#how many exclamation points can one girl use

[finalgrlfm]

–– hi sweet baby angels ! i'm darcy and this is my permanent post for new writing partners exclusively on discord ! i'm open to any pairing , comfortable writing smut and if you're looking for someone to gush over headcanons , text threads , playlists , inspo boards , etc — i'm your girl ! willing to offer my first born for some rich kids plots , celebrity aus , or anything angsty ! give this a like and i'll im u < 3

[richiekirschs]

SHE’S MY BABY — Spider-Man!Lottie Matthews

spider-boy, king of thieves…

warnings— no use of y/n, fem implied reader (referred to as “unsuspecting girl”), lottie is vaguely hurt

[part 2]

The Yellowjackets had been spreading their theories about Spider-Man since he was first spotted in New York, just across the river.

It was surprisingly Misty who came up with the theory that he was actually from Jersey City, after how many times he’d been spotted on the ferry that takes you across the Hudson from Midtown. Nat had disagreed, stating that he was probably in Jersey City so often because of the amount of freaks patrolling the streets.

Most of your teammates think it’s stupid—with Jackie saying it’s just some asshole trying to get on Subway Creatures, and Tai saying the guy in the suit just wants to piss off J. Jonah Jameson. Laura Lee thinks he’s devilish. Nat indulges in the fantasies after having witnessed one of Spider-Man’s fights firsthand (and also because she likes to piss off Jackie.)

The girls are all over at your apartment tonight for the regularly scheduled movie night. Everyone takes turns— last time it was Tai, and now it was you.

You’re in the bathroom washing your hands when there’s a THUD! from the fire escape outside the bathroom window.

You frown, wondering if you should check. Is it your neighbors, smoking a blunt? Or is there maybe a cat that needs help?

You yank up the blinds to check, deciding it’s better to know than risk it distracting you the rest of the night.

It’s not your neighbors, and it’s definitely not a stray cat.

It’s Spider-Man.

You can’t do much but freeze and mumble, “You’re shitting me.”

He stares back at you with comically wide, unblinking eyes. He points at the windowsill and mimes pushing it up before silently pleading with his hands.

You sigh. Of course this would happen. All you can do as you unlock the window is pray that it’s actually Spider-Man, and not some douche in a costume looking to take advantage of an unsuspecting girl.

You push the window up and he tumbles to the ground of the bathroom, somehow remaining inhumanly quiet.

In the process, though, he aggressively knocks a (glass) bottle of perfume off of the counter.

“Shit!” you hiss.

“Are you okay?” someone calls. Maybe Nat? It definitely could’ve been Van.

“Yeah!” you call before turning back to the masked vigilante. “You have 30 seconds to explain yourself.”

Spider-Man holds up a finger, chest heaving, before reaching up under his mask and yanking it off.

It’s not a man at all. It’s Lottie, your best friend who was conveniently missing from tonight’s get-together.

Your jaw drops. “What the f—?”

You don’t get the chance to finish your exclamation as she bolts up to clamp a hand over your mouth. “Shh!”

You frown back at her, trying to convey your emotion with your eyes.

“I’ll explain, I promise,” she assures you. “But I��m hurt. I just got my ass kicked. I need you to help me, but you can’t tell the others.”

You don’t respond. Her hand is still over your mouth.

“Promise me!” she hisses, begging.

You nod frantically, and she slowly removes her hand. “I can’t believe you’re a girl. I was betting major money with Nat that Spider-Man was Jeff Sadecki.”

She narrows her eyes at you. “Jesus Christ. Are you going to help me or not?”

“I can’t do that if you don’t tell me where you’re hurt!”

She swallows, unable to meet your eyes. “Under my suit.”

You sigh at her. “Can you stand?”

“I think so.” She manages to stumble to her feet, and you help her unzip the suit, both of you flushed bright red.

“Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed, Lot,” you tease as she collapses onto the closed toilet. “We’ve changed in front of each other a billion times.”

“These aren’t ideal circumstances,” she groans.

Her wound isn’t too bad, but it probably hurts like a bitch. Sliced across her leg, the cut slowly oozes blood. Her knuckles are scraped up, too. There’s already green-yellow bruises forming around both wounds.

“It’s not awful,” you assure her. “They just need to be cleaned and get bandaged.”

You dig out isopropyl alcohol and a rag before a apologizing for the pain you’re about to cause her.

She whimpers as you clean the gash on her leg and wrap gauze around it, and you have to pray that she doesn’t see the way your face burns.

Someone rattles the door handle. “Are you still in there?”

Laura Lee. With a start, you realize you didn’t lock the door.

You and Lottie lock wide eyes with each other before you’re yanking her up and shoving her into the shower. She shoots a web to seal the curtain to the wall, tucking herself behind it.

The door swings open, and Laura Lee peers around from behind it. “Hey, we were thinking about ordering pizza—is that your blood?”

You look down at your hands, but it’s not yours. It’s Lottie’s, from where you had wiped it from her leg. You need to think of a lie, and quick.

“Oh,” you shrug in a hopefully nonchalant manner. “My nose started bleeding, and I put my hand over it while I got the rag.”

Laura Lee, of course, steps in to investigate. “Did it stop? We should say a prayer.”

You gently swat her prodding hands away. “Yeah, I’m fine. It stopped. I just didn’t get the chance to wash my hands.”

“Really,” Laura Lee insists. “We should say a prayer. This could be a sign of something.”

“Yeah,” you mumble, “of a ruptured blood vessel.”

You indulge in Laura Lee’s plead anyway, and pray that Lottie can resist her urges to laugh during Laura Lee’s prayer like she always does.

Lottie knows she doesn’t have much time.

She carefully slides the suit back on before slipping out of the very window she’d come through. From there, she makes a Pink Panther-esque getaway a few feet away from that window to the one that leads to your bedroom.

She carefully slides the bedroom window shut before flinging open a dresser drawer in hopes for some clean clothes. She digs out a Kean University pullover and plaid pajama pants. It’ll have to do.

She stashes the suit in the spot that she’d swiped the clothes from, and just as she shuts the drawer, she freezes. Someone’s coming.

There’s nowhere to hide. Your bed sits atop a wooden bed frame, meaning she won’t—can’t—fit underneath. Your closet isn’t big enough either. That only leaves…

When Nat swings the door open, she completely expects to find someone in a striped shirt with a sack of money over their shoulder. Something is being very noisy in your room, and she’s intrigued to know what could possibly be causing such a ruckus.

Instead, she finds… nothing.

She checks under your bed, even though nobody besides a small child could fit between the planks of your bed frame. She checks your closet. Hell, she checks the fire escape.

Nothing.

“Hm,” she decides, but there’s something… not right. There’s an itch under her skin that won’t go away.

When Nat leaves, Lottie can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

She carefully lets herself down from the ceiling with a breath of, “Holy shit,” and a hand pressed to her chest.

There’s still work left to be done, though.

Quietly this time, she swings back out onto the fire escape.

There’s a knock on your front door, and you frown. Everybody’s here, and Misty didn’t say that they had already ordered the pizza, just that they were thinking about it.

You quickly rinse your hands of Lottie’s red blood before following Misty to the door.

Low and behold, the new guest is Lottie fucking Matthews.

You feign surprise at the sight of her. “Hey, I thought you weren’t coming!”

She walks over to you, arms open wide, limping ever so slightly as she engulfs you in a hug. “It’s a long story.”

Through a faux grin, you growl, “Tomorrow, we’re going to get coffee, and you’re going to explain everything.”

“Deal.”

KITTY MEOWS! I kept seeing Spider!Lottie edits on TikTok and there was an itch in my bones that could only be satisfied by writing this…

[sunnylandsworldwithwords]

No shame! here’s proper punctuation with a simple format and the dictionary definitions because i used to be that writer who was where some of you are now. 💖

1. Full stop

A full stop is the punctuation name for a mark that is used to show the end of a sentence, as shown in this punctuation example:

'Lucy went clothes shopping. She bought a lovely new skirt.'

Full stops are used to indicate that it is the end of a sentence, usually communicating a complete point or thought. It highlights a new sentence is about to begin.

2. Commas

Commas is the punctuation name for a mark that aregreat for breaking down sentences, combining two clauses or showing us when to pause.

'Despite the fact I hate maths, I quite like learning about fractions.'

This shows how commas can add emphasis and tell the reader when to pause. Sometimes, commas can be misplaced. This is called a comma splice, where two independent clauses are connected by a comma, when they should really be separated with a full stop or semi colon or connected with a connective.

3. Question marks

Question marks simply indicate that the speaker is asking a question. They're used at the end of question (or interrogative) sentences.

'Do you still want to keep your teddy bear?'

4. Exclamation marks

Exclamation marks is the punctuation name for a mark that can change the meaning and tone of a sentence. They still end a sentence, but they can add emotion - whether that's excitement, anger or nervousness!

'Look, it's a cat!'

'I'm so nervous about my SATs exams!'

'I can't believe you just said that!'

All three of these sentences convey very different emotions using an exclamation mark, so it can be confusing. Yet imagine if they used a full stop instead - these emotions would be much harder to read and understand.

A sentence which needs an exclamation mark is called an exclamatory sentence.

5. Colons

A colon is the punctuation name for a mark that is used to connect two clauses.

'Never go out in the sun without sunscreen: you#ll damage your skin.'

They're also great for introducing a list of three or more things.

'I'm visiting four cities this summer: Rome, Florence, Paris, and Seville.'

6. Semicolons

Semicolons get a bad reputation for being difficult, but in truth, they're super handy!

You can use a semicolon to join 2 main (or independent clauses) which have equal importance. For example,

'Katie was hungry; she hadn't eaten all day.'

Semicolons show a closer relationship between the clauses than a full stop would show.

7. Apostrophes

Apostrophe is a punctuation mark that can be quite confusing for many children, but it's really important that children learn how to use it properly.

Apostrophes are used to identify something that belongs to someone or to show a letter or multiple letters are missing from a word. Yet as simple as this sounds, many children and adults often misplace or forget apostrophes, even putting them somewhere they shouldn't be altogether. The following sentence shows how to use an apostrophe for contractions, where letters are missing from "were not", "of the clock" and "cannot".

"We weren't meant to leave before 4 O'clock, so we can't go yet."

Apostrophes can also be used to show the possessive form of a singular noun.

"The student's job was to make sure no one touched the pet rabbit's breakfast."

With plural nouns where the word already has an 's' at the end, an apostrophe just gets added at the end.

"The girls' toy truck had broken."

If the word is plural and doesn't have an 's' at the end, again one can be added.

"The women's business meeting had been delayed."

One of the most common misuses of apostrophes is putting them in words which are just plural and don't show possession or contraction. For example, words such as pencils, ghosts, houses, or guests never need an apostrophe.

8. Dash

A dash is the punctuation name for a mark that used to separate words into statements. There are two common types of dashes: en dash and em dash which vary in length. The en dash is twice as long as a hyphen and is most commonly used to signify a range between two words or numbers, for example the date range:

1990-2014.

Meanwhile,the em dash can be used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon to enhance readability or emphasize the conclusion of a sentence. For example:

She gave him her answer—No!

8. Hyphen

This list of punctuation marks isn't exhaustive, but it does contain the most commonly used punctuation marks with names. For example:

Sarah had a part-time job that she worked on a Saturday

9. Parentheses

A parenthesis is a word, phrase, or sentence that is inserted into writing as extra information using brackets, commas or dashes. For example:

'James (who was terrified of heights) was going to ride the biggest rollercoaster in the theme park

When a whole sentence is written inside a parenthesis then the full stop will be included inside the parenthesis, for example - Please read this story. (You'll be amazed.). However, if the majority of a sentence is written outside the parentheses, then the full stop should also be used on the outside, for example, You are late (aren't you?).

10. Brackets

Brackets is the punctuation name for a mark that is a curved symbol that looks like () and they are used to separate non-essential or additional information from a sentence. For example:

She finally answered (after taking five minutes to think) that she didn’t understand the question.

11. Quotation marks

Quotation marks is the punctuation name for a mark that is the primary type of punctuation used in quotes. These are inverted commas that are used as either single (‘ ’) or double (“ ”) sets. They are used either to mark the beginning and end of a title or quoted passage. For example:

Walking across the beach Mary said, "the weather is very sunny today".

12. Ellipsis

An ellipsis(plural ellipses) is a punctuation mark made up of 3 dots. Ellipses are commonly used to indicate the omission of words, lines or paragraphs from a quoted passage. For example:

'Today...we are proud to announce our new product.'

Dictionary version [better version In my opinion]

What is a typographical symbol?

The term typographical symbol, or any other number of phrases, refers to a character or symbol that isn’t considered to be a punctuation mark but may still be used in writing for various purposes. Typographical symbols are generally avoided in formal writing under most circumstances. However, you may see typographic symbols used quite a bit in informal writing.

Typographical symbol examples

The following examples show some ways that a writer might use typographical symbols. Keep in mind that some of these sentences may not be considered appropriate in formal writing.

The frustrated actor said she was tired of her co-star’s “annoying bull****.”

For questions, email us at anascabana@bananacabanas.fake!

The band had five #1 singles on the American music charts during the 1990s.

My internet provider is AT&T.

Period (.)

A period is used to end a declarative sentence. A period indicates that a sentence is finished.

Today is Friday.

Unique to them, periods are also often used in abbreviations.

Prof. Dumbledore once again awarded a ludicrous amount of points to Gryffindor.

Question mark (?)

The question mark is used to end a question, also known as an interrogative sentence.

Do you feel lucky?

Exclamation point (!)

The exclamation point is used at the end of exclamations and interjections.

Our house is haunted!

Wow!

Comma, colon, and semicolon

Commas, colons, and semicolons can all be used to connect sentences together.

Comma (,)

The comma is often the punctuation mark that gives writers the most problems. It has many different uses and often requires good knowledge of grammar to avoid making mistakes when using it. Some common uses of the comma include:

Joining clauses: Mario loves Peach, and she loves him.

Nonrestrictive elements: My favorite team, the Fighting Mongooses, won the championship this year.

Lists: The flag was red, white, and blue.

Coordinate adjectives: The cute, happy puppy licked my hand.

Try out this quiz on the Oxford comma!

Colon (:)

The colon is typically used to introduce additional information.

The detective had three suspects: the salesman, the gardener, and the lawyer.

Like commas, colons can also connect clauses together.

We forgot to ask the most important question: who was buying lunch?

Colons have a few other uses, too.

The meeting starts at 8:15 p.m.

The priest started reading from Mark 3:6.

Semicolon (;)

Like the comma and the colon, the semicolon is used to connect sentences together. The semicolon typically indicates that the second sentence is closely related to the one before it.

I can’t eat peanuts; I am highly allergic to them.

Lucy loves to eat all kinds of sweets;lollipops are her favorite.

Hyphen and dashes (en dash and em dash)

All three of these punctuation marks are often referred to as “dashes.” However, they are all used for entirely different reasons.

Hyphen (-)

The hyphen is used to form compound words.

I went to lunch with my father-in-law.

She was playing with a jack-in-the-box.

He was accused of having pro-Britishsympathies.

En dash (–)

The en dash is used to express ranges or is sometimes used in more complex compound words.

The homework exercises are on pages 20–27.

The songwriter had worked on many Tony Award–winning productions.

Em dash (—)

The em dash is used to indicate a pause or interrupted speech.

The thief was someone nobody expected—me!

“Those kids will—” was all he managed to say before he was hit by a water balloon.

Test your knowledge on the different dashes here.

Parentheses, brackets, and braces

These pairs of punctuation marks look similar, but they all have different uses. In general, the parentheses are much more commonly used than the others.

Parentheses ()

Typically, parentheses are used to add additional information.

I thought (for a very long time) if I should actually give an honest answer.

Tomorrow is Christmas (my favorite holiday)!

Parentheses have a variety of other uses, too.

Pollution increased significantly. (See Chart 14B)

He was at an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting.

