you went under, water filling your lungs and nose, in some of the most terrifying seconds of your life. There were so many people at the park that there was no way the lifeguard would even see you in the mass.

So you'd, maybe dramatically, thought to yourself that this was the end.

Until a set of muscular arms wrapped around your waist and hoisted you out, lifting you so your head was nowhere near the water.

At that time, you couldn't even make out who it was, you were too busy spluttering out water with your eyes shut. It'd hurt to breathe.

It hadn't been until Levi had taken you out of the pool, sat you down on the ground and wiped your face with a towel that you finally opened your eyes.

"Are you okay?" he'd asked worriedly.

That might have been the first time you'd ever felt your heart beat so loudly.

What's more is that you had completely refused to go onto any ride after that, at least not until Levi took your hand and coaxed you to join the group. So you'd ended up spending more time with Levi, Isabel and Farlan than with your own friends, but you hadn't minded, and more importantly, it hadn't seemed like Levi minded either.

"He was blushing," Eren had claimed, when the two of you took a break to go grab pizza, "When you held his hand, he was blushing."

And Eren knew all about making Ackermans blush, so you'd been inclined to believe him.

Sure enough, the next time you and Mikasa had gone to one of Levi's swim meets, and you were waving eagerly at Erwin who was all the way on the other side of the pool, Levi had gently placed his hands on your waist. You'd frozen immediately, the second your back came in contact with his bare chest. "Careful," he'd murmured into your ear, "don't want you to slip."

You hadn't thought that anything could be more painful than trying to breathe when you were underwater, but breathing at that moment had seemed pretty damn difficult too.

Mikasa had been close to never forgiving you when she found you practically straddling her brother's lap with your lower lip between his teeth after the meet that day.

Which brings you to now, a couple months later, watching your boyfriend win yet another meet, and more specifically, watching him step out with his hair soaked and water dripping down his chest, down to his stomach and black trunks. "Goddamn," some girl standing a couple feet away declares appreciatively.

You agree, but you also love that he makes eye contact with you first. Not even waiting for him to grab a towel, you throw yourself at him, not caring that your shirt is getting soaked.

Levi hugs you back, arms around your waist once more as he presses a feathery kiss to your ear. "Thanks for coming," he mumbles, "you know how much I like to see you once I get out of the water."

Grinning preemptively, you purr, "I like see you get out of the water too." He squeezes your hip lightly in response. "So, Ackerman, where am I treating you for your win?"

"Bagel bites at your place," he decides definitively, and you snort.

"How about we eat them in the hot tub?"

Even now, Levi becomes concerned at the thought of you in any kind of body of water. "You sure? We don't have to."

"Positive." Placing a kiss to his shoulder that's just PG enough to be allowed, you brush his wet locks out of his eyes. As if you could ever be scared of the water when he's next to you. "Get your medal and let's go."

From afar, Mikasa wrinkles her nose, but then Eren kisses her cheek and she smiles again.

[cherrywoodmaeg]

Shortcut Pt. 13

Tired. Exam in two days. Procrastination. Enjoy!

A conversation, Part 2

Niphka was surprised how good the hours of sleep felt. Upon waking up, her mind was less clouded by doubt and irritation. She felt calmer, more patient, and prepared to deal with whatever the day had in store for her.

Before long, the two were on their way again. As always, she held him high so that they could easily talk while she carefully stepped over the uneven ground.

Whenever she saw signs of settlement, Niphka adjusted her path. She could still sense the pull of the earth, telling her where exactly she was, and was very aware of the delay their detours caused. On the other hand, it gave her more time to figure things out.

“What do think we should do when we reach our destination?”

He perked up at her question.

“I haven’t really thought that far, to be honest. I’ve been so focused on getting there – but we have to tell someone. Someone with power, influence, like a politician.”

Niphka clicked her tongue.

“Then we can only hope they react swiftly.” And she added, “If they really want to prevent the disaster, that is. Who knows how high up this conspiracy goes.”

She could feel Jon squeezing her thumb tighter.

“Don’t worry,” she quickly said, “I’m sure we will find a way to save the town.”

He nodded, and she gently pressed his forearm between two fingers.

“And what are you going to do after?” she changed the subject.

“Maybe I can work as a carpenter again. Seems like a sailor’s life just wasn’t meant for me.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Look, Jon, I’ve met a few people, and none of them was born ready for the challenges of life. But they grew into themselves. If you really want to be a sailor, or anything, really, you can’t give up at the first sign of trouble.”

He sighed.

“You could be right. Even if I’m not cut out to live a life on a ship, I can still be near the sea, right?”

“I that’s where you want to be, then why not?”

She absentmindedly brushed his back.

“I think I will return to the ocean. I could search for my sisters. Just this last adventure, and then I’m ready to leave.”

Jon put his left hand to the finger that hat stroked him, now resting gently on his shoulder. He held it in place, his touch soft enough as to be barely noticeable.

“Or, you could stay for a bit. I could rent a fisher boat and come visit you from time to time. Make sure you don’t get into trouble.”

Niphka laughed. The lump in her throat didn’t feel bad, instead, a sense of warmth built up in her chest and radiated through her body.

“That sounds like a fun idea. You would also get to have your personal, on-call lifeguard. How does that sound?”

He returned her grin.

