#also mike being oblivious and will having to shut him up because they need to be together and mike cannot stop it

[munsonfamilyband]

The kids all think that Eddie and Steve had been dating for about a month and a half before they actually started dating. This is all because Steve would sit down on the arm of Eddie’s throne during Hellfire, all so he could slide into Eddie’s lap a short while later claiming it was uncomfortable (Mike almost offered him a chair the first time and Will stomped on his foot so hard he nearly broke a toe). Eddie then inevitably asks Steve to blow on his dice “for good luck” and Steve always does it whenever asked.

This is canon, i don’t know what y’all are talking about

[cryptidcorners]

Hello again! I have yet another request to ask of my favorite Mike writer, if you are in want of something to make. How about Abby’s babysitter girl and her are playing/reenacting Abby’s favorite fairy tale, then Mike steps in just in time and Abby demands he come over to play Prince Charming. Humiliating Mike, amusing the babysitter, and then also stirring up romantic feelings all the while. Thanks so much!

Crown - Mike Schmidt x F!Reader

Description: Mike is dragged into another one of Abby's plays, being forced to play Prince Charming with you as some warrior princess as the pairing. As Abby's creative tale unfolds, she's completely oblivious to your romantic tension with her older brother.

# requested by @/scribblesandsherlock

Media: FNaF!Movie

Character: Mike Schmidt (+ Abby)

Tags: Babysitter!Reader, Flusteted Mike, Domestic, Fluff, Playing With Abby, Fantasy Themed, Romantic Tension, Slice of Life, Friends to ? ? ?, Some Flirting, Cute Stuff, Feminine Terms used !

No Warnings.

read my TOS + Mike Schmidt Masterlist

"And then—" Abby was holding a cardboard tube colored messily over your head, blessing you with the imaginary title of "Warrior queen of the Rabbit Kingdom." which held a decent ring to it. Trying hard to desperately not break out of character, you giggled and replied as seriously as you could: "Thank you for bestowing this honor on me, Queen Schmidt."

Abby giggled and cleared her throat, shaking in excitement. "Now, I give you the honor of my son. Prince—uhm, Schmidt." She shrugged at you with a smile, then shifted back into her Queen Schmidt personality. "So you can get married and live happily ever after," her eyes wandered around for a toy suitable to fit the role. You gazed around too, "Oh, no. Is your son, perhaps, missing?"

"I hope not." Abby said, "You'll see him." she scavenged around and you sat comfortably. Until you saw Mike walk into the room, fixing the color of his sweater, unknowing of the world he was about to accidentally walk into, "Hey Abs, have you seen my—" Mike halted. "What is happening?"

"Hey, you can be the prince." Abby said, "I think my crown can fix you."

Mike raised his hands defensively, "Oh, no. I'm not good at playing royalty." he shook his head. "Besides, I need to go shopping."

"When will you be back?" You asked in your normal tone of voice.

"Three," he said. "Three-ish?"

"Ah,"

"Mike, please." Abby begs, tugging her sluggish older brother by his sleeve as he stumbles hunched toward to level with her. Mike huffs, "Do I really need to be a prince? Why not a knight, or something cool?" he humors lightly. His eyes wash up at you, and he can't resist giggling at your costume made from scratch. It was impressive what Abby could make with her scrapes of material and tape. "No, she's the the knight." Abby pointed. Amused, you respond, "and a princess."

"And a princess." Abby adds, "And a witch!"

"Oh. So, I don't get any powers?" Mike says dryly, though there's a scrape of playfulness wrapped behind his blunt demeanour. He sat up and shut his eyes promptly for Abby to delicately place a cardboard mock crown on Mike's head. Abby smiled, before replying honestly, "That's because you're lame. Maybe next time you can be a princess, witch and knight."

"Goodie." Mike was obviously trying to drag a laugh out of you with his dramatic tone. You could see his eyes twinkled when it worked. There was a circle of stuffed animals and dolls, all clad in an organic costume made from Abby's workshop of a room.

"Okay, now we have a prince." She discarded the toy in her hand. "Now, you two can get married. And rule The Rabbit Kingdom."

"Married?" Mike knew it was pretend but his face flushed. "I didn't know that,"

"I am a princess, and you're the prince." You explained, almost toying with him. Mike chuckled, covering his face in light embarrassment.

"Yeah, Mike. Catch up." She cleared her throat. Mike was enjoying it much more than he thought he would. Maybe it was the idea of marrying you that sounded appealing, but that was ridiculous. He didn't love you. Did he?

Abby grabbed a floppy cat with buttoned eyes and calico patterns, making a deep voice. "I am the priest, and I say, that—we are gathered here today to see a prince and a princess get married. And, well . . ." She trailed off. "I don't know what a priest says, so. You're married!" She dropped the toy and tube together. Raising her hands out dramatically with a fun smile. "You can kiss now. Like couples do," she snickered.

You and Mike got close, giggling and awkwardly talking over each other as you tried to find a loophole. Mike swore his face was as hot as a furnace, and your stomach was twisted with butterflies caught in a trap. Abby broke the strange mental tango between you two, "You can hug if you want."

"Oh, right." You gazed at Abby, then back at Mike.

"Yeah, we can do that." He said. And so you did. Falling into a tight embrace for a couple seconds. Mike wanted to be longer, but he had errands. Plus, he doubt you'd stay long enough. Abby giggled, "You guys are husband and wife, now! Awesome." she looked around, eyes plotting something. She ran towards her room,"One second, I need to get something! Don't leave, Mike."

Yet, as soon as she disappeared. Mike stood up with a grunt, sighing. With a gentle smile, you gazed up at him. "Going so soon? We just got married."

"Very funny." Mike's cheeks flared as he removed the crown delicately and ran his fingers through his curls. He sighed and grabbed his wallet that was sitting longingly on the tabletop. "Tell her I got kidnapped by some monster or something, I'll think of a way to sneak in."

"Well, you got the right girl." You walked up to him, grabbing the door. "I am a warrior too."

"You're very in character." Mike hummed. "Is this going to be referenced often? Is it gonna be a thing?"

"Maybe, maybe not." You chuckled.

Once Mike had left his house. He felt an intense whirlwind of emotions. Romantic emotions. Loving feelings and sick stomach aches. Mike knew he wasn't a real prince, nor were you the ruler of some Bunny Palace but part of him was thinking of a life like that. Not with royalty or talking animals, but just you two. Married. The thought wasn't too strong, yet. But it kept him smiling when he was shopping. All the way through.

[findafight]

Jonathan’s line about Steve in vol 2 was so…. I don’t know. I mean yeah it straight up confirms that Nancy and Jonathan make fun of Steve behind his back, and like I get that I have never been in Nancy’s situation so obviously it seems more mortifying to me, but I would have felt so guilty in her place. I can’t imagine not shutting Jonathan up if he started shit talking about Steve. Like Steve would have been straight up unmentionable if I was Nancy. Idk.

I get that Duffers don’t treat their characters emotional lives seriously, but like. That’s why Robin being kind to Nancy in s5 despite Nancy’s uh.. well frankly appalling attitude towards Robin, makes zero sense to me. I really wanted Nancy to struggle being in Steve’s group. Not in the “she deserves it bhahaha” way, but like… Steve dumped his friends for her (which was good for him), and her expecting to get the same treatment and meeting Robin instead? Who actively dislikes her and for a good reason? Who is smart and cool and kind? That’s way more interesting than people kissing Nancy’s ass the whole season, while she is actively putting Max’s life in danger. Like, yeah in high school she is the chief editor of the newspaper, and at home she is the eldest sister, and with Jon she makes fun of Steve, and now none of these people are here, but Steve is here and so is his bestie. And Steve is as kind as always, but Robin dislikes her, and it is not just prejudice

Nancy Wheeler you wild girl! She has no guilt lmao She's like yeah steve was dumb and annoying and didn't enable my investigation, and jon goes yep, what an idiot. All while Steve is just like. bumpin around making friends with little nerds haha. Minding his own business blaming himself for the end of their relationship. You're right, it's kinda bonkers because even if we take the stance that Nancy didn't cheat (which I believe she did) like. she still had him as her second choice and as soon as he pushed back a bit and didn't give her the kind of support she wasn't telling him she needed (until talking about exposing the lab in the library where anyone could hear) she jumped ship and ran to Jonathan. Why would she want to talk about Steve? Why wouldn't she want to try to forget he ever existed as anything other than Mike's friend Dustin's older friend? Is that not weird for her?

(i think you might mean s4? but i can work with s5 too haha) It's so much more compelling to me to have Nancy and Robin at odds with each other because Robin is like a little guard chihuahua holding a grudge for Steve. She holds grudges so well let her do it more!! like jesus give him someone in his corner! And also for herself! She got so nervous and tried to explain and defend herself, and Nancy only really started to listen once they got into the hospital. Nancy has a not great plan that puts one of the kids in danger, one of the kids Steve is close to. (Max wrote him a letter!!) I think Robin would really see Steve's people as her people, even if she wasn't personally close to them she'd still feel comfortable around the younger teens because Steve is? Let robin be critical of this plan. Let her call it out or something. Give Nancy someone to push against, it's no fun if there's no resistance! I want Nancy to be the one wanting friendship with Robin, and Robin not being receptive to it. Nancy not having a relationship handed to her would be refreshing and I want to see how she'd try to win Robin's friendship.

Let Robin not want to work with Nancy because she's heard the rumours about how her and Steve ended, even though he only mentioned that he wasn't a good boyfriend ans wasn't what she needed so it didn't work out. Robin saw that one week Steve and Nancy had a fight, and a day later she was ditching with Jonathan? yeah something is fishy there to even the most socially oblivious person. Let Robin know Steve well enough that she knew he at least thought he was telling the truth but that there must have been more. Let Robin decide she was going to do the most cliche best friend thing and not be very nice to the ex that broke her bestie's heart.

ooooh anon what you're saying is so interesting because, yeah. Steve dumped Tommy and Carol for Nancy, and that was good for him, and then Nancy got with Jonathan who doesn't really have any friends in Hawkins. So she's always been her boyfriend's main person of similar age they're close to. But now Steve's got Robin. Who is funny and kind and weird and loyal and smart and sarcastic. Who is obsessed with Steve and who Steve is also obsessed with. And that, from a s5 stancy pov, is so interesting because now Nancy is now competing (in her mind) for her boyfriend/potential bf's attention with his best friend. Like Jonathan was focused on his family, obviously (and this caused strain for them too) but it's not the same socially as a best friend taking priority. Steve would still hold those relationships, because they're good for him and good for the others, and there's zero reason for him to abandon them this time.

I think Nancy would hate it. Like Steve would obviously give her tonnes of attention, but with him having actual close friendships not just with Robin but Dustin and Max (at least) too, she'd still feel like she was bartering for time with him. That is suuuuch a fun potential dynamic between nancy and steve and also nancy and steve's friends.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Something I think gets glossed over a lot in conversations about the apology, is how much Will did not want to hear it. We act like he's been waiting, sad puppy style, for Mike to apologize, but actually, Mike tried and Will shut him down. Then doubled down on that decision with Lucas. He doesn't want to have those conversations and risk getting hurt again, so he keeps insisting it doesn't matter. We see him shut down Joyce too, when she tries to get him to talk about his feelings. (1/2)

I guess my point is, maybe Will's emotional shutdown is causing his own unhappiness. Maybe the dynamic won't be Oblivious!Mike, so much as Distant!Will. Mike might go to Cali hoping to bridge that gap, only to get frustrated when Will keeps him at arm's length. Then he falls back on spending time with El because at least that feels easy. Or maybe because he's hoping to make Will jealous and reignite the fight, so they can finish it. But Will just withdraws more. Miscommunication, you know?(2/2)

Will does tend to make matters worse to himself by keeping his feelings to himself for too long. He doesn't like to admit when things are bothering him. This likely is a result of Lonnie's, ahem, "parenting." This has come up in more than just his interpersonal relationships. He was also reluctant to bring up what happened to him in the Upside Down because he resented being seen as fragile. Again, most likely Lonnie's influence.

The thing is that Mike and Will did part on good terms. There needs to be some sort of catalyst for why things change. Will isn't going to be distant for no reason. Something is going to trigger it. Something is going to make Will upset that Mike never did apologize.

Yes, Will didn't want to hear Mike's initial apology. At the time, though, Will was still angry. Yeah, Will had been annoyed for some time, and oblivious Mike is oblivious and thought Will was just mad about the campaign. What the apology needed to be for wasn't for all of that, though. What really broke Will, to the point that he felt the need to tear down Castle Byers, was that Mike struck him to his core. That was left hanging despite the fact that Mike specifically set out to apologize for it.

Will probably would be uncomfortable talking about his feelings, and that's a personal issue he does need to work on. Perhaps that will have something to do with his own development this season. It would really be something to see Will and Mike being at odds simply because one is closed-off and the other is oblivious. Once Mike figures it out, though, I think he's going to feel like shit. What remains to be seen is how long it will take him and whether Will allows himself to be vulnerable with Mike again.

[quirklessidiot]

title : cigarettes and parfaits [3] pairing : older!nanami kento x younger!reader [13 year age gap, ft toji fushiguro] Genre: romance, fluff, slice of life, josei, angst, comedy, strangers to lovers au

Summary: you’re pretty sure you’d remember marrying a man 13 years older than you, right?

Warnings: alcohol, smoking, mild smut, y/n making stupid decisions, everyones a human-au so yeh non-canon stuff and everyone’s happy (periODT) i keep forgeting to add that this isnt beta-rread..all of my stories arent so yeah shshs Notes: ah, i feel like this story will be lengthen more than 8-10 chapters shshshs i wanted to add a little spice anyways thanks for all the comments uwu ily all!

Masterlist || taglist || [prev ; next] [updates; every saturday!]

“Y/N-chan!!!”

You cringe in embarrassment as soon as you hear that awfully familiar and cheerful voice, you could barely remember this man and the events that transpired the night before but here he was, acting like your new best friend. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to go here but you needed clarity. Surely you didn’t just legally marry a man at an Izakaya out of all places last night?

“Oh, you actually did marry him.” Gojo Satoru proclaims as soon as you take a seat across him, he gestures around his face, “I could tell by your whole, ‘I hope this guy is messing with me’ face. You have it, signed and sealed. Even got the cute matchy rings that I had one of my assistants delivered.”

You pale at the thought of his assistant coming in with a silver ring. Wasn’t he sober? How could he not have stopped you two from doing something as reckless and stupid as this? Weren’t older men supposed to be more responsible than this?

“Why the hell didn’t you stop us?” You groaned, burying your face in your hands, embarrassment painted all over your features.

“I was just as drunk as you two.” He confessed, scratching his head, “probably even more drunk but anyways back to the topic in hand, I only remembered it when the same assistant came in and congratulated me about it. It’s good I had your number on my phone before you two bailed.”

“So you don’t really remember?”

“Bits and pieces.” Gojo grinned, this guy was a maniac, how did the serious man you met just this morning have friends like this? You probably wouldn’t even last long, “I did call Nanami-”

He’s cut off by the rough sound of someone pulling a chair out, you immediately jump on your seat when you realize it’s Nanami Kento, the guy from this morning. The man you had recklessly married!

“This better be some prank you’re pulling, Satoru.” His voice was anything but kind that you almost wanted to hide behind Gojo’s back.

“Hey, hey.” Gojo raises his hands, “Don’t look at me. I didn’t force you into anything and stop scaring your poor little partner.”

Nanami snaps his gaze towards you and you notice how his eyes soften just a bit when he sees your red ears and your eyes looking away from him, “You better call Geto and fucking fix this, I refuse to bother this young-”

“It’s fine.” You cut him off, still shy and red, “It’s...fine...I just…Please don’t think I’m burdened by it. It was technically my fault for even agreeing immediately.”

Nanami clenches his jaw and turns away, “Nevertheless. L/N-san’s young. I hope to not be such an uncouth man like you.” he retorts, voice sharp as he eyes the white-haired businessman up and down. Gojo, seemingly used to it, rolls his eyes behind his dark shades.

“Maybe you guys should try it out.”

The blonde man looks like he’s about to smite the white-haired man out of existence yet Satoru remains oblivious to his friend’s gaze, “Don’t ya think so? It will take a while for those divorce papers to settle in so why don’t you two go out and get to know each other? Who knows…” he sing-songs the last part and Nanami is so close to chunking his briefcase towards the tall businessman, not even caring 

“Ah, he’s not exactly wrong, Nanami-san.” you try to calm him down, placing a small hand on his broad shoulder.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually listening to this idiot’s idea.” Nanami replied, gaze narrowing.

“Not really but you have some problems I can help you out on and I have problems that you can help me out on...Of course, the last say is on you...”

“Told you I actually had a brain.” Satoru piped in.

“Shut up, Satoru.” he quips, then turns to you, “I’m thirteen years older than you, L/N-san. I have two high school kids that could pass off as your siblings, and-”

“Well, I technically did marry you.”

“You were drunk.”

“Doesn’t exactly really excuse it.” You laugh nervously, “The whole divorce process usually lasts up to a few months, some even takes a whole year. I could help you out with the boys and I can use you to ward my family off from moving back home.”

Nanami is quiet for a moment, actually thinking about it. Weighing the pros and the cons, not only would you be able to help him out but you’d also be able to get Gojo and blind-dating out of his back.