Richard I of England (1157–1199) had the heart of a lion.

Square brackets []

Typically, square brackets are used to clarify or add information to quotations.

According to an eyewitness, the chimpanzees “climbed on the roof and juggled [bananas].”

The judge said that “the defense attorney [Mr. Wright] had made it clear that the case was far from closed.”

Curly brackets {}

Curly brackets, also known as braces, are rarely used punctuation marks that are used to group a set.

I was impressed by the many different colors {red, green, yellow, blue, purple, black, white} they selected for the flag’s design.

Angle brackets <>

Angle brackets have no usage in formal writing and are rarely ever used even in informal writing. These characters have more uses in other fields, such as math or computing.

Quotation marks and apostrophe

You’ll find these punctuation marks hanging out at the top of a line of text.

Quotation marks (“”)

The most common use of quotation marks is to contain quotations.

She said, “Don’t let the dog out of the house.”

Bob Ross liked to put “happy little trees” in many of his paintings.

Apostrophe (‘)

The apostrophe is most often used to form possessives and contractions.

The house’s back door is open.

My cousin’s birthday is next week.

It isn’t ready yet.

We should’ve stayed outside.

Slash and ellipses

These are two punctuation marks you may not see too often, but they are still useful.

Slash (/)

The slash has several different uses. Here are some examples:

Relationships: The existence of boxer briefs somehow hasn’t ended the boxers/briefs debate.

Alternatives: They accept cash and/or credit.

Fractions: After an hour, 2/3 of the audience had already left.

Ellipses (…)

In formal writing, ellipses are used to indicate that words were removed from a quote.

The mayor said, “The damages will be …paid for by the city … as soon as possible.”

In informal writing, ellipses are often used to indicate pauses or speech that trails off.

He nervously stammered and said, “Look, I … You see … I wasn’t … Forget it, okay.”

I don’t do not own any information listed above. This can all be found on google/chrome/safari

Divider credits go to @cafekitsune

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Since Rook, Trey, Carter and Sebek are in the science club, let's say one of them go through Crewle desk just to get something for potion making and in one of the drawers they found a picture of his daughter framed all nicely and she's wearing the girls uniform of the princess academy with alterations to match with her father

Seeing the picture Sebek will notice about the eyes as faes and half-Fae have those cat like eyes

What reaction they'll have separately?

Rook Hunt

“Ah this must be Professeur Crewel’s daughter!” 

Is able to take one look at the photo and recognize your fae heritage

Other than that he just uses context clues

He’s a hunter so little details just help him out loads

The uniform–princess academy

eyes–half-fae , no wife on record so must be made out of wedlock

Eventually he’ll start dedicating some time to check you out 

Even better if you come yourself though

Visiting or otherwise he’s intrigued 

He doesn’t have many contacts with a princess directly

“Bonjour I am, Rook Hunt at your service, and you Madamoiselle?” 

“It's highly unlikely that you don’t already know who I am and I’d appreciate it if you respected that.” 

“Of course Princesse du Crewel!”

I honestly feel like Rook has a bit of masochistic streak 

Its that thing that he has with everyone he admires (Vil, Neige)

So he’ll purposefully antagonize you 

Now should anyone else try this with you they’re kindly getting an arrow to the face

And should you somehow accumulate a dedicated fanbase to your monarchy then he’s the leader 

I can see him doing this totally outside of meeting you

Threatening new fans to either commit their entire existence to you 

or ..perish

“If you were truly loyal to Princesse du Crewel, then you’d be more than willing to lay your life down. Wouldn’t you?”

Trey Clover

“Oh my! She’s practically a carbon copy of him!”

He’s not going to really mind you at first

Thinking of you as none other than the cute girl that was a daughter to Crewel

“Excuse me, I was told you were the best baker on Night Raven Campus. Is this true?”

“Uhh I’m flattered but I’ve got a long way to go, before I can even be close to that.”

“But you can make a cake right?”

“..uh yeah.”

“Good, bring it to your science club.”

“But it's nearly the end of–”

“I’ll expect a plate and fork brought with it as well. Toot-a-loo.”

'Well can’t skip out on the Heartslabyul hospitality'

And that's how he just finds himself bonded to you

From feeding you on visits 

To catering your spontaneous…parties at the princess academy

I can see him being more of a low-key follower

Being sure to drink in your compliments when you give them

He’s more inclined to offer his cooking and advice if you should need it

The only way he can really pull his weight among your many friends/followers/dogs is by knowing exactly how you want it

“I’ve made it just how you like, (Y/n)! You can always count on me.”

Cater Diamond

“Eh?! That’s Crewel’s kid?!”

Already follows you on social media

Is just shocked your style is so inspired by your father

I can definitely seeing him being a secret kin for (Y/n)

Now that he’s aware of it though he’s going to try and get to you through your dad

“Uh, Professor Crewel?”

“Yes, photopup?”

“Can I get your daughter's number?”

“What?!!”

“Yeah, I just maybe wanted to ask her to follow me back bu–uh-P-professor-what-what are you gonna do with that crop?”

Probably not his brightest moment

When you show up to the school

He’s posting like a mad man 

With exclamation points and emojis all just saying

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!(Y/n)’sAT MYSCHOOL!!!!!!

Sebek Zigvolt

“THIS IS….! A half-human?! An offspring of Crewel’s perhaps?!”

Fancies himself a super sleuth

Surely he’ll need to unearth this deception about his instructor for Malleus-sama’s fate

Its just his own curiosity

So he’ll do his research 

after all its possible since he exists himself

Looking at you he’s intrigued 

Your style and presence is so tremendous it reminds him of his vice warden…almost

“What are you doing?”

You caught him while he was observing you strutting on campus 

“Ah-um-SEBEK ZIGVOLT, knight-guard to the glorious Malleus-Sama!”

“...That's so Zigvolt?”

“Aye!” 

“Then shouldn’t you be with him?”

“Y-yes.” “Then go! What are you doing standing around?! GET TO WORK!”

“Y-YES, MA’AM!” 

He’s not a masochist

He’s not a masochist !

But he gets such a rush when you order him like a commander should 

“Malleus-sama, may I request that I take leave?”

“This is…a shocking development.” “What for?”

“(Y/n) Crewel has made an appearance…and I promised I’d meet them upon their arrival.”

[passivenovember]

purple pink skies.

--

A flier for Hawkin’s High’s Spring Fever dance goes up almost immediately after Steve considers himself out of the woods.

“Should’ve used my bike pump to inflate your balls,” Robin says.

He’s been close with Billy for a few months and in love with him for longer, but Steve couldn’t stick the landing.

It eats at him all week, stomach gaining a new gouge in the lining with each bargain prom-posal he has to bear witness to over lunch and after practice and at the mall on Saturday afternoons.

On Friday, Steve grabs a coke from the vending machine to take the edge off of not having the balls to ask Billy to go with him to the Sweetheart’s Dance. The hallway’s draped in shining pink and red cellophane while the planning committee reminds everyone to pencil their vote for Sweetheart Court, and Billy’s shooting for at least a 1250 on his SATs so he’s not even thinking about it, but.

Steve dropped the ball. 

Robin eventually loses interest in making fun of him and Steve wishes he could forgive himself. He spends the weekend helping Billy shoot for a 1300 on his SAT and it’s nice, all things considered. 

Max shoots daggers at him from the hallway while Billy chews on statistical equations. 

“Kid’s just protective of him,” Robin tells Steve on the phone that night, “She’s gotta intimidate. Besides, Billy’s a brain. And a brain like him would rather study, anyway.”

She’s probably right.

Of course she’s right, Steve doesn’t have the spiritual strength to explore what it might mean if she isn’t.

Valentine’s Saturday comes and goes and then it’s Monday. 

And Steve’s looking down the barrel of Hawkins’ last leg of winter, hopeful that the layer of ice around his heart will thaw with hard oak branches in time for Spring so Billy can finally know how he feels, and then–

Tuesday, Steve’s faced with another opportunity to trip over his words.

Save the Date: Hawkins High’s Spring Fever Dance! February 28th, 1985!

Robin snaps her gum right in Steve’s ear, “Wow. Looks like the planning committee’s getting a jump-start on mating season.”

Steve wants to tear the flier from the vending machine and eat it with a side of ranch dressing.

“Didn’t have to use so many goddamn exclamation points,” Steve mutters, but he’s drowned out by all of Hawkins High emerging from fourth period to survey the royal decree.

No one else gives a shit.

The Activities hallway has become the shitty set of a romance novel. With the jab of those three flowery words and a trillion copied posters pointing toward spring, the soft, warm light from the window is burning red, again. The air smells like the wiz of Cupid’s arrow, and everyone’s a moving target. 

And maybe it’s just Steve’s own cynicism acting as a sounding tower, dialing on everyone’s conversations, but love is all anyone can talk about. Groups of girls speculate who’s going stag. Guys walk a little taller, peacocking for every watchful eye.

Steve yanks his coke can from the vending machine, “I’m going to walk into traffic.”

Robin snaps her gum again, “Okay, crab apple.”

“I’m serious. Don’t you think it’s overkill?”

“I think it’s kind of cute.”

“I’m not talking about the flier.”

“Neither am I,” Robin says. She props herself against the vending machine, studying the flier as if it were a specimen under a microscope, “That wasn’t there this morning, right?”

“Who cares. This is the second dance we’ve had this month, that’s not weird to you?” When Robin shakes her head, Steve wants to grab her shoulders and shake Robin hard enough to get her brain back online.

“Dude,” Steve begins heavily, “We had Homecoming in the fall, the Senior Snowball in December, we’ve got Prom just before summer break–”

“--Didn’t have a date then, either, Harrington–”

“I know, asshole, I’m just saying,” Steve cracks his cola can, swishing the fizz around in his mouth until the sugar burns the sharpness from his tongue. “It’s like all those people who are lucky in love think the change of every season requires a dance.”

Robin nods, chewing her gum so hard it’ll probably transition out of that gooey half-liquid stage and into a solid.

Her eyes scan the hallway, flitting anxiously between traveling backpacks and spring sweaters. 

Robin twists a ring around one finger.

It’s almost like Steve isn’t there, as her eyes scan the hallway. It’s almost like—

“Oh, fuck you,” Steve groans.

Robin deflates. “Look, I get why you’re so angry and I sympathize but we can deal with the Billy stuff at Scoops, I’ve gotta get to Heather before–”

Steve resists the urge to cover his ears. To curl up in the fetal position and scream and scream and never stop screaming. “You’re the worst, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah, I want to make sure she doesn’t get pissed and ask someone else.”

“She’d do that?” Steve wonders, knowing full well that she will. She has. 

Robin shrugs, “I’m whipped.”

“You’d better get going.”

“How long has the poster been up?” Robin snaps again, like. With her full chest.

Steve wants to throw his soda at her. “If I knew that do you think I’d be standing here talking to you?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck off, I’d be blowing the door to Billy’s chemistry lab off its hinges,” Steve says, even though they both know it’s not true.

“I’m dead meat,” Robin bounces a little on her feet like she’s gotta hit the bathroom. “Heather’s probably been expecting me to see the fliers all morning and it’s almost lunch and I haven’t even–”

“Go,” Steve says.

Robin freezes, all of a sudden. All at once. “You’re sure?” 

That’s the thing about Buckley. She can poke fun at him all day long and make his life a living hell, but she’ll be there if Steve really needs it.

It’s only right that he returns the favor. “I’m sure, Bucks.”

“Okay,” Robin says, flinching a little toward the end of the hall, “Because I can send myself to heartbreak island and pitch a tent with you–”

“Nah,” Steve shrugs, “One of us should have a shot at getting laid this weekend.”

Robin kisses his cheek, quick as a flash, “God, you’re a lifesaver. And if anyone asks–”

“You and me, Billy and Heather, I got it,” Steve chuckles, “Go, before your cheerleader sends her beard after you.”

Robin sprints off down the hallway. 

Steve sips lightly at the rest of his cola and doesn’t think that it’d be better for him if Billy got sent to sort through Robin’s mess.

Maybe then, with his sun and moon shining right there in the hallway, Steve could open his mouth and speak.

--

At lunch, Billy’s head is buried in his stats book. 

It’s a picture Steve’s been trying to get used to for a couple of weeks now, Billy’s usual loose and easy frame settled with hunched shoulders and furrowed brows. 

The SATs are just around the corner and contrary to the front that Billy puts on for the whole of Hawkins, puffing his chest and bearing his teeth like an angry bull dog at anyone who gets too close, he’s a genius when it comes to school.

Billy when he’s focused is more lethal than anything Steve’s ever experienced. 

He’s quick to throw pens and wadded-up balls of paper at anyone who breaks his concentration, and Steve’s taken a highlighter to the eye more times than he cares to remember. And with the biggest test of Billy’s academic career looming in just forty-eight hours, today it’s that with teeth. 

Statistics always gets Billy stuck in his own head, wandering through maze-like hedges of numbers and graphs. It’s difficult, sitting locked out of Billy’s world when Steve’s usually glued to his hip, but it’s something to behold.

Billy when he’s focused is the closest Steve will ever get to the face of God.

He was painted by all the greatest artists, Steve knows, dreamt up by angels. The curve of Billy’s lips as he reads silently to himself, his thumb resting soft on his plush lower lip, is poetry.  The way he glances up every once in a while, grinning softly, to make sure Steve’s there to quiz him on whatever formula he’s been slaving over, is Heaven on Earth.

It’s perfect.

Today, though, Billy’s lost.

The cafeteria bustles around them with excitement over the Spring Fever dance and Billy hasn’t looked up a single time since Steve sat down. His lunch sits cold and untouched on the tray in front of him.

Robin and Heather are nowhere to be found, it’s just them, and Steve weighs the possibility of taking a pen to the forehead if he interrupts to remind Billy that he won’t score a 1300 on his SAT if he starves to death before Friday.

Steve picks at his french fries and wonders what would happen if he got up and left.

Would Billy notice? Would he eat Steve’s lunch?

Would he stand up and follow?

When Billy explodes, Steve opens his mouth, ready to pay the price of getting those eyes on him.

“I’m not gonna pass,” Billy determines, shoving his notebook into his SAT prep stack with a gnarled sound. 

Steve manages to catch the thing before it careens over the edge of the table, “Woah,” he says, a fry pinched between his teeth, “Hey, that's–”

“I’ve been going over the same page of quantitative data for two days,” Billy snarls, blue eyes pinning Steve to the bench, “Two fucking days, Steve.”

“What can I do to help?” Steve asks automatically.

“It’s the VAR model, the m2, it’s pissing me off.”

“Okay,”

Billy doesn’t hear him, “It keeps saying the t-distribution with degrees of freedom is equal to n-2 and when testing the slope in a simple linear regression model with one parameter–”

“--Right, okay–”

“The test for the slope has df=n-1,” Billy snaps. His eyes well up, frustrated tears clinging to his lashes. 

Steve never thought Billy would be a crier, but he is.

It’s Starfall.

It’s planets colliding.

Steve has the sudden, violent urge to wipe Billy’s tears away. “It’s alright,” He says, but Billy’s shaking his head. 

“I can’t do this,” He gasps, “I can’t. I’ve been working on this same equation for–”

“Two days, I know. You’ve gotta eat something alright?”

Billy’s leg bounces, shaking the whole lunch table. Steve shuffles Billy’s notes in his hands, knowing he’ll eat shit for that, later, but he can’t bring himself to care about that when slowly, frightened as a coiled rattlesnake in a mudhole, Billy reaches past his own lunch tray to get at Steve’s fries. Steve hands them over, watching as Billy nibbles away.

Like a little bunny rabbit.

The cutest, most brilliant creature on earth–

Billy sniffs, “I didn’t sleep last night,” He says, almost like he’s terrified of what Steve will do to him.

Not couldn’t. Didn’t.

Intentional.