“From all my experience in the sailing world, I’m afraid I might rely on that.”

Niphka made through another set of hills. Behind them, an orchard of neatly planted trees stretched as far as her eye could see.

Jon was equally intrigued and leaned forward. She instinctively curled her free hand around him in a loose grip.

“Do you want to steer away again or are you up for lunch?”

That was a proposal Jon couldn’t say no to. It wasn’t quite the right season yet for the apples to be harvested, but even in their green colour, nothing on this planet seemed more inviting to him. He eagerly waited for Niphka to reach the edge of the field. But instead of lowering him to the ground, she dropped him onto the branch of a particularly strong apple tree. At first, Jon struggled to keep himself safe on his new look-out spot, but Niphka didn’t retreat her hand before he had steadied himself.

He wasn’t exactly happy about this new position. However, the branches around him carried more fruit than he could count, and even if they still tasted quite sour, he grabbed one after another. Niphka watched him, laughing.

“Careful, or you’ll choke!”

“Easy for you to say,” he replied between chews, “I’m starving!”

She furrowed her brows.

“When is the last time you have eaten?”

“Ida gave me some bread. She had my coat, and her carriage was broken. I helped her with the repairs.”

She sat on the ground with her legs crossed. She was still above Jon’s eye level, but within comfortable range.

“I’m sorry, I had forgotten to make breaks for that.”

Jon swallowed his last bite. “That’s okay, I could have told you.”

Niphka looked at her hands resting in her lap.

“I need you to tell me these things,” she said, more quiet than before. Before Jon could find an adequate response – telling her that she needn’t worry, that her help was already more than enough –, she looked back at him.

“Let’s not dwell on that. You said Ida had your coat?”

If she wanted to change the subject, Jon would let her.

“Yeah, I think I lost it at some point. Someone must have found it I guess. She told me that she’d been pushed off the road. Whoever that was, they had it before her.”

“That’s unusual.”

“Yah, it is.” He fell silent for a moment.

Ask. Now or never.

“I wanted to ask- Can you tell me what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“The night that I got lost. I don’t… I don’t really remember that.” Without wanting to, he held his breath for her response. He was scared that his question would upset her, that she’d be angry.

Her shoulders visibly slumped.

“I wasn’t your fault. You had a nightmare, and when you woke up, you didn’t recognize me. I couldn’t keep you from running off.”

While her account of the night made sense to him, something in him refused to accept it. How had he been able to run away, with his legs much shorter than hers and above that, injured?

While he searched for the right words, Niphka continued.

“You were so scared. It was worse than when we met. I think you needed space. But that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t worried for you.”

“So you waited.”

“I waited,” she confirmed. Then, her head bolted up and she stared him straight in the eyes.

“Please, I know you didn’t leave on purpose. But when the time comes that you want to, please, please just tell me. I would never try to keep you with me against your will, do you understand?”

Jon’s heart skipped a beat as he processed what she said. He felt lightheaded and suddenly struggled to keep his balance on the tree branch.

“I-,” he began, “I… I need to get out of – please, get me off here.”

Before he knew it, he found himself gently plucked out of the apple tree and sat down by its roots. Jon took a shaky breath.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I just need to know that- ”

“No!” he interrupted, his voice louder than he had intended. “Why do you think I’d want to leave?”

His tone grew desperate as he staggeringly got on his two feet again, not minding any of the pain.

“You think I’m nothing like the men you used to know. Yes, I can’t do much, neither for myself nor for anyone else!” He took a deep breath.

“But still – Niphka, you’ve saved my life! You’re here with me, far away from your home, just to help me save mine! I don’t want to leave! You’re… you’re my hero!”

She shook her head.

“You wouldn’t say that if you remembered. I saw the panic in your eyes. You were scared for your life.”

“Well, I’m not scared now!” he shot back.

Within milliseconds, Niphka’s hand shot at him and pinned both of his arms to the ground, leaving him trapped on the ground.

“How about now, then? Jon Williams, listen to me when I tell you you should be!”

“I don’t care!” he cried hoarsely. “I don’t care! Do what you want, but I just don’t believe that you want to hurt me! I know you!”

He paid no mind to the tears that formed in the corners of his eyes. Okay, so Niphka could crush him in an instant if she wanted. But nothing she had done so far had given him any cause to see her as anything but – …

“You’re my friend!” he pleaded.

Bit by bit, as if time itself had slowed down, he felt Niphka’s grip loosen. When her fingers stopped pressing him down, he held onto them, not wanting to let her go. She pulled away regardless and his grip lost hers.

“I am so, so sorry.”

“It’s okay! I promise, it’s okay.”

Niphka buried her face in her hands. Despite her size, she looked small, defeated. Jon wished that he could somehow console her, embrace her and convince her that his nightmare hadn’t meant anything.

“I need you to trust me,” he said, softly. “Just like I trust you.”

Please.

Her breath was shaky.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” she finally said, rubbing her eyes. “I have never felt like this. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but everything is completely different. Everything is upside-down.”

“Imagine how I felt when a giant fairytale mermaid pulled me out of the water!” Jon urged, insistent on lightening the load both of them were carrying. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t thank the Gods every day since!”

He wanted to move over to her, but he wasn’t sure if his legs would carry him all the way.