There really wasn’t anything he could loose, really.

“Or you two might fall in love.” Satoru teases, making Nanami throw him another side-eye, as if saying ‘I dare you to say another word.’

It’s a Thursday today and Sukuna absolutely loathed Thursdays     apparently because it reminded him of Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. They all were far from the weekend     Everyone seems to be happier than usual though. Maybe it was because you were there teaching some basic shit at the board or something.

“...and if we transfer this here and change the positive to a negative, you’ll end up having five as your answer.” You smile, placing your chalk down, “Does anyone have any questions?”

Echoes of no’s resonated throughout the room.

“Alright then, let’s end the lesson here so you guys can have an early lunch. I don’t think an assignment is in order since many of you were able to get a perfect score in the activity awhile ago.” You winked. A couple of whoops resonated throughout the whole class right after. 

As the kids shuffle out of the room of the class, Sukuna remains behind. The ojisan had cooked them something delicious this morning and he wanted to eat it in peace without that pesky Nobara grabbing a share from his bento and Yuuji’s annoying babbles about horror movies with his best friend Junpei (the only one who was really bearable was Megumi, really)

“Sukuna-kun?” you called out, snapping him out of his small trance,  “Are you alright?”

He notices a glint of worry in your eyes, he had to admit since his transfer here last Monday, you were the least annoying teacher in the academy     the blue-haired professor in Japanese literature was absolute shit since he loved to tease him a lot and that bald-headed teacher in science who looked a lot like Mike Wazowski was an annoying twerp who loved dawdling in him and Yuuji’s business     and you were kind of good at your job. Not only did his idiot of a brother stop coming to him and their ojisan for help in math but he could actually do the worksheets right and get an actual decent grade at it.

“Yeah.” he roughly replies.

“That’s good.” You smiled, he watched as you bind their worksheets together and clip them in utmost delicacy, “You should head to the cafeteria now, I heard they’re serving milk bread today.”

Without saying anything more, you left the room, leaving him there in the silence.

Well, the Christmas tree idiot was right.

You kind of had a motherly aura on you and it didn’t even look forced.

No wonder, everyone in this room was whipped for you despite your subject being a pain in the ass.

“You look like an idiot.” You mumbled as you slapped Mahito’s hand away in annoyance, your workmate wiggling his eyebrows like the little shit he is.

You completely forgot you did have someone like Gojo Satoru in your life and it was one of your co-workers, Mahito, a Japanese literature teacher who was too nosy for his own good.

“You’ve got a ring on your ring finger and a mailman comes in and gives you an invite for Zen’in Toji’s fortieth birthday.” he whistles, “Even Jogo-sensei gossiped by the water cooler awhile ago, saying that you had eloped with the man. Not that I’m judging you or anything...”

You choke on your saliva, clearly thrown off by the backhanded comment. That darn bald-headed fool that looked like the green eyed monster from the DreamWorks cartoon, he sure needed to lay off the gossip and actually focus on his job as the head of the science department, “You’re not denying it.” Mahito stated, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, “Why aren’t you denying it?”

“I’m not dating Megumi-kun’s father.” You grumbled, finishing up your paperwork, “That man is off limits.”

“Right,” he drawls on sarcastically, “...because you have a strict rule against dating hot older men with money.”

“I also teach his kids and his cousin…” You deadpan.

“We don’t even have a rule against that.” He retorts, rolling his eyes, “If we did, Hanami-sensei would’ve been fired a long time ago.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“And you’re so secretive. If it isn’t Toji Zen’in, who’d ask you out?”

“Hey, I do have a man.” You huffed, “and he’s very kind and considerate...”

The image of the tall and lean man sleeping next to you slowly wormed its way back from your memory and you feel your cheeks start to flush. Good god, what were you? twelve? How embarrassing.

You needed to get that image off of your head, it wasn’t right.

It was all temporary, anyways and he doesn’t even see you in that sort of way-

“Yes, I’m Sukuna and Yuuji Itadori’s guardian…” a very familiar stoic voice could be heard from the nearby table, cutting your thoughts short. Wait, were you so head over heels for the man that you started imagining him here? Yuuji and Sukuna’s guardian? Wait a minute.

All color drained from your face as you snap your head behind you to find the same man you were imagining.

Oh no.

Oh no, indeed.

There stood Nanami Kento in all his glory;  crisp suit, stoic face, and eyes laced with mild worry.

“...L/N-sensei is Sukuna-kun’s adviser, by the way. It would be best to discuss this with them.” Akari somberly informed the man, turning to your direction. You don’t miss the shift of expressions when he sees you standing there.

Your mouth parts and you know you look like gawking fish trapped in a small aquarium.

“Akari-sensei’s looking at you with the new hot daddy.” Mahito mumbles next to you, eyeing him up and down, “Definitely wonder where all these old men come from these days.”

You were only half-listening to your co-worker because your head was all over the place, just what were the odds that he was the guardian of the new transferee’s? Just how awkward would everything be? Why did it even have to be at this school out of all places?

Never ending questions pop out of your head as you approached them, “Good afternoon, Nanami-san.” Your smile comes out very stiff and awkward while you hold your hand out for him to shake, clearly there was no memo on how you were suppose to act around your sort-of-fake-husband-whos-kids-you-actually-taught.

Nanami reverts back to his stoic expression as he clears his throat, “Yes, good afternoon to you too, L/N-sensei.” he greets, maintaining a straight-laced tone.

“Akari-sensei says that Sukuna has been quite...rude...in class…” you try to rack your brains up to describe his kid.

“Your son literally pointed out that the history lesson I was teaching was fake and that I should study again so he could get his tuition’s worth.” Akari looks clearly perplexed and ready to throttle the boy if it was legal. You had to admit, Sukuna went overboard with that insult.

You knew how passionate Nitta was about her job and what Sukuna just said to her was like a big ‘fuck you, you suck.’ to her.

“I’ll be sure to talk to him about this,” he sighs, bowing down, “I’d like to ask for forgiveness for that, the boy is a good and smart student-”

“Nanami-san, the school not only cares about grades but character as well.” Akari Nitta sighed, cutting him off, “I’ll let this slide once, if he does that again, it goes on the record.”

You internally bit your cheek, still trying to process everything that was going on.

“I understand. Thank you for that.”

“I’ll walk him out, sensei.” You immediately say soon after, wanting to have some alone time with him, “Let’s go, Nanami-san.”

You walk right next to him silently, some students peerlessly glancing at the tall blonde next to you but you were too immersed in thought to notice the stares, “Nanami-san?” you ask softly as soon as you reach the exit.

Nanami Kento looks at you, his eyes still laced with a bit of worry, “It’s okay.” you silently comforted him, “Just talk to him calmly.”

“That’s not the problem.” he sighed, “I just didn’t expect that the person I married would be the boy’s teacher.”

You sweat drop, “Aren’t you worried about talking to Sukuna? I mean, he literally just disrespected a teacher and you said that he and you weren’t in good-”

“It’s easier to talk to him about that rather than…” he paused, showing his ring, “this.”

You blinked.

Seemed like Nanami knew what to say about the little attitude problem his son had, “So you must be used to this?” you asked, “Him disrespecting the teacher?”

You notice the shift of expressions on his face, you had only known this man for a few days so far but he was starting to get easier to read. His eyes shed more emotion than his face, no wonder he likes wearing those funny sunglasses a lot.

“It’s something I’ve scolded him over a couple of times,” he gruffed, trying to dance around the subject, it seemed like he had such a soft spot to the point where he had a problem with disciplining them, “At times I believe it’s just because he’s way too smart for his age. The boy has read history books for fun when he was a kid and solved quadratic equations to prove that he’s better than me when he was ten.”

“It still doesn’t give him the free pass to say things like that to a teacher”

“I know,” he acknowledged, “I’ll be sure to give him a better scolding-”

“No, you see. This is why he thinks he can get away with it. He isn’t afraid of you. You’ll only probably tell him that you can’t do that.” you frown, crossing your arms, “You do know that not all sensei’s are as nice as Akari-sensei and he could get in trouble for that even more in the future, right?”

Silence lingered between you two for a moment and suddenly you realize that you must’ve said something way off the rails.

“I..” you turn red, embarrassed by the sudden outburst, “That was too much, wasn’t it?”

You look at him directly in the eye, the worry-filled ones are now replaced with a softer gaze. God, he really needed to stop looking at you like a kid. It would only make this set-up more awkward!

“No,” he mumbles, “It...It wasn't too much…”

“Oh.” you cleared your throat, flustered and looking away from his face, “Well, okay then goodbye then Nanami-sa-”

You needed to get out of this conversation quick.

“Kento.”

Your gaze snaps directly towards him, clearly taken aback by the correction.

“What?”

“We’re technically married now, right?” he softly corrected, “Call me Kento.”

“Oh,” You uttered again, this time softly. You looked down on your shoes, it seemed like the floor looked really interesting now, “Then bye-bye, Kento.”

“Bye Y/N.”

He leaves you standing there, cursing yourself because of your erratic heartbeat at the way he says your name in that voice. First name basis? okay, totally normal for sort-of lovers, right?

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[marcspectrr]

A word or two on Kiara's mental health...

Before I attempt to summarize the 39 page slideshow living rent free in my brain, a preface! This will include spoilers for s2, as well as a few mentions of suicidal thoughts! Also. I love Kiara Carrera with all of my heart so if you're not a fan of her, you might wanna keep scrolling. If you don't vibe with her that's perfectly fine, but this post is heavy with Kiara appreciation, be warned, my respect for her runs deep. The choice is yours, of course, just understand that I'm writing this bc @yellowlaboratory among others have encouraged me to get it out there because it's all I've been thinking about since I watched s2. This is not to start anything.

(This is also not me hating on Pope because I genuinely like his character, he's just made some very questionable choices throughout the show, some I can forgive and some that still don't sit right with me.)

Deep breath, here we go.

It's no secret Kiara has been poorly handled by the writers and therefore the characters at times. We got little development in s1 compared to other main male characters, leaving us to fill in the gaps as far as her ambitions, motivations, family, overall interest in the boys, etc. While I do keep this in mind, I could rant about it for days so for this I'm going off of what we have as well as what's been implied.

Kiara didn't have the same upbringing as the boys but it's clear the Carrera's had/have their struggles. She's got her foot in both worlds, not quite 'rich' but not entirely 'poor', inevitably giving her a fragile sense of belonging and identity. 16 is a hard age even without societal pressures and growing up in a classist environment, but here is where we're assuming the boys come in. They give her a place to feel comfortable in her own skin, with shared interests and accepting her for who she is, which we know the kooks don't provide. Just being around them helps ease those deep insecurities, helps her form meaningful bonds. We weren't given an explicit scene where this was shown but over the course of the two seasons it's clear how she feels about them and what they do for her mentally.

Her relationship with the pogues, however, puts a rift between her and her parents. Mike and Anna clearly want what's best for Kie but it's also obvious they've struggled with her even before the pogues. Anna wants Kiara to have the things she never got growing up, breeding a disconnect since Kiara doesn't share in her mother's interests. This leads into my biggest problem with Kiara's arc in s2, which was how Anna and Mike were written. 

Yes, Kiara didn't/doesn't treat them the best but it went both ways -- they all failed at communicating. Instead of finding a common ground and compensating for the things Kiara cares about, Anna shuts her down and ignores her, leaving her to feel like a problem rather than a person, further perpetuating even less healthy communication. Kiara even says in s2 that's why she doesn't like going home, because it always means walking into an argument and not feeling accepted.

I sorta expected a little more understanding from Anna considering her own background with pogues but instead it backfired. And Mike...he didn't contribute much at all. They could've all done better and need some work. Kiara could be more grateful and Anna and Mike are the parents, the adults, they need to make the space feel safe to talk. Kie didn't just wake up one day and decide to act out and keep her parents in the dark all the time, that stems from not feeling listened to when she does try and open up.

Expanding on this with...the whole Blue Ridge plot. Moment of silence for the show neglecting to acknowledge the academy,  even though it clearly had a big impact on Kiara's life. In s1 we got a brief look into how her 'kook year' affected her and it was not good. More isolation, blurred identity, insecurity and this time suicidal thoughts, with no one to turn to for support, assuming she was not on good terms with her parents then either. I'm assuming this because for them to send her to the academy, hoping to give her better opportunities only for it to end with her wanting to cut her wrists, to then thinking the best option is to send her away again? At this point I hope they didn’t know how badly the academy affected her because sending her away a second time with that knowledge is such a hurtful and oblivious move.

Kiara already thinks her parents see her as a burden, hurting her sense of worth as is. I really wanted to like the Carrera's and I still feel like they genuinely love and care for Kie, I just need to see more communication maybe. And if they choose to include the Blue Ridge plot, which I'm leaning towards yes on that one, I hope it's handled somewhat well, preferably not a tool to create drama even though I know a lot of people want to see it be used that way. I'm very particular, I'm sorry I'm this way.

Things I've seen her being criticized for in s2 is her behavior. The thing that people have to remember is that she's 16 and teenagers are just not the best with navigating their emotions. She made questionable choices (the 'murderer' thing and 'abusing' Pope) but these are both things that fit the plot and her character. She was by no means the only one grieving so I don't know why she's being targeted for it (although I'm not surprised, the fandom treats her horribly). Some of her core characteristics are her high moral integrity as well as her headstrong belief in people and causes. She's never been one to make herself palatable for people and s2 shows a lot of this (calling out the Cameron's, going off in front of the court, etc). Even if it caused them problems and even if they are flaws, that doesn't make her an inherently intolerable character, it makes her realistic. She was not in a good place emotionally and it would've been wrong to shy away from depicting it any other way, especially in a show where the teenage experience is decently represented.

Now with the Pope thing. I think it was handled as well as it could've been considering the circumstances. It really should've never happened but to justify it, emotions are messy, relationships even messier and they were both spiraling at the end of s1. I don't agree with the way it started (why give Kie the line of literally telling him she wanted something different only to show them together next episode, I'm forever confused) but I'm not mad about how it ended. They were both in the wrong at times so only bringing up Kie's faults is just unfair.

I believe they both tried their best and even wanted to feel the right things but learned quickly that's not exactly how it works, which was how it was supposed to be shown. Not as this romanticized, idealistic healthy relationship but as one that has its bumps and was bred out of all the wrong things. All of their body language pointed towards this. Pope didn't deserve to be hurt but Kie clearly didn't intend for things to turn out how they did. She wasn't mentally comfortable enough for a relationship and I can appreciate them showing this in the ways the writers framed it. Even the conversation with Kie describing their night on the beach, I think it was perfect. It was awkward but it was honest, which is so important.

Overall, I think Kiara's gone through a lot mentally that the show could be better at exploring. It doesn't have to be big, obvious lingering shots, they can be subtle and still mean so much to people who relate to her. Seeing someone on screen grapple with real life struggles (even if the show walks a painfully fine line as far as realism), it means a lot. Especially when mental health (more prominent than ever) is so rarely portrayed to translate in any significant way in media now. It's definitely something I would love to see get more time and effort so until then, just know I'll be manifesting the screen time Kiara Carrera deserves.

[suituuup]

pieces - chapter eleven

Five years ago, Chloe dropped off the face of the Earth. Beca didn’t expect to see her again dancing in a strip club, out of all places.

rated: E (drug use and emotional abuse in early chapters)

ao3 link

*

Beca woke up the next morning to the birds singing, which was odd, until she remembered she wasn’t in NYC, but in Oregon, at Chloe’s parents’. A glance at her phone told her she had slept later than she usually did, and she burrowed herself deeper beneath the covers, exhaling a sigh. 

The smell of breakfast eventually lured out of the warm cocoon, and she made a stop at the bathroom before heading downstairs. 

Chloe’s mom was cooking at the stove, and she looked over her shoulder when Beca approached. “Oh, good morning, Beca. Did you sleep well?” 

Beca wasn’t usually one to talk in the mornings, at least not before she had her morning coffee, but she mustered a smile and made an effort. “Morning. Yes, thank you.” 

“Chloe told me you drank coffee in the morning. I put a mug out for you on the table, there’s fresh coffee in the pot. You like pancakes?” She asked as she flipped one in her pan. 

Beca could tell where Chloe (or at least college Chloe) got her morning energy from, and she stifled a chuckle as she moved to pour herself a much-needed cup. “Yeah. Pancakes sound great.” She leaned against the counter, cradling her mug between her palms. “Where’s Chloe?”

“Talking with her dad out on the back porch,” Alice said, adding the freshly made pancake to the pile. She turned off the stove and wiped her hands on her apron, focusing on Beca. “We didn’t have the chance to yesterday, but Mike and I wanted to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you did for Chloe. Thank you really doesn’t feel like enough. I’m not sure where she’d be without you.” 

“You really don’t need to thank me. I’m just glad she’s doing better.” 

“And for taking over those payments, too. It-- it feels like too much and…” 

Beca shook her head. “Like I said to Chloe, it really is okay, Mrs. Bea-- Alice. I don’t want to flaunt my money around, but I’m more than able to spare 2000 dollars a month, and I’m happy to spend it helping people who need it, like you and Mike. So please, accept it?” She smiled softly. “I know how much you mean to Chloe, and I’d do anything for her.” 