Steve holds his breath, waiting for the sky to rip open and for Billy’s frustrated tears to punch holes in Steve’s chest when they finally start to fall. 

But they don’t. Billy scrubs at his cheeks, catching them before they can take root. “I’m sorry I’m going insane.”

“You’re not insane, you’re incredible.”

“And you’re an idiot if you think that.”

“Of course, I’m an idiot. We knew that already,” Steve tells him.

He counts the breaks at the lunch table. He studies Billy’s smooth, spotless hands, his fingers as they curl protectively around a purple highlighter. Steve didn’t even know they made that color, but looking down at Billy’s notes, all the others already serve a purpose. 

Billy’s leg keeps bouncing. “I still owe you an apology. If not for neglecting myself, for ignoring you.”

Steve wants to say that Billy’s never ignored him. 

Not once. Since the Hargrove-Mayfield’s moved to town last fall, since Billy joined the basketball team, since they met at Tina’s Halloween party and Billy dusted his hands off and put the pieces of Steve back together after Hurricane Nancy–

Steve’s had Billy’s deep blue attention on him like a searchlight. “You don’t have anything to apologize for,” Steve decides, “You’re Galileo. It’s alright.”

Billy doesn’t crack a smile. “It’s not, though.”

“You’re just exhausted, anyone would be. You’ve been working yourself to death over this.”

“I’ve gotta get the fuck out of here, Harrington.”

“You will,” Steve holds the stack of paper delicately in his lap, worried that if Billy spots another equation he’ll fly off the handle. “You’ve just got to balance studying with things that make you hap–”

“My SAT exam is in two days, Steve,” Billy snaps. He leans forward, lips furrowing with sudden rage, “If I don’t land a score that can get me into any college in the country–”

“I’ll take you somewhere myself,” Steve says. 

He taps Billy’s notes on the table like he’s seen his father do a million times.

It’s final. It’s a promise made of dreams that hold lead in their bellies, falling like anvils in Hawkins but taking root all over the world. In Steve’s mind, it’s honest work. His promises to Billy grow and bloom where neither of them can worry over it. They wave like flags through rain and sun, until they bear fruit ripe for picking. 

Someday, they’ll feed a village from the result of these small promises.

But.

Steve’s gotta say the words, first. Plant the seeds.

I love you my brilliant, brilliant boy.

He slides Billy’s packet over the table face, tucking his fingers under his elbows for safekeeping when his Brainiac snatches it up like a hungry shark. 

“You’re just saying that, Harrington,” Billy determines, avoiding Steve’s eyes.

“I mean it.”

“Yeah, alright,” Billy says, reordering his notes without even thinking about it. When they’re just right, he digs through and hands the most intense one to Steve. “Quiz time, pretty boy.”

Billy’s notes are neat and orderly, the work of someone who’s too good for him in every sense of the word.

Steve tries not to think about it.

When he stumbles over the order of an equation, Billy laughs and for the first time in days, it sounds real.

And then the bell rings.

--

Steve’s not proud of the gut reaction he has when he sees fingers that aren’t his playing with the loose curl that hangs over Billy’s forehead.

And.

He doesn’t own the curl. He’s not liquidating real estate on the island of Billy, he doesn’t own the guy and they aren’t in love, or dating, or fucking, he just. 

Doesn’t like it. 

Hates it, even. 

He wants to wrench those fingers off Billy’s forehead and break all five opposable knuckles before he moves like a storm over the rest of them. But Steve’s gotta wrestle with himself and shine lamp oil on the shadows of who he was with Nancy to figure out if he’s got any right to the way his stomach tries to flip itself like a burnt pancake.

He doesn’t.

Billy’s not leaning into the touch. 

He’s digging through his locker. He’s late for class, probably, because the bell rings again and suddenly he’s smacking that hand away with a snippy little, “Wilson’s gonna have my balls if I’m late again,” and.

And. The owner of the hand that aims to rock Billy props himself against slate gray metal, “You never answered my question,” He mutters, grinning, and Steve knows, like. From down the hall and around the corner that his grin is eating shit.

Billy’s shit.

He’s trying to get Billy’s pants off first, though, if Steve had to put money on it. And if they weren’t in a government building, surrounded by scurrying classmates, Hands would probably be reaching for a pack of smokes right now, or a joint. Something to get Billy loose-limbed and easy to push over.

Steve sympathizes with his masterplan. Almost sends flowers, a little good on you for trying, though I wish you wouldn’t, because the gag is that Billy can’t be swayed. He’s solid and sure as Mount Everest, he’s slow-burning like a field on fire, he’s resolute and strong–

“I don’t owe you shit, not an explanation, not–”

“You could help, anyway.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re a good person,” Hands tries, and it’s only then that Steve recognizes who’s trying to rain on his parade. 

Billy slams his locker door. “You wanna keep that hand, Munson?” 

“You’re cute when you get angry.” Through an awful, laughing smirk, the guy says, “C’mon, you’d be doing me a real favor. I’m trying to get that Carver asshole off my back for flirting with his girlfriend.”

Steve holds his breath. Waits for Billy to serve this guy a knife to the gut, but then– “I’ll think about it,” He says.

And It’s worse than anything Steve’s ever felt. 

At the doctor’s office. On the court. With Nancy. It’s papercuts and the cold, trickling fear of crashing his father’s car into the side of a building. Steve dies a thousand, million, trillion deaths. He doesn’t want Billy to put his beautiful, brilliant mind to anything that isn’t school and his future, and Steve. 

Doesn’t want him to think about Eddie Munson or anyone else.

God, it’s pathetic.

“You’ll think about it?” Eddie wonders, “That’s all.”

“Yep, that’s all.”

“Well, I need to know by Thursday if I’ve gotta borrow my uncle’s suit.”

The dance. 

Steve ducks farther behind Hawkin’s least favorite vending machine and strains to hear Billy’s response. They’ll be alone, once everyone stops scrambling into the doorway of their next class, and Steve wants to determine if he should name Robin as executor of his estate before the weekend.

The warning bell sounds, a million doors slamming in succession until the hallway is silent. Cavernous and peaceful enough that Steve hears the shuffle of footsteps.

“You’re pushy for someone so desperate,” Billy snips, but.

He’s smiling.

Even if Steve was completely off his rocker he’d know the spread of Billy’s lips. 

–

“Read that one again.”

Steve swallows, “According to the passage, the family’s life in the suburbs is described as–”

“Not the question.”

Steve looks up, confused. “If I’m not reading the question–”

“Read the passage again,” Billy determines, chewing on his thumbnail, “The whole thing.”

They’ve been going at it for hours. Steve’s exhausted, and his ass hurts from sitting on the floor of his bedroom since the sun was still high in the sky, and his heart hurts from–

Billy frowns at him, knocking Steve into gear. “The whole thing?” Steve asks dumbly, “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I’m serious. I’m not understanding the global and command of evidence.”

Steve’s head hurts, too. Aches. He needs a goddamn thesaurus to get through this and it’s not even his SAT exam. He leans against one palm, comforted by the weight of such a thick book in his lap. 

“I’m not understanding it, either.”

“You don’t have to,” Billy says, “You’re not taking the test.”

“Maybe we could have a break?”

“And do what?” Billy shoots back. 

“I dunno,” Steve says, “Wanna make out a little?”

Billy’s cheeks flare bright pink. “You’re an idiot,” He grumbles, not believing it.

And why would he?

In all the months that they’ve been friends, Steve’s never said something like that and meant it. At least not in Billy’s eyes. With Steve, everything’s always one big joke. He never takes anything seriously and that’s probably why Billy’s going to the dance with Eddie fucking Munson, of all people–

Billy slaps his notebook onto the carpet, eyes disappearing so he can scrub at his cheeks and forehead.

He always does that when he’s overwhelmed. 

Steve wishes for better. He imagines all the words and graphs and statistics melting into Billy’s freckles like sunscreen. He pictures peace, exhaling into the dim, warm light of the room when Billy takes a moment to himself.

Steve considers telling the truth for one crazy, desperate moment.

That he wants to kiss Billy. Has wanted to kiss Billy for months, probably a whole year but he was always too afraid–

“I’ll be so happy when this shit is over,” Billy starts lightly. Billy leans against the wall, his curls fanning out around him. Steve gets lost on the slope of his neck, hypnotized by the bob of Billy’s Adam’s Apple when he swallows, “Listen–”

“No. I’m not gonna listen to you talk mean about yourself.”

Billy watches him through thick, heavy eyelashes. “You didn’t even hear what I was gonna say, Harrington.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Steve says lightly. He doesn’t admit that he’d do anything Billy asked, anything he wanted. “I know you. And if you’re going to tell me it’s pointless to help you study because you’re not going anywhere in life, you’re wrong. You can forget it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Steve determines. “I’ve heard your shitty self-deprecating pitch before and I don’t buy a word.”

Billy stares at him for a long, tense moment–

And then he smiles. 

And it’s like the sun has burned a hole through the roof and tucked itself on the floor for safekeeping. It’s like fountains of gold have erupted from the floorboards, and angels have taken up their cherub song.

“Got a little fire in you today, Harrington,” Billy says. 

He likes it. He’s impressed. 

“Yeah well. It’s been a shitty day.”

“Oh, sure, the day you helped me study before school and at lunch and–”

“It’s not that.”

Billy smirks, “Then what’s inspired the raging war, pretty boy?”

Steve picks at the carpet, avoiding Billy’s eyes. For months he’s wondered if Billy means it. Pretty boy, rolling like salted waves from his tongue to get Steve’s emotions sticking like hair in his eyes.

He can’t help but imagine that old nickname pinned to someone else, sticking like a nametag to Munson’s suit jacket. Hello my name is…prettier than Steve Harrington. 

Steve can’t even find it within himself to disagree. Eddie Munson’s a cute guy. He’s got that whole bad boy thing, chipped black nails, big brown eyes, and a wallet chain hanging from his back pocket alongside a handkerchief Robin once wrinkled her nose at. When Steve asked her to explain it to him, she said he wouldn’t get it.

That’s probably true.

Steve doesn’t understand most things. Anything, really. But he understands that on paper, Munson’s probably Billy’s type.

If Billy had a type.

If Billy was–

“You’re gonna wear a hole in the carpet,” Billy chuckles.  

Big enough to crawl in, Steve thinks. Big enough to block out the sky, to hold all my thoughts, to live in forever and ever and–

“Where are you?” Billy’s foot knocks against Steve’s thigh, rocking him gently like a boat at sea. 

Steve shrugs. “Lost.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Means I’m thinking.”

“You can do that?” Billy teases. When Steve doesn’t laugh, when he doesn’t smile or do anything other than sit like a bump on a log that’s planning itself a funeral, Billy leans forward. “Tell me what’s wrong, Harrington.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll laugh at me,” Steve says, you’ll hate me. Never speak to me again. You’ll run away with Eddie Munson and marry him and you’ll live a short, happy, vibrant life somewhere I can’t feel you. “You’ll think it’s a joke. Or worse, you’ll–” 

“God, I hate it when you decide shit for me.”

“I’m not–”

“Y’know, back when we first started this thing you kept me out of my head,” Billy admits. “You kept me active. The leash was fuckin’ short. Still is.” 

His fingers twitch against his thigh. Steve knows if it weren’t for Mrs. Harrington and the fact that she loves Billy and expects the best from him, he’d probably be smoking a cigarette even though he’s made a habit of swearing off everything that’s not good for him.

Steve wants to say Eddie isn’t good for him. That he might seem like it at first, but in time–

Billy kicks him again. Harder. “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong I’m gonna kill myself.”

“Jeez, don’t joke about that.”

“You don’t get to decide how I feel about shit, Harrington. You don’t get what i say or how I feel, or–”

“I saw you in the hallway,” Steve blurts, “With what’s his name.”

Billy doesn’t move. He doesn’t even flinch. “Eddie.”

“Eddie,” Steve says, and it tastes like soap on his tongue, bitter and present and the more he swallows the worse it gets. 

He expects a lot of things to happen at once. Billy may not feel the same that Steve does, but he gets embarrassed easily. Red all over. His embarrassment falls just like his anger, sharp and aggressive, pushing and tugging until Steve’s resolve pops like a party balloon.

Now, though, he’s calm. Eerie. Poised like he’s trying to watch his step around Steve, who can sometimes be a landmine everyone thought was defective.

Somehow that’s worse.

Somehow the knowledge that Billy’s not as clueless about this whole thing as Steve thought, that he’s picked up on every laugh and hidden stare, that he knows Steve is gone on him and still–

“Why do you care about Eddie,” Billy demands. Like he’s genuinely curious. Like he’s got an inclination, too, and he’s gonna make Steve say it, so.

“You’re not going to prom with Eddie Munson.”

The world might as well stop. If they weren’t sitting on the carpet beaches in Steve’s bedroom, he’d get up and leave.

Billy blinks, chest heaving like he’s just run three hundred miles across a mountain range, but he doesn’t open his mouth. He doesn’t pull his eyes away or speak.

Steve holds onto those eyes. He stands his ground. 

Billy jerks into motion, “He didn’t ask me to prom.”

“Fine,” Steve snaps, irritated by the particular nature of this AP, valedictorian, Ivy-League asshole. It’s Steve’s fault for loving a brain, “Fine, not the prom. The fucking Spring Fever–”

“Why are you so upset?”

Steve can’t believe this is happening. 

Everything about this is so high school, so steeped in endings and triviality and of course he’d have to say it right now. With expectant, carefully guarded blue eyes picking him apart. Toes at the edge of the cliff, with nothing to catch him when he falls. 

“I’m upset, because–” Steve tries. 

Billy watches him with eyes like a raging sea, and he’s so beautiful. He’s smart and driven and kind, when he’s not wading through his own head, and Steve’s been trying to swallow it down forever. 

How he feels.

Steve takes a deep, steadying breath. “I’m pissed off because I wanted to ask you to the dance.”

Billy frowns. His fingers twitch against his thigh and Steve can almost hear the gears working behind Billy’s curls, clicking and rattling into place. “I don’t understand,” He says.

System failure.

Steve saw that coming, too. “Guessed you didn’t. Why would you? I never–”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Billy rubs a hand over his mouth,  “You wanted to go to the dance with me?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why would you want to go to the dance, with. With me?”

“Because I like you,” Steve snaps. “Jesus, Billy. You’re made of a million fucking things to like and I’ve spent so many months counting them, trying to figure out their weight so I can tie my feet to the heaviest one and drown myself,” He runs all ten fingers through his hair, tugging until he feels the sting of it in his toes. “You’re great. You’re the best person I’ve ever known and I just. I love you, okay?”

There, Steve thinks. Asshole.

But the realization of Steve dawns on Billy like the end of the world. He sucks in a sharp, sudden breath, and in a second Steve’s galaxy is on fire.

Billy won’t look at him.

“Billy,” Steve says. Fed up. Mean.

Billy stares at the carpet, lashes clumped with tears, and. He’s gonna cry. Steve’s ruined his last study session before the SATs and Billy’s going to cry–

“Hey, I’m sorry,” Steve slides closer, getting on his knees in front of his shaking, sputtering love, “I didn’t mean to freak you out, I just. I heard that asshole ask you to the dance and I almost lost my mind thinking about what I’d do if you said yes. I didn’t want to blow my last shot at you, Billy–”

“You’re such a dumbass.”

Steve blinks, flinching away. It hurts. He’s bleeding. “I’m sorry,” He says again, like a broken record. “I’m–”

“Munson didn’t ask me to the spring dance either. He wants me to get Heather to take him so Jason Carver stops slashing his van tires.” Billy looks at Steve with water-logged desperation, “I. You love me, Harrington?”

Steve watches a single, heavy tear fall. He nods, chases it with his thumb.

Billy’s breath is warm and sweet against his wrist. “Why’d you think that would be your last shot? You never even took a shot before that, how could it be your last?”

