#best friend i GUESS but do not tell him that' but no real genuine friendship or anything more

[irregularbillcipher]

going over old fic notes and outlines and character talks with friends and it's always really funny when i get to the stuff i was developing early-mid 2019 where bill just literally kept kryptos around to rag on, and he genuinely just. did not like the man. like was just completely annoyed with his general existence. boy have things changed

[audiblehush]

Okay, so post-P1 trailer, the thing I’m MOST excited about for is Colin and Penelope’s ACTUAL friendship!

Because while Colin has always viewed Penelope as a genuine a friend, she has always had the added lense of “I’m in love with you,” and that changed the way she interacted with him.

But now, to Penelope, Colin has essentially closed the door on him ever seeing her in a romantic light, both with his end of S2 words AND their “friends” handshake in S3. “Okay,” she probably thinks, “that dream is dead but friends. I can do friends.”

But what this opportunity does is this give us Penelope functioning in this friendship as an ACTUAL friend, and not just “yes sure friends but I can’t get the heart out of eyes enough for it to be truly genuine because I’m wearing a mask so you like me” - That didn’t make her a bad person; it made her a girl with a strong crush worried about his view of her; it’s normal! But it also obviously led to her putting on airs around him, while also having him on a pedestal and not seeing him as a fully realized person.

But these “lessons” allow for them to be around one another without expectation. That scene of them giggling in the ballroom like dorks, as if no one else was around them??

ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!!!!

Colin will begin to see Penelope as a true friend because she’ll LET him; she’ll drop her guard enough to be real instead of trying to impress him all the time. THAT is (hopefully) when Colin starts to realize his feelings: because Penelope will finally be her authentic self… while feeling more confident because of her new wardrobe. He’ll be attracted to her new confidence, and her ACTUAL personality she’s letting him finally see, not just her physical glow-up (the candle symbolism!!!!).

COLIN will now have heart eyes for her, and maybe the one to have her on a slight pedestal… only for the LW reveal to happen and shake his world… letting us see his hurt, his anger, his worry…

Once they work through all that is when these two see each other for who the other REALLY is, flaws and all, fighting to grow individually, as a friendship, as a COUPLE… and choose each other every time.

THAT. IS. MY. JAM.

I still have my concerns about the season. I do NOT want Colin only realizing his feelings once some other guy pays her mind. I NEED him to already be struggling with and analyzing his feelings before Debling get involved. If I had to guess, it will be more than Colin is like “okay, I’m pretty sure I have feelings for Penelope, but how do i know for SURE when I’ve thought that before?” (thanks S1…) … but then Debling comes along looking for a wife, and Colin is suddenly between rock and a hard place because now he has a sort time limit to sort through really complicated feelings.

Violet says “ what more could SHE want?” mostly likely about Penelope and Debling, because Debling is wealthy, titled, and has strong interests and beliefs he is committed to (based on his promo info, anyway). This has already been an insecurity of Colin’s since S1. He’s a third son (with wealth, yes), but he has been searching for “his purpose” for ages now; it’s all over S2 how lost he is and how that frustrates him. His family tends to tolerate him at best and kind of ridicule him at worst, and so he flits by being easy-going and “charming” when he just wants to know who is and be accepted for it. So Violet says all this and Colin says “but you said friendship is the best foundation” and she tells him to follow his heart.

But that’s the problem: Colin struggles to KNOW HIS OWN HEART, and not just romantically! So I just want to know how much of his feelings for Pen has he grappled with at that point? How much exploration outside of his Pen stuff has he done regarding his own person? Because he IS a person outside his relationships, but HE doesn’t feel that way.

EDIT: Also, ALSO Yes, Colin is hyping pen up, but I want her to hype HIM up once she sees that he’s not as confident as he acts. She’s seen glimpses of that in S2, but S3 can let her be like “actually, you are AMAZING…” and without romantic intentions, just her telling her friends he has so much to offer the world.

I’m also scared Penelope will make some awful choices (Nicola hinted at this in interviews) and like, i get it we need conflict, but my poor heart can only take so much…

At the end of the day, it’s all speculation. It’s so hard to say with how trailers are cut, and I know they can’t include it all, and most people are here for the romance so that is what they would lean into… so I’m really trying to avoid doom-theorizing, or even getting attached to things I WANT to happen. We won’t know until it’s out, so I’m just trying to contain both feelings of nervousness AND excitement.

I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH, YOUR HONOR!!!!

[shadowkoo]

What Friends Are For

→ Summary: When your closest friend confides in you with something truly surprising, it's only natural to step in and offer your assistance, because that's what true friends do, right?

↠ vernon x f.reader | 2.8k words | 18+ ↠ genre: smut, best friends, friends to lovers, virgin/first time au

→ Warnings: explicit & unprotected sex, oral sex (male & female receiving), handjob, doggy, language, creampie, jealousy, teasing, slightly dominant!vernon, virgin!vernon, riding, breast play, nipple play, dirty talk, fingering, rough sex, deep dicking, hair pulling, begging, cum swallowing, deep throating

→ Author note: This is an updated version of an old fic of mine, I hope you enjoy it!!! If you’d like to read this on ao3 instead it’s been crossposted here! As always, all likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated <3

“You can’t be serious!” you burst out laughing, sharing a dumbfounded look with your best friend. You’re at his apartment and he just finished telling you the most ridiculous thing ever. You chuckle again while you continue to look for a movie to watch. “You are such a liar.”

“I’m dead serious, don’t laugh,” Vernon huffs, “You have no idea what it’s like having to pretend with the guys like I know what I’m talking about.”

“Oh please, I know you’ve watched porn before and I still don’t believe that you’ve never at least gotten a blowjob before.” He can’t be a virgin. And you seriously doubt he’s made it to twenty-five without ever having his knob slobbered on.

“Well, it’s true! So just let it go,” he barks. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

You look over to see if he’s just playing with you, he has to be. But you’re surprisingly shocked to see that he genuinely looks upset.

Realizing you hit a nerve, you apologize. “I’m sorry, I guess I just can’t believe it.” You click on a random movie to ease the awkwardness and decide to text your friends.

♡y/n♡: okie serious question, who wants to blow vern [7:50 pm]

♡cee♡: askjlasjdflkj !! [7:50 pm]

♡mal♡: giiiirl what are you on [7:50 pm]

♡y/n♡: he’s feeling down, someone’s gotta take one for the team [7:50 pm]

♡anna♡:: 👀 …. [7:51 pm]

♡anna♡: KIDDING [7:51 pm]

♡anna♡: but on a real note, why can’t you?? [7:51 pm]

♡y/n♡: ur joking right [7:51 pm]

♡cee♡: yeah you do it, i’m busy rn [7:51 pm]

♡cee♡: plus we all know he wants none of us [7:52 pm]

♡mal♡: lmao truuu [7:52pm]

♡y/n♡: what’s that supposed to mean?? [7:52 pm]

♡mal♡: idk why don’t u suck on ur boyfriend [7:52 pm]

♡mal♡: sorry i mean boy FRIEND [7:52 pm]

♡mal♡: major emphasis on the friend [7:52 pm]

♡y/n♡: i hate you guys [7:52 pm]

♡anna♡: no u don’t, now grow a pair of balls and play with his [7:52 pm]

♡y/n♡: OMG [7:53 pm]

♡cee♡: ur with him, aren’t you? sounds like the perfect time to do it [7:53 pm]

♡anna♡: and let us know after how it was 😏 and size, we’re all curious [7:53 pm]

You set your phone down intentionally upside down so Vernon can’t see the messages. At one point, you did have feelings for him but you pushed them aside in fear of ruining your friendship. How pathetic is that? Peeking over at him, you wonder if those feelings ever actually went away, or if you’ve been pretending this whole time.

He’s very attractive, that’s obvious. The last time you thought about your feelings for Vernon was about a year ago when he started dating this horrible girl. She was awful, but he was trapped under her spell and it drove you two apart. Back then, you thought that it was for the best since you wouldn’t have had the courage to tell him to break up with her and date you instead.

They dated for almost 6 months, and when they broke up Vernon was devastated. It didn’t take long for your friendship to go back to normal after their time apart, so that’s why you didn’t want to take any chances now.

Those 6 months without him were miserable and you didn’t want to live without Vernon in your life again. He was too special to you to let something as silly as old feelings come between your friendship. You don’t want to mess it up.

But on the other hand, you’ve heard friendships often create the best relationships. Would yours?

Vernon cares for you, that’s a given. But how far does it go? Sure, you two pretty much act like you’re in a relationship, but you haven’t kissed. Other than that one time when you brought drunk Vernon home… but that didn’t count because he was trashed at the time and didn’t remember it, or so you told yourself.

If you are ever going to make a move, now is the time. Do you really want to lose another chance that the universe is obviously lining you up for? Why else would he bring up the fact that he’s never had a blowjob unless he secretly wants you to give him one? Does he want more than a blowjob? Does he want you to…take his virginity?

You force yourself to quit overthinking and muster up enough courage to ask, “Vern?”

“Hmm?” he responds. He’s so caught up in the movie you’re watching that he doesn’t seem to notice you sit up and scoot closer to him. Your hands are shaking but you aren’t going to let that stop you.

‘God, what am I doing? This is so embarrassing…’

“Can I…” You mumble nervously, not being able to finish the sentence.

“Can you what?” He asks back, still not really registering what you are about to say.

’Well,’ you think to yourself, ’It’s now or never.’

You move off the couch to kneel in front of him and rest a hand on his thigh, commanding his attention away from the TV screen.

“Please, let me.”

It takes Vernon less than a second to understand exactly what you’re asking and he has no idea how to respond.

If he’s being honest, he’s always had a thing for you. Though he’s never had the guts to make a move or even admit it to you.

He swallows nervously as his length inevitably twitches in his pants. “You’re joking right?” ‘She can’t be serious. There’s no way. This had to be some kind of sick joke. But you don’t look like you were joking. In fact, you look like you’re pleading. Holy shit…’

“Not at all. I mean, we’re friends, right? Friends help each other,” you say while sliding your hands up to the button of his jeans. His eyes follow your movements as you unzip his pants and reach a hand in.

“You really don’t have to. Mingyu’s having a party and I’ll find someone and get laid this week-” his words are lost in his mouth as you wrap your small hand around his rather growing member.

“Why would you want a stranger to do it when you could have me? That’s what friends are for, silly.” You’re trying your damn hardest to make it sound like you’re doing him a favor as a friend and not doing this out of your own desire, your own need to touch him - to taste him. It’s your safety net in case he says no. In case this ends badly. However, you aren’t so sure that’s the message you’re sending since you’re quickly pulling his pants down his thighs.

You look up at him and run a finger over his tip before bringing him into your mouth for a taste. “Before I continue, I need to hear you say that you’re alright with it. Tell me that you want my mouth on your cock,” you demand playfully while your hands stroke his length.

Vernon is at war with himself. Should he give in to his desire of wanting you? Or should he pull back, laugh this off, and forget about this? How the hell is he supposed to forget about this? To forget the look of you on your knees asking to suck him off? There’s no way. It’s impossible.

“Fuck,” Vernon rubs a hand over his face and you freeze in fear of what he’s going to say. “Babe, you can do whatever you want to me. Fuck.”

Without hesitating a second longer, you lean down to take him in between your lips. His girth stretches your mouth in the most wonderful way, and you’re unable to control the moan that escapes from your parted lips. God, you aren’t even embarrassed. You lift your eyes up to watch him, his mouth ever so slightly opens and his tongue drifts out to lick his lips.

Vernon is lost. Is he supposed to hold your hair? Is he just supposed to sit here and watch? Should he be praising you right now? He has absolutely no idea. All he knows is that what you’re doing with your mouth is driving him crazy. “Oh my god, this is what I’ve been missing out on? This whole time?” Vernon leans his head back in pleasure. “Fuck,” he gasps, “I have a lot to catch up on.”

Hearing his words gives you more courage, and you relentlessly bob your head on his length, making sure to have just enough suction while doing so.

You pull back for air and let your hands tug on him while you kiss his tip, listening happily to his husky groans. Honestly, this is the best part of giving a blowjob. Knowing that you can make a guy, let alone Vernon, feel this good. You feel him twitch in your mouth and moan in pleasure. Drool is running onto your hands at this point, proof of how much you like his taste.