“Niphka,” he said, and immediately had her full attention. “Please let me prove it.”

Extending one arm to her, Jon signalled that he wanted her to pick him up. She reluctantly complied.

Carefully, he directed her to hold him closer. When she did, he threw himself into her chest, determined to leave as much of an impact as possible. The height didn’t bother him anymore; all he cared about was making her feel better. Jon held himself as close as he could, tightly clinging to the fabric of her clothes.

Hesitantly at first, then with more heart, Niphka returned the hug. Jon became aware that she could do so with only two or three fingers, but instead of pulling away, he leaned into it.

She was everywhere. He could feel the warmth of her gentle touch, keeping him safe. He noticed her faint smell of earth and a hint of salt. The beat of her heart resonated through his entire body.

He knew that this was just as big a step for her as it was for him. Still, it felt right. For the first time in a while, Jon believed that everything would be fine.

Part 12 < Part 13 > Part 14

[heavensbeehall]

Still More Chapter 19

It seems like [the Arena was built for District 4] it, anyway, with all the water, when I bet only a handful of the victors can swim. And there was no pool in the Training Center, no chance to learn. Either you came in here a swimmer or you'd better be a really fast learner. Even participation in the initial bloodbath depends on being able to cover twenty yards of water. That gives District 4 an enormous advantage.

Some readers have speculated that Snow wanted Finnick to win, so he could keep selling him. This is highly possible. But we know from Plutarch that arenas are built in a day and this one was being put together before the Quell announcement. I suppose they could have added water to the center--if there was sand or simply shallow water?--fairly easily.

It's also possible the Arena has salt water because Plutarch wanted to make sure Finnick got to the Cornucopia first, since Finnick seems to have the most information on the plan of all the tributes (besides perhaps Beetee).

But REGARDLESS, I do like the idea that Snow thought he'd be hindering everyone but Finnick with the water and Katniss is like "lol my dad taught me to swim in that lake YOU KNOW ABOUT, idiot."

A quick survey of the rest of the arena shows that most of the tributes are still trapped on their plates. Wait, no, there's someone standing on the spoke to my left, the one opposite Peeta. It's Mags. But she neither heads for the Cornucopia nor tries to flee. Instead she splashes into the water and starts paddling toward me, her gray head bobbing above the waves.

I just want to point out that Mags seems to have swum from her plate towards Peeta, avoiding the Cornucopia because she knew they would all meet up there. And I sort of picture her having a grand ol' time.

My grandfather lived on the beach and he swam all the time (he died at 82 so he was even older than Mags), even when we felt the water was too cold. He thought we were wimps.

Finnick has reached Peeta now and is towing him back, one arm across his chest while the other propels them through the water with easy strokes

This is a fairly common lifeguard tow for heavy surf. Where's my Baywatch/District 4 spinoff?

[Mags] is one of the few people who actually likes me.

I'll probably get into my theories on Finnick's mental health situation later, but what I think he means here is "Mags is one of the few people who actually knows me and still likes me."

"Katniss has remarkably good judgement."

I like how they all bond over the fact that Mags is awesome.

"...no one in this arena was a victor by chance." He eyes Peeta for a moment. "Except maybe Peeta." Finnick knows then what Haymitch and I know. About Peeta. Being truly, deep-down better than the rest of us. Finnick took out that tribute from 5 without blinking an eye. And how long did I take to turn deadly? I shot to kill when I targeted Enobaria and Gloss and Brutus. Peeta would at least have attempted negotiations first. Seen if some wider alliance. But to what end? Finnick's right. I'm right. The people in this arena weren't crowned for their compassion.

I hold his gaze, weighing his speed against my own. The time it will take to send an arrowthrough his brain versus the time his trident will reach my body. I can see him, waiting for me to make the first move. Calculating if he should block first or go directly for an attack. I can feel we've both about worked it out when Peeta steps deliberately between us.

I like this exchange because it's the beginning of Katniss thinking everyone knows how great her man is, even though they haven't known him very long. (Here it kind of sounds like she thinks Finnick might be into him, which makes the "kiss" at the beginning of the next chapter even funnier to me.)

And then Peeta does the exact thing Katniss thought Peeta would've done at the Cornucopia. Because he is a sweetie. (Though Katniss seems to have forgotten he killed in the previous arena and didn't try to negotiate with Cato.)

In summation: Peeta and Mags are really carrying this alliance, despite the two of them being figuratively carried (by Katniss in Peeta's case) and literally carried (by Finnick in Mags' case).

[chattahoochiecoochie]

Listen y’all. I haven’t watched Volume 2 but I’ve seen bits here and there. It doesn’t end well, that much I know for sure. Soooo, this is how it should have fucking gone for them. No debates. 

- Prom came and went. They weren’t official then, and she went alone, but by graduation they had a label, and he swung her around his room to some stupid pop song she liked.

- School ended and he crossed the stage with a smile on his face, rewarded only by the sight of her cheering for him in the crowd.

- She took up her job as a lifeguard again to make money before college started, and he picked up a few hours at Thatcher tire–not because he wanted to work, but because spoiling Chrissy was running up a tab.

- They spent every night together, in his van, whispering in her bedroom, partying in his.

- June rolled by and July followed, before long, August was upon them, its hand outstretched to take her away.