“Because we’ve had, like. A hundred dances this year and I never asked you,” Steve sits, knocking their knees together, “I wanted to ask. Every time, I wanted to run down the hall and kiss–”

Billy eats up whatever was coming next.

He licks into Steve’s mouth. He plants fields of hope, shining bright with the future. 

When he pulls away, his eyes are serious. “I’m going to get a 1350 on this SAT,” Billy says, his fingers gentle on Steve’s jaw, “And then we’re going to the dance.”

Steve kisses him, slow and sweet, and.

It’s a deal. Written in the stars.

--

Harringrove for Turkey commission for the lovely, kind, and talented @keziahrainalso thanks so much for trusting me with your GORGEOUS idea, and I hope what i did with it makes you smile.

All my love,

Jaz

[sjhhemmings]

“Happy Birthday”

kelly severide x platonic fem!reader, andy darden x sister!reader (idk if i’m using the exclamation points right sorry guys)

a/n: i thought this would be cute, i don’t know if im going to do very many love interest kelly stories bc i rlly just see him as a big brother figure so majority will prob be y/n under platonic and sibling pov’s. I also figured I should write for someone other than Otis for once, but dw those are still coming ;)🤎

^^ continuation: idk if his birthday is correct I honestly did one google search and couldn’t find anything so i just made one up because i feel like he’s a capricorn LOL. also i basically completely made this timeline up because i don’t know if the seasons qualify as one whole year so im gonna say season 6 is 6 years after Andy’s death im so sorry if im wrong haha.

warnings: angst, fluffy, swearing, alcohol, not proofread so anything i missed?

Y/N’s POV:

January 3rd, six and half years after Andy’s death and everyday still feels the same without him, dull and empty. I’ve worked through it though, just trying to take life one day at a time. The pain began to feel less prominent as I’ve learned to live with it. But today is my birthday. Which is a never ending reminder of who I don’t have with me which is Andy. Another reminder is that today is also Kelly’s birthday, so today feels like pouring acid salt into a cut so deep I can see bone.

Kelly and Andy were best friends growing up, and since Andy was friends with Kelly, I was friends with Kelly. They always brought me along everywhere with them, even when they didn’t want or have to. It was funny growing up because they would pretend to be firefighters and talk about how they were going to save the city one burning building at a time, and me being the 6 year old I was when I started playing with them, I decided that being a paramedic would be easier. You know because fighting fires is only a man’s job according to 6 year old me. So when Kelly and Andy were off to the academy to fight fires, I was off to a school of my own to help them when they get hurt. Now after what felt like a hundred years i’d finished becoming a PIC and craved more in life. So I met up with both Andy and Kelly and told them I was also going to go to the academy to become a firefighter. Andy was thrilled, he talked about how I could continue working at 51 with both of them and it would be amazing. Kelly however did not feel the same. He thought I was making a mistake, so when I went to school and finally graduated, Andy died. This only made me more determined to finish out his legacy and finish the job he wasn’t able to do. 5 years later I was a lieutenant at firehouse 90 since I could no longer bare the pain of working with Kelly anymore, and I was offered a job to go fight wildfires in California. Now a year and a half later I’m back.

I was two years younger than my two older brothers even if only one of them was really blood related. Kelly and I’s birthday landed on the same day though and that made Andy go all out every single year. So yeah, it truly sucked when Andy died and the extravagant parties, and food, and people died along with him too. Today marks 6 and half years of our brother being gone and Kelly and I haven’t spent this day together since. I miss him, I really do but it hurt so much without Andy. Our birthday was just another reminder of him being gone. But now 6 years later I’ve finally decided to put my big girl pants on and celebrate with him.

Kelly was never a birthday boy. He hated all of the attention and gifts, and if it weren’t for me at least sending him a “happy birthday ❤️” text every year to fill the radio silence every other 364 days of the year, he probably would’ve forgotten that he has a birthday at all. But today that will change.

Since Kelly is still a firefighter at house 51 and that happens to be the house i’m transferring to now that i’m back in Chicago, I decided I would surprise Kelly. It’s the least I could do since we practically haven’t spoken in almost 7 years.

One week prior, Third Person POV:

“In exactly one week we will have a female transfer on squad 3. She’s been in California for the last year in the wildfire division of L.A. You guys will welcome her with open arms accepting her back into the 51 family. It’s been a rough year, wildfires are very different from the typical structure fires we see almost everyday. You will be patient, and understanding, and treat her with never ending respect. The only reason she isn’t a superior officer to the lot of you is because she declined the offer…That’s all. You’re dismissed.” After Boden makes his announcement almost the whole house is confused due to the nuclear bomb he basically just dropped on them.

“Um what?” Otis says out probably the most confused of them all.

“A female on Squad 3? Who is she the she-hulk?” Cruz adds on with a joke no one laughed at.

“Do you have a problem with that Cruz?” Boden asks furious at his blatant sexism.

“No sir.” He says in response and sits lower in his chair.

“I’m just confused that we don’t even know who this chick’s name and she gets to waltz in here like she owns the place. How does Severide feel about this?” Someone from the back asks with each word just pissing Boden off even more.

“For your information, she worked at house 51 for 7 years as the PIC then transferred to house 90 to become a working firefighter. After two years of working on Truck, she quickly became Lieutenant, then after three years she was offered a position in California. So yes, she does get to ‘waltz in here and act like she owns the place’. Now for your information her name is Y/N Darden and I don’t give a damn how Severide feels because it’s my goddamn house and what I say goes!” Boden says with complete rage which shut the rest of them up.

After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence Casey spoke up, “She’s family Chief and we’ll treat her as such, we won’t let you down.” He says half serious to scare the rest of the men and women in the room, and half excited because he gets to see you again. Luckily for your surprise to work out, Severide wasn’t on shift that day.

Present Day, Third Person POV:

You stood nervously outside the conference room awaiting your grand entrance to surprise Kelly. As the seconds count down to break the six year technical no contact with Severide, the nauseous feeling in your stomach continues to rise. God you’ve missed him.

“Now please welcome your new Squad 3 member…” You hear Boden’s prominent voice say as he approaches the door to open it for you, “Y/N Darden.” He finishes as you walk through the door and immediately all of the old faces that you’ve missed from your past become familiar again. You can only spot a few new faces, but before you fully process that your eyes land on Kelly’s in the back.

You watch as his face morphs from complete shock and excitement to anger and disappointment. Before you get a chance to say anything though he speaks up.

“What the hell is she doing here!?” He shouts at Boden which immediately pisses him off.

“Severide, calm down! You can either welcome your new team member as her lieutenant professionally, or you can walk out and talk to me privately in my office. We’re not causing a scene in front of my men and women right now.” He says patiently like he’s talking to a toddler throwing a tantrum.

“You know…this is bullshit! Hell no!” Severide shouts once again with all eyes in the room on him he waits a few seconds before he approaches you.

“You need to leave.” Is all he says as he walks out the conference room doors and you’re now standing there in the front of the room embarrassed as ever. Your face would be emotionless if there wasn’t tears falling down it so you quickly wipe them and mutter something along the lines of “this was a mistake” as you rush out of the room.

Boden stands there angry and everyone else doesn’t know what to do. Before anyone does anything though, Casey quickly goes to follow you and tells Boden he’ll handle it.

“Um…as for the rest of you, you’re dismissed.” He says walking out slowly while rubbing his jaw. This was going to be a long day.

“Hey Y/N, wait up!” Casey yells as he runs after you, you stop dead in your tracks at his voice and you turn around now showing your red and puffy face.

“Hey c’mere.” He says as he pulls you into a hug causing you cry a little harder, “Hey, shh, the birthday girl shouldn’t be crying on her special day, okay?” He says as he pulls you away from his chest and wipes your tears himself.

Surprised he remembered your birthday, your hands rest on his biceps as he does so and you sniffle and chuckle as he still treats you like a little sister. God you’ve missed him. And everyone here for that matter.

A little while later Casey brought you to his office so you guys could have a safe place to talk and not be overheard by the others. “I don’t know why I thought he would be happy to see me…” You say as you sip some hot cocoa. It was your favorite winter beverage and since it was your birthday he made you a cup of his famous recipe. Matt always made the best cocoa.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He’ll come around, it’s a tough day and seeing you unexpectedly probably added onto that. Not saying that you’re the cause but just the reminder you know?” Matt says leaning back in his desk chair and tapping his pen on the top of his desk you give him an unsure smile showing you understand what he said.

5 hours into your first shift back at 51 it has definitely not gone the way you were expecting. From the blow up this morning and a winter weather advisory deeming it unsafe for you guys to attend to non life threatening emergent calls you guys were stuck at the house. Not that there was a lot to do, it’s just despite being locked in a building with Kelly, you have no idea where he’s gone.

Sitting around the table in the common room you were telling stories about some wildfire calls in California catching up with the others.

“So there I was dangling out the side of the Helicopter hanging on with one hand over about 30 acres of straight fire, I had barely any grip but my chief advising that call had figured out how to stabilize the helicopter with resources around him so he could get 30 free seconds to help me back in. It was probably the most scary and exhilarating feeling of my whole existence-“ You say but trailing off as someone caught your attention out of the corner of your eye you finally see Kelly.

“Wow! That’s actually insane Y/N i’m glad you’re okay-“ Otis said a little too intrigued in ur story, but you cut him off as you get up to talk to Severide. “Sorry excuse me Otto, I’ll be right back.” You say running off towards Kelly.

“Yeah Otto, she’ll be right back!” Cruz says dying laughing at you not knowing his name.

“There is no way she doesn’t know who I am or my name! We worked together for four years, I mean yeah I was only a candidate but still!” He says genuinely hurt you don’t fully know who he is when he’s had a giant crush on you for years now.

“Hey Kelly wait up!” You shout following him to his office.

“Go away.” Is all he says before shutting the door in your face.

“No! Please can you just hear me out?”

“Go away Y/N!” He yells again but this time louder with his voice cracking.

“Let me in Kelly. Please.” You finally beg rattling the now locked door handle.

Ignoring you he shuts his blinds which only causes you to be more stubborn. Sitting outside of his not-so-soundproof office you start annoyingly knocking on his glass door.

After about 3 minutes of this he opens the door. “You have 5 minutes.” He says surprising you so you jump to your feet and follow him inside.

You sit on his bed and don’t exactly know where to start your explanation so the two of you just sit in awkward tension for about 30 seconds of your 5 minutes.

“I meant it Y/N you only have 5 minutes. Start talking.” he says breaking the silence and starting a real timer at which you roll your eyes.

“Happy birthday.” You mutter watching his eyes go wide.

“What!? You said start talking so I did. I’m paying my respects to my lieutenant!” You raise your voice a bit at his aggression defending your actions.

Still met with silence you sigh and begin explaining, “I only had a year contract in California. I was always planning on coming back to Chicago.” You first admit trying to clear the air unsure if he was mad that you went there, or for any other reason.

“I’m sorry if this was a mistake, I just thought it would be nice to see you again.” You admit starting to feel guilty.

“You know what would’ve been nice? A goodbye. A notice. Even a text just saying, ‘Hey I’m going to California for the next year, see you when I get back!’ Or maybe before that a goodbye saying you’re leaving 51 and transferring to 90, that would’ve been nice. Not just showing up to work a week after your best friend died and finding out the only tie you still had to him left too!” He shouts at you almost triggering your waterworks again, but you can see he definitely triggered some of his own.

“You know what Kelly, I get that, and i’m sorry!” You shout back but taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye, you didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry your bestfriend died. You didn’t deserve that, but I want you to know, my fucking brother died! and I didn’t deserve that! I’m sorry you were just another reminder of what I didn’t have and I couldn’t even think about you without wanting to throw up! You know you two were so similar? Basically the exact same person, but when he died, that part of you died too. He died in all of us, so it’s not like I just lost him! I lost both of you and it broke my fucking heart. I love you Kelly, I truly do, but please don’t blame me when I had to take the measures to fix me before I could be there for you. You weren’t-aren’t the same person you were before and neither am I! But I’m back now, ready to start again, and be there for you if you need me, if you are too.” You finally finish your rant and see the tears falling down Kelly’s face as yours once did only a few hours ago. He sniffles a little bit leaving you on heard so you get up to leave but he grabs your hand and points for you to sit back down.

“I won’t stay if you don’t want me too. I can leave at the end of shift and go back to 90 just say the word that you don’t want me on your squad.”

“I don’t want you to leave, Y/N. But I can’t be responsible if you end up dying too…” Kelly finally breaks down after getting the last sentence out and you stand up pulling him into a hug.

Pulling him away from you and cradling his face in your hands you wipe his tears just as Matt did for you earlier and you say, “Kelly, I won’t die. and if I do it won’t be your fault, just like Andy’s death wasn’t your fault either. It wasn’t anyone’s, it was his stupid mistake for not listening to a confirmed order before going in. I know it’s bad of me to blame the dead for his death, but it’s true and he can cry about it from his grave if he has an issue.” You chuckle at the last sentence as does Kelly and you both smile.

“You’re just gonna have to trust me Severide, okay?”

“Okay.” He whispers back and places a kiss to your forehead then resting his forehead of yours. God it was nice to have your brother back.

At the end of shift Kelly brings you to Molly’s where Herrmann had set up a surprise party for the both of you. It was a good night. After a few drinks and being separated from Severide he finally comes and talks to you again.

“Hey there’s the birthday boy!” You greet Kelly with a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, um, Otis just told me earlier on shift you called him Otto?” He says dying laughing.

“Yeah and?” You say genuinely confused?

“That’s not his name! It’s Otis!?” Kelly continues laughing at how you could’ve screwed that up and your jaw drops.

“You’re kidding!” You say feeling horrible now.

“No i’m not! You worked with that kid for four years before you transferred how did you fuck it up that bad!” Kelly exclaims as the both of you are dying laughing.

“Omg, I feel so bad! Do you think he’d forgive me?” You say looking around searching for where he was only to find him already staring at you.

Kelly looks in his direction then looks at you and nods his head yes. “Something tells me he’d forgive you.” he says knowing about his love struck elevator guy.

[shieldedreams]

wanna be yours(weetheart) (a.b.)

summary ⇾ there’s so many pet names in the world and andy just wants to be called one of it by you. (and maybe you do too) details ⇾ 1,238 words / andy barber x reader / 🌸 fluff notes ⇾ based on a prompt from this prompt list by @creativepromptsforwriting​! + this tiktok i saw and i just–🥺

also, i’ve been quite m.i.a lately but i’m kinda back for now >:) hope you guys like this one! 💞

prompt: 5 times Person A calls Person B by a pet name and one time Person B finds one for Person A. [!] insane amount of pet names lol / suggestive themes–more in dialogue form but still! minors dni!

andy has never shied away from showing his love and affections for you. if he was at work, he’d respectfully have his hand on your lower back or held your hand. in public? it’s the same thing, maybe even more with hugging you from the back as you chose which cereal you wanted or while you were choosing the right photo frames. occasionally, sneaking off like a bunch of lovesick teenagers when you’re well off as adults to do whatever you wanted from the public eye.

another thing with that is... andy loves the idea of pet names. (as cheesy as that sounds) whether it was a sweet honey or quick babe! the idea of your name was swayed further and further away, solidifying the change of your name into the spur of the moment to what he felt. even when he’s mad he still calls you a grumpy hun; now that’s true love right there.

it hasn’t crossed your mind that all this while, you hadn’t called andy one of those... until he brings it up during dinner at the diner. 

coincidentally, there’s another couple at a table next to yours. younger, giddily calling each other in almost every single pet name you know to exist on the planet. from honey bunch to snookums, you have your chin rested in your palm to hide your smile, your other hand squeezing andy’s on the table. it’s not until he gives you a squeeze back that your eyes direct back to him.

with... a look on his face that you can’t quite read past the dim lights illuminating his handsome features.

“yes?”

he uses his head to point in the direction you were looking at earlier, “how come you don’t call me one of those?”

