#anyway does anybody else do winter sports?

[tricked-out]

Merry Christmas from Jack & Ivy!

If you missed this chapter from the anthology, check it out here. 

Let the 12 days of Christmas begin!

[miekasa]

M-mie could we get some athlete boyfriend eren hcs too if you don’t mind, please and thank you😩

He is: my boyfriend, and I love him dearly. Perfect amount of himbo and athlete without being a jock, everybody give it up for Eren for being my dream boy <3

Eren plays sports year round, with the exception of maybe one or two winter seasons, just because his school/work/home life was too busy for athletics at those times. Otherwise, he’s always go something to practice for: soccer in the fall, hockey in the winter, and his choice of baseball or basketball in the spring.

He’s not a varsity athlete; that is, he’s not “committed” to any one team, so he’s not tied to playing one sport every year, nor are his academics linked to his athletics, or vice versa. He’s just a pretty athletic guy, and he’s got a lot of energy, and he enjoys sports, so naturally he plays whenever he can.

As it turns out, it does help him with his academics. Knowing he’s got practice the majority of the week forces Eren into building a schedule that prioritizes both schoolwork and sports so he can enjoy them equally. It teaches him to be independent in a way that he wasn’t expecting, but he’s come to really love.

And because he loves it, he doesn’t mind working hard for it. Liking the way he’s set it up for himself encourages him to do his best in both areas. It’s really just good for him all around: a good outlet fo his energy, a good way to spend his time, a good way to keep his grades in check, and a good way to keep himself comfortably happy and busy.

His appetite is insatiable, so it’s only dramatized when playing sports. He takes the all you can eat in all you can eat sushi a little too seriously.

The thing is… he’s a shit cook, too, so it’s not like he’s meal prepping to make sure he’s satisfying his appetite. He just buys a shit ton of food whenever he’s hungry. He’s always asking you if you wanna grab food, and part of it is to ensure that you’re eating—not as much as him, but eating nonetheless—but part of it is that he just likes sharing meals with someone.

He also doesn’t like to eat alone, so even if you only have your ten California rolls to his forty six spicy tuna rolls, that’s fine; he just wants the company.

That’s also why even if you say you’re not hungry, he’ll drag you out to eat with him anyway. And you’ll probably get fed some of his food even if you don’t order anything and insist that you’re not hungry because, “It’s really good, baby, just try it—just one bite, it’s okay I’ve got plenty left!”

He usually keeps a few granola bars and chips and other snacks of his liking on him. But because of Eren’s nature, he keeps them on you, too: in your car, in your backpack, in your apartment/dorm. You’ll meet him after class and he’ll kinda just start walking behind you, and you realize he’s opening your backpack, and you don’t even have time to question him before he’s pulling a bar out of the smallest pocket with a smile and munching on it.

Sometimes you come home and see his little protein shakes in your fridge. You definitely didn’t put them there, but you don’t move them, either. When you stock up on more when they’re running low, Eren contemplates marrying you.

If it’s been a hard week of practice or school, he tends to get sleepy when studying (usually when studying for his least favorite class, no coincidence there). He’ll close his laptop, put his hood up, and scooch his chair closer to yours before leaning his head on your shoulder.

He gets increasingly clingier the longer he naps; hand wrapping around your waist, nose poking at your neck. He’s not so subtly trying to hint that he wants you to quit studying and take him home to cuddle instead. If you don’t get the message, expect him to shut your laptop for you.

When you protest, Eren just looks at you with pouty lips and tired eyes, “Chemistry sucks anyway. Wanna nap, and also wanted you to do that thing with your hands when you massage my back for me.” (He then promptly falls asleep mid-massage on your bed).

He’s actually got a waiver to see a physical massage therapist because of how frequently he’s exercising. On occasion, he goes, but he claims he likes your massages much better. Also because he’s hesitant about a stranger touching him and once he moaned when the guy was working on his back and Eren swears it was one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.

He doesn’t get upset if you can’t make it to every game, but he does like it when you show up. Gets all cheesy and cocky with his arm around your shoulder, going on about how, “You’re my good luck charm, baby. I play better when you’re watching, you know?”

He has so much team clothing, from sweats to hoodies to t-shirts to socks. All he asks is that you wear something on game days, even if you can’t be there to support him while he’s playing. And that you keep one or two things for yourself anyway. He’ll put them in your closet for your if you don’t take them yourself <2

Because seeing you in his hoodie is always great, but his team hoodies are extra special, because they’ve got his name and his number on them. Whenever you’re wearing one, he trails just a half step behind you so he can see JAEGER printed on your back while you walk. Something about you wearing his last name around is… enticing, to say the least.

Even if it’s not the clothes branded with his name, Eren’s got a thing for you in sweats and/or workout clothes, so he’ll toss them at you whenever you sleep over. He’s always handsy, even if you’re just wearing an Under Armour shirt with the school’s logo on it; the material of it, and knowing that it’s his just makes him want to keep his hands on you.

Truthfully, he doesn’t workout all that much outside of practice. Occasionally, he’ll go to the gym with some of his teammates if they need a buddy, or go himself to stretch or take one of the free classes, but he doesn’t have a strict schedule for it. If you go to the gym, he’ll follow you if you ask, tho.

Turns out something that he does like is yoga. He’s not particularly flexible lmfao, but the stretching helps with muscle pain and tension, and he kinda finds the whole atmosphere of it relaxing. He’s still not so great at the meditation part of it, but he’s getting there.

(Actually, it’s pretty cute because on Tuesday and Thursdays, the yoga classes at the gym on campus are open-level and beginner friendly. That’s when the majority of the athletes show up, and you see people like Eren, Jean and Connie holding tree pose in the back room).

This, of course, makes him think that couples yoga is a great idea. Let’s just say, you’re lucky that Eren is strong enough to catch you and has sharp reflexes, because he’s certainly not the most balanced partner for this activity.

Game days are fun for him, and usually even if his team loses, he’s still so pumped up on adrenaline that he’s pretty happy. He only gets moody if he thinks the other team is playing dirty, or the refs are unfair, or he’s just been in a bad mood because of something that happened in his personal life; sports are an outlet for him, not his drive in life, so losing a game doesn’t take a huge toll on him.

Usually, even if he is upset about something personal, he’s able to funnel it into his game play. Small things used to make his whole sportsmanship sour, but overtime, he’s really gotten better at using his energy to fuel the right things. However, one thing that makes him foul (emotionally and literally; as in he might foul out of a game), is if he’s been fighting with you.

Sometimes it works in his favor—using the game as outlet, like usual—but it goes south pretty quickly. Because instead of using his aggression in a productive way, he gets distracted and easily pissed off, and it’s no good for anybody, especially himself. Because if he fouls out, or the coach takes him out for doing too much, then he can’t play; and if he can’t play then all that pent up frustration has no where to go; and then he’s forced to just sit with himself and his thoughts, but usually he starts deflecting and telling everyone else to piss off. Truly a no good, very bad box he’s put himself in.

You guys don’t fight that often, and it’s rare that it drags out for an extended amount of time when you do; but as with any relationship, it can happen. And when it does happen, if Armin doesn’t get to you first, expect one of Eren’s teammates to come groveling at your feet.

Or, rather, two. Because when you and Eren were fighting for over two weeks about god knows what at this point, it was Connie and Jean who ambushed you in the library. Jean had some pride to keep, but Connie was practically begging you to make up with Eren: “Look, I know he’s probably the one who said or did something to piss you off, and I’m not saying you gotta forgive him, but please just talk to him. I can’t run anymore extra laps because of him, and it’s gonna be so embarrassing if we lose to a C-list team on Friday because Eren’s funking up everyone’s attitude. PLEASE!”

Jean is more interested in the tea between you guys, but he also wants Eren to go back to being his normal hotheaded self, and not his current moody self. “He’s been playing like a bitch baby all week, and I’m gonna knock his skull in if he doesn’t fucking get his act together,” Jean rolls his eyes, “So just show up on Friday, alright? Do it for me and Connie, at least.”

When Eren does see you in the crowd at the game, it’s not a Troy and Gabriella moment, but when he sees you he feels so much relief that he’s physically calmer and way more mentally relaxed—because at this point Eren wasn’t even mad, he was just scared you might break up with him, and that fear brought out the worst in him. Seeing you in the stands, even if you didn’t wanna speak to him, was reassurance that you still gave a damn about him, and that was motivation enough.

He rushes to you after the game, wanting to make sure you don’t get swept away or leave with your friends. He’s smiling and so happy to finally see you that he almost forgets that you’re mad with him; hugging you and grinning ear to ear. When the reality kicks in, he kinda steps back at bit and rubs at his neck, embarrassed, but at least he knows he still has a chance to make things right with you.

(When you do make up, you’re surprised to find flowers and $10 coupon for your favorite pizza place in your mailbox a few days later. They’re from Connie, and his poorly handwritten note thanks you for “saving the team” and “curbing Eren’s temper).

[courtofjurdan]

Deserved

A/N: This is my second elriel fic. I’ve done so many back and forth POV but let me know if you liked both or would have rather just seen one. Thank you @kimkla for the prompt. I had fun writing this. Enjoy!

Prompt: “Az just came back from a really difficult mission and has problems to get back to normal. Elain helps him through some bad flashbacks/anxiety attacks or sth. Angst w/ fluffy ending”

——————

Azriel POV

Rhys sent me on a mission. A mission that hits too close to home. I can’t be mad because he didn’t know but I’m still aggravated.

He sent me to go spy on someone causing trouble in the Illyrian mountains. What he didn’t know was the person causing trouble was one of my brothers. My brother who was torturing people for sport and then covered it up as if he didn’t do anything. But I’m not stupid.

I am finally going to get my revenge on him. He is going to regret ever causing harm to people. He is going to know what that harm feels like in return.

So I went to him as silent as my shadows and punched him to the ground. I punched him to the ground unconscious. Then I dragged his pathetic unconscious body to a cave and chained him up.

Then I let him gain his consciousness back and put oil on his hands and set them on fire. I let him feel what I had to feel. I let him feel the pain that I thought was going to kill me. The pain that I wished death upon.

I watched him scream and beg for mercy. I watched him apologize over and over and over again. I watched the tears pour from his eyes. I kept telling myself that he deserved this. He earned this pain.

But for some reason it just made me feel guilty. But he deserved this, didn’t he? He tortured me and so many others. He deserved to die a slow death.

I, then, grabbed my signature weapon, Truth-Teller, and cut him. Slowly. I stabbed him. I decided to remove his wings. And I let him bleed out.

All I could think about was the blood he poured from everybody else. The pain he caused everyone else. This will be worth it. It’s not like anyone will miss him anyway.

But why doesn’t this feel right?

As soon as his heart beated for the last time, I took him off the chains and burned his body. I contemplated keeping the wings as a trophy but I don’t think Elain would appreciate that.

When I was done, I was trembling. My whole body was shaking. I was pouring with sweat from the rage. The shame. The anxiety. The memories.

I am no better than he is. If I went and brutalized and killed him, I am no better than he that did that to other people. What was I thinking?

Elain POV

It’s currently midnight and I’m waiting for Azriel to come back to our cottage. He was supposed to be here by noon but he must have got stuck doing something. I’m sure he is alright.

By two in the morning I heard the front door open. Odd, he usually is as quiet as a mouse. I was on my way to go downstairs to meet him, to make sure he was okay, when the bedroom door opened and Az walked hurriedly to the bathing room.

Something must have gone wrong. He hasn’t come like this in a while. He usually only does when something bad went wrong. Something that he blames himself on.

I quietly followed him to the bathing room. He was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, panting. Panting because he was panicking. Sweat dripped off his face. His hands trembled. Blood. He had blood on him.

I ran to him quickly, “Az, blood. Is this your blood?”

He didn’t look up at me. “No.” Okay well I guess we’ll be playing a one-word game tonight.

I grabbed a towel to wash his face and hands up. “Let’s get you cleaned off then.”

Still without looking, he murmured, “No.”

Trying not to get frustrated, I softly spoke, “Az, I’m going to get the blood off you.”

I reached up to wipe some blood off his cheek. At the contact, he pushed me hard and yelled, “No!”

I fell backwards. I hit my head hard against the floor. The pain and dizziness was enough to take my speech away. At the tears that started to roll down my face, it seemed to snap him out of his rage.

He kneeled down next to me. “Elain, I- I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Crap. I’m sorry.” He tried to wipe the tears away but realized the blood on his hands.

I got up, albeit slowly. He was there watching me just in case I fell. I took a deep breath trying to pull my emotions of the physical and mental hurt, and said, “Azriel, I’ll be back in the morning. Hopefully, you’ll be in the mood to talk. Clean yourself up. Get enough rest. Bye.”

He looked distraught. But I had to go, I had to leave. He needed time to think. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me but before he can do anything else, I have to go. Just for a little bit.

I put on a dress and a cloak and headed to Feyre and Rhysand’s house. As I walked, I let the tears fall freely. I never expected this of him. He has never hurt me physically before. But I remind myself that he is obviously hurting himself. But still, not a good enough excuse.

After walking for an hour and half in the middle of winter, I arrived at their house. Rhysand opened the door. His eyes went wide with shock, either because it was me or because of the state I was in.

After a minute, he seemed to realize it was cold, “Um come in, Elain. Are you okay?”

I cried, “Can I talk to Feyre? I’m sorry I’m here so late.”

He pulled me into a hug. “Yes, of course. Don’t be sorry. She’ll be down here in a minute.”

He led me to the living room when another dizzy spell took over me. Rhys caught me and a look of concern replaced his look of pity. “Elain, are you sure you’re okay?”

He put his hands around my waist to keep me from falling. A blush rose high on my cheeks. He has never touched me like this, but that doesn’t matter right now.

I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to make them see straight but that didn’t work. I stammered, “Can- can I go sit down?”

He nodded his head. He kept an arm on my shoulder should I fall again. At the same time we sat down, I heard Feyre descend the stairs.

Azriel POV

I can’t believe I just did that. I pushed Elain. I hurt her. I’m an idiot, such an idiot. I will never forget the look of shock and hurt on her face. That was uncalled for. There is no excuse for that.

I decided to take a long bath and sleep on the couch. I will not sleep in our bed without her. Without Elain. It’s our bed not my bed. It feels wrong to sleep there without her.

I hope she will forgive me. I don’t deserve to be forgiven but still I hope she will. I need to sleep, calm myself, and take care of this chaotic mess I created. Tomorrow.

Elain POV

“I’m so sorry, Elain. Something must be bothering him pretty badly to act like this.” Feyre said, quietly.

Rhysand looked mad. He was barely controlling the anger boiling in his body. Feyre put a hand on his arm in an attempt to cool him off.

Feyre spoke again, “Maybe you should see a healer. Just to make sure your head is okay.”

“I’m fine, really.”

Rhysand looked at me at that, “Elle, you almost fell earlier. Please, I insist. Just to make sure everything is okay.”

I thought for a second. It wouldn’t hurt getting checked just to make sure.

I nodded my head, “Okay.”

—————

Madja came and examined me. She gave me a pain tonic for the headache that was starting to build pressure in my head. She told me to rest and take it easy for a little bit.

That’s exactly what I did. I went to bed thinking about what I was going to do tomorrow morning.

—————

Morning came and Rhys insisted that he go to the house first and check on Az. To make sure he isn’t going to hurt anybody else.

I let him. Just so that I wouldn’t be so nervous. Because I’m afraid. I’m afraid of the reaction my husband may have. I’m afraid he might accidentally hurt me again. Rhys going first will at least give me peace of mind.

Azriel POV

I heard a knock on the door. I was just going to ignore it. I’m too tired to deal with anything. But then the knock became persistent so I let in and got up to answer it.

I opened the door to a red-faced Rhys looking madder than I have seen him in a while.

He grabbed the collar of my tunic and dragged me to the couch, throwing me onto it.

“Do you want to tell me why Elain showed up at my house at 3:30 in the morning in the dead of winter, crying?”

I just stared at him, not saying a word.

“Do you wanna tell me why you got so mad you pushed her onto the floor?”

Again, I didn’t say a word.

Rhys grabbed my tunic again, he yelled, “Do you wanna tell me why you gave her a concussion? She has a freaking concussion because you can’t split your home life with your work life and that got her hurt. That’s pathetic, Azriel. Pathetic.”

Well, that got my attention, “Is she okay?”

“She’s okay. I had her see Madja. She gave her a pain tonic for the headache. Told her she needs a lot of sleep. Which she probably didn’t get much last night because of you.”

I looked down. I was ashamed. I didn’t know what to say.

Rhys sat down beside me. I heard him blow out a big breath. He put an arm around my back and gently asked, “What happened, Az? This isn’t like you.”

I swallowed, “The person causing all the trouble was my brother…”

I went on and told him everything. What I had done. What I had felt. I had never felt more vulnerable in my entire life.

By the end of it, I was shaking. Trembling. Like I was the night before. I didn’t realize a tear had slipped out until Rhys rubbed it off my cheek.

Rhys just hugged me and said, “I’m sorry, Az. If I had known-”

I cut him off, “No, you wouldn’t have known. I just need Elain. I need to see her. Apologize.

Rhys nodded his head. And headed out the door.

Elain POV

Rhys is winnowing me to my house. He said he talked to Azriel and said I needed to also talk to him. Here goes nothing.

Rhys gave me a timid smile and nodded his head. I tell him thank you and he’s gone.

I walk in the house and it’s quiet.

“Azriel!”

He walks out of the bedroom into the living room. “Hey Ellie.”

I see him take a deep breath and he continues, “I’m so sorry. That was uncalled for. I’m sorry I hurt you. I promise I won’t do it again. I’m just so so sorry. How are you doing? Are you okay?”

“I’m doing fine, Az. Just a headache and tiredness.” I paused and swallowed. “Talk to me. What happened yesterday?”

I saw Azriel’s body tense for a heartbeat and relaxed like nothing happened. He came and grabbed my hand and took me over to the couch.

“Elain, I killed my brother yesterday. I beat him, stabbed him, burned him. And I thought it would make me feel better that it would help me move past my childhood but it didn’t. In fact, it just makes me feel worse. I’m no better than he is, I’m no different than he was.” He told me everything that had happened.

Azriel POV

I could feel the tears trying to well up. I could feel the burning in my eyes. But I shouldn’t hold it back. Elain is my wife. She deserves to see every part of me. I let the tears fall.

Elain grabbed my face. “No, Az honey, you are nothing like he is. He got what he deserved. I never met your brother but I’m sure he doesn’t have the kind, tender heart that you have. I’m sure he doesn’t have your compassion. I know he doesn’t share the love you give so freely to your family. You are nothing like him.”

She kissed my tears away. I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her. “I’m still so sorry for yesterday. I caused you pain that should’ve never happened. I’m so sorry.”

“I know you're sorry. I know you didn’t want to. Don’t let your anger get the best of you. It was a mistake that I expect you won’t make again. Or I promise you, I will let the wrath of my sisters and your brothers to come upon you and you will regret it for the rest of your eternity.”

I laughed a low laugh. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. Please forgive and I will spend the rest of my eternity being the male I vowed to be to you, Elain Acheron.”

“I do forgive you, my most precious shadowsinger.” And she kissed me. And I kissed her. Passionately. Trying to convey all the love I have for her that words can’t even justify.

She wrapped her legs around my waist. Kissing my jaw line and down my neck. Which elicited a moan from deep within my throat. She went back up to my lips.

I broke the kiss off, “Elain, love, I’m pretty sure someone told me the healer said you needed lots of rest.”

“Rest can wait.”

“Rest is important for your healing. I promise you after you rest some then I will make love to you in the way you deserve it.”

She smiled at me and kissed the corner of my mouth. “Okay.”

I picked her up and carried her to our bed. We both took our clothes off and laid down with each other. She cuddled into my chest and I laid a kiss atop her hair.

Cauldron, I don’t know how I ever got this female. I definitely don’t deserve her but I will thank the mother everyday she thought I did.

———————

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@ummmcutie @aelin-queen-of-terrasen @afexiss @roseygirl25 @mi-mavencalories @spideygirlstuff @deargreenbriar @b00kworm @thequeenofeveything @munchycow @aesthetics-11 @booksrmee @akaloto @hauntedfreakdeputyhero @hurema @dorkzrul @curlyredqueen06 @tanaquilpriscilla @queen-of-glass

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[bittywitches]

16 with ethan?

Okay @vintagedolan lowkey this is what would’ve happened in downhill if Grayson hadn’t been an ass lol (jk idk anything about winter sports)

16. Riding together up the ski lift. 

This day wasn’t supposed to start with you and your bundle of nerves. Today was going to be a fun holiday with you and one of your closest friends, but when he ended up in bed sick that morning, you knew you weren’t going to be able to drag him out of bed and to the slopes. His head was burning up with a fever, probably because you guys hadn’t been wearing the proper clothing when you took that pitstop to play in the snow. You’d both gone to bed alright but now he was a sneezing mess. The plan was for you to stay back and take care of him, but he’d insisted you go anyways, not wanting to ruin your vacation as well. You were grateful, but still a bit upset that you had to do this all by yourself.

So when you were checking your phone to send one last text to your friend telling him you probably wouldn’t respond to him for the next hour or so, of course you were nervous. But the sudden voice you heard behind you only made that spike even higher.