- Eddie didn’t get a class ring, a diploma was more than enough. So instead, he drops her at the airport with a suitcase full of band tees, and his favorite ring on a chain.

- “You don’t have to wear it.” He says. “I’ll wear it every day.” She says back.

- He spends the next week on the phone with her, laying on the floor of his room in quiet misery.

- She’s excited, cheerful every time they talk, and it takes everything inside him to sound happy for her.

- Her classes start August 31st. September 1st, he takes a job at the plant with Uncle Wayne. Thatchers is fun, but it doesn’t pay like he needs it too.

- She’s gone now, making something of herself. He’s going to do the same. He’ll be ready when she comes back to him.

- Six months later, every penny saved, he buys a ring. When she comes for Christmas that year, he hides it in Wayne’s room. It’s been in his top drawer, but she’s planning to go through that for more of his tshirts.

- “Maybe I could send them back to you, when they stop smelling like you. And you can send me some more?”

- They spend the holiday apart. It will be the last time he lets that happen, he swears.

- When she comes for Spring Break, he introduces himself to her parents, and makes it over for Easter.

- His hair is too long, her dad says, he has no manners, her mom says.

- Sending her away the second summer is harder than the first. They have something now. He cries in his van outside the airport, and watches through red eyes as her plane takes off.

- It’s the spring of her junior year when he finally has the money to fly out.

- She shows him off like a trophy, parading him through the sorority house like a show pony. Everyone has heard of him.

- “This is my boyfriend, Eddie.” She blushes down to her toes every time she introduces him and it makes his heart ache. The ring is back in Hawkins, and with every word, it burns a deeper hole in his dresser.

- He flies out with her parents for graduation. They buy his ticket, a graduation gift to her. The three of them have conspired to surprise her, she thinks he can’t get the time off work, and bursts into tears at the sight of him at the airport.

- That June, summer of ‘91, he finally digs the ring out of his room, and on a late night walk to their old table in the forest, he pops the question.

- “Oh Eddie, of course.”

- They are married in July.

- It’s a quiet affair, close friends and family only. The kids, recently graduated themselves show up, teeth finally straight, nerves settled. A few old cheer friends come over for the reception, but a sorority sister fills in as maid of honor. Gareth, now used to this new version of Eddie, grins when asked to be best man.

- August, they take back the month, wrenching it free from the clock to make it their own.

- There’s an apartment in Chicago waiting for them. She’s got a graduate degree to get, and he’s transferred to a plant inside the city limits.

- “Nintety one baby. It’s our year. It’s our life.”

- He’s got a new car now, a Honda Accord that just barely fit the budget, and on the drive out of town, he lets her pick the radio station. They’ve hit the city range when a new band comes on. Nirvana. His world is rocked, and they stop at a record store just outside of town.

- The bleach album plays over their move, the soundtrack to the beginning of their new life.

- “I can get a job down the street, before school starts, at that bakery we saw? They had a sign in the window, for a counter girl!”

- “I’ve got a friend at a bar across town, said he’ll let me play a few nights as backup to start out.”

- The year is 1991, they are alive and married and fresh eyed. It will be their year. It will be their life.

I’ll be back to write this fic, in due time. It’s the story they fucking deserved. 

[marypsue]

It’s been a day or two since the last time I put up a sample for Sneak Peek Sunday (all credit for the concept to @daddygrandpaandthebeaver), and today felt like as good a time as any to resurrect it! Have a scene from former heroes who quit too late (aka part three of the AU where (almost) all the kids have powers):

...

“Know what I heard from Flo at the station?”

El shakes her head no. Hop doesn’t stop giving her that look.

“Sounds like there was a big power outage at the mall last night. Every fuse in the box blew. The lights were out for nearly an hour.”

El makes her eyes as wide as they’ll go, and then turns back to her plate.

“It’s weird. They’ve got no idea what caused it. What could’ve overloaded all the circuits at once like that.”

El concentrates, hard, on cutting off a piece of her pancake.

“El.”

El looks up. Hop’s staring at her, hard. She can’t tell if he’s mad. “When you and Will were over at Mike’s yesterday. Did you go to the mall?”

El looks at him with her fork halfway to her mouth, trying to decide what to say.

Hop sighs so big it makes his shoulders drop, leaning forward against the table, clasping his hands and looking El in the eye. “Friends don’t lie, right, kid?”

El quickly stuffs her forkful of pancakes in her mouth and chews, hoping don’t talk with your mouth full takes priority.

Sara, thankfully, chooses that moment to drop into the third mismatched chair at the tiny kitchen table, with her own plate stacked high with pancakes and berries. “What’s the big deal if she did? It’s just the mall.” She starts to saw off a chunk of her pancake stack, also not looking at Hop as she says, very fast and very casual, “Heather’s taking me out there this afternoon. If Jane really wants to see the place, she could probably tag along with us. I don’t think Heather’d mind.”

Hop finally looks away from El to stare at Sara like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “It’s just the - do we seriously have to have the ‘caution’ conversation again?”

Sara slouches down in her seat and gives her eyes a huge roll, but right at the end of it she catches El’s eye and winks. El shovels another forkful of pancake into her mouth to keep from smiling.