Before Alice could reply, the door at the back of the kitchen opened and Chloe stepped inside, holding it open to let her father wheel in. She cast Beca a smile. “Hey, you. Sleep well? Mom didn’t attack you with questions, did she? I told her you needed coffee first.” 

“I behaved myself,” Alice mumbled, sticking her tongue out before going back to her pancakes. 

Beca chuckled. “She did.” 

After breakfast, Beca helped herself to a shower, before Chloe whisked her away to show her around town. They drove down the main street, and Chloe parked in front of the local high school, cutting the ignition and stepping out. . 

“I feel like you were Head Cheerleader,” Beca said as she shut the door. The smell of the ocean made her smile and breathe in deeply. It was really nice to get out of the city for a bit. 

Chloe smirked, shaking her head as they headed down the sidewalk of what looked like the main street. “Nope.” 

“Softball? You had to be some sort of athlete.” 

“Wrong again.” 

Beca hummed as she thought. “Track?” 

Chloe slipped her hands inside her jacket pockets, walking backward so she was facing Beca. “You’re looking at Oregon’s 400m State Champion for the year 2006.” 

Beca’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? How come you never told me that??” 

Chloe’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Never came up. I’ll show you my trophy when we get home.” She pointed across the street. “This is the cafe my friends and I went to every weekend to gossip about the boys.” 

“Gossiping about boys, huh?” Beca asked, smirking. “Who was your high school crush?” 

“This guy named Ian. He was on the swimming team.” 

Beca cut her a glance. “You guys ever dated?” 

“He asked me out once. Then he asked another girl to prom. I was heartbroken.” 

“Aw.” Beca grinned. “Did you cross off the love doodles featuring his name from your notebooks while belting out to songs from your break-up playlist?”

Chloe shoved her shoulder as Beca laughed. “Shut up. I didn’t have a break-up playlist.” 

“But you had one for songs you liked getting off to?” Beca couldn’t help but tease. “Weirdo.” 

A bright laugh burst past Chloe’s lips. “I can’t believe I burst into your shower.” 

A fond smile spread across Beca’s features at the memory. “And I can’t believe I still auditioned knowing my stalker was part of the group.” 

“I wasn’t a stalker!” Chloe cried, her jaw-dropping. She giggled. “I just… sort of ignored the boundaries.” 

“Which is what stalkers do,” Beca pointed out with another smirk. “It’s cool. I’m glad you did, in hindsight. I got to meet the people who would end up becoming my best friends for life.” 

Chloe narrowed her eyes, amusement flashing in her features. “When did you get so cheesy?” 

A groan flitted past Beca’s lips. “Ugh. Gross, right?” 

As Chloe laughed, Beca realized how much she had missed the banter. Every little piece of Chloe Beale surfacing never failed to make her smile. 

Chloe’s step faltered when they came across a baby shop, her eyes lingering on the window. 

Beca smiled, nudging Chloe’s shoulder with her own. “We can go in if you want?” 

A matching smile spread across Chloe’s features as she nodded, and they both stepped inside the medium-sized store.

“Jesus, kids need that much stuff?” Beca asked as she glanced around the various items, muttering an apology when the employee glanced at her. 

Stifling a giggle, Chloe headed to the onesie section and browsed through the rack. “Oh Bec, look,” she said, holding up a simple, white onesie that read little bean in cool lettering. The smile that lit up Chloe’s face as she looked at the item was the first one Beca had seen reach her eyes since Chloe had been back in her life and the sight of it made her heart swell.

Chloe must have felt her staring, and she glanced up curiously. “What?”

“Nothing,” she cleared her throat. “You’re just… glowing.”

“I think you should get it,” she added not to make it awkward. “It’s adorable.”

After their stop at the store, she and Chloe headed to the wharf for lunch. It was a sunny, warm spring day, and they sat on a bench in front of the sea to eat their sandwiches as Chloe shared more memories about growing up in her hometown. 

“So how did you and Sarah meet?” Chloe asked following a lull in the conversation. 

Beca finished chewing her bite and swallowed, washing it down with a sip of soda. “I used to go to the coffee shop pretty often for lunch. We would talk for a bit each time. I was clueless to her flirting, it was only when she left her number that I realized she was into me.” 

Chloe chuckled, eyeing her with a raised eyebrow. “You? Clueless to flirting? That doesn’t sound right.” 

Beca’s eyes rolled skyward as she fought back a smile. “Bite me, Beale.” 

Chloe giggled. “Sorry. She seems like a great girl, though.” 

“Yeah,” Beca breathed out, trying to ignore the way her stomach flipped. “She really is.” 

And she meant that. She cared a lot about Sarah, but ever since their talk about a month ago, she had been questioning her own commitment to their relationship, going back and forth about what she wanted. The fact that she had been so oblivious about Sarah’s needs to take the next step because she felt comfortable with where they were at was the first red flag that she wasn’t all in. 

People should feel the need to move forward after fourteen months together, right? 

Sarah was kind, funny, loving, and everything Beca imagined in a significant other, but whenever she found herself trying to picture their life down the road, two, five, ten years from now, her mind went blank. 

“You okay?” Chloe asked, her head tilted as she gazed at Beca. 

“Yeah,” Beca breathed out, shaking those thoughts out of her head and focusing back on Chloe. She cleared her throat. “What’s next on the list, Beale?” 

After buying ice-creams from her favorite shop, Chloe took her to her favorite beach, and they headed home around three, as Chloe felt like taking a nap. 

Over the next two days at her parents’, they baked, took walks in the forest or by the sea, and had movie nights with Alice and Mike. Beca made sure to give the three some family time as well, spending a couple of hours every day working on her laptop in the guest room. 

That last night in Oregon, she found Chloe on the swingset in the garden, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Beca approached with two hot chocolates, handing one over before lowering herself on the other swing. 

“I’ve yet to find a prettier sky than this one,” Chloe mused aloud, craning her neck to look at the starry darkness above them as she cradled her mug between her palms. 

“It’s pretty dope,” Beca agreed softly. She glanced at Chloe, and finally plucked the courage to word the thought that had been going in a loop in her mind since their first night in Newport. “Have you given some thought about moving back here?” 

She was hoping Chloe would stay with her, to be completely honest. They had just rekindled, and Beca didn’t want her to live on the other side of the country. She could also feel some sort of attachment to Bean, which sounded ridiculous as they weren’t even born yet. But she also understood that Chloe might want to be with her parents, someplace that is close to her heart.

“I don’t know yet,” Chloe admitted, clearing her throat. “I’m concerned about disrupting their lives with a newborn baby. Mom’s already got so much on her plate with taking care of dad, and I don’t know if me being around while I’m still recovering is the smartest idea, with my dad feeling so guilty. I want him to focus on his health. But I guess it would be simpler, right? For you, I mean.” 

Beca shook her head. “I told you you could stay as long as you’d like. My place is your home, and I…” she cleared her throat, shrugging as her gaze flickered back to the stars. “I like having you around.”

“I like living with you, too,” Chloe admitted, smiling softly. “And I like my therapist and my NA group.” 

And having a routine was essential for a recovering addict. 

“Then it feels like a no-brainer,” Beca concluded.

“What about Sarah?” Chloe asked after a moment. “Are you sure she’s okay with me living with you?” 

The mention of Sarah made Beca’s heart squeeze with guilt. The last few days only further confirmed how she felt. She wasn’t missing her like she was probably supposed to, even though it had been ten days since they had last seen one another, as Beca had been too busy to do anything besides working, eating and sleeping that week leading up to their trip. 

She had been sending Sarah check-in texts because she felt like she had to, not because she wanted to. 

Beca needed to sack up and be honest with Sarah, something she had been delaying because she was a coward and terrified of breaking her heart. But she knew deep down she was doing more harm than good right now by running away from how she truly felt. 

She knew deep down, that Sarah deserved someone better.  

“Yeah,” she replied absent-mindedly, swallowing, then mustering a smile. “Don’t worry about that.” 

She sent a text to Sarah later that night, asking if she could come over after they landed in NYC tomorrow night. The following morning, she and Chloe grabbed an early breakfast, as they needed to be in Portland at ten. 

“You’re welcome back here anytime, Beca,” Alice said, pulling back from the hug. 

A genuine smile spread across Beca’s features. “Thanks, Alice.” 

“Bye dad,” Chloe murmured, leaning in to hug him tightly. 

Mike closed his eyes and hugged her back. “Safe travels, Chlobear. Love you.” 

“Love you, too. So much.” She embraced her mom next, echoing the same sentiment before sliding into the passenger seat and shutting the door behind her. 

Beca slid behind the wheel and started the car, pulling out of the driveway and onto the main road as Chloe waved to her parents. 

“You okay?” She asked after a moment, glancing at Chloe briefly. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Chloe replied with a firm nod. “Thanks for coming with me.” 

“No problem. A break from the city was pretty nice.” 

They landed in NYC a little bit after 8 pm. Beca had the cabbie drop Chloe off at her apartment, then headed to Sarah’s, riding the elevator to her floor. 

She knocked on the door and stepped back, wiping her sweaty palms over the denim of her jeans. Her stomach was in knots, and she wished she could fast-forward the next twenty minutes or so. The door swung open a few seconds later, Sarah standing on the other side. 

“Hey you,” she greeted with a small smile. 

“Hey,” Beca murmured, kissing Sarah’s cheek out of habit. “How was your day?” 

“Same old,” Sarah said as she shut the door, then moved towards the kitchen. “How was the trip? You want a beer?”

“It was nice,” Beca replied as she followed, leaning against the counter. “No thanks, I’m good.” She took a deep breath, knowing she had to do this now before she chickened out. 

“What’s up?” Sarah asked as she closed the fridge and turned around, leaning against the opposite counter.

Beca cleared her throat, nibbling on the inside of her cheek. “So, um. I’ve been thinking a lot about us moving in together and I…” Honesty. Honesty was the best policy. Rip off the band-aid. “I don’t see myself getting there.”

Sarah visibly swallowed, and she nodded slowly, glancing down at the floor for a few beats. Given her reaction, Beca could tell she had been sort of expecting it.

“I’m sorry,” Beca murmured, a lump rising in her throat. “I know I gave you false hope by saying we would figure something out, I just wasn’t sure how I felt up until recently.” She grimaced. “The last thing I want is to hurt you. But you deserve someone who can be all in.”

The tear running down Sarah’s face broke Beca’s heart. She blinked back her own, exhaling slowly. 

“Like you seem to be all in with Chloe?” Sarah asked quietly, stunning Beca into silence. 

“What?” 

Sarah’s eyes rolled towards the ceiling. “You’re oblivious to that, too?” When Beca didn’t say anything, she released a soft laugh. It was anything but humorous. “I see the way you look at her, Bec. I know the both of you living together was something that just happened because Chloe didn’t have anywhere to stay, but I can tell you like having her around. I can tell you have feelings, even if you don’t seem to realize it yet. I was hoping I was wrong, but you not hesitating on going on that trip when we hadn’t seen each other in over a week made it pretty clear that Chloe would always come first.” 

Beca’s brain was stuck on the first part. Did she really look at Chloe differently? Feelings? She cared about her, sure, but-- “That’s not—”

Sarah swiped her palm over her cheeks, nodding. “And you’re right. I deserve someone who looks at me the way you look at Chloe. Like I’m their person. Someone who loves me as much as I love them.” 

“Me ending things doesn’t have anything to do with Chloe,” Beca said softly, truly believing that. She knew the next words were going to sting, but she needed Sarah to believe it, too. “I just… don’t see this going anywhere.” She hung her head, feeling like the worst person in the world for breaking someone’s heart. “I’m sorry, Sarah.” 

“Yeah. Me, too.” Sarah cleared her throat, pinching her lips together for a moment, seemingly trying to keep a hold on her emotions. “I think you should go.” 

Beca nodded, another apology laying on the top of her tongue. She swallowed it back knowing it probably wouldn’t make Sarah feel any better, and pushed to her feet, quietly walking out of Sarah’s apartment.

[letsgetusaghostfriend]

A Green Day concert, a bloody nose and a coming out – Sunset Curve & Green Day I

Summary: Luke and Bobby got them tickets for the Green Day show in LA on November 2nd 1994, also known as the night Billie Joe punched a homophobe and Alex came out to the guys.

Friendship fic, super Alex & Bobby centred, Luke and Reggie are not straight but don’t know that yet. Also, I know most people think Alex came out way earlier, but he has to not be out for this story to work.

((warnings: homophobia, homophobic language (not fully written out except in the band name of the opening act), slight violence, mentioned: alcohol, underage drinking (I am german, so for me it’s not underage drinking but yeah), in general: swearing))

word count: 4.9k, read here on AO3 x

~

Luke and Bobby got four tickets for the Green Day show in LA on November 2nd in 1994, it was one of Green Day’s bigger shows at that time. The boys previously have been to other concerts of the band, but the last one was in a small club in ’92, of course, all four of them being way too young for that place. Luke and Reggie were the first ones out of their group to get fake ID’s, mainly to go to gigs and play gigs. In the beginning, Alex thought he would never do the same, too scared of possible consequences, but then Luke used his stupid puppy eyes. (They still work even after Alex crush died, dead and buried). And if he was being honest, it was really helpful for playing clubs if the owners can at least pretend that they believe the four boys are old enough to be there.

Alex was aware that Green Day’s opening act, Pansy Division, was an all-gay band. And he was excited and scared at the same time. He found out because this one kid in his English class, Josh, went to the San Diego show earlier that week and told one of his friends that he shouldn’t go to the LA show as Green Day was just a bunch of “f*g lovers” and not worth their time. So Alex was scared: what if his friends would say the same thing?

They arrive late and the line is massive, Alex anxiety pitches in and reminds him that if it takes too long for them to get inside, he might miss Pansy Divisions performance. Logically he knows that they wouldn’t start letting people in so late that the opening band already starts when most people are not inside yet, but his anxiety is not that into logical thinking. He can’t help being fidgety, at one point Luke noticed and asks him if the crowd is making him uncomfortable. “Yeah, a little bit” Alex responds, not wanting further questions about why he was so anxious. The boys keep close to the bar, staying in the back first, not too excited to get into the crowd just yet. Alex knows the others would be inside the first mosh pit if it wasn’t for his anxiety, but not once did they show any signs of annoyance about his hesitancy. They just patiently wait for Alex to get used to the crowd and atmosphere, never angry when he has a bad day and he never signals that it is okay for them to go into the more crowded areas. Sometimes, especially when Luke doesn’t know where to put his energy he and Reggie go, but they always make sure that at least one person stays with Alex. He probably should tell them how thankful he is for this more often (the others would disagree here since they feel like Alex thanks them too much).

When Pansy Division started playing Alex didn’t expect them to actually sing about hooking up with guys at rock concerts, loving men, having real, deep and meaningful relationships and just, in general, doing normal daily life stuff, living with a boyfriend and how it feels after a breakup. He feels so excited, almost jumping up and down to the beat, not able to put his excited energy out on the drums like he would if it was their own concert. Alex completely forgets to check the guys for any reactions, too involved in the music. He doesn’t see that the other three boys enjoy Pansy Divisions music just as much as he does. He doesn’t see Bobby eyeing him from the side, a knowing glint in his eye.

Alex doesn’t know that Bobby saw the way Alex would look at Luke when they were 14, at Brian from History when they were 15, and how he sometimes looks at pictures from Billie Joe Armstrong in magazines. Bobby also didn’t miss Alex’ obsession with the song Coming Clean. The other boys sometimes forget about how Bobby’s parents are genuine open-minded people, who introduce him to a lot more diverse people than his friends’ parents do. So yes, maybe Alex was discreet enough for Mr Luke Oblivious Patterson and Captain Reg Oblivious Peters, and his parents who anyway only see what they want to see, but not for Bobby. Bobby, who might from an outsider’s perspective looks like he is standing a bit outside this friendship group due to him being less loud and sociable than his friends, but Bobby who loves his friends with all his heart, Bobby who truly sees his friends and knows that this is where he belongs. Seeing the absolute bliss, happiness and excitement streaming from Alex like waves is contagious.

After Pansy Division finished their set and there was a short break before Green Day would start theirs, Bobby slips from their group, mumbling that he would get another beer. Instead, he goes to buy Pansy Divisions EP, because the band was genuinely good but mostly because he knows Alex wouldn’t buy it, but he will definitely want it. On his way to the little corner where they sell the Green Day merch as well as Pansy Division stuff, Bobby realises that it was actually packed, but he soon saw that it was just a long long line for the Green Day merch. Actually, there are so many people he can’t even see the Green Day merch salesperson. He manages to get to the guy who took care of the Pansy Division stuff, he greets him with a head nod and a short “hey”, while scrambling his money out of his pant pockets to count it. He’ll have to nick a bit off of Luke’s beer later, not having enough money left to buy another one. When he reaches out to hand out the money for the CD somebody joins the guy who cared for the merch. Bobby recognises that it’s the singer of Pansy Division and he smiles at him. “Great performance, really enjoyed you guys’ music!”. The singer grins at that and holds out his left hand, which Bobby finds a bit strange, but takes it nonetheless.

“Jon, nice to meet you.”

“Bobby, pleasure is all mine.”

