#i just wanna get high and talk about trailer park boys

[plutonium-love]

i fear i may be too autistic for this damn website

[epicrainbowsheep]

You're such a dork

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

*Warning blowjob with cum that isn't amazingly taste, especially when said man does weed and other illegal stuff*

Eddie finally graduates and is at the mall with the hellfire club and see's you across the food court. Reader has graduated from University and has come back to Hawkins for good. Running into each other you decide to catch up at his trailer...

Enjoy 😘

It's summer in Hawkins and school has finished for the year, the mall was filled with prepubescent teenagers and seniors who have recently graduated celebrating finally being out of the hell that is high school. One group was more rambunctious than most, Eddie and his hellfire crew were celebrating him finally finishing school, over burgers in the food court.

“Well done Eddie” Gareth yelled and slapped him on the back, Eddie nearly spitting out his drink. “I’m proud of myself, just needed to do the bare minimum of attendance and BAM!” He suddenly stands up holding up his drink like hero, “Nearly instant diploma” Dustin slaps his leg “Took three goes”, all of them laughed and continued talking about their summer plans with finishing school for the year.

Eddie’s eyes caught a familiar face as he bit into his burger, it was (Y/N) he hadn’t seen her since she graduated, in his first senior year. Eddie grinned like the Cheshire Cat, remembering what they used to get up to after school, starting the hellfire group together, “Boys I’ll be back in a minute” he says as he stands up and jogs up to you, who’s looking confused.

————————————————————————

“Okay now Uncle Bruce told me to get-“ 

“(Y/N)!”

You whipped your head up and saw Eddie running towards you, panting as soon as he got to you. “Long time no see sweetheart” looking at you as you turned around, you’d changed a lot since he last saw you. Hair is (longer/shorter) and your skin looks absolutely radiant, your body filling out more and your fashion sense definitely changed. 

“Eddie! It’s so good to see you” you smiled, your confusion fading as soon as you saw his face, his hair was longer but not much had changed about him, still wearing his leather jacket and his battle vest with more patches decorated all over.

“You look absolutely gorgeous (Y/N), I haven’t seen you since you left for collage” his eye’s still had the same sparkle in them since you last saw him, “It’s been a while Eds but I’m back for good now! Graduated with my bachelors, back in Hawkins for good” You scratch the back of your head smiling at Eddie, “What have you been up too?”.

“Pretty much the same, still doing hellfire, playing with my band, graduating high school…” he looked away sheepishly when the look of shock hearing the last of his sentence. “Really Eddie! It took you three years of doing senior year?!” You said gobsmacked, “Third times a charm” he looks away unable to face you directly.

“Well better late then never Eddie” You looked into his face while smiling and put your hand on his shoulder, his smiled back, your smile was always infectious. “Well since you’ve graduated we should-“ 

“EDDIE YOU COMING? MOVIE STARTS SOON” Mike yelled in his direction.

“YEAH EDDIE COME ON!!!” Dustin yelled with him.

“IN A SEC!” Eddie yells back, “(Y/N) I wanna keep talking but the boys are calling” he says turning his attention back to you. “Thats fine Eddie you still at the trailer park? I can stop by with Chinese food, and we can catch up like we used too~” your hinting didn’t escape him.

“Ssounds like a plan babe” Eddie tries to play it cool, but his voice fails him breaking mid sentence. (Y/N) laughs and kissed him on the cheek “See you later”.

Eddie was feeling giddy as you walked off, holding the cheek that you kissed. “Dude who was that?” Lucas said as the boys came up behind him, Eddie didn’t even realise they were there until Gareth spoke.

“That was one of the original co-founders of hellfire (Y/N), she was Eddie’s fuck buddy” Eddie cringed at his wording, “She was more than a fuck buddy” he grumbled the younger boys still trying to get their heads around that she was one of the co-founders.

“Let’s go we’re gonna miss the movie!” Dustin piped up.

———————————————————————————

You turned into the trailer park where Eddie has lived since you can remember, memories of you both walking back drunk through the forrest from parties held at Harrington’s house, or watching Eddie smoke a joint while sharing a bottle of whiskey.

Slamming the car door, making sure to grab the Chinese food that was in the front seat, barely knocking before the door is ripped open with a very excited Eddie standing behind it. He looked like he just had a shower, hair blowdried, fresh cologne, and a totally different outfit to the one he was wearing earlier at the mall.

“Hope your hungry, I picked up Chinese food” you held up the plastic bag as you walked past, placing the bag on the coffee table in front of the TV. “Absolutely starving sweetheart” he said while he plopped himself on the couch, you both got out the food and started eating.

Both chatting, Eddie just shoving food into his mouth, speaking with his mouth full the entire time. You smiled remembering that he still ate the same as he did when you both were still in high school, both geeking over DnD and discussing who was the better band, Kiss or Metallica. 

“So Eddie you seeing anyone?” You said, facing him as you both finish eating. “No haven’t really dated anyone seriously, most of the girls in Hawkins can’t handle all of this” His hands went up and down his body as he spoke.

“True, the girls here have basically no taste” you shuffled closer to Eddie on the couch with your hand slowly going up and down on his thigh, “A-are you seeing anyone?” He managed to get out, not expecting things to turn this fast.

“No, the boys at collage don’t match up to the man I’ve had waiting for me back in Hawkins” you purred into his ear, “I’ve missed you Eddie” your hand hovered over his growing bulge.

“Let me make it up to you~” licking the shell of his ear, shuddering as your hand squeezed his cock through his jeans. “Yesss babe, you’ve got a lot of time to make up for” him saying that you unzip his pants, shoving them down to his ankles, moving from the couch to kneel between his knees.

“Well then, I better get to work” You give his dick a few pumps, licking from the base of his cock to the tip, making sure it was wet enough to slide into your mouth.

“Fuck baby” Eddie cries out as your mouth swallows his dick, you hollow out out mouth to suck even harder as you reach the base of his cock, holding it there, deep throating him, making sure to worshipping his 6 inch cock. His mind goes blank with pleasure as you continue to suck his cock, twirling your tongue around his shaft.

“Shit sweetheart just like that” he whines out as you pick up the pace, your neck starting to strain since it’d had been awhile since you’d given head. “Y-you know just how I like it-t, deep and fast” he babbled, “You’re such a dirty wench, like an npc bar maid” you couldn’t help but think while sucking his cock ‘He’s such a dork’.

Your hand goes down to cup his balls, knowing that would bring him over the edge, “Shit baby I’m gonna cum” his hand gripped your hair, now being able to feel your head bobbing up and down on his cock. You pull on his balls he screeches “FUCCKKK (Y/N) BAABBYYYYYY” he grips your head tighter, keeping your head there as his cum fills your mouth.

Unable to move your head, Eddie’s cum bursts into your mouth, the horrible tasting thick cum forcing its way down your throat, choking on the foulness of his cum you pull off and rush to the bathroom, gagging the whole way just making it in time to the toilet to hurl up the Chinese food you just ate.

Eddie was in such bliss he didn’t realise you’d run off straight away, when he came down from cloud nine he heard you gagging in the bathroom. Realising what was happening he rushed to stand up, forgetting his pants were still around his ankles he fell flat on his face.

“Fuck” He groaned out rolling on his back while rubbing his nose, scrambling to his feet, kicking his pants and boxes off in the process. Stumbling his way he slammed into the door frame of the bathroom, looking down at you, wiping your mouth with toilet paper. 

“Eddie your cum tastes foul, it never was that bad!” You looked at him as you stood, “Sorry (Y/N) I had no idea it was that horrible, are you okay?” He walked to the cupboard and handed you mouthwash, you thanked him and gargled till you got the taste out of your mouth. 

“I’ll survive” you chuckled, “I don’t even know why it tastes that bad” Eddie walked you over to the couch where you both sat down. “It’s cause you do drugs Eddie, it makes your cum taste horrible, it was tolerable when we were in our seniors since it was just weed” you laughed cuddling into him.

“Shit I didn’t know that, it’s in the brain bank now, saved for future endeavours” He slid his arm around you, pulling your body even closer. “Especially since you’re here for good now” His hand lifted your chin, his lips inches from yours, you moving the last few inches until your lips met in a sweet kiss.

“Now baby let’s get back to watching that movie” He grabbed the remote and pressed play as you both snuggled in closer, starting off where you guys left off when you left for collage.

“Eddie?”

“Yes babe?”