“And no, I don’t want you going anywhere alone with Heather,” Hop goes on, jabbing his fork in Sara’s direction. “Especially not somewhere as big and crowded and public as the mall. How do you even know this girl? How do you know you can trust her?”

“I already told you, we work together.” Sara delicately rolls a stray blueberry around her plate with her fork. “The pool put her in charge of making sure tens of screaming children don’t drown every day, is that trustworthy enough for you?”

Hop doesn’t look impressed. “The pool gave Billy Hargrove a lifeguard whistle. Try again.”

“There’s just no pleasing you, is there?” Sara grumbles, spearing the blueberry with what El thinks the TV cops mean when they say unnecessary force. “I have to get a job if I’m not going to school, but god forbid I actually make friends there?”

Hop looks like he just bit into something bitter. “I never said you couldn’t have friends,” he starts, but Sara’s already giving him a wide-eyed, fake-shocked look.

“Oh, wow. I didn’t realise I needed your permission to have friends. So glad that’s allowed.”

El has to press her knuckles hard against her mouth not to giggle at the look on Hop’s face.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Sara says, still wide-eyed and too innocent. “Maybe I should invite Heather over here instead. That’d be so much safer. Right?”

“Don’t,” Hop says, like a warning. El wonders if that’s don’t do that, or don’t say that. Maybe both.

Sara waves a hand, making all her bangles clack and jingle. “Well, Jane has her friends over all the time, so -”

“That’s different and you know why. Don’t change the subject.” Hop turns back to El just as she starts to push her chair back from the table. So much for escaping before he notices. She pulls her chair reluctantly back to the table and slouches down in it, crossing her arms as Hop points at first her, then Sara, with his fork. “I do not want either of you anywhere near Starcourt. Got it? Especially not unsupervised. It’s just too big a risk.”

“Anything fun is a risk,” Sara says, like she doesn’t even notice the hard stare Hop’s giving her. El stuffs what’s left of her pancake into her mouth at once, ready to break for freedom when she gets another chance. “You know what I used to do for fun? Rob convenience stores.”

Hop shuts his eyes, for a long second, pressing a hand against his forehead. “What part of chief of police -”

El takes this as her cue to scoop up her empty plate and slip away from the table, dropping off the plate in the sink before she makes for the door. She ignores Hop’s call of, “Hey! Hey, kid, we weren’t done talking!”

[jkgnggj]

please I need to know WHAT is the psychickers h2o mermaids au please tell me I've been thinking about it all day the autism in my mind has consumed me and all I can think about is psychickers h2o mermaids au

OKOK SO I DONT HAVE IT WRITTEN DOWN ANYWHERE BUT I GOT IDEAS !!

Basically in h2o there's three mermaids at first (Rikki, Cleo, and Emma) and yk three mermaids and there's three psychics. So it's not like an incredibly accurate substitution for the characters but just a general substitution. Like the psychic kids aren't taking the place of one singular character just of a mermaid if that makes sense. So saiki and Miko and Tori are mermaids. And like how in h2o there was a normal guy who wasn't a mermaid but helped them when they needed it, we got Akechi as the normal non mermaid guy (bc he's not a psychic in saiki k).

As for their powers I'm still deciding but for right now I'm leaning more towards Tori having that mist evaporation power Rikki has and then Miko having the moving water thing cleos got going on? And then idk if I should have saiki get the freezing water power or if he should have all of them like Charlotte did? And idek who's be Bella or Charlotte in this au I haven't thought that far ahead Idek who Zane would be. He's giving saiki vibes but the relationship Rikki and Zane had is more of an aren and metori relationship and doesn't really work with any of the psychickers or any other character. And since Charlotte was sorta cleos rival and liked lewis then if I wanted someone to fill her role it'd be extra super tough bc who tf would like Akechi? (Besides the psychickers) The closest to Charlotte to me would be Teruhashi (bc why wouldn't the perf pretty girl have all the powers and be special and a mermaid etc) and maybe she'd be trying to get saikis attention instead of Akechi's but idk if I should really make teru a villain hmmm

As for the story I don't think I'd follow the plot of h2o besides some things like the plots Abt the full moon and how they turn in that magic pool of water and maybe their work place. Id def change their backgrounds a lil (both different from the show and the anime). So Idk if Tori would still be a monk here or not, it depends on whether I want them to just live by the beach in Japan or westernize them. Tho I think him being a monk and having to juggle his monk duties with being a mermaid would be interesting. But I was thinking of making Tori a surfer or like lifeguard for summer bc I thought that'd be incredibly interesting. Like he'd have to decide to still be a surfer or a lifeguard or to stop being a mermaid.

Of course I don't really wanna change their personalities tho putting them in a diff setting and stuff makes things a lil difficult bc without the settings and conditions they grew up in they might've turned out different. Aka maybe if he didn't have to hug ppl and didn't grow up as a monk Tori might've not turned out a perv, or without her powers and stuff Miko wouldn't dress or speak like a gyaru, and without his powers saiki wouldn't be so angsty and sad. Also idk if I want them to be friends before they turn mermaids or the fact that they all turn mermaids by accident together forces them to become friends reluctantly. I like the latter tho. Them all sorta hating or disliking each other (which is kinda how the three girls were in the show at the beginning I think) would be fun.