“Ah, you’re a musician yourself!” Jon says while checking out Bobby as if he could tell whether the kid in front of him was any good based on his appearance. It took the guitarist a second to realise that Jon must’ve felt his calloused fingers from playing the guitar during the handshake. “Yeah, I’m actually here with my bandmates.” A voice in his head, that sounds suspiciously like Reggie tunes in with “We’re Sunset Curve, tell your friends.” But Bobby pretty much felt like a child trying to play in the adults’ league, so he doesn’t say anything else. Jon grabs the CD he was about to buy and opens it while asking “So Bobby, is the CD for you or someone else?” Taken aback by that question Bobby tells him without thinking “We kind of always share records. Em, so maybe Sunset Curve?” Jon who was about to sign the inside of the CD case, pauses and looks up again “You’re in Sunset Curve?”

“Yeah, rhythm guitar.” He answers without much of a thought, it takes him two seconds then he adds: “You’ve heard of us?” Jon chuckles at Bobby’s shocked tone.

“Saw you play a few months ago. Didn’t remember your name till Mike mentioned one of your songs, always called you “the band with the cute drummer” actually.” Jon casually explained to a still shell-shocked Bobby. The comment about Alex makes him choke on his own spit though. Jon smirks, but before he can say more Bobby’s mouth starts talking before his brain gave its okay: “You saw us well enough to say that Alex is cute, but you didn’t recognise me?” After the words left his mouth, he feels his face heat up.

‘Way to embarrass yourself by having too much of an ego, Robert, great job’, he thought to himself. But Jon again laughs it off, as if he made a funny joke, smirks and asks if Alex was here tonight.

“He is,” Bobby says, voice cold, “he is also sixteen.”

Now it was Jon’s time to look embarrassed. “Oh shit, never mind then.” He pauses. “Sixteen is a bit young to play that club you played, isn’t it?” He pauses again. “You guys take this whole music thing seriously, I like that!”

More at ease again after Jon’s reaction to Alex’ age, Bobby’s brain finally catches up with everything Jon said before he called Alex cute.

“Wait, Mike as in Mike Dirnt? As in Mike Dirnt mentioned one of our songs?” he asks astounded. Jon laughs at the utter bewilderment that the younger one’s face was showing. But before he could say something about it a loud voice behind Bobby sneers: “Oh look at that, Bobby the f*g lover.” He turns around and sees Andrew from his math class. “Always knew at least one of you would be a shirt lifter!”

Bobby tries to take a deep breath before he answers but Jon beats him to it. “I would really think people were clever enough to listen to lyrics, but you still find the poser ones at these concerts, especially since Dookie got Green Day so popular outside of the scene!” Bobby needed a few seconds to realise that Jon wasn’t even talking to Andrew but instead just talked about him to Bobby and the guy selling the merch.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that you fucking fairy!” Andrew sneers, stepping closer to Jon. As soon as Andrews anger is directed towards Jon and not Bobby anymore, the guitarists fight instinct kicks in.

“Fairy? Really?” he asks Andrew with a snigger in his voice, “Didn’t know we live in the 50s, Andrew. Learned all these terms from your daddy?” Bobby tries to make his voice sound as degrading as possible. For a second it seems like Andrew might shut up and leave but then Jon starts laughing loudly about Bobby’s comments and before anyone can react Andrew takes a swing and hits Jon right on the mouth. Without thinking, Bobby copies his action and the next thing he knows is that his hand hurts and Andrew has a red square on the side of his face. He glares at the guitarist and strikes again. This time the fist hits Bobby’s nose and he sees black stars in front of his eyes for a few seconds. After that, all hell is breaking loose and Bobby is being pushed around for what feels like a few minutes before he gets pulled aside and finds himself behind the selling booth with Jon by his side who has a busted lip that is still bleeding. Jon has a hand on the teen's shoulder and looks worried at him. “Fuck your nose does not look too good!” he says. Hearing the words Bobby brings his hand up to his nose and winces when he feels a sharp pain as soon as his fingers touch his nose. “Fuuuuuuuuck, Alex is going to kill me!” he groans at the thought of how the blond will react to seeing Bobby like this.

“Hey man, good punch you got on the dickhead there!” an excited voice states beside Bobby, which makes him turn his head probably a bit too quick, considering he just got punched in the face a few minutes before. But the guitarists' instincts were right: standing beside him was no other than Green Days’ singer, Billie Joe Armstrong. The blond (with fading blue in his hair) is smiling at Bobby and continues with “but I think mine was even better” while pointing at something behind Bobby, who turns around just in time to see security carrying a half-conscious Andrew out of the venue.

“You know that guy?”

“He goes to my school!” Bobby answers, still in awe looking after Andrew.

“Oh, you need to tell me about how he looks tomorrow, man I don’t miss high school but I’d love to go to school just to see that!” Billie Joe tells him and Jon, still sounding way too excited. When Bobby turns around again to look at the two musicians in front of him, he catches Jon telling Billie Joe that Bobby is part of the band they talked about the other day. Somehow getting even more excited by the news he fully turns back to Bobby. “Love that! We need more good people in this scene so we can make sure the music stays clean of dudes like that! Well, it was lovely punching homophobes with you Bobby, but I actually have a concert to play!”

And with that Billie Joe is gone through the door leading to the backstage area and Bobby looks at Jon hoping that he can find answers with him (like is he hallucinating?) but he just chuckles at the teenagers in awe face and takes the CD Bobby wanted to buy all along, as well as the money he had already paid and hands both back at the teen with the words “I think you paid enough for this already, thanks for sticking up for me!” And adding, when Bobby tries to give the money back again, “You better go so your bandmates don’t worry and you don’t miss the Green Day show!” Bobby thanks him and with a smile he makes his way back to the other boys while putting the money and the CD into his pockets.

When Alex finally sees Bobby come back to them, he feels relief washing over him. Alex always hates it when they split especially if one of them is on their own and Bobby has been gone for way too long. The first thing Alex notices is that Bobby doesn’t carry any beer or anything else that he could’ve brought from a bar, the second thing is that Bobby’s nose is bleeding. The easing relief is instantly replaced by worry as Alex's brain catches up with his eyes. As soon as the guitarist reaches them Alex starts searching his fanny pack for tissues and anything else that can help with a bloody nose, all while berating Bobby about getting into a fight. Reggie and Luke excitedly ask Bobby about it, but when their bleeding bandmate tries to tell them about what happened Alex just shushes him and gestures for him to look up so that he can take a better look at his nose. While Alex is still cleaning up Bobby’s face the crowd starts cheering and Alex turns around quickly to confirm his suspicion that the main act finally made it on stage. He keeps on cleaning his friends face from now slightly dried blood when he hears Billie Joe's voice over the speakers.

“Sorry guys, I know we’re late, but I had to punch a homophobe…” The rest of the sentence does not reach Alex’ brain as he looks at one of his best friends, whose nose was bleeding after obviously being punched and all he can hear is white noise, while the realisation, that Bobby being the homophobe who was just punched by Green Days’ singer, sets in. He feels a sharp sting in his chest all while feeling overwhelmed by fear, cold naked fear. And his thoughts race through his brain, too fast to actually make any sense, all he knows is that his worst nightmare seems to be coming true: the people he trusts the most will eventually leave him. They will hate him. They will think he is disgusting, and they will leave him. Unconsciously he takes a step back from Bobby, taking both his hands off his friends face but before he can totally spiral into his thoughts, he is caught by Bobby who holds the drummer by his wrists and looks at him like Alex offended him deeply.

“Seriously?” Bobby’s voice comes out sharper than he probably intended, softening his tone as he sees Alex flinch at him, “You actually think I am homophobic? Fuck Alex do you really think that poorly of me?” The guitarists' words and face are both filled with what Alex can only describe as hurt. Bobby attempts to say more but he is cut off by Billie Joe's voice coming over the speakers saying his name.

“A special thanks to Bobby from Sunset Curve! Make sure you check them out they’re a local band that’ll make it big one day, I’ll promise you! I swear, give them less than a year and they’ll be playing here on this very stage! Thanks, Bobby, for helping me punch a dickhead!” And with that they start into their first song, leaving the boys standing completely mind blown in the back, each one trying to comprehend what just happened. After a few seconds, Reggie, Luke and Alex all turn to Bobby with questioning faces, but Bobby concentrates on Alex’ face. “Do you believe me now?” When Alex nods the, still bleeding, guitarist feels relief wash over him. “Good! Because I already have your Christmas present and I literally know no one else who has the same taste that you have!” He actually manages to make Alex smile with his stupid comment, feeling like they might be okay again, he holds onto Alex’ sleeve, needing something to ground him, knowing that Alex is uncomfortable with public affection. He turns to Luke and Reggie who as soon as they have his attention try to bombard him with questions, but he stops them and promises to tell them later.

___

After the concert:

When they leave the venue, a wave of, for L.A. unusually cold air, hits Bobby’s face and clears his head a little, making it easier to think about everything that had happened. As he was the first one out of the four to step out in the cold air, he takes a deep breath before turning around to see the other three boys walk up to him. He notices that Alex pulls his jean jacket tighter around his body, clearly not enjoying the cold air as Bobby does. He smiles at Bobby and then follows Reg and Luke who started walking towards the side street where they parked the van before the concert. The two boys talk animatedly about the Green Days show, analysing every detail. Seeing one of their favourite bands live did distract the two enough for them to not ask any further questions, right now. Alex smile tells Bobby that the same did not count for the blonde boy. Bobby jogs up to Alex to walk beside him, but when he tries to initiate a conversation with his bandmate, the blonde just shakes his head and mumbles, that he has things to think, but as if to calm Bobby down, Alex takes his hand and squeezes it before they reach their van. The van they brought because they actually started to be able to book enough gigs to pay for it (and to actually need it), they all paid for it, even though they don’t talk about the fact that Bobby paid the biggest part, with him having the only parents who actually support the band.

Bobby is driving, with Alex in the passenger seat lost in his thoughts and Luke and Reggie in the back, trying to get Bobby to finally tell them about what happened at the venue. The guitarist promises to tell them as soon as they arrive at the garage, but despite the impatience from Luke and Reggie to find out about everything they still have a quick stop at a small diner on their way home to get their after-concert food.

Alex, Reggie and Luke all go straight for the couch while bobby prefers sitting on the floor, facing them. For a few seconds they all munch happily but soon Luke starts bugging Bobby about what happened at the club, so he puts his sandwich aside and takes a short breath. He doesn’t know where to start, he kind of wants Alex to know that he got the CD for him, but he doesn’t want to put any pressure on Alex, nor does he want the other two to find out about Alex liking boys before Alex wants them to.

“So,” Bobby starts, “we all really liked Pansy Division, right?” he asks with a nervous laugh tinting his words. He looks at the three boys on the couch for confirmation and gets it from two of the boys while Alex looks like he gets scared by the simple indication that he might have really liked the queer band they all saw tonight. Bobby acts like he didn’t see it while deciding, that he won’t tell the blond that Jon was hitting on him. That might be a bit much information for one night. “Well, I thought,” he continues while pulling out the CD he brought earlier “I’ll get us their CD.” He waves the CD then places it on the table in front of the couch so the guys can look at it.

“And that’s where I met one of the band members, Jon, he is the singer.” He looks up at his friends who all stare at him with a mixture of shock and curiosity on their faces, even Alex nervousness seems replaced. ‘I didn’t even get to the really shocking parts yet’, Bobby thought to himself.

“Okay, so we got talking, he found out I play in a band and when he asks for a name to use to sign the CD I just said Sunset Curve, because we always share records, like I mean I don’t even know who owns what anymore!” Luke looks dead serious while nodding his head, Alex starts smiling slightly and Reggie looks like he is trying really hard to separate their shared music collection in his head.

“Anyway, it turns out he saw one of our shows earlier this year and apparently, he was talking about one of our songs with Mike, but before you get too excited, I couldn’t ask him about it because that dick Andrew from my math class interrupted us. He called me a – eh, never mind” he stops himself, giving Alex a short glance – “he started calling me and Jon names and I kind of started making fun of him for using really outdated terms and when Jon laughed about that, Andrew hit him and then I hit Andrew and he hit me back and suddenly everything got crazy. Next thing I know is that I am behind the merch booth with Jon and Billie Joe Armstrong, and Andrew is being carried outside by security.” He tries to rush the words out fast enough so that Luke doesn’t stop him because of the band being recognised and Alex doesn’t stop him because he hit someone.

“And then Billie Joe finds out I am in Sunset Curve and he says something about it being good that more good people will keep the scene going or something and then he pretty much left to play the show and Jon gave me the CD and I went back to you guys so you wouldn’t worry too much.” When he finally finishes his story, he is staring at three really shocked looking faces.

“Mike Dirnt and Billie Joe both know of Sunset Curve?”

“Who knew Bobby is such a badass!”

“You hit Andrew?”

All three started talking at the same time, but then Alex stands up and he looks real mad and everyone else shuts up. Bobby looks at him. “Alex, I didn’t plan to, it just happened. I got so mad when he started calling Jon these awful names and when he hit him, I just snapped.”

“What about our no fighting rule, huh?”

“So, when someone is being super homophobic, I am just supposed to do nothing?”

At that moment Bobby realises that Alex didn’t process until now that Andrew was using homophobic slurs against Bobby and Jon. He sees Alex anger vanish from him in mere seconds, replaced by fear and sadness settling in his eyes. Lips pressed into a thin line Alex sits down on the couch again. It breaks Bobby’s heart to see his friend like this. They all stay silent for a while.

“What did he say?” Alex asks with a voice so quiet Bobby almost misses it.

“Alex,” he sighs, “I am pretty sure you don’t want to know!”

With that Alex's eyes, which were glued to his hands before, snap up and meet Bobby’s. “You know, don’t you?” Alex asks Bobby, seemingly completely forgetting that the other boys are in the room.

Bobby does not know what to answer, not wanting to make Alex come out because he feels like he has to, or because Bobby figured it out already. “I only know what you want me to know, everything else is just a hunch.” He finally settles on.

Alex laughs. “So, you definitely know, and I actually thought I was being subtle.”

“I still love you, you know that, right?” Bobby just needs Alex to know that. Even if this is a weird one, Bobby wants this to be the reaction Alex gets for his first coming out.

It takes Alex a few seconds but finally, he looks up again, searching Bobby’s face for any trace of him lying. As Alex realises that the boy in front of him means what he said he feels like the biggest wave of relief washes over him. This, black-haired, awkward and quiet boy in front of him, who buys CD’s from queer bands, punches one of his classmates because he was being a homophobic bigot to a complete stranger and whose first reaction to Alex half-assed coming out is to tell him that he still loves him. This boy, who is so uncomfortable with most people touching him, who still wants to hold all of their hands all the time, calling them grounding. This boy, who would probably punch more people to protect them because he gets crazy protective about the people he cares about. And suddenly it’s difficult not to start crying and Alex feels like his voice will break if he tries to talk so he just nods.

And in that second, knowing he has Bobby on his side for this, he decides that he wants them all to know. So, he gets up from the couch and “gets on the runway” as Luke likes to call Alex’ nervous walking occasionally. After walking up and down three times, he suddenly stops, turns to Luke and Reg who look super confused by what is happening and he blurts out “Iamgay” so fast that there was no way that any of the guys could’ve understood a single word. So, he takes a deep breath and repeats: “I am gay” while standing there, eyes closed, and breath held.

“Oh, that…” Luke starts, but he gets interrupted by Reggie who says: “That makes so much sense, that is why you were staring at Brian so much last year! That really confused me, man!”

“I was... I was not staring at Brian Denver!” Alex sputters embarrassment creeping in his cheeks.

“You totally were, you even knew who Reg was talking about right away!” Luke laughs and gets up to pull Alex in a big hug, squeezing him tight. Reggie gets a hold of them and pulls them down on the couch where he squeezes between them, and wooshes through Alex’ hair affectionately. Alex, now half sitting on the couch and half lying on Reggie looks up to Bobby, who stands awkwardly in front of the couch. As the other two notice Bobby as well they all kind of freeze in their cuddle pile. Even as Bobby was more comfortable touching his bandmates than he was with touching his parents, or literally anyone else, he still never expressed any interest in being part of a cuddle pile before. Seeing how all of his friends stopped as he approached, the guitarist started taking a step back, but Alex stopped him by holding out his hand for Bobby to take. It takes him a few seconds but finally, he lets himself being pulled on top of Alex into the cuddle pile and even though it feels strange at first he likes the feeling of Alex’ soft t-shirt under his cheek, Reggie’s arm around his waist and the smell of Luke’s cologne.

Later that night Bobby snatches a picture of his best friends still cuddling on the couch hours later, now all fast asleep. He hasn’t shown that picture to anyone except for his daughter when she finds out about the band 25 years later and he decides to tell her about the loves of his life, even if most people wouldn’t recognise them as it since it was purely platonic love. And even though he got married, he never loved anyone as much, with the exception of his daughter, as he loved the three boys who left him when he was just 17 years old.

The next day Bobby snatches a picture of Andrews black eye. He shows that picture to Billie Joe, backstage at an event he attempts without his best friends after the man recognises him as the kid with whom he punched a homophobe. After that Bobby leaves the event early, not being able to hold up the image of Trevor, too consumed by grieve and guilt. Guilt over not being able to protect them. Guilt over not dying with them. Guilt over using their songs.