“You’re suck a dork”

[luvfae]

NUMBER EIGHT

summary: for your final year of high school you devise a list full of goals, number 8 being to fuck your childhood crush.

fandom: stranger things

parings: eddie x f reader

warnings: smut, spanking, choking, degrading, hair pulling, swearing

part two

You wanted this year to be different. It was your last year of high school and you were tired of living out the same boring routine day in, day out. So you made a list, a list of things you wanted to do before you graduated and surprisingly enough a week until you graduated school you had completed everything from getting A’s in every class to finally becoming cheer captain, except there was one thing you were holding off on.

‘Number 8: Fuck my childhood crush, Eddie Munson.’

You stared down at the paper for a good five minutes, as you did everyday, contemplating whether today was gunna be the day.

Before high school you were nobody special, just another girl with hardly any friends. You found yourself stuck with Eddie Munson, he would tease you but at the end of the day he was your best friend, and you had a huge crush on him for years. Until high school started and surprisingly people took a liking to you and slowly you climbed the social ladder, becoming extremely popular.

Since then you and Eddie had obviously drifted, the pair of you didn’t even recognise each other anymore. But you just had to fuck him, because even though you’d never say it out loud, deep down even after all these years, you had carried your crush with you for the entirety of high school.

You sighed, glancing around as the school bell rang, signalising that you could now go home. As students began to crowd the corridor you stuffed your list into your bag, walking out of the school. You saw Eddie getting into his van and pursed your lips. Did you really want to go off to college living with the regret of not even trying?

-

Later that night you got ready to go. You had touched up your makeup, fixed you hair and even put of your favourite pair of lingerie. Then you drove to Eddie’s trailer, the place he had lived the entire time you had known him. You saw his van parked out the front and took a deep breath, getting out of your car and walking to his front door.

Your hand shook a little as you knocked on the wood. You didn’t really know why you were so nervous about this, you were the head cheerleader for heavens sake. Most boys were dying to fuck you.

The door swung open and you nearly jumped out of your skin once you came face to face with Eddie. He looked confused, squinting his eyes at you.

“Y/N?” He asked. You looked up at him, your palms starting to sweat. You hadn’t spoken to him in years. “Are you okay? Do you wanna come inside?” He asked, stepping aside.

You walked inside, everything looked the same as it did before. You turned around to face him again as he closed the front door. Eddie looked at you expectantly, waiting for you to explain yourself, but you remained silent, too afraid to talk.

“Oh, let me guess, you want weed?” He asked.

You cleared your throat. “No… I don’t,” you replied, hugging yourself.

Eddie chuckled. “Yeah, I forgot, your a role model student,” he said. “If you don’t want drugs, what do you want?” He asked.

You sighed, stepping closer to him. “Back in middle school we were friends, do you remember?” you began.

“How could I forget?” He replied. “We were basically attached by the hip.”

“Yeah… well, anyway, I had the biggest crush on you. I mean like it was obsessive,” you said. Eddie furrowed his eyebrows. “To cut a long story short I made a list of goals I wanted to achieve before graduation and just… read number 8,” you said, pulling the list from your jacket pocket and handing it to him.

“Fuck my childhood crush, Eddie Munson,” he read aloud. You screwed up your face, groaning.

“This was stupid, right? I never should of came here,” you chuckled, stealing the list from his hand. “I’ll just go, you don’t want to fuck me, you hate people like me,” you said, shaking your head. You spun around to leave but Eddie grabbed your wrist, moving you to face him again.

“I don’t hate you, Y/N,” Eddie said. “Even though you joined the dark side I could never hate you. I had a crush on you too in middle school,” he said. Your eyes lit up at his words. “I actually didn’t get over my crush on you up until two years ago,” he sighed. “And still, sometimes I find myself lingering on the thought of you.”

“So do I,” you whispered. Eddie smiled.

“I’ll help you with your 8th goal, one rule, i’m in charge,” he said. You smiled widely, nodding profusely, already feeling yourself getting wet. You moved forward, hands wrapping around his neck as you reached on your tip toes to kiss him.

His hands made their way to your ass as his tongue roamed your mouth. Your cheerleader uniform was hoisted over your waist as he picked you up. Your legs instinctively wrapping around his torso as he carried you to his bedroom, gently throwing you onto the bed.

You tugged at his shirt, begging him with your eyes to take it off and he gladly obliged, dropping the fabric to the ground. But it wasn’t fair that you got to stay dressed, so you sat up, pulling your jacket and your uniform off, leaving you in only your underwear.

Eddie’s eyes roamed your body before he dived down, kissing you from your mouth all the way down to your thighs. You breathed shakily as his fingers hooked around the waistband of your panties, dragging them off of your body and discarding them with the rest of your clothes.

He took his pants and boxers off and you stared down at his length, your eyes widening. “Jesus Christ, you’re huge,” you breathed, eyes glued to his hard dick. Eddie laughed at your statement before hovering over you again, kissing your lips and neck. You groaned. “I thought you said you were in charge,” you said.

Eddie looked up at you. “I did say that, yes,” he replied.

“Then why aren’t you fucking me like a whore already?” You asked. “I’ve waited too long for this to give a shit about foreplay,” you said.

Eddie raised his eyebrows at your words. “If you want me to fuck you like a whore then I can fuck you like a whore,” he said.

“Good,” you replied. He flipped you onto your stomach and you gasped as he forced your ass into the air, your back arched, and slid his cock inside of you without warning.

You moaned loudly, fingers gripping his sheets as he being to thrust his hips into yours. Every thrust was hitting that spot and you couldn’t stop the sinful noises from escaping your lips.

Eddie grabbed a fist full of your hair, forcing your head up. “Is this what you wanted?” He asked, fucking you faster.

“Yes,” you moaned. He let go of your hair, pushing your face into his mattress. “Please make me cum,” you begged.

Eddie smirked. “Who would of thought that i’d have Y/N Y/L/N, begging me to make her cum,” he teased.

“Please, Eddie,” you whispered.

“Please what, sweetheart?” He asked.

“Make me cum,” you repeated.

Eddie chuckled at you, slapping your ass before he continued to fuck you harder and faster than he was before. In fact nobody had ever fucked you this good, it was making your brain turn to mud as you moaned out his name over and over again. Eddie was basking in this moment, the fact that you came to his door and asked him to fuck you, he would never let you live that down.

And while he was busy thinking about that you were busy thinking about giving up all of your hopes and dreams of moving away for college and instead just staying here in Hawkins with Eddie. Tangled up in his sheets, cooking him dinner, getting married, having his babies, being is cute housewife that he could bend over the kitchen sink and fuck like a slut. Maybe it was just the dick talking, but right now it seemed like a good idea.

Before you knew it your orgasm was hitting you like a brick wall, your wet pussy spasmed against him, your whole body trembling as you cried out. Your legs growing weak as he continued to pound himself into you.

“Good girl,” Eddie breathed. “C’mon, i’m sure you have another one in you,” he said. You bit your bottom lip, looking up at him from over your shoulder, innocent eyes staring up at him. He groaned at the sight of you, mascara stained cheeks, smudged lipstick, messy hair. You looked like a mess, but he loved it.

He flipped you onto your back, dick still inside of you. A hand wrapped firmly around your neck, applying just the right amount of pressure. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head, slowly fluttering shut.

“Open your eyes, I want you to look at me when you cum,” Eddie breathed, staring down at you. You nodded up at him, trying to keep your eyes open as you felt that familiar knot in your stomach once again.

“Gunna make me cum so hard, Eds,” you whimpered. Eddie moaned at your words and it was like music to your ears. “Want you to cum too, inside of me.”

“Are you sure?” He asked.

You nodded. “Fill me up, Eddie, I wanna feel it dripping out of my pussy,” you said as you felt your second orgasm tearing through you. Your legs shaking profusely again and the feeling of your walls pressing against Eddie’s cock was enough to bring him to the edge.

Eddie came inside of you, riding out both of your highs and pulling away. You could feel his cum oozing out of your pussy as you laid on his bed, breathless. Eddie laid next to you, wrapping an arm over your torso and pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“So, how was that?” He asked.

You glanced over at him, a fucked out look on your face as you sighed happily. “Better than I could of ever imagined,” you said.

© luvfae 2022

[nerdyvocals]

A continuation of this post, more quotes from me and @look-at-those-niceass-rocks watching Pink Ladies together, this time episodes 4-7 (again shared with permission, and since the cast is in the house, @saveourpinks, please enjoy our unhinged dumbassery):

Principal Nicholson is a fuckin' weenie

(during Sorry to Distract) I am looking respectfully. I am looking SO respectfully. Their husband, distantly: I doubt that Me: *WHEEZE*

(During Carelessly) The true bisexual experience is not knowing which one of them you would rather be making out in the park with. (I am pan but I concur)

(@ Buddy) OH POOR FUCKING BABY, find purpose outside of your socially assigned tasks

Fucking of course his name is Leonard

Them: I would've gone fucking feral for this show in high school. Both of us, in sync: I'm going fucking feral for it now

Me: Anyway, rest in peace Cynthia Zdunowski, you would've loved they/them pronouns Them: *CHOKE*

Wally: I'm kinda hungry Them: Looks like she's kinda thirsty

(About Richie and Jane "needing to talk") That has spiked MY anxiety and I'm not even Jane. I would have been CHASING that little shit down.