Though if miko didn't have her lil fortune telling business I think she'd maybe have a different business that involves the beach somehow? Though again it would be fun if she still grew up being interested in fortune telling and astrology stuff. And as for saiki I think he'd still be pretty quiet and introverted even without his powers yet somehow still easily make friends like nendou and kaidou. Though I think Akechi still staying his childhood friend after all this time would be the only thing that changes for saikis relationships. He never moved away so they stayed best friends.

And akechi gets two more friends out of it when he notices his best friend acting weird and all of a sudden he's hanging out with these two monkeys he's never seen before and he gets suspicious and follows them and sees one of them turn into a mermaid and he gasps and wants to study them etc etc. Also instead of cleos sister kusuke would be the annoying sibling, still older sibling and he'd find out Abt saikis secret too eventually, a long with the other twos secret.

Now what I can't really decide is if there should be any ships or not especially between the psychickers. Idk if I want a big polycule or mikotori or torisai or torikechi. I still need to iron out a lot of details as u can see but ty for the ask! <333

[assortedfruitsnacks212]

She Knows

A post-S3 AU.

--

He'd been avoiding her since that day.

The girl. El, or whatever her name was.

Back in the spring, that wouldn't have been too difficult. Believe it or not, Billy Hargrove's usual activities didn't involve hanging out with children. He had no patience for them, first of all. Second of all, they found him terrifying at the best of times. He cursed, drank, and stalked around town with a chip on his shoulder so large you could practically see it. If people got ratings from the MPAA, his would be a neon sign blinking over his head: "Warning: RATED R for strong language and violence."

His lifeguard job hadn't changed things much. Sure, he'd been around kids, but he'd never hung out with them—only scared them into behaving. Not a bad gig for someone who loved yelling.

All that to say, he should never have seen the girl again. 

And yet here he was, holding the front door open, staring at the girl as she stood on his porch.

"Hi," she said. Totally calm, as if this was normal.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit!

"Max isn't here," he said. "Try her boyfriend's."

He slammed the door and walked away. Of course, it would never be that easy. She knocked on the door immediately, and he stopped in his tracks, growling in frustration.

Storming back to the door, he opened it with unnecessary force. "Did you hear me? I said Max isn't here."

She gazed up at him, unfazed by the lethal glare he'd spent years perfecting.

"I'm not looking for Max," she said.

Oh fuck. Oh shit!

He shouldn't have stayed home today. He should've dragged his ass out of bed and gone somewhere. Anywhere.

As he stared dumbly at her, paralyzed by sheer terror, she ducked under his arm and entered the house. He blinked, hardly realizing what was happening. Then it struck him, and he whirled around, face growing hot.

"Hey! Y-you can't be here!"

"Why not?" she asked, not even looking at him. She was bumming around the living room, glancing at the pictures on the walls, as if she'd never been here before.

"Because..."

He hesitated. Goddamn it. What could he even say?

Because I'm threatened by you? 

Because you know my deepest secrets, and that scares the shit out of me?

"...Because it isn't safe," he said, adding a hint of menace to his voice.

That got her attention, but not in the way he wanted. She shot him a withering look, then rolled her eyes.

Fuck. She knew. He could never threaten her again, or even pretend that he could maybe threaten her. She'd crashed through his defenses weeks ago, and there was no getting them back.

A spike of adrenalin shot through him. He caught it, though, and directed it. Slowly, with measured movements, he turned and shut the door. He stayed there a moment, hand flat against the doorpost, heartbeat pounding in his veins.

Pushing off the door, he whipped around suddenly.

"Why are you here?"

To his satisfaction, she actually flinched. Maybe he could scare her still. "I-I wanted to talk."

"About what?" He walked toward her. Daring her.

"About Starcourt. About what I saw."

"Oh really? Well, guess what, kid. I don't want to talk about it. And I know about your powers, how they've dried up like shit in the sun. I know you can't make me do anything. So why don't you scurry on outta here—" he dialed his glower up to ten "—before I get nasty."

He stopped two paces away from her. They stared at each other for a few beats, him still glowering, her meeting it head-on. He watched her expression intently, waiting for the moment she crumbled into tears and fled.

It never came. Instead, anger flashed across her face.

Then she turned and walked out of the room.

His mouth fell open. "Hey!" He stormed after her, alarm growing as he followed her down the hall. She was—oh shit, she was heading for his room. "Hey! Don't you dare go in there!"

She ignored him completely, sailing right in as if she owned the place.

He went as far as the doorway before he stopped. He'd fully intended to stomp in, grab her by her scrawny neck, and throw her out, but something made him lose his nerve. Grabbing both sides of the doorway, he sagged a little as he tried to control his breathing. 

Meanwhile, the girl bummed around his room just like she had the living room, looking at things. Touching things.

Fuck. This. Kid.

"I don't know what you're looking for," he panted, "but there's nothing. Nothing you haven't already seen. Okay? You ripped my goddamn soul open. Anything in here... it means nothing."

"I didn't."

Her quiet reply threw him off balance. "What?"

She looked at him from where she stood by his dresser. "I didn't rip you open. You let me see."

He stared at her, vision going hazy as he flashed back to that day. Sitting on the bed, compelled by an unseen force to stay there, to wait. A presence glitching into existence in front of him, reaching out, taking his hand. Soft words echoing: "I want to see." Him looking up and locking eyes with her. Grabbing her. Throwing her.