“Hey, hold on!” You turned to see a boy in a thick jacket and black cargo pants running up to you. His short hair was freckled with white snow, and he had a quiet smile on his lips. “You dropped this.” He held his hand out to you, and you saw that he was holding one of your gloves.

“Oh!” You reached into your pockets and found only one of them in there. You took it from him, your cold fingers grazing his surprising warm ones as you did so. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” He smiled, before turning to jog back towards the two people he’d been talking to. You slid your phone into your jacket pocket, zipping it closed before bending down to pick your board up off the ground. Your eyes seemed to follow him as he left, you slipping on your gloves as they did so, but you quickly turned away when you saw the other man with him look up in your direction, causing your face to heat up. You shook your head, then set off for the slopes.

・ ・ ・

Originally, you and your friend were going to go for the Black Diamond, considering you both had a good amount of experience and were pretty good on the slopes. However, you weren’t feeling as confident without him by your side, so you decided to ease in at least a little bit by going for the Blue Square trail first. You had to wait quite a while before you were able to finally get to the front of the line. Eventually you got there, and you slowly glided down until you hit the red marker, your left foot buckled into your snowboard. You felt someone coming up behind you, and the person slid to a stop next to you.

“Hey, it’s you.” You looked up to see the same short haired boy, but now his hair was covered by a cute little beanie and his goggles were hoisted up on his head.

“Oh, hey!”

You replied, looking back behind you waiting for the chair lift to come. When it did, you both gently sat back on the seat, and he reached up to grab the bar above your heads. He looked at you, and you hovered your arms up so he could pull the bar down.

You gave him a quick smile, then looked down. You always liked to watch your feet gradually leave the ground, then see them suspended in the air. Your board gently rested on your other foot. You looked back up at him, deciding to fill the silence. “Where’s your friends?” 

His head was turned away from you, watching the trees far off in the distance before turning around at your voice. “Oh, they decided to start on the easier slopes.”

“Ah.”

“You flying solo too?”

“Yea. My friend was supposed to come too but he got sick.”

“Aw, that sucks.”

“Yea.” The sun reflected off of his goggles, and you had to squint a bit to look at him.

“So, you done this before?”

“Oh yeah. I skied a lot when I was younger, but I started snowboarding a lot last winter.”

“You good?”

“I’d like to think so.” You both giggled. “You?”

“Yea, I come lot with my brother so I get a lot of practice.”

You nod your head. “Shouldn’t you be doing one of harder ones then?”

“I like to work my way up.” He responded. “Might as well get the most of all the slopes.”

“That’s true.”

“How about you? Sounds like you’re pretty good.”

You chuckled. “I was going to go to one of the diamonds, but I’ve actually never snowboarded on my own before. Bit nervous about doing it without anybody else with me.”

“Well that makes sense, can be a bit unnerving to feel like nobody’s gonna be there.”

“You wouldn’t even know the half of it.”

The boy went quiet for a moment, but then said “Wanna go down the slope together?” When he turned to look at you his jacket rubbing against itself made a little sound. “Yknow, since it’s your first time.”

“Oh! No, it’s okay, you don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t mind.”

“You probably don’t want me weighing you down, though-”

“No, seriously. It’s all good. I’m used to snowboarding with my brother or some friends too, so.” He shrugged.

You smiled. “Alright, as long as it’s okay with you.”

“One hundred percent.”

“Thank you. It’s really nice of you.”

“Don’t even mention it. Oh- I’m Ethan, by the way.”

“Y/N.” You both awkwardly shook hands, but smiled at each other nonetheless.

“Oh-”

He tapped your shoulder then nodded forward to signal to you that you’d reached the summit. He raised the bar above your heads, and you both twisted your legs so you landed on your boards, gliding gently towards the start of the trail. 

“Alright, gimme a sec.” He pulled his gloves on and put on his goggles, and you followed suit. “You ready?”

“Yea.” You looked down the trail, seeing many people racing down the slope, getting smaller and smaller the farther away they got. You took in a deep breath.

“Hey.” You felt Ethan’s hand on your shoulder, and you looked back at him. He looked a little goofy with his goggles on. “You’re gonna be fine.”

You grinned. “Yea, I know.” You paused. “Hey, wanna make this interesting?”

He tilted his head at you. “How so?”

You bit your tongue. “Wanna race?”

“Oh, are you sure you wanna do that? I don’t think you know how good I am.”

“Are you underestimating me?”

He held his hands up in defense. “Of course not.”

“Then how about it then?”

He finally returned your enthusiastic grin. “Alright. Bet.”

“Okay, on the count of three.”

He nodded.

“One, two…” You suddenly pushed with your foot, gliding forward and then down the slope, out of sight. 

“Hey, no fair!” He yelled, but laughed still, chasing after you.

You both raced down the mountain, and you could see him gaining on you through the corner of your eye. He passed you for a moment, but he had to swerve to avoid a tree, giving you an advantage. Snow was flying as you seared through it, and it would’ve definitely gotten in your eyes if it weren’t for your goggles. The wind was cold and almost painful against your face, but the exhilaration of the speed made it seem infinitesimal. It’d been so long since you felt so free and alive like this; You were loving every moment of it. 

You were both neck and neck, one of you gaining on the other every few seconds, but eventually you ended up gaining a much larger lead.

Ethan was competitive, sure, but for some reason it was like this fire was set within him with you. He needed to beat you. He had to win. So he leaned forward, gaining more and more speed, eventually passing you with the biggest grin on his face. He looked back to you with a victorious expression for just a split second, but that was enough for him to lose focus on what he was doing. He had tried to look for you when he looked back, and it made him swivel a bit, rendering him unable to notice the icy patch he’d just slid onto. His head jerked forward, and he tried to right himself, but when that didn’t work he tried to stop, redirecting his board to get it across the run. However the icy slope made him overshoot, and he fell back, his feet flying up into the air and his shoulder crashed into the ground. 

You’d had your eye on his grey jacket since he passed you, so when you saw his fall you gasped, immediately stopping as fast as you could. You quickly unbuckled yourself form your board and picked it up, running as fast as you could to Ethan’s fallen body.

“Oh my god, are you okay??” You asked incredulously, crouching down next to him to turn him around onto his back.

“Fuck, yea. I’m good.” He tried to sit up, but his arm buckled and his back fell against the snow again.

“Jeez, come on.” You grabbed his arm and helped him up, dragging him to the side of the slope so you wouldn’t interrupt any of the other skiers. 

“What’d you land on?”

“My arm.” He went to grab his shoulder, but winced when he did.

You took your gloves off and stuffed them into your pockets, running your hands up and down his shoulder. “Does it hurt bad?” 

“Not too much. I don’t think it’s sprained or anything.” He stretched his neck out, pulling it away from his hurt arm. “God dammit, I’m sorry.”

“What the hell are you apologizing for?”

“Well I kinda took the fun out of the race, for one thing.” He laughed.

“Don’t worry about that. What’s important is you’re okay.”

“I’m good. Promise.” He sighed. “Probably might wanna take a little break, though.”

You laughed. “Sounds like a good idea.”

Luckily for you both, you were already pretty close to the bottom of the slope so you and Ethan were able to walk the rest of the way down.

“Sorry for ruining your run.” He said once you’d reached the bottom.

“Don’t worry about it. It was still fun.” You smiled. 

“I guess I’ll see you later then?”

“What? No! I’m not gonna leave you like this.”

“I was just planning on heading out.”

“Where’re you staying? I’ll drop you off.”

“No, there’s no need for that, really.”

“Come on, it’s basically my fault you’re hurt.” You went to hold his arm but he winced again. “See?”

“It’s okay, I’ll just wait for my friends. You go have fun or whatever.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s kinda cold anyways and I think my nose might freeze off.”

He laughed. “Okay, well, what do you wanna do then?”

You thought for a second. “Wanna… go get some hot chocolate? There’s a cute little coffee shop near here I passed by.”

His eyes brightened. “Yes, absolutely.”

You smiled. “Okay, let’s go.”

[renaerys]

PPG One-Shot: Under the Stars (Brick/Blossom)

Written for the inaugural challenge prompt on PPG Challenge Hub on AO3 for the prompt “things you said under the stars,” hosted by @kiebs, @carriedreamerx, and me. Also functions as a Part 3 to the Shooketh, Not Stirred series. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 here on Tumblr or on my AO3. 

Summary: In which Blossom decides she is definitely girlfriend material, and so does everybody else.

***We are welcoming more submissions for this prompt for the month of July! If you want to participate, please check out the PPG Challenge Hub collection on AO3.***

xxx

Nothing short of witchcraft could have held Buttercup’s 1997 Ford F-Series pickup truck together as it ambled over rocky switchbacks and through dense, Redwood forest to the Vista Lakes campgrounds for the Townsville High Junior and Senior classes’ biannual end-of-semester party. Blossom kept a stranglehold on the passenger door and hissed her displeasure over every dip that lurched the old truck too close to the edge of the road. The drop to the bottom of the mountain was a good thousand feet, a death knell for the Normies riding along with them.

Mitch and Harry, however, did not seem to mind as much.

“Oh shit!” Mitch whooped when Buttercup went over a particularly deep crag in the road and rocked the whole truck.

“Buttercup, please slow down,” Blossom pleaded.

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” Mitch said through the sliding window that opened up onto the truck bed, where he and Harry rode with the sleeping bags, food, and extra blankets.

Harry laughed. “We’re cool Blossom, don’t worry.”

“Yeah Blossom, don’t worry,” Buttercup drawled. “Besides, it’s not like a fall from this height would kill us.”

“I’m sure Mitch and Harry feel super reassured to hear you say that,” Blossom said snidely.

“Super duper!” Mitch said. He flashed the rearview mirror a sign of the horns and winked.

Blossom forced herself to ignore his goading and kept her eyes firmly on the road ahead just in case. “I should never have agreed to this.”

“Well, tough shit, Leader Girl. You could’ve gotten a ride with Bubbles earlier if you’d left your Winter Break homework until the last day like everybody else, but noooooooo.”

“Not everybody waits until the last minute to get the homework done, for your information.”

“They totally do.”

“They totally don’t.”

“Do.”

“Don’t—ugh, no, I’m not arguing like this with you.”

Buttercup smirked like she’d won the argument (she definitely did not). “Whatever. We’re basically here and no one’s fallen to their death yet, so you can chill.”

The road emptied out onto a clearing overlooking the side of the mountain. Three deep, blue lakes sat still and tranquil, each surrounded by clusters of gnarled Redwoods and camp sites. A lot of people were already here considering the late hour, and a few campfires blazed bright along the shorelines. The gloaming crept over the horizon, casting the valley below in shadow and the skies in dusky, bleeding streaks of red like spilled wine. High above, blues deepened to blacks, but it was still early for stars.

Buttercup parked off the main campsite and the boys began unloading the truck bed. When they struggled with a cooler crammed full of ice, Blossom lifted it effortlessly and floated it over to join others that had already been packed with cheap beer and grill meat.

“Eyyyy there she is!” Boomer opened his arms and pulled Blossom into his letter jacket for a big hug. “I’m glad you decided to come.”

Blossom returned his hug with a smile. “Me too.”

“I told you she would,” said Bubbles, and she nudged Butch who was busy putting away a plate piled high with four hamburgers. He took one look at Blossom and grinned.

“Hey, Highness,” Butch drawled.

Blossom shot him a withering look. “Hi, Butch.” Ever since she’d beaten him in a not-so-friendly spar while Buttercup was out of commission, he’d mellowed out and taken to nicknaming and weirdly friendly ribbing.

“Comin’ down from that pretty throne to hang with the cool kids, huh?”

He stuffed an entire burger in his mouth, while Blossom threw up a little in hers.

“Shut up, Butch. You sound like a creepy old man.” Buttercup arrived carrying two twenty-four packs of beer that she dropped in Butch’s lap. He caught them with a grunt, and Bubbles caught his plate of uneaten burgers.

“Bitch, you love every glistening inch of this.” Butch stood up shouldering the enormous beer crates like they weighed nothing, because they did.

“I love cold beer, so move your glistening ass.” Buttercup snatched one of his uneaten burgers and stuffed it in her mouth.

Somehow, Buttercup got Butch up and helping, and when Mitch and Harry joined them, it was short work to unload everything from Buttercup’s truck. Blossom rolled out her sleeping bag on the grass amidst all the others, but no one would be sleeping tonight. It was merely a courtesy for the too high or the too passed out.

Around the campsite, Juniors and Seniors lounged with beers and blunts, enjoying their last night together before Winter Break. Among them, Wes had his arm around Kim as he flipped hot dogs on a standing grill and chatted up Mike and Robin. Blossom watched them a moment, debating whether to interrupt the conversation to say hi.

Bubbles slipped her arm around Blossom’s waist and squeezed affectionately. “You look a little lost.”

“No, just hanging out, you know.” She returned the half embrace, and they stood there a moment enjoying the cool night air.

“Hey, Blossom! You wanna sit with us?” Harry called. He and a few others had set up some lawn chairs by the shore and were passing beers.

Bubbles giggled. “You know he likes you,” she said.

“What—He does?!” Blossom sputtered.

“For sure. And, you know, since you’re totally not with anybody else, you could have some fun talking to him.”

“You mean, flirt with him.”

Bubbles was as innocent as a lamb. “I mean, be nice to him. That could be fun, right?”

Blossom had nothing to say to that. She was not, in fact, “with” anybody else. And she had every right to talk to whomever of her friends she wanted, so technically Bubbles had a point, but…

Blossom searched the faces gathered. In the encroaching darkness, it was getting harder to pick out profiles and bright colors to see who was here and who hadn’t yet arrived. “I don’t know.”

But Bubbles was already dragging her over to Harry’s circle and waving back to him. Seated in between Harry on one side and Kim on the other, Blossom was handed a burger and a beer and encouraged to participate in the conversation.

“My folks’re taking me to our cabin in Tahoe to go skiing over the break,” Harry was saying.

“That sounds fun,” Blossom said.

He shrugged. “Yeah, sure, if you count me eating snow every five feet when I can’t stop falling.”

“Come on, I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

“Oh, yeah? I bet it’d be a cake walk for you, Miss Snow Queen.” Harry grinned, and the corners of his dark eyes crinkled cutely.

“Just because I have ice powers doesn’t make me a Winter sports maven. I’ve never skied in my life.”

“Psh, can’t be that hard, right? You start at the top of the mountain, and you end up at the bottom.”

Blossom bit back a smile. “I mean, I think it’s a little more involved than that.”

Harry laughed and leaned over the armrest closer to her. “Well, consider us both noobs. Anyway, most of the time’s spent hanging out at the cabin drinking hot chocolate anyway, right? Best part.”

Blossom tugged on her long, red ponytail as Harry continued to smile at her. She imagined the scene: a cozy ski lodge surrounded by snow, and a smiling boy content to ignore the blunt their friends were passing just to talk to her some more. She would like that. It would be easy, simple, and soft. Normal.

“Um, you know, I was thinking of inviting a few friends for a weekend. Just, like, a small group, and uh, well, I was wondering…” Harry stumbled in the dark looking for the question he meant to ask.

She could say yes, and she could have fun. With him, with any nice boy, it could be fun. How silly that just a few months ago, she had let herself believe she wasn’t the desirable type just because some mean girls said so. It all seemed so absurd now, and yet Blossom could not bring herself to give Harry the easy, simple, soft “yes” he wanted.

“Oh hey! You can have my seat, I’m grabbing more food,” said Kim on Blossom’s other side.

“Thanks.”

Like a hand to the stove, that voice hit her with a searing demand to be acknowledged. Old habits perhaps, or new ones. He wasn’t one to be ignored, not by her at least. Not these days.

“Brick,” Blossom said, half a question, half a sigh. She pulled back from Harry to look at him properly.

He’d taken Kim’s vacated seat directly next to her and nursed a solo cup of beer. Like her, he was dressed for the December chill in long sleeves, and his trademark red cap sat backwards over his short hair, as always. Red eyes held hers in a look that lingered.

“Blossom.” He spoke her name like a secret.

He was late. Why was he late? It wasn’t like him. She hadn’t seen him since third period yesterday. Was it only yesterday, or years ago?

“Hey, Brick,” Harry said, leaning over so he could see around Blossom. “Butch said you might not make it tonight.”

Blossom worried her lip between her teeth, and Brick took a long sip of beer as he slowly averted his gaze to Harry on her other side. “Here I am.”

“Uh, yeah, so Blossom,” Harry said. “About Tahoe…”

xxx

Blossom tugged on her ponytail as she turned back to Harry. Brick watched her twist her anxious fingers through her hair and narrowed his eyes.

“Hm? Oh, right,” she said.

“Yeah, so like I was saying, my parents’ cabin has a few extra bedrooms, so we could make a whole weekend out of it. Skiing, hot chocolate, the works. It’d be cool if you came. What do you say?”

“You throwing a rager?” Brick interrupted.

Harry leaned forward to see Brick again like he’d forgotten he was sitting there at all. “Nah man, just a couple friends for a weekend trip.”

“Cool. Who’s going?”

“Uh, I mean, I don’t have a list or anything. Sorta just came up with it now, so…”

“So you still have space. Count me in,” Brick said.

Blossom and Harry both looked at him like he’d suggested they all go jump in the lake.

“You want to go skiing in Tahoe?” Blossom asked.

Brick shrugged. “Sure, if it means a weekend away from my idiot brothers. Thanks for the invite, Harry.”

Harry gaped, and Blossom ceased pulling at her ponytail to stare at Brick.

“I mean,” Harry said, and nodded super obviously towards Blossom while she wasn’t looking.

“How many others could we invite?” Blossom asked. “If it’s okay with your parents, I mean.”

Harry looked at Blossom, and then he looked at Brick, who sipped his beer like the oblivious, teenaged simpleton he one hundred percent was not. Giving up, Harry sighed and rubbed a hand over his buzz cut. “There’s room for two more if you’re both going to be there.”

Blossom lit up. “How about Wes and Kim? Or Pablo and Hanout?”

Harry sat back in his chair and nursed his beer. “Yeah, fine, whatever you want.”

She was smiling now.

“Wes and Kim,” Brick said. “Pablo snores like a motherfucker.”

“That’s true,” Harry said forlornly.

“Well, either way,” Blossom said, clearly torn between telling them both off and the desire to finalize plans.

Brick got up. “Let us know what weekend. I’m free whenever.”

Pleasantly yet unsurprisingly, Blossom got up too. “Me too. Thanks Harry, this’ll be fun.” She smiled genuinely at him, and he returned it.

“Yeah, the best,” Harry said dejectedly.

Blossom followed Brick as he led her away from the main campsite along the shoreline in the direction of the drop-off.

“Okay, what was that?” she asked when they were away from the roar of the music and the campfires.

“What was what?” Brick asked. It was dark now, and the farther they wandered from the center of the party, the harder it was to see the shoreline as his eyes adjusted.

“You invited yourself to Harry’s. Are you even that close?”

He paused and looked at her. “Are you?”

Blossom clutched the ends of her jacket as she blinked up at him. “We’re friends,” she hedged. “He’s a nice guy.”

Brick smirked. “Uh-huh. Real nice.”

“What does that mean?”

“You tell me. Am I intruding?”

Blossom studied him through the gloom. She was close enough that he could smell her perfume, silken and subtle. “No,” she said at length. “There’s nothing to intrude on.”

He watched her walk along ahead of him, her long ponytail a bloody lash under the cover of night. He chucked his beer and went after her.

“This way,” he said, breaking from the shore and heading into the trees.

“Where are we going?” Blossom drew close. “It’s so dark tonight.”

“I think it’s a new moon. Here.” Brick found her hand so they wouldn’t get separated in the pitch black of the canopy.

Blossom’s hand was cool in his, and she slipped the other one around his arm as he walked deeper into the forest. The walk wasn’t far, and soon the trees thinned as they emerged onto the shore of the lake nearest to the precipice overlooking the valley below. Brick had set up his sleeping bag in the grass far away from the rabble where he could have the best view undisturbed.

“Wow.” Blossom approached the black waters, so still they reflected the night sky back flawlessly. Flurries of stars as far as the eye could see scattered above and below like snowflakes frozen in flight. The Milky Way ripped through the firmament, bleeding more stars clustered so closely together they glimmered ice-bright. “I feel like I just stepped into another world.”

Brick jammed his hands in his jeans pockets and drew up next to her. “Consequence of being away from all the city lights for a change.”

“Mm.”

They lapsed into silence for a bit as they watched the nightscape unfold above and upon the water. Brick’s eyes fully adjusted to the lambent starlight, but it was a cold light, and he wore only a thin, red hoodie to stave off the chill. Blossom noticed him shuffle beside her.

“Do you want my jacket?” she teased.

“Ha ha,” Brick groused. But it was fucking cold out here, now that she mentioned it. He had always been particularly sensitive to it in a way she wasn’t. “My sleeping bag should do the trick.”

They retreated to his makeshift camp, where Brick shimmied into his sleeping bag and Blossom sat on the mat next to him, perfectly at ease in the cold. She leaned back on her hands to admire the stars, content like she could watch them all night. Their gossamer light draped her like a veil, softening her edges and igniting her colors. Brick had the sudden urge to touch her, to prove she was no pearlescent dream, that the cold cornering him now was hers and not just the darkness.

“Why were you late tonight?” she asked out of the blue.