“those?” you raise a brow, keeping your eyes on him and pressing into your chin to stop yourself from smiling at where this conversation was steering to.

“you know... those... pet names,” he lowly murmurs the last bit, leaning forward as he cradles your hand in his. “y’know like: baby, darlin’, sweetheart, love. heck, i wouldn’t mind sugar bear if you don’t.”

that gets you to chuckle, moving your hand from your chin to lay on the table, holding onto your own arm, “andy, are you serious?”

"see!” he laughs in exclamation, “my point exactly.”

“see what?”

he sighs, a pout almost forming on his lips, “you always call me andy.”

“because that’s your name,” you counter, to which he cocks a brow at you. 

“do you hear me callin’ you by your name since we started dating?”

at the question, it’s like your mind teleports you through the numerous times andy’s called you an affectionate term of endearment. perhaps it was because it hasn’t crossed your mind and you enjoyed calling him by his name. something about it just made you feel warm. you can’t not smile when you say his name; it’s as if the syllables that stretches out on your lips has a habit to make your lips curl up.

the usual, his go-to was ‘honey’.

“hey honey, how's your day?”

“honey, where’s my blue tie?”

“no wonder i call you honey. you taste so sweet. could eat you up all day.”

sometimes, he switches it up with ‘babe’.

“babe... you can’t just do that and expect me not to do anything...”

“we good to go then, babe?”

“babe! saved you a spot. c’mere!”

there are days where you’re simply his ‘pretty girl’.

“hello there, pretty girl. waitin’ on anybody?” 

“you gonna come join me or you gonna stand there all day, pretty girl?”

"i can do much more than that, pretty girl.”

andy changes his pet names according to his mood and the situation but his absolute favorite was honey. it was simple and easy; you were sweet, thickly coating his mind in his every waking moment and a taste he can’t ever get enough of. it came naturally (pun intended) and it stuck ever since (also pun intended). your little trips and flashbacks down memory lane has left you silent. while on your end it was all with pleasant memories, in present, andy feels like maybe he’s struck a wrong chord.

he presses his lips into a thin line to hide his disappointment when you look up to him, the same time he gazes down to the table. before you can say anything, the waitress swings by with your order for the night. she announces both of your orders and andy gestures to yours before his own for the plates to settle down in front of you.

you’re trying not to laugh with the way andy’s being all sulky, reaching for the utensils to start digging into his food. you pick up your own set in your hands and start cutting up a piece of your steak, casually asking him: “would you like a bite, sweetheart?”

his reply comes at you after a deep (and possibly disappointed) exhale: “sure... i’ll have a–”andy freezes with his brows knitted together, hands almost dropping the fork and knife. he tilts his head up to you, a small gape on his face as he stares at you in disbelief. he’s met with your cheeky grin and soft chuckle to mask the embarrassment.

he swallows thickly, leaning forward just a little. he clears his throat, much like his mind that just went blank, eyes nearly bulging out of his head but his heart–stops.

“w-what did you call me?”

“well, i just...” you look down to your plate of food, well-aware of andy’s gaze on you, “called you what you are.”

you peek up to him, feeling the heat rush to your cheeks because he’s not smiling and you don’t know if it’s a good thing or not despite this being his request. andy hangs on by a thread of a possibility you’d repeat it and this time, he’s ready to hear it. he’s so ready to–“sweetheart.”

he blinks at you a couple of times and it makes you tensed. you nervously look everywhere around him before reaching him again to see a smile stretches his face. so warm, so genuinely happy as his blue eyes start sparkling under the dim lights. his blue eyes invite you to say it again, and you can’t help but oblige when he manages to muster a soft: “s-say it again.”

with a chuckle, you use your fork to get a mouthful and lure it over to his agape mouth, “open up, sweetheart.”

almost like magic, his jaw drops and you’d have to lean forward to make sure you tip his chin up to a close to let the food stay in his mouth. andy doesn’t even bother chewing, just staring at you in awe; unable to process what just happened even though he was the one who asked for it.

it might seem silly but something as small as hearing you call him sweetheart made his heart swoon. it was the way your face looked before, it was the way after; the nervous giggle and quiet admission to liking how it sounds, too.

((”okay, just one more time. c’mon!”

“andy–”

“nuh-uh, not andy. that’s not my name to you anymore.” 

“...”

“...”

“...sweetheart.”

“...if i die tomorrow, i’d die happily, honey.”

“will you come over here and cuddle me already?”

andy pokes a brow up, tilting his head in anticipation.

“please, sweetheart?”

andy almost immediately catapults himself over.))

[dawnleaf37]

@spiderwebd regretevator

Regretevator (Game) is similar to The Normal Elevator from older days of roblox, being that you enter an elevator and it will arrive on a myriad of different floors to explore, minigames to complete, or just . Funny Thing

The Regretevator (the actual Elevator) is an interdimensional form of travel that is used by various entities to get around. It is confirmed to be able to go Anywhere. and seems to be able to transcend time and space which is always fun

The game features 70+ floors currently, and has a certain style of humor to it, but what really makes it are the NPCs, interactable characters, some of which can enter the elevator and some of which cannot. Im going to recap the ones who will enter very quickly, so sorry for the imagespam here:

Mannequin_Mark

A mannequin(which is a species produced by a factory) named mark. Woodcarver as a job, has a coworker named Jim. Hates concrete. Southern accent. Divorced from Wallter.

Wallter

Used to be a human, drank cement, is now concrete. Generally nice dude. Thinks concrete is better than wood. Tall as fuck. Divorced from Mark.

PartyNoob

Often shortened to Poob. Loves parties if you couldn't tell. Can kill you if you slap them like 10 times. You can slap them. theres something so so so so fucking wrong with them holy fucking shit oh my god. oh my god oh my g Keep this asshole in Mind. Keep them in mind ple;as

Pest

Actual name is PartyGuest. Builds robots. Steals money from you. Speaks Japanese. Yes they are a bug beetle to be specific. Asshole

Lampert

Found in the 3008 level yes theres a 3008 level yes i love it. Germophobic, clean everything. Zoomies he is zoomies. Despises Infected, but knew him as Kasper

Infected

Diseased when he bought a freemodel with a virus in it. Perpetually trapped as a scene kid. Had a cat. No longer has a cat. Used to be named Kasper, infection made him forget

Unpleasant

It;s the fucking unpleasent gradient meme. does jackshit. some people headcanon that it ate infecteds cat and i think thats the funniest shit

Split

Species called a fruitaur or something, banana-snail-horse-dog-girl. Hosts a wipeout-like show named Splitsville. Lesbian. canonically has feelings for bive

Bive

Completely made of hair. Conspiracy theorist. this is just touch tone telephone. canonically has feelings for Split. may seem crazy but she Knows things

Reddy

It;s freddy from fnaf but for Red Ball Diner, go look up gregoriah regretevator and tell me how gender he looks

DrRETRO

Animal Jam emote. framed for many crimes. Also knows things. Shoots lasers out of her eyes that will either kill you or heal you. meows

Gnarpy

that fucking cat everyones nuts about. Alien. Abducted Spud! and did shit to them. proud xe/they swag. was redesigned cause the creator was an ass :/

Spud!

yes the exclamation point is part of the name. was a camp councilor, got abducted by gnarpy and experimented on, is this now. that line is his mouth btw. if you click it 200 times it will explode. please be nice to them :(

Pilby

Clown fired from job after to bad of stage fright. They are just a sad thing tbh

Prototype

lovely little robot, if a bit glitchy and unfinished. VERY nicey ! a researcher, learns info on everythings for their database! my friend made this one :3!

FleshCousin

(invasive)Species of shapeshifters. Repeats words back at you in jumbled wordsalad. they dont seem malicious i dont think . my favorite. ever. the best

Jermbo

a cat

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

There's more NPCs but i just covered the basic ones(new one being added soon made by my friend as well :3333333333)

BASICISH LORE SHIT:

this is MR

it is an effigy for a spirit and when it enters the elevator it has a chance to cut the lights and burn any NPC in the elevator. EXCEPT FOR FUCKING POOB. the spirit that inhabits MR is also the same one that protects poob. and if you look close at the game youll see POOB SI FUCKING EVERYWHEREi have to stop here before i go fucking insane but the basic premise is these two are tied and i dont know why or what how whatthe fuckkkk theres a whole lot more like theres a damn religion surrounding it and symbolism of the axolotl sun which means something but fuck FUCK!!!!

[rat-rosemary]

Hi! This may seem strange but I would like to see your side of things, as someone who has not kept up with mcyt in like. A year at this point. I thought dream had groomed people? Was that a rumor or am I confusing him with someone else? And what do you mean about quackity? I'm coming into all of this very very very late lol

I dont blame you at all for not knowing what going on. I'll try to explain quickly but those are multiple complicated situations, so the post will probably get a bit long,sorry

Ok, so starting with the first one. There was a girl, called Amanda, who claimed that she was groomed by Dream. That was a lie, most of her claims being debunked either by herself, by people who knew her irl or by her ex-online friends. What we found out from those online friends is that Amanda was actually the one doing shady stuff, and you can find all about it on the doc her victim (mascara) put together

BUT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LOOK AT THE TW AND TAKE THOSE SERIOUSLY, THERE ARE GRAPHIC PICTURES IN THE DOC

https://twitter.com/Mascarahhhh/status/1679238021814550528?s=20

(And i think someone just recently came with even more things forward about Amanda, but that was recent and I hadn't had the chance to read it)

(Just went and read trought the stuff the other person posted and holy shit! Amanda fucking SA'd someone! Fully r4p3d them! The exclamation marks are of pure shock and disgust!)

So, thats the grooming situation. Dream did not groom anyone and the person who accused him of doing so should 100% be in jail

The Quackity situation, on the most basic level is that Dream and Quackity made similar smps and Quackity started ghosting Dream

At first it was just that. But it started evolving when Q fans started attacking and harassing Dream and his fans more and more, doxxing and stalking Dream and his family. Thats what prompted Dream to write a big text and post it publicly on twt, after spending almost a month trying to contact Quackity privately so they could talk and Quackity could say something to try to slow the hate down.

Quackity said and did nothing, and multiple Dream fans came forward talking about how people showed up to their houses and got arrested because of the Qsmp/Usmp situation.

I can find yoy specific threads talking about it later, but the Smile community actually made a doc with all the kind of hate and threats we got

Found it! But the document cannot be displayed anymore because of what it had in it. The people behind it are working on a solution, their account is https://twitter.com/Burner16610314?s=20

Individual threads \/ \/

https://twitter.com/slaylvs/status/1687573052500881408?s=20

Im finding individual threads so im going to put them here

If you go on twt right now you might have a hard time finding many Dream fans because we're all going on private again because the video Tommy posted made us start getting doxxed again

Thanks for genuinely wanting to understand our side of the entire thing, hope you ahve a lovely day/night

Dont forget to take breaks from social media and to take care of yourself!

[unluckyxse7enart]

So this is from 2021, but I was on a Sanders Sides kick and had a fun idea - Sidesonas!! Seven Sides, if you will /j

I started out by making my own emblem designs, reassigned the canon colors based on associations with each theme, and then designed the sides from there! In order of the emblem keys, red is intrusive thoughts; dark blue is logic; light blue is creativity; lavender is morality; green is deceit; and yellow is anxiety!

I initially was going to draw a lot more of these guys at the time, but stalled once I discovered.... I did not match the colors to my own skin and hair tones very well orz.... So how I'll handle that going forward is tbd, but I'm very proud of the results otherwise and would love to play with this concept again! Honestly I may even oc-ify them, the objecthead alternates in particular just sounds like fun to work with...

In-depth design notes under the cut:

Intrusive thoughts:

Ironically, despite the placement on the key, Intrusive Thought's emblem was actually the very last design I came up with! It's a Rorschach-inspired blot mirroring Anxiety's emblem, to tie the two in since for me they're heavily connected concepts.

Red was a given color as for me, most such thoughts are, well, violent.

Designwise, the sona leans heavily into my more goth/guro/yami kawaii style tastes!! Pretty straightforward given my fashion and art tends to be influenced at times in this way

Logic:

For me, logic functions a lot on questions and answers, if=then statements. The question mark thus felt fitting, and an exclamation point for that 'aha!' moment felt like a good closure to it

I have to say it, Sanders's dark blue IS a very good logic color. Can't say any of the others vibed as well to me so I just stuck with it.

Ironically, this sona looks the least like me - not necessarily to divide it from me further, but just because I like leaning into that straight, angular look for such character types. I've worn that hairstyle in the past though and found it incredibly functional at the time, so it was 'logical' to use it here

Creativity:

Ironically this emblem gave me troubles - fortunately my partner suggested 'brainstorming' as the angle to use, and it all fell into place from there!

Since I used cloudy imagery, but wanted to keep the vibes bright and promising, I used light blue here!

This sona's design was Also a challenge - my creativity is broad, varied, and expresses myself in so many ways (True to the canon sides, intrusive thoughts also got a good chunk of some other ways my creativity has been channeled) - I settled on my tendency towards sleek elegance, as in outfits and in fashion/character design, this tends to be where I lean innately. I added touches of an oc I most associate with my creativity, Masafumi, and it felt complete!

Morality:

Morality for me is not an easy topic to navigate, and can be a double-edged sword in my experience - so I made the emblem to reflect that. Sanders Sides covers the good aspects of morality well, but I wanted to capture more how it can be weaponized as the focus - and how that's what has been internalized for me.

I can't honestly recall the thought process on lavender - might just have been purple was the last color to assign - but since purple is a warm and cool color mixed together, it felt right for the complexity of morality.

This sona is a (former) girl scout! That time in my life was probably the best setting for where my own practice of morality was showcased. I'm happy to say this is not where most (if any) negative experiences stemmed from, but it was where I tried to exemplify being a good, moral person the most, so the sona reflects that!

Deceit:

Had fun designing this one - the emblem is a scowling eye or mocking tongue, depending how you look at it. Both felt fitting for what my deceit often hides - namely, variations of contempt and/or a lack of respect.

If memory serves, I went for a rather artificial mint green to lean into the core of this sona's theme - an imitation of something natural (fake plants vs real ones for example).

This sona leans into more comfortable, girly looks I've worn on rare occasions - both in reference to my complicated relations to gender (and how my presentation doesn't reflect it well); and to seem as nonthreatening, polite, and soft as possible. In other words, this sona isn't so cartoonishly evil as Janus Sanders, but could be considered just as devious in their own way.

Anxiety:

Emblem took some time to sort out, but the eye imagery felt too perfect even if it was on the nose

yellow is often a happy, exciting color, but I also associate it with shock or alarm due to its bright, eye-catching tints so I applied it here

Frankly I just pulled from my high school years for this sona's look lmao. Not much to say other than it was so hard to settle on which social aversion headgear item I've used to maintain for the final design. I went for the hat since it both blocks eyesight and would hide my hair but the mask and glasses are still good alternatives imo

[fives-girlfriend]

A/N: New here? Start at First Impressions, part 1!

Lucky Number

Five dates already under their belt – and five words to change their entire relationship.

Characters: ARC Trooper Fives, OC (Asha Kurr)

Warnings: 18+ EXPLICIT. MINORS, STAY AWAY. Smut, some fingering, cunnilingus, dry humping, local man prioritizes his girl over All Else

Word count: 4,104

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

“So how many does this make?” Asha asked, an amused lilt in her voice as she strode along the walkway to her humble apartment. It was just a rental, really – a temporary living space on Coruscant for when the battalion wasn’t being deployed to stars-know-where. Besides, it’s not like she was able to stay in the barracks with the rest of them. But to her, at least for now, it was home. And it was where Fives insisted on walking her to after each and every one of their little outings, which was precisely what he was doing now. The ARC trooper was striding confidently by her side, and he let out a small chuckle at her inquiry.

“By my count, five. Fancy that~” he mused, one arm resting around Asha’s shoulders while they walked. Asha let out a chuckle as she tipped her head to the side, nudging his shoulder with her montrals.