He shook his head, dislodging the memory before he saw too much. "The hell I did," he spat. 

She considered his answer, then shrugged. Fine, keep lying to yourself, the gesture seemed to say. 

Clenching his fists helplessly, he watched as she picked up where she left off, skating a hand over his dresser, glancing at the pinup on his wall. When she turned toward his bed, she hesitated. Her face fell, and she reached out to touch the mattress.

"You were here," she said. "When I saw."

He scoffed. "Yeah, no shit."

"What was it like?" She turned toward him. "Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"Having him here." She pointed to her temple.

He flashed back again. Screaming. A black poison crawling through his veins. God, it burned. It burned—

"What's it to you?" he growled.

"It did hurt, didn't it?" She looked way too caring. Mournful, even. "It hurt a lot."

"I lived. Which is bad news for you if you don't get the fuck out of my room."

His words cast a shadow over them so dark he felt the temperature drop. The light went out of her eyes, like a cloud had just blocked the sun. It surprised him at first. Part of him had started to believe she really was unshakable, and he'd have no choice but to let her win. 

But she wasn't. She was a kid after all.

Thank. Christ.

Squaring her shoulders, she walked toward the door. He stepped aside to let her through, trying not to look too relieved (though why he cared about that, he couldn't say). She sauntered down the hall, only to stop and look back from the threshold to the living room.

"Will could feel him."

Billy blinked. "Who?"

He meant who the hell is Will? She misunderstood him.

"The Mind Flayer," she said. "You're like Will now. If you feel him come back... tell someone. Okay?"

Billy swallowed thickly. Against his better judgment, he gave a small, barely perceptible nod. Satisfied, she disappeared into the living room, and a moment later he heard the front door open and close.

His breath left him in a whoosh. Leaning against the wall, he stared down at the carpet.

That was it. He'd won. He'd chased the mouthy girl-child out of the house and, hopefully, out of his life. He'd never have to deal with this shit again.

So why was his stomach twisting itself in knots right now? And why did he feel guilty?

"Fuck this shit," he muttered. Dragging a hand down his face, he turned and stalked into the newly-restored sanctuary of his room, slamming the door in the face of the world.

Fuck the girl.

Fuck the "Mind Flayer."

Fuck everyone trying to get a piece of him.

Billy Hargrove had nothing left to give.

[luthienstormblessed]

You better let somebody love you (before it's too late) Part 2

Part 1 Ao3

When they arrived at the trailer, Dustin wasn’t inside. Steve felt how the panic rose in his chest as he saw him nearby, sitting on the ground and clutching what seemed to be Eddie. But it couldn’t be him. It couldn’t be him because Eddie was always talking or singing, mumbling under his breath as if he was alone in the room. Bouncing his leg when he was sitting down and pacing the room when he was standing. Eddie was always so full of life that it looked like it was going to burst through the seams and swallow them all. Eddie for sure wasn’t that still and bloody thing Dustin was hugging. Steve refused to believe it, but the kid’s crying spoke enough for itself.

Steve felt himself slip into his crisis management persona, distancing himself from his own feelings, pain and exhaustion in order to blur every single thing around him that wasn’t vital at the moment.

He shouted at Nancy to stay by the trailer and make sure nothing would sneak up on them. And maybe it was his face, or the newfound authority on Steve’s voice, but for the first time in her life, she didn’t try to argue with him and did as he asked her.

Steve run towards Dustin without a second thought, sure that Robin was right behind him.

“Oh my God!” Robin’s voice sounded like she was trying not to pass out right on the spot when she put a hand on his shoulder. If it was for comfort or to support herself, Steve wasn’t sure.

“He left me on the other side and tried to take them out on his own”, Dustin explained between sobs.

Steve looked at Eddie and kind of wanted to pass out himself. There was so much blood that he had to double check to make sure Dustin was okay. His ankle didn’t look good, but there didn’t seem to be any blood and not even Dustin himself was paying it any mind, he must have at least twisted it trying to follow Eddie. The blood was all Eddie’s. His body was a mess of flesh and oozing wounds. The worst ones were on his torso, but even his face had been bitten. Steve tried to make Dustin look at him instead, but the kid just kept crying and clutching Eddie while he cried over and over, “Don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Come back”. Steve shared a look with Robin, and she immediately went over to Dustin’s side and pulled him against her chest, whispering comforting words that only made him cry harder.

As Steve knelt beside Eddie, his pants became instantly soaked with blood that should have been red, but with the Upside-Down light it looked like a pool of darkness. Steve didn’t waste more time and, taking his shirt off, quickly started to try to stop the bleeding with it. Looking closer he discovered that most of the bites weren’t really deep enough to be life threatening on their own, but there were just so many of them. He made sure to apply pressure while Robin searched on her backpack for the bandages that she’d insisted on packing. Steve couldn’t have been more grateful for that.

He started to treat the wounds as best as he could while Robin, sitting on the floor, comforted Dustin.

“Steve, I think he’s stopped breathing” Robin said, and Steve knew her enough to know that she was just as afraid as the rest of them but was trying to hide it for Dustin’s sake. Steve was quick, searching for a pulse on the side of Eddie’s jaw that was mostly unharmed. As soon as Steve felt the faintest sign of a heartbeat, he opened Eddies jacket and started to do compressions. He had learnt it during the training to get his lifeguard’s title, but he never thought he would actually have to put his skills to use.