Vernon smirks, “I don’t know who’s enjoying this more. You,” he quickly inhales as you shove your mouth further down onto his length, “Or me.”

You slowly pull your mouth off of him, watching his face twist as you tease the underside of his tip with your tongue. “I don’t know, the look on your face tells me that you’re enjoying this a lot,” you taunt.

His legs quiver as his length once again finds the back of your throat, your hands massaging his balls. It’s too much. He has to cum, he can’t wait.

Wanting to help him out, you hum and instantly feel the sticky liquid running down your throat. Your hunger grows listening to Vernon call out your name, his hand pulling at the hair by your neck.

He watches in wonder while you swallow him, licking some of his seed off his length when you release him from your mouth. You lift a finger to rub the remaining cum around his tip, “You came.” Vernon shudders while you tease his sensitive member.

“Shit, Y/N,” he whimpers, “I couldn’t hold it any longer; not when you were doing that last thing.”

“I hope you’re not tired because I am so not done with you yet,” you whisper. You had a taste of him, and now you want more. You want all of him, and you don’t want to wait another second.

The lingering salty aftertaste in your mouth is washed away by Vernon's kiss as he pulls you up onto his lap. He lifts your shirt up and off of you, barely breaking contact with your lips in the process, before he takes off his own in the same manner.

Your hands rub along his chest, feeling his muscles tighten and relax as your touch moves along his silky skin. His head dips down to catch one of your breasts in his mouth. You roll your head back as his tongue plays with your hardening nub, a gasp leaving you when his teeth graze your nipple.

Your head snaps up when he pulls away from you.

He chuckles, “Relax, it’s time for me to return the favor.” He leaves a wet kiss on your other breast and moves down to nibble on the inner part of your thighs. After what feels like years, his hands reach for the waistband of your shorts and pull them and your panties off of you.

His tongue protrudes out and licks your center before moving closer to your clit, which he circles and sucks on gently at first. His mouth on your heat pulls moan after moan out of you, and you involuntarily take a fistful of his blonde locks when his tongue enters you repeatedly.

Vernon pulls back all out of breath and his cheeks glistening. God, it’s such a turn on to see him like that, his face damp with your cum. He reaches for you at the same time you grab for him. His lips crash against yours, your tongues twisting with each other.

Vernon slides a hand back down between your naked bodies and rubs your sensitive clit, making your back arch in pleasure. You moan into his mouth which he gladly swallows before sliding two fingers into your dripping heat, bringing you right back to where you just were. Only this time, your juices cover his long fingers instead of his face.

Just as you finish riding out your amazing orgasm, Vernon starts to sit up. Although, your hands are wrapped around his neck so he doesn’t make it that far. You pull him back down onto you, which he isn’t ready for. His knee falls next to yours, his other foot landing on the floor, causing his length to rub right up against your wet heat.

You both gasp at the contact, but it isn’t enough for you. Your hand moves to grip his member and bring him further between your lower lips, your hips moving along with his - until he hesitates, his eyes full of worry…

Vernon bites his bottom lip as you ask, “What is it?”

“I don’t know if we should go any further. I don’t have protection,” he explains.

“Oh Vernon, I don’t care. I need to feel you.” You kiss him again. “I’m on birth control anyway. I need you inside me,” you finish before gripping his hair to pull him closer to you. “Fuck me, Vernon. Fuck me hard, please,” you beg, “It’s all I’ve dreamt about. I need your thick cock stretching me out. Please, Vernon,”

Vernon almost dies hearing you say that. Shit, he’s dreamt about this moment too, and watching you beg him to fuck you like that made his length twitch with excitement. There is no way in hell he’s going to say no to you after hearing that. He leans in to kiss you hard before dipping his tip into your dewy folds. He’s being too gentle for your liking, typical Vernon behavior, so you push him to sit up and lean against the back of the couch, yourself following, and slide the rest of the way down onto him.

It takes you a moment to collect yourself before rolling your hips into his. Once you’re ready, you anchor yourself by holding onto his shoulders and he lifts his hips up to meet your delicious pace.

Your arousal soaks his member as he slides deep inside you. It’s a perfect fit, he hit all the right places and has you squirming in his arms.

“Oh my god, Vernon!” you whine, gyrating your hips to bring some relief to your aching bundle of nerves. Sweat covers both of your bodies as you fuck each other. The pleasure is almost unbearable; your insides scream for release.

As if he knows exactly what you want, Vernon flips you over and squeezes your ass cheeks before he enters you from behind. You push your face into the throw pillow below your head and grip the sofa’s arm for dear life.

“Oh god, don’t s-stop,” you drag out while he ferociously pounds into you. Vernon groans and hovers over top of you. His hand wraps around your neck and pulls your back against him.

This new angle has you shivering and Vernon can tell that you’re close again. His other hand wraps around your waist, pulling you down onto him harder. The sound of your arousal echoes through his living room, your breaths combining with the creaks of his couch.

You feel Vernon stiffen inside you, he’s close. “Cum in me. I want to feel you cum in me,” you sigh, begging for him to do so.

Vernon grits his teeth, there’s nothing he wants more than to fill you up with his cum right this second. Your legs clench as you tip over the edge. The climax hits you both instantaneously and sends you spiraling.

“Oh my god, oh god!” you cry out. Wave after wave of pleasure passes through your limp body. Thankfully Vernon is still holding onto you or you would have fallen off the couch. Resting against him, your breathing matches his.

His delicate touch leaves goosebumps along your body where his fingers trace. Everywhere tingles. You can’t remember the last time that you came this hard. It’s earth-shattering, exhausting, and yet you feel totally full of new energy at the same time.

Vernon’s cum starts leaking out of your folds, it’s a strange feeling. This is the first time you let someone cum in you and it felt oddly satisfying. Vernon reaches over to the coffee table and grabs a tissue to clean you up with before laying back down on the couch, bringing you on top of him.

“Jesus,” He pants, still completely out of breath, “Where the fuck did that come from.”

“I don’t know but I’ll be needing more of that when I wake up,” you moan, your eyelids feeling awfully heavy. Vernon’s chest vibrates, laughing at your response. He puts an arm around your waist as he whispers, “Thank you, for… well you know. That.”

“Mmm, no problem.” You turn your head over to look up at him and smile devilishly, “That’s what friends are for, remember?”

©shadowkoo 2023. All rights reserved.

[sevensoulmates]

Buddie 7x04 Meta Part 4 (of 4)

Click here for part 1, part 2, and part 3.

This is the last part so it probably won't be as long (hopefully).

This entire conversation with Tommy includes a lot of references to Eddie. Whether Eddie's mad, how Eddie feels, why Eddie would like Tommy, how Eddie/Chris feel about Buck, how Eddie is such a great person and everyone would want to be friends with him, etc. Even when they're not talking about Eddie, they're talking about Eddie. And I love the idea of Tommy and Eddie being friends. Because honestly at the end of the day, it was Buck who was projecting more than friendship onto Tommy and Eddie's relationship. Queer men can have platonic friends that they like without wanting to be with them, and it genuinely does seem like that's what Tommy and Eddie are to each other. Their chemistry wasn't all in Buck's head, but how the two of them together made Buck feel? That was so real and super super telling.

Here's callback number ∞ to the streetfighting arc. This line in particular borrows a very particular...word...from a very particular grocery store fight. In 3x05, Eddie is the maddest he's ever been at Buck because Buck starting the lawsuit meant "I couldn't even talk to you", "Do you know how much Christopher misses you? How could you you weren't around?", "because you're exhausting!" Exhausting has been a buzzword in the Buddie fandom for many years and most people use it as an excuse for overdone and unnecessary Buck whump, but it's an interesting choice here. Especially in conjunction with Buck's acknowledgment of "making everything about him" which is another thing that is mentioned in the same episode 3x05 AS WELL AS in 3x09. But now, it's being used in a different context. Buck is falsely ascribing all of his attempts to get Eddie's attention over the last however many days to trying to get Tommy's attention. Even Tommy's like huh? "My attention?"

Lou places emphasis on "my". "My attention?" So even Tommy knows that this whole time Buck has been trying to get Eddie's attention. He's surprised that Buck is suddenly saying it's been about Tommy the whole time when quite obviously, it has not been.

Even Buck himself is not so certain about that. He "guesses so" because in this moment he's feeling infatuation, a connection with Tommy, a warm feeling that maybe reminds him of how he felt in the early days getting to know Eddie. He "guesses so" because that's the easy explanation to a question that's been circling his mind non-stop the past few days. It's an answer, and as we know Buck is always seeking an answer. It's a "for now readily available easy explanation" that Buck can take at face value because it means he can sleep easy at night knowing that his place with Eddie is safe again for the time being.

Even just a couple of seconds before the kiss happens, Buck brings up Eddie one last time in case you forget who's always on Buck's mind. He then mentions Maddie's words "There are better ways to get someone's attention", before he's interrupted. But before I dive into the kiss, I want to mention the implications that Tommy believes the best way to get someone's attention when you like them, instead of getting jealous, is to kiss them. It's an interesting suggestion, that all of this time, instead of all Buck's stupid peacocking attempts to try and get Eddie's attention this episode...he could've just kissed him. Foreshadowing? Only time will tell.

And boom. There we have it folks. Tommy kisses Buck, and the lightbulb goes off. Buck is attracted to men, he likes men AND women. This is 911's definitive statement that yes, we were right, Buck is bisexual, has been this whole time, and will always be in the future. And no, it's not just in relation to Eddie (which by the way is an IMPORTANT distinction). Buck is attracted to men in general, he's a bisexual man, and the show is not doing a "gay for you" trope here. They're committing to Buck being a queer man and this opens a world of new doors for him.

And again, I've said it once and I'll say it again: finally letting Buck realize his bisexuality, and act on it ON SCREEN (not just a throw-away mention) is REVOLUTIONARY. This representation is incredibly important and Buck's bisexuality on its own, separate from any love interest, will always be a part of him. Whether you like Tommy or not, that's not what matters. What matters is that Buck is realizing he can find happiness with a man. And more than likely, he will end up with a man, not because he has to, but because his perfect partner in the show has already been proven to be a man.

Eddie Diaz.

With this kiss, we are officially on the path towards Buddie. Buck kissing Tommy, or having a temporary relationship with him does not negate that. Just like Buck was always going to end up with Eddie even through his relationships with Abby, Ali, Taylor, and Natalia. Tommy is no different. And if after four long essays explaining point by point why that is true isn't enough to open your eyes, then I simply can't help you anymore.

Some last tidbits:

This reminded me of the Lonestar crossover where Eddie begs Marjan to "for the love of God, please follow Buck back on Insta." Just interesting since Eddie x Marjan was another fake-out love interest coupling.

And finally, the last 3x09 callback. This reminded me of the line when Buck says Eddie wanted to throw punches at him, Eddie says "I wouldn't do that", gives him a seductive look, and then says "You're on blood thinners". To which Buck says his famous "I could still take you". Yet another verbal comparison of Tommy to Eddie.

Final thoughts: This episode was fucking amazing (I really liked Athena's story too). This episode was more than enough proof for me that Buck and Eddie are going to get together. Buck is bisexual and FREE!!!!!!!

We were right about that, we're gonna be right about Eddie, and we're gonna be right about Buddie. Just unclench and enjoy the ride.

And for my fellow warriors who've been in the trenches for years telling everyone that the story will get there eventually, I salute us all! I hope yesterday's episode was vindication for you all as much as it was for me. I had a blast working with you all. See you all again for our celebrations when Eddie comes out and Buddie becomes canon. For now, I hope everyone had a Happy Bi Buck day!!

Full meta: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

[arkhamasyl-m]

I genuinely think one of the best Harley’s I’ve seen recently (IMO of course) is the Gotham Knight’s Harley. So let me rant about her.

One of my favourite things of upfront is that she’s clearly not that young. That might sound weird but lemme explain. One of my biggest pet peeves about comics, is female characters who are supposed to be the same age as a male character, yet they look like they’re 20 whilst that male character looks age appropriate. In every Harley adaptation, she is canonically supposed to be the same age as Bruce and yet… If you pick up any modern comic with the two characters, Bruce looks late 40s, early 50s (which he is) yet Harley looks to be in her 20s. It’s gotten to the point where I’m not surprised if people do think Harley is supposed to be decades younger because of this, which is just sad. In Gotham Knights, she looks the same age as Bruce and still has a great design and characterisation. She isn’t a grandma, but she also isn’t a college student. It makes sense in the story since this is an older Batman, and the story is late in his career when he already has a full Batfamily and Harley’s already left the Joker. No way could a 30-year-old Batman have done all of this yet, so he’s not 30, he’s middle aged and so is Harley. It’s a weird thing to bring up I guess, but I appreciate a story about a Batman whose career has literally ended, having a Harley who clearly isn’t 20, and is still written amazingly.