[soulwillower]

crush culture • richie tozier

(richie tozier x reader)

requested: fic where Richie and reader have been best friends since kindergarten, and have always had feelings for eachother secretly, until one day richie gets a girlfriend (just to take his mind off her), and the reader gets jealous and distances herself from him? he obviously gets upset by this- and things go on from there? sorry if it’s too specific! love u!

warnings: swearing, brief mentions of death, fighting, mentions of an abusive relationship, intentionally pissing off richie, a bit of angst, richie is an oblivious idiot, but reader is MUCH more of an idiot, like dude lmao, but i think that’s it, unedited tho

this isn’t rly based off crush culture, but i took the title from conan gray’s song :)  

[losers + reader are 18+ in this!!!]

3.8k words L O L :))

♡

you swear to god, you’re getting sick. that’s what this was, for sure.

it started about a month ago, when you started to get headaches and terrible hollow feelings in your stomach. it happened everywhere - in the line for coffee, in class, driving home from school, at the dinner table. but it got a hundred times worse at night and then seemed to triple in force every morning when you woke.

and it all came at you some time after richie announced he had a new girlfriend.

you were really sick the few days after that, enough that you stayed home from school and laid in bed, the pit in your stomach sinking. it didnt take long for you to realize how bad richie’s girlfriend was - she treated him like a dog, like he embarrassed her - and he didn’t even seem to mind. he just brushed off every offhand comment, rolled his eyes with a grin when she told him she didn’t want to see his friends or when she told him to stop talking. 

he still seemed to like her, anyways. and that thought made your stomach convulse.

so then you had to distance yourself from richie because it hurt you to see him with her. it hurt you to see him with someone who didn’t treat him like the incredible person he was. 

so yeah.

you say you’re sick, but you know that’s not really true. it’s easier than accepting reality at this point, though, so you spew this nonsense (to yourself, mostly) in order to justify ignoring your best friend of nearly a decade because christ, he is becoming unbearable.

like the other day, at lunch while you were all sitting in the courtyard. it was your first time eating with them again after almost a week and a half, as you’d been eating alone in your car recently to avoid richie. “rich, why’d you take off the nail polish?” bev asked, out of the blue, sounding disappointed as she grabbed his free hand and examined it.

he blew smoke out of his mouth slowly and you had forced yourself to look away, the sight of richie doing nearly anything these days being pretty dangerous for you. it also made you sigh a bit - you knew he only smoked at lunch now, since his girlfriend hated it.

“don’t want my paws to be prettier than y/n’s when we hold hands.” he had joked, wagging an eyebrow at you. you’d shook your head and looked to the ground in lew of a real response, just as you had been doing a lot recently.

you'd missed richie’s frown at your reaction, but you did catch his next statement as it was added on, “nah, actually it’s because the ol’ G-F didn’t like it. thought it looked too girly.”

you, stan, bev, and mike all stopped chewing to look at richie, in varying stages of bewilderment. you'd cleared your throat quickly but decided against speaking up just as richie’s phone started to ring. he’d answered it nearly immediately, the enthusiasm of which made you feel like you’re going to be sick again - because richie never answers your calls until the last possible minute.

god, jealousy is a fucking disease.

“hey, sugar.” he had purred suavely into the phone and for some reason, hearing him call someone else sugar had you abruptly rising, gathering your things and nearly running off to put as much distance between you and four-eyes as you possibly could, because you’re not sure how much more you could take.

after that, you were absolutely sure it was just pure denial on your part.

as far as you could tell, richie wasn't noticing too much. he still phoned your house every day, just to be met with your mother telling him you 'weren't available,' and then he'd call your own phone, which you'd let buzz itself into a dark hole on your bedside table while you stared at it solemnly, guilt heavy on your mind as he left voicemail after voicemail. 

he doesn't deserve it, you think as you open the doors to the school library, backpack on your shoulders. but you can't help it. you're not his girlfriend, and you're not mature enough to accept that with any ounce of elegance so instead you just ignore him all together. at least you're self-aware, right? that ought to count for something.

you shake your head just as a voice catches your attention, “well look who decided to show up!”

richie's sitting at the usual study table in the very back corner of the library, a spot tucked away by rows upon rows of dusty books and an alcove of couches. bill sits at the head of the table, scribbling his chicken scratch handwriting onto graph paper, mike next to richie with a textbook spread out flat. across from mike is stan, writing out his statistics work. 

all three of them wave at you before going back to their work, whereas richie just watches you expectantly. his feet are kicked up on the table, textbook balanced on his lap as he hovers on two leg chairs. his smile is as blinding as always, a dimple faint on his left cheek and full eyebrows raised in jest. his curls frame his face perfectly and you want to scream.

but you take your seat next to stan with a tight lipped smile, not really sure how to respond to richie. are you even allowed to be flirty with him like you used to? he still does it on the rare occasions when you do see each other - but that itself is the issue, you figure. his flirting is just a joke, a tiff from one friend to another. but you can't see him as just a friend, and that’s unfair to him.

so you stay quiet, which makes it infinitely more awkward.

richie clears his throat and you pull out your work with an awkward expression, the minutes slowly churning by in what has to be the quietest hangout with the Losers yet.

you feel the tension building in your body and in the air, and you're not sure what's wrong with you or why you have so much resentment towards richie in this moment, because he's not done one single thing to offend anyone in the last ten minutes.

then richie's phone rings suddenly and mike jumps a bit as he's startled out of the passage he's reading. you all look down to richie's screen, where his girlfriend's name blares up at you and all you can feel is white hot jealousy coursing through your body.

richie looks half way exhausted and annoyed at the call, which you find extremely odd and out of character, not to mention persistently frustrating.

as you all stare at the phone, the tension in the room stretches tighter and tighter, like a rubber band and you can't breathe -

"uh, why is she calling you?" mike asks, as if this was something that was forbidden or shocking in any way, and for some reason, that is finally it.

the rubber band snaps.

"how could you forget, mike? they're in love!" you say with mock enthusiasm. 

bill shoots you an alarmed look that you probably should read into or at least consider for a moment, but instead you're looking directly at richie, as if challenging him.

he blinks at you and clenches his jaw, "she and i haven't really been... talking recently." richie says lightly, shooting a glance to mike.

“well then maybe you’re just not right for each other.” you quip, the blood boiling in your veins. richie's eyes snap to you and you see the fire behind them as he suddenly breaks.

“sorry, did i miss the divine intervention when god floated down on a cloud of marshmallows and deemed you expert in relationships?” he says abruptly, making your eyes widen at his outburst. he continues, “because last time i checked, you’re a bit of a failure in that department. so i don't need some jealous, disappearing-act wannabe criticizing my life when she's barely even in it.” he seethes. it’s near quiet in the library anyways, but his words seem to silence the entire town.

with a quick glance to your right, stan and bill sharing an uncomfortable look, and mike is staring down intently at his work with wide eyes.

you want to die.

does richie know? has he known this whole time that you're just deeply, painfully head over heels for him? 

"i'm so sick of your bullshit. maybe you're jealous because you want what i had, but you’re being really fucking rude."

you nearly cry. or scream.

“criticism doesnt equal jealousy, okay?” you spit without thinking, immediately regretting even opening your mouth. you're so intent on covering for yourself, you don't even take into account the phrasing he'd used when referring to his girlfriend, instead fighting with richie in order to keep your secret from him.  

this is not how you’d intended today to go. he stares at you, eyebrows furrowed in a way that almost makes you keel over in sadness, the guilt of the situation falling too heavily on your shoulders and crushing you.

it’s tranquilizing to see him like this -  he's fuming, but he's also got bright, glistening eyes which you think may be filling up with tears.

“i didn’t really ask for your input, though.” he mutters, cheeks reddening as tears definitely well in his eyes behind his lenses. “you can’t just ignore me at your every whim just to come right back and tell me what's good for me.”

you blink, shaking your head quickly, deciding to back off. now is not the time to fight, especially when you know he’s right. you had no idea it was hurting him like this. "richie, i... i just wanted-" you gape at him, extremely embarrassed.

“-i don’t fucking care what you wanted, y/n.” richie says sharply, causing you to shut your mouth so quick your jaw clicks in the silence. clearly, even the other boys are perturbed by richie’s actions and everyone’s staring down in silence at their homework.

it’s quiet like that for a few minutes, the tension so thick that you’d need a jackhammer just to chip away at it. but stan rummages through his bag suddenly, pulling out two painkillers and dry swallowing them. you don't look at anyone else, your stomach hollow and your heart thumping so hard in your chest you think you may explode.

"d-do you have a headache?" bill asks, looking at stan with concern. the sudden voice causes you to perk up, head flowing with humiliation at the fight you and richie had just had in front of your friends.

“yeah, but it’s not that bad. i guess i’m used to it.” stan says, pen between his teeth.

“just because you’re used to something doesn’t make it any less unhealthy for you.” you say louder than necessary, your mouth suddenly deciding to speak without consulting your brain. 

the glare of pure frustration that richie throws you pierces your lungs and suddenly makes you feel lightheaded. 

your pettiness doesn’t go unresponsive, of course, and mike sighs into his hands, standing up to gather his things. "alright. i can't study when you two are like this. i'll see you guys later."

richie sighs quietly and bill and stan mumble good-bye's. the library goes back to quiet for maybe three more minutes, until you see stanley start to fidget like he usually does when he's anxious. and then you notice it after a few seconds, too.

richie won't stop tapping his foot on the desk.

for everyone's sake, you try to ignore it, because you know richie can't help his compulsions - especially when he's upset (which, your mind painfully reminds you, is all your fault).

but it's driving you crazy.

“-if you keep doing that i’ll throw you out that fucking window rich, i swear.” stan mutters not unkindly, his eyes rolling to meet richie with a concerned gaze as richie stares out the window.

you raise your eyebrows, “what’re you even looking at?” you ask, trying to mend a bit of the open, festering wound you’d created in you and richie’s friendship.

without looking at you, richie shrugs. “checking to see how high the drop is. may be worth it to have schnoz just toss me down. it would certainly do you a favor right? gettin ol’ trashmouth gone for good.”

what was he saying? you look at him, scandalized. stan and bill don’t even say anything about the offensive nickname as you gape at richie. "what the fuck?" is all your brilliant mind can think.

"what, you can dish it but you can't take it?" richie says sharply. he shakes his head, looking upset. "i'm tired of trying to be friends with a fucking brick wall."

then he's gathering his one notebook and swiftly exiting your alcove in the library in a wind of cigarettes and cologne. 

you blink, his words sinking in and making you sigh shakily. your stomach feels hollow as you remember the expression of glee on his face when you'd walked into the library, and how completely different and broken he'd looked as he'd left. you think you're going to cry.

“every minute that you don't follow him digs yourself deeper into this grave, you know.” stan says, giving you a stern but encouraging look.

you let out a shaky sigh and scramble to grab your bag, tripping over your feet as you run out of the library, flying down the staircase faster than you've ever gone and making it to your lifelong best friend just as he reaches his car in the parking lot.

"-a brick wall?" you ask, out of breath. you see richie hold back an eye roll, his arms crossing over each other as he serves you a look of discomposure.

he shrugs helplessly, looking as if he's at his wit's end.

"what do you want me to say, y/n? you've been avoiding me for weeks. i know i'm annoying and obnoxious and whatever, but i'm not blind." he says, making you swallow as guilt pangs through your chest. you have been so fucking selfish, haven't you?

it hurts to hear him say that about himself. 

he sniffles a bit, sounding choked up as he goes on, "i've had a rough couple of days - weeks, even. but every time i'm near, it's like you've had more than enough, and you just leave. am i that repulsive? why do you suddenly hate me?" he asks, looking desperate as his eyes rim red, filling with tears again.

“what did i do?” his voice cracks as he whispers the sentence and your heart breaks in two.

your own vision goes glassy as he continues, "-i've needed you, y/n/n. i'm lost, i'm seriously not okay and you just don't care at all."

you're stunned for a moment, mouth opening and closing silently as your mind races to rush something out, anything,because you aren't sure you can bear to see richie look at you like this for one more second. but your silence comes off wrong to richie, and tears slip out of his eyes.

“don’t you love me?” he asks, voice hoarse and cutting right through you, deeper than any knife ever could. "don't you want me to be happy?" he adds and you take a shaky breath, looking helplessly at him, where you're met with nothing but glassy eyes and tear trails. your heart is slamming in your chest, tears falling from your eyes and you can't breathe.

"a-are you?" you ask, trying to keep your tone even although it comes out just as vulnerable as you feel. “h-happy. with her?”

richie freezes at your words, mouth slightly open and you watch a single tear course over his high cheekbones and down to his bottom lip as it shakes faintly. you curse yourself for the longing to feel those very lips against yours.

"i was." he whispers, voice shaking as he rubs his face with his hand under his glasses, the moisture of his fallen tears clinging from his long dark lashes onto his slender, shaking fingers. "and then - and then i lost you. and y'know, i got my girlfriend so i could distract myself, but she made me feel like absolute shit all the time and so i went and broke up with her, but -" he hiccups through his tears and you blink, biting your lip as tears cascade down your cheek in wet trails.

they broke up?

he broke up with her, and he's going through this breakup and trying to better himself after she tore him down and you've just been ignoring him - he thinks you don't care about him, that you don't love him. you start to cry harder. 

"-i thought she'd distract me from you. i-i'm sorry." he says, his voice muffled by his hands as they cover up his angelic face, his shoulders shaking as more tears fall. "i'm so sorry."he repeats. 

you see double for a second, completely shocked by his words as the breath leaves your lungs. he tried to distract himself from you... and he’s so hurt because of what you did. 

but finally, for the first time this whole damn day, you find the right words. "i-no, richie, i'm sorry, please - fuck." you break, letting out a sob as you rub your eyes furiously in search of any relief from the guilt ripping you in two. "i didn't mean to hurt you. i'm so sorry, i can't believe i did this, i didn't want to hurt you, i'm just so selfish." you babble, his sniffles making you open your eyes.

he looks so alone and so vulnerable as he hugs his arms around himself in search of comfort, tears still falling from his bright eyes and down his rosy cheeks. 

he looks devastatingly beautiful in the golden sunlight of the afternoon, a breeze ruffling his curls lightly. "just please, i can't - i can't deal with you hating me. please, please, please."

he's pleading with you and you think you may be sick from the guilt and sadness that envelopes you, so you spring forward and wrap your arms tightly around him. the force of your body pushes him against the side of his car and the way he clings back to you like you're the last thing holding him to earth just makes you cry even harder.

"i don't hate you, richie. i love you, i love you too much." you say, your body shaking as he just holds you tighter against him. "i'm so sorry, i didn't mean any of it. you're right. i was just jealous... i'm so sorry. i was so jealous of her, i couldn't see you be with her." you mumble. "i'm so sorry."

richie pulls you back gently at your words, his eyes wide and wondering as you look at each other. "what?" he asks so innocently, his eyelashes wet and dark and his lips parted. 

you can count the freckles on his nose and cheeks, you're so close. you can feel his shuddering breath against your face as he huffs in a breath. your hands hold onto his shoulders and you decide to fuck it, you just have to tell him how sorry you are, to explain yourself.

"richie, i'm in love with you. and - and when you and her got together, it hurt so much, and i didn't want to deal with the fact that i couldn't have you, so i just ignored you. i’m sorry, i’m so sorry." you say it quickly and in one breath, looking down at your shoes and how they point straight towards his.

"you're in... love with me?" he says weakly, sounding hopeful as you finally look back into his eyes guiltily. 

you laugh wetly, "of course i am, richie. how could i not fall head over heels for everything about you?"

he tears up again at your words, but this time it's accompanied by a beautiful smile and a light, wet laugh. he shakes his head, his arms circling your waist tighter as he presses his forehead against yours. your butterflies tickle your stomach at your proximity.

"fuck, y/n. i can't believe i spend my time trying to get my mind off you." he says and your breath hitches a bit. "do you have any idea how long i've been in love with you?" he asks quietly, and you let out another small laugh out of shock, but it's wet and gleeful.

"i'm sorry." you whisper, your finger curling around a strand of the dark hair on his head. he shakes his head, your noses rubbing slightly. "it's okay, y/n. i love you so much. please let me forgive you." he says, pulling a smile out of you that you don't think anybody else ever could. you nod shortly, looking into his eyes as one last tear falls. 

he kisses you tenderly then, taking your breath away.

richie fills up your every sense as he clings to you desperately, his lips salty from your combined tears and his arms strong. his tongue is gentle as it runs along your lips and enters your parted mouth, one of his hands sliding up to tilt your head up towards him. you're breathless because of him for the millionth time in your life and you decide kissing richie is the only thing you want to do forever. 

you pull away slowly, and as you lean back he presses a chaste second kiss to your lips, causing you to grin. 

you barely make eye contact as you pull apart and then you greedily pull him back to you, his lips finding yours yet again with a sweet, loving laugh.

"i love you too, rich." you mumble against his lips. he sighs almost dreamily as you pull back, biting your lip and laughing when he opens the passenger door, gesturing to it with a shy grin.