Brick lay back on the mat and looked up at the jeweled sky. “Finished the homework.”

Her laugh was as soft as the starlight, and she grinned at him over her shoulder. “Me too.”

Obviously. He wouldn’t put it past her. It didn’t matter, only, he didn’t want to have one more thing to worry about over the break while also spending way more time than usual around his brothers with nothing to keep their focus for eight hours of the day. But the knowledge seemed to please her, which was just as well.

“I told you I was coming tonight,” he said.

And yet, Boomer had blown up his phone texting him all evening wondering where the hell he was, why wasn’t he here yet, and didn’t he realize people were waiting for him? The last text was one he received when he’d touched down at the edge of the campsite and it was already dark: a candid picture of Blossom talking with Harry by a campfire, and she looked happy. Brick had not responded to it or to any of the other annoying texts. Kim had been more than happy to give him her chair the minute she saw him approaching.

“Here you are,” Blossom said, hushed and half-lidded.

Here we are.

Brick curled an arm under his head. “View’s better from down here.”

She worried her lip—did she even realize she did that? That he noticed?—but ultimately lay down next to him on the mat. “Oh, wow…”

The starscape shimmered far and above, and Brick began to pick out patterns in the cosmos. “There, Cassiopeia.” He pointed to a cluster of stars.

“You know your constellations?” she asked.

“A few.”

He could practically feel the aura of challenge she exuded like a pheromone.

“All right. Perseus,” she said.

Brick pointed to a long line of stars near Cassiopeia. “Right next to Andromeda.”

“That was a freebie to test the waters.”

Brick chuckled. “Sure.”

“Okay Star Lord, show me Gemini.”

Brick swept his hand south and west of Perseus to a pair of star lines facing each other. “A couple of gossipy bitches.”

She shoved him playfully, and he caught her with his free arm, pulling her close. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m right. Next?”

“Let’s see… How about Leo?”

With one arm anchoring her to his side, Brick traced the patterns she called out with the other. Dead heroes and their monsters rose from glittering graves with every sweep of his fingers and kept them company in the dark.

She tugged at his sleeve as he searched for the elusive Pyxis constellation. “Hey, we should probably get back to the party.”

Brick let his hand drop. “Why?”

“Because we’ll be missed, obviously.”

He chuckled. “I bet someone’s missing you.”

Blossom rolled onto her side to face him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

He’d taken her to breakfast. It wasn’t a date; he hadn’t technically asked, and she only came because she was hungry and didn’t want to go home yet. It was the first time he’d ever seen her cry—no, sob because of what some dumb girls said to her at a party. Just the normal high school bullshit, and she’d fallen apart. Breakfast was the fucking least he could do after the ignominy of seeing her like that. It just turned out that it wasn’t the last.

Too many breakfasts and long hours spent prepping for finals turned into expectation, expectation turned into anticipation, and anticipation became the new normal. They weren’t together no matter what rumors Bubbles and Robin started and stopped. They weren’t not together either, considering they usually were, in fact, together. It had only been a few months since she’d handed Butch his balls wrapped up in a pretty pink bow and left Brick speechless to behold her, a few months since he’d found her insecure and vulnerable on that rooftop and called her beautiful because she was, holy fuck she was, and so much more.

Blossom was old wounds that should have healed long ago, that he should never have opened again, but she was still so new and he didn’t know, he didn’t know.

She slipped her hand over the cover of his sleeping bag and curled her fingers in his shirt. “Brick,” she said in a voice full of galaxies and longing.

He’d always liked the sound of his own name, after all.

When he kissed her, she tasted like starlight, cold fire. He pulled her closer, kissed her deeper, a step into the unknown, but the unknown was where she was and she was everything. Her breath hitched and she opened for him, just like that day on the rooftop, but he didn’t look away this time and she kissed him back like it had been her idea all along. Chemical X crackled on their flushed skin as he rolled onto his back and brought her with him, her weight on his chest a warmth and a fantasy.

Blossom’s long bangs fanned his cheeks as she hovered above him and he held on to her. He dreamed she might fall back into the sea of stars and he would dive in after her should he let her go. He didn’t let her go.

“I don’t actually want to go to Tahoe,” Brick said.

She laughed, light as a moonbeam. “Neither do I.”

He threaded his fingers through her hair, pulled her down again. “Good.”

She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around him.

xxx

No one took much notice when Blossom and Brick popped up at the campsite after a protracted absence. No one except Bubbles, who passed Butch her perfectly roasted marshmallow, which he wolfed down right off the stick without waiting for it to cool. She discreetly got out her phone and snapped a few pictures of Blossom leading Brick by the hand to a couple empty chairs near Wes and Kim. When Brick leaned back in his chair and put his arm around the back of Blossom’s so she could lean into him, Bubbles had to work very hard not to squeal.

Clearly, Boomer sending Brick that picture of Harry chatting up Blossom had had the intended outcome.

She fired off twenty pictures to Robin.

[Bubbles: Yearbook?? 👀]

Robin, who was on the other side of the large campfire with Buttercup, Julie, Mitch, and the Floyjoydson twins, spat out her beer when she saw the pictures.

Bubbles snickered to herself.

“What’re you so happy about?” Butch said halfway through a game of Chubby Bunny.

Bubbles poked his mallow-stuffed cheek and winked. “It’s a secret.”

He rolled his eyes and stuffed another marshmallow in his mouth. “Laaaaame.”

Bubbles stole another glance at Blossom and Brick. She was laughing at something Kim had said, and he turned to whisper something to her. Bubbles bit her lip to hide her smile.

“But not for long,” she sang to herself.

Boomer came up behind Blossom and Brick and threw his arms around them both, laughing and pulling them close. Brick didn’t even try to push him off.

Not for long at all.

xxx

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my writing and are looking for more PPG/RRB content from me, please check out my ongoing multi-chapter over on AO3 called Beyond This Morning. 😊

[tamtam-go92]

Does anyone still remember my sims 2 to sims 4 uberhood project from like a lifetime ago? Well I’ve been going back to in since like a month. I finished Veronaville/Oasis Springs and Desiderata Valley/Newcrest in the meantime. I’ve also remade the premade sims to make them look more accurate to their sims 2  originals and to match their traits even more to their personalities. I own more packs now so the builds look way better (though I didn’t revised the Pleasantview/Willow Creek lots). My goal is to finish and really play this save! I always wanted to play an Uberhood in the sims 2 but I don’t have the nerves to do so. But with the Story Progression of MCCC I might be able to skip households that aren’t interesting to me. We’ll see how this works out in the end. There is still a lot of work ahead of me. Let me know if you are interested in pics! Under the cut some notes to which world will be which ‘hood and some thoughts about them and my system for giving sims 2 premades sims 4 traits (mainly for my own reference when I’m not on my usual device).

Oasis Springs -> Veronaville -> Done Might be a funny decision, I was even asked before why I decided to do so. I stated that Veronaville always gave me Mediterranean vibes, I never gave Veronaville a winter season in sims 2. And I mean climate change is real you guys! This is probably what a Mediterranean area looks like today.

Willow Creek -> Pleasantview -> Done This is the obvious choice I guess. All makeovers can be found in the tag above. Sims have been remade.

Newcrest -> Desiderata Valley -> WIP Desiderata Valley has quite the suburban vibe to me, with the skyscapers in the background of Newcrest I thought that was really fitting. The lots are a bit small (as are a lot of lots in sims 4) but I made it work. Currently recreating the sims. I always had a soft spot for DV and I missed playing them. Some lots are really hideous!

Granite Falls -> Three Lakes I don’t own Outdoor Retreat but I plan to build the lots I planned for it anyway and save them to the gallery (if I ever get the GP).

Magnolia Promenade -> Bluewater Village (partial) In Magnolia Promenade I’ll build the own businesses by the Ramirez, Jacquet and Landgraab family.

Windenburg -> Bluewater Village I know that a lot of players see Windenburg more like Veronaville but I thought the whole setting with the big urban part would be more fitting to a Shopping District. Still don’t know who to handle home businesses...

San Myshuno -> Downtown (partial) and Belladonna Cove (partial) It makes sense to turn San Myshuno into Downtown. The Apartments will be filled with Belladonna Residents though.

Forgotten Hollow -> Downtown (partial) The vampire parts of Downtown would go to Forgotten Hollow. I don’t own the Vampires GP though. I’ll still build the lots and to the same as with the Three Lakes lots. Might get Vampires in the future...

Brindleton Bay -> Riverblossom Hills Those two ‘hood just give me the same vibes, idk...

Selvadorada No changes to the hood. I don’t own the pack, I don’t plan on getting it and even if I would, I’d have no idea what else to turn it into.

Del Sol Valley -> Belladonna Cove (partial) This would be like the uptown part of Belladonna Cove. I don’t own the pack so same as for Granite Falls and Forgotton Hollow applies.

Strangerville -> Strangetown Do I really need to elaborate this? I don’t think so. The lots in this world are really small and the Strangetown lots tend to be huge so I gotta improvise, but I’ll make it work!

Sulani -> Twikki Island This is pretty obvious too I think. With the possibility to have rental homes in residential worlds I could turn Sulani de facto into a vacation hood. Yet I don’t own the EP so same as above applies.

Glimmerbrook -> Magic and Belladonna Cove (partial) Glimmerbrook will be the homes to all thise magical beings from apartment live (and a not so magical neighbor of the Cordial sisters).

Britechester -> SSU, LFT, ALT This one is really giving me a headarche. I’ll include one residential lot from each S2 University and merge the Sororities and Fraternities of the SSU and LFT. They’ll move into Dorms I think. Don’t know what to do with the rest of the students yet.

Evergreen Harbor -> Belladonna Cove (partial) Probably just made this decision because there are apartments in Evergreen Harbor too. Will turn it into the low and middle class part of Belladonna Cove. I really don’t like this world, guys it’ll probably be a lot of community lots.

Mt. Komorebi -> Takemizu Village Guessed it, right? xD See Sulani on the how to. Mt. Komorebi will see a special inhabitant as it has one lot more than Takemizu.

On Traits:

I take Sims Personality, Hobby, Aspiration and Secondary Aspiration to calculate their traits. I use my own playing preferences and experiences on what Sims 2nd Aspirations and Hobbies are.

Personality Traits: Neat, Proper (Neat), Slob (Sloppy), Self Assured, Outgoing, Self Absorbed*, Charmer** (Outgoing), Gloomy, Unflirty, Loner, Independent** (Shy), Active, Adventurous, Wild ** (Active), Lazy, Squeamish, Clingy** (Lazy), Goofball, Childish, Clumsy, Erratic, Kleptomaniac, Chief of Mischief Aspiration, Silly** (Playful), Inquisitive** (Serious), Cheerful, Good, Angelic** (Nice), Hot Headed, Evil, Mean, Fussy** (Grumpy)

Hobby Traits: Foodie, Glutton, Vegetarian, Master Chef Aspiration, Master Mixologist Aspiration, Whiz Kid Aspiration (Cuisine) Perfectionist, Artistic Prodigy Aspiration (Tinkering) Music Lover, Dance Machine, Music Genius Aspiration, Social Butterfly Aspiration (Music and Dance) Creative, Art Lover, Maker, Painter Extraordinaire Aspiration, Master Maker Aspiration, Lord/Lady of the Knits Aspiration, Artistic Prodigy Aspiration (Arts and Craft) Geek, Whiz kid Aspiration (Games) Extreme Sports Enthusiast Aspiration, Mt. Komorebi Sightseer Aspiration, Rambunctious Scamp Aspiration (Sports) Child of the Ocean, Bodybuilder Aspiration, Rambunctious Scamp Aspiration (Fitness) Bookworm, Bestselling Author Aspiration, Master Actor Aspiration, Social Butterfly (Film and Literature) Child of the Island, Freegan, Green Fiend, Loves Outdoors, Recycle Discipline, Beach Life Aspiration, Freelance Botanist Aspiration, The Curator Aspiration, Angling Ace Aspiration, Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration, Jungle Explorer Aspiration, Purveyor of Potions Aspiration, Eco Innovator Aspiration, Eco Innovator Aspiration, Rambunctious Scamp Aspiration (Nature) Paranoid, Whiz Kid Aspiration (Science)

Aspiration Traits: City Native Aspiration, Good Vampire Aspiration, Worldfamous Celebrity Aspiration (Pleasure) Family Oriented, Jealous, Successful Lineage Aspiration, Big Happy Family Aspiration, Vampire Family, Super Parent Aspiration, Soulmate Aspiration (Family) Romantic, Hates Children, Noncommittal, Serial Romantic Aspiration (Romance) Genius, Renaissance Sim Aspiration, Nerd Brain Aspiration, Computer Whiz Aspiration, Master Vampire Aspiration, Archaeology Scholar Aspiration, Spellcraft and Sorcery Aspiration, Academic Aspiration, Strangerville Mystery Aspiration (Knowledge) Ambitious, Materialistic, Snob, Fabulously Wealthy Aspiration, Mansion Baron Aspiration (Fortune) Cat Lover, Dog Lover, Bro, Insider, Friend of the Animals Aspiration, Joke Star Aspiration, Party Animal Aspiration, Friend of the World Aspiration, Leader of the Pack (Popularity)

*Don't own the Pack of Traits in Italics ** Toddler Traits

Okay that turned out really long xD If anybody read this, thank you! If you want to know something, just let me know, I love to ramble about my projects xD

[nadiafm]

                               𝓷𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓪 𝓹𝓪𝓵𝓸𝓶𝓪 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓮𝔃 

intermediate  family

nadia’s family has grown in the past few years , but she only considers her mother and sister to be her true family .

father : SANTIAGO  is a fifty year old contractor in san diego , california . he left paloma , nadia , and catalina nine years ago after fleeing the failing marriage , and did not put forth much effort in maintaining a relationship with his kids .

mother : PALOMA  is a forty - nine year old middle school school teacher in aventura , florida . she tends to drink a little bit too much wine , takes anti-anxiety medication every morning and night , and has given up on love totally & completely . except for the men she occasionally brings home , but cat and nadia don’t really talk about that . 

little sister : CATALINA “ CAT ”  is fourteen and a freshman in high school in aventura , florida . cat has always felt like she was in nadia’s shadow , like both their parents favored nadia over her , and while nadia was bitten by the love bug , cat takes after her mother in that she has no interest in falling in love with anybody , lest she end up like her mother . she was never as close to her father , and though she does suffer from some major abandonment issues , she doesn’t necessarily miss him . 

“ step mother ” : DANIELLE , whom nadia has only met once , is a thirty-seven year old stay - at - home - mom in san diego , california . she does not approve of nadia at all , and is part of the reason that a wedge was driven between nadia & her father the only summer that nadia went to visit ( unbeknownst to nadia ) .

half brother : HUNTER is a seven - year - old twin who is equally parts devil and demon . his parents have signed him up for every sport in the book in hopes he releases his energy & aggressions in practice instead of on his sister . nadia hasn’t seen him since he was an infant .

half sister : ESTEFANIA “ ESTEF ” is a seven - year - old twin who wears pink frilly dresses and loves horses . only listens to taylor swift and will throw a tantrum if anyone plays anything else in her presence . nadia hasn’t seen her since she was an infant .

half sister : CELENE  is a four - year - old that nadia has never met , nor has any interest in doing so .

hometown  & family  home

in comparison to a lot of her classmates, nadia is not rich . but that isn’t to say her family is poor by any means . they live in an upper class community and have a house by the beach — her father was a contractor , and developed a lot of homes in miami while he still lived in florida . her mother , a middle school teacher , made a decent living . so it’s not as though nadia had a deprived , poor childhood , she just didn’t necessarily own a closet full of designer clothes and the newest iphone in her pocket . 

aventura is famous for their shopping mall , which is the third largest in the us . it was the place to hang out in high school , and nadia spent a lot of her time there growing up . it is also home to turnberry isle miami , which is a well known resort in the area . many of nadia’s teenage memories involve sneaking into the resort and finding their way into guest - only amenities like the pool and spa . 

nadia has lived in the same house her entire life . a cozy , two bedroom , one story home in the suburbs of aventure , florida , about a twenty minute drive from miami without traffic . the home was the first house her parents bought together , back when they were still in love . still , the home holds a lot of sentimental value for nadia , and she loves it with her whole heart . she always looks forward to going home . 

car

nadia got her learner’s permit as soon as she turned fifteen , and her license on her sixteenth birthday . still , that just meant driving her mom’s car when her mom wasn’t using it . 

on her eighteenth birthday , during the summer after her senior year of high school , she was given her very first car as a birthday gift ( the car she and her then - boyfriend ethan would use to drive to hollingsworth together ) . a used , 2013 2 door jeep wrangler sport , her pride and joy . she named her danger , and drives it to hollingsworth every fall , driving it back home to miami every summer . the car has its roof and doors off all summer long .

room ( society  house  )  

nadia lives in the zeta house , and admittedly her room can get pretty messy . still , it’s one of her favorite spots to spend down time . her walls are decorated with pictures of her favorite memories ( she’s been carrying around disposable cameras the past two years , which has accrued quite a few photos for the wall ) , her bed is stacked high with throw pillows , and her desk is covered in papers and pens and post it-s . 

favorite  spot  on  campus  

nadia’s favorite spot on campus is the quad , because she loves to people watch . every student walks through at some point in the day , heading to class or heading home , and she could sit up against a tree with her airpods in watching people walk by for hours .  

pet

when nadia was seven , her birthday gift was a large box with holes in it . she thought it was a pony . but when she ripped back the wrapping paper , it was the most beautiful , fluffy little long haired german shepherd . she named her honey . honey was hers , not the family dog , hers . she slept in nadia’s room , snuggled up in bed with her every night . when her parents would yell at her , honey would bark her head off until they stopped . 

when honey was twelve , she started showing signs of old age . she died the following year . nadia was nineteen at the time , a sophomore at hollingsworth , and she was distraught for days . she even went home for the weekend and laid cuddled up in bed crying . that week , she went and got a tattoo of her face , in THIS sort of fashion . 

most  valued  possession

nadia’s most valued possesssion is the lionel messi jersey her father gave her when she was twelve . it was the last gift he gave her before leaving , and seeing as nadia is a loud and proud argentine , she loves it dearly . it doesn’t fit well anymore , unless she wears is as a sort of tight crop top , and she has plenty of other argentina soccer jerseys to wear on game day , but that specific one will always be the most important to her . 

best  friends

growing up , nadia’s number one best friend was josie . they were , and still are , two peas in a pod . they met in seventh grade when they were both crushing on the same boy , and through that , a friendship formed . josie decided to go to school in california , where she’d always dreamed of going , and where nadia had once dreamed of with her . she was the only one who had advised nadia not to follow ethan to hollingsworth , but of course she didn’t listen , and might regret not going to ucla with josie , but mostly she’s happy she picked hollingsworth . after all , it just means she gets to visit ucla sometimes . 

at hollingsworth , nadia considers dash & lux her best friends , the one she can count on to be there , and not judge her . ever . which means a lot ! considering she does a lot of things worth judging . 

first  love

like actually in love with or ? fksjghsjhg

ok a little bit nsfw , also trigger warnings : underage sex , slut shaming 

the first time nadia felt what she thought was love was freshman year of high school . mother fucking connor perch . he was actually really sweet to her at first , they met after being assigned desks next to each other in freshman year biology , though neither of the were very interested in the subject . ANYWAY , connor was on the basketball team , and you know nadia is a sucker for student athletes , so she had a crush right away , and by october of their freshman year they were dating . they were only fourteen , so to be fair they didn’t do much . it was mostly holding hands and chaste kisses in the hallway and sitting on his lap at lunch and things like that ! but mans was trying to lose his virginity . ( nadia’s first time had been in a car with a boy she barely knew that summer before high school , but he didn’t know that , and of course she didn’t tell him ) . 

anyway , she was madly in love with him , or so she thought at fourteen . she was like ... this is going to last forever ! and he knew about her dad and all , was always very sympathetic , always doing things like leaving flowers in her locker and love notes in her pockets . he was really sweet ok ! can ya blame a hopeless romantic for falling in love ! 

it was june , just a few days after school let out for summer , when nadia agreed to give him a blowjob . in the middle of it , when she looked up , he had his phone out and was recording . and nadia being nadia , she didn’t stop . she literally finished giving him a blowjob and it was only after , when they were sitting in her bed , that she gently asked him why he recorded that , and if he’d delete it . he said it was for himself , for him to look back on when he was at home alone . but it was only about a week later that nadia started getting texts from other boys at her school , asking things like how much she charged and if there was a summer vacation discount . and girls were posting things on formspring ( remember formspring ? lmao . ) calling her a slut and an attention seeker and god knows what else , and when she confronted connor about it he broke up with her , saying she was needy and clingy and if she didn’t want to be labeled as a slut why did she go down on people ! safe to say that was her least favorite summer ever . maybe second now , to the summer after she and rowan broke up . 

favorite  outfit

nadia’s go to outfit is a mini dress with sneakers . it’s literally all she wears !! spring ? autumn ? toss on a cardigan on top . winter ? add her favorite furry jacket . but she always out here showing off her legs , her tits , her ass . like her mama always said , if you got it , flaunt it , baby !! we love you mama paloma 

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #224

“i don’t miss you, i miss the misery.”