(When Vaughn told Lydia to help Cynthia) I want a very sexually charged line reading session between the two of them and if I don't get it I Will Cry-- Levi, I don't like the way you're laughing right now

(Note I couldn't breathe for a Hot Minute, I forgot they somehow hadn't seen any spoilers for this show)

Richie: Jane's my girl, not my boss Them: YOu are wrong, she is both. I've seen the way you look at her I'm not a fuckin' idiot.

Me: Anytime I see Lydia or Cynthia I just embody that one quote- Did you ever watch Boy Meets World? Them: What, no? Me: Hang on, there's a quote from Shawn, I'll find it (Note it took me five minutes to find this clip, 2:00-2:09 if you're curious, but the quote is: Aw to heck with it, marry me! I live in a trailer park and I have no education but my hair does this!)

The entirety of Merely Players consisted of a stream of: fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

(@ Mr. Pedo Man) You deserve beige you piece of shit

KEEP EVERY PART OF YOUR BODY AWAY FROM THIS LITERAL CHILD

(After Jane and Richie's fight) Think about the last time a boy gave her his jacket you fucking dipshit, you goddamn weenie.

(Honorable mention: Both of us replying to everything Richie said in that argument with "Yeah, it is about her, it's her life, what's wrong with her wanting an education???")

Me: I love how the most scathing insult you can think of is to call someone a weenie, are you eight? Them: It's fifties appropriate!

Vaughn: You are a revelation! Them: Yeah, she's a revelation to my fucking sexuality

Them: [Husband], they're lesbians! Husband, nowhere near the computer: I know

(Jane got more votes) HEHEHE GET FUCKED

Me: I love how quickly your opinion of this man changed from the first episode, you were ready to simp and now you hate him Them: YEAH BECAUSE i THOUGHT HE WAS NICE I WAS BAMBOOZLED AND I'M MAD ABOUT IT.

Jane and Buddy: *kiss at the end of episode 4* Them: I am going to bite his nose off

Lydia: You swallow your consonants Them: Well you were swallowing her tongue a minute ago, that probably didn't fucking help Me: *choking on drink*

(during Girl's Can't Drive): Mama I'm a Big Girl Now walked so this song could fucking RUN

Them: So when does Hazel get a jacket? Me: I have no idea what you're talking about, shut up

(After me reading them the discrepancies between the amount of Thesbians fics on AO3 to literally anything else) I am addressing this to every single person who writes in this fandom, puh-LEASE seek therapy

Me: *short rant on how I Cannot Resist a Butch in a White Tshirt* Them: I'm just obsessed with [Lydia's] robe, I wanna take it...off. [Husband]: *unintelligible* Them: THE ACTOR IS AN ADULT I CAN FIND THEM ATTRACTIVE

(after I pointed out that Lydia keeps staring out the window at the Frosty Palace like she's waiting for someone) I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE

Me: I have a fic for you Them: if it's more Potato, I'm down

Olivia: *slaps Richie* Them: She could wake me up like that, I wouldn't complain

I would be a 1950s housewife for Potato

Them: I am no longer simping for Richie Me: He's having a hard time right now Them: I know this, and I will resume simping later when he's done being stupid

T-Birds: *having a heart-to-heart* Them: *sniff* They're all coming over to my house and I'm making them soup and bread

Richie: I think I'm in love (one tear catches light) Both of us, Supernatural veterans: ~a single man-tear~ *FIVE MINUTES OF WHEEZING LAUGHTER*

You can find part three here!

[beautifulblooms]

Kinda a weird request, but;

↓

Eddie x male reader (can be hcs)

Y/N and Eddie getting high or something together and they're crushing, but haven't talked about it.

What if, out of nowhere, Y/N just says "you were my gay awakening" or something and Eddie is just "huh?"

Y/N just talks about how Eddie made him realize he was gay and kinda had a crush on him since.

{idk if this makes sense at all 😭}

I Was Never the Same After I Saw You - Eddie Munson x Male Reader

Male! Reader, he/him, this makes perfect sense!! Thank you so much for the request, i had so much fun writing this, it is a full fic and it was one of my favorites to write, I hope you enjoy!!

And as promised the “humina humina humina Eddie Munson” line did make the final cut

CIS Women and Female Aligned people, please DNI, this story and all of my others are for non-binary, masculine aligned and male readers!

Throwing the gear shift into park I turned my keys and pulled them out of the ignition. When I opened the door a smile pulled its way onto my face when I remembered why I came over to Eddie Munson’s trailer.

It was a Friday at school, sitting in our chemistry class Eddie passed a note to me. Unfolding the notebook paper there was his adorably awful handwriting. “Wanna come over tonight and hangout? I got a new strain I wanna try out but I don’t wanna smoke alone” As much as I keep my hopes up he’ll ask me on a date I shouldn’t. I had loved Eddie for a while now but I didn’t want to ask him and end up being wrong about him and be called the town fag for the rest of my life. Grabbing my pen I wrote out a sure with a little smiley face before passing the note back. He did a small dance in his seat after reading my response.

I knocked on the front door of the Munson’s trailer, it was about 8pm so Wayne had long gone to work his night shift. There was a bunch of noise coming from inside before the door slammed open.

“(Y/n)! Come in!” There he was, the man who made me realize I didn’t want to date girls. Standing in his hellfire shirt, ripped jeans, hair a mess, leaning out the door to hold onto the handle. God I wish I could just grab his face and kiss him, but I can’t ruin this, it’s too good to lose. He stepped back and let me walk in, pulling the door closed behind us.

“Well you know what to do you’ve been here before, I’ve got snacks and drinks for tonight, I’ve got a few joints rolled for us too so we’re good for a bit. Whatdya wanna do?” His hands found their way to his back pockets, his usual stance that I had grown to find adorable and somewhat comforting.

“Smoke first I guess, we have the whole weekend and knowing your uncle he won’t be back for a while.” Kicking my shoes off at the door I followed Eddie into his room, admiring the posters and the clutter that made this space so, Him. He grabbed the joints off his desk before snagging his lucky zippo and flopping onto his bed. He gently pat the space next to him for me to sit down, before he popped open his lighter and took the first hit of the night. We didn’t take long to finish off the first two joints pretty quickly, then slowly taking drags from the third one to make it last a little longer. At this point we were both high, laid out on Eddie’s bed with random snacks and drinks on the bed with us and on his nightstands.

I looked over at Eddie, his hair spread out around his head, dopey grin while he quietly sings along to the music playing from his stereo. He looks absolutely angelic, there were only two thoughts in my mind as I looked over at him, what an angelic man, and humina humina humina Eddie Munson. Looking over his features he noticed me staring and turned his head to look at me.

“What’s going on in that mind, pretty boy?” I could feel my heart speed up and skip a beat at the same time when he called me a pretty boy.

“Oh nothing, just that you were my gay awakening.” I didn’t process what I said but it was too late for me to take it back, I guess we’re rolling with this.

“Huh? Whatdya mean gay awakening?” He moved so he was laying on his side, holding his head up with his arm while he looked at me with a curiously confused expression. I took a deep breath before deciding that the worst that could happen was he sends me home high and I move out of town to get away from this.

“From the first moment I met you I couldn’t help but think of us as a thing. I had always been used to looking at girls but never feeling anything about them. I could look at Chrissy Cunningham or Tammy Thompson and appreciate how pretty they are, but I don’t want to be with them. I don’t want to be with a girl, and meeting you, becoming friends, just being around you made me realize that. Your smile is so pretty that whenever I see you I just want to grab your face and kiss you until I can’t breathe. I want to play with your hair and feel how soft it is when I pull you deeper for a kiss. I love how excited you get when you talk about Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. When you start playing your favorite songs, and you just look absolutely beautiful. I love when you’re playing at gigs with the guys and seeing you headband while playing the sickest metal riff I’ve ever heard. So yeah, you were my gay awakening Eddie Munson, and if you don’t want me to be your friend after this because you don’t want to be associated with a faggot I’ll just leave you alone- and I’m rambling I’m sorry I can leave.” I didn’t even look at his face when I sat up after my apology. I kept telling myself to not say anything before this but of course I couldn’t stop myself after I got high as a fucking kite. I had barely started to stand up when a hand landed on my shoulder and pulled me back onto the bed.