The next thing I love about her is she’s not an anti-hero. Here’s the thing, I don’t mind Harley being an anti-hero, she’s a character who since the beginning was always written to he sympathetic and redeemable so her becoming an anti-hero and even allies with Batman himself is fine in most comics (as long as they don’t just skip straight to that point) but I do miss Harley being a villain, as it’s just a fun thing to see the character do. This is a late career Batman story, so she is no longer with the Joker which is great but, she’s also not an anti-hero saving the day, she’s still a villain but is no longer bound by the Joker and is free to do things her own way. Her schemes are both chaotic, funny but also scary, making her a real threat whilst also not making her as evil as the Joker. She’s fun in the way you don’t really mind she’s being a nuisance, unlike the Joker who is fun in the way that you want it to be over if that makes any sense.

Another thing I love is her relationships with the team. It’s clear from dialogue with the Batfamily that she and Batman have a friendship, reminding me of the old Batman the Animated Series episodes where Harley and Batman were allies. She was still a villain in those episodes, but she ended up doing the right thing and was genuine in her attempts to help Batman. Here’s its very similar, even though we never actually see Harley meet with Bruce, we know from how she speaks of him that she is on good-terms with him, and has been his ally for a while even though she is villainous. This just comes down to preference, but I much prefer a Harley Quinn who will enact a villainous plan, but also genuinely help Batman with his vigilante stuff over a Harley who completely reforms and just becomes a shitty “hero” who is like a Wish version of Deadpool. This Harley seems genuinely upset that Batman is dead, and not in the way “Oh, I have nobody to play with” but in the “Oh, my friend is gone” kinda way. Her relationship with the titular Gotham Knights is less developed despite it being assumed she has faced them before, yet it’s still there. Her dialogue with Red Hood is best out of all the Knights as he is genuine when he talks to her about her help, and she is genuine when she talks to him. No trickery, no unspoken anger between them. Just two people genuinely trying to help each other, even if Harley is planning a comeback behind the scenes, her conversation with Red Hood is genuine and heartfelt. Even after being captured she compliments the Knights and tells them they will do good following in Batman’s footsteps.

I also think her plan is rather dumb but in the good way. It’s very comic-booky without being too stupid that it’s just annoying or too serious/realistic that it doesn’t suit a superhero game. It’s the right amount of camp AND suits Harley. A mistake I see a lot with Harley being a villain, is her plans just being things the Joker would do, but now it’s Harley doing that. Maybe for an early-career Harley who just broke up with the Joker sure, it makes sense her plans would just copy his without her own personal flair, but if that Harley has been without the Joker for a while, but her plan is literally just something he’d do exactly the same, it’s stupid. She’s not the Joker, she needs her own style to be part of her plans or it’s just a Genderbent Joker. In Gotham Knights, the plan is similar to something Joker would do. Harley brainwashing civilians to become reckless, deranged and dangerous on paper is something a Joker would do, but it’s in the execution. If this was the Joker, he would spray laughing gas on a crowd, and the crowd would have deformed Joker smiles on their faces as they went nuts. Harley though, she uses her psychology degree and her own brains to convince people they need to feel safer, and then those pills make people reckless and insane. The way it’s shown too, it kind of implies Harley meant no harm from it, and it was just so she would have fun with a bunch of people like a party I guess. The issue is, these people aren’t in control of themselves and their bravery and lack of fear means they have no issue doing dangerous stunts that will kill them. It’s villainous for sure, but fine with good intentions. She’s not an anti-hero, just a fun villain.

Her design, admittedly isn’t the best, I don’t like the bob she has in her main Harley design BUT I think this is the best casual Harley design. Most of the time a casual Harley outfit is just Harley in a themed outfit that isn’t her costume but is similar, like Harley in a red and black jacket and pants. Sure it’s casual, but when Harley is out in public doing normal things, or just lounging around at home is she going to be wearing a full face of clown makeup and a tactical, high-quality red and black jacket? I doubt it. In this game, I LOVE her casual outfit. It’s just her hair up in her signature pigtails, a white tank top with scribbles all over it, some prison pants and some red and black slippers. Yes there’s elements of Harley, which is good, but it’s not what she would wear whilst fighting the Justice League just like how her jester outfit isn’t what she’d wear whilst binge watching some show on Netflix whilst on her couch. I can tell who it is from the design, and her own personal touches add so much character to her. She’s drawn Batman on her shirt, she’s clearly very crafty as shown from her hideout and makeshift outfit with the torn up sleeves and the scribbles and doodles all over her clothes. I genuinely prefer her casual outfit over her fighting clothes, but it’s just so fitting for her, and I love this Harley sm.

We barely see a late-career Harley Quinn but this is exactly what I imagined and I’m glad with how she came out in this game. Everything about her works so well, and my only complaints are small nitpicks not minor issues. I want more of her and I adore her character.

[love-hatred-stuff]

solo [sequel shot]

》 alright so I know it's starts off rough but this is for those who needed a happy end for my fic "solo"

Enjoy my babiesss :3 ♡

"Come on. Please tell me what I did wrong and I'll fix it."

"I'm wrong, James! I was wrong and that isn't your fault. I just don't wanna hang out anymore." A few tears slipped past your eyelids. You were devastated and you knew this day would come. You knew one day he'll find someone that's better than you. Not as broken as you. More useful as a partner in a relationship and not someone who ruins fucking everything.

You were truly heartbroken. But you tried to be happy for him and you were actually. It stung nonetheless, seeing him with another girl that seems to be so put together, so emotionally available. Complete opposite of you and you guess that's why it hurt even more. Him picking someone who is the exact opposite personality type of yours, not to mention someone who looks completely different from what you looked like. It underlined your deepest fear, him actually prefering everything that doesn't represent you.

The thought that had held you together for the past years had suddenly lost its meaning, the thought that he loved you more than anyone else, his promise to be always available for you, vanished, broken. You tried to understand, but it was more than just hard to comprehend.

"But why won't you tell me the reason!?" Bucky was crushed when he heard from you that you can't see each other anymore privately, that he had to forget about you and your close friendship. Because what you didn't know, was that he still loved you, he never stopped. He had never found someone better than you because for him someone like that doesn't even exist. Bucky only ever wanted you to be his, the person he's been in love with for the past two years, the one that he can't help but feel the need to take care of.

"I can't just say 'yeah okay, I won't bother you anymore' to my best friend of so many years I've lost count! You're not just a friend to me, y/n. You're everything I have. You're the only person that truly knows me." James wiped his mouth in desperation. He couldn't loose you. He'd stop breathing.

"Yeah, clearly not." You mumbled under your breath.

"What was that?" He didn't quite catch that.

"James, you know how I am. I'm selfish, manipulative and stubborn. I can't look at your face anymore. Not while knowing you're thinking of someone else while looking a me."

Buckys eyes widened. Only now realising what was going on.

"Why would I do that? I only ever think of you. My brain doesn't even know what to think of otherwise. Would you mind to explain what or who got you thinking this way?" He k ow demanded further explanation.

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore. I'm gonna head home." Was the only answer you gave him, taking your bag, ready to leave him the fuck alone with his new girl.

"I think the fuck not." Bucky walked in front of you, blocking your way.

Now it was your turn to be surprised. He never talked to you like this. He barely cursed.

"I really should though, I don't wanna take away your quality time with someone else." It may have sounded childish but you meant it. You didn't wanna take away his chance to find and enjoy love. You've done that enough the past years.

"What are you even talking about? I don't have anyone else to spend my time with, are you kidding me?" He was endlessly confused.

This was the last straw, now you were getting angry. He should stop acting like he wasn't meeting up with this girl that he met at a party. You were fucking there when they introduced each other. And you were convinced he had already slept with her. Though you wouldn't blame him, as she really was gorgeous, not only that, but she seemed genuine, too. A real catch.

"Are you kidding me?! James, stop acting like there's nothing between Anna and you! I know there is, I have eyes, you know. Besides, Steve always tells me how much you talk, not only with her but also about her. And knowing that makes me sick! I want you to be happy, and if that happiness doesn't require me, I'm fine with that, but I don't wanna watch you fall in love with her! I just can't, okay? So my decision is to avoid you two so I don't have to look at it any fucking longer, or else I'll go insane!" That's it. That's all you had to say. It was more than you intended to but at least you've got it out.

Bucky just stood there, completely baffled, speechless. He couldn't believe it.

You've tried to shove him out of your way, but he didn't budge.

"If you aren't gonna say anything, can I leave?" You groaned, feeling vulnerable now that he knew your heart.

"So you are telling me, you're jealous of Anna? Of someone who'll always be more interested in you than me?" Your heart began to race.

"Are you implying that she isn't into guys?" You wanted to make sure, not quite getting his point.

Bucky nodded calmly.

"Yeah, she's into you though." He replied.

"Oh my God!" You scoffed, embarrassed by yourself, looking anywhere except his eyes.

"I really thought you liked her. I thought you two were hooking up. I'm so sorry for misinterpreting this, James."

"Quit with the 'James'. You were jealous, weren't you?" He nudged you.

"I guess I was." You nodded shyly.

"Does that mean that- that you like me?" His cheeks getting rosy, you looked up at him.

"Of course I like you, dork!" You laughed, but he sighed.

"No I mean; really like me. As in you're in love me?" Bucky was unsure and scared asking this, but it was time to make this confession.

You looked away, your smile turning into something more vulnerable.

"I don't know? I just want you to myself. I want you to only take care of me, no one else. You're only boy I would let sleep in my bed next to me. And over all I guess I wouldn't mind being more than just a friend to you."

Bucky gently stroked your tear stained cheek, looking lovingly into your eyes.

"You've always been more than a friend to me Y/n. If you let me, I would like to call you my girlfriend and not just my best friend. Because hell, I fucking am in love with you!" He leaned in and let his lips softly touch yours for the first time. It was even better than he imagined it to be.

You two kissed for the following ten minutes without having to take a break. When he carefully let go of your lips to breath, he leaned his forehead against you and sighed once again, this time in utter happiness.

"So what do you say? Will you finally be mine?" His voice sweet and so full of love, just like the kiss you had shared.

"I don't know, what did you say? Anna likes me, yeah?" You joked, giggling into his chest.

He laughed along with you.

"Don't you dare." Bucky smiled, giving you another kiss.

He knew he wouldn't ever be able to get enough of the girl he was now finally allowed to call his.

[beanghostprincess]

I typed shuggy into tag and noticed you answering some stuff about them so I hope it’s alright to ask!!! I finished Netflix version like yesterday and I loved shuggy vibes and I told this on tw and some people came to me and told me it’s mid and there are better shanks ships, because he doesn’t really care about buggy I tried to look through wiki but it’s so many stuff there and it will take me ages to catch up Does he care about buggy?? I want someone to spoil me!! I actually really want to know this!

Some might prefer other ships and that is alright, but straight-up saying that Shanks doesn't care about Buggy is just... Not true at all. That being the main reason why some people seem to not ship them is just ridiculous. The short answer is: Yes, he does care about Buggy. Quite a lot, actually. The Netflix adaptation skipped their flashback for literally no reason (I am guessing we will see it... Someday?) but it shows Shanks cares a lot for him.

A lot of stuff happens between them but the missing flashback is more than enough to know, I think: They were on a pirate crew together and these two are shown to be always arguing about stupid things from a very young age. Like. Childhood best friends type of thing. And I find it funny how people say Shanks doesn't care about Buggy when he is shown to be the one approaching him all the time instead of Buggy doing so. Shanks actually seems more open to showing his care for Buggy than him. Constantly. Long story short, things™ happen and Buggy finds this map and this devil fruit and he wants to sail on his own to sell it and find the treasure on the map to form his own pirate crew. Again, things™ happen and Shanks appears out of nowhere, making Buggy eat the fruit suddenly and drop the map into the sea. And because Shuggy is desperate for a new life and to make a name for himself, he jumps into the sea to grab the map. Of course, he's drowning, and Shanks doesn't hesitate, not even for a damn second to save him. Idk about you, but that is peak romance to me.