“It’s my lucky number, by this point,” she hummed. Fives glanced down at her, arching a brow.

“Are you just saying that?” he asked. “Or are you finally coming around to me?”

At that, Asha gave him a somewhat incredulous look, almost smirking. “Fives, we’ve been on five dates by now. You’ve walked me home after each and every one. I think ‘coming around to you’ is kind of behind us by now, isn’t it?”

At that, he stopped walking. Asha nearly stumbled, blinking owlishly – they were right in front of the apartment complex by now, but Fives usually went so far as to walk her right to her door. What was going on?

“...Fives?” she asked, stepping in front of him now. “Why’d you stop?”

“...dates?” he echoed, like he hadn’t heard her correctly. He honestly could hardly believe it – his heart was starting to race, and all that confidence he so often exuded was starting to fail him, now of all times, in the face of this stubborn young woman he’d become so enamored with. “This– these are dates to you?”

“...should they… not be-?” Asha tilted her head as she inquired, a pang of guilt striking her chest. “I thought– I just thought that that first time you asked me out, in the hangar– that maybe you– you were interested, and that we… well, I… if these are– if this is just a friendly thing to you, I–”

“No-!!” Fives’ exclamation actually made Asha’s eyes widen. “No, Asha, it– I want them to be dates! I thought… Maker, I thought you thought they were just friendly things, I didn’t know that you–”

“...wait, so we both-?”

“We both thought-!”

“And we…!”

The two of them stumbled over their words in tandem until silence blanketed the walkway, muffling the sounds of the endless city surrounding them. They stared each other in the face for a long moment; it was Fives who cracked first. A snort, a crack in the dam that burst free into peals of laughter that Asha was quick to follow suit in, giggles tumbling freely from her as she nearly doubled over in her own amusement. The two of them laughed, loud and carefree – and as it slowly tapered off, a small hush fell over them both as they stopped to look at each other. Really look at each other.

“...you… always wear this headdress on our dates,” Fives stated plainly, a hand coming up to toy at the silver bangles and soft cloth encompassing her montrals. A small smile drew up on Asha’s lips, the whites of her facial markings flushing a bit pink. “It’s… really pretty. Have I ever told you that-?”

“No, you- you haven’t. I save it for special occasions, really… n-not like I can just wear my work goggles out on a date!” she chirped. A feeling of pure elation bubbled in her chest at saying that out loud – date. Going out on a date. They were on a date! “Fives, I… I-I really like these dates- going out with you and all… it’s… it’s nice. T-To get away from the action, and… just… just be together. I-I…”

Silence fell once again for a few moments, as Asha struggled to find the right words. And Fives waited for her – he always did.

“...I… really like you, Fives.”

Fives was an ARC trooper – elite, powerful, prepared for any situation, adaptable to any possible scenario. And yet those five words seemed to knock every single thought right out of his head, leaving him absolutely dumbstruck. It took him a moment to recover, a dark blush warming his face all the way to the tips of his ears, and he couldn’t help the soft smile that graced his features as he looked down into Asha’s eyes.

“...well, just so happens that I really like you too, Asha. I… I have for a while now.”

“Even when you first employed those emergency tactics on me, trooper?”

“Even before that.”

Asha blinked, and now it was her turn to blush. The two of them were standing quite close by this point – and Asha slowly snaked her hand into his, squeezing gently. “...walk me inside?”

“You know I always will,” Fives said in what was barely a whisper as he squeezed her hand back. Her hands, small and gentle, yet calloused with years of work and experience. His own hands, larger and rougher, scarred from battle. And yet, right at this moment as they walked inside her building, hand in hand, he had never held a hand so reverently in all his short life.

Up the lift, and to her door, they held hands all the while. It wasn’t until Fives started to draw his hand away that Asha gripped it tight, keeping him in place – well, partly. He could pull away whenever he wanted. He simply didn’t want to, not really.

“Fives, wait–” she spoke quickly, impulsively. Before she could think much further about what she was doing, she had to say something. Anything. “Stay, just a bit longer-?”

Fives made no move to pull away. In fact, quite the opposite – he stepped closer, just so, just so that she didn’t have to reach to keep his hand held in her own. He watched her closely, with those intense brown eyes of his, always scanning, always staring her down, unable to look away…

“...I-I don’t want to say good night yet,” Asha continued, unable to help but ramble. “Can’t you find some reason to stay-? Just a little longer? I-I don’t… I don’t want this one to end just yet. It doesn’t feel right to just let things just… finish for the night, and then go back to normal in the morning, and I– I don’t want you to go– mm.”

Her words died in her throat. She had barely noticed the movement – one moment, Fives was in front of her, tall and powerful, her hand gently clasped in his own as she babbled in a desperate attempt to keep him at her door. In the next moment, his hands had settled on her waist – respectful, warm, never venturing further – and he had dipped his head down, catching her rambling lips in a warm, soothing kiss. Asha’s eyes widened at the contact for the shortest of moments – but that moment was short indeed, as those sunset eyes quickly fluttered closed and she leaned up against him, her hands coming up to settle along his neck and his jaw. His kiss was experienced, confident… just like him. 

Breaking apart was difficult for the both of them. When they finally pulled away from each other, Asha barely wanted to open her eyes – but when she did, she didn’t regret it for a moment. Seeing Fives there in front of her, illuminated by the strip of light peering in from the cityscape outside, was enough to send her heart racing.

“...there. There’s my reason to stay,” he murmured, eyes never once leaving her face but continuously flitting down towards her lips. Asha’s hands slid downwards, trailing down his arms and settling in both of his own hands, and she barely had to think before her next words were already slipping out.

“Come inside-?” she asked quietly, almost whispering. What if someone heard? What if someone saw? Those panicked thoughts were quickly forced out of her mind as the two of them stumbled back through her front door, and the moment Asha had closed and locked it behind her, she could only gasp out a soft, desperate plea, already whirling around to face Fives once again.

“Kiss me again. Please.”

He was on her in an instant. His lips, his hands, yanking her close as the two of them melded together in perfect tandem. Asha let out a groan of utter want against his lips and swiped her tongue across his lip, a plea for entry, which he readily welcomed. They were backing further into the apartment now, until Asha’s legs hit the couch and they both stumbled back, landing solidly on the sub-par furniture and never once breaking apart. Her hands slid upwards, fingers combing through short-cropped hair that drew a groan from his throat, and his hands couldn’t find a place to rest. Her waist, her back, the supple flesh of her lekku – all of it mapped out by deft fingertips as he hovered over her on the couch. She moaned into his mouth and it was met with a chuckle from him, low and wanting, as he caged her against the couch with his entire body, looming over her but never imposing. No, this was not an overbearing figure of intimidation, Asha thought as she broke away from him once again, gasping for breath and gazing up at him longingly.

This wasn’t intimidation. This was safety. Being underneath him like this… she had never felt so safe.

They continued like this until they had well and truly lost track of time. Asha had all but memorized the feelings of his lips against hers – the slip of his tongue within her mouth, the sensation of his hands grasping every part of her body he could reach. It wasn’t long at all until his ministrations moved away from her lips, instead trailing downwards along her jaw, butterfly kisses planted along her jawline and her neck and the inner side of her lekku, which he deftly and carefully nudged aside. With this access granted, Fives set to work on sucking gently, earning a pitched moan from the woman beneath him as he gifted her that darkened bruise upon her neck.

“You like that…?” he murmured against her neck, watching that darkened mark bloom against crimson skin. He chuckled at her frantic nod, her hands fumbling for purchase and fingertips gliding over the smooth fabric of his blacks. “Good… you just sit back, pretty girl…”

Another hickey nibbled into her skin, another keening whine as he continued to ravish her. Gasping softly, Asha leaned her head back – a silent sign for Fives to ease up – and he leaned back to look at her. The boys in the battalion always teased Asha for being an easy blusher – the way the simplest tease would send her red face even redder, making even the white markings upon her cheeks flush into an adorable pink tint. Those teases usually end up with someone getting a wrench thrown right at their head, often making a resounding clatter when it collided with their bucket with terrifying accuracy. But this, right now? This was a kind of flustered Fives had never seen her like before. This was genuine. This was longing. This was…

“...b-bedroom– bedroom’s better…” Asha mumbled, and Fives sucked in a breath at her suggestion. His hand delicately traced her lekku before settling against her face, cupping her jaw and thumbing across her cheekbone.

“Are you sure…?” he asked softly, voice barely above a whisper as he held her. Asha’s response was a more physical one – to press herself against him, give a roll of her hips against the increasingly obvious bulge that was making itself known within the nethers of his blacks. This ripped a deep groan from the soldier atop her, and Asha gave a small, huffed laugh, and nodded her head.

“I-I’m sure, Fives…” she whispered, drawing him in for yet another kiss before her hands finally left his body, slipping into his own hands and bringing them both to stand. It dawned on Fives as she led him forward that he had no idea what her bedroom looked like – and honestly, he was pleasantly surprised by the realization that he would’ve loved it no matter what it looked like.

Settling down on her bed – blankets a soft midnight blue – Asha was quick to pull Fives back in for a heated, desperate kiss. But there was something more behind it, something needy. Longing. Carnal. It was Fives who slid his hands underneath her top, but it was Asha who made the move to shuck it off, tossing the delicate garment off and somewhere forgotten on the floor. Her chestwrap was a pale blue, and he couldn’t help but note just how damn good she looked in blue. Asha’s hands were quick to slide underneath the hem of his blacks, and he was quick to follow suit. Kisses interspersed between the frantic removal of clothing, they had finally ended up locked in an embrace on Asha’s bed, Fives hovering over her, chest pressed to hers, his hands gliding down her curves and digging into the soft plush of her hips. A smile drew up on his lips as his kisses trailed from her lips once again, earning a displeased whine from her – but he merely tutted and gave her hips a comforting squeeze before he reached up to pull her chestwrap off of her, her breasts bouncing free and settling along the soft expanse of her chest. To say she was endowed would be an understatement – it was clear just by looking at them that Asha wasn’t able to fit even one of her hands around one breast. That didn’t matter – in fact, all the better for him. A woman of soft curves and plush skin just meant he had all the more to hold onto.

Fives dipped his head to her chest and began to trail his lips down the curve of her breast, the skin soft as silk under his reverent ministrations. Delicate butterfly kisses tickled her skin and made her gasp and sigh, and Fives cupped one large breast in his hand and squished it upwards, admiring the way the alluring crimson mound molded to his grasp. A small test of her resolve involved sucking yet another hickey onto her breast, and he smiled at the gasping moan that escaped her at the lovebite he left behind.

“Gorgeous…” he murmured against her skin, a veritable starmap of hickeys decorating her neck, shoulders, and chest as he continued along her breasts, hands kneading and lips worshiping, his tongue occasionally swiping salacious stripes of warmth across her sensitive skin. As his lips trailed further downwards, down the valley of her chest between her breasts and down the soft dome of her belly, his hands slid downwards to settle upon her hips once again. “Easy now, pretty girl… I’ve got you…”

“Mm… F-Fives…” Asha gasped, her eyes blown with lust and pure adoration as her half-lidded gaze drifted down to where he was now positioned above her heated core. His fingertips dipped beneath the hem of her underwear, and he glanced up at her with hesitation in his touch.

He was asking.

Asha nodded quickly, the bangles of her headdress chiming against her montrals – in a quick moment of lucidity, she reached up to slip off the decorative garment. But Fives was faster, his hand darting up to grip her arm and stop her.

“Keep it on,” he spoke quickly, his voice husky with want. “The way they… they catch the light. Makes you look like a damn princess… my princess…”

Asha could’ve sobbed, as Fives made quick work of tugging her underwear down and slipping them off from her ankles, tossing them to the bedroom floor along with the rest of their clothes. She now lay almost entirely bare before him, save only for those silver bangles – and Fives had to pause for a moment, just to take in the sight.

“I’ve dreamed of this…” he murmured as he cradled one arm around her leg, pressing a delicate kiss to her lower thigh, just above her knee.

“...for months…” he continued, a couple more kisses placed further up her thigh, dipping inwards.

“...just to see you like this… hoping that… you’d want the same…” Each piece of his statement was punctuated with another kiss, further within the crevice of her thighs and towards their apex. Asha gasped and shivered with each one, delicate little whines escaping as her hand made its way to her mouth, trying to muffle herself. Fives looked up at her, the scruff on his chin tickling her inner thigh, and he tutted softly as he shook his head.

“No no, don’t– don’t hide it, Ash…” Fives muttered, his affectionate nickname for her falling from his lips as easily as breathing. “Lemme hear you… I’ll take care of you, pretty girl. Let it out…”

Bared before him, Asha couldn’t hide anything. Nor did she want to, as his fingers gently brushed closer to the apex of her thighs and trailed along her sensitive folds. The moment they slid within, gathering that succulent wetness on his fingertips, Asha jolted. Her hips bucked, and she whined desperately at his touch; all this served to do was pull a chuckle from him.

“Wow, okay… how long’s it been since someone’s touched you, Ash…?” Fives asked, his fingers working slowly and delicately to sufficiently lubricate her. Asha’s response was nearly lost amidst her panting moans, but she finally gasped out an answer that made Fives physically still himself.

“T-Two– two cycles–”

“...cycles?” Fives echoed, earning a small, shy nod from the woman before him. Something awakened in him then. Something longing. Something hungry. “...well then, pretty girl… lemme help you make up for lost time.”

He dove, the flat of his tongue gliding up her slit so fervently that Asha yelped. Her eyes snapped shut as she bucked her hips, fumbling for purchase to grab anything within her grasp to steady herself. Fives’ tongue was plunging within her so readily, so needily, that he was eating her out like a man starved. Low groans of satisfaction vibrated against her core and she cried out in ecstasy, writhing desperately as she finally reached down and gripped one of his hands that was fully locked against her hip. Fives didn’t even hesitate – his grip on her hip released immediately and he instead replaced it with her hand, lacing their fingers together and letting her hang onto him as tight as she possibly could. His other hand, though, was still solidly holding onto her plush hip, no doubt leaving a beautiful imprint of his fingertips that she would cherish for days to come.

“F– Faahh– Fi~ives!!” Asha cried out, in a voice that had already readily burned itself into Fives’ memory. The tremor of her voice, the thrash of her legs, the way her hips jolted against his face – he chuckled against her core and dove in with an even deeper ferocity, the tang of her coating his tongue in a taste that he never, ever wanted to forget. He couldn’t help himself as he bucked his hips into nothing – he still had his briefs on, and he was straining against them as he rutted against the bed. He could wait, though – he could always wait. He could take care of himself later if he had to. He had one priority right now, and that was making sure Asha knew exactly how much she meant to him.

“That’s it, cyar’ika…” he all but growled into her core, his grip on her hand and on her hips tightening just slightly as he rolled his hips more fervently against the mattress, those velvety blankets. “Just… just ride it out… hff… c-come on, pretty girl, come for me…”

He latched onto her clit then, giving the neglected bundle of nerves some much-needed attention, and that twist of heat in Asha’s belly snapped. Her mouth hung open in a desperate, gasping cry as she rode out her climax, back arching, thrusting herself against his face until she could practically feel the joints in her fingers locking – and in tandem, Fives’ own friction against the bed, his own desperation, all combined with the utter radiance that was the woman in front of him hitting that peak, was enough to make him let out a deep, longing groan against her core as he felt himself reach his own release. Her own pleasure was enough to bring him to the tipping point, and his body was wracked with harsh tremors as he rode out his own climax, pressing his hips flush against the bed.

When he finally detached himself from her, his mouth was slick with her release. As he sat up, he swiped a thumb across his lips and dipped it into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the digit just to take in that taste of her again. Stars, he could get used to that taste…

Tawny eyes flitted down to the woman before him, as he slowly moved up to lay by her side. She was panting and warm, getting her bearings again after such an explosive climax, and when she finally managed to turn her head to look at him, he was greeted with the most blissful smile he’d ever seen from her in recent memory. With sluggish movements, she reached down to the hem of his briefs to help him shuck them off – softened, yes, but not really willing to wear what he just came in for any prolonged time.