"now can i please buy you a burger?" he asks, almost bashfully, and your heart does somersaults. you nod and kiss him again, his hand falling to the small of your back, palm wide and fingers lower than you'd expected. he pulls away and his grin is loving, his eyes hooded in pride as you caress his cheek softly before you slide into the car seat.

he holds your hand the whole night and refuses to let go until you slip through your front door at near midnight, blushes on both of your cheeks and lips kiss-bruised.

the butterflies you feel as you fall asleep with a grin on your face are the exact same ones richie feels as his head finally hits the pillow, a giddy smile on his own face as he smiles to himself in the dark halfway across town.

tag list: @gabiatthedisco @blisshemmings @stenbrozier @simplesammyx@brxken-heartsclub @clownsloveyou @baby-yoda-a @moon-shine-baby  @daughter-of-the-stars11 @trashedfortozier @oceandog13 @finnskindofwoman @kait-tozier   @upamongthestarss @fiantomartell @beverlyparkerr @beauregard-s  @leighjaenikhowell @cowbellies @deepestofwaters

[clumsyclifford]

bella! a prompt! routine kisses where the other person presents their cheek/forehead for the hello/goodbye kiss without even looking up from what they’re doing w malum? 👀 💛 !

hello i know this is an old (old, old, old) prompt but i had to wait for the helen stamp of approval before posting it so now you may have it

read on ao3

-

Calum blames Mali.

His life has always been a little bit whirlwind-y, and so has Mali’s, but they always had mornings together. They’d eat breakfast, drink coffee, whatever else, and then when it was time for one of them to leave they’d kiss the other’s face and head out. Calum’s kissed Mali’s cheek more times than he can count. It’s just instinct now. He can’t be blamed for falling back into habits. Even if that means stopping short just outside the front door upon the realisation that oh, fuck, he’s just kissed Michael’s cheek on his way out.

Except Michael hadn’t really reacted. Maybe he didn’t notice? Calum thinks, which is a pipe dream at best — how could you not notice someone fully kiss your cheek — but Calum has class starting soon and he really needs to move, so he takes off down the street anyway, shaking his head at his own idiocy.

And that’s how it starts.

Calum forgets about the incident by the following day. He goes for his run, and when he comes back Michael is begrudgingly awake for his 9 a.m. class, coffee brewing. The boy himself is slumped against the counter, half-asleep.

“Hey,” Calum pants as he comes through the door, sweaty from the run. “Mike. Coffee’s done.”

Michael jerks upright, blinking. “I know that,” he says defensively. “I was letting it, like, percolate.”

“That’s what happens when it’s actually brewing.” Calum unsticks the front of his shirt from his chest and airs it out. Michael makes a face.

“Don’t do that, you’ll stink up the whole place.”

Calum rolls his eyes. “I’m going to shower. Don’t fall asleep again.”

“I wasn’t asleep!”

Calum goes to shower. He comes out feeling clean and refreshed and wraps his towel around his waist before ambling back into the kitchen, hoping Michael didn’t finish the pot of coffee (as he’s been known to do). 

There’s a steaming mug on the table, and Michael is nowhere in sight. The mug obviously has milk in it, and Michael drinks his coffee black like some kind of hell demon, which means this one is probably for Calum. Somehow, the fact that Michael remembers how Calum takes his coffee is endearing. They’ve been roommates and best friends for three years now, but still. It’s the little things.

Michael sweeps into the kitchen as Calum sits at the table to enjoy the coffee. “Oh, that’s for you,” Michael says. “Milk and sugar, how you like it.”

Calum grins. “Thanks.”

“I gotta run or I’ll be late,” Michael adds, and bends down to kiss Calum’s cheek before racing out the door, a hasty, “Love you, bye!” thrown over his shoulder.

Calum touches his cheek. Michael has probably kissed Calum on the cheek before, but Calum can’t think of when, or he’d surely remember. This felt sweet, domestic.

Maybe Michael’s just feeling particularly friendly today. Or clingy. It’s hard to know, with him. But Calum can’t deny it had been kind of nice — like a moment just for them, a check-in, the way he used to do with Mali, to say I didn’t forget that you’re here. Something thoughtful.

And, Calum thinks to himself in a slight panic, does that mean Michael thinks that Calum did it yesterday on purpose? Is he expecting Calum to reciprocate, next time Calum leaves first?

Well. Well, okay. That’s — fine, actually. They’re best friends. Best friends kiss each other’s cheeks and stuff. Anyway, Calum thinks it could be nice, to do it with Michael. As long as neither of them makes it weird.

-

“Oh, fuck,” Calum says, when he finally checks the time. He, Michael, and Luke have been caught up in their group project for their music class, and Calum has completely lost track of time. Now he’s got class in ten minutes and it’s an eight minute walk from their apartment off-campus. “I gotta go.”

Michael also glances at the time. “Oh,” he says. “Whoops.”

“Sorry,” Calum tells them both, although mostly Luke, because Luke doesn’t live here. He gathers up his papers and stuffs them into his bag, and Michael angles his chin away from Calum, offering up his face. Calum presses a kiss to his cheek and steps over the rest of the papers strewn across the floor.

“What the fuck,” Luke says, stopping Calum in his tracks. 

“He has class,” Michael explains. Calum had thought that was pretty evident, but whatever.

“He just — you just kissed Michael,” Luke says, turning first to Michael and then to Calum, who’s shifting anxiously on his feet.

“Did I?” Calum says, blinking. He sifts through the last minute in his mind. “Oh. Yeah. Well, it’s tradition, you know?”

“It’s tradition?” Luke says in disbelief. “You just kiss your mates goodbye?”

“Michael’s not my ‘mate,’” Calum says, and Michael pulls an offended face. “No, I mean, like, it’s different. Like, it’s Michael.”

Luke stares. He swings around and levels the stare at Michael. “You guys kiss each other goodbye?”

“Well, not on the fucking mouth, you perv,” Michael says uncomfortably. He glances up at Calum, who shrugs; before Luke, this habit of theirs had been entirely unobserved, and it had just been normal. It’s just — it’s just them. It’s been a month since Calum started it, and yeah, neither of them have necessarily acknowledged it, but they’ve also never questioned it. It’s nice to have someone to kiss goodbye. Calum’s not complaining.

“Okay,” Luke says slowly. “I mean, you know this is weird, right?”

“Bro, get over it,” Calum says. “I have to go to class. Bye.” And he hurries out the door, feeling slightly guilty leaving Michael stuck with a flabbergasted Luke but too preoccupied with the concern of being late to class to leave much room in his mind for anything else.

-

When Calum returns from class, Michael is sitting cross-legged on the couch, the video game controller in his lap, TV off. It’s a strange sight to come home to.

“Hey,” Calum says, dropping down on the couch beside him. He shoulders his bag off and tosses it aside on the floor. “Are you winning?”

Michael looks over at him oddly. “Shut up,” he says, blushing. “I was going to start the game.”

“Of course you were,” Calum says, and stands up, intending to put the game in. Michael grabs his arm.

“Hey,” he says. Calum turns.

“Hello,” he says carefully. “Uh, I think we already greeted each other?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Michael says. He seems distracted. “Can I ask you something?”

“Uh,” Calum says, “yes? Always?”

“Well, it’s not exactly a question,” Michael continues. Calum seats himself next to Michael again, knocking their knees together and giving Michael a smile. But Michael doesn’t look at him. His eyes bore into his legs. “It’s kind of just — Luke was asking me about the, you know. Kissing thing. After you went to class.” That’s a funny way to put it. Kissing thing. Like it’s some taboo topic. If it is, it’s only because they’ve never talked about it. “He kept insisting that it was weird, and that normal friends who are just friends don’t kiss each other goodbye.”

“And?”

“And,” Michael shrugs, “I don’t know. I guess I’m just wondering what you think. If you agree.”

“If I…if I think we’re just friends who kiss each other goodbye?”

“No!” Michael pauses, and then slowly he says, “...Are we?”

“Are we what?” Calum says, mildly annoyed. “Just friends?”

Another long pause. Michael is quiet when he speaks. “Yeah.” 

The strangest thing is, Calum isn’t sure he has an answer.

On the one hand: yes. Of course they’re Just Friends. You can’t be more than friends without knowing it, and Calum and Michael have never been like that, because that’s not how they are, so…they must be Just Friends. Case closed.

But on the other hand. Normal friends who are Just Friends don’t really kiss each other goodbye. And now that Calum thinks about it, normal friends who are Just Friends don’t really act the way Calum and Michael do, and the more he considers it, the more he thinks he would probably prefer to be something that wasn’t Just Friends with Michael. Just Friends is overrated. Calum and Michael have earned better.

“You said it was different,” Michael says, ignoring that Calum hasn’t answered his question yet. “Like, when Luke was making fun, you said ‘Michael’s not my mate, it’s different.’”

“Because it is,” Calum says, though he can’t exactly pinpoint why it’s different.

“Yeah,” Michael says. “I think it is, too. So…but — doesn’t that mean —”

“Yeah,” Calum says. “If that means we’re not just friends then sure. Okay. I’d rather be that way anyway.”  

Michael blinks. “You’d rather be that way?”

“Wouldn’t you?” Calum bites his lip; now he’s not so sure. But surely Michael wouldn’t have brought it up only to shut Calum down. If he’d felt strongly that they should be Just Friends and Nothing More, they wouldn’t be having this conversation.

“Uh, um. I guess so,” Michael says. Relief floods Calum like a drug. “But if you — why wouldn’t you just…say something earlier?”

Calum frowns. “I didn’t really know,” he says slowly. That sounds like the right answer. Now that he does know, thinking back, it seems obvious. It seems ridiculously obvious, to the point where if Calum didn’t know for a fact he’d been oblivious he would have accused himself of intentional ignorance. But this is just how they are. Calum doesn’t have any friendships like his one with Michael, but he’d sort of figured that was just because all friendships were different. 

Not considering the fact that some friendships are more, apparently.

“Oh,” says Michael, and finally, finally he meets Calum’s eyes. “Me neither. You said it like you did.”

“I’m very adaptable,” Calum tells him, which earns him a laugh. There’s a glint in Michael’s eye. “Speaking of which, I think we could adapt our routine as well.”

Michael raises his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“You know.” Calum quirks a smile. “You could kiss me for real, if you want.”

The look on Michael’s face changes several times, from surprise to delight before settling into false composure. Anyone else would believe it, but Calum isn’t anyone else, and the excitement bleeds through too much for Michael to hide.

“What makes you think I want to kiss you?”

“Oh, shut up,” Calum says, rolling his eyes, but they’re both kind of laughing when he pulls Michael in, and Calum is glad. It feels exactly right to kiss Michael, on the lips as much as anywhere else. Even if the butterflies fluttering up a storm in Calum’s gut say that this is different, Calum knows it’s not, really. It’s more like they’ve just been cruising at the speed limit and now, finally, someone has stepped on the gas. It’s the same car they’ve been in the whole time; now they’re just taking full advantage of its capabilities. 

He thinks that maybe he should tell Mali about this development. And maybe also thank her.

[bills-blog-now]

Guys, I just had the most craziest dream involving Ford and Bill. I wish I could remember every detail. 

I’ll just start from the middle, since I don’t recall any further than that.

Ford was in a bar on Earth, using some weird alien technology to disguise himself as a woman who looks nothing like him. He was watching a television built into the wall. On the screen was Bill (who was taking control of a brunette human woman) and he was talking about some sort of thing which involved some sort of social movement (I wish I could recall the specifics).

Stanford was seething, knowing full well that the movement was a disguise for Bill’s plan to get to his Earth.

The oblivious bartender was chatting it up with Ford and being all flirty. Ford ordered a gin and tonic, and the bartender noticed that Ford was watching the TV. As the bartender served the drink, he spoke of how the social movement was an incredible thing and how they should toast to it.

Bitter as Ford is, he agreed to the toast and downed the drink. He then moved to leave to the confusion of the bartender (he had payed for the drink beforehand, don’t worry). The bartender called out, and Ford replied with a vicious smirk and a sarcastic remark, about the social movement and the bartender all in one sentence. He swiftly left, not caring for the bartender’s reaction.

It was night outside, though there was a big event caused by the social movement going on so people littered the streets. Ford went behind a sign that would sufficiently cover him and dropped his disguise. He was an old man, but the hatred for Bill burned bright in his heart, and of course, on his face as well.

There were 4 big bags being guarded by 3 men, and Ford walked over to them. He asked if the supplies were still in good condition. The men nodded. Ford nods back, and each of them pick up a bag. The head off to the center of the big movement, looking as inconspicuous as 4 men in cloaks with huge rucksacks can be. They moved with confidence, so nobody questioned them.

They make it to the gathering of well over 5,000 people, history in the making as Bill Cipher (in the same human disguise, of course), leader of the social movement is meeting with the president of America to enact new laws which would do... something. I think it had to do with encouraging women to become scientists? Some sort of beneficial thing with helping women be equal with men. And also become scientists.

So the 4 men just casually stroll up to the podium and Ford lowers the head of his cloak and pushes the president out of the way and just takes starts prattling his own speech. About how the whole social movement is a sham and everybody is being fooled. His speech gets slurred as the alcoholic drink he had earlier takes its effect, and as Stanford has never drank alcohol before, is an incredible lightweight.

Bill knowing exactly what is happening sneaks into the shadows and books it out of there.

The 3 other men had meanwhile opened up their bags and pulled out advanced guns, ones capable of shooting out hundreds of rounds without needing to be reloaded. They aim the guns at the guards and anybody else who tried to get in Stanford’s way.

Ford pulls out his own gun as the president tries to take their mike back from the drunk crazy person. Ford aims it at the presidents head and then at anybody else as a method of making them back up.

Ford talks near endlessly, sounding like a drunken misogynistic conspiracy nut, what with the woman in charge of the movement is really being controlled by an male alien hellbent on taking over not just the world, but the entire 3rd dimension.

The 3 men are starting to worry about Ford and how drunk he sounds. The president decides that Ford’s gun ain’t even real cause just look at that doohickey, it looks like a painted Nerf gun. So he aggressively tries to take back the podium from the drunk and Ford frickin’ shoots him in the guts. With several rounds. That man dies.

Everybody starts to panic, and in his brilliant drunk mind, to prove he’s dead serious Ford shoots into the crowd of innocent people?? And more people die.

The 3 men start panicking as well, because this was NOT part of the plan. So they charge Ford at the podium and drag him off the stage. He’s dragged into a nearby getaway car, and they drive, the tires screech like a bat out of hell.

The 3 men are still panicking, and Ford doesn’t see anything wrong with what he just did. He tries to explain, about how the alcohol made him do it and just keeps trying to convince them but it’s not working out. The repression of the past 30 years just keeps pouring out of him, about how he summoned Bill into the body of a female body and Bill tricked him and the had a romantic relationship that resulted in a child and the 3 men are like yes we know, shut the fuck up. But he keeps trying to convince them and nobody says anything anymore. He doesn’t catch any hint the men are throwing at him and all he feels is deep tired resentment starting to pour into his chest from the 3 men who just aren’t listening.

Everybody is really stressed out and angry at the fact that their faces are now attributed to this crazy man who was once their friend, and now they can’t have peaceful public lives anymore without the law breathing down their backs about the murders. They figured they would become heroes, ones who saved the world along with the great Stanford Pines, but now they all wish they could go back in time.

The car stops, pulled aside into an empty lot by the driver, and all of the 3 men come to push Ford out of the car. The 3 men discuss among themselves what they should do about the issue while Ford tries to interject, but to no luck. 2 of the men ask the third his final opinion, as he’s Stanford’s son. He agrees without much hesitation and they all line up to kill Stanford, as he’s a liability and who knows what the fuck he’ll do next just to get back at Bill Cipher.

Stanford, knowing what’s about to happen, activates an insidious trump card. Before they can shoot his body dead, he activates some sort of advanced technology and his soul projects itself outside of his body and into his son’s. He steals the body of his son and he stumbles a bit, but the damage of it all is already done. Ford’s old body is dead while his much stronger soul takes the place as head soul of his son’s body, leaving his son to become a bystander in his own body.

Ford’s still insane cause he tries to tell the others that they must complete the plan otherwise Bill will take over the world. But before he can get more than a few words out, a bright shining light appears overhead and the 2 other men are killed.

Turns out there’s an alien spaceship over the head of the planet that can disguise itself as not being there and it’s controlled by Bill. Bill was following their movements and murdered the 2 men, and he started beaming up his son.

He was there in his female human body, all hugs and reassurances that all the pain he’s felt is over now.

Of course, this wasn’t his son, it was Ford.

So Ford takes his son’s gun and shoots at Bill’s throat. Turns out whatever he shot was nonlethal however, and seeing that Ford’s “son” attacked Bill, the guards on the ship tried to get to him and hold him back. Ford switches the gun back to lethal and kills the guards.

Once Bill gets over his shock, wonders what the hell’s happening and then I woke up.

I really wanted to see the end of that dream, but my alarm got me up.

Want to know the really funny part about this dream though? It was pretty clear that most of this was from Ford’s point of view, and it wasn’t clear at all if it was actually Bill’s intention to take over the 3rd dimension or even the world.