What’s a hobby you would like to try out? Digital art. What sort of a kiss do you count as the first kiss? A mutual effort to kiss. Like, you both purse your lips. What time is too early for you? 5:00 A.M. is generally when if I wake up, I'll go back to bed. Have you ever won a raffle? If so, what’ve you won? Yes, actually. I very faintly remember winning something up in New York at a bowling alley as a family when I was little. Idr what we won. What’s the most useless thing you have vast knowledge on? Probably Silent Hill lol, if we're talking about truly useless. Video game lore and such knowledge isn't exactly truly useful. Is there anything you feel you’re better at than anybody else? No. What’s the biggest insect you’ve ever seen? Uhhh probably some kind of beetle. How about the biggest spider? A bird-eating tarantula when I was at the reptile convention with Sara. When’s the last time you played Pac-Man? WOW, it's been years. I've only ever played it on my childhood GameBoy. What is your favorite winter Olympic sport? I guess ice skating is pretty, but I don't care about sports. You Internet dies; what do you do for the next little while? Ummm this is when I feel like a caveman lmao. Probably... play Nintendogs on my DS. I hate hate hate how reliant I am on technology. What was the last test you completely failed? Recently on my first math test of this year. I bombed it, but at least I wasn't alone I guess. Oh look, it’s snowing outside! Do you get excited? Hell yes. Is your room covered in posters, or pretty bare? My walls are coooooverrrrrred. What sport do you completely fail at? I went to a volleyball summer camp thing in school years upon years ago and that shit HURT. I don't think I stayed the whole duration of it. Do you ever question life and existence? Not really anymore. Why does it really even matter why we're here, just make the most of it. Admit it, we all love brand named clothes. What’s your favorite? I genuinely don't care about brand names. Would you ever risk having a house party when you’re parents are gone? Hell no. What are you plans for the future? Achieve a stable career, learn to drive and have my own car, buy my own home, move in with the person I love, have lots of pets, and most importantly just be happy and content. Is your cell phone on vibrate? It pretty much always is. Is your dishwasher full? We don't have a dishwasher; we have to wash by hand. What are your thoughts on Avenged Sevenfold? I don't know many of their songs, but they're fine, from what I've heard. Have you ever played tennis? No, I don't have that coordination. Have you ever played fetch with a dog? I think so. Have you ever pet a stingray? No. Who is the last baby you held? Colleen's son forever ago because she needed me to. Would you ever consider being a cannibal? Wow no. Do you have any scars from an animal? Possibly, idk. I have a lot of small scars. How have you been sleeping? Awful. I've pretty damn consistently been having screaming fits (I mean, actually shrieking) at night where I attack my bed from nightmares. I actually recently hurt my hand from it. I want to go to the doctor about it, it's really worrying me. Are you adopted? No. Do you like scrapbooking? I'm not really a crafts person, no. Do you collect anything valuable? No. How many house phones do you have? Zero. We only use cellphones. Do you know anyone with an eating disorder? I don't believe so, thankfully. What was the last thing you killed? I at least tried crushing a flea. Mom used some kind of spray on the dogs outside, but it resulted in them just hopping off them inside too, apparently. Whose number did you last get? I have no idea. Have you ever thought about stepping in front of a car? I mean, I've had like those passive thoughts; you know, like when you're up somewhere high and your brain tells you to jump. But never seriously. Have you ever lied down in the middle of the street? Don't give me The Notebook flashbacks pls sobs. Anyway, ha ha, yes, only because my sister wanted a picture of us huddled together when Misty was here? Everyone loves that picture though so thanks for taking it Jason, lol. Do you listen to explicit music? Some songs, sure. Have you ever used someone for money? I could never live with myself doing that. Do you own colored eyeliner? No, just black. When was the last time that you had a pet that died? Some time last year when we got two sick rats in a row. Have you ever tried peanut butter and bananas together? Yeah, pb&banana sandwiches are pretty good. Do you have any mental disorders? *opens notes* Chronic depression, crippling social anxiety, severe generalized anxiety, bipolarity II, AvPD, PTSD, and OCD W O W ! ! ! ! ! Have you ever had to live with a friend? Yes, when we got evicted in '17. Do you believe everything happens for a reason? Hell no. Why does the little kid have leukemia? So God can scare you into faith to save the child he cursed with the disease? Why did my sick kitten get run over when I was a kid? Why was my sister almost raped as a teen? I could go on forever about this. Life gets a lot more bearable once you just accept the shit isn't fair and has no rhyme or reason. You just have to live with it. Do you believe in sex before marriage? I believe in sex once you feel truly in love with someone. Just be safe with it. Do you know anyone who married their high school sweetheart? Two, off the top of my head. Have you ever known anyone who died at war? I don''t think so. Who was the last person to hug you? My niece of nephew, I'm sure. Who is your favorite female celebrity? ... Wowie, why are like, all the ones I'm seriously invested in males. I suppose maybe Eugenia Cooney? Her recovery and development is like so fucking beautiful and I am 99.99% there isn't a sweeter person in existence. Were you nervous on your first day of high school? A little bit, of course. Three words to describe your best friend: Loyal, honest, and supportive as all fuck. Are you literally afraid of anyone? Yes. Who did you last take a picture with? My dad, I think? Literally forever ago? Who was the last person to comfort you? Sara. Who was the last person to unsurprisingly disappoint you? Mom. If she says "yeah we'll do (whatever)," don't hold her to it, ever. If you answer a question wrong in class, does it embarrass you? YEAH. What’s your favorite Lady Gaga song? "Bad Romance" is the shit. I also really like the "Love Game" remix with Marilyn Manson in it. Would you date someone who smokes? No sir. Would you date someone who was addicted to drugs? Why or why not? That's an even bigger "no sir." Would you date the same sex? Why or why not? Well yeah, 'cuz I'm bisexual. What’s your biggest turn off? Physically, bad hygiene. Personality-wise, being full of yourself and overly-confident is such a turn-off. What’s your biggest turn on, physically? Do. Not. Touch. My. Boobs. Where would you go on a first date? Me personally, I think a safe bet is the movies. The first date is always so nerve-wracking, so a movie takes away some of the pressure to talk as much as you can. HOWEVER, I think it's very important to have bonding/getting to know each other time, so I think having a meal together is a nice addition. Most hurtful relationship? The ending of mine and Jason's. Ever regretted breaking up with someone? No. Have you ever dated someone more than once? No. Do you miss any of your exes? I mean, I miss Jason as a friend, though I know it's probably for the better we no longer associate with one another. What’s your biggest turn on, NOT physically? Romance. Act respectful, like you truly love and want me as a partner. Obviously see me as your equal. What is the sweetest thing someone you dated did for you? Probably Sara actually listening and not getting jealous or annoyed by me talking about my occasional bad PTSD days. Last time you got flowers? A random day Tyler came over when we were dating in early '17. Are you ready to get into a serious relationship right now? I'm in one now. Do you like cuddling? If I romantically like you, I am a total cuddlebug. Do you regret dating anyone? Why or why not? Idk. I wanna say Tyler, but I mean, it tested my ability to say "fuck no I'm not dealing with (whatever trait)." Most important lesson you have learned from dating? DO!!! NOT!!!!! EVER!!!!!! RELY!!!!! ON A PERSON!!!!!! TO BE!!!!!!!! YOUR SOLE SOURCE!!!!!!!!!!! OF HAPPINESS!!!!!!!!!!! What does it take to get you on a date? I mean, ask? Be clear that you're interested in me? Are you happier single or in a relationship? In a relationship. I just feel like there's some sort of validation I'm an interesting and/or fun person. Favorite ex? This is a... weird question. I mean, Girt is the only one I remain in contact with and adore as a friend, but I was VERY easily most in love with Jason. How important are looks? I really can't say I care much. I mean yes, it's harder to be sexually attracted to someone you don't find visually pleasing, but I've dated people I wasn't physically attracted to before, and looks didn't hold me back from dating them or being romantically attracted to them. How do you know when you are in love? Oh, you know. I can't really explain it, you just like... know. If someone cheated on you, would you take them back if you really loved them? NO SIR-EE. Have you ever been ashamed of anyone you were dating? No. Favorite memories with an ex? I don't want to ponder this for my PTSD's sake. I have a novel of "favorite" memories with him. Would you name a child of yours after you? Ugh, no. I honestly hate that. Like... it seems so egotistical, and why would you WANT to?? Like... that's your name. I just don't get it, at all. Obsessions? Markiplier is ACTUALLY the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, & I love lots of other YouTubers (no others really to the point of obsession tho, I'd say.... well, maybe Game Grumps), m e e r k a t s, the Silent Hill series, uhhhhh maybe that's it as far as real obsession goes. Perhaps Shadow of the Colossus with how many times I've played and beaten the thing. Addictions? I'm perfectly aware and regretful of just how reliant I am on technology. I turn into a caveman without it. I'm proooobably addicted to soda, fuckin' rip. Do you speak another language? Not anymore. I want to take German again, though, to refresh my memory and further improve, but I only really plan to if I have serious plans to visit Germany. Do you have a webpage? I have a Wix for my photography that I spent eons on jc. Do you live in the moment? Honestly, I don't feel so, most of the time at least. I'm always worrying and thinking about the future. Do you consider yourself tolerant of others? I'm, for the most part, extremely tolerant, though I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing that I'm becoming less so with time. Like ex., now, I seriously don't think I could be your friend if you don't support gay rights. There's just some shit I see as so ridiculous that I don't want to associate with you and give you my tolerance of your bullshit, hateful opinion. Do you ever pretend to be someone else just to look cool? I'm 23 years old. What are your #1 priorities in life? My happiness, my health, Sara, my pets. Is there anything you fear or hate about yourself? Yeah. Certain types or urges in different situations, my religious anger and spite, my absolutely malice for my sister's horrid dog that for whatever fucking reason lives with us and not her... that kinda stuff. I think mostly just things relating to anger. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Hey anxiety, could you like?????????????? fuck off???????????????? Do you think you are emotionally strong? I will fucking NOT associate with your ass if you think I'm not after all the shit I've been through. Period. Not up for debate. What is your first name? *intro to B. Spears' "Gimme More" plays in the distance* Who was the first person you spoke to in person today? My mother. What was your first pet? The family cat Chance. If you mean like, actually mine, either Squeak the guinea pig or Shadow the Chinese water dragon. What was your first job? A GameStop sales clerk. How long was your first relationship? In my puppy-dog love middle school experience, maybe like, a couple of months? My first real one was three and half years. Who was the first person to break your heart? If you mean in any form, not just romantically, my dad when he abandoned us. Romantically, Jason. First person to give you flowers or candy on Valentine’s day? Other than my loved ones, Aaron, my 7th grade bf. First band you obsessed about? Truly obsessed with, Ozzy Osbourne. I loved Green Day as a kid, but it wasn't an obsession. First place you lived? Along the coastal plain/Piedmont border in North Carolina. First alcoholic beverage? Mike's Hard Lemonade. gud shit. First place someone took you on a date? I think Aaron and I went on a group date to the rollerskating rink first? That was a great day. Can you do a backflip? I'd break my neck, homie. Are you listening to anything right now? I'm binging Mother Mother. "Letter" is on right now. What do you do when you can’t fall asleep? Do exactly what you shouldn't do and get on the laptop, lmao. What’s the biggest lie you’ve told someone? There's something I told Jason in my first letter to him after the breakup that I honestly... don't know if it was a lie or not. I was so goddamn hurt that I'd say almost anything. I don't want to talk about it, though. Have you ever been hit on by someone of the same sex? She's my girlfriend of two years, I'd hope she woulda by now, lmao. Have you ever been engaged and broke it off? Nope. Have you ever found pictures on your camera you don’t remember taking? I don't think so. Has anyone ever drawn a picture of you? I don't believe so. WAIT. Tyler drew a picture of me and him, I think? At least she had my common outfit. Have you ever dated a redhead? No. Where is your favorite place to go when you want to be alone? I'm always in my room alone, so like- Do you have any nieces or nephews? Boy, a lot. Do any of your friends have children? Yes. Is there anything you’re craving right now? I've honestly been a horny POS for forever now. What caused the last argument you had? My sister's mother-in-law being a homophobic piece of garbage. What was the last movie you watched? Good question. It's been a long time. Where were you the last time you kissed someone? The airport. Where was your last paycheck from? The day I worked at the dollar store for two hours and got $9 lmao. What was the last school you received a degree from? My high school. What did the last key you used go to? My house. Don’t tell me lies, so is the last person you texted attractive? She's gorgeous. Have you ever thought about getting your tongue pierced? I have snake eyes now, which I got done twice, because the first time, it was pierced too far back, so the swelling of my tongue literally started to swallow/heal over the bar. :') But it was worth it; it was by far the most painful piercing (the second time actually made me nauseous), but it's my favorite. What’s the background on your phone? My lock screen is fanart of Darkiplier & the simple picture impregnated me; my home screen is Sara and me. Are you a parent? To pets. :') How are things between you and the person you are with? Great. Who was the last person you had a conversation with on the phone? Idk, my mom, probably. If you have a birthmark, where and what color? Yeah, exterior of my right arm. It's a slightly darker brown that the rest of my skin. When was the last time you felt nauseous? A while back. List three things that make you feel nauseous. THE SOUND OF VOMITING, even preparing to attempt to pick up pet shit, and uhhhh, how am I blanking. I guess certain smells? Idk. Do your parents support your dreams? Yes. List three of your favorite types of YouTube videos to watch. Comedy ones between friends, let's plays, and Mark's character ones are a unique and Supreme brand of video. What is your favorite park? Idk, I haven't been to many. Do you get fireflies where you live? Yep. What is the name of your YouTube channel, if you have one? 0zzkat (it's a zero). Do you wear the same shirt and shorts multiple times before washing? Only pj pants. If I actually go out in clothes, no, I change. What is your favorite store at the mall? Hot Topiiiiiic. Has a medication ever given you nightmares? Yes. I can't remember which it was, though. And I suppose one I'm on now might be causing them? Would you rather be surrounded by maple trees, fir trees, or palm trees? MAPLE!!!!!!!!!! How many different states have you lived in? Only one. What’s your favorite thing to do on a hot day? Swiiiiiim. Do you know anyone who’s allergic to bees? I don't think so. What does your favorite bikini look like? Sweetheart, nobody wants to see me in a bikini. What is your favorite thing to do at the beach? Swim. Do you think you are attractive? Nope. Who have you hugged in the past month? Mom, probably, and I actually think that's it. Are you good at recovering from injuries? Uh, I mean, I guess? Do you have more piercings or tattoos? They're tied at six, actually. Last bad news you heard? Some guy recently tried to break into Nicole's friend's house while she was home alone, but she scared him off with a shotgun through the window. I'm still not fucking over it. Last good news you heard? I got a 94 on the final test for the book we read in Writing. What was the last thing you posted on a Instagram? I only ever post photography on both of mine, so some picture. Do you prefer to live alone or live in a family? I wouldn't know; I never lived alone. What states have you visited, that you remember? New York, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, and I recall Ohio VERY faintly. Oh yeah, and Tennessee, but that's a vague memory as well. OH, HOW DID I FORGET ILLINOIS?????????? What countries have you visited? I've never left North America. What are five careers you’ve considered? In chronological order, some that I've considered are paleontologist, vet, movie designer, game designer, and photographer. What do you wish your hair looked like? I really wanna dye it silver rn. Do you still feel anything for the first person you fell in love with? I still care for him, yeah. I guess I'm in a way still protective of him, too, as I saw very clearly when a tornado landed in his general area this summer, and I felt like a total mama bear that desperately wanted to know if he was okay. I know in my gut I'd probably knock a bitch out if he was seriously hurt. I know, the absolute apex of irony. Who was the last person you called? Mom. Do you take pictures on your phone? Very rarely. My camera SUCKS. How old were you the first time you encountered God? Oh, brother. Have you ever hallucinated? In middle school when I was coming off of a medication, I saw moving shadows. Do you struggle to get by? I'm not the one who cares for myself financially; I still live "under" my mother, but oh yeah, we struggle alright. Who is the best looking male celebrity, in your opinion? ggggggggggggggggggIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLLLL looking at him forces me into ovulation lmao y'all done know who it is. Do you use Snapchat? No. Do you know anyone who’s colorblind? Jason's brother was colorblind to I believe red and green. I know it was two colors. What is your favorite time of day to run? Run???????????????? If I run, bitch you best be running too. What’s a show you remember the very first episode of? Meerkat Manor and That '70s Show are quite clear. I'm sure there are others, I just don't care to think too long about this. Do you hate sleeping in? If I need it, not really, but generally, I don't want to sleep past ~10:30. How late do you consider too late to sleep in? 12:00. What is something of yours that is falling apart? Ha ha ha, the very first thing that came to mind was our poor shed door. Hurricanes have legit torn most of the white paint off of it to where it hangs in strips. It looks so bad; I've told my mom so many times to just tear them off, but she thinks it would look worse that way. When was the last time you saw your crush? February. Sobs loudly. When was your due date, and when were you born? I was due January 20-something, but was born on February 5th, but only because my mom was induced. Do you want to have kids? NO. What website do you usually check first when you get online? KM, just to ensure it's not on fire.

[pinstripedaisy]

I was tagged to do this game again by @victory-cookies, so thank you, again!

Rules: answer 12 questions as an OC, ask 12 questions, tag 12 people.

I will be answering this as Nate Quilldown, the husband of Dean Riversante. It completes the set, y’know!

1. What’s your favourite article of clothing?

“I like my boots, and my winter coat is pretty bitchin’. Sometimes I’ll steal a flannel from Dean. He may have an addiction, but they’re fucking comfortable.”

2. Have you ever been in love?

“Happy to say I currently am. For five years, now. Dean...is my best friend, really.”

3. Favourite Disney movie?

“I’m not the biggest Disney fan, but I loved Mulan as a kid. And when we first met, Dean forced me to watch Tangled, which was pretty good.”

4. Have any tattoos?

“Couple on my torso and a sleeve, everything that’s ever been important to me. My favorite is the moon on my shoulder, or the flowers over my heart.”

5. Preferred weapon?

“My teeth.”

6. What time do you generally go to sleep?

“Depends. Around the full moon, 3pm. Any other time, 3am.” 

7. Do you have a mortal enemy?

“Not anymore. Kinda gave up having them. More stress than it’s worth. Anybody that attacks Dean. But they don’t live long enough to become a mortal enemy.”

8. Do you or have you played any sports?

“Sports? Not really. I played a bit of football but I didn’t have time. I was raised on a farm, in my free time I kept myself sane, away from cows.”

9. Speak more than one language? Which ones?

“I speak a little bit of German and French. Don’t tell him, but I’m learning Portuguese for Dean. Half his family is from Portugal and he speaks it fluently so I wanna show him I care about his family.”

10. Dark, milk or white chocolate?

“Actual cocoa will kill me, so white chocolate. But I’m not too fond of it anyways. Give me a good caramel.”

11. Hot chocolate with milk or water?

“Again, cocoa will kill me, so neither. But, galaxy brained concept. Coffee brewed with milk. Does that exist? HEY DEAN-”

12. Can I give you a hug?

“You asked me that five years ago and I woulda said no. But c’mon.”

My Questions beneath the cut:

1. Do you believe in fate or destiny?

2. What do you want to happen to you after you die?

3. Favorite gemstone?

4. Favorite animal?

5. Do you prefer books, movies, or tv shows? Or another medium?

6. Peanut butter, caramel, or mint?

7. When is your birthday?

8. How would you ideally/how did you meet your spouse/qpr?

9. Who is your closest family member? Do you have one?

10. Do you have any pets? Treasured plants, perhaps?

11. When you look in the mirror, do you like yourself? 

12. What’s something you wish you had the courage to do, big or small?

I already tagged a bunch of people before, so anyone else who wants to answer these questions, go for it!

[midnight-circus]

alphabetical OC meme

filled this out for Lord Asshole bc i cant write anything so i may as well fill in questionnaires instead

also numerous numbers and at least one section were missing when i copied it so idk what happened there

under the cut bc its Long As Hell

A: Aptitude 1. what are your oc’s natural abilities, things they’ve been doing since young? // Independence lmao. He could get through his whole life relying entirely on himself if need be. He wouldn’t be happy, but he’d survive. He’s also naturally intellectual and has never had to try very hard in academia.

2. what activities have they participated in? // literally what does this mean. Safe to say he’s not exactly playing team sports.

3. what abilities do they have that they’ve worked for? // He’s had to work extremely hard to shed the bad habits learnt whilst growing up in a white aristocratic dysfunctional family. Other than that, he’s a talented pianist – the only thing his mother was ever proud of. Also sending work-emails that don’t make him sound like a total dick. still working on that tbh

4. what things are they bad at? // Honestly, anything creative. He’s very intelligent but has absolutely no artistic talent, and he’s not at all imaginative – creating something out of nothing when it doesn’t have a logical or scientific basis is pretty beyond him.

5. what is their most impressive talent? // In his original AU, and any fantasy AUs I force him kicking and screaming into, swordsmanship. He’s pretty untouchable with a blade.

B: Basics 1. what is their hair color?// Dark brown, close to black.

2. what is their eye color? // Also dark brown.

3. how tall are they? // 6’2

4. how old are they? // He fluctuates depending on the AU, but his default base-age is 34.