He didn’t know how long he had been there, but his arms where already sore when Nancy’s voice made him snap out of it.

“Guys, the gate is closing, we have to leave. Now!”. She was waving frantically at them from the trailer’s door, shotgun still hanging on her back. Robin stood up and tried to take Dustin with her, but he refused to leave.

“Dustin, you heard Nancy, we have to go”.

“I’m not leaving him here”.

“Come on Dustin, we can’t do anything for him, he’s-”. Robin couldn’t get herself to finish the sentence, but they all knew what she was going to say anyway.

Steve had to make a choice then. And he had to make it quickly. Dustin wasn’t going to listen to reasons, and they didn’t have the time to reason with him anyway. Nancy was still shouting at them to hurry up and he doubted that Dustin could walk on his ankle, let alone run. Eddie still didn’t look like he was breathing. He didn’t look like he was going to come back. He allowed himself a second to breath deep and give Eddie a silent apology before he stopped and stood up with resolution. He had failed on saving them all, but he could still make sure that as many of them as possible made it out alive.

“Robin, go. I got it” she looked unsure at him before nodding and running towards Nancy, who kept the trailer’s door open. Even from the distance, Steve could see how the gate was shrinking with every passing moment, sides pulsating red as everything seemed to do on that fucking place.

Catching Dustin on his middle, Steve threw him over his shoulder and started running towards the gate that Robin was already crossing with Nancy’s help. The rope they had used to go through the first time had been cut high, almost at ceiling height. The end lied abandoned on the trailer’s floor.

It was an awkward run; Steve’s arms were sore from the CPR and the bat bites on his sides were throbbing as if they were alive. Blood ran down his torso when they reopened again, but he blocked the pain out. He had bigger concerns.

Dustin wasn’t being any helpful. Right the contrary. He screamed and hit Steve’s back, twisting on his grip. Had his ankle not been hurting, Steve wasn’t sure the kid wouldn’t have slipped from his grasp.

“Let me down, Steve! I won’t leave him there!”.

“I’m not letting you go until you are on the other side of that fucking gate so stop moving”. They were almost there. Nancy ready to help him lift Dustin to the gate, Robin already waiting on the other side.

“I hate you! We can’t do this to him! Let me go! Steve, I fucking hate you!”.

Steve tried not to listen to the words Dustin spat at him. He knew he was just aiming his anger towards him. And it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it anyway. He had failed them. If someone had to die for them to live, it should have been him. That’s what he was there for. He was supposed to be the shield, the protector, not Eddie. Eddie wasn’t even meant to know about the Upside Down. He was far too good to be involved in this shit. And now he was dead because of them, because of him. Because Steve wasn’t fast enough, strong enough. But he couldn’t afford a mental breakdown right now. Not when he had to get Dustin out and the gate was closing, slow but surely, in front of them.

After what felt like a lifetime but must have been under a minute, they stood under the gate. Dustin had stopped screaming and was just silently crying by the time Steve shifted his hold to hold him up with Nancy’s help. Robin had placed the stained mattress on the other side and was waiting for them gnawing her bottom lip. She tried to catch Dustin when he fell, sending them both to the ground with a groan of pain on Dustin’s side.

“Come on Nancy, you’re next”.

The gate was smaller with every moment, and they had no time to discuss logistics, so Steve just lifted her by the knees as if they were back in High School and she was a cheerleader. Nancy kept her balance and managed to get the ending of the rope to push herself through the almost closed gate.

The thing is, Steve wasn’t the best at physics or math, but he had known from the moment he saw how quickly the gate was shrinking that there was no way they all had time to go through it before it closed. Not without the rope. Someone had to stay behind and help the others cross it. Nancy seemed to realise the same thing the moment she touched the mattress. When she shouted his name, she sounded angry with herself for not having realised it sooner.

Robin, who had been too busy checking that Dustin was okay, looked up at the sound, letting go of the boy who barely seemed to notice anyway. He was clearly on some kind of traumatic shock. Not that Steve could blame him.

“Steve? What’s going on?”. She asked. Her lips were trembling, and her eyes shone with tears that soon started streaming down her face. They looked at each other and had one of those silent conversations no one else seemed to understand.

“Everything will be okay Robs. I promise. I love you”. He tried to sound convincing, not letting her see him falling apart. If someone had to stay behind, he was glad it was him. He couldn’t even stand the thought of being in Robin’s position right now.

She nodded covering her mouth and trembling. Unable to talk even to say it back, but her eyes never left Steve’s. Both knew nothing would be okay, but they also knew that she needed to hear those words just as much as he needed to say them. Things had been fucked up before, but this? This was a new level of fucked up.

Nancy, practical as ever, managed to send hers and Robin’s backpacks, that contained some food, water and the remaining bandages, flying through the gate for Steve to catch.

“We’ll find El and get you out. Hold on”.

When the gate closed leaving Robin, Dustin, Nancy and the rest of the world on the other side, Steve didn’t allow himself to cry. He’d make it out. He just had to wait until the others found El and hope she could do something about this. Easy peasy.