“Don’t leave, please, I want to be friends with you, more than friends, I want to BE with you (y/n), I just didn’t want to think that I was crushing for the wrong guy. It’s hard to find people that are actually gay in a city like Hawkins, so please, stay, stay with me.” I looked over at Eddie, tears in my eyes while he also had started to tear up. I sat up again and moved to straddle Eddie’s thighs, grabbing his face with my hands and bringing our lips close.

“You want this just as much as I do right?” He nodded as well as he could with my hands holding him. After his confirmation I brought our lips together in a slow kiss, it showed every emotion and thing I had wanted to show him for years now. We held the kiss for a few seconds before we pulled away needing to catch our breaths.

“I love you (Y/n) (L/n).”

“And I love you Eddie Munson.”

[gonegrove]

okay, because it’s still in my brain after chatting with @sanguine-tenshi and i can do what i want here’s a “little” write up thing about this whole “Billy befriends a teen mom” au. for starters I’m naming this girl Donna bc man.... her not having a name makes this shit so much more difficult to talk about dkfjghsdf

for starters, no weird sci-fi shit in this au. there’s already enough stuff to tackle in this shit show i’m not also wrestling with that shit. stuff like Eleven can just be translated into her being Hopper’s adopted daughter it’s fine don’t worry about it.

okay god first off some SETTING:

Donna herself is smart, funny and reliable. Big camp counselor energies. She wasn’t popular but she was generally well liked. She has a part time job and tutors when she can for extra cash. Donna’s mom was a single teen mom too and they live in the same trailer park as Eddie, Donna’s grandparents were very religious so she left as fast as she could for her and Donna’s safety. Wayne’s always been very good to them and helped her mom out so he’s also Uncle Wayne to her and she and Eddie used to play when they were little though they’d drifted apart by the time they’re in high school. Donna’s mom and Joyce are likely friends as well, either all the way back from school or once Joyce joined the poor single mom club.

Donna getting pregnant was a big surprise to everyone because she never struck people as “““““““““““that kind of girl”””””””””””””. People suck and are gross. Her mom is supportive but she’s disappointed and struggles to hide that fact sometimes, especially when she drinks. She’d wanted more for Donna than a repeat of her own mistakes and she thought Donna’d had a real chance at making something of herself (we’re not gonna touch on how getting pregnant isn’t you know, a fucking death sentence and how fucked this thinking is).

Donna never says to anyone who the dad is which only adds to the scandal and disappointment because people Make Assumptions. (this is absolutely just me endlessly waffling on what to do with this. you could make it a Known Person from like the cast for the added drama later on if you wanted or just default to something like it’s Just Some Older Guy who’s in college now and she doesn’t wanna get into it. it really only matters if you want to use it for drama or something bc otherwise the focus is more on Billy and Donna and his Growth so.)

Joyce and the Byers boys is also supportive, because like of course Joyce is gonna be supportive of a girl in this position she knows what it’s like to be a single mom when you’re an adult. A teen? WOOF. And Jonathan and Will are just very nice people and good boys so like ofc they’re not dicks and they don’t spread shit about her. Jonathan is naturally more helpful and willing to lend a hand since he’s older and already like 50% a parent as is dkjgsfgs. Donna tends to turn to Joyce more and more over time as her mom’s disappointment and issues become more obvious.

Since there’s no weird sci-fi shit around to help spur on his Character Development I’m gonna make “not being an absolute monster to the pregnant girl” the hill Steve opts to die on. Like if we’re gonna say Steve’s big dream is a family I cannot imagine him being actively cruel to someone his age who’s having a kid? also he’s just you know.... not that shitty, especially when he’s not you know, upset like he was when he thought he was being cheated on. Him and Nancy are immediately really kind and supportive. the stancy struggle that came from barb’s death tho now is coming from differing opinions over Donna. As they’re talking to her and helping out Steve is getting a very rude awakening about how hard this shit is and especially how hard it is for a teen and is increasingly serious about helping out. Like he’s got cash, a more reliable car than hers, time, etc. Why shouldn’t he be putting some of that towards helping out someone who clearly is gonna need a LOT of it?

Nancy is struggling tho. Remember, she’s a fucking 10th grader at this point. Donna and Steve are juniors. We hear Nancy talk about not being like “other girls” or “easy” in season 1. She has not yet had her feminist awakening and Barb is probably not helping that lbr. Barb didn’t even want her to smash when she was enthusiastically consenting to it with her stable boyfriend. Nancy wanted to just put in her time being performatively nice and then dip. Intellectually she knows Steve’s got a point, she’s hearing how difficult this is going to be and she knows Donna needs all the real help she can get but she also doesn’t want to be associated with one of Those Girls because she’s scared of what people will think of her. But you know, how can she say that without sounding like a huge bitch? You and also add in that people are spreading rumors that it’s Steve’s kid because he’s being so helpful and that’s totally the only reason anyone would ever be nice ever. Obviously. 😒 Behold, relationship drama.

Chrissy is also naturally someone who’s very sweet and helpful to Donna. Because ofc she is. It’s fucking Chrissy Cunningham. 

OKAY NOW THE BILLY PART JFC (ironically UNDER A CUT BC THIS POINT IS JUST TOO LONG)

I’m not in the mood to work out all the timing on this shit but by the time they move to Hawkins Donna’s had the baby. Also maybe twins? Sanguine mentioned that Billy would be cute w/ a rowdy boy or a shy girl and I love both concept (shy boy and/or rowdy girl is also Very Cute) and making decisions is my enemy. it’s really whatever you’d wanna do idk someone make the choice for me lol. But yes. The baby is born and Donna is back in school for her last year.

Billy ofc hears about her having a kid because everyone is DYING to tell him all the podunk town gossip. This is one of the few things that actually catches his attention tho. He doesn’t like how they’re talking about her tho, he has a much more neutral opinion on the whole teen mom thing since he’s from a bigger city. Billy also has a LOT of issues around moms, families, parents, kids etc whether he’s even aware of them and how deep they are or not. But just something about Donna and her kid(s) just sticks in his craw. Even so, he doesn’t really talk to her much though outside of normal stuff like class though he does shut down shit talk about her when he hears it.

The first time he sees the baby/ies is at a basketball game. There’s like nothing going on in a town like this so it’s one of the few things she can go to to just get out of the house and all the excitement tuckers the baby/ies out. Steve and Chrissy make a b-line right over to Donna after the game to say hi and see the baby/ies. Billy also uses it as an opening to meet the kid(s) and talk. It’s probably the first real conversation he’s ever had with Donna. She leaves shortly after to go put the kiddies to sleep.

But it cracks the seal and now Billy is talking to her more. You could take this relationship romantically or platonically, I don’t think one is better than the other. I do think though that Billy starts off thinking that he’s not allowed to care/be close to a girl if he’s not in a relationship with them. Because you cannot tell me Neil didn’t push that fucked up shit about how boys and girls can’t be friends and shit how like there’s only women who’re your family and thus non-sexual and women you’re not related to who you can only interact with via sex.

And Billy does care so he thinks he has to date her. He doesn’t. And he goes get that memo and is just like “oh sweet”. You could then continue on with a much healthier romantic dynamic or a 100% platonic one. I don’t care the point of the concept isn’t for a set up for a romance. It’s point is that Billy makes a friend and learns a lot about himself and his life via child care and grows as a person.

Billy and Donna become closer and Billy helps out more and more with life and the baby/ies. Donna is a pretty stable, self-assured person and she doesn’t let people get her down and Billy actually finds that really good for him to be around cause he’s an insecure anxious mess. She’s very protective of her baby/ies and really very committed to being a good mom, which ofc makes him think about his mom and Susan and comparing them all against each other. Which gives him some more inside into the situations those two women were/are in. It doesn’t magically make him forgive them for their actions (abandoning him, not helping him) but it does help him understand that it’s messy and complex on their end too. He is literally seeing before his eyes how much of a struggle being a single mom is, it helps him get some perspective and round out his understanding of parent-child dynamics.

And helping to care for a baby, seeing how little and small kids really are. It’s a fucking head trip and it can really send him spirally sometimes. Maybe he doesn’t get that hitting your kids is bad. He grew up his whole life with Neil abusing him, he might think that’s a normal part of raising a kid. But now here he is holding a baby, changing diapers, going to the park and seeing all these other little kids playing. He’s really seeing how small and vulnerable they are, he’s seeing and experiencing some of that responsibility for taking care of a little person and the cognitive dissonance is INSANE. he cannot IMAGINE taking a hand to Donna’s kid(s) or any of the other kids on the playground. The idea that someone WOULD is BONKERS to him. But... his dad did, his dad still does. His dad does all kinds of shit to him that Billy would never do to a kid or let slide if he saw it happening. So he’s uh.... yeah. there’s a meltdown or 8 fdsgfgdsdsf. a lot of unlearning and reprograming etc etc.