5. how much do they weigh? // Generally between 150-180lbs, depending on his age, eating habits and mental state. When he’s going through stress, his eating and sleeping patterns are the first to nosedive.

C: Comfort 1. how do they sit in a chair? // His posture leaves a lot to be desired. He slouches pretty badly, and to be honest his height makes it difficult to get comfortable in most regular chairs. He also manspreads, though to be fair his legs are about 3 miles long and it’s hard to know where to put them honestly

2. in what position do they sleep? // Either on his side or his front. Never on his back.

4. what is their major comfort food? why? // oh man sugar. His eating habits aren’t good at the best of times, but when he’s feeling Mentally Ill he’s prone to 4am binges of as much sugar as conceivably possible in one sitting. He then goes for a 5am run until he throws up, so yknow. all nice and healthy.

5. who is the best at comforting them when down? // Elrick. Gross. Also Kat, to be fair.

D: Decoration 1. how would they decorate a house if they had one under their name? // He’s very fond of Nordic design and tries to keep vibrancy to a minimum, because he’s a boring bitch. Light walls, dark woods, pretty stylish furniture but no chrome Thank You Very Much; accent colours would probably be dark blues or greens. Plants, but only if he doesn’t have to water them because he Will forget and they Will all die. He’s also anal as fuck and despises mess and disorder, which makes living with Elrick fuckin interesting to say the least.

2. how would they decorate their child’s room? // however they wanted as long as it wasn’t pastels bc a man has to draw the line somewhere

3. how do they decorate their own room? // muted, calm, maybe a little regency – he accessorises more in the bedroom than he does in the rest of the house, gold accents here and there, that sort of thing. Less austere, more opulent. At the end of the day, he’s from an aristocratic background, however unhealthy his upbringing was – he can never quite shed the appreciation for luxe.

4. what type of clothes and accessories do they wear? // He dresses well – very put-together, if very monochrome. He doesn’t do casual very well and will avoid jeans unless he has no other choice. He would quite literally rather die than wear shorts. As for colours, generally blacks, greys, dark jewel-tones (maroons, dark greens, dark purples, etc). Very rarely light colours, and if he does wear light tones he layers them – a white shirt under a dark leather jacket, for example. As for accessories, he stays simple with a decent watch (Patek Phillipe, thanks, none of this Rolex bullshit) and two rings (wedding ring and onyx signet ring – family heirloom, the only one he has). He knows how to dress to suit himself.

5. do they like makeup/nail/beauty trends? // >:[  

E: External Personality 1. does the way they do things portray their internal personality? // For the most part. How he behaves has been moulded over many years by how he thinks and feels, and it’s hard to shed the habits of a lifetime. EG, he’s very neurotic and it does have an impact on his organisation – if his mental state slips into decline, so too does his command over his surroundings and his ability to keep things on track.

2. do they do things that conform to the norm? // Again, for the most part. A key element of his upbringing was the overbearing sense of being watched, being judged, being on display; one behaves the way one is expected to behave, and one never deviates from that path. Obviously he fucked that one right up when he started putting dicks in his mouth, but it still remains something of a mantra.

3. do they follow trends or do their own thing? // Neither, really. He doesn’t follow trends because he’s actually 70 years old and doesn’t know what they are, but nor is he particularly unconventional. He does his own thing because he has no idea what anybody else is currently doing.

4. are they up-to-date on the internet fads? // oh god no. he has a twitter account but the last time he used it he got drunk and tweeted at jeremy paxman that he was a cunt so he doesn’t really engage with it very much

5. do they portray their personality intentionally or let people figure it out on their own? // People are left to figure it out. He doesn’t go out of his way to make friends or advertise his personality – he’s friendly when he needs to be, but is not the sort of person to go out actively socialising.

G: Gorgeous 1. what is their most attractive external feature? // His height makes him pretty popular and he knows how to dress well. He also has that particular ‘tall, thin, dark hair, pale skin, heroin-addict-esque’ chic that some people tend to go for. He doesn’t really get it, himself.

2. what is the most attractive part of their personality? // He’s witty in a very dry way – a little sharper than run-of-the-mill sarcasm.

3. what benefits come with being their friend? // Ok honestly? Money lmao. idk man you’d have to ask Kat bc she’s the only one who’s lasted this long

4. what parts of them do they like and dislike? // Though he projects an aura of self-assurance, he really doesn’t like very much about himself; his upbringing and unhealthy relationship with Catholicism did a number of his self-esteem. He’s proud of his intellect and knows he is smarter than the average person, but other than that, not a great deal.

5. what parts of others do they envy? // General happiness. He’s a melancholy person by nature and doesn’t tend to feel a swell of positive emotions for no reason – he can’t help but feel there’s something inherently wrong in his brain.

H: Heat 1. do they rather a hot or cold room? // n e i t h e r bitch his internal temperature must remain on an even keel at all times. Probably cold, if he was forced to pick.

2. do they prefer summer or winter? // Winter because it means he can wear layers

3. do they like the snow? // yes but he’ll never admit it. he finds it romantic. that must never be repeated.

4. do they have a favorite summer activity? // lying in front of the fridge cursing God

5. do they have a favorite winter activity? // coffee dates. Independent coffee shops, mind you – fuck Sbux.

I: In-the-closet 1. what is their sexuality? // Gay

2. have they ever questioned their sexuality? // he spent more than half his teen years wishing he was straight

3. have they ever questioned their gender? // No

4. would/was their family be okay with them being LGBT? // mother denies it completely, father kicked him out, brother doesn’t give a shit bc he’s bi as hell himself

5. how long would/did it take for them to come out? // He was forced out at 16 when he was caught with a boyfriend in the boathouse of Darlington estate – it marked the end of an already abusive parental relationship. To be honest, it’s hard to say if he would have ever had the courage to come out himself.

J: Joy 1. what makes them happy? // Feeling loved. He got very little of that in his youth.

2. who makes them happy? // Elrick has an uncanny ability. Who’d have thought it.

3. are there any songs that bring them joy? // He particularly loves Dancing in the Dark by Springsteen, and All Along the Watchtower by Hendrix. Neither are very joyful songs, granted, but they’re two of his favourites.

4. are they happy often? // He’s contented often, and he enjoys his life. ‘Happy’, though? Not sure.

K: Kill 1. have they ever thought about suicide? // More than once.

2. have they ever thought about homicide? // Not with any real intent. In a modern AU, anyway – can’t say the same for any of his other incarnations.

3. if they could kill anyone without punishment, would they? who? // Way deep down somewhere, he’d be tempted to say his father.

4. who would miss them if they died? // More people than he knows.

5. who would be happy they died, anyone? // lmao the tax agency probably. His father wouldn’t be happy, per se, but perhaps it would solve a problem.

L: Lemons 1. what is their favorite fruit? // Black cherries.

2. what is their least favorite fruit? // fuck bananas, honestly

3. are there any foods they hate? // Peanut butter can die, and also asparagus can also die.

4. do they have any food intolerances?  // Not that he knows of.

5. what is their favorite food? // Probably Thai or Korean.

M: Maternal 1. would they want a daughter or a son? // He technically has a son already. Kat wanted a child and she trusted Logan above an anonymous donor, so one stressful jack-off session, a weird experience with a baster and eight months later, Rowan showed up early.  Logan technically has no parental responsibilities or rights, but he’s involved in Rowan’s life nonetheless. And then there’s Bastian, whose own father leaves a Little To Be Desired in the emotional department, let’s say, so ultimately he winds up taking on that role as well.

2. how many children do they want? // One’s enough, ta, and that one doesn’t even live with him. In seriousness, he’s always idly thought about children in his life, but not with any real seriousness – he plays his role with Rowan well and he’s a great uncle to Bastian, but kids wouldn’t suit his and Elrick’s lifestyle.  

3. would they be a good parent? // Yeah, he probably would.

4. what would they name a son? what would they name a daughter? // Demetrius or Victor for a boy, Ophelia for a girl. How else will people know he’s a pretentious bitch?

5. would they adopt? // Nah

O: Optimism 1. are they optimistic or pessimistic? // Total pessimist.

2. are they openly optimistic, throwing it on others? // No and he cannot stand it when other people force optimism into entirely inappropriate situations.

3. are they good at giving advice? // lmao not unless it’s legal advice. Then yes, absolutely. Just don’t cry on his kitchen floor.

4. is there anyone in their life that throws optimism on them? fukkin Katherine. She’s the only one allowed to get away with it.  

5. were they always optimistic/pessimistic? // Yeah, he was a pretty dour, anxious little kid from the start.

P: Personality 1. what is their best personality trait? // From a professional perspective, he’s extremely clear-headed and analytical, and it serves him very well as a criminal prosecution lawyer – there’s not much that slips by him, and he can spot a loophole coming a mile away.

2. what is their worst personality trait? // He’s … difficult to get along with, for a lot of people. Not nasty as such, but he’s sharp-tongued and quite quick to anger in situations outside of his job, particularly when stressed. He also has a tendency to look down on people (particularly people who aren’t considered ‘smart’ by his standards) and let’s be real, he’s pretty classist – it takes him a long time to come to terms with Bastian’s relationship with Fabian. Elrick is more than happy to call him out on this.

3. what of their personality do others love? // Didn’t we already do this?

5. do they hate anything about their personality/about other’s personalities? // god he cannot abide people who aren’t punctual oh GOD he hates people who aren’t punctual

Q: Questions 1. do they ask for help? // Not unless he’s literally dying

2. do they ask questions in class? // to be honest, he generally didn’t need to

3. do they answer questions that make them a little uncomfortable? // Depends on the context, but he generally tries to avoid giving out personal information.

4. do they ask weird questions? // He keeps his weird questions to himself and Googles them later.

5. are they curious? // By nature. It was curiosity that got him into the godawful mess he ended up in re: his source material.

R: Rules 1. do they follow rules? // Generally yeah, aside from the occasionally joint now and then. Although saying that, he does run very much on his own moral code, so I suppose he follows rules as long as he agrees with the sense and logic behind them.

2. would they be a strict or laid-back parent? // It’s odd, his instinct is to be strict but he would also loathe the thought of being anything like his father, so he might swing entirely the other way in an attempt to avoid that. Hard to say. He definitely wouldn’t be like … a fun, playful parent because that’s just not in his nature, but it’s possible he’d relax his own rules significantly. Although he is fairly strict with Rowan, it’s for Rowan’s benefit - he needs rules and boundaries to be comfortable, and Logan’s not a traditional ‘father’ in that case anyway.

3. have they ever been consequenced for breaking a rule? // he was ‘consequenced’ pretty fuckin badly for daring to kiss a boy

4. have they broken any rules they now regret breaking? // oh god probably, he has more regrets than he can count

5. do they find any rules they/others follow absolutely ridiculous? // He’s not got a lot of time nor respect for people who follow rules totally blindly without having some sense of self-critique.

S: Streets 1. are they street-smart? // Depends on the AU, but for the most part he’s too privileged.

2. would they give money to someone on the streets? // no because he’s actually horrible

3. have they ever gotten in a fight on the streets? // No, but he has gotten in a fight in a bar. Kat will not let him forget it.

5. are they cautious when out? // A little paranoid, perhaps, but it doesn’t stop him.

T: Truth 1. are they honest? // define ‘honest’

2. can they tell if someone is lying? // Yes, it’s literally his job.

3. is it obvious when they’re lying? // Nope. He’s a consummate liar.

4. have they lied about anything they regret lying about? // he lied and told Elrick that yes, he’d had sex before their first time, and then regretted it twenty minutes later when they were forced to stop because he almost died. it's fine. they worked it out

5. have they told truths that have been spread against their will? // not really – he plays his cards very close to his chest. Nothing gets out if he doesn’t want it to.

U: Underdog 1. have they been bullied? // Only by his parents.

2. have they bullied anyone? // Not directly to anyone’s face, but he’s definitely made some unpleasant comments.

3. have they been physically attacked by a bully? // If his father counts, yes.

4. have they ever been doubted? // Only from ages 2 to 34.

5. have they surprised people with being good at something? People don’t tend to expect the piano-playing, somehow.

V: Vomit 1. do they vomit often? // what is this question set. Incidentally, yes – he has a problem with running until he’s exhausted and tends to vomit after that.

2. do they get lots of stomach aches? // no?? I guess not???

3. are they good at comforting someone ill? // lol he could be better. His levels of sympathy leave a little to be desired.

4. what do they like as far as comfort goes? // he doesn’t, really. He generally dislikes being fussed over too much and denies he is sick until he’s unable to stand up, at which point he’s forced to accept it whether he likes it or not.

5. do they burp, cough, or hiccup most when nauseous? when vomiting? // what is this question ASKING

W: Water 1. do they drink enough water? // Actually probably yes – it’s one of the few healthy habits he has.

2. have they learned to swim? // yes

3. do they like to swim? // ehhhhh he can take it or leave it

4. can they dive? // he went to an expensive private school of course he can dive

5. can they swim without holding their nose? // yes

X: Xylophone 1. what is their favorite genre of music? // Classic rock – nothing after 1989, thanks.

2. do they have a favorite song? // Hendrix’s Watchtower is up there, as mentioned, along with Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. He has favourite playlists, rather than favourite songs.

3. do they have a favorite band/artist/singer? Blue Oyster Cult in general is a favourite, as is Black Sabbath and Springsteen.

4. can they sing well? He does ok. His voice isn’t fuckin Grammy material or anything, but he can hold a note.

5. can they rap? lmao

Y: You 1. how old were you when you created them? // lol

2. what inspired you to create them? // LOL

3. were they different when they were first created? // oh god yeah. Prototype!Logan was a fucking mess, he’s undergone some serious reworking since the early days.

4. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters? // he’s my comfort-zone, honestly.

5. what’s your favorite thing about them? // his internal monologue of disdain suddenly being interrupted by Oppressively Gay Thoughts

Z: Zebra 1. what’s their favorite animal? // He likes watching birds, but only from a distance.

2. do they like animals? // Nah, he’s really not much of an animal person. Loud and messy, for the most part.

3. cats or dogs? // Cats, if he has to pick.

4. what’s their dream pet? // A taxidermised one.

5. do they have any pets at the moment? // A Birman cat named Saskia. It’s the only animal in the entire world that he loves. He doesn’t like cats – he likes his cat.

[lovemesomesurveys]

Are you going to change your mind about anything today? It’s possible? What are you doing today anyways? This survey. Today is over in 8 minutes, ha. What did you happen to do yesterday? I stayed under the covers and slept a lot and watched TV mostly. Have you ever committed a crime before? Nothing that serious. Are you committed to anybody right now? I’m single.

If you had to marry a celebrity, which one would you marry? I don’t wanna get married, but maybe Alexander Skarsgard could change my mind. aha. What do you plan on doing this summer anyways? Summer is over and I coudn’t be happier about that. Let me enjoy my fall almost winter weather right now. Have you ever been to Myrtle Beach? No. Would you ever go to Jersey Shore? *shrug* Sure. Are your parents overprotective of you? They can be, but ya know they’re my parents and they love me and they want the best for me. It doesn’t help that I make them worry. Gimmie the time. 11:55PM. Do you need anything to drink right now? I have water. What does your kitchen need in it right now? I think we have what we need at the moment. Do you need to go food shopping? We’re good. Are you so glad it’s summer? It’s not. Summer is OVER. Do you like to lay back on a sheet and look at the stars? I don’t do that. When is the next time you’ll go swimming? Probably never. Do you hate rainy days? I love rainy days. What do you do when it rains? Nothing different except acknowledge the rain and enjoy it. Have you ever made a survey before? I actually did once so long ago. I wish I could find it. Are things falling into place for you right now? No. What was the last song you downloaded? I haven’t downloaded music in years. I use Spotify for music. Do you own a golf cart? No. Have you ever went golfing? I played mini golf once. Do you know anybody who works at Walmart? No. Do you think you’re emotionally strong? Not anymore. I used to be, but I’ve become weak these past few years. Are your parents on your back about anything right now? Yes, health stuff. Do you need to get a job? It would be nice, I mean I could definitely use the money and do something with my life, but ya know. If you could pick any job, which would it be? I don’t know. What was your relationship status this time last year? Single as always. Have you ever been depressed in your life? Ha yeeeeep. Like now and have been for a long time? Has anybody ever spread a nasty rumor about you? No. How many bedrooms are in your house? 2. When was the last time you went to a party? Like a year ago. Name one good thing about Facebook. It’s the only somewhat connection I have with anyone anymore. Where was the last place you went? Target. What should you be doing right now? Nothing. How many surveys have you taken so far today? 3 or 4. Are you smart about computers? Somewhat. Do you need to go tanning right now? I don’t go tanning, but I could use a little color. What makeup are you currently wearing? None. What is the connection with you and the last person you texted? She’s my mama. How late did you stay up last night and why? I think until like 4. That’s just it goes, man. Have you ever played Just Dance for Wii? No. Do you own a Xbox 360? My brother used to, so yeah in a way I kinda did, too. Do you know what COD means? Since you just asked about an Xbox, I’m going to assume you’re referring to Call of Duty. Would you ever do a sex tape for a million dollars? Absolutely not. Who do you miss right now? A few people. Is anybody cooking anything in your house right now? No. Do you feel better when you’re single or when you’re in a relationship? I really only know the single life and I’m not happy, but I wouldn’t say it’s because I’m single. Have you tried the “Bumpits”? I have. They sucked. Do you hate the last girl you talked to? Nooo, I love my mom. So, do you need a nap? It’s midnight, I would just go to bed. What would you rather be doing? I don’t have anything else to do right now. Free vacation for you: where do you go? Oooh. I’d have to really think about that. Are you ridin’ solo tonight? I always do. Who is at your house right now? My parents, younger brother, and our doggo. What was the last thing you bought? Taco Bell. Does your town have a Gus Macker? Nope. Never even heard of it. What sport are you the best at? None. Do you have your life together? Ha.

[miekasa]

winter break/skiing au with eren

↯ pairing: eren jaeger x (fem) reader

↯ genres and warnings: modern au (college), fluff, eren is an idiot but we all knew that, and yes i do think he’d probably be a good snowboarder or athlete in general tbh

↯ word count: 2.7k lol and it’s not even written out like a fic

↯ notes: this is based off of a request i got for meeting eren at a ski lodge. heads up i know next to nothing about skiing or any related sport, so bear with me on this. also this formatting is... headcanonish but also fic like?? in an alternate timeline, i could write this out as a fic, but my lack of knowledge about the subject + me wanting to try this format out resulted in this!

If he’s being completely honest, Eren wasn’t ecstatic to be going on this skiing trip with his friends in the first place, but he didn’t have much choice, seeing as he didn’t want to be the only one left behind for winter break.

Not to mention he’s a shit skier. He’s fine with a snowboard, so he wouldn’t be stuck on the bunny hills for a week, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it. After all, he was pushing to go somewhere warm for break. You know, since it was already freezing cold at home.

Nevertheless, he sucks it up for the sake of his friends’ happiness (and because he was severely outnumbered. Also because Armin had never been skiing and Eren really wanted to record him falling face first into the snow at some point).

As expected, it’s fucking freezing by the time they make it to the lodge, but at least Jean—resident organizer of this trip—had gotten them a pretty nice cabin with central heating, and a fireplace. It’s more of a house that they’re renting really, with enough rooms for the six of them.

Unfortunately the rooms were not soundproof so he was subject to hearing Jean and Connie staying up until the crack of dawn, and Mikasa throwing pillows at Sasha telling her to shut the fuck up. But at least he got to room with Armin, so it wasn’t all bad. 

Eren spends the first day just chilling around, still warming up to the idea of the trip (and warming up physically, because fuck is it cold here). The lodge itself has main, communal buildings with indoor activities—a game room, indoor pools, hot tubs, a buffet, the whole nine yards—that he spends time exploring.

He’s heading down to the indoor pool with Armin and Jean in tow, the rest of his friends opting to head upstairs for dinner first after their day of skiing; and that’s where he sees you. And, not to sound like a lovestruck idiot, but Eren thinks you might be the prettiest person he’s ever seen in his life.

In a cliche moment, he catches you as your head reemerges from out of the water, face dripping wet with pool water as you tread in your spot. Eren looks stupid—big, green eyes wide as hell and a little bit of a gap between his lips.

Jean has to smack him upside the head to get him walking again, mumbling about how Eren looks like the literal heart eyes emoji to which Eren simply pushes the taller boy into the water.

He looks back to spot you again (in a non-creepy manner of course), when a voice calls out your name—he’s presuming, by the way your turn your head.

“You’ll turn into a prune if you stay in any longer,” a short man with dark hair calls to you, a towel around his shoulder his mostly dry body, save for his swimming shorts that are still damp, “Come on, I don’t want get the shit end of the stick at the buffet.”

The short man’s words seem to make you chuckle, and a little reluctantly, you swim to the edge of the pool, taking his hand to get out of the water. Eren frowns a bit watching the interaction. You and the short man seem close—there go his chances of… well, he’s not sure exactly… uh… talking to you, maybe?

Whatever it was, you might already have a boyfriend, and from the way the rest of, who Eren is again presuming to be, your friends walk with you to the exit, it doesn’t seem like he’d ever find you alone again.

Oh well. He sighs, trying not to think much of it, and enjoy his time in the pool. (He fucking doesn’t because Jean gets his revenge and pushes him in the deep and even Armin his him with a pool noodle. Traitor).