That is one of the reasons why Buggy is resentful toward Shanks. Although I think the map and fruit thing is more of a metaphor/symbology than anything else for, like, the real reason why Buggy resents Shanks. But that's another story--

And, if you don't care about spoilers, I'll just tell you THE Shuggy moment for me that shows how much Shanks cares about Buggy: They were supposed to go to the last island together with their crew but Buggy suddenly got sick and was told not to go despite his begging to let him do so. And Shanks (WITHOUT ANYBODY TELLING HIM TO, BY THE WAY, THIS IS ALL HIM) stayed back with him instead of going with the rest of the crew. He took care of Buggy when he was sick. And stayed back because he clearly didn't want to achieve their dream if Buggy wasn't there too or at least he thought it was unfair to do so without him. He was heavily worried about him, too, like-- (Not to mention the parallelisms of this with the same thing happening between a canon romantic couple in the same episode... Oda you're not subtle about Shuggy).

Most people will say "but that's a thing from the PAST! He used to care about Buggy but not anymore" but they are wrong. You truly, genuinely think that SHANKS is going to stop caring for his old friend??? ??????? ????? SHANKS????????? That man values personal connections and friendships so fucking bad it is. One of the things he teaches Luffy???? Like- There is NO way he doesn't care about Buggy. Also the bubble speech theory... When they meet again at Marineford and he smiles at him so sweetly... Crying sobbing...

I hope this was enough to answer your question! People might like other ships and that is completely alright! But saying Shanks doesn't care about Buggy......................... I am side-eyeing them......

[theneighborhoodwatch]

uhhh wally/barnaby for the ship thing?? idk if you ship them im just guessing because youve rbed some art for it lmao

(send me a character/ship to hear my thoughts)

when or if I started shipping it: [friendly shrug that communicates absolutely nothing]

my thoughts: IT'S FUNNY, I... I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD FEEL WAY MORE STRONGLY ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP BEING ROMANTIC THAN I DO? especially considering that "eccentric and traumatized manic pixie nightmare guy obsessed with fulfilling some fictional archetype x his more cynical and worldly friend-slash-colleague who starts out supportive but eventually finds himself way out of his depth" was pretty much the Exact dynamic of the last ship i was invested enough in to call an otp. so far though, any moments they have together don't get much more out of me than "ooh, interesting, i wonder if/how that's gonna come into play later," or "oho, i think my friend who ships barnwally will get a kick out of this," or "aaaghghg fuck.... buddy comedy angst...." i think my thoughts on them right now can be best summarized as ... i am excited for when there is enough About them in canon to finally make me as emotional over them as i am about, like, franklydear or wally and home. but also even if their relationship is never explicitly or even implicitly romantic then i have more than enough reason to believe it will still be just as emotional and rich with Themes. TL;DR: i know they're gonna fuck me up Some day, but that hasn't happened yet.

What makes me happy about them: they genuinely like each other! i feel like with welcome home's whole Thing of its characters' predetermined roles coming into conflict with their reality it'd be really easy to have one of them secretly hate or resent the other from the get-go, but - no, wally trusts barnaby to always have an answer for what he's feeling or experiencing and barnaby is gentler and more upfront with wally than he is with almost any other character (although considering his general personality that may not be saying much HAHA.) it makes it a lot easier to get invested in them and subsequently dread what effect The Horrors will have on their relationship.

What makes me sad about them: so, like. wally probably knows why he and barnaby are friends to begin with, i.e. he probably knows that A Higher Power decided that they should be friends, and so it was done. the possibility that wally can exist beyond what his audience/creator(s) expect of him does not seem to have ever occurred to wally himself. what i'm getting at here, is that. wally may genuinely like being friends with barnaby, yes. but liking something because you chose to seek it out and liking something because you are under the impression that you will somehow cease to exist without it are Two Very Different Things, and the latter is. very dangerous for any kind of relationship. and, fuck, barnaby - if i was barnaby and i found out that that was how my best friend (who i may or may not be in love with) saw our friendship the whole time - if i found out that was the truth and i never noticed it? i would never be able to forgive myself. even if that friend ended up doing things that hurt me or other people or themselves and i was rightly upset with them for that, there would always be that little voice in the back of my head telling me that if i had just looked closer for two seconds i could have fixed it. i could have helped him. i could have shown him i was a real friend.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: i don't seek out WH fic all that often, but i remember when it first became a thing a lot of explicitly romantic barnaby/wally fic made barnaby a little too earnest/mushy for my liking? like yeah, he cares about wally and is gentle with him and everything, but he is also very quick to tease wally and to dress up pretty much everything he says in at least on layer of irony/clowning around. this pooch does NOT have the emotional self-awareness for the things you want him to say!! i also dislike when authors make another character (usually home or. howdy?) like, over-the-top abusive towards wally so barnaby has more incentive to get with him, but i just don't like character assassination/flanderization in general, so.

Things I look for in fanfic: honestly, just, like. more stuff that actually interacts with WH's canon. i feel like a lot of the stuff i see for them is either AU fic or smutty oneshots that don't do a whole lot to incorporate canon elements. which, like, do whatever you want forever, but i'm Starvin' over here.

My kinks: y'know i was gonna be like "teehee, wrong blog! you're not getting that here, silly!" but. i actually have no idea what kinks i would consider Only in the context of wallaby. uhhh. ask for my nsfw blog if you wanna hash that out i guess.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: i'm very curious to see if canon is going to end up making a case for laughingstock. i don't know if it will but i think it would be very funny. as for wally... [looks at his relationship with home] uh. [looks at his relationship with W/the WHRP] umm. [looks at his relationship with the audience] fuck. maybe work on yourself a little bit before thinking about sharing your life with someone again, buddy.

My happily ever after for them: an animated music video set to on melancholy hill by gorillaz. it opens with wally sitting in front of home's burning remains at night, gazing mournfully into its eyes one last time. the only sound we hear is the crackling of the fire. we smash cut to black for a split second before the song begins to play, paired with the visual of wally driving down a long highway at sunset, in what is very clearly a hastily painted over mail truck that used to belong to eddie's post office. after the opening instrumental of the song, the footage alternates between three perspectives: wally traveling to his unknown destination, complete with all the hitchhiking, gas pumping, pit stopping, and otherwise less glamorous parts of road travel; the other neighbors trying to put their lives back together after The Bullshit, in particular following barnaby's melancholic point of view as he visits each one/attends their various get-togethers; and finally, the neighbors Braving The Horrors back in the day to fight for a life that best fits their needs rather than that of their long-dead makers. as the song begins to roll to a close, we see the mail truck pull up to an unfamiliar looking house, with a handful of neighbors hanging out on the porch and barnaby leaving out the front door to grab something. the entire scene takes place at sunset once again, meaning everything in is in silhouette. barnaby stops dead in his tracks when he sees the truck, and the others soon follow his gaze. wally opens the door and steps out, his body language hesitant as he takes one step towards barnaby. barnaby begins to walk towards him. we smash cut to black on the final note of the song. the end.

[homeslices]

Hey I love your best friend writing with chishiya. Was wondering if you could do a before the borderlands how they became friends. You said they met in collage so I guess they meet there and become friends. Maybe when they very first enter the borderlands as well. Like what they were doing before the fireworks.

Best Friends 0

Part 1 Here

Part 2 Here

A/N: I finally got this done!!! If I’m being honest I’m not 100% sure how I feel about this because it is all before the show, romance, and smut, so any feedback would be amazing. Also I’m not sure how ooc Chishiya is in this, I’m sorry 😭

Summary: This is apart of my Best Friend series. This is Pre-Borderland, and mostly just mutual pining.

Pairings: Shuntaro Chishiya x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: None

The first day of school has never rattled you. You have thought like this since you were a child and had to leave your home in order to attend preschool for the first time, then for kindergarten, then for elementary, and so on and so on, and it’s the same now, your first day of medical school.

If you're being honest with yourself, school was always more like a chore to you. While you enjoyed learning, that’s all you really liked about school. It’s not like you didn’t have friends, quite the opposite you had quite a few, but you knew friendships from childhood hardly ever lasted outside in the real world, and if you were being truthful, you much preferred the quiet.

Your lecture started in 5 minutes, and although most people wanted to get there early, you just wanted to slip in under the radar. The door to the lecture hall was propped open, and just as you’d hope you were able to go in and take a seat in the very back completely undetected. Well, almost completely undetected.

There weren't many people around you. In fact there was only one other person in your row who was also pretty much invisible to everyone there, everyone besides you.

You sat a few seats away from the mysterious blonde, taking notice of him, just as he was taking notice of you. You set all of your supplies in front of you, however much to your annoyance, your pencil rolls off the table right in front of him.

The blonde looks at the pencil that rolled over to his shoe, then to you. He gives you an amused look before finally speaking.

“Well that’s inconvenient.”

You raise your eyebrow, curious more than anything. Most normal people would just hand you the pencil without a word, yet he seems to be dragging it out.

You hum in agreement, “yeah it is.”

He looks down at the pencil once again then back up at you. In response you shrug and turn back to your desk only to pull out a pen inside.

His lips quirk up slightly, and a few moments later, your pencil that fell at the strange blondes feet rolled its way over to you on the desk.

From that day forward you always say in the back a few seats next to the guy, who’s name you later found out was Chishiya.

Over the next few months you became close. You partnered together for group work, studied together preparing for tests, and even just hung around for the hell of it. You found out you both had a lot in common, including your sense of humor, and over time you also realized you were beginning to develop feelings for the blonde. You would rather die than admit that to him though.Those months blended into years and now you're both working at the same hospital, much to your pleasure and annoyance.

“You know, most friends would’ve gotten their friend caffeine when they work a 13 hour shift together.”

Chishiya nods his head in agreement, before taking a sip of his coffee and replying to you.

“Yes they would.” A smug smile makes his way to his face and continues. “Good thing we’re not most friends, huh?”

You narrow your eyes in fake annoyance only to be handed Chishiya’s half drunk coffee as he stands up.

“I need to get going. One of my patients, Hayato, has a donor for his transplant lined up and I need to tell him and the family.”

An actual, genuine smile graces your face.

“That’s amazing, Shun,” you respond, calling him the nickname you gave him long ago.

He only hums in agreement, but when you make eye contact with him, you can see how happy he actually is. Hayato has been a patient of Chishiya’s for a while, so naturally he’s become close to both him and his family.

As Chishiya walks out of the break room, you take a sip of the coffee he handed you and immediately grimace.

“Who the hell drinks black coffee?” You mutter, only to look at the clock in the corner of the room and realizing you have 4 more hours left of your shift.

Sighing you take another drink of the bitter liquid and close your eyes ready for this day to be over.

Over the next few days, you can see how the good news has affected Chishiya. He seemed lighter somehow. His lips quirked up more often, he humored you during break, and he even got you caffeine. However, like most good things, it didn’t last.

It was a week before the transplant when everything fell apart. Chishiya left with one of your superiors, and once he came back, it was like all the light had left his body.

It was after your shift, on your way home, the Chishiya told you the news about Hayato no longer getting the transplant he so desperately needed. You of course were beyond angry, yet Chishiya only sighs and in a monotone repeats what both of your superior said to him.

“It’s just the way it is.”

And a few days later, you both were on the second floor watching the young boy’s mother, whose son just passed, sob. Chishiya’s jaw was tense and eyes were as black as a void, drained of everything. Yet, all you could do to show your best friend emotional support in that moment, was hold onto his hand and squeeze.

Chishiya would never admit how much this hurt him, and you would never push him to, but you were always there to try to make him feel better. This leads to another thing Chishiya would never admit, his feelings for you.

You were always there for him as he was for you, yet neither of you were ready to acknowledge that. At this point, for a stranger looking in, it almost seemed like you both were already dating. You were always with each other, supported each other, and just clicked.

This leads to where you both are now, walking down the busy streets of Tokyo trying to get to your usual café. While crossing the busy street you take notice of someboys, about both Chishiya and your age, screwing around in the middle of it. You just huff out a laugh at their childlike behavior. Your attention soon is drawn to fireworks being lit up in the sky.