Billy will adamantly say he’s not trying to be their dad, he just wants to help out because she’s his friend/girlfriend/whatever. That he’d be a shit dad because his dad’s a shit dad, he doesn’t want to have kids etc etc etc. But he’s absolutely filling that empty role currently and doing a absolutely banger job at it. Billy likes kids and he likes looking after them. He will change a diaper with only mild complaining. insanity.

He likes to play with the baby/ies, he’ll get down on his stomach like them and everything. He likes to watch them sleep. Loves to hold them. It’s Donna’s kid but he can’t help but feel a little protective and possessive of them too. It would break his heart into smithereens not see them anymore.

He even brings Max over sometimes when he’s heading over to Donna’s to help out. Max and Donna get on and Max stops eyeing the baby/ies like it’s an alien after like the 4th time and actually holds them. She’s already claiming Aunt Max. Jane and Will have also seen the baby/ies. Hopper (likely with some prompting from Joyce lbr) is some kinda helpful and sometimes he shows up with Jane.

Steve, Chrissy, Jonathan, Joyce, Billy and Eddie (but only with Billy and only because Billy dragged him along) and later Robin (but only with Steve) become the babysitter rotation when Donna and her mom have to work/do errands/have an emergency. Also real talk helping take care of kids literally does nothing to help Steve and his baby fever rip my dude you’re so fucked.

Billy starts to factor Donna and the baby/ies into his plans to get the fuck out of Hawkins too. Starts trying to get more work and make more cash saved up, talking to Eddie and later Steve about their plans and what they’re all aiming to do next and planning where to go and what they’re gonna need. Like half the group, Joyce and Hopper included, are very committed to getting Donna and the kid(s) out of there and somewhere better.

Somehow it ends up with a bunch of them moving out to Cali. Steve ends up in culinary school, Eddie and Billy are putting a band together while Billy’s also in school for [DEGREE OF CHOICE], Chrissy joins up later when she goes to college, same with Robin. It’d be fun if the Byers-Hoppers still moved out to Cali too, just cause. Argyle can be there, literally why not?

The kid(s) get a little older and Billy is excited to teach them how to swim, starts talking about surfing lessons when they’re older. Donna laughs and gives him the ok and he’s over the moon. He and Donna are 10/10 great friends who really work well as a team and a great co-parenting duo. Billy is happy and feeling good about himself. Lowkey reparenting himself thru parenting the kid(s). Don’t ask me what Donna’s doing i’m already fighting for my life here.

I COULD SERIOUSLY GO ON MORE ABOUT THIS AND ALL THE POSSIBILITIES (steve and billy both wanting to be a Dad Figure and there being tension???? nancy’s feminist awakening and coming around to helping out???? eddie and jonathan wanting to make sure the baby/ies gets a good musical education early but disagreeing on what that means, i could literally keep going) but this is already SO MUCH LONGER THAN I WANTED AND AT THIS RATE I’D LITERALLY JUST BE WRITING A FULL ON FANFIC SO DKFJSLGHKJLSFDS

[kozmicxblues]

Stranger Things Masterlist

I'm keeping a running list of the fic I've written. You can also go through the #eeriewrites tag to find anything I've shared here or the #st4 tag for my headcanons and other ST posts.

How Do I Get You Alone? (T)

COMPLETE Dustin rolls his eyes and pushes off of the counter. "Your shift's almost over, right? Wanna hang out?" Steve scoops up the fallen movies. "I would, but I've got plans. Me and Eddie are meeting up at the diner." "Oh, that's cool. I'll just come with you." Steve pauses his work and looks over his shoulder at Dustin. He's got a pinched look on his face, like he's thinking something over. Dustin knows that can be a real struggle for him. "Uh... I don't... I don't know if that's a good idea." 5 times Dustin accidentally crashes a steddie date (+ 1 time Steve crashes a Hellfire Club meeting)

Time Keeps Moving On (M)

WIP When he turned around, Max was on the ground clutching her knee. Even from a distance, he could see the blood dripping down her leg from behind her fingers. Billy glanced up from his car and took in the sight before him. Then he ashed his cigarette and went back to work. That’s all it took, really. The sight of Billy Hargrove’s cold eyes as they glazed right over his bleeding sister. Eddie was digging the first aid kit out of the hall closet before he’d even made the conscious decision to go out. When the Hargroves move into Forest Hills Trailer Park, Eddie finds the younger sister he never knew he wanted. Unfortunately, she comes as a package deal with the former King of Hawkins High.

she took a look at my palm (and said you're in love) (T)

COMPLETE “Now, let’s look at your heart lines. Yours is chained. You’ve had a rocky love life, haven’t you?” “I guess that’s one way to put it.” He certainly wasn’t going to air out his series of failed relationships – stemming from his abandonment issues and the fact it took him nineteen years to realize he couldn’t connect with any of his dates because he was going after the completely wrong gender – in front of a complete stranger and a group of children. He definitely didn’t want to be discussing this in front of Eddie. He’d put too much effort into hiding the crush that had steadily developed over the summer before it could ruin their friendship. But any hope of avoiding that had clearly died the moment Steve stepped through Madame Loretta’s gaudy curtain beads. Steve and Eddie take the kids to a fall festival

make 'em turn their heads every place we go (T)

WIP Steve has always dreaded going home for the holidays. He's tired of putting himself back in the closet for the sake of his judgmental relatives. He's ready to stand his ground this year. Luckily, he knows just the right man for the job. In other words, a steddie fake dating au

You Still Catch My Eye (T)

WIP There’s a wave of excitement coming from somewhere in the bar. It’s almost midnight, the night ticking by even faster than Steve had realized. When he turns back from the clock, Eddie is already looking at him. He decides to be brave. “Kissing someone at midnight is supposed to be good luck, right?” Eddie smiles. “Right.” He sighs dramatically. “It would be a shame to start the year off with bad luck. Don’t you think?” Steve’s had about all the bad luck he can stand. He could do this. He’d faced down a junkyard full of monsters with nothing but a bat. He could let himself kiss a boy.

It's a Strange Magic (G)

WIP “Haven’t you ever wondered about the stuff that happens in our house? Like why Mom tries to pretend Halloween doesn’t exist? Or why she gets weird about us talking, watching, or reading anything that has the word ‘magic’ in it? You had to fight with her for months before she let you play D&D. Or about why stuff flies off of shelves every time Holly has a tantrum?” “No,” he lied. “Well, I have. And now that I know the truth, I’m not gonna stay here and turn all boring like you. If Joyce doesn’t start my training tonight, I’ll lose my powers forever.” Nancy stomped past him. “What do you mean, boring like me?” Mike chased after her. Halloweentown AU

[aurora-the-kunoichi]

For the Love of Shell - Chapter Forty Six - Halloween Festivities

Another chapter for you to snack on!

Here it is in its entirety. 

HALLOWEEN FESTIVITES

It had taken Donnie close to two weeks of hacking and snooping the government database to find out who and what that strange man was about. He was the head of a secret agency funded by the US Government called The Earth Protection Force or E.P.F for short and went by the name John Bishop.

 Unfortunately there wasn’t much on Bishop’s past but from the looks of his training and connections he wasn’t someone to cross.

Leo leaned against Donatello’s desk, his arms crossed over his chest deep in thought. He had been watching his genius brother search through pages upon pages of tedious government documents trying to learn more about this new threat. They were aware of their existence even before they saw them. Bishop said something about a little birdie chirping in his ear about them, who could that be? Was it possible one of the police officers that had assisted them with taking down Krang informed the government about them? Rebecca had assured them their secret was safe.

 His name being called broke him from his thoughts and Leo looked down at Donnie still parked in his chair. “What is it Don?”

 “Do you think if they got a hold of us they would really dissect us?” his younger brother’s voice wavered with  the horrid thought of being strapped down to a metal table cut and apart like a lab rat.

 Leo’s large hand rested gently on his younger brother’s shoulder giving it a quick reassuring squeeze, “I would never let anyone dissect any of you. I would die before I would let that happen.” The vile images that raced through Leo’s mind of his dead brothers in pieces made his stomach churn making him feel sick to his stomach. It was true though, he would lay down his life in a second to save his brothers and die defending them to his very last breath.