Day two he’s finally going to to the slopes. On his way up in the lift, he can see Sasha and Connie stumbling down the hill while Jean laughs behind them, and Eren only shakes his head.

Yeah, maybe they shouldn’t have taken Sasha, Connie, and Armin with them on the advanced hills, but it was so much more fun this way. Although, to his credit, Armin was catching on quickly (no thanks to Eren or Jean; that was all Mikasa’s teachings).

Eren lets Mikasa work her magic with Armin. He straps on his helmet and goggles, and heads down first. It’s been a while since he’s snowboarded, but he’s still pretty damn good if he does say so himself. He even tries out a few old tricks and—not to brag—but sticks his landing every time.

Halfway down the slope, he can feel someone else boarding beside him—and he doesn’t think much of it, until they replicate his previous flip, landing a just a little in front of him.

Eren can’t see the person through their goggles, but from the way they look back at him before pushing forward, he can tell that they wanted a challenge. And who is Eren to turn down a little friendly competition?

The descent continues on with Eren and his mystery partner not-so-subtly flexing their own skills. Eren copies their flips and turns, and is amazed as he watches them copy his in return. 

He decides to kick it up a notch, swerving over to a small snow rap, to use the height it gives him to pull off his signature move—yes it’s called the Jaegerbomb, yes he did come up with it when he was eleven, and no he doesn’t regret because it’s still sick as fuck, shutup Zeke.

He sticks his landing, perfectly timed with the end of the slope, pushing his board forward to completely stop himself. He turns around, lifting his goggles, to give his copycat a smug look, when, to his surprise, he sees them pulling off something almost equally as impressive, and probably more complex before they land. 

Eren’s got the same stupid, starstruck look on his face as he did in the pool, as he watching their momentum come to a stop a little ways downhill from him, because, fuck if that wasn’t the coolest thing he’s ever seen.

Immediately, they’re surrounded by two other bodies, both of which sing their praises, probably for that last move. Eren knows he would. It’s only after your goggles are pushed up over your helmet and your turn around that Eren realizes its you! The girl from the pool.

If he was awestruck before, it’s nothing compared how he’s feeling now. No way you were the same person! But, he has to admit, if we were gonna get crushed by anybody on the slopes, he’s glad it was a pretty girl.

To his surprise, you make your way over to him after unbuckling from your board, and Eren has to quickly shake the stupid look off of his face.

“I guess I lost our race back there,” you say with a smile, cloudy air falling from your lips from the cold, “But I just wanted to tell you that your last flip was really cool! It must have taken you forever to master that.”

For the first time since arriving, Eren’s glad it’s cold as shit, because now at least he has a coverup for the redness creeping onto his cheeks. With a nervous chuckle, he finally responds, “Yeah, I’ve, uh, kinda been working on it since I was eleven.”

“Well it definitely payed off, I’ve never seen anything like it,” you cheer, and Eren is really considering passing out right now, but that would not be cool. Very uncool. So he doesn’t. “Have you been boarding that long?”

“Yeah! I mean, well, I’m only 21, so I guess not that long,” Eren says with a nervous chuckle, “Well—uh, I guess, like, ten years is a long time, but I—I used to snowboard more often when I was little with my family, then, um, you know college got in the way in stuff… haha… yeah.”

Okay, fine, Eren has never been the smoothest guy in the world, but he’s usually not this awkward either. But can you really blame him?—between your looks, and your skills, and the fact that you actually came over to initiate and carry out a conversation with him, he was a goner from the start.

“I’m Eren, by the way,” he continues, hoping to cover up his awkward stuttering, “And, uh, you must have been doing this for a while too? Your last move was sick, I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“(Y/N),” you respond with a smile. Luckily for him, you don’t seem completely turned off by his awkward demeanor, still as bubbly as ever. “Not really… well, kind of? Maybe a few years at this point, but my teacher’s been a real hardass, so I learned to pick up on things pretty quick unless I wanted to get turned into a human snowball,” you tell him, turning your shoulder a bit to point back at your friends, “If you think what I did was good, you gotta see Levi—he’s the short one yelling at the one with the pigtails. He taught me everything I know.”

Eren recognizes Levi as the shorter man who helped you out of the pool yesterday. He deflates a little—he’d kind of forgotten about him, and he isn’t too happy to be reminded of him again.

“Oh, I see,” Eren nods, glancing over at Levi once more, “He must be a pretty good teacher.”

“When he’s not throwing snowballs as a learning tool, yeah he is,” you laugh, “Anyways, I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to go at it again sometime. I don’t know how long you’re, uh, staying or anything, but racing with you was fun. Even if you did get a bit of a head start.”

“I’m here for the week, actually,” Eren’s eyes practically shine at the hint of competitiveness in your voice. He loves to be challenged, after all. “But I don’t mind giving it a go right now, if you’re going up again?”

Eren has to stop himself from grinning like an idiot when you accept his invitation. He thinks he’s finally in the clear when he hears the short man—Levi—call out your name again.

To his surprise, you beckon Eren along with you, and you introduce him to Levi formally. Levi has to look up to look at Eren, but Eren’s the one who shrinks under his gaze; an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck. Damn, your teacher (friend, too? not boyfriend, apparently, though?) is intimidating as hell, how on Earth do you take lessons from him without buckling in fear??

You point to your other friends—Isabel and Farlan—who are standing a little further away. The former of whom is attempting to make a snow angel while the blonde is enthusiastically recording and taking pictures of the events.

After introducing the two, you ask Levi if he wants to up the hill with the both you again (and no, Eren doesn’t pout when you extend the offer to him—he’s really working on this keeping his feelings in check and being a rational thinker and all that and if you ask him it’s paying off), to which Levi declines (thank god).

Not even because Eren would be bummed if you didn’t get that he wanted to spend some more time alone with you not just to snowboard, but also because he knows he’d fall flat on his face in front of Levi, and then he’d probably have to hide in shame for the rest of his trip.

“Looks like it’s just us then,” you smile at him, “Okay, we can head back up—I’m just gonna ask Isabel to trade gloves with me real quick, yeah? And steal a heat pack from her.”

Eren doesn’t know if he should follow you over to Isabel, so he kind of shuffles around where he’s standing, a few feet next to Levi. (And damn, is it just Eren or is it suddenly 50 degrees colder next to this man).

Eren’s avoiding eye contact and small talk—and subsequently avoiding any bubbling feelings or irrational false suspicions about Levi. Also, he sucks at small talk.

It’s Levi who lets out an exasperated sigh first, not even bothering to turn to face Eren before bluntly saying, “She’s single.”

Eren’s eyes go wide and he’s sputtering in embarrassment—also because Levi said it so loudly, what if you heard??—but he’s cut off again before he can even speak: “Don’t even try it, Farlan and I saw you drooling over her at the pool, too.”

Well, now Eren’s certain that the blush on his face and neck are not from the cold, but from his complete and utter humiliation. “Well, I, uh, I didn’t mean to—”

“You don’t seem to be too great at this, so I’ll take pity on you and tell you she likes you, too. Or likes you enough, at least,” Levi continues.

“I—she does?” Eren blurts. Okay, now he’s probably being too loud.

“She talked to you didn’t she,” Levi says, but the question comes out as more of a deadpan observation, “Look if she asks you about anything while you’re up there—or better yet, asks you to teach her anything, just take it as an opening, alright kid? Trust me, there’s nothing you can do that she can’t.”

Ouch. Eren reasons that Levi is probably right, he’s only seen you board once but you’re pretty incredibly but, still.

Wait does that mean you really were flirting with him before?? You’re actually interested in him???

He hears you calling out to him, and sees you waving, gesturing towards the lifts with a new pair of bright blue mittens on, and Eren barely has the coherency to wave back (stupidly, slowly, lovestruck, like an idiot).

Levi watches the exchange with a bored look on his face. He sighs audibly this time, untucking his arms from where they were crossed over his chest to pick up the snowboard at his feet. “Cabin 24C, east wing. Bring her back after dinner,” he says, hoisting the board under his arm before walking towards Farlan and Isbael.

Eren doesn’t even have time to ask him anymore questions—plus you’ve started walking towards the lifts and he’s obviously not going to leave you hanging.

He doesn’t and your little ski-lift, snowboarding kind of date goes well, even if he’s positive you did take it easy on him.

You’re the one to ask him to go up one more time, when Eren remembers Levi’s advice and finally musters up the courage to ask: “Actually, I’m a little hungry—do you, uh, maybe wanna head inside for dinner? If you’re still up to, we can come back later.”

And when the evening is over and Eren’s gotten your number, he does in fact walk you back to your lodge with your friends, and he thinks that even Levi gave him a look of approval before slamming the door in his face.

(It wasn’t really approval, so much as he’s impressed Eren had the balls and critical thinking skills to actually ask you out in the end. But it’s fine because Farlan and Isabel both loudly told him how happy they were to see you’d scored a date with ‘emerald eyes from the pool’).

Mikasa and Armin are less than impressed when Eren comes back to his own lodge at damn near midnight after having not answered any of their calls all day, but Eren thinks it was worth it, even if he does have a bruise from Armin poking him in the side with his ski poles.

Eren meets you at the slopes every day for the rest of the week, ignoring Jean and Connie’s claims about him being a simp. So what if he is? He’s the one snowboarding and sipping hot chocolate with the pretty girl from pool at the end of the day isn’t he?

He learns that the both of you attend the same university, but are in almost opposite programs. That makes sense, Eren thinks, because he surely would have remembered seeing you on campus before.

You even get along with his friends really well, even if you only get the opportunity to meet them once at the lodge. Eren is more than impressed, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Mikasa warm up to someone so quickly. 

He thinks he’s pretty successful at meeting your friends, too. Isabel and Farlan continually reassure him that you do in fact have a crush on him (and maybe even persuade him try and kiss you before the week is over. Spoiler: he does, while it’s snowing and everything and it’s pretty damn great). 

On the last day of his trip, Eren takes you to the top of the hill with all his friends, and when you completely demolish Jean and leave him eating your dust, Eren thinks he might just be halfway in love with you already. 

[pingou7]

About me Meme

This took a while, but I’m back. Tagged by my wonderful friend and merciful god @thenewleeland and the lovely @crazy-fruit (whom I love so much for being a postcard pal).

Were you named after anyone? It’s weird to explain, but actually I was named after my mother’s late first husband. My father said he wanted to honor the man who came before him and let him love his wife and son (he adopted my brother before I was born). It’s said the love at first sight came for my dad… when he and my mum’s nine years old met each other.

Also, while initially creeped out by the idea, my mother caved because she wanted to give me a warrior name, like Joan of Arc, considering my life would be a crusade in itself.

When was the last time you cried? Today, when I came back to my solitary life (away from my RL friends for the rest of the year) and I just saw @crazy-fruit sent me another card, with trees on it, my favorite thing after dogs. And I babbled again, because even isolated from my two best friends, people care about me, think about me from time to time. Penguin, alone, weak me… Merci beaucoup…

Do you like your handwriting? Writing was awfully hard to master, as a RIGHT handed person who can only use her left hand. So yes, I like it, even if after a while I get slow, sore and it turns a bit sloppy… it’s a battle earned.

What’s your favorite lunch meat? The next thing I’ll eat. I am pretty intolerant to eggs, but aside from that, I’m not a picky eater.

Do you have kids? Thankfully for the poor souls yet to be born, I don’t.

If you were a different person, would you be friends with you? If I’m not spooked with the penguinness, sure. I’m often cracking myself and people around up, so at least there’s that.

Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.

Would you bungee jump? Never. Gravity is hard enough to stomach when I got my two feet on the ground, thank you very much.

What’s your favorite cereal? I don’t eat them.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? I can’t manage ties to begin with, they look normal, but can’t stay PUT. When people (read my mother) force me into tying shoes and tie them themselves, I always do.

I like to go barefoot anyway.

Do you think you are a strong person? Snort. Physically, of course I have little strength being a tiny penguin, just a fair amount of pain endurance (usually until my body shuts down).

Mentally, I have no choice but be iron willed, it comes with occasional surrenders, but I can’t afford to drown in myself. So I’ll kick the bottom when I have to, and struggle back until I have no breath left.

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Err. Dark chocolate, perhaps?

What’s the first thing you notice about people? If I make them uncomfortable, and often whether I find their voice pleasant.

Do you use sarcasm? Better then, ask me when I’m not.

What’s your least favorite physical thing about yourself? Quite a lot, and yet, I got used to myself by now, so to speak. My body can be an enemy or an associate, but never a friend. Of course two legs of the same length would be wonderful, though.

What color pants and shoes are you wearing right now? My pants today had a Prince of Wales like print on them, shoes were black, but now my nightgown is white and my feet are bare.   What are you listening to right now? My breathing, my typing, a song called Pardonné of French band Kyo because the 13 year old self can’t give me a break and the lyrics are still spot on 15 years later.

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Teal blue.

Favorite smell? Coffee

Who was the last person you talked on the phone with? I prefer texting, so I seldom call people outside of my daily phone call to my parents around 7:45 PM (military routine ingrained from a young age, even if I saw them a few hours before).

Favorite sport to watch? Soccer! It’s a Daughter-Father bonding thing.

But also Cycling (Tour de France people!) or Ice-Skating championships with my Gran. Athletism or sometimes boxing with my uncles, I happen to watch Rugby with friends, or Basketball with a cousin once in a while, or swimming competitions with another…

Don’t judge, I live sports through TV within a sportive family… love that shit, okay?

Hair color? Dull brown, but with kinda flaming highlights when the sun’s on it.

Eye color? Chocolate brown most days, through they turn kinda greenish (or deep hazel) when it’s sunny outside.

Do you wear contacts? Nope. I wish though, having a poor eye-sight. But only glasses can correct it (or surgery and I’m sure not putting myself through that if I can help it!)

Favorite food? I don’t have favorite, really. Can’t leave without cheese though, does it count?

Scary movie or comedy? Comedy all the way!

Last movie you watched? Le sens de la fête, in the cinema with my person.

What color shirt are you wearing? White, with grey paw prints.  

Summer or winter? Winter. I’m a Penguin after all, and I love scarves. But if I can pick, I’d take Fall. Because it’s chilly but pretty, there’s more time to sleep too, and rain is soothing if I’m not under it.

Hugs or kisses? Hugs, I’m a bit of a tactile person, but I’d take either.

Book you’re currently reading? François L’Olonnais, fléau des caraibes. A French real pirate who was from the city I left, near where half of my family’s from. He inspired the name of Roronona (L’Olonnois/L’Olonnais) Zoro in the Once Piece manga actually, Mihawk’s design a bit, too. Shout out to @oraftel! ;-)

Who do you miss right now? How about everyone?

What’s on your mouse pad? I’m on a laptop.

What’s the last TV program you watched? Outlander.

What’s the best sound? Rain against a window.

Rolling Stones or The Beatles? Neither, but if I have to pick then it’s the Stones in a heartbeat!

What’s the furthest you ever traveled? County Kerry, Ireland. Wanna go back there so bad.

Do you have a special talent? Not that I know of, nothing worth bragging about that is.

Where were you born? France.

Tagging: I answered late, so everybody likely has done it before, but I’m trying @calimera62, @ambrena, @aheartisaheavy-burden anyway, and anybody else who wants to do it!

[junker-town]

The Premier League extended its transfer window because why should it be consistent or sensible?

The Premier League voted to give themselves a problem that they had already solved.

The Premier League, to give it credit, has come up with a pretty good answer to a very important question. The question: how can a league have a winter break, with all the lack of football that implies, while at the same time ensuring that the television companies — the most important people in English football — have something to put on the televisions?

The answer. Split it! Half the league gets this weekend off, half the league the next. Television gets to carry on regardless. It’s an elegant compromise. And hey, we all get to watch Brighton vs. Watford, and that wouldn’t be happening on a normal weekend.

So of course, to celebrate the occasion of their excellent sensibleness, the Premier League has gone and done something silly.

Breaking: Premier League clubs vote to return to old longer transfer window, closing on Sept 1 and no longer before the start of the season

— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) February 6, 2020

There are many ways in which this is a terrible idea. The most exciting, however, is the blessed return of what we’re calling The Chaos Overture. That is, the few weeks between the season beginning and the transfer window closing. Two games, maybe three. Enough time for a twitchy football club to look at their summer’s work, and look at their early performances, and look at the long season stretching out ahead of them, and think:

Oh God, oh God, oh God — we’re doomed, we’re totally doomed. Who even are these clowns? Did you buy them? I didn’t buy them. Quick! Get somebody else! Anybody else! Who’s free get on the phone? How much money have we got? Get on another phone at the same time! How much money can we borrow? Oh God, oh God — does anybody know David Luiz’s agent?

It’s probably more professional than that, with suits and handshakes and so forth. But we reckon that’s the gist.

This is an odd thing to do. It’s one thing to have a problem hanging around that nobody has ever seriously tried to fix: football has hundreds of these, big and small, from the ongoing nonsense of time wasting to the pointlessly arcane ballet of the throw-in. But the game rubs along anyway, with the occasional well-meaning tweak here and there.

Here we have something different. A problem was identified and then solved, and has now been unsolved. Reproblematised. And it’s all the fault of those pesky Other Countries, refusing to fall in line with the Premier League. As Jürgen Klopp put it back in September:

I don’t care when it closes, but it must close at the same time. That was the idea in the first place. They spoke about finishing it before the season starts. Good idea, but only England did it. That makes no sense. It was a good idea but it didn’t work out.

It is better, then, to be unsensible with everybody else than it is to be sensible alone. (You can position this as a neat inversion of Brexit, if you’ve got the energy.) It was, certainly, unusual that English clubs could sell but not buy after the deadline; whether this was a “big mistake”, as Mauricio Pochettino felt, is up for debate. But having an unreplaceable Christian Eriksen gazing out of an open window for 20 days can’t have helped anybody.

The real winner, as ever, is television. Sky Sports’ yellow-trimmed carnival of filthy lucre has always thrived on panic and chaos, and that’s what’s returning here. And perhaps that’s OK, in the long run. The Premier League should do the silly, televisual thing, because the Premier League is a silly, televisual thing. The brand is strong. Sensible never stood a chance.

[cabeswaterlovesthem]

Vancouver Crowd

I don’t know if anybody else has headcanons for these boys but I have noticed a lack of them. So here are some bits I’ve written up for each of the boys of the Litchfield House please feel free to add on to these! I used what little info we had about them from the books to form some bullets. 

HENRY BROADWAY AKA CHENG2

Known as Cheng2 not because we was the second Cheng, but rather the second Henry. He sort of embraces this though because him and Henry have been best friends since private primary school and have been attached at the hip for years.

Cheng2 was always the shy one which is how he ended up being the 2. He didn’t really like to let anybody get too close to him and prefers to have only a few close friends over a big group.

But the reserved side of Cheng2 ceased to exist when he started at Agliony. Henry managed to form a group around him that made Cheng2 feel comfortable and included. Soon, his louder side was coming out.

One of the things about being the shy guy was that he spent a lot of time not really talking to anyone so, because of it, when he does open his mouth, usually it’s to say something unbelievably stupid like “Holy fuck, we got girls?” but yah know.

He’s a fucking economics wiz and plans on majoring it. He’s pretty much Ivy League bound which is fine by him. He doesn’t know what getting burnt out feels like. He works incredibly hard for his good grades and hasn’t found that they have come easy to him like some of his other friends. But he lives for success. He has goals and he’s going to achieve them and nobody is going to stop him.

That’s probably because he’s constantly drinking a red bull to stay up studying until 4am and then smoking a bowl to fall asleep. The other perk of being The Shy Guy at school is that nobody knows when you show up high to class. He’s taken advantage of this fact multiple times.

RYANG (WOO?)

Ryang (aka Mrs. Woo’s nephew) is a piece of fucking work my guys let me tell you.

Ryang is always pissed about something happening in the world and has to do something about it. If there’s a charity drive happening at Aglionby you can imagine he is behind it.

There are about 20 cats roaming around Litchfield House and they’re all there because Ryang saved them from a kill shelter two summers ago. They all have names after famous activists (although one is named Beyonce after a long winded argument with Henry in which Henry sorted every good thing Beyonce has ever done for the world) and they all have collars.

Ryang can often be found sleeping in a bed with five cats because all his anger exhausts him so much that he needs to take a lot of naps. This is extremely frustrating to Koh who likes to cuddle but is slightly allergic to cats and all the hair that collects in Ryang’s bed is just too much.

He drives a motorcycle and has his own custom helmet made that Koh designed for him. Did I get to the part where they’re both in love with each other but won’t admit it? Maybe that’s a story for a different night.

One time Ryang tied himself to a tree on Aglionby’s campus to save it and all the Vancouver boys rallied enough support around him that the tree stayed and the plans for a new media center were moved to another location on campus.

His favorite kind of music is classic rock and, no offense to Henry, but he can’t stand pop. He only tolerates it when he’s drinking with the guys. He also lightens up a bit when he’s drinking and is often the one to initiate weird games.

But otherwise, he’s generally standoffish but Koh softens his edges a lot. He doesn’t mean to be standoffish, but he’s staunch in his opinions and demands his peers learn to be better. It comes from years of dealing with privileged white boys in his classes.

Him and Cheng2 often have heated discussions about policy and the latest United Nations topics.