“That’s weird,” You say to Chishiya. “Is it some sort of holiday I forgot?”

Chishiya only looks up to the fireworks, while not breaking pace, and shrugs.

“I don’t believe so.” He pauses only to continue with one word. “Strange.”

You snort in amusement.

“You think?”

Chishiya’s lip twitches up slightly and when you both reach your usual café, he opens the door for you.

You mumble out a thank you before entering your normally crowded café, only to find it empty. The only sound you could hear was Chishiya’s footsteps behind you coming closer.

“This is even more strange.”

You turn to look at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the situation, only to gap in shock as you see outside.

The big windows of the café is where you and Chishiya usually sit and people watch, observing the people walking down the street. Yet the only thing these big windows show are the empty streets of Tokyo.

Chishiya follows your gaze and his eyebrows raise.

“Huh.”

“Where the hell did everyone go?” You wonder aloud.

“No idea.” Chishiya responds casually.

His carefree attitude makes you press your lips together and sigh.

“What do we do now?”

“Probably look around.” Chishiya responds after having a moment to think.

Seeing as there was no other option, you nod and make your way outside of the café with the blonde. You both wander around the town, going in and out of different buildings, not finding a single soul. You did find out though that phones and other non-battery powered electronics do not work here. Wherever here is.

Taking a few useful supplies with you both, and temporarily stumped from the lack of clues, you both head to where you began, the café. At this point it was dark and you honestly just wanted to rest. However, the sudden brightness of a build board turning on blinds you for a second.

‘Players this way’ with an arrow pointed to the left, graces the screen. You glance towards Chishiya, who is already looking at you.

“You think we should go?”

“I think that we would get more answers.”

You hum in agreement to him, and brush your arm against his as you pass, follow the way the random arrow points you to.

Finally reaching your destination, you and Chishiya find a lit up restaurant. You glance at him, to which he nods, and simultaneously you enter the building, both with blank faces. The building was not empty, in fact, there were four other people waiting inside. They all looked nervous, but not because of the unknown. They all looked like they have done this before. In fact, that’s probably why they all were so anxious, you piece together.

Finding a table with phones on top and a sign saying ‘one per person’ you and Chishiya both take one. It turns on surprisingly, scans your face, and the words ‘register closes in:’ and a countdown appear on the screen.

A generic feminine voice rings out, interrupting the silence.

“Registration is now closed. The game will now commence. Game: Blackjack. Difficulty: 6 of Diamonds.”

Following the voices direction you all file into the restaurant to the table in the center, with nooses hanging over the chairs. Not giving anything away with your face, as to not to seem vulnerable, you take in the scene before you, and as the voice instructs, sit in a chair around the table and place the noose around your neck.

You look over at Chishiya, who was seated right next to you, while the voice lists all the rules, which you were paying close attention to. Once again, you find him already looking at you. His face, similar to yours, holds no emotion, but his eyes display curiosity. Yours do too you're sure, but also slight fear as there was a noose hanging around you and the person you care most about.

The last sentence makes both your gazes harden.

“The game clears once there are two survivors.”

The quick conversation with your eyes between you and Chishiya is clear, and as you look around the table, analyzing the strangers that sat with a noose, identical to Chishiya’s and yours, around their necks, you know that only you and Chishiya are walking out of this alive.

[tobiasdrake]

Holy shit, that took a turn.

...and God.

Frustrating as the arc's been up to this point, the emotional confrontation hits. I was not prepared for this sharp turn into solid drama.

I think this is why Sigh ramped up the Mikuru bits. They took too long getting to this point (unsurprising in the same season that gave us Eternal Eight) but I get it now. Haruhi's always been the show's main point of conflict but this arc pushes her into full-blown villainy.

There is a point being made here. Courtesy of the group enabling her behavior, Haruhi is getting worse. She started out a selfish, violent misanthrope and now she's getting worse because her actions don't have consequences.

This is the reason, the exact reason, why she can't be allowed to know that her will governs the universe. Filming this movie allowed Haruhi to play God, and gave everyone a real taste of the kind of God she would be.

(I love how ugly her expressions get to be here. Animation quality through the roof for the sake of thoroughly animating the contortions of her face as she scowls furiously and screams her head off at Kyon. For daring to have a problem with her drugging Mikuru.)

It gets so bad that Kyon almost does it. He almost starts The Fight He Can't Win that he's threatened a few times.

And. They. Stop. Him.

Even Haruhi's victim stops him.

He can't hit her. They have to let her do what she wants. Because she's God.

This has been the ominous reality in the background for the whole show up to this point, but here it's really laid out there. How truly, genuinely horrifying this reality is.

Screw you. Mikuru deserves better friends. You're on the Shit List, Tsuruya.

Yo, Itsuki just posted his latest Anime Theory about what's going on in the show.

New possibility: Maybe Haruhi isn't God, but rather a divinely chosen human tasked with reshaping the world from the shitsack that it is into something more favorable. And we're the ones selfishly blocking her from her duty so we can continue to linger in the world we like better.

I like how the show doesn't conclusively explain Haruhi. She's a time anomaly. She's the key to cosmic evolution. She's God. She's a miraculous prophet. It's all presented as theories and suppositions by various characters, with no concrete answer ever given.

Because "What is she?" ultimately only matters for academic purposes. We would like an answer so we can type it up for her wiki page. But it's not what the story's about.

What she is doesn't matter. That she is, is what matters. The consequences of her choices matter more than where she came from. She doesn't need to be explained. She's a Weird Cosmic Thing that happened one day in a great and unfathomable cosmos that owes you no answers. We can only observe her and try to make our best guesses.

And now she's suffering consequences.

It's not fair that these people have to bend over backwards for her. It's not fair that the fate of the universe rests on the entertainment squad jangling keys in front of her for the rest of her life. Haruhi was born into the ultimate privilege.

But that is what is. And you have to live in the world that is, even as you work to make it better or keep it from getting worse.

I don't think Kyon did anything wrong here. For once. Haruhi's depressed and... that's concerning, of course. Gonna want to cheer her up before she decides she doesn't like this world anymore or that Kyon and his stupid face should go away.

But someone had to speak up. That Haruhi cares what this trash boy thinks means he is uniquely positioned to tell her off when she goes too far. Which he often does but... this time it actually got through. Because it wasn't just a snippy comment; It was a screaming match that nearly became a fistfight. It was friendship destroying.

God. I relate to this so hard. I have been her. She needed to learn that she can be hurt by the consequences of her choices. Even if that hurt was, in this case, more emotional than physical.

She needed to lose something. Even if only for a day.

I like that Kyon doesn't apologize here. Because he isn't wrong. He doesn't offer her forgiveness because that would undo any personal progress she might have made from questioning herself.

Look at the vulnerability in her eyes as she turns to look at him, before her confident mask slips back on. She's been thinking. She's been experiencing the post-eruption regrets and doubts that always sink in after you lose your head.

People who haven't wrestled with anger management might not know what it's like. But this is how it goes. You scream. And you hurt the people you love. And you storm off. And then you break down and cry and ask yourself why you just did that, why you keep doing that. Why does every relationship end like this? That is what a meltdown is like.

She isn't mad. She wants to be mad. She tries to be mad when he walks in. But she isn't mad. She's scared. Scared that her selfishness destroyed a relationship she'd been taking for granted. And that's a good thing for her to feel. That is the feeling that is going to guide her to better behavior.

Haruhi needed this.

So it's good that Kyon doesn't apologize. Instead, he takes a diplomatic approach, not invalidating what just happened between them but conveying to Haruhi that he is still willing to be her friend. He doesn't offer forgiveness. He offers a second chance to be better.

I don't know if the show will stick this, or if she'll be right back to over-the-top abusing Mikuru next episode. But in a vacuum, this episode got really fucking good out of nowhere.

[i-me-mine]

As time goes by | Chapter 11: Jealousy

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Word Count: 4.9k

Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next chapter | AO3

Chapter Summary: Your approach to dealing with Eddie still being with Samantha is not working, and you feel more and more left behind, losing not only the boy you love but your best friend. When you think things may get back on their right path, it doesn’t go as planned.

“Is everything okay?” Eddie asked, avoiding your eyes.

“Yeah, I’m great!” The words came out of your mouth a little too fast to sound sincere, but your smile was real.

Riding with Eddie to school was still the best moment of the day, but it wasn’t like it used to be before, when you could have fun and tell each other anything. You kept hoping you would regain the ease between you as time passed, but part of you knew it was futile, that there was no going back.

“Sam asked me to give her a ride this morning to school; I hope you don’t mind her coming along.”

“No problem.” were the words you said, but of course, you minded, and your smile vanished the exact moment he said her name. All this fucking situation hurt, but he didn’t need to know. Your heart ached when you remembered that while your friendship has always been easy and playful, recently it seemed like nothing that came out of your mouth around him was entirely genuine anymore.

As soon as she joined you, you only thought, “Could you, like, not be here?”. Riding with them was such torture that you promised yourself not to do it ever again. The problem of trying to continue being just friends was watching him be with someone else when you knew you could treat him better.

But it seems that he found what he was looking for, and you knew it wasn’t you, and the fact that no one in this world felt what you felt for Eddie didn’t matter. Seeing them walking together to class, with her clingy on his arm, made you want to run away, tired of being jealous of the most stupid things.

Numbness followed you through all the classes that day. Slow steps took you away from your classroom when it was over, and when you were almost at your locker, you felt someone shoving past you, making you drop your books. You saw the cheerleaders laughing, but you simply ignored them. It was already part of your routine, and you chose to deal with it like you’ve been dealing with everything else: with passivity.

Leaving the books and running away seemed a good option, but then you noticed that Steve was already there, picking them for you while glaring at your bullies. “Assholes,” he exclaimed. One day, without either of you saying it, you and Steve became a team, supporting each other, and you were glad to have him by your side.

You shrugged it off like it was no big deal, even though it clearly was, avoiding speaking while Steve walked with you to your locker, standing next to you while you put back your things.

“You did great there, excellent self-control,” he tried to encourage you.

You forced your eyes away from his face and stared ahead. You were tired of pretending everything was ok. “Life is a nightmare, Steve! I don’t want to be patted in the back for how well I take a hit.”

“Anything happened?” his eyes filled with worry scanning your expression.

“You have one guess” you closed your locker. “Just looking at them is hurting me, Steve. But as much as it hurts to see him with someone else, it would hurt me more to see him with me, unhappy.”

“You don’t really believe that crap, do you?”

You forgot how easily Steve reads you, and you shook your head while your stomach clenched. “I’m trying to get over someone who wasn’t even mine. Please tell me, what the fuck is wrong with me?”

“Hey, come on… if he can’t see how beautiful, lovely, and friendly you are… he is losing here, not you. You’ll find the one for you, don’t give up.”

You both started to walk to the cafeteria.

“People keep telling me that the right person will come along; I think mine got hit by a bus or something.” your comment made Steve laugh.

“Maybe you are not seeing things clearly - maybe the other person will be the one to fall in love first, and you are yet to get there...”

“I loved Eddie first, but it doesn’t matter. I still love him, and that doesn’t matter either.” you sat on your table, holding your head with your hands. “I’m ashamed that I let someone be so important that without him, I feel like nothing.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” he tried to cheer you up, pushing a bag of snacks your way.

You started to eat, looking at Eddie’s table. Gareth and Jeff were laughing about something, Samantha was talking to Eddie, and it probably was something important as he had a serious expression on his face.

“Look at them… There’s no damn way he could fall in love with her so quickly. It’s so unfair.” you said bitterly.

“Sometimes all you need is a little push to see how special a person is and how blind you were for not noticing before. There are other people in the world, you know?”

“You’re not helping, Steve. I don’t care if the world is composed of billions of people. He is the one I want, but he doesn’t see how much I love him.”

“Well, there are people who need to be hit in the face with a brick that says “I like you” to understand someone likes them… you’d be surprised at how often people are oblivious to other’s feelings,” he said in a serious tone, making you roll your eyes in annoyance. You tried to talk about other things until lunch was over.

After the school day, Steve drove you to the diner, where you settled into a big booth and chatted while trying to make sense of all the details of college applications. There were so many details, requirements, and deadlines… Steve was a life-saver helping you navigate that, as you would probably have a hard time trying to do it all by yourself. Each of you had a cup of coffee in hand when he paused reading your essay to ask:

“So, you are all good in applying to these colleges far away from here? From Eddie?”