 Looking up from Donnie’s brown eyes Leo saw Mikey and Raph saunter in towards the Leader and the genius. The sly smile on Michelangelo’s face put Leo on edge, the youngest had something up his sleeve and was ready to test is sway with his eldest brother.

 Reaching Leo, Mikey swung his arm up and over his shoulder pulling the blue leader to his side.

 “What do you want Mikey?” Leo sighed allowing the brotherly embrace.

 “Do you know what today is oh brother of mine?” Mikey cooed playfully slapping his palm against the hard plates of Leonardo’s plastron.  

 “It’s October 31st Mike.”

 “Yeah Brah, its Halloween and we wanna go out and enjoy the parade. We never get to go out and do anything fun.”

 Leo let out a heavy sigh shaking his head, “Mikey, I told you before, we’re ninja and we stay in the shadows. Going topside isn’t a smart idea.”

Raphael moved next to his younger brother and tilted his head eyeing Leo, “We know what we are fearless and we know we don’t belong on the streets. But today is the only day in the year we get to experience walking around with the humans unnoticed and safe. I think after all we’ve dealt with lately I think we deserve to go have a little fun topside.”

 Before Leo could reply the voice of their Sensei interjected stopping the conversation. “My sons, you are right, you have been so dedicated to the safety of this city that you have not been able to enjoy the spoils of your hard work. Halloween is the only day you can go up into the streets with no fear of hatred for your appearance or fear of scrutiny of your mutation. Please take this day to enjoy yourselves and unwind. Interact with the outside world but please be careful.”

 Leo and his brothers stared wide eyed at their aging father. He had just given them permission to go topside and enjoy Halloween. For the first time ever!

 “Besides.” The old rat continued. “You are old enough to make your own decisions and able to care for your own safety. Who am I to keep you from your destiny?”

 The atmosphere in the lair exploded as Raph and Mikey jumped into the air in excitement high threeing each other. Mikey turned to his genius brother beaming from his large skateboard chair and slide to his side smacking him on the back of his shell.

 “Tell them about that party you heard about Donnie. Maybe we could go there for a bit. Didn’t it say there would be food?” Mikey turned Donnie’s chair to face his other brothers who were now looking at him awaiting a response.

 “What’s he talkin about Donnie?” Raph quipped picking up a small trinket from Donnie’s desk flipping it over and over in his oversized palm.

 “I follow a local neighborhood watch blog and I guess someone bought that old church on the edge of town that’s been abandoned for years for a dollar. You know the one, the one built in the early 1800’s with all the missing windows? It’s been in shambles from all the vandalism over the years.  They have been remodeling it for the past year and finally finished a few weeks ago. They’re holding a neighborhood Halloween party for all the people in the neighborhood. There had been so many people stopping by during the construction to see what was going on, the owner thought it would be nice to let everyone see the work done to restore the old church. Supposedly there will be food too, which is what caught Mikey’s attention a week ago.”

 Mikey took out a lone nunchaku and spun it in his wrist circling Leonardo; he could tell by the confused look on his brother’s face he couldn’t remember the place. “You know that old church we used to play in when Master Splinter went to bed, we’d sneak out and play around swinging in the open rafters and hurtling the old pews.”

 Suddenly Mikey stopped in his tracks the blood in his veins running cold, he realized what he had just confessed in front of their father. Something he did not know about their past.

 “Mikey.” Raph growled in frustration resting his large head in his hands.

 With a grimace across his face Mikey slowly turned his head to face his father, dreading the death glare from the feisty old rat. The amused look on the rat took him by surprise, he wasn’t angry?

 Splinter watched his sons faces as they glared at their youngest brother then trained their gaze to their father to see how upset he was. When all their attention was on him he began to laugh, a good belly laugh he hadn’t managed to have in quite some time. “My sons you were only 6 years old when you started to venture out on your own. Your ninja skills were barely even tapped yet, so I heard you four leave each time. Instead of punishing your natural inquisitiveness for the outside world I just followed close behind to make sure you were safe. You boys will have hardships around every corner as you continue to age, who was I to stop you exploring your city. The more you got comfortable with your surroundings the more you could protect yourself; learn faster ways to get home. It was a very tiring time though, making sure I heard you each time, so I could supervise. Not a lot sleep when you were curious toddlers. But it did help your confidence and your bond with each other. You knew you had to rely on each other to get back home safely.”

 Their tense bodies relaxed as their father confessed he knew they had gone topside when they were younger. It was a secret they had promised not to tell anyone just in case it would get back to their father. As it turned out he knew the entire time and had followed them on each adventure.

 Leo let out a shaky breath realizing the wrath of his father would not come. A large bullet had been dodged and a small weight of the lie was lifted. “Yes, I know which church you’re talking about now. Yeah, I wouldn’t see why not, could be fun seeing the old place redone.” Leo scratched his chin contemplating their route; if they were going up to the streets they needed some sort of plan before they headed out just in case they got lost in the crowd. They still needed to be careful even though this was a leisurely outing. There was always a chance of running into some Purple Dragons at Halloween.

 To their surprise and delight it wasn’t difficult to get into the parade. With their great “costumes” they were pulled into the sea of people by several hands congratulating them on the detail of their work. At one point people on a parade float had tried to coax them up and onto the decorated trailer. Politely declining they moved back away from the reaching hands. That would expose them more than they already were. Thankfully their ninja skills had helped them mange to avoid any cameras as well.

 It was nice getting to know people, conversating and mingling with their fellow New Yorkers. There were no screams or flying insults, just random high fives and praises.

 “So life like!” One woman squealed running her hands over Raphael’s forearm excitedly and pressing down on his skin to feel the dense muscles beneath. “It feels like real scales; how did you do that?!”

 The red brute smirked when her wandering hands tried to encircle the impossible mass of his biceps. He allowed her hands to travel farther up to his neck, her touches giving his green skin a rush of goose bumps. “These hands are pure talent sweetheart in more ways than one.” He cooed seductively stepping into her personal space getting lost in the attention.

 Leo watched the exchange and figured it was a good time to pry the beast away from his prey before he sunk his teeth in too far. “Come on lover boy, let’s get moving before you bite off more than you can chew.” His hand hooked around the back of the brutes harness and started to pull him away from the unsuspecting female.

 The woman grew disappointed when Raphael was pulled from her groping fingers, “Come back! He’s fine, I like it rough!” She called after the retreating terrapins.

“Damn Raph, you attracted the girls real quick.” Mikey laughed giving a quick glance over his shoulder at the sad woman they had just left behind.

 Raphael turned abruptly ripping his harness from his older brother’s tight grasp and hissed in frustration. “Damn fearless, why you gotta cock block a brother.”

 “What were you gonna do Raph when she found that ‘costume’ doesn’t come off? When you got back to her apartment for a few fun evening activities?” Leo laughed as he moved around a poorly designed SpongeBob costume.

 “You never know Leo; she could have been cool with fucking a mutant turtle? Aurora can’t be the only woman who’s willing to spread her legs for mutant dick?”

 The comment made the leader stop in his tracks and the dense muscles in his neck bunch painfully. Slowly he turned to face his brother and the expression Raph was expecting was nowhere close to the look on the leader’s face. Pain swirled in the blue orbs of his eldest brother making Raph instantly regret the remark.

 “I-I’m sorry Leo, that was disrespectful to Aurora.”

 Leos’ eyes lowered to the city streets contemplating something and gave his muscled brother one final glare before returning his attention back to the mass of people in the parade.

 Donnie came up to the ashamed brother and nudged his shoulder gaining his interest, “You know you’re not wrong Raph. Statistically speaking there are plenty of woman out there who would be willing to bed us. There is a huge following of people online calling themselves ‘Furries’ and ‘Scalies’ that would prefer our unusual body types and larger…….physiques to normal human beings.”

 With a deep rolling laughter Raphael patted his genius brothers shell, “Thanks Don, I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m on the net.”

 As the parade came to a close they parted from the bustling crowd and headed towards the remodeled church that was holding the public house warming party. The walk was short but the anticipation for their first real party was staggering.

 Just as they remembered, the old church was surrounded by a large brick wall that towered even over them, perhaps 15 feet tall. It would require scaling it they needed to get over its walls. The old cast iron door they was barely holding onto its hinges was replaced by a massive wood and iron door. Its structure looked sound and secure not like the rickety old gates. This was built to withstand some heavy pounding and privacy.

  As they passed through the new protective doors they gazed up at the newly restored stained glass windows, marveling at the colors. When they were kids they remembered several kids throwing rocks at the beautiful glass shattering the window to smithereens. It was good to see them intact and cleaned for once; they seemed to sparkle in the moonlight.