KOH

Koh is almost the opposite of Ryang. He’s a ball of energy who is actually quite liked by everybody. He is on the student government at Aglionby because of his generally positive attitude and friendly nature.

He’s acquaintances with pretty much everybody at school and has a way of making everybody feel included.

Probably because he’s a team player from being a fricken soccer star. It’s insane how good he is. He works out for it but most of it is absolutely natural skill and when he’s not at Litchfield he’s probably on the pitch.

Koh is crazy smart but he couldn’t give half a shit about half his classes. His interests include the finer things in life like golfing on the weekend and drinking fancy drinks at a club house. He’s a little flippant with his money which drives Ryang fucking nuts sometimes but he always shuts him up by showing up to every single one of Ryang’s fundraisers- even if they do start at ass o’clock in the morning.

His grades are good but he really doesn’t try and honestly? High school is a bust. He already has plans to go to business school and take over the family’s pharmaceutical company (but hopefully only after he plays in the premier leagues for a bit).

There is one class that he tries in and it’s music. He sort of loves mixing records together and will often steal the speakers away during parties to control the music. He doesn’t really think he can pursue it, but the boys have been really encouraging him to not give it up. Secretly Koh wants to be encouraged….

As much as him and Ryang are polar opposites in a lot of ways (he’s materialistic where Ryang is minimalist) their heated debates are usually dripping with tension. And when Ryang sneaks downstairs into Koh’s cat-free room to sleep, they don’t talk about it in the morning.

(To be perfectly honest, the book wasn’t clear about whether or not SickSteve, Logan, or Lee-Squared live at Litchfield but I don’t care for the sake of this headcanon. They live there now. Welcome home, boys.)

SICKSTEVE

Bruh, you know what you have to do to get a nickname like that? A lot of sick shit that’s what.

SickSteve is the epitome of awesome and has the wildest stories. Like one time he went to the Vatican and puked in the holy water because he was too hungover.

And another time he skateboarded off a roof into a pool and broke his arm.

Literally there isn’t a weekend that Steve doesn’t have a story for on Monday morning. And it isn’t like he’s trying hard to do shit- it’s just his nature to be wild.

He owns a BMW but it’s his third one so far because he keeps finding ways to fucking total them by accident trying to do donuts too close to a building or some shit. It’s literally insane.

The crazy thing is he’s so calm and nonchalant about it all. Like you would not at all guess by his demeanor at school that he’s such a crazy guy, but the minute he starts telling you a story your jaw can’t not hit the ground in shock.

And he’s always somehow convincing the guys to pull stupid shit with him. He’s crazy persuasive about it and thanks to him most of the other guys’ lives have gotten a lot more fun. He’s the reason for their toga parties 99% of the time because they just want to see what will happen after he takes a few shots and a hit of weed.

But perhaps the wildest thing about Steve is that he is the biggest movie buff any of them have ever met and can quote over a hundred movies from start to finish. It would be annoying if Steve didn’t turn the volume down and improv half the time. He’s just got this good humor about him that everybody likes to be around but will shrug when you tell him he’s funny.

LOGAN RUTHERFORD

He’s basically their classic fuckboy who they constantly rag on for having a white boy name.

Logan is the resident lax bro of the house due to the fact that 1. he does play lax and 2. he’s actually that obnoxious about it.

He wears bro tanks and backwards hats and spends a ton of time at the gym. Protein shakes are pretty much his staple and he tries to convince the whole house to get into shape to no avail. So instead, they dedicated one cabinet to all his health food junk and tell him they weren’t going to touch it anyways.

He’s the beer pong champion of the house and likes to brag about it a lot. He’s also the one who supplies most of the alcohol as his family lives in town and his brother is attending college nearby.

His family is old money which is weird for their little group. Nobody knows the backstory though because Logan doesn’t get along with his father. His parents are divorced and he was raised by his mother and step father instead. Thankfully the divorce settlement was insane so his mother made out like a bandit. Which Logan thinks is karma because his father is a dick.

He gets pretty terrible grades in school because he’s more focused on sports and it pisses his dad off when he sends his report card.

He seems like he doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of them, but the truth is that Logan has a really big heart, he just keeps it on lockdown. He had a tough time growing up that he doesn’t talk about a lot but has opened up to his friends about. Because of that, they put up with his bro bullshit for the guy who would drop absolutely anything to be there for them if they asked.

More than once he’s been the friend they’ve called at 4am to come pick them up or the one they’ve gone to crying after a really bad day. He’s a good listener and a great hugger and knows how to make things better with a smile and some froyo.

LEE-SQUARED

He’s known as “Lee-Squared” because he has a twin sister (who Cheng2 has a huge fucking crush on which drives Lee-Squared absolutely nuts). 

Lee is actually his last name but he prefers to be called that anyways so it works out. 

He’s incredibly insanely close to his family and it’s hard to be away from them during the school year. He’s from California and fucking hates the east coast winters to be honest.

He’s got the west coast sort of attitude too. Super laid back. Absolutely surfs in the summer. Is cold 99% of the time and is always turning the heat up and driving the house nuts. Smokes a shit ton of weed with Cheng2.

Generally he’s pretty quiet, even when he drinks. He’s big on observing and people watching over participating in events. 

He’s the only one who will eat Logan’s healthy meals and goes running with him sometimes. 

Lee-Squared is also a huge fucking nerd who loves reading and writing and psychology and anything that involves personal connection. He’s taken up yoga and mediating and is always looking for ways to find his calm.

The reason why is because while his exterior is calm, his mind is usually moving a mile a minute. He’s got pretty bad internal anxiety but he doesn’t like to talk about it a lot. He’s pretty self deprecating and second guesses himself a lot. Him and Logan talk about it sometimes and the runs with Logan sometimes help him turn his brain off for awhile. 

Him and Logan become even closer after sharing their backgrounds and really support and love the heck out of each other. They don’t externally appear soft ever, but truly they are. 

Anyways, all the Vancouver boys are good good boys who I love and adore thanks for listening! 

Edit: I worked really hard on these and did as much research as I could but I may have missed things from the book so feel free to point them out and I will add them! Like someone mentioned Koh was on the soccer time so I have since amended my headcanon. So as a general disclaimer, I tried my best here but do not be afraid to be like, “Hey, actually, this makes more sense based on their character!”

[norihisahyuga-archived]

Missed and Second Chances

Tsukioka Sho/Mimura Shinji Battle Royale 8000~ words. Sfw.

Shinji gets a cold brush-off from Sho and decides he’s going to figure out what he did to piss Sho off. In the process, he might learn a little bit about himself too, something he never would have guessed and something he cannot ignore. Brief mention of sex.

Shinji first notices during gym class. He’s always been excellent at athletics and his grades are more than high enough to guarantee him a spot in most of the universities he’s been interested in since junior high, so he managed to fit a gym class into his class schedule. It’s nice to have a chance to burn through his energy midway through the day, and the fact it’s right before study hall? Even better, because it gives him an excellent chance to rest from the exertion.

They’re playing basketball this unit, a boon for him since it gives him a chance to test out new formations. He’s captaining his team against Shuya Nanahara, the best possible opponent he could have in a situation like this, and while he has Hiroki on his team, Shuya has Hatagami; the four of them together are more than athletic enough to make this a true challenge.

As far as he’s concerned, the other members of their teams don’t really matter. Half of the class is just people who don’t want to take more actual classes on top of the ones they already have, who just want an easy credit or two. Shinji gets it, he does, but they aren’t a true challenge, so he focuses on the people he needs to focus on and does his best to succeed.

In the process of pulling off a particular difficult pass to Hiroki, he rams right into someone, the two of them sprawling on the gym floor. Swearing, Shinji scrambles to his feet, already annoyed that he’d managed to do something so stupid and that he took someone down with him in the process. Despite his usual grace on the court, he had made a mistake, and he had potentially injured someone else in the process. In a real game, that could have easily been one of his own teammates, or it could have fouled his team out. Shuya is a good sport at least, halting the game so Shinji can see just who he managed to knock out.

He’s surprised to find himself offering a hand up to none other than Sho Tsukioka, suddenly feeling like he should jerk his hand away. “Sorry, Tsukioka,” he says, fighting his own urge to recoil from the boy who had been so interested in him during junior high. “I wasn’t paying attention and I knocked into you. It was completely my fault.”

Sho raises an eyebrow at him from where he’s laid out on his back, and that’s when Shinji gets a proper look at him. He isn’t sporting his usual pompadour any longer, his hair a sort of soft mass around his face, and the bottom of his t-shirt has ridden up to expose his stomach, toned enough to make Shinji’s mouth dry and his mind wander to how in the hell Sho had gotten a body like this when Shinji knows damn well he doesn’t do anything athletic.

It seems like a lifetime passes before Sho pushes himself up, brushing aside Shinji’s hand as he pushes himself to his feet. “Pay attention where you’re going next time then, Mimura,” he says.

It’s cold and rough enough to make Shinji raise his eyebrows in surprise, his jaw slackening just a little as he glances at Shuya. Instead of answering, Shuya just shrugs his shoulders, and the teams move back into formation. More out of muscle memory than anything else, Shinji moves to join them, though his mind is still half-preoccupied by Sho’s brush-off.

Since when did Sho Tsukioka have a problem with him?

“You know, you really are about as dense as they come, my man.” Tadakatsu Hatagami has never been anything short of straight to the point as he leans back in his chair, his sandwich held in one hand. “You telling me you didn’t notice when Sho stopped fawning over you?”

The lunch table is not one that Shinji usually sits at; he divides his time between this one and his main table where the rest of his friends are sitting, but Yutaka had come here to sit with Yuichiro today and so Shinji had followed so he could ask Yuichiro and Katsu about Sho. Something had happened in junior high to make Yuichiro and Sho oddly good friends, and so Shinji figured this was a safer bet than trying to get close enough to the Souma Gang to ask Yoshimi what was going on. At least now he can get answers without poking around too much.

“Am I supposed to notice things like that?” he asks, running a hand over his gelled hair.

Yuichiro huffs at him and shakes his head. “Yeah, Mimura, you kind of are? I figured you would have noticed that he stopped trying to flirt with you halfway through our last year in junior high.”

So this had been going on for a while. Shinji frowns; now he wonders why he really didn’t notice when Sho stopped trying to pursue him. After all, Sho had taken every possible chance to flirt with him from the way he dropped by Shinji’s desk to leave a note on its surface to the way he would just invade his personal space to make it clear what his feelings and intentions were. And then that had stopped… When? Halfway through their last year in junior high. So probably around their winter break, and he had failed to notice in all that time.

“Did I do something to him or something?” Shinji finally asks, not sure what else he can say.

“Nah, you were just you and he finally got over you.” Katsu says it so flippantly that Shinji has to stop to stare at him. “Like, all your playing around with girls, all of your scheming and shit. I think he finally got the message that you weren’t the kind of guy who things could work out with.”

Shinji scowls at that; he can’t help himself. “Hey, I could be a perfectly good boyfriend if I wanted to be, thanks. I just don’t want to be.”

Yuichiro raises an eyebrow at him. “You’re also straight, Mimura. That’s what we really mean. You were just yourself, and Sho realized you’d never be interested in guys. And you know, he grew up in his dad’s club, he probably knows what a player looks like from a distance.”

“Since when has my behavior ever been a turnoff for anybody? Besides, I’ve always been like that. It’s not like it would have been something he just noticed around Christmas.” Shinji racks his brain, but he can’t think of anything he might have down around the holidays to put Sho off of him entirely, especially something to earn that frosty treatment.

Yutaka sighs at him. “Why is it bothering you so much anyway? You never liked Sho.”

“I still don’t like Sho. I dunno. I just…” Shinji trails off, then heaves a sigh. “I guess I just don’t get what I did to piss him off this much. He acted like I did something to personally offend him.”

Katsu raises an eyebrow at him. “You rammed into him so hard he hit the floor.”

“Yeah, but I apologized! I even offered to help him up.” Which was far more than he would have done in the past, how can they not realize this? “And he just brushed me off. I don’t get it. What did I do to get him so pissed off at me?”

Yuichiro leans over to pat him on the shoulder. “It’s not anything you need to worry about, Shinji, all right? Just let it go and move on. You don’t even like Sho, and you never have, so I don’t see why his opinion of you should bother you so much.”

“Exactly,” Katsu says, slinging an arm around Yuichiro’s shoulders in a way that looks, to Shinji’s discerning eye at least, more than friendly. “You should be happy he doesn’t like you because that means he’s going to leave you alone, and that’s what you’ve always wanted from him anyway.”

Shinji bites his tongue and doesn’t tell any of them that he doesn’t even know why it bothers him so much. But as for letting it go? No, he’s not about to do that.

Shinji doesn’t actually share any classes with Sho besides gym class and the following study hall, and with Sho sitting on the other side of the room with Mitsuru Numai and Hiroshi Kuronaga, it isn’t like Shinji can waltz over and ask him what he hates him all of a sudden. So he bides his time for a few days, trying to figure out how to go about speaking to him. If he managed to upset someone enough to have them turn on him like this, then he deserves to know what he did. At the very least, he needs to know so he can make things right.

At the end of the week, he lucks out. Numai is missing from study hall and Kuronaga disappears within the first five minutes of class. The teacher here doesn’t care what they do so long as they keep the chattering down to an acceptable level, not too loud to attract the principal or vice principal for any reason. So Shinji pushes himself up from his seat and takes the empty one beside Sho, stretching his legs out to make himself comfortable.

Sho doesn’t even look up from his textbook, taking notes in a small and rather beautiful script that makes Shinji’s eyebrows rise slightly. “What do you want this time, Mimura?”

“I feel like I didn’t properly apologize to you for knocking you on your ass back in gym class,” Shinji says by way of explanation. It’s only half-true, of course. “You seemed very upset with me, so I felt I should apologize to you more respectfully.”

When Sho does look up, his expression is less than impressed. “I’m not interested in your apologies, Mimura. I’d much rather prefer you just left me alone.”

The coldness in his voice has returned, an impressive feat considering Shinji came here to apologize in the first place and, as far as he knows, he hasn’t said anything else damning or stupid in the last two or three minutes. Yet again, it takes Shinji aback to think he’s done something to Sho to trigger this kind of reaction in him. After all, Sho is one of the warmer people in their class, someone who can buddy up with anyone if given the proper amount of time; Shinji knew this as well as anyone else.

So for Sho to brush him off like this, he really must have fucked up somewhere along the line. “Look, Sho, I don’t know what I did to piss you off this bad. I really don’t. But whatever it is, just tell me what I did so I can go about making it better. I’ll actually try, I swear.”

“If you don’t remember, then how can I expect you to feel truly remorseful for it?” Sho returns to his notes, picking up where he left off without missing a beat. “Just let it go. It’s not like we were ever friends to begin with, so you lose nothing. Now, I’m trying to work.”

Shinji bites down on his bottom lip. “It must have been something pretty bad, huh?”

Sho sets his pen down and cracks his knuckles, and it’s not meant to be a threatening sound at all, but it’s clearly a sign that Sho is losing his patience with the conversation. “Why do you care so much in the first place? I’m asking sincerely considering the fact that you and I have rarely if ever spoken since I stopped pursuing you literally years ago.”

“We don’t have to be friends for me to have fucked up,” Shinji says firmly, “and if I did something to hurt you, I feel like I owe you an apology just the same. I fucking hate Numai but if I did something to hurt him, I’d suck up my pride and apologize. It’s just the right thing to do.”

“I see.” Sho heaves a sigh, combing his fingers through his hair.

Shinji nods. “Yeah. So. Just tell me what I did and I’ll fix it.”

“I don’t really want to discuss this where anyone else might overhear. As you know, I pick up quite a bit of gossip around the building. I keep to myself what other people might not want to spread around.” Sho fixes him with a look that Shinji can’t quite read. “And I don’t know if you’d want this to get out or not, so I won’t say it here. Why don’t you come to my place after school?”

The offer is a strange one as far as Shinji’s mileage goes. As far as he knows, the only people Sho has ever asked to come back to his house are his friends. Shinji hasn’t heard of Sho bringing any other guy back to his house, but he figures he has no room to judge or to suspect. After all, the cold dark eyes fixed on him right now probably aren’t interested in him any longer.

“Sounds good to me,” he agrees.

Sho’s house is as average as they come, a solid two-story brick house that Shinji admires from the outside as he follows Sho up the concrete walkway leading to the front porch. There’s a nice car in the driveway, one that actually looks relatively new, and the yard is trimmed and neat. If Shinji had to guess, this would not have been his first idea as to where Sho would have grown up. Still, he says nothing of the sort out loud. Such a thing would just be incredibly rude.

As soon as the front door closes behind them, Sho calls out a greeting. “Dad, I’m home and I have a friend over. You’ve heard me mention him. It’s Mimura, the basketball player.”

You’ve heard me mention him. There is nothing cruel or rude about the phrasing, but Shinji still wonders if Sho’s dad knows just how much Sho used to like him. He kind of wants him to know, just to see if he’s surprised to see Sho’s infamous crush here in the house.

Instead, the man who appears in the kitchen doorway with his sleeves rolled up his forearms just gives Shinji a simple up-down before nodding. “All right. Good to have you home. How was school for you today?”

“It was the usual. I’m going to take Mimura on up now.” Sho tilts his chin toward the stairs. “If you need anything, let me know, okay?”

Mr. Tsukioka gives Sho a loose, one-armed hug before Sho leads Shinji upstairs, and if Shinji didn’t have such an excellent poker face, he doesn’t know what his facial expression would be at the sight of all of this. He’s known that Sho’s father raised him alone and he had assumed the two of them must be close, but everything here seems so normal, so boring beige, and Shinji doesn’t know how this computes to make the person he knows as Sho Tsukioka.

Once they reach the landing, Sho gives him a look. “You seem out of your element.”

Instead of scoffing or brushing it off, Shinji just nods. “I am, a bit. Remember, I’ve never been here before. So… Show me to your bedroom, I guess.”

He expects Sho to make a joke about taking Shinji to his bedroom, but Sho just leads him down the hallway and opens a door to reveal a rather regular looking bedroom. In fact, it’s remarkably similar to any bedroom Shinji has ever seen, except that where he would expect to see posters of hot girls and models, he sees men instead. There’s nothing particularly exciting about the room otherwise, the walls painted a soft soothing green and the carpet a deep gray plush that he sinks into up to his ankles when he crosses the threshold.

“You can put your bag anywhere,” Sho informs him, letting his own fall to the floor beside his bed before taking a seat on the edge of it. “You can sit in my computer chair if you want.”

Shinji doesn’t ask if this is for his benefit, if Sho expects Shinji to be uncomfortable sitting next to him on the bed, but Shinji isn’t ready to explore his feelings on that thought right now. So instead, he tosses his bag on the floor by the offered chair and sinks down into the soft worn leather, letting himself get comfortable.

“So,” he says slowly, running a hand through his gelled hair, “what did I do back then?”

Sho swings his legs up onto the bed, getting comfortable against his pillows. “I feel like I should start this off with an apology. I won’t make excuses for my behavior. I was very rude and very inappropriate with the way I tried to win you over, so I apologize for that.”

“Oh. Well. It’s okay. We all did stupid things we regret as children so I’m not going to hold it against you. Besides, you’ve been fine, so.” Shinji shrugs; it’s just water under the bridge.

“Right. So. This was around the same time that Yoji and Yoshimi finally broke up. You remember that, right?” Sho slants him a sideways glance and Shinji nods; he remembers that as well as anyone else does. Yoji had been treating her like shit for months and she finally ended it. “Yeah, I thought you would. Everyone remembers the big meltdowns from our class.”

Shinji clicks his tongue. “Well, it’s just what it is. Shit that gets attention gets remembered.”

“A crude way of putting it, but yes. Yoshimi was pretty devastated, all things considered. She really cared about Yoji, so she wanted to go out to feel better.” Sho smiles a bittersweet smile.

Though he wants to ask where this is going, Shinji doesn’t. Instead, he struggles to remember what he was doing at the same time on his side of the world. “This was right around the same time that my aunt died now that I think about that. I remember getting the call.”

“Then you at least remember some of what happened. We were trying to cheer Yoshimi up and that’s when you and yours showed up. I remember hearing you say your aunt had died, so I thought that was why you were out, too.” Sho’s smile is less sweet, more bitter, and Shinji wrinkles his eyebrows as he struggles to see where this is going. “I don’t know when you two started talking. I was in and out smoking half of the night. All I know is that when I came back to check on her after my last smoke, both of you were gone. Hirono was so pissed.”

Oh. Oh. Shinji presses his lips together at the thought, and the memories slowly trickle back in as he processes the words. He remembers begging Shuya to help him find a place that would distract him, keep his mind off of things, remembers seeing members of their class in the arcade… Barely remembers running into Yahagi but just the same, he remembers doing it. And he also remembers stumbling around an offer, an idea, a way to keep both of their minds off of the things neither of them wanted to think about.

“Shit,” he finally whispers, shaking his head slowly.

Sho sighs and folds his hands behind his head. “I was pissed you walked off with her, partially because it was the last thing she needed and partially because she was my best friend and you were my crush, and it hurt. I didn’t own you, so it wasn’t my right to be jealous.”

“No, I can see why that would upset you and I’m not mad at you for being upset about it. Fuck, Sho, I’m sorry.” And he is, more than he would like to admit. Sho is right about the fact he never owned Shinji, because the two of them never dated and never even got close, but he can easily see why something like this would upset Sho. “I’m really fucking sorry, Sho. I didn’t even think.”