You took a sip of your coffee to buy some time as you dodged that question. Eddie, the person you loved the most, was so close yet felt so far away recently. You promised each other that you would fly away from Hakwins together, but things changed.

“The decision of where to apply has a lasting impact on a student’s path in life… so I’m focusing on my most feasible options.”

“That’s not what I asked, and you know it.”

You hesitated, turning your attention to your coffee mug. He insisted:

“You don’t have to run away from anything. And I don’t like the idea of you being away alone.”

“But I won’t be. Jonathan is thinking about this too,” you said, pointing to one of the college pamphlets. “Gareth’s cousin studies at this one, and maybe Nancy will apply to this one next year.”

“You haven’t even asked me where I plan to go! I understand you don’t want to stay here with Eddie, but what’s wrong with studying in the same college as me?” He scowled at you while you laughed, thinking how impossible it would be to join an Ivy league college with Steve.

You then heard the bell on the front door ring, announcing a new customer, and glanced up. Your laugh quickly turned to a low groan, and Steve looked up at you, confused.

“Speak of the devil, and he appears,” you said quietly.

Steve turned and saw Eddie entering the diner, Samantha right behind him. “Do you wanna leave?”

“No, he probably won’t see me here anyway. And I still have to finish these applications.”

You sat in awkward silence, pretending to focus on filling out the forms. Then, finally, the waitress came to refill your mugs before going to Eddie’s table with the milkshake they ordered.

“I wish I was what he wanted. That was our table. That was our milkshake.” you murmured.

“Are you sad because you wanted a milkshake?”

“No, I’m sad because I’m being replaced, Steve.” you rolled your eyes. “We used to come here, sit at that table, and order ice cream, sharing the same spoon. Or milkshake, sharing the straw, just like they are doing now. He is taking her to what used to be our spot in the woods; she is sitting at what used to be my place in hellfire. He is even taking her to school now. He is doing with her the same shit we used to do together, and that fucking hurts.”

“But that’s a good sign for you. It means that he misses you.”

You looked at him, puzzled, raising your eyebrows to emphasize that you didn’t understand.

“I mean, he is not trying to create new memories or do anything unique or special with her. He is just re-living you. He doesn’t care about her; he probably is doing that wishing she was you.”

“You know what you just said makes no sense at all, right?” you chuckle.

“It totally makes sense; you are the one too closed-minded to understand it,” he replies, smiling.

“It doesn't matter. I’d rather feel nothing. It’s better; it’s easier. An empty heart is way better than a broken heart. I need to get out of this town.”

“You will once you get your college acceptance letter, but we must finish your applications first.”

You nod in agreement, and Steve gives you reassuring and encouraging smiles while you get back to work. When you completed everything, he asked for the bill, and you got back to his car.

“Ok, once this is done, I shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions anymore.”

“C’mon, you are doing great. You should be proud of yourself!” he nudged your shoulder, and you smiled. “There you go, a smile looks good on you. You look cuter when you smile.”

You climbed up Steve’s passenger car seat before replying. “Well, thanks for being my reason to.”

Back home, you were screaming into your pillow, giving sad glances at the mountain of things in the corner of your bedroom. Every time you had a crisis of anger or sadness, you had music, DnD, and books that used to make the situation less painful. But now all those things reminded you of Eddie, and you didn’t have a way to escape the pain.

How to run away from things in your head? Eddie had no idea how badly you wished you were laying in his bed right now with him, listening to music, to him singing the lyrics, holding you, and kissing your neck, so you could just forget about the world.

You drift off only to be roused and drenched in a cold sweat, with a racing heart caused by nightmares that have been increasing in number and intensity. You wondered how the others seemed to be handling things okay. Why were you so weak that the creatures of the upside down still haunt you?

As it’s not too late at night, you decide to pick your bike, as biking around the trailer park may help you calm your nerves. It was dark and quiet while biking until you started to feel the hair on the back of your arms standing up.

You looked back, and it seemed like a flash crossed your eyes, and you saw them. Demo-dogs were coming for you. You tried to bike faster to get to your home, almost getting to it when Billy flashed right in front of you. Your eyes shot wide, and you spun the wheel, losing control, flying off the bike, the pain of your head hitting something confusing you.

You were gasping for air, the fear increasing, and your heart felt like it had stopped. You collapsed to the floor, struggling to breathe, when you saw vines like the ones of the demo-dog tunnel starting to surround you. You screamed your lungs out as a vine ensnared your ankle, and you frantically tried to kick your leg free. The vine tightened its grip and started traveling up your leg like a snake hissing. You cried desperately as more vines trapped your body, not allowing you to move.

You then felt a pleasant breeze and heard a voice from somewhere. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Eddie’s voice was a sweet and familiar sound right in the middle of hell, but you couldn’t see him.

“Eddie? Is that you? Where are you?” your voice cracked, pleading for help.

“It’s me. It’s your Eddie. Look at me, sweetheart, please; I’m right here.”

But you looked around, and all you saw was the dark, humid tunnel where you almost died. You closed your eyes, trying to remember that Eddie was somewhere here, so nothing else mattered. Then, you felt a warm touch on your face, and when you opened your eyes, pressing them a couple of times, trying to focus, the curly nerd metalhead appeared before you. You weren’t at the tunnel. You were in your street, safe; it was all but a hallucination, you reminded yourself, but you still got your knees to your chest, feeling heavy sobs in your chest, so powerful that they wrock your entire body.

“Jesus Christ, you scared me to death” Eddie’s face had concern written all over it. He stayed there with you, crouched by your side, with his voice murmuring words of assurance.

His concern just made you sob even harder. Ashamed of what just happened, you acted like a child, trying to hide into the neck of your shirt. You felt his eyes watching you, and you were afraid to look up. You felt the blood burning in your face and bit your lip.

He looked down and away from you. “Sweetheart, are you scared of me? Do you want me to go away?” he asked, knowing that even if you replied yes, he would not be able to leave your side.

“No, Eddie, don’t leave me, please.”

He was surprised when you told him you didn’t want him to go. He was glad that he was not the problem, but he saw that you were clearly afraid and had no idea what was troubling you - but if you felt safer with him there, that was enough for him. He noticed how the blood in your head didn’t stop running. His hand held your head gently, turning it while he inspected it.

“I’m fine, really. Don’t worry,” you said while carelessly wiping away the blood from your wound with your sleeve.

“You are not. And don’t even try to get up.”

“Watch me!” but as you tried to get up, you stumbled and fell on the ground.

“You need to be more careful; you could’ve gotten badly hurt. Let me carry you.”

“A small wound isn’t going to kill me, Eds. And I look like a mess; I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“You’ve seen me puking my guts out, and you took care of me after a hangover many times. So do you really wanna talk about being a mess?”

He swung you up, so you were cradled in his arms and carried you into the trailer. Your heart pounded so hard that the blood streamed down your face, and your thoughts grew foggy.

The next thing you noticed, you were already in his bedroom, he being very cautious, holding onto your chin while cleaning your wound as gently as possible. You were so distracted admiring his features up close that you didn’t feel the antiseptic sting. It was so good to be close to him again.

“Do you hate me and want me to die?” He suddenly asked after putting the bandaid on your head.

“What?”

“Be honest.”

“If you were dead, who then would have saved me?”

It’d be better if he were easier to hate, but he was just making you fall harder for him while he gently brushed his fingers on your cheek, causing your heart to flutter.

“Let’s wear something less macabre, shall we?” He tossed you one of his shirts, and then you noticed that your shirt was full of blood and dirt - you looked like a horror movie character.

You stood up and started to go to the washroom when he said, “No, change it here; I don’t wanna you going there alone and fainting.”

He stared at the wall to give you a bit of privacy, and you also turned, but as you took your shirt, you heard him:

“Who hurt you?”

You wished he would have stayed looking at the wall, not at you. Your back was still covered in the bruises caused by Billy’s punches. While most of them were already fading, just some shadows of green and yellow, there were some bruises still bluish-purple.

“I don’t know; it was just… there when I woke up,” you lied.

“Don’t bullshit me! That’s the best excuse you can come up with? Is your father beating you again?”

“No!” And as soon the words came out, you regretted it - it would be easier to explain this way than with the truth.

“Who did this to you?”

“Let it go, Eds; it doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it does, you are the thing that matters the most to me in the world, and I’ll break whoever dared to touch you. I need a name, sweetheart.”

“Billy,” you whisper.

He stood up in a fury. “I’ll kill that motherfucker and go to hell to resurrect his soul just to kill him again!”

“Eds, calm down.”

“How long have you been hiding this?”

“There are so many things you don’t know…” you buried your face in your hands

He hugged you, and you started to tell him all that had happened since your first encounter with Billy, taking care to omit anything about the upside down.

You were heartbroken to see his face when you finished talking. You have never seen him so desperate and sad.

“And you say you don’t hate me? I hate myself. I can’t believe I left you dealing with all this alone.”

You stayed in his arms for a little longer, in silence. He then got you to bed. You crawled between the sheets like a 5-year-old and let him tuck you in. He said good night and turned to leave, but you caught his hand and held him there. You didn’t want him to go; you wanted him to get in bed with you so you wouldn’t be alone when the nightmares hit you later. But you knew that you were not allowed to ask that.

But without a word, he joined you anyway. You leaned your head against his shoulder, and his arm went around you automatically. You curled up against him, trying to enjoy his company. You hated to waste any part of the night in sleep, but it was inevitable.

When you woke up the following day, while you were happy to see that spending the night with him was not a dream, you noticed you were late for work and jumped out of bed.

“Eds, where is my blue shirt I left here a while ago? I need it.”

He bit his lip. “It’s in the hamper, with the other dirty clothes needing laundry, sorry.”

“Why?”

“Sam needed another shirt, so I gave her yours.”

“You what?!?” you yelled, not believing what he just said.

“I didn’t want her to pick one of mine. It didn’t feel right; that’s our thing.”

“So you thought it would be ok to lend her one of mine?” you asked in disbelief.

You grunt in frustration, and despite your best efforts, you can feel tears pooling in your eyes.

Eddie looked at you in concern. “Is your wound bothering you? Are you in a lot of pain?”

“I am, Eds. But because Samantha is everywhere, I can’t stand it anymore! I no longer want to wear my clothes if she wore them. I don’t want to go to school, hellfire, or the woods. She has everything I have to live without; I can’t do the things I loved to do before because she spoiled them.” you took a deep breath before adding. “and frankly, I don’t want to be with you anymore. I get it; I lost. She has taken everything.” you stormed out of his trailer without looking back.

You were emotionally hurt and broken and avoided him as much as possible. You missed him, but he didn’t look like your old Eddie; something had changed. You could feel him slipping away, and you were tired of being such a fool for him. You were heartbroken, not only because of your love feelings but because you also missed your best friend. The more Samantha was around, the less you spent time with him. Your time together was taken away and replaced with him hanging out with her. You couldn’t believe that he was so fascinated with her. You felt like you were losing him, that you didn’t matter to him anymore, and it was disheartening.

It was easier when the Christmas break came, and you didn’t have to see them at school. And while you wished you could spend the end-of-year celebrations with him and Wayne as you always did, you were glad that the Wheelers welcomed you to spend with them. So the weeks passed, and while Steve was the only one that knew how deeply hurt you still were, Max, Nancy, Jonathan, Gareth, and Jeff were all very engaged in spending time with you during the school break.

Everyone was going to the bonfire party at the lake, which was a little fun before classes started again. Gareth was the one insisting the most for you to talk with Eddie again, to ask him to come too, saying that they all missed you and wanted things to be like they were before.

When you got back to the trailer park, Eddie was sitting on his porch. While you usually avoided looking at him and just entered your house without saying a thing, this time you walked at him and said. “I’ll be at the lake party if you feel I’m worth your time today.”

That was not exactly what you wanted to say, but you were so nervous that you didn’t think straight. Your words seemed to get his attention because he looked up from his notebook. He opened his mouth to say something, but you walked off before he could. You didn’t want to argue or cry in front of him, whichever came first.

The food and the music at the party helped to lift your spirit a bit, but you couldn’t stop thinking if Eddie was going to show up or not, and upon seeing him arriving with Samantha, you wished that he hadn’t come at all.