 The once broken and uneven stairway up to the main door had been removed and replaced by fresh concrete and a new wood and iron hand rail. Gone were the tags from gang members and inconsiderate kids who defiled the old brick work on the outside of the ancient building. Someone had spent hours power washing the outside to rid the grey stone of the canned paint.

 Reaching the top of the stairs the old wooden doors that had been long torn from their hinges had been replaced by new metal doors. About half way up the thick doors were matching stained glass windows just above their eye line to complete the look of the exterior.

Donnie pointed to the almost invisible camera just to the left of the large front door, noting the advanced security system that protected the property. “So far I’m impressed, the tech is high end, like nearly impossible to hack and the outside is wonderfully redone. Even the shrubbery is trimmed and lush.”

 Raph’s large thick fingers wrapped around the elaborate handle and opened the door revealing the newly converted sanctuary. After all the years of abuse most of the pews had been burned or stolen so it wasn’t too much of a shock seeing the rows of benches gone. All of the religious relics were long gone as well; even the large wooden statue of Jesus that had hung above the pulpit had been taken years ago.

 The large spacious vaulted ceilings were repaired and refinished leaving no trace of the old roof’s leaks to see. At the back of the sanctuary was a huge circle stained glass window that sat high above the pulpit. It had been shattered long before they found the old building when they were tots so they never saw the vibrant colors inside the window. Now inside the round window sat a beautifully crafted piece of art, each little different colored piece of glass formed a dahlia flower. The large center piece was outlined with more flowers and stars with a background that transitioned from light blue to dark.

 Below the circle stained glass window was a large flat screen TV hanging from the wall with an oversized u-shaped couch just before it. Already people were sitting on it mingling and having conversations while snacking on plates of food.  

 The atmosphere was friendly and inviting and almost immediately people began to introduce themselves commenting on their ‘costumes’. That was when the aroma of delicious smelling food invaded their senses. Mikey was the first to grumble and turned towards the large kitchen sitting to the left, open to the expansive room of the old sanctuary. Atop the counters along with another large island covered in white quarts sat a plethora of foods and desserts.

 Mikey wasted no time and made a beeline for the kitchen and the foods followed by Raph and Donnie. Leo kept his attention on the transformation of the old church. They had never seen the space so lit up besides the beams from their flashlights. It was nice to see the old church fixed up and ready for its new life.

 Leo left his brothers to pillage the refreshments and continued down a wide hallway to look at more of the house. A bright sign with bold lettering was sitting on a stand just at the opening.

 “Please feel free to roam about the house. If the door is open you are welcome inside, but if the door is closed please respect the privacy of the home owner and remain outside.”

 Continuing down the wide hallway he peaked through each room that was open. The first room on the right was the old Library, it looked like it had been restored to its former glory. All of the busted shelves were whole and matching the rest of the wood perfectly. You wouldn’t have been able to tell of the previous vandalism which was nice, there had been too many swastikas lining the floor.

 Shelves took up every inch of space on the walls, from floor to ceiling it towered. Almost every inch of space was lined with books ranging from what looked like ancient to new. Colors splashed the shelves from their spines like an abstract painting making his fingers inch to pull a book from its home to read. They had their own library but nothing this expansive. His eyes and finger tips roamed over some of the spines and grew a bit envious at the rare books he only dreamed of reading. Some of them were ancient books from Japan dating back almost 200 years, he wondered if they should be in a museum not sitting freely on someone’s bookcase.

 Resisting the rising urge to pull a book from the shelve and take a spot on one of the lush chairs Leonardo took his leave and headed back out into the hallway. With a quick look the blue banded terrapin found his brothers hovering over the food thoroughly stuffing their faces. With a crooked grin he turned back and continued his tour of the renovated church.

 As Donnie and Raphael moved away from the refreshments Mikey stayed behind sampling a tray of fancy cheeses. This was a great opportunity to try different cheeses together to better his pizza making skills. Where else would be get chance to sample so many cheeses at once…for free?

 Putting a slice of munster and gouda on top of each other Mikey slid the concoction between his lips and found very unpleasantly the two did not mix. While his face was scrunched up from the awful taste the person behind the counter who had been diligently working to prepare a new snack turned around and nearly dropped the tray in their hands.

 Mikey’s hand moved over his mouth as he hurriedly tried to finish off the taste on his tongue, “I’m sorry.” He mumbled quietly before popping a strawberry in his mouth to mask the flavor. “Munster and gouda do not mix. Mistakes were made. Blerg….”

 The woman in what was a phantom of the opera costume set the plate of what looked like pizza pinwheels down next to the veggie tray and stepped back. She smelled of freshly baked breads and sweets, it was comforting and made his stomach grumble for more. Mikey ignored her unsure gaze and swiped up a pinwheel to pop it in his mouth.

 “Wait!” she cried out reaching for him as the pastry disappeared behind his teeth. “It’s still hot!”

 She was undoubtedly right; he could have sworn he heard the flesh on his tongue sizzle at the treat settled on the wiggling appendage. But instead of spitting it out Mikey huffed around the burning deliciousness trying his best to cool the food down and not drool all over himself. In and out he sucked in air desperately trying to bring the temp down. After a few minutes of rolling the burning dough around on his tongue it was finally cool enough to swallow. Mikey took a swig of his punch to sooth his throbbing tongue and eyed the now giggling woman.

 “Are you alright?”

 Sticking the tip of his tongue out he nodded, “I no longer have skin on my tongue but you know I’ll live drinking the rest of my meals through a straw.”

 She mumbled something under her breath but Mikey couldn’t make it out.

 “What was that?”

 “Ohh oh nothing, just talking to myself really.” The woman stepped back and leaned up against the counter, “So that’s a pretty elaborate costume you got there.” Her finger waged up and down alluding to his massive shell and green skin. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were a living breathing turtle man.”

 “Nope.” Mikey coughed popping a piece of cool broccoli in his mouth. “All foam and plastic. Can you imagine a giant turtle living in New York. Where would something like that live?”

 “The sewer?” she calmly remarked. “I can imagine there are a never ending slew of tunnels under us with abandoned train stations perfect for subterranean housing?”

 Mikey reached for a chicken salad sandwich and paused. “Don’t you think it would smell down there?”

 “Nah, it’s not that bad down there.”

 “How would you know?” His baby blues rose in surprise but found the woman gone and another plate of pizza pin wheels in front of him. “Hmmmm.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Leonardo made his way down the hallway and found a bathroom, two extraordinarily large empty rooms but only encountered two closed doors.  At the end of the hallway there were two large French doors open wide to a giant roaring fire. Taking his time to reach the large room he noticed an open set of stairs leading to the second floor to the old structure. Making a detour he began scaling the old wooden stair case noting the restored finish and carpentry work.

 His hefty green hand ran over the handy work with each unhurried step taking in the detailed craftsmanship. At the first landing there was another partial stained glass window that had been restored like the others along with a built in bench. Stopping to peer out Leonardo found a beautiful fresh garden with a massive water feature just below. The water poured out freely from a fountain that contained four large turtles perched on top of each other playfully. What a usual choice of animal for a fountain he thought in the back of his mind making his way up the last flight of stairs to the second floor.  

 At the landing Leo found the master bedroom just to the right. Like the large room below it had two ornate doors leading into a massive room and a large fireplace in the same spot as the first floor. Looking up he saw the only original stained glass window left sitting high on the wall. A massive circle with the virgin Mary holding a baby Jesus, the array of colors was stunning and as the moonlight filtered through the colored glass it left beautiful streaks of color on the white linen of the king size bed just below.

 A flair of jealously sparked through the leaders mind, to be human to be able to live above ground with such luxuries like windows and clean linen that didn’t smell like the dank sewer systems. To finally be able to sun themselves in the sunlight, would be a treat in itself. His fingers ran over the soft fabric and pressed down on the mattress enjoying the textures against his skin.

 He wandered around the room for a bit and ventured into the bathroom, his blue eyes wandered to the very large tiled shower and massive soaking tub. The tub alone looked like it could fit him and his shell plus another person comfortably inside. Taking his phone out Leo took a quick picture to show Donnie. What an improvement to the lair it would be to be able to actually have a tub large enough for them to immerse completely in, shell in all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raphael made his way through the open doors of the first floor, until he found the giant study in the back with a massive warm crackling fire in the gigantic hollow of the room’s main focal point. It radiated a welcoming heat helping the chill from the night’s air melt from his scaled skin. Looking around Raphael remembered most of the walls in this church had been crumbling stone. There had been small holes in the structure as time ate away at the history of the building. Now all the walls had been repaired and covered with sheet rock and no doubt insulated property for New York’s winters.