[makeusfreefromthisfandom]

I know bbs. I know. We’re all crying in the club here. Some cute pocket sized AU headcanons so we can disregard anything that we’ve seen or read and just make this the new canon. Also please forgive me if this is a bit lacking the only writing I’ve been doing for the past 3 weeks is for school LMAO

Part 1 | Part 2

Tagging my fav blogs because we all just need some fluffy cuteness right about now: @mysteriousmagicx @attackonfics @aj-writes-here @misa-bun @commanderserwin

The Veterans Pocket Sized! AU Pt 3 (Attack on Titan)

You wipe the beads of sweat off your forehead as you carefully descend the stairs, mint green box in your hands

SOMEHOW you managed to sit all the vets down on their tiny bottoms, away from all the chaos, and play a nice little board game for a change

Oh if you just knew how wrong you were....

No way is MONOPOLY about to be a “nice little board game”

So anyways you start setting up the board on a large, terri coffee table, peaking the vets’ interest as they stand on they’re tippy toes to peek over your arm in curiosity

“M...o...n...o...p...o...l...y....” Erwin walks across the the lid of the box, finger on chin, in thought.

You sighed pointing towards Moblit

“You’re banker.”

And with that you headed off towards your bedroom, shutting the door, and hitting the sheets for a much needed nap.

Moblit’s just kinda like “m-m-me???” 😰

“Oi how do you even play this?” Levi kicked a game piece slightly, watching it roll to the other side of the board.

“You don’t know how to play?” Nanaba looked at him in surprise

“ATTENTION!”

Ladies and gents, our man ahem little man Erwin has taken the stand and is about to explain ALL the rules for the game

Good luck that’s gonna take awhile

So FINALLY after much questions and confusion, everyone has the gist of it and have begun to play.

I guess you can imagine how it goes...

Some of these vets are spending their cash like crazyyyy (it’s Nanaba) poor Moblit is having a hard time keeping track

Bro Hanji is on a fucking roll tho

Like surprisingly she keeps buying properties, and at first they were all getting onto her, saying she’ll go broke

But it all payed off because EVERYONE keeps landing on her properties WITH THE HOUSES TOO

And it’s poor Levi who’s the victim most of the time

He’s cussing everything out at this point

“This game it shit!”

Or like “fuck capitalism”

Erwin is on high alert tho, he’s guarding his ONE property with absolute devotion and dedication, in fact, he’s sat himself right dab smack in the middle of it.

Oh and that property he owns is Boardwalk

Yeah no way is he letting Hanji’s greedy little fingers get ahold of that even though she literally already owns Park Place

Anywaysssss look at Mike!

Everyone was so distracted by Hanji and Levi’s arguments, that they completely miss Mike!

This dude has hit the jackpot each and every time he’s landed on both chest and chance

He’s got that $$$ nose yk~

I feel like Moblit can’t even get chance to really concentrate on his turns he’s too busy handling all that money coming in and out 😭

But I feel like he’s actually smart and is investing in the utilities instead since no one else thinks they’re that important

Anyways Nanaba tries to invest in all the properties that are I color groups of her fav color lolololl

Ok so I haven’t even gotten to these auctions and bids yet

All I have to say is that they are HEATED and INTENSE

it’s Levi complaining about how Hanji and Mike have literally taken the entire board and how Erwin is still too stubborn to let go of his stupid boardwalk

They don’t have to worry about that for too long tho because Hanji is the first one to go bankrupt BAHAHA

All those properties are back up for sale and just when Moblit thinks he can finally relax and take a breather from being banker, it’s all up in chaos again

Bro even my dude Mike over here is starting to lose his cool a bit bc he’s luck is now beginning to go down hill

HES ROLLING TOO MANY DOUBLES BAHAHAHA

“Oi Erwin!” Levi’s gotten ahold of Park Place now and has been trying to convince Erwin to let go of his freaking boardwalk already

Oh yea so long story short, no one actually ends up winning the games because Hanji really can’t stand off to the side as a spectator and decides to cause a little mischief

Anyways she ends up pissing Levi off and now he’s absolutely had it, and begins going after her

Cash and cards flying in the air, pieces being knocked over

Nanaba sighs and hops off the coffee table

Mike still trying roll so he can get out of jail already

Moblit taking cover under the lid of the Monopoly box

Erwin is still plopped down on his boardwalk

And you are fast asleep, oblivious to the events going on outside....poor you.

OH I FORGOT TO MENTION WHAT TOKENS THEY WOULD BE

Erwin: car Hanji: shoe Levi: hat (awww just imagine Hanji placing that little hat on his head bless her soul😣❤️) Mike: dog Nanaba: either cup or iron Moblit: wheelbarrow

[terrence-silver]

Thanks so much for your sweet tags on my story! I love all the content you provide us and I can't help myself but request more Terry from you. How about. . .Terry trying to seduce Reader, but Reader is oblivious and thinks they're just best friends.

@atmostories thank you so much, this one is for you 🖤

---

This never happened before.

And he’s had his conquests. Yes. He once spent several years after he returned from Vietnam and got his Business and Masters Degree just travelling Europe and fucking around. Quite literally speaking. He had the looks to pull it off. He had the charm. He had the means and the money. Also, it was the 70′s and he needed to blow some steam off and make up for all the years lost in the war and after his parents died. But, what he never had before is someone being daft enough not to realize that when a man arranges to see you in his own private steam room sauna (which you didn’t even realize he owned, naturally - hiding the truth in plain sight) with nothing but a towel on and a bottle of champagne and two glasses that it’s supposed to mean something. How does one not understand the implications? Were you playing hard to get? Did you enjoy people working a bit more then usual for you due to some sort of abandonment issues? Was he simply losing his touch? Was this some sort of mind game? Were you somehow manipulating him for covert reasons he couldn’t quite read yet? No. No, you weren’t. Terry Silver could spot a shady, two-faced individual when he saw one (he’d know, from personal experience) and you weren’t one.

You were just - you.

Happy and friendly and cheerful and just normal. He wouldn’t call you insecure. Wouldn’t call you terribly secure either. Were you one of those people who didn’t believe they were loveable to anyone? Did you just subconsciously reject all offered affection because you didn’t believe you were deserving of it? Were you afraid? Did you have a traumatic childhood? Were you abused by someone before and who’s neck did he have to snap? Was he psychoanalyzing you too much? Terry Silver was just horrendously annoyed with you for the longest time now. It’s like you were a shut book he couldn’t read. So open, yet so unavailable. And he’s tried practically everything under the sun. He’s called you beautiful. He complemented you. Occasionally brushed against you. Smiled at you. Acted beyond polite. Beyond sweet. Was always there for you, close by, for whatever and whenever. Once or twice went as far as attempting to invoke your lust first if he couldn’t your affection and just straight-up untying the upper part of his gi and pretending to stretch out after a long training session, hoping to impress you with his physique and the sweat lining his muscles. He worked hard to look like this.

You politely looked away and excused yourself out.

Giving him privacy.

Privacy!?

-”Be careful, don’t catch a cold like that. Could be dangerous.”-

You jovially mentioned with care on your way out of the dojo training hall leaving him to stand there with a naked torso, waving him an idle goodbye, not looking back as not to make him uncomfortable by peeking - no irony, no sarcasm, nothing suggestive, no meanspirited joking in your tone of voice - just genuinely good-natured concern for his health, well-being and the utmost respect for his bodily autonomy. Honestly - fuck you. First of all, you were in LA and it was the asphalt was searing mid-summer, how the heck is he gonna catch a cold? Second of all, not even John treated him with this much detached friendliness and that was actually his friend. Even John was more touchy-feely, close and warm with him just by nature of being. This was ridiculous. In fact, it was outrageous. What was he even supposed to do next? Show up in your bedroom, just lay down and wait for you to arrive? Knowing you, you’d no doubt be absolutely okay with him chastely sleeping over and you’d probably borrow him your pillow and tuck him in too and just go to rest in the other room with not a care in the world.

How could a person like that even exist?

Did you have eyes?

Maybe he just wasn’t your type. But then again, highly improbable, Terry Silver was nearly everyone’s type and if he wasn’t, he’d make himself be their type. He’d get under their skin and make them believe he was their type even if they didn’t believe themselves initially. Oh, the idea though - the idea of not being your type. Why did it fill him with so much - well - resentment? Anger, almost? Loathing? Why was there a pit deep in his belly swallowing all his pity, patience and understanding for you like an ever-expanding crater of darkness? Why did he want to take whatever kind of person you were into a just rip them to shreds until nothing worthy admiration and attraction remained? Just degrade them, hurt them and destroy them until there was nothing to love anymore? He’s been at this game for over a year now. Over a year. In his kind of life, a year was an eternity. Two was just flat-out embarrassing. Stock-markets crash, companies go bankrupt and he makes his next million. He never spent a year trying to get anyone to like him for amorous purposes. And this beating around the bush would end today.

After much self-reflection and pondering.

Consultations from everyone starting from Margaret.

Milos, Snake, Dennis and even Mike Barnes, horribly enough.

Terry decided to pull out the big L.

Because really, who could resist a confession of love, strictly strategically speaking? It was a move worthy of the Art of War. Even when not mutual (and he’d make sure it would be by any means necessary) if anything, the other person would be flattered. Put off guard. Confused. Amused at best. Literally anything but the putrid, disgusting, disturbing sense of flat-line familial kinship you’ve endued him with against his will. He wasn’t your dad. He wasn’t your brother. He wasn’t your cousin. He wasn’t your friend. Your acquittance. Don’t you realize what he wanted to do with you? He wanted to possess you whole and make you scream on every surface in every chamber of his 100 room house and keep repeating that forever and ever and ever until you live through nothing but him. How dare you? The thought of not winning. The thought of just being rejected by your obliviousness. It brought him so close to the edge of breaking out of the weak, saccharine, nonsensical, subdued character he constructed for himself. It brought him so painfully close. Just shedding his facade and taking what he wanted in the crudest, foulest way possible - it would be so easy. So easy. At this point he was insulted.

But he held back for your sake.

He didn’t even understand why he’d care to.

Why he’d care not to frighten, repulse or push you away.

Usually, that would be his most preferred part of the game.

Not now, though.

Why?

Why he’d even begin to care to read all the possible moods etched into your face, bother with the levels of your comfort and discomfort to make the setup perfect, natural, soft and intimate and just say the words as gently and with as emotion as humanly possible without trying to come off too strongly? Which is exactly what he did. Upon which your reaction was to merely smile blissfully (disappointing) just tap him on the shoulder (even more disappointing), give it a fond little squeeze like you would your favourite coworker during lunchbreak (unimaginably disappointing) and just respond with a casual and off-puttingly, wretchedly non-chalant;

-”Yeah, sure, I love you too.”-

Yeah, sure!?

Sure!?

You kept eating the ice cream he’s bought you.

Unphased, unbothered, unaware and dumb as a rock.

Terry Silver was just stunned for the rest of the evening.

In ways he doesn’t quite recall being in, well - ever.

Did you just confess to loving him as a friend?

To his face?

And he let you survive that?

Alright then. It was decided there and then. He wanted to strangle you. Yes. But he’d leave that for another time. For now, he’d say goodbye to you in good humor and cheer like he always did and leave this unfortunate, hideous fiasco of a night behind him even though you (of course) appeared to be legitimately enjoying yourself. The next time you meet him, he’ll be himself. His actual self. None of this sugary, flowery, tame tip-toeing around the substance of things. No more sparing you. No more patience. No more waiting. No more going soft on you. No more trying to tenderly, slowly ease you into things. No. If ordinary, commonplace, humble Terry was someone you considered a mere friend - a best friend, to make things doubly offensive - the actual, real Terry wasn’t going to accept that. The actual, real Terry took whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. The actual, real Terry wasn’t lenient, merciful or even remotely open to rejection. And this was all your fault. All of it. You could have had the nice, kind, darling, innocent, angelic Terry who takes you out on cute little walks, asks permission to hold your hand gingerly and buys you ice cream and smiles charmingly at you with the widest, fullest grin he could possibly manage. You wanted the other guy instead, didn’t you? You pushed his hand. Forced it even.

He went to his actual home that night despite the risk of it.

The hills overlooking the shimmering skyline of the city.

You knew this place, without realizing you knew it.

He burned all his pretend-clothes -

On the embers of a lit cigar.

And seething with cold rage -- 

He decided to re-introduce himself to you.

They say honesty was the best policy, after all.

[powerpuff-ali]

I need more of that Mitch is secretly gay thing like it gave me so much serotonin 😔🤚🏽✨

This was pretty fun to write out and it kind of spiraled into its own thing lol (btw I’m so sorry I took a few days on this. I read the ask wrong and came up with a back story to Mitch realizing he was gay):

So Mitch is secretly gay. He puts the pieces together when he’s 14 and is like oh… so this is a thing. He’s never witnessed mlm relationships before so he was never prompted to think about him dating a guy. He refuses to tell his grandmother cuz it’s not like she cares anyway. His parents aren’t around enough either so this poor kid has no one to talk to about this. 

He can’t keep it in so he tells Buttercup. She swears to him that she’ll take this secret to her grave if she has to. Blossom and Bubbles or the rest of the friend group are not allowed to know either. Partially out of fear of their reactions but also, he wants to get to know this part of himself without the added pressure. Now, Mitch has to spend even more time with Buttercup which led to rumors that they were together. They never refute it so even the tabloids get a hold of this “juicy” teenage gossip. 

“You know, I thought fake dating you would be a perk but you’ve made me unavailable to any good guys here in Townsville.”

“Oh shut up, I get a lecture from Blossom almost everyday because apparently, you’re not a good influence. Dating you isn’t a walk in the park for me either, buddy!” 

This is how most of their conversations go and it’s always light-hearted teasing. In all honesty, they benefit greatly from pretending to be together. Buttercup chases away any creeps who try toying with Mitch and Mitch scares away any fanboys who try to harass BC. A true friend pairing if there ever was one.

Mike finally confesses when they’re 20 because holy jeez, Mitch! Mike has been streaming Heather by Conan Gray nonstop. After Mike confesses, Mitch finally has his first official boyfriend! SO… now he and Mike sneak around not because they have to but it’s fun not having people’s unwanted opinions littering their relationship. 

Mitch also happens to be extremely oblivious. This poor kid has next to zero experience with other guys who like guys so when Mike starts to hang around him and Buttercup more, he just thinks they’re forming a friend group. BC is Mitch’s horrible wingman. Mike thinks he’s third-wheeling with a punk rock couple (he’s more of a jock type). Mitch just thinks that his friends are neat.

Things that get rationalized with straight logic (what’s betta than this? Guys bein’ doods): hand-holding in the wintertime because its cold and one of them isn’t wearing gloves, clothes swapping to save money, guys sport night at the bar to be each other’s wingman, extremely dedicated spotting during workouts (Mitch sneaks in quick kisses while Mike does bench presses), catching a total kick-ass action movie.

Bring in Butch, who is confused by BC’s whole connection to Mitch and becomes a little extremely obsessive about how much time she spends with Mitch and the other brunette dude Mike. She’s oblivious to romance too so she doesn’t catch Butch’s advances but this isn’t about her. 

Mitch being the good friend he is decides he needs to protect BC from this hellspawn until he sees Butch crash through several buildings and crawls out from the rubble laughing without a scratch on him. (he’s thinking, “wtf is this guy on?”) He knows BC can protect herself but he’ll settle for being an extra set of eyes and ears for her. 

Because people Butch have a fixed idea of what a gay man looks and acts like, it is assumed that Mitch is challenging Butch for BC’s heart. It looks a little something like this…

Butch: *flirting(?) with BC at the bar*

BC: *body language shifts but it’s only because the stool is uncomfortable*

Mitch: *steps in between them cutting Butch off* Hey, come on! I invited you out here to dance. *praying that Butch doesn’t obliterate him with laser beams*

I’m so sorry this turned out longer than intended and is probably all over the place but you gave me so much to think about now about what I want from these characters so thank you!!!

Situations like that go on long enough that go back to my initial post, this is why Mitch outs himself to Butch. His life literally hangs in the balance.

[mst3kproject]

Teenage Wolfpack

This is, unfortunately, not a werewolf movie.

That’s it.  That’s why I’m reviewing it.  The title suggested a werewolf movie, the film itself would have been way more fun if it were a werewolf movie, it wasn’t, and now I’m annoyed.  I felt the same way about The Wolf of Wall Street but that one is way too upscale for this blog.

After opening credits set to some very catchy and extremely inappropriate swing music, we meet brothers Freddie and John Morgan.  Freddie, in his early twenties, was driven out of the house by their asshole father and now commits crime and dates underage girls.  John, age eighteen, still lives at home but is getting increasingly frustrated, especially when Mr. Morgan mistreats his wife.  In search of money to help his mother, Johnny gets drawn into Freddie’s web of crime.  Things start going south when the gang rob the wrong postal truck, ending up with mail instead of money, but Freddie’s girlfriend finds something in one of the stolen letters that makes him think maybe, just maybe, he can make crime pay after all.

On the surface at least, Teenage Wolfpack is a pretty serviceable movie.  The dialogue mostly makes sense and you can usually tell what’s going on.  There are times when it sets things up and pays them off pretty efficiently, but at nearly eighty minutes long, there is also a lot of time spent dithering around accomplishing nothing.  The opening, for example, where we are introduced to Freddie and his buddies as they show off their pasty German bellies at a swimming pool. They sexually harass random women, beat up the staff, and annoy their girlfriends.  This bit is far too long and ultimately does very little for the story.  Later we’re treated to a lengthy dance number, a weird sequence with a boy who admires Freddie throwing away his jacket, and a kidnapped dog, which are similarly useless.