“Hey, you don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to. You are way too sweet and polite to them, more than they deserve.”

“You want me to be nasty to them, Steve? I can do that. I just need courage, something that will take me there. Come on, say something that will get me mad.”

“I’m not doing that. So let’s just ignore them, ok?”

You tried to continue as if nothing had happened, but seeing Eddie with Samantha there with your friends was worst than you thought. You told Steve you wanted some time alone and went to sit at the edge of the lake dock for a while, dangling your feet in the cold water, feeling the last weak sun rays shining directly onto your face. You were mad as you felt forgotten, neglected… and yet, you were drawn to Eddie like a magnet, not knowing how to break the bond. You picked a rock and threw it with all your strength at the lake.

“What the rock ever did to you?” Your attention turned to Eddie’s voice while he sat beside you. Of course, you didn’t ask him to sit, and you still wanted to be alone, but you always found it hard to be upset or angry with him when he was so close, and the truth was that you missed him.

“What are you looking for, sweetheart?”

“Silence.”

“Nah, I don’t really go for that.”

And you were amused to see how easily you both just started to talk. It was nice; it felt like you got your old friend back. The way you laughed at his jokes and how he seemed genuinely interested in what you had to say made you realize how still in love you were with him, despite everything.

A smile broke out on his face. “Do you wanna come home later? We can watch a movie, maybe I can play some songs for you…”

Your stomach was filled with butterflies. “Play it cool, don’t freak out. Just say that it sounds fun,” you told yourself.

“Yes! Of course. I’d love to!!” and mentally, you face palmed yourself, noticing how your voice sounded too excited. But seeing the wide grin on Eddie’s face was worth it, and he continued talking enthusiastically.

“Babe, I wanna go home.” Samantha’s voice interrupted your conversation and caused a weary sigh from you.

“Sure, I’ll be right there. Give me a minute here, please?” he replied to her before turning back to you, noticing your frown face.

“What’s wrong? Who’s making you upset? I’ll kill him.”

“Committing suicide is terrible, you know?”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, don’t be mad. It’s nothing personal.”

“No, it never is with you, is it? I mean, do you even care about anyone or anything other than Samantha?” the words left your mouth before you could stop them.

“Sorry?”

“Sorry, Eddie?” You stood up, crossing your arms. “Really? Oh, shut up, stop playing dumb because we both know you’re not, don’t try to bullshit your way out of this.”

He stood up, too, confusion clouding his eyes. “What’re you talking about? What’s this even coming from?”

“I don’t like being ignored, and I don’t like being forgotten, especially by you, Eddie. You seemed so much happier with me… but maybe that’s how I want it to be.”

“Look, Sam wasn’t even supposed to come; she has not been feeling well lately…”

Scoffing, you took a step back from him. “Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?”

“Ouch, you are really pissed, aren’t you?”

“How can you not see it, Eds?… you’re killing me, killing me!” you pushed him, holding up your tears. You wanted to add that all you wanted was him and that you wished he loved you, but he didn’t deserve to hear it. But, you still added before leaving him: “Obviously, you don’t see how much you hurt me... you’re blinded by her!”

As you walked back to the party, Samantha came in your direction, and you had just enough time to release the slight, choked sound in your throat before trying to compose yourself.

“What the fuck do you want with my boyfriend?” Samantha demanded through gritted teeth.

You could hear the impatience in her voice, but you were not in the mood to argue with her. “He doesn’t want to be with me, Samantha. You can smile now,” you reply coldly before moving away from her.

Meanwhile, Steve approaches Eddie with an angry expression. “Hey man, just stop it.”

“What do you want, Harrington?”

“Look, she is trying really hard to get over you, okay? So don’t give her any reasons to fall for you again.”

“I’m not making things easier for you, King Steve.”

“What? Don’t be an idiot, Munson. This is not about me; it’s about her.”

“That’s right, and what I have with her is way stronger than whatever you think you two have.”

“I’m the one who is trying to pick up the pieces you left scattered around with this stupid attitude of yours.”

“Shut up, Harrington. She is not yours. Don’t try to boss me around. You are jealous; I get it.”

“Why the hell would I be jealous, Munson? I’m staying right here with her while you are the one going home. Just stop hurting her.” Steve turned his back before Eddie could say anything.

You welcomed Steve back, asking, “I saw you with Eddie. What was that?”

“Nothing, don’t worry, ok?” He looked at your sad expression. “Oh no, will you be crying around?”

“Yes, is it a crime?” you countered bitterly. Of course, you had no reason to be so hard on him, but you couldn’t control your anger.

“No, but it’s a waste of time.”

You stared at your hands, ashamed.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I’m here for you. Everything will be alright,” he said while pulling you into a hug.

You wanted to believe everything would be okay, but you didn’t.

“Oh God, it’s gonna hurt.”. You heard him murmuring.

“What?” you asked

“When you get back to him. I’ll miss this so much. I’ll miss you.”

“You are not getting rid of me so easily, big boy.” you smiled.

Eddie was in his van, watching you and Steve laughing, gripping the steering wheel tensely when Samantha entered. He looked at her and then again at you, and that was when he decided that things couldn’t stay the way they were and that he would have to make some changes.

Read next chapter

❤️ Thank you for reading! As usual, feedback, likes, reblogs, and comments... are appreciated and warm my heart! 🥰

Note: I wrote the chapter and wasn’t sure if it was good enough. And upon reviewing it, I noticed it was very long, so I’m breaking it into 2 parts: The first one is in this chapter; I’ll finish reviewing the other part, and possibly later this week I’ll post it as another chapter

A special thanks to @aftermidnightwriting - I was afraid that you would all hate this chapter, and I almost deleted everything, but she encouraged me to give you all a chance to read it anyway, so here I am, posting it (hoping that you won’t hate it too much) 

@sidthedollface2 @bimbobaggins69 @roxy9295 @aftermidnightwriting @ghosttownwherenoonegoes @basketcaseeeeee @chloe-6123 @tlclick73 @them-cute-boys @mushroomelephant @crook3d-strang3r @ingridvasquez @vulcrum332 @1paire2vans

[doubledyke]

Now asking: how do you think would be Edd's relationship with the kids post-BPS, who seems to be the least commented and speculated. In the show proper we see the kids like and tolerate Edd the most and Edd is fairly nice and gentle to them, but he never seemed that interested on making friends with them compared to Eddy or even Ed. I guess every one in cul-de-sac living in peace always had been Edd's dream, but he don't seem to have so much in common with them nevertheless. I guess he could form a genuine, close bond with Nazz, Jimmy (and who know, Sarah), but his relationship with Rolf and Jonny always is somewhere between either being ''neutral friendly'' or just undefined. Ideas?

(Unpopular headcanon: I think would be really funny if Kevin and Eddy ultimately perceive how much in common they do have, would get closer and closer, and become best friends... and Edd would be somewhat jealous or resented of this, like shovelchin had kind of ''stole'' his best friend. Quite unlikely, but a really funny scenary on my mind).

yeah i personally don't think edd has much interest in being friends with most of the other kids on any meaningful level. he and jimmy's friendship could very well continue to grow after bps, but i don't see him making an effort to hang out with kevin, jonny, rolf, sarah, etc. he and rolf would be semi-friends because he's intrigued by rolf's culture and rolf has always been pretty decent to the eds. plus he's good friends with ed. jonny is also ed's buddy but edd still finds jonny kind of unbearable and keeps his distance. edd and kevin have their own drama (see below) and don't get along, and he flat out just doesn't like sarah. but of course he's very personable when eddy drags him along to the occasional shindig.

he and may are friendly, again, mostly because of her relationship with ed. he and marie strike up a conversation when he notices that her interest in him has significantly diminished. edd (being the snob he is) is surprised to find that she's really smart and funny oh and gay. he's possibly the first person she tells bc she knows he's a good guy. lee on the other hand, doesn't trust him as far as she can throw him and thus does not like him.

edd and nazz flirt back and forth for a long time and eventually date in high school. my own hcs about it are still sort of being developed but i for sure think they'd date and possibly maintain or rekindle a friendship after they breakup. eddy doesn't care!!!!.... 😐 he just thinks it's funny that-

kevin and eddy do have stuff in common but not so much that i see them building a real friendship over it- certainly not long-term. eddy might end up redirecting his admiration for bro onto kevin after bps bc he does still crave that sweet validation from someone (older?) who he sees as cool, well-liked, masculine, has a giant chin, etc. he'd be disappointed again when being friends w kevin doesn't live up to his overly idealized expectations. during the time that they're being weirdly pally, edd is on standby waiting for the other shoe to drop. he just hates to say "i told you so", but does he really?

kevin revokes eddy's dork status and invites him to the get-togethers. at first it's out of pity for what he witnessed but he's shocked when eddy turns out to be fun to be around. eddy's not really interested in the things that kevin is (bmx, monster trucks, 60 minutes) but pretends to be so that he can fit in. and get jawbreakers.

but that's exhausting and they start to grow apart when eddy gets too comfortable and starts letting the less palatable parts of his personality come through, namely his irritability and bluntness. by high school they're on not-so-great terms again, in part due to the whole edd and nazz thing really pissing kev off. he expects eddy to do something about it, "tell double dickweed to stay away from nazz" type stuff.

[mysticarts]

Hi, Rambling cause I woke up at 4 am to wrote this idea.:

Lucio and Wick are problematic idiots in love, the pinning is real. They won't take each other srsly sometimes. Aka the bickering between these two. At first Wick gets intimidated at Lucio's when he has his face covered.. And then you got Wick gets flustered at the moment Lucio unmasked his scarf revealing his face. (Wick is now having bi panic not knowing Lucio is also having Bi panic.)

The two are throwing disguised insults towards each other, when they're secretly competing who gets to fluster the other one. (They don't know they were doing this lmao.)

From every insults becoming a playful banter. The slowly built a trust that took a long time. Until they formed a friendship. They still bicker but instead out of bluntness it became a silly game for them.

Wick taking notes on Lucio's interests and hobbies and learning about them, Wick listening to Lucio lecturing him about cooking, while he helps him chopping vegetables. Lucio doing the same like attempting to listen at the siamese ramblings of rocks collection or historical facts, he just looks at Wick's face and cracks a sligth smile.

Lucio slowly seeing Wick's true self, not his known gentlemeness or a fancy businessman. The same goes for Wick upon seeing Lucio being genuine for the first time, Wick feeling happy he has someonenwho doesn't looks at him for being a law-abiding man but himself.

And this is where I am gonna add the pinch salt of angst here cause I'll be honest they won't be officially together at the sequel au. Even if they tried dating they still have a many responsibilities to hold and tons of conflicts to deal with.

They have already enough to their plate that they might think is not the right time to date especially in a society where.. Anytime would have their reputation destroy. It would effect everything if a secret was out, their occupations, status and their friends/family/close ones/etc.

So yeah Lucio and Wick still remains as friends, they can't be inlove because is tragically impossible because of their fates...

(The two would probably have shared their last kiss as a farewell before going back to their own lives. Oof.)

Okay have a good day/Night!

this......this is amazing and sad at the same time.

Because them bickering is like, super adorable in my mind. You bet Carmen and Nia are in the middle, looking at the two, Carmen knows what's going on, so she'll probably tell Nia:

"Nia, what Lucio and Wick are doing is called flirting. Do not disturb them" while slowly walking away with Nia.

Also you bet that Carmen and Nia sew up different types of scarfs for Lucio, just to make sure Wick compliments Lucio at the end of the day. Nia and Carmen are the best wing women, fr

It does make sense that Wick and Lucio don't get together in the sequel au, considering Homosexuals where.....very little to exist and people where greatly discriminating towards them (im guessing, I'm not a history expert, please do not come for me in my sleep)

But in the sequel au, Nia wouldn't allow them not to be together. IF I make Carmen alive still in the sequel au, Carmen would be the one setting up private dates for Wick and Lucio. If Carmen is dead in the sequel au, then it's Nia who's setting up the private dates.

Nia isn't an expert with love, she's a expert in explosives. However thay won't stop her from trying to make the most romantic date ever for the two.