“...stay…?” The single word slipped past Asha’s lips, and Fives couldn’t find it in himself to refuse. Not like he even wanted to. He nodded quietly, and gingerly he moved to stand up, slipping his arms underneath the spent togruta and hoisting her up against his chest. 

“C’mon… quick shower, get us cleaned up… then we’ll sleep, m’kay…?” he murmured as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, nuzzling his head against her montrals. “You did so good, cyar’ika… prettiest damn thing I’ve ever seen…”

“...takes one to know one…” Asha replied softly, earning a huffed laugh from the man cradling her as he nudged the door to the refresher open with his hip. “Prettiest man I’ve ever known…”

“I know, right?” Fives mused, settling Asha down to sit on the edge of the tub as he set the hot water flowing. She moved to remove her headdress, setting the bangled piece down on sink counter. “Sure, I gotta share this face, but I obviously wear it best~”

“Mm… yeah, I’m inclined to agree,” Asha giggled in response, reaching up to cup his face and draw him in for a soft, tender kiss. “I’m glad you stayed, Fives… looks like you really are my lucky number.”

Fives could only chuckle at that, before he moved to help her step under the stream of water. The two of them showered together – sensual, yes, but he knew she was exhausted after just that one round. That was something she would have to build up to, if they were to continue this.

…to continue seeing each other like this. More dates to come, more nights together. It was something most clones could only fantasize about, but right here, right now, in the arms of this beautiful, stubborn, star-spun girl… it was something he could actually grasp.

When they were both clean and dry, warm and refreshed, sleep was ready to claim them both. Clothes could be washed in the morning – for now, bed was calling them, and they readily heeded it. Asha was curled against his chest, their arms looped tight around each other in an embrace neither wanted to leave. They both knew that this could never be public – that passing each other in the hangar would have to remain nothing more than simple passes. That date nights out with other clones would have to remain inconspicuous. That future deployments would have to be accounted for, that risks would have to be kept in mind.

For now, though, none of that mattered. All that mattered was the fact that they had the chance to sleep in each other’s arms, and forget about the rest of the galaxy for one quiet night.

[s3thwrit3sstuff]

There are some popular artists on here but I figured I’d add ‘em anyways. I tried to somewhat organize it for you!! Let me know which ones you liked :))

Bleu Bledsoe & Gregory Sandomirsky:

-Cafe 130

Wilbur Soot:

-Trying not to think about it

-Amazon Standing Lamp

-Eulogy

-Around the Pomegranate

-Jubilee Line

-Melatonin 130

Lovejoy:

-Call me what you like

-Portrait of a Blank Slate

-Normal People Things

VIOLENTVIRA:

-God Complex

-I don’t care

-Luka

-Tarantula Girl

The Goo Goo Dolls:

-Iris

Will Wood:

-Cotard’s solution

Laufey:

-This is how it feels (& d4vd)

-Promise

-Let you break my heart again

-A Night to Remember

IU:

-Can’t love you anymore

K.Will:

-Please don’t (I love the mv for this one)

Usher:

-You make me wanna…

-Nice & Slow

Ciara:

-Like a Boy

Brandy & Monica:

-The Boy is mine

Queen Najia:

-Medicine

-music anon 🎶<3

Music anon, I'm sorry it took a while to reply to this ask! Life has been a little hectic (T⌓T) but I finally got the time to listen (and re-listen again and again!!!) to the songs you recommended and wowowowowowow!!

Cafe 130, Bleu Bledsoe & Gregory Sandomirsky — I loved this so much??? I don't listen to a lot of music of this genre (unless you count acoustic covers, lol) but this felt so dreamy! I constantly kept thinking of two lovers dancing together, as cheesy as that sounds. Or of a character visiting some castle in a foreign land, the mysterious king in a mask being entranced by them~ The violin and guitar go so well together, dancing step in step with the other, chasing after the other!! I loved this so much!!!! IDK how many more exclamation points I can put to show it!!! ಥωಥ

Wilbur Soot —

Trying not to think about it Is it fair to say listening to this made me feel like I was in some teenage coming-of-age film and just had an explosive fight with my best friend and now I'm on the bus ride home, staring out the window and trying to keep my tears in as I watch the scenery past by. I loved his lyricism so much! This song especially feels like reading a diary and the trumpets that come in during the interlude? The vocal layering? Chefs kiss, the regret in every sentence fuels me to write angst I swear.

Amazon Standing Lamp The guitar in the beginning literally made my ears perk up, the vibes in the very beginning piqued my interest so much. The tone set itself quickly, and I loved every second of it. And the discontented (?) plucky strings with the bridge? I need it in me actually. The lyrics made me add it to my OC's playlist immediately, lmao.

Eulogy GUITAR!!! ONCE AGAIN!!! BIG SLUT FOR IT!!! Also, how does he keep writing yearning so well??? His descriptions feel like poetry in a very angry way. I must know who hurt him - is he okay? (´;︵;`) "I wish I'd be the one who's hurt indignantly, but I can see; that the only one who hurts someone is me" BWAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! UEU UEUE UEUE!!1

Around the Pomegranate "In rapid eye moves. I fall right back to you," and if I die??? Honestly, another "I'm in a coming-of-age movie" feeling song but this song feels like I'm an outcast who just met another outcast and there's a montage of us spending the summer together and running away from bullies or lame adults. Then the bridge happens and it's a montage of me eyeing my best friend with queer angst. His voice sounded so fucking emotional!!! The way the song just ends after it??? INSANE!!!

Jubilee Line Guitar strums, save me guitar strums,,,, the quiet humming in the background spooked me when I used my headphones (lol) but I love humming along to it!!! The way he blames the city for his angst? Yes, I love directing anger at inanimate objects, that's so my genre of anything. "I'm so angry at you I'm beginning to find you in everything" I LOVE IT!!! The bridge where he talks about the barriers on the tube line/rails and how they fail??? Take me, music anon, I feel like I'm gonna faint

Melatonin 130 The beep boops made me smile when I first listened to it. Also, as someone who has insomnia, this song was giving big #relatable vibes but then he added about tucking his face in someone's neck and it became a painful kinda #relatable. ALSO THE WHOLE TALK ABOUT MEDICINE AND ANXIETY??? TAKE ME AGAIN MUSIC ANON I'M GONNA FAINT!!! The bridge??? THE BRIDGE??? OUUUUEEEEEE WHAT A GOOD SONG TO CRY TO WHILE YOU'RE SMOKING IN YOUR ROOM!!! "We're all apes with a diary book and corporate reads your pages" ????

Lovejoy —

Call me what you like The shift between Wilbur Soot's guitar strums to this band made me snort. I personally love pathetic yearning, like yes, kiss me if you need to but IDK if you need me like I need you MMMMM DELICIOUS ME THINKS "I'm not a paranoid, I'm a realist; I know you're gonna kill me!" OUGH HE IS SO PATHETIC I LOVE IT The twangy electric guitar plucks makes my brain happy. My head kept bopping just listening to this song.

Portrait of a Blank Slate The beginnings made me think of a movie montage lol. The lyrics make me think of a broody, distrustful, dude who falls for a magnetic woman who he feels will get bored of him but lord the yearning does not stop him. Her boyfriend is an asshole and the singer wants to make her happier??? I've got my head in my hands, music anon, when the interlude played I can imagine scenes of them getting closer than they should but always pulling away - hold me, music anon, hold me, please. Him apologising for it all being predictable??? What a loser (I need him).

Normal People Things HEAD BOPPING THE SECOND WE PLAY THIS!!! If I could drive, this song would need to be on the ban list, I will crash the car. This song playing during a chase scene with a delinquent and another delinquent but they're just introverted? Perfect me thinks.

VIOLENTVIRA —

God Complex Ough, ouGH OUGHOUGH This song reminded me of Yuno Gasai, lmao. But oh god, the lyrics??? Obsessed actually, I need this song put into a chip so I can stab it into my brain. The dark yearning??? The instrumental??? The way she keeps saying "I wanna be" to "I'm gonna be" - I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! Also reminded me of Brahms Heelshire but that's just me being a simp.

I Don’t Care OUGHGGGGGGGGHHHHH THANK YOU FOR INTRODUCING ME TO SUCH A WONDERFUL ARTIST, MUSIC ANON!!!! Her songs have been on repeat for me since the second I listened to her lORD I just know the Creepypasta speed paints back in 2010 would've loved her music. This song is giving "I don't care if this love is destructive, I'll love you until I can't anymore" OUGHGHGGHGHGHGH MUSIC ANON HOLD ME AGAIN

Luka This song was so sad but knowing why she made it made me physically hold back my tears, especially the voice note at the end?? :((( Her lyrics, and the video description, I was teary-eyed reading it. The chorus is so heartwrenching (;﹏;) "I'm always pulled back to your soul" (´;︵;`)

Tarantula Girl This song reminded me of the time I was 13 and listening to Three Days Grace or Get Scared omg - I love vampiric love songs!!! GIVE ME MOREEEEEEEE!!! Was head bopping the entire time listening to this!! Also the instrumental scratches the itch in my brain "I kinda want you to stay, gimme the sweetest taste" OOOOUGHHH IM SO ILL also her voice is so good I'm obsessed

Iris, The Goo Goo Dolls — this song gave me SUCH a flashback please FNIERUHGRG I remember the fucking Wattpad trailers with this song, also when I was 15 and I had a crush on a girl in school I put this song in the Spotify playlist I made for her LMAOOOO Such a bop, and one with so many memories!! the OG yearning song for me personally

Cotard's Solution, Will Wood — piano, save me piano. the spookiness of the song made me sway a little in my seat while listening to this but then it got more and more unhinged and the way the vocals and instrumentals matched up with each other??? Insane actually!! "Sha na na na na na, free will!" made me giggle The song reminded me of old animes that I could never watch because my mom disapproved of my uncle's anime CD stash but specifically that one old anime about that vampire Van Hellsing? The vibes!!!

Laufey —

This is how it feels (& d4vd) I'm gonna be honest, I never actually listened to Laufey - no reason, just never got the time too so this list made me so excited!!! d4vd's voice reminds me of Disney Prince's serenading oh lord, so good. Then Laufey's voice joins in with the piano??? The yearning?? The violins?? You're out to get me, music anon, aren't you??? (this reminded me of satosuguynkento - "sorry for leaving like that, you don't deserve to get caught in my mess. loving you is just so difficult, i don't know how i should tell you that. I've fallen for somebody else, happened so quickly i lost myself. a shadow of you drifts by my window" especially. I'm going insane, I'm unwell, I'm ill.)

Promise THIS SONG??? EVERY TIME A FUCKING JJK EDIT CAME ON WITH THIS SONG, ESPECIALLY THE LYRICS "I've done the math-" SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!!! Okay, but the lyrics? The instrumentals? Laufey better be ready to be charged with my therapy bill, I cannot do this anymore, I'm physically ill(er). another song that reminded me of satoyn - "Honestly, I didn't think about How we didn't say goodbye Just see you very soon It hurts to be something It's worse to be nothing with you" I'm deceased.

Let you break my heart again Just so you know, I had this song on loop when I "broke up" with my 4-year long situationship and sobbed my eyes out. It also me realize I have in fact listened to Laufey and she will most definitely be sent my psychotherapy bills.

A Night to Remember I braced myself for this song because so far it has not looked good for my mental health but I was greeted with such a smooth jazzy introduction and seductive songs and lyrics and I cautiously let my guard down. This song playing makes me think of two characters dancing in those wood, smokey, wine-glass-filled clubs. Made me think of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, lmao. The orchestra rising and falling in the background - oh god, I had to pace my room while listening to this. The vocals, the sultry tone, the instruments in the background OUHGHGHGHGHGGH I'm so gonna write something based off this song it's too good, I wish to consume it.

Can't Love You Anymore, IU — Nation's Little Sister never misses!!! I was preparing for a back-and-forth angry singing, but the resigned yet spiteful lyrics being delivered so smoothly made me go insane!!! "When I see you, I keep seeing myself in you, and I hate it" OUEUEUEUEEUE YOU WANT ME TO EXPLODE!!!! "I don't think we're in love anymore," the casual way they just sing it OUGH OUGHHHHHHH Like you expect things to be more explosive or dramatic, but the way it just happens and they're just tryna ignore it, hopes something sparks but it doesn't???? If I didn't read the lyrics, I'd honestly just bop to this in a cafe.

Please Don't, K.Will — THE FAMOUS MUSIC VIDEO LMAO. I honestly never read the lyrics to the song and watched the MV one time so it was such a pleasant time revisiting this masterpiece. The yearning, the pleading to not be left and the panic he feels as his lover grows more and more distant??? Ough hold me again please music anon,,,,,

Usher —

You make me wanna… The juxtaposition of Usher's songs next to the previous ones made me wipe away my tears and get ready to body roll seductively. The casual mention of infidelity and the infamous girl-best-friend syndrome oh lord, the lyrics feel so wrong but the vocals and the song make you feel less guilty. Do you think Satoru played this song when he was boinking Suguru while YN was depressed in the background, lmao?

Nice & Slow Usher whispering in my ear about coming over to my house made me think of those boyfriend ASMR videos and IDK how I feel about it LMAO This song plays when an early 2000s rom-com movie introduces a hot guy with cheekbones for days and also wears a scarf for no reason other than fashion (we respect it tbh).

Like A Boy, Ciara — Her spelling her name in the beginning was so cunty. ALSO, I KNEW THIS SONG SOUNDED FAMILIAR AND THE CHORUS PLAYED AND I WAS INSTANTLY HEAD BOPPING!!!

The Boy is Mine, Brandy & Monica — Had to immediately pace my room for this song, the edits playing in my brain making me go insane all over again. Such a classic tbh, should put this song in a national treasure vault so that when aliens find the carcass of our planet they can also bop to this song.

Medicine, Queen Najia — "Give you a taste of your own medicine," I love it when women succeed and enact their revenge. "imma leave you crying," OUGH IM IN LOVE! Also, I had a feeling this song trended on Tiktok and the "not for you, but for him" popped up BUT I NEVER KNEW IT CAME FROM SUCH A CUNTY SONG???? LOVE IT SO MUCH!!

[keldae]

“They’re good for each-other.”

No matter how hard Thexan tried to dodge the rumour mill on campus, he still heard more than he wanted (mostly courtesy of Arcann, who seemed to have an ear to the ground at all times. The struggles of having a twin in the arts programs.). Still, some of it was interesting to listen to and quietly judge.

And some of it, he had a front row seat to – especially where his and Arcann's neighbours were concerned. Theron and Jonas seemed to have known each other since high school, and somehow hadn't killed each other yet. Although with how many girls Jonas kept bringing back to their room, kicking Theron out in the process, Thexan suspected there was going to be a murder before the Christmas break.

"No way," Arcann refuted Thexan's theory with a little smirk. "It gives Theron an excuse to go hang out in Xaja's room."

And that was the other bit of drama that Thexan could watch every day. How could Xaja not realize that Theron, obvious idiot that he was, had eyes for the petite redhead from the sociology program?

"For that matter," Thexan pointed out as he looked up from his textbook on Middle Eastern diplomacy, "how does that nerd not realize Xaja's got a crush on him? It's so obvious!"

"You are in no place to call anyone a nerd, Mister Political Science Major," Arcann retorted, not looking up from his own book on Michaelangelo. "But I agree. They're idiots."

"They're good for each other," Thexan said, after flipping his brother off. "And I think they know it. Subconsciously, anyway."

Arcann glanced up. "What, are you double-majoring in psychology now?"

Thexan rolled his eyes, then looked up with a little frown at a muffled, frustrated-sounding exclamation from the dormitory hallway. "Ahh, sounds like Theron's getting kicked out again."