The dog especially.  It’s a little wiener dog and it’s very cute, but it never does anything except hang out and be cuddled.  I kept expecting it to either get killed or for it to somehow be instrumental in the plot but it’s just a random dog and when things are supposed to be getting intense it vanishes from the story.  It also never barks once, which makes me wonder if the movie crew sedated it before filming.  My neighbours have two dachshunds and those little bastards never shut up, ever.

Outside of that, the story makes a reasonable amount of sense.  There are bits in which you’re not sure what people are actually talking about, but most of those end up not really mattering.  The final plot point, about the money at the bar, is not very clear at all – characters talk about what they found in the letter but we never get any details, or even see the text they’re reading (possibly this was simply cut from the English dub), so we only have the vaguest idea what they’re looking for.  Worse for this ending, and the thing that pretty much kills the whole film, is that it is entirely lacking in tension.  The guys are sneaking into the bar owner’s house to rob him while John, who has had enough of this, races to try to stop them. There’s a four-way standoff between Freddie, John, Freddie’s girlfriend Cissy, and the bar owner, in which the latter two are shot, but somehow the movie manages to make this downright boring.

I think a part of the problem may be that the stakes here are much lower than the earlier robbery of the postal truck, which involved fistfights and sneaking by the police (does anybody happen to know when ambulances were invented?  Because there’s a scene in this movie where a policeman flags down a random passer-by to ask them to take an accident victim to the hospital).  Here they’re just sneaking around a house and their only foe, besides each other, is a man with a heart condition.  I guess we’re supposed to be worried for the bar owner, but he’s not really a character, just an Italian stereotype even broader and more offensive than that skit from Devil Fish.

The other issue is that we’re not really sure what this movie wants to be.  Of course it’s a morality play, teaching us that criminals can never win, but it kind of wanders around that point in circles rather than attacking it from any particular angle that might unify the story.  There are repeated hints that John is going to end up taking the blame for Freddie’s shenanigans, but the story never follows through on that. Cissy plays it sweet for most of the movie but turns out to be the very worst of this nasty lot, lying and trying to turn the brothers against each other… that was kind of a fun twist, but it’s not at all necessary to the plot.  At the end, Freddie and John’s father turns up to identify these two criminals as his sons, but then the movie’s over, without any attempt at exploring what this means for the family.  Mr. Morgan is clearly upset to see them getting arrested, but whether he will reconcile with Freddie or just disown John along with him, we never find out.

Cissy, by the way, is supposed to be fifteen. We never find out how old Freddie is exactly, but he’s at least a couple of years older than eighteen-year-old John. That’s a little questionable, but what’s even more questionable is the camera’s loving attention to her ass, especially when actress Karin Baal was only sixteen when she was in this movie.

The thing MST3K would have surely had the most fun with is the characters, which are very flat.  John is a Wholesome Young Man who does things like remind his brother, who has just stolen a car right in front of him, to obey the speed limit. Mike, Tom, and Crow would have added their own dialogue to characterize him as a hopeless sniveling Mama’s Boy and it wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration.  He’s supposed to be conflicted once the actual crime begins but instead he just comes across as a fool, willfully ignoring what Freddie’s really up to in the attempt to feel better about his own part in it.

Like a number of characters in MST3K movies about young criminals, the movie balks at actually allowing John to commit a crime. He does hit a guy over the head with a gun, but the guy volunteered for it in exchange for some money from Freddie! While Freddie’s gang beat people up and rob the mail truck, John is merely distracting a night watchman by giving him a letter to mail.  It’s never very clear how much John knows about the whole plan.  He went to Freddie because he knows he needs more money than he can get through legitimate means.  He has seen them steal a car and when he’s sent to ‘borrow’ one he must know that the original owner probably isn’t getting it back, even if he’s able to secure it without any violence.  Yet in the face of all this, he does his level best to remain oblivious.

Freddie seems at once eager to have John as a partner and yet reluctant to actually bring him into the fold.  In T-Bird Gang the bad guys had Frank commit an actual crime as a test, to make sure he was up to it and to secure his loyalty.  Maybe it’s because John is family that Freddie doesn’t seem to feel a need to do this… maybe the ‘hit a guy’ thing was the test, but it didn’t feel like that.  Freddie can’t seem to decide whether he wants to trust John or protect him, which is another thing that movie could have used as a focus for this story, but doesn’t. It never really tries to get into Freddie’s head at all, which is a shame.

I guess the reason these movies don’t want their ‘hero’ characters to commit crimes is because they want them to seem redeemable.  The problem with this is that for a character to be redeemed, you need something to redeem them from.  A person can’t pick themselves up if they’ve never actually fallen.  Then again, I’m not sure this movie is about redemption.  Freddie certainly never redeems himself.  Cissy looks for a while like maybe she wants to get together with John and try a life of things other than crime, but doesn’t.  And John is only barely a criminal – we don’t even hang around long enough to find out whether his father’s going to think he is, or whether he’s going to take the blame for the stolen car.

Like so many other of these movies, the only goal Teenage Wolfpack seems to have is to make the audience feel crummy.  The moral lessons are barely a sketch and deeply unsatisfying.  The title seems to suggest an exploitation film but the bad behaviour it showcases isn’t any fun to watch.  The most interesting conflict the story sets up is between John, Freddie, and their father, but that is barely explored and certainly isn’t done justice.  The film-makers seem to have been competent but the script gave them nothing to work with.

This really should have been a werewolf movie.  Freddie’s been thrown out of the family for being a criminal, but when John goes to him looking for money, he discovers instead the terrible truth about the recent slew of animal attacks!  John still loves his brother but Freddie’s pack of slavering werewolves are a danger to everybody in town… can he bring himself to break out the silver bullets, knowing that he’ll be labeled a fratricide?  Can he protect the Italian bar owner, or even his own parents from werewolfish bloodlust?  That would have been an amazing movie.

[euphoria-svt]

Hesitate [Part 3 of Be Alright]

A/N: Long overdue but I’m finally done with my thesis so yay for that! This last part is inspired by Hesitate by Jonas Brothers because I had the idea right after I went for their concert I still miss them so much wow my pcd is horrible. Anyways I hope you enjoy this one! 

On a totally different note, I hope everyone is doing okay in their isolations! It’s not an easy time for the world right now but I hope there is something we can look forward to soon. Always remember to check in with loved ones and my ask/inbox is always open if you need a friend to talk to. Stay healthy and safe, my loves ❤️

————————————————————

Be Alright [Part 1] | Back to You [Part 2]

Word count: 2.4k

Being on the road was not as easy as Connor thought it would be. The more days he spent working and travelling, the lesser time he had on his phone. The first few months, he tried to check up on you almost every day. Although it consists a lot of saying ‘hey’ and getting a proper reply hours later because of the time zone, he made sure to send you updates and sometimes little snippets of the work he was doing.

You were proud of him. Extremely proud. You were happy that Connor got to live his dreams, get the exposure he was getting while working for Shawn and visiting beautiful places that he would never expect to go to.

But when the Asian leg of the tour kicked in, it became harder for the both of you catch up via Facetime and texts became less frequent. When it was morning for you, Connor was already fast asleep and vice versa.

And you didn’t mind it. You couldn’t keep depending on your best friend who was on the other end of the world. It was just a few months left until he would be back with you, Mike and Sam at UCLA and that was the one thing you would look forward to.

xxx

Connor was in the middle of editing a video backstage, a few hours before the concert started. The past few days has been rough on him and his sleeping schedule was screwed up.

He admits; the past few months have been such an opportunity for him but with a job this big meant the risk that comes along with it was big as well. He needed to follow certain schedules by Andrew, get things done on time, go around backstage filming for their ‘behind the scenes’, adjust his body clock to totally different time zones.  

He was really looking forward to head back to LA and spending time with his family, his friends, and especially you. Connor hasn’t spoken to you in over 2 weeks and he felt guilty that he keeps forgetting to send you a text before he’s piled with his work.

Connor shuts his laptop after saving his work and picked up his phone. Checking the world clock to confirm that he wouldn’t be bothering you when he called, he then switched to Facetime.

When you didn’t answer his call, he wanted to send you a text instead just to let you know that he hasn’t been dead for the past 2 weeks. As he opened your chat, he noticed the ‘last seen’ under your name was 3 days ago. Connor became anxious. You weren’t really the type of person to not check your chats daily.

“Hello?”

“Mike?” Connor sighed in relief when his best friend answered “Hey man, how are you?”

“Same old same old, Brash” He chuckled “Why are you calling me? Aren’t you usually working right now?”

“I was but then I realized I haven’t spoken to y/n in a while and I felt bad” Connor admitted “I called her but she didn’t answer and her Whatsapp said she’s been MIA for 3 days. Have you seen her recently?”

When Mike remained silent, Connor grew more and more nervous. He knew there was something that he didn’t know.

“Mike?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Connor asked; feeling an uneasy feeling in his stomach “Mike, did something happen? Is she okay?”

“Nothing happened to her, Con” Mike reassured; already feeling that his friend was on the edge of freaking out even more “Con, her grandma passed away a few days ago”

And that, made Connor feel like the worst best friend in the whole world.

“I thought she told you, man…” Mike said with guilt “She headed back home last week because her mom said her grandma was in a critical condition and she wanted to be there for her in case anything happened”

“And you haven’t heard from her since?” Connor asked.

“She told Laila that she wasn’t going to classes for a couple of weeks” He answered “None of us has heard anything from her”

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Connor frowned “I’ve been here, totally oblivious to how she is doing when I should be there with her. I should be comforting her the way she was there for me when I was at my lowest”

“Con, you know this isn’t your fault” Mike insisted “Look, she understands that your job is pretty big right now and if she dropped the news on you, you’re going to want to come home when she knows you can get in trouble for it”

“I can’t sit here, Mike” He shook his head “You know damn well that I can’t continue with my job knowing that she needs me more than ever right now”

“I gotta go… I have to sort things out with my boss”

“Connor,” Mike sighed before Connor could hang up “Just… Don’t get in too much trouble, okay?”

“I don’t know, Mike” He muttered in return “But I guess I’d have to take the risk”

xxx

“No”

“What do you mean no?” Connor gawked. Shawn, who sat next to Andrew, shifted uncomfortably because he knew this was going to end bad.

Andrew sighs as he looks away from his laptop “Connor, look buddy, I get that it’s a difficult thing for you to not be there for her… But I cannot allow you to fly home when we need you around”

“Andrew, we have enough footages!” He reasoned back “Please, man. I just need to go home for a couple of days to make sure she’s fine”

“You signed a contract” Andrew said sternly “That said you would be working unless something happens to an immediate family. Since it’s not you grandma, I can’t let you leave”

“Andrew-,”

“No buts” He cut Connor off “I don’t want to hear it, Connor. A deal is a deal. We made an agreement that you signed to not go against. I can’t do anything about it”

Without another word, Andrew got up from his chair and left the room, leaving Connor angrier than ever.

“Connor” Shawn snapped him out of his thoughts “Go,”

“What?” Connor asked confusingly, looking over at his friend.

“I’ll handle Andrew” He assured “Go home. Take the week off and meet us in Australia, okay?”

“He’s going to be pissed” Connor stated.

“He’s being unreasonable” Shawn shrugged “Listen, I’ve heard you go on and on about this girl of yours so she must be really special. If she needs you, go be there for her”

“Thank you, man” He sighed in relief “Just… Thank you for letting me do this”

xxx

It was a day of long flights for Connor and his body was drained. He sent you a few texts last night but as predicted, the grey ticks didn’t turn to blue ticks.

With his little luggage, he dragged it behind him up to your driveway where 2 cars were parked, which meant you and your mom were home.

It took a few seconds after he rang the doorbell to hear footsteps approaching. When the door opens and your mom saw Connor standing before her, she was taken aback.

“Connor,” She said in a surprised tone.

“Hi Mrs. y/l/n” He greeted politely “Can I come in?”

“Yeah honey, of course” She answered and moved aside. Once they were in, she asked “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming back until December?”

“I was” Connor nodded “But I also heard what happened”

Your mom could only nod understandingly “She told you?”

“Actually, no” Connor frowned “Found out from Mike but I’m really sorry for your loss. How have you been holding up?”

“I’m alright, honey, thank you” She smiled softly “It’s been a difficult time for us but we know she’s in a better place now”

“I’m more worried for y/n right now” Your mom continued. Connor could see the bags under her eyes and how strained she sounded “It took a toll on us but she’s taking a longer time to process it all”

“Do you mind if I see her?”

“Not at all, Connor” She replied “I know she’s always saying she doesn’t need to depend on anyone but we both know she relies on you a lot and right now, she needs you more than ever”

“I rely on her just as much” Connor chuckled softly “It’s the least I can do for her as well”

xxx

Connor knocks thrice on the door and waited for a response. He waited for another minute before knocking again but still didn’t get an answer. When he found the door was unlocked, he pushed it open; only to be met with a dark room.

Your bed was messy, curtains drawn and the only light entering the room was from the street lights outside. He watched you at your balcony; back facing him with your headphones on, which explained why you didn’t respond.

He slowly walked over to the balcony and stepped out of the room. He didn’t know how he could get your attention without scaring you too much so he rested his hand on your head.

You were startled when you felt something on your head and your heart starting beating faster. You slowly looked up and saw Connor instead, you let out a sigh of relief.

“Con?” You asked with wide eyes as you proceed to take off your headphones “What are you doing here?”

“Hey,” He greeted softly and slide down on the floor next to you “What? No hug?” He asked in a teasing voice.

You rolled your eyes playfully but leaned forward to give him a hug. Connor wraps his arms around you protectively and let you bury your head in the crook of his neck “Mike told me what happened” He said softly “I’m so sorry, sweets”

He hears your shaky breath and felt the tears on his neck. He rubs your back comfortingly, running his hand in an up and down motion “Hey,” He cooed “Let it all out, sweets”

“I just miss her, Con” You sniffled “I miss her so much”

“I know, baby” Connor pressed a kiss to your head “And I’m so sorry she’s not here anymore but she is always going to be looking out for you; no matter what”

There was nothing else he could do except let you cry it out while he holds you.

Out of everyone he knows, you were one of the strongest people he has met. To see you in a fragile state like this broke him. He wished nothing more to take your pain away. He’d take the pain for you if he could.

“You didn’t have to come back home just for me, Con” A few minutes later, you spoke softly.

He pushed you away a little so he could look at you and wiped away your tears “Of course I had to” Connor insisted “You’re my best friend and I would never hesitate for you, ever”

“Did you get in trouble with your work for it?” You frowned.

When he avoided your gaze, you sighed “Connor…”

“Look, don’t worry about it, okay?” Connor insisted “I’ll work through it when the time comes. The important thing is that I need to make sure that you’re okay”

You leaned your head against his shoulder “Thank you” You said softly “For being here with me”

Connor intertwines your finger and brings your hand up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss on the back of your hand “You’ve been there for me through my lows. Let me take care of you now”

xxx

It’s a few days later and Connor was dreading to leave you once again.

“Connor, I’m going to be fine” You reassured him as you both stood near the gates at the airport “Go, dofus” You chuckled softly “You’ll miss your flight”

“That’s a good thing, right?” He asked “I can tell Shawn I missed it and I’ll just have to stay”

“Connor,” You gave him a pointed look “You can’t avoid work forever. Go. I’ll be fine”

“100%?” He asked, biting his lower lips in hesitance.

“110%” You smiled “Now give me a hug and get your ass out of here”

“Bossy”

“Thank you for checking up on me” You muttered against his shoulder “I’ll see you in a month, right?”

“A month” He nods, wrapping his arms around you “Promise me you’ll eat and sleep regularly?”

“Yes, mother” You rolled your eyes playfully and pulled away “Call me when you land”

Connor waves to you one last time before he headed towards the gate. Every step he takes, the more he felt reluctant to leave you. He spun around and saw you in the same spot; watching him.

Connor sighs. Guess it’s now or never.

He rushes towards you, noticing your expression changed to confused.

“Did you forget something?” You asked once he was near to you.

“Can I just do something now that I may or may not regret?” Connor asked nervously.

You raised an eyebrow “That depends. Wait, what are you-,” Connor interrupts you by bringing his hands up to face, and pressing his lips against yours.

It felt like a split second to you. Saying goodbye to Connor, watching him run back to you, him kissing you, you kissing him back.

It felt like there was no one else around you and the world stopped working.

Connor takes a deep breath after he pulls away moments later and rests his forehead against yours with his eyes closed.

“Uhh… Well…That was…”

“If you say awkward, I’m going forget this ever happened and move to Japan” Connor threatened.

You let out a chuckle and shook your head. Your arms wrapped around his neck; fingers playing with the ends of his hair “Unexpected, that’s all” You answered.

“Felt like if I left you again without kissing you… I’ll never really tell you how I feel about us”

“Wow, hey there, Brashier. Don’t get ahead of yourself” You joked “You haven’t even taken me out on a date so there really isn’t an ‘us’ right now”

Connor rolls his eyes playfully “I’ll take you on all the dates when I get back”

“Deal… But for now, I’ll see you in month, okay?”

“It’s going to be the longest month ever”

————————————————————

Please reblog or leave a comment! ❤️

x rina

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