But yeah, I'll say this again, if there was a movie between these two I would eat it up

[beautifulstarsbeastars]

Why I Don’t Like Juno

⚠️Please note that this is my personal opinion on Juno as a character and how I think she could have been handled differently. This is not an attack on anyone who loves Juno or ships her with other characters in any way shape or form! ⚠️

Feel free to ignore me if you’d like! 😅

Firstly, Juno doesn’t contribute to the plot of Beastars in any meaningful way. Yeah she’s in the Meteor festival dance and all but she’s not involved in saving Haru, fighting Riz, capturing Melon or the Turf War. All she does is try to get Louis to come back (which he doesn’t) and lets Legoshi look into her mouth (which I just don’t get because couldn’t Legoshi just google that kind of info?).

I also don’t understand the whole relationship she has with Louis. She first had a crush on Legoshi but when that didn’t turn into anything she just starts liking Louis?

They never really have much meaningful interaction and when they do I can’t tell if Louis actually likes her or if he just likes hanging out and talking to her as a friend. I mean they did kiss and all but, since we don’t really see them often enough or how their relationship went from sort of rivals, to friends, to romance, it never feels genuine or like real love.

Finally and most annoying to me is that Juno basically has no personality other than what she wants (to be the beastar, be with Legoshi, be friends dad with Louis). We know she has friends and hangs out with them outside of Cherryton, that she felt segregation between herbivores and carnivores wasn’t a bad thing, and that she joined the Drama Club but we know nothing about her home life, her interests outside of all that, why and how she got into Drama Club, etc.

Again, my opinion and all, but I think we can all agree any character needs a motivation for what they do and what they want in the story:

Why does Juno want to be the beastar in the beginning?

What are her struggles and how does she deal with them?

Why was she neutral about the whole separation of herbivore and carnivore students?

What is her relationship like with her family and what her home life is like?

Why was it so important for her to be in a relationship with a guy (first Legoshi, a grey wolf, and then Louis)?

No, even better! What made Juno change her mind about being in a relationship with a carnivore and being open to a relationship with an herbivore?

What are the circumstances of her life that lead her to being scouted for the Drama Club in the first place?

There may be answers to some of these questions but Juno is not seen enough to elaborate on them or to make them memorable for her character.

Now! Juno is shown to be bold and strong when she wants to be. We saw that when she pinned Louis to the ground to get her point about wanting to be the beastar across (and about her wanting Legoshi too I guess) but that’s the only time we really see that.

She’s also shown to be very outspoken and not afraid to speak her mind when angry (confronting Haru, confronting Legoshi, demanding the Shishigumi to let her see Louis) and that she was bullied in middle school but these things still lead nowhere or are not expanded on in other scenes with her.

To sum this up, Juno is yet another Beastars character who didn’t have enough time for her to grow as a character and because of that she wastes time when she does show up as she never contributes to the plot and has virtually no personality. This would have been avoided or helped if Paru had A) given her more time, included her in major plot points, and let her grow and contribute when it most made sense, or B) just let her graduate to a side character and let Haru stay relevant at season 2.

If there was a scale of character and plot contribution of non-main characters in Beastars, it would go something like this:

1) Jack (Legoshi’s best friend, their friendship is genuine and Jack contributes to the plot by showing us more of who Legoshi is and motivating him)

2) Kyuu (has a personality and character despite not being used to her full potential, contributes to the plot by getting the Shishigumi out of the Turf War and joining them to get Louis, sort of trains Legoshi too even if Gouhin would have been a better pick)

3) Juno (doesn’t contribute to the plot and has very limited personality, goals, and development as a character)

Also, enough of Jack and Kyuu as characters has been shown for us to easily idea and picture them having their own stories and adventures outside of the main plot of Beastars. Juno is just barely shown but not enough to see her being her own character (due to knowing nothing about her but this does also make her a blank canvas for fanfic writers so make of that what you will I guess).

One more thing! Juno is, what 15-16 years old? She could have been the most normal teenage character in the series (like how does an average teen exist in the world of Beastars?).

Feel free to share your own thoughts if you want to but please be respectful! This is a discussion not a debate! 😅

[solarpirates]

Stray thoughts on Dead Boy Detectives

So, five years after getting Gay Married, I am getting Gay Divorced. I'll be moving out in about a month but until then, my spouse/soon-to-be-ex and I still live together.

One of the things we can still do together is watch TV. We are overall rather different from one another in the way that we enjoy watching TV; my spouse largely prefers shows that are easy to digest and don't require reading subtitles, while I like to get totally absorbed by TV shows and don't mind subtitles. However, there are a couple of types of shows that we both love. Aside from Swedish gardening shows, we both like watching British crime stories and camp/kitschy supernatural stories.

So, right now, we are watching Dead Boy Detectives. We love it. One episode left, which we will watch later.

Something I am thinking about as I watch: Sometimes I like very realistic shows. And sometimes I love it when a TV show is like an anime, or a comic book. My spouse and I have several times commented upon how much the cinematography - the angles, the colours - remind us of the imagery in The Sandman, and that era of comics overall. I haven't read all of the original Dead Boy Detective stories, but I did read the Sandman parts of them, and I really enjoy the call of making them older teenagers and find a different death for Charles. It's a whole other story and I like it.

Various thoughts (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD):

I find it funny that Edwin has so many boys fawning over him, but it seems like he has a lot of fans on Tumblr and a lot of people love him and how many boys want him so I will take it as fan service. Not a bad thing, I just... I know he is supposed to be a character that rubs others the wrong way but is likeable for the audience but I find him hard to like. Not hard to feel for, he has clearly suffered, he is not a bad person, but I just can't really like him. Sorry.

Charles, on the other hand... he is so lovely??? Can't tell if I want to be him or if my inner teenager wants him. The best acting in the show, too, so maybe that's part of why he steals all the scenes. He kind of reminds me of this boy from my gymnasiet Spanish class. I had a huge crush on him but he liked... real girls I guess.

Charles' reaction to Edwin's confession was so, so good. Couldn't have been better. I honestly hope their relationship stays platonic. Just for once, I want to see someone fall for his friend and then get over it and find someone else to be in love with all while maintaining a healthy friendship. I am generally for The Gay but I would genuinely be disappointed if they get together in a later season lol

The librarian looked so straight. The only character in the show to do so. She was styled 100 % like a heterosexual Swedish HR dept employee with one OR three children (not two) and a husband that works with... I don't know, industrial economy or something. They go on trips to go skiing in the Alps together in the winters and they used to go on a sailing trip every year together when they were younger but now the husband is the only one that goes. I was really annoyed by this at first but when she turned out to be a crazy stalker I was happy about it.

When I was younger I used to wear my hair similarly to Jenny's and Niko's and I also used to colour coordinate a lot more and now I miss it so much??? It is extremely impractical how I both want to cut my hair short like Charles again and let it grow out to Niko hair again. Maybe this is my queue to start wearing wigs.

I want a whole mini-series about just Jenny and her emotional life.

Not sure how I feel about Niko as a character. I've seen some people appreciate her as a Japanese-American character and as an autistic-coded character. Personally I don't know what to think. I don't really like how pretty her weirdness is. She feels like a cute Goodnight Moon ASMR character in a bad way. Still, she’s kind of relatable.

Oh god wait I struggle w Niko and I struggle a lot with Edwin and now I realise they’re probably the two characters that are the most similar to teen me????? Help?????

My spouse was so moved that they cried during the scene where Chrystal meets her ancestors. I really liked the scene, but the one of her scenes that I enjoyed the most was when she and her ancestors pushed David into the ground. Loved the juxtaposition of the serene beauty of the tree and the physical brutality of their entrapment. It made the tree - she and her powers - scary and powerful. In a good way.

Speaking of brutality, I love the witch so much. I love how she is full on a hag - strong and violent, beautiful and disgusting, funny and horrific. It's not hard to imagine her eating babies.

I am not saying that this is badly casted, because it's not - but I notice how hard I find it to actually see these teenage characters as teenagers and not as being in their mid-twenties, like the actors actually are and look like. However, this is a common trouble I have with shows of this type.

I would have fucked the Cat King.

[flutteringfable]

screw it if spike chunsoft won’t give teruteru the better writing he deserves i will

a short drabble i wrote because i hate the way they made teruteru like actually kinda chill and nice and wholesome but kept it all contained in ftes, island mode, and before [redacted for spoilers]. i hate them for dumbing him down to “haha perv that also cooks sometimes” and making him genuinely so unlikable despite his oddly wholesome lore.

he gets to be friends with tasu they get to bond over being mama’s boys <3

content contains: platonic fluff, dangan oc (tasu), mentioned oc x canon, takes place post-prologue

this was the earliest tasu had ever gotten up. he had barely slept the night before, plagued by the paranoia from the announcement of a killing game. despite his best efforts to sleep in to make up for it, he had been awake since early that morning. tasu sighed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. well, he may as well head to the restaurant. he changed out of his pajamas and fixed his hair, and after a moment or two more of hesitation, he left his cottage.

no one else seemed to be up this early either, which was simultaneously comforting and anxiety-inducing for tasu. he tried to shake off his nerves as he walked as quietly as possible down the bridge between the cottages. his footsteps felt so much louder, and he found himself awkwardly almost tiptoeing until he reached the concrete path to the pool and hotel.

as he climbed the stairs to the hotel restaurant, tasu heard the faint sound of a sizzling pan from inside. initially, it startled him, but he soon relaxed as he reached the top of the stairs and saw the silhouette of teruteru working away at breakfast in the kitchen.

“morning, hanamura!” tasu chirped as he walked through the dining area. “wasn’t expecting to see you up this early.”

the chef poked his head out of the kitchen door, waving shortly to tasu before returning to his work.

“well if i wanna have breakfast ready for everyone in time for the morning announcement, i figured i should get up a little earlier to start cookin’.”

tasu stood in the doorway of the kitchen, doing his best to keep out of teruteru’s way.

“so, did you sleep any last night? the only reason i’m up so early is because i could barely sleep myself…” tasu chuckled sheepishly.

teruteru perfectly folded over an omlette as he replied, “mm, i slept alright. i was… pretty scared for a while but i think stayin’ still for so long trying to wrap my head around everythin’ tired me out.”

“that’s good to hear,” tasu replied. “hopefully the others slept alright too; owari and nidai seem like they could sleep through anything regardless, but komaeda looked pretty upset…”

after finishing the platter of omelettes, teruteru began mixing batter for pancakes. he chuckled at tasu’s mention of nagito and raised an eyebrow at him.

“oh? you and komaeda seemed to be gettin’ pretty close yesterday. you seem like the type that makes friends real easy, but the way i saw you keep looking at him while we were all at the beach felt like a little more than friendship.”

tasu stiffened. “oh… was i really that obvious…?”

teruteru had to set the bowl of batter down he laughed so hard.

“yes, suzuki,” his amused laughter turned a little warmer as he smiled at tasu. “so, i guess that means you’re into him?”

“i— um— i just—“ tasu sputtered, glancing away and wringing his hands. “…yeah.”

teruteru poured a few small circles of the batter onto a pan. “no shame in that. have you told him yet?”

“of course not,” tasu replied, sighing. “we just met, i don’t wanna be a weirdo about it. plus, the circumstances aren’t really ideal at the moment, even if i was going to tell him.”

“that’s alright.” teruteru flipped one of the pancakes. “i can see where you’re comin’ from. sometimes love at first sight can fizzle out as fast as it happens; my mama always told me that. but, if you really do think you love him that much, maybe you should take a chance. you don’t have to confess as soon as he walks in for breakfast, but whenever you feel ready, i think you should.”

tasu smiled, leaning on the doorframe. “…thanks, hanamura. the last thing i thought i’d be doing today was spilling my troubles to you, but here i am.”

“i like having someone to talk to while i cook,” teruteru replied, putting the finished pancakes on a plate before pouring two more into the pan. “reminds me of home.”

tasu cocked his head, humming. “what was your life like before… all of this? i kinda miss the more mundane stuff now that we’re… here.”

“my mama and i ran a restaurant together,” teruteru replied. “she was the strongest woman i’ve ever known… she got real sick before i left for hope’s peak. i hope she’s doing alright without me.”

tasu frowned sympathetically. “i hope she’s doing okay, too. she sounds wonderful; i’d love to meet her one day. my mom likes to cook, too, but she also works out with my dad. she’s taught me some stuff, but not nearly as much as you know, hanamura.”

“we should trade recipes sometime,” teruteru smiled.

“mhm,” tasu agreed. “we totally should.”

the two fell into comfortable silence as teruteru finished up breakfast.