"Really?" Arcann set his book down, then got up and moved over to the door.

"Arcann! You're not twelve, dammit!" Thexan hissed as his twin started to crack the door open.

"Shh!" Arcann hissed, peeking out of the door. "Yep, that's Theron," he whispered back to Thexan. "And… yep, there he goes, knocking on Xaja's door."

"Is this part of Jonas' evil plan to wingman for Theron?" Thexan asked, curious despite himself. "Make him spend time with a pretty girl he caught feelings for?"

Arcann snorted. "Okay, door's opening – and yep, Xaja's home. And… there we go, they're talking, Xaja's laughing, and–" He suddenly jerked back, eyes wide. "... Oops."

"Did they catch you?" Thexan asked with a grin.

".... Maybe."

A muffled "Fuck you too, Arcann!" came through the door, in Theron's definitely-annoyed voice.

Arcann poked his head back out the door. "Buy me a drink first!" he called back. Through the wall, Thexan swore he heard a muffled laugh from Torian in the next room over.

Theron muttered something unintelligible, but probably rude, at Arcann, then there was the sound of a door clicking. Arcann stepped back into his own room, grinning. "Well, they're still together, and I'm pretty sure Kira is off at the gym, so…"

"You'd make a terrible spy," Thexan pointed out. "And you do make an awful wingman. 'Buy me a drink first'?"

Arcann paused. "... I probably should have said something about how Xaja probably would have objected," he slowly said. "... But then she probably would have murdered me, while blushing like an emergency light. The short ones like her are always the scary ones."

"Chicken," Thexan said with a grin.

"Asshole," Arcann muttered. "Maybe this'll be the day Theron finally asks her out?"

Thexan snorted. "And maybe Jonas will decide to become a monk. Maybe you should switch to journalism and put all your theories in the school paper."

"Nah, Lana's already doing that." Arcann grinned and sat back down, pulling his textbook into his lap again. "Your politics classes not giving you any ideas for how to wingman two idiots?"

"If they did, I would have used them already." Thexan tilted his head in thought. "But maybe I'll read ahead in the syllabus and see if anything can be applied to this…"

"Yeah, you're a bigger nerd than the computer geek we're trying to set up."

"... Bitch."

"Jerk."

[thehotboxsocial]

Lil Wayne Features

Cannon (Remix) [Drama feat. Lil Wayne, Willie The Kid, Freeway & T.I.] (2007)

We Takin' Over [DJ Khaled feat. T.I., Akon, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman & Lil Wayne] (2007)

Duffle Bag Boy [Playaz Circle feat. Lil Wayne] (2007)

Make It Rain [Fat Joe feat. Lil Wayne] (2006)

White Girl [Juvenile feat. Lil Wayne & Birdman] (2001)

Gettin Some (Remix) [Shawnna feat. Ludacris, Too Short, Lil Wayne & Pharrell] (2006)

Codeine Dreaming [Kodak Black feat. Lil Wayne] (2017)

Ride Out [Murder Mil feat. Lil Wayne, B.G. & Beanie Sigel] (2001)

Rich N----z [Juvenile feat. Lil Wayne, Mannie Fresh, Turk & Paparue] (1998)

N----z In Trouble [B.G. feat. Lil Wayne & Juvenile] (1999)

Bullet Wound [Gucci Mane feat. Lil' Wayne & Young Scooter] (2013)

Lost [Gorilla Zoe feat. Lil Wayne] (2008)

4 Minutes [Juvenile feat. Lil Wayne, B.G., Mannie Fresh & Turk] (2001)

I Know [B.G. feat. Lil Wayne] (2000)

Demolition Pt. 1 [Gudda Gudda feat. Lil Wayne] (2009)

Bands A Make Her Dance (Remix) [Juicy J feat Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz] (2012)

Hustle Hard (Remix) [Ace Hood feat. Rick Ross & Lil Wayne] (2008)

Ain't It Man [Boo & Gotti feat. Lil Wayne] (2003)

U-Way (Remix) [Youngbloodz feat. Lil Wayne] (1999)

Luxury Tax [Rick Ross feat. Lil Wayne, Jeezy & Trick Daddy] (2008)

Screwed Up [Trae Tha Truth feat. Lil Wayne] (2007)

Stand Up [Lil Scrappy feat. Lil Wayne] (2008)

Gangsta Muzik [Fiend feat. Lil Wayne] (2009)

Get It All Together [Birdman feat. Lil Wayne] (2005)

Let The Thugs In The Club [Mack 10 feat. Lil Wayne & B.G.] (2001)

Ball [T.I. feat. Lil' Wayne] (2012)

Bend It Ova (Remix) [5th Ward Weebie feat. Lil Wayne] (2008)

Dem Boys [Willie D feat. Scarface & Lil Wayne] (2000)

Playin It Raw [B.G. feat. Lil Wayne, Turk & Juvenile] (1999)

Forgot About Me [Scarface feat. Lil Wayne & Bun B] (2008)

Truffle Butter [Nicki Minaj feat. Lil Wayne] (2015)

Roger That [Young Money feat. Nicki Minaj, Tyga & Lil Wayne] (2009)

Stand Up [T.I. feat. Trick Daddy, Lil' Jon & Lil' Wayne] (2004)

Take Kare [Young Thug feat. Lil Wayne] (2015)

Flossin' [Outta Control Ballers feat. Lil Wayne] (1998)

Shawty Say [David Banner feat. Lil Wayne] (2008)

Kryptonite (Remix) [Killer Mike Lil Wayne, Big Boi, Busta Rhymes & Bubba Sparxxx] (2006)

Batman (Remix) [LPD Poody feat. Lil Wayne & Moneybagg Yo] (2021)

Breakin' My Heart [Little Brother feat. Lil' Wayne] (2007)

Kitten [Kash Doll feat. Lil Wayne] (2019)

dl        yt

An official document of Wayne’s prolific 3-decade run will yield hundreds of songs so consider this humble compilation a work in progress. Much like how Noz has done 100-packs on Young Thug, Future & Chief Keef, Wayne deserves the same treatment but in at least 3 volumes. I’m thinking something like this: 100 for features, 100 mixtape/beat jacks, 100 from his officially solo/Hot Boys/Stunna albums at minimum. 

I’ve actually contemplated doing all the work myself but I don’t have the time to get too passion projecty right now. Maybe someone can take these 40 foundation features and build until we develop a crowd sourced multi-volume best of Wayne library. Just don’t be one of those Wayne-really-got-started-in-2005 ass minions and neglect his Hot Boys era shit! And while I’m using exclamation points also please stop ranking his full-lengths on twitter! Leave the album ranking to the Jay-Z stans!  Wayne’s output is so scattershot across so many years for all that and being an Album Artist is boring anyway! But being the greatest rapper of all time is exciting!!

Bonus Beats: Lil Wayne R&B Features

Soldier [Destiny's Child feat. T.I. & Lil Wayne] (2004)

Can't Believe It [T-Pain feat. Lil Wayne] (2008)

Turnin' Me On [Keri Hilson feat. Lil Wayne] (2009)

Roll Call [Ciara feat. Lil Wayne & Lil Jon] (2009)

Freeze (Po Pimpin') [Aniyah Rachelle feat. Lil Wayne] (2009)

You Know What [Avant feat. Lil Wayne & Jermaine Dupri] (2005)

So Good (Remix) [Electrik Red feat. Lil Wayne] (2009)

Ride On [TQ feat. Lil Wayne] (1999)

dl         yt

[mrhyde-mrseek]

SCIENCE MOST SINISTER - PART EIGHT

For once, Holmes was content to allow someone else to do the explaining.

The House all surrounded Van Helsing in the study, waiting with varying degrees of patience for him to begin. Holmes held his pipe between his teeth but did not smoke it, holding the bowl with his fingertips and leaning forward with his elbow on his knee. The other hand drummed a staccato beat on the arm of the sofa as he watched Van Helsing expectantly.

At last, the aged professor cleared his throat with a guttural cough and began, “I suspect the most Gwen has ever told any of you of her life before joining us is that she is an American archeologist and Egyptologist, and was forced to suspend her career in the United States almost a year ago.”

A chorus of nods answered.

“What she did not tell you was why she came to England—or that she was nearly convicted of murder.”

The room erupted in shocked exclamations and confused murmurs. Holmes, too, was taken aback at the revelation—Van Helsing had told him that Gwen had been cursed, and that the curse was most likely the reason for the recent inexplicable goings-on, but he had not divulged that.

Van Helsing silenced them again with a raised hand. “There are some parts of her story that I cannot share for reasons regarding her own privacy, but what I can say will provide enough explanation.

“Less than two years previous, she and her fellow archeologists traveled to Cairo to search for the tomb of an ancient pharaoh, the name of whom she never told me for fear of it in itself being taboo. The tomb itself bore signs of once having been raided, but Gwen’s team paid no mind.

“Of the artifacts they brought back to New York, what intrigued her and her mentor the most was a pendant inscribed with hieroglyphs. As best as they could translate, the hieroglyphs bespoke a curse: anyone who took it from the pharaoh’s tomb would invoke the destruction of Sekhmet, and would meet death by a disease no doctor could cure.” (Jekyll made a choked sound at this.) “Gwen was disturbed by this threat, but her mentor payed it no mind—until he began exhibiting eerily similar symptoms to you, Jekyll.

“Gwen believes the people who raided the tomb before her excavation meant to take the pendant with them, but either dropped it or forgot it on their way out. Being the one to take it out of the tomb, the curse was instead passed to her.”

“So . . . what happened to her mentor?” the Time Traveller asked cautiously, as if scared of the answer.

“He died,” Van Helsing answered. “The doctors could find no reasonable explanation for his death, so they assumed Gwen was involved in it, having been with him when the symptoms first showed. To escape punishment for a crime she did not intentionally commit, she secretly boarded a ship bound for England. The rest you all know quite well.”

Holmes tapped the stem of the pipe against his teeth. “It sounds to me as though it was Gwen’s mentor who was cursed, and not her,” he pointed out.

Van Helsing shook his head. “I have looked into this a bit; although I have unearthed very little about the curse, as I understand, the bearer of the curse is condemned to inflict the disease on those around them.”

“Thus the reason Gwen has locked herself in her chamber—she doesn’t want to infect anyone else.” Van Helsing nodded in confirmation.

Watson gave a long sigh, head resting in his hand. “Poor girl,” he murmured mournfully. “No wonder she was so reluctant to tell us her story when she first came here.”

Holmes, however, was not satisfied with that answer. Too many questions were left unanswered still. Where did the well come from? Why did Jekyll only contract this disease after falling into it? How were they to explain the hallucinations and the earlier destruction to Jekyll’s laboratory?

And who was the Mastermind?

~•~

Holmes was still mulling over these questions some time later in his and Watson’s bedchamber. He stood alone in the middle of the floor, only half paying attention to the song his fingers played on his violin (in the middle of repeating the melody, he realized it was Arthur Sullivan’s “The Lost Chord”).

He recognized the footsteps coming through the door as Watson’s without even turning around. His assumption was confirmed when the doctor passed him to the bookcase of medical volumes in the corner, singing the lyrics almost too softly to be heard over the violin. He smiled to himself—though Watson was too humble to admit it, he had one of the loveliest voices Holmes had ever heard.

“I hope,” he said suddenly, lowering the instrument so he could speak, “you know you will find nothing new in there, seeing as you know all of those books cover to cover?”

“I do know that.” Watson flipped the pages of one book rapidly, before putting it atop the bookcase and reaching for another. “It is empty hope, I suppose.”

He made to put it back in the bookcase, but Holmes laid his hand on its faded grey cover before he could. Their eyes met, and as he had been a thousand times before, Holmes was struck once again by the warmth in Watson’s brown eyes, how the gold flecks in the irises sparked and glittered like embers from a blazing fire.

Then Watson’s gaze wavered. Startled, Holmes took a step back. “What is it?”

Watson opened his mouth, but no words came out. He tried again, and this time he said, “I should be able to help Gwen and Jekyll. But if Jekyll’s illness truly has no cure . . . I feel like I’ve failed him.”

“You have not failed him.” Watson’s fear and frustration was palpable, and Holmes now felt himself growing even more anxious. His hands steepled and he began tapping his fingertips together. Almost immediately, he felt the knot in his chest loosen. “You have not failed anyone. All this is is a mystery—one great, puzzling mystery.”

Watson attempted a halfhearted smile. “We have certainly dealt with our fair share of those.”

“My point exactly. This is hardly any different from the rest. Disregarding the inherently occult factor of this one, of course,” he added, which got a genuine smile out of the doctor.

“What do you plan to do, then?”

“At the moment, I am not sure.” But even as the words left his mouth, he did know.

Leaving Watson to preoccupy himself with his books, he went down to the hallway with the telephone. He had once briefly met with a solicitor while on a case, one of the multiple Watson had not bothered to publish, and he hoped the man would be of help now.

“Hello?” the man on the other end of the line said, sounding rather surprised at receiving the phone call.

“Are you Mr. Jonathan Harker?” asked Holmes.

“Yes, I am,” said the man tentatively.

“Mr. Harker, I am Mr. Holmes. I believe you assisted me in a similar way a handful of years ago—I was hoping you would help me look into the legal and historical background of the house I am currently in residence in. . . .”

[volcanicmudbubbles]

Mrs Norris, who seems to have been obsessing about her youngest sister’s situation for over a decade, starts floating the idea that they bring one of this sister's many children to Mansfield — the eldest girl, who's 9 years old.

Mrs Norris: It won’t be that expensive, compared to what a benefit it will be to the girl and to my sister. It would be so typically generous of you!

Sir Thomas: But we must do everything that is right for her, for years, to justify taking her from her family. And she might — my sons —

Mrs Norris: exclamation about how good Sir Thomas is, followed by a monologue on how little she herself considers either the expense or the extra workload on herself

Mrs Norris: And if she were raised here, she would naturally absorb the best qualities of everyone in this family without any of us trying particularly hard, or spending a ha’penny on her. She’ll be admired in the neighborhood just for being a niece of Sir Thomas Bertram! Someone will marry her and take her off your hands, I’m sure of it.

Mrs Norris: As to your sons: raised among them, she’ll be too much like a sister for them to think of her.

Sir Thomas: I’m sure you are right. I only meant to say that if no one does offer for her, we must ensure she’s provided for as a gentlewoman should be, since we’ll have raised her to expect it.

Mrs Norris: exclamation about how good Sir Thomas is, followed by a monologue on how warm-hearted she herself always has been, and how little she considers cost

Mrs Norris: Worry about nothing, Sir Thomas. I have it all planned. I know the cheapest way to get her here!

A day or so later:

Lady Bertram: Shall she go to your house first, or come here?

Mrs Norris: My husband is ill, you know. Gout! He needs all my attention. Of course I would take her, but …

Sir Thomas:

Mrs Norris: If she’s here, she can study with your girls’ governess, and live in that little room in the attic by the housemaids, who can help her dress — then she won’t even need her own maid. Really, she won't cost you anything.

Mrs Norris: I hope she’ll be a quiet child, and grateful for everything we’ve done for her.

Sir Thomas: Oh, she’ll be ignorant and vulgar and hold some low-class opinions, but since she’s younger than my girls, I’m sure they’ll influence her for the better, rather than her dragging them down.

Sir Thomas: But! We do face a matter of some delicacy. I said we should raise her as a gentlewoman, and so we shall; but she never will be a Miss Bertram. My girls must always be cognizant of their own superiority. They are the daughters of the house, and should never forget it — while not making their little cousin feel too badly about it. I of course would want the girls to be friends, but they must all realize they’re not equals.

Me: Is this the point where Mrs Norris makes a tongue-in-cheek comment about understanding this game quite, quite well?

Me: wonders why I have so much compassion for this humorless woman who won't see there's a game at play

Me: admires the way Jane Austen sets up this entire novel in its first chapter

All: Does anybody remember the child's name?