“I know. You were upset. You both were upset, I know you didn’t intend to hurt my feelings. I was just having a bad few months and that just, well…” Sho shrugs again.

But Shinji can see how finding out the guy you were crushing on seriously for months on end hooking up with your best friend can hurt; he can imagine how that must have been a punch in the gut to Sho. So this was what Yuichiro had meant when he said Shinji had simply been himself and that was enough; he had blindly hooked up with a girl who was willing to have sex with him because they were both feeling like shit, and in the process, that probably hurt Sho quite a bit. It also probably reinforced the common belief that Shinji was only interested in girls, only interested in sex, and not exactly prime boyfriend material for anyone else.

He holds his hands up. “Sho, I… I am really sorry. I mean, I know that like… No. No, I hurt your feelings and I’m sorry about that. It probably strained your friendship with Yahagi and I really didn’t want that to happen either. I was just tired and upset and not thinking straight.”

“It’s just… That’s you, you know? You like girls, you like sex. And that’s fine. I always deluded myself into thinking that maybe one day you and I… But I was young and stupid.” Sho laughs, and though the sound should be humorous, all it does is make him sound upset. “I just… I guess I didn’t want to talk to you because I didn’t want to remember. You don’t really get over your first love, especially not when you still see him every day at school.”

Shinji nods slowly. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“At any rate, there you are. Now you know.” Sho shrugs, glancing over at him, and the angle has so much hair falling into his eyes… And it makes a pretty picture, Sho laying back against the pillows with his hair in his eyes. “I didn’t want to tell you at school because I know you steer clear of the Souma Gang and probably didn’t want that information spread around.”

“Thank you for considering that. I really don’t want to have to deal with Shimizu if everyone finding out means she’s going to kick my ass.” He grins, trying to make it a joke, but he’s also serious. Shimizu had never bothered him, but if everyone knew? She just might.

“You can go now if you want. I have homework to do and I’m sure you have plenty of things to fill your time with.” Sho rolls over to retrieve his bag from the floor, and Shinji swallows a little hard at the way his muscles look as they stretch. “I won’t even tell anyone you came here.”

Shinji glances down at his bag, over at Sho on the bed, and picks up his bag. “Actually, if you want, I could hang out and we could study together. I was a stupid kid then, too, and I was pretty fucking rude to you for being gay. I don’t want you to feel like I don’t want to be near you.”

To make his point clear, he stands up from the chair and moves to sit on the foot of the bed, crossing his legs beneath him. Sho gives him a considering look, then smiles.

It’s probably the strangest thing Shinji has decided to do, but the experience itself isn’t noteworthy. Sho is just a normal teenage boy; Shinji was stupid for thinking he was different.

The weeks pass by uneventfully, and Sho never brings up the afternoon Shinji spent in his bedroom. They nod if they pass in the hallways and they keep an easy banter up during gym class, but otherwise, there is virtual radio silence between them. It’s in that pocket of silence that Shinji screams when he realizes the creeping attraction he has for Sho Tsukioka is not fading, but rather growing worryingly stronger as the days pass by.

It’s annoying to think about. He’s had the most fleeting thoughts about some guys being cute, occasionally, once in a blue moon when his mind is wandering off into the far reaches of his subconscious. Like sometimes Yutaka laughs a certain way, or Shuya has this aura to him when he’s playing his guitar, or Hiroki is just off quietly brooding and Shinji can take a moment to appreciate he has some good-looking friends. Some of the best-looking friends and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with noticing a guy is attractive.

Yutaka picks up on his brooding first, nudging him on the shoulder one day during calculus. “What’s eating you, man? You’ve been out of sorts for a while now.”

“It’s nothing. Must just be a mood I’m going through or something. Nothing is different.” Shinji tries to keep his voice as calm and measured as possible because he isn’t ready to tell anyone about the weird way he’s been feeling. “I talked to Sho, though. We sorted things out.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear.” Yutaka turns his attention back to the packet they have to fill out as their study guide for their upcoming test, then glances up, nodding at someone behind Shinji. “You know, that whole thing made me remember that Sho’s boyfriend is in this class with us. Over there, the guy sitting with Satomi and Yukie.”

Shinji turns around probably faster than he should to see the person Yutaka is talking about, and he sucks in air through his teeth at the sight of the guy in question. The little three-person group is working quietly, keeping their voices pitched low so that their words aren’t overheard around them, but Shinji can imagine the guy having a deep voice. With his shaggy black hair and his somewhat handsome face, he’s not as attractive as Shinji; this Shinji decides without having to think about it. It’s hard to believe a guy this plain is the one who ended up attracting Sho in the first place when he’d liked Shinji, and Shinji is the exact opposite.

For some reason, this makes him furrow his brows as he turns back around. “Weird. He doesn’t seem like Sho’s type. Why are they dating in the first place?”

“Since when do you know what type of guy Sho likes?” Yutaka rolls his eyes, as if the very thought itself is somehow ridiculous, and Shinji scowls at him. “Anyway, Sho really seems to like him, and he’s good to Sho. Why do you care who Sho dates in the first place?”

“I don’t care,” Shinji says, probably a little too forcefully. “Help me finish this packet.”

Yutaka doesn’t give him any shit for his attitude, and for that Shinji is grateful.

It’s on the way to his next class that he sees Sho and his boyfriend interact for the first time. He watches the guy catch Sho around the waist with one arm as he walks by, watches him twirl Sho around until Sho is between him and the bank of lockers on the wall, watches Sho laugh and lean into the hand that comes to rest on his cheek. They both glance around, no doubt on the lookout for teachers who might catch them, before the guy leans in to steal a soft, sweet, swift kiss from Sho’s full lips.

If Shinji storms the rest of his way to his next class and forgets to go to his locker, so be it.

“I don’t understand it,” Keita says from beside him, following him on the way to lunch. Shinji had met up with him outside of his architecture class because he needed someone to rant to. “Do you even know the guy’s name? And why does it matter who Sho dates?”

It shouldn’t, to be fair. It really shouldn’t. Shinji should not care about who Sho Tsukioka does and does not date, and yet here he is, fuming over some unnamed guy he happens to share calculus with. He had made it a point to refuse to remember the guy’s name, unwilling to let the man take up any room in his brain, and as incredibly petty as it is and as he can be, he doesn’t feel bad for it. Not in the least.

And yet, here he is. The guy is just so vanilla. How can Sho have fallen for a guy like that?

“You’re starting to sound a little obsessive about this,” Keita says, and Shinji hates how right he is. “Like, I know you don’t mean to, but you don’t even know the guy, right? And if he’s hanging out with Noda and Utsumi, he really can’t be that bad, can he?”

A fair point. Shinji frowns. “You’re supposed to take my side, you know.”

“I am on your side. I just don’t understand why you’re so mad at him.” Keita gives him a one-shoulder shrugs.

“I don’t even know why I’m mad to be honest. Just… don’t tell the others about this, okay?” Shinji holds up his hand, extending just his pinky. “Promise me. I don’t want anyone else to worry about me. I swear I’ll sort it out myself.”

Keita sighs at him but hooks their pinkies together. “I promise.”

Sho’s boyfriend is sitting with him at Yuichiro’s table, so Shinji makes a beeline for his usual table to avoid any awkward moments. The two of them are in the process of being ridiculously cute together, the guy’s arm loosely wrapped around Sho’s waist while he eats with one hand, and there’s no denying that Sho is clearly enjoying the attention. It makes Shinji wonder if Sho was ever hurt by the fact Shinji went out of his way to avoid him back when Sho liked him, and then he’s mad at himself all over again and drops down hard into his chair.

He hates his life. How could this have happened to him?

Pointedly, he looks at each of his friends in turn, trying to see anything attractive in their faces that would solidify if he likes guys or if he’s just tricked himself into being frustrated over nothing. Nobu isn’t really his type, but there’s no hiding the fact that his friendly smile is kinda cute. Shuya is drop dead handsome in a different way than Shinji, all warmth and brightness and the actual sun captured in his eyes and his smile. Hiroki is, well… Sort of pretty? His lips look nice when he mouths the words of his Chinese poetry to himself, poking at his food with one hand. And Yutaka has that cute face with his cute laugh and—

Shinji clenches his jaw and stares down at his lap. It’s normal to find his friends attractive. It can’t possibly be because he likes guys, right?

Across the room, Sho’s boyfriend steals another kiss, and Shinji almost has a heart attack.

The fact of the matter is, Shinji has no reason to push himself this hard during practice, but he has a lot of stress built up from the last couple of months and he can’t really focus on anything but the beat of his heart and the way sweat runs down his face. Swearing, he drives down the court again, pointedly hogging the ball and scoring a basket right at the three point line. His teammates cock their heads at him, clearly confused, but he doesn’t elaborate on why he’s acting this way and they don’t ask as long as he continues to do well.

He hates this. He really hates this. He hates that he keeps thinking about Sho and his boyfriend, hates that it bothers him as much as it does. He wonders if people experience this type of jealousy normally, but he isn’t sure. He was never really jealous before now given the fact that he never really cared about anyone for any reason before. He’d never kept girls around for long.

Sighing softly, he runs his fingers through his hair and shakes himself, rolling his shoulders as he falls back into formation with his team. He’s starting to flag because he’s been throwing his all into this practice, and he’s going to collapse if this keeps up for much longer.

By the time practice does wrap up, his muscles are screaming at him for pushing himself this hard, and he heaves a sigh as he lowers himself onto the bench, too tired to think about showering at this moment. A few guys slap him on the back and congratulate him on how hard he worked during practice, and all he can really do is smile back and nod. He’s exhausted.

The walk home is at least not a long one, and the cool evening air on his still overheated skin is nice. Showering had washed away the sweat and the stench, but not the fatigue.

“Hey there, handsome,” a familiar voice calls out, and he glances behind him to see Sho jogging lightly to catch up with him. “I thought I saw you walking. Just get done with practice?”

They haven’t really spoken that much other than in class, so Shinji is just a little thrown off by this. “Yeah,” he says with a quick nod. “What are you doing out and about?”

Sho nods over his shoulder. “I just left the boyfriend’s house. We were working on lit together when I saw what time it was. Fancy running into you out here.”

“It is weird,” Shinji agrees, and he’s calmer than he should be about the fact that Sho falls into step beside him, calm about the companionable feel of it all. “But it’s kinda nice, too, right? It’s not like I don’t enjoy spending time with you or anything.”

“What a romantic,” Sho says, his tone light and teasing.

At that, Shinji half-smiles. “I’m not a romantic guy, you know. I figured that would have been one of the first things you picked up about me when you started crushing on me.”

“Believe me when I said that I not only figured that out but tried to tell myself it would be different between us. Oh boy, was I stupid.” Sho laughs it off and Shinji chuckles softly to himself. “Ah, well, it’s all good. Have you actually found someone to start liking yet?”

“No. I’m not really looking for anyone in particular.” And God knows he means it. “So, uh, your boyfriend, what’s he like? I didn’t even realize you had a boyfriend to begin with.”

“He’s a sweet guy, he really is. I didn’t expect that when we first got together because I never thought he would be a guy who would be interested in me, you know?” Sho smiles a little to himself, and Shinji feels terrible for hating the guy in the first place. God, what the fuck is wrong with him? “I dunno, I’m happy and he seems happy with me, so I’m grateful.”

Shinji is officially the worst person in the entire world right at this moment. On this entire planet, maybe in this galaxy, he is a bastard, and he probably doesn’t deserve to have Sho as a friend considering all he’s done is be shitty about the fact he has a boyfriend. He makes a mental note to be good to him, to be better for him, because Sho doesn’t deserve to have people in his life who are needlessly jealous for absolutely no reason.

They part at the corner, Shinji mentally making lists of ways he can be a better person, too busy to feel Sho’s eyes following him long after he’s crossed the street toward his own home.

Shinji has just worked his way of thinking around to the word bisexual when he shows up to school one day and finds the Kiriyama Family in a flurry of conversation, Sho standing in the middle of the group and looking unimpressed with the situation. His boyfriend is nowhere to be seen and somehow Shinji just knows something terrible must have happened with the guy. Breaking his own rule for the first time in months, he makes a beeline to where Hirono Shimizu and Yoshimi Yahagi are standing, knowing who to go to for the most immediate answers.

Shimizu steps in front of him before he can get any closer to Yahagi. “What do you want, Mimura? You aren’t exactly who we want to talk to.”

Shinji sighs at her. “I know, Shimizu. I want to talk to Yahagi.” He lifts his chin toward her shoulder, making his intent clear. “Something happened with the Kiriyama Family, and she’s close with Sho. I just want to know if everything is okay with him.”

“Sho said you two were talking off and on but I didn’t think he was that serious about it.” Yoshimi steps around Hirono, patting her shoulder, which gets her to relax the slightest bit. “Sho and his boyfriend broke up last night. Sho caught him with a girl in another class.”

“Oh. Fuck, that’s rough.” Shinji doesn’t know what else to say. He’s more than a little surprised.

Yahagi shrugs up at him, going back to standing behind Shimizu. “I know Mitsuru wants to kill the guy and I think Ryuhei and Hiroshi are just about behind the idea while Sho is trying to convince them it isn’t worth it. He didn’t seem too torn up when we talked about it.”

Shinji debates that for a moment, remembering the way that Sho had held pretty tightly to the anger he felt toward Shinji from something that happened years ago. The chances of Sho being completely fine about being cheated on was slim, but Shinji highly doubts that Yahagi means it. Most likely, she’s doing what she can to protect her best friend from having to have a conversation he likely does not want to have right now. Shinji can respect that.

“Thanks,” he says, nodding to her before heading back to where his friends are waiting.

“What’s going on, Mim?” Shuya asks, bumping their shoulders together affectionately. The concern in his wide dark eyes is impossible to miss. “Everything okay?”

Against his will, Shinji’s eyes dart back to where he can see Sho standing against the lockers, clearly arguing with Numai, Sasagawa, and Kuronaga all at once. Kiriyama seems rather uninvolved with the situation, his nose fixed in a book, while the other four bicker loudly enough for Shinji to hear the rhythm of their conversation even if he can’t make out the words. Sighing, he runs a hand through his hair, debating about what to do, if he should do anything at all.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Shu,” he finally says.

Shuya gives him a doubtful look and lets his head fall onto Shinji’s shoulder, the reaction of a puppy wanting to help its owner even though there’s nothing it can really do, and Shinji lets him, his cheek resting against the top of Shuya’s head.

When gym class rolls around, Shinji hooks his arm through Sho’s, pulling him away from the flow of students and raising an eyebrow at him. “Wanna ditch this place? It’s been a long day.”

“You know what? Yes.” Sho picks his bag back up from where he’d tossed it on a bench and lets Shinji lead him out of the room, not bothering to unhook their arms as Shinji pulls him toward the doors right by the locker rooms. “I really don’t want to be here today anyway.”

They head for Sho’s house because it happens to be closer to the school than Shinji’s is, and he doesn’t mind at all. Sho’s father is out of the house, off to interview new employees to work in his bar, so they have the house to themselves. It’s quiet and peaceful, but Sho still pulls Shinji to his room and shuts the door behind him before throwing himself across his bed, burying his face in a pillow in the process. Unsure of what he’s supposed to do, Shinji takes his seat in the computer chair once again and leans back in it, staring up at the ceiling.

He wishes he knew how to make this better, but he doesn’t know what he should say to make things better. None of his friends have dealt with something like this before, considering most of them haven’t dealt with serious relationships before. They’ve been too busy with everything else to consider finding the time to fall in love with someone in a real, serious way.

When Sho finally pushes himself up on his elbows, his eyes are red and wet, and Shinji starts, jerking forward in his chair. “I’m sorry about this,” Sho says, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes before they have a chance to fall. “I’m being pitiful and I can’t help it.”

Shinji shakes his head. “No, no, don’t… Don’t worry about it. It was an upsetting thing that happened and you deserve to deal with it the way you need to deal with it.”

Sho laughs, and the sound is hollow and lacking in any form of humor. “I just… Thought I’d finally found a guy who was better than that.” He heaves a sigh and lets his head drop onto the pillow, and Shinji wonders if he’s cried in front of the rest of the Kiriyama Family before. They’d been arguing earlier, it hadn’t seemed very tender to him. “Mitsuru wants to fuck the guy up for me, but I told him to just let it go. I don’t need someone fighting in my honor like that.”

“I get it.” Shinji hesitates before pushing himself out of his chair and coming to sit on the edge of the bed, patting Sho on the back. “I’m sorry about what happened, for what it’s worth. You don’t deserve to have someone cheat on you like that.”

“It is what it is. I’m glad I found out now rather than months down the line.” Sho shrugs, but the emotion in his voice is enough to tell Shinji he’s still seriously upset.

Instead of answering, Sho rolls over onto his side, giving Shinji his back, and drags his pillow down against his chest, holding onto it while he stares at his closet walls. The lack of an answer to his words tells him that Sho probably doesn’t want to talk right now, so Shinji lets the quiet permeate the room, his hand rubbing slow and soothing circles in Sho’s back.

“You know,” Sho says after a good fifteen minutes has elapsed, turning his head around so he can look up at Shinji, “at one point I would have killed to have you in my room like this.”

Shinji flashes him a grin. “Don’t I know it.”

“I can’t believe the first time you’re here, it’s just for me to tell you why I’m pissed at you, and now it’s because I’m moping over some guy who’s not worth the waste of time.” Sho laughs, and the sound is more like him, which relieves Shinji more than he thought it would.

He shrugs, his fingers splayed across Sho’s back. “It seems like the more you want something to be perfect, the more it ends up not matching you expectations.”

Sho is quiet for a while before clearing his throat. “Shinji? What’s it like to not fall for anyone?”

The question makes Shinji blink a few times, then frown as he considers why Sho must be asking him this question. “Don’t wish for that. Believe me. It isn’t worth it.”

He’s in the process of leaning over to give Sho some kind of awkward hug— he both needs and deserves it right now— when Sho shifts and Shinji loses his balance, falling on top of him.

The angle is awkward. Shinji should push himself up and apologize, he isn’t a small guy to begin with and he’s landed so that it feels like all of the awkward points of their bodies are hitting in sensitive places, but he’s suddenly face-to-face with Sho. His eyes are having difficulty finding a place to settle, torn between focusing on Sho’s lips or on his surprised eyes.

“Sorry,” he breathes without making any move to get up.

Sho swallows so hard that Shinji sees his throat bob with the motion. “It’s okay,” he whispers.

Shinji should move. Sho is hurting, clearly doing his best to recover from something that had clearly broken his heart, or at least a piece of it, and the last thing he needs to deal with right now is Shinji complicating things for him, making it harder to deal with the emotions he needs to have time to deal with. But instead of moving, Shinji leans down a little closer, his lips parted just slightly. This isn’t like him. He always knows how to get what he wants.

Maybe it’s just that he’s never wanted anybody in the same way that he wants Sho.

He licks his lips without thinking about it, watches Sho’s eyes dart down before darting back up to his face. Up close, Sho is prettier than Shinji has ever given him credit for, all exquisite facial bones and soft lips and beautiful brown eyes with long black lashes. Shinji has no right to ask him anything, to expect anything from him, especially given the fact that he had pushed Sho away as far as possible during junior high, but…

“Tell me to get away from you and I will,” he says, moving to brace a hand beside Sho’s head, digging his fingers into the pillow. “Just tell me to get away, Sho. I’ll listen to you.”

Sho smiles ruefully up at him, and one hand slowly lifts, fingers curling around the back of Shinji’s neck. “Not in a million years, Shinji. If you want it, then so do I. I’ve wanted it longer.”

Shinji can’t help but laugh a little at that. “I thought you didn’t like me anymore?”

“Shut up and kiss me,” Sho murmurs.

It would be cruel to do anything but.

Leaning down to press his lips to Sho Tsukioka’s feels more natural than Shinji would have ever thought. Their mouths meet seamlessly in the middle, Sho’s soft and warm beneath his, a little damp from his tears, and Shinji digs his fingers further into the pillow. He doesn’t know how to describe the warmth that wells up from his gut, spreading through every fibre of his body until it feels like there is no part of him untouched by the strange feeling. He’s painfully aware of his own heart thumping irregularly against his ribs, aware of Sho inhaling through his nose.

Shinji doesn’t know how long their lips stay attached, a slow and tentative dance that becomes firmer, more definite as he gains confidence and as Sho responds with an enthusiasm that Shinji doesn’t think he’s ever felt with anyone else before. It makes the strange heat moving through his body that much stranger, that much more alien to him, and somehow it feels perfectly at home.

“Wow,” he murmurs against Sho’s lips when he finally has to come up for air. Below him, Sho’s cheeks are flushed, his lips slightly swollen, and he drags in oxygen just as Shinji does. “That was a lot more intense than I thought it would be for a kiss.”

Sho scoffs up at him. “Better late to find that out than never.”

“Yeah.” Shinji finally pushes himself into a sitting position, watching Sho do the same, his back to his headboard. “I… I don’t really know what happens next or where we go from here.”

This time, Sho gives him a small smile, taking one of Shinji’s hands in his. “Why don’t we make out some more and just play it by ear from here on out?”

Shinji nods. That sounds good to him.