 He walked around the room running his finger tips over the antique wooden desk when a voice came from  behind him.

 “And there was two.”

 Spinning around her found a woman leaning up against the thick trim of the open doorway dressed as a female phantom of the opera. She was dressed in a nice fitting tux with a large flowing red cap, a black brimmed hat covered her hair and a white mask that covered more than half of her face. He vaguely remembered seeing the woman working in the kitchen putting out fresh food for the guests. Maybe she was the host?

 Resting his backside on the edge of the desk Raphael kept his sights on the woman as she moved forward into the room, “Yeah I’m here with my brothers. If you see two more less attractive pretend turtles they be them.”

 “Brothers?” She cooed. “Are you all as handsome? And who is the talent behind these amazing costumes?”

 He watched her shift close fingers trailing along the crevasses of Raph’s muscled bicep. As she passed by he could smell bread and sugar, the woman had been baking all day for the scent to cling her to her like that. A hint of pizza accompanied the delicious smell as well making him suddenly hungry.  

 Raph was ecstatic Fearless wasn’t there, he may not get to take anyone home but by the way the woman was circling him like a vulture he was more than happy to offer up a small meal to the woman. He deserved a little action. Besides it had been a while since he had kissed a woman and Raph very much missed the taste of her even if it was brief. “Yeah we’re blessed, but you’re lookin at the cream of this crop lady. It don’t get any better than this.” His arms opened flexing his muscles putting on a show for the enthralled female.

 The woman stopped a few feet in front of him and smiled, “Impressive. What brings you guys to the open house and not out winning some costume contest? You could win top dollar looking like that. Not that I’m complaining about the position I’m in.” closer she moved resting her hands on his thighs.  

 The lowered lights and flickering flames from the fire crackling in the background made it difficult to see her eyes but one thing was for sure, she was definitely eye fucking him. The signal couldn’t have been clearer. Raphael leaned back spreading his legs which shifted her fingers higher on his thick thighs, “You’re just lucky I guess.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he finished his solo tour on the second floor Leonardo found three more empty bedrooms along with their own en suites with equally large shower stalls and soaking tubs. Each room even had their own fireplaces, most likely for heating the rooms back in the day when electricity wasn’t widely available. Exiting from the last room he saw Mikey and Donnie leaving the master bedroom still munching on hors d’oeuvres.

 “I can’t believe you did that Mike!” Don growled giving his younger brother a smack on the back of his carapace.

 Mikey gave an indignant huff and shrugged his broad shoulders, “What? I wanted to see if I could get in the tub. Don we need one of those in the lair, I think Leo would love to take baths in the winter.”

 “Please tell me you didn’t let him get in the tub.”

 Both stopped in their tracks and found Leonardo standing just down the hall from them, his thick arms folded over his chest in frustration.

 Mikey popped the last of his mini slider into his mouth and smiled sticky sweet to his older brother. “Omf corsh nomf ((swallows)) why would I crawl into a complete strangers tub to see if our shells would fit inside? I mean who would be that crazy and rude? You have such little faith in me brah.”

 “Of course he did,” Donnie cut in dryly. “Had to swat his hands away from the faucet to keep him from filling it up for a ‘test run’.”

 “Mikey.” Leo’s voice was low and threatening in its authority wiping the smirk right from the younger turtle’s face instantly.

 With one stern gesture from their fearless leader all three mutants headed back down to the main floor. Without a word Leonardo felt himself pulled subconsciously into the large room with the fireplace just to the right of the staircase, as if it called to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With delight Raphael allowed the enthusiastic woman to crawl into his lap straddling his powerful legs. Now with her so close the bread smell gave way to a familiar smell, the smell of a woman and her arousal. It was thick and clouded his senses as she leaned in, mask still covering her face. His large hands found her waist but didn’t stop her from advancing further.

 “God you smell amazing, it’s been too long Red.” And with that she leaned forward slanting her mouth over the brute’s beak claiming a kiss.

 The familiar taste flooded his senses and Raphael reacted gripping her tighter. His tongue pressed into her mouth plundering the warmth groaning as she whimpered softly grabbing his cheeks with her hands.

 “Fuck.” He moaned breathlessly between each engage of their lips.

 As their mouths connected Leo, Donnie and Mikey walked in on the pair stopping in their tracks. They watched Raphael’s enthusiasm skyrocket as the kissed deepened. Both large arms wrapped around the woman pulling her impossibly close returning the kiss with everything he was.

 Raphael’s large mitt ran up the back of her neck and ripped the black hat from her head and locks of blonde were wound up in his green fingers. Mouth open and dumbfounded the three brothers could hear his rumblings over the fire. Raphael was clinging to the mysterious woman like she was a life line.

 “Hey it’s the snack lady!” Mikey pointed out breaking the spell around the two entangled on the desk.

 The woman slowed their kiss and disengaged from the brute and the massive turtle slumped down on the desk panting with a punch drunk look on his face; lips still glistening from their activities. One hand reached to her cheek under the mask cupping the right side of her face lovingly.

 Slowly she reached for the mask covering her face and slipped it free. There perched above the content brute was Aurora. Her violet eyes met with all three brothers and grinned. “Welcome to my home boys.”

 @imthegreenfairy88​ @tmntspidergirl​ @ravn-87​ @alonia143​ @blossom-skies​ @tmnt-bucklover​

[anthrofreshtodeath]

Untitled

Inspiration struck last night 👀 - putting this here so you can let me know if it's worth continuing/if you would want to read more of it. Super AU!

Jane cut the engine of her Ford Ranger just outside the tiny strip mall off of Sixth Street. It had been a splurge just after she got brought on as the head baseball coach of Empire High School, a treat for herself for finally getting a big-person job and generating some regular income. Her mother had convinced her to do it, actually, because Jane had been on the fence for months, waffling so many times that Angela piled her in the family Buick and dropped her off at the dealership. Find your own way home, Angela had said, and it better be in that brand new truck.

Now, Jane was thankful for the push, because southern California summers in her old Civic with the busted A/C were no fucking joke. They were still no joke now, but at least she could blast cold air on her face when needed. Like now: even at six thirty in the morning, temperatures climbed above eighty in early August, and she settled into the discomfort of an already damp back. At least her front still looked fresh. She glanced in the rearview mirror one last time before she got out, taking off her adjustable black cap with her school’s insignia and smoothing the tied-back black hair on top of her head. Presentable and believable: a baseball coach with a ponytail and a Nike dri-fit short sleeve windbreaker over her t-shirt.

She hopped out, satisfied enough to not be looking like a hooligan, and when she planted her turf shoes, she could tell the asphalt was already on fire. The boys were gonna be whiny as hell this afternoon. That made her grin just a little bit. She ambled up to the donut shop-slash-panaderia on the corner, straightening her posture when the door jingled and signalled her entry.

The short, middle-aged woman with her graying hair in a bun and an apron around her waist brightened when Jane approached the counter. “Buenos días, Coach Rizzoli,” she greeted with a smile and voice so cheery, she’d obviously been up for hours already. Probably baking as Jane finished weight-lifting in her backyard before the sun came up.

Jane smiled softly in return. “Buenos días, señora Gutierrez,” Jane said, deferential even though at nearly 5’11”, she must have been almost a foot taller than Mrs. Gutierrez. “Como está?” Short Spanish phrases sounded pretty darn good in her mouth, she had to admit, for all the Sicilian she heard growing up, and for being a product of Santa Ana. Spanish was more common than English in a lot of her friends’ homes growing up, so she caught on quick. At least enough to carry on a polite conversation, if needed.

“Bien, gracias. Tengo sus conchas aquí,” Mrs. Gutierrez asked as disappeared behind the counter to find what she was looking for, Jane’s order, reappearing with six pink donut boxes.

Jane opened her nostrils wide to take in the smell of flour, sugar, and a hint of cinnamon for the white conchas, her favorite. It was enough to feed a small army, which felt just about right for the staff meeting she had been tasked with supplying breakfast for. The first of the new school year. “Qué bueno,” she replied, not sure if she was referring to Mrs. Gutierrez’s overall well-being or the pan in the boxes. She pulled out her cash to pay, slipping her wallet in her back pocket, and in the seconds that it took her to do that, a single, piping-hot styrofoam cup of coffee appeared on the counter in front of her.

“Y un cafecito come le gusta,” said Mrs. Gutierrez with a wink and a smile. Occasionally, she did this, and it was her way of taking care of Jane, one of their family’s best customers.

Jane had learned not to refuse it. She just blushed and bowed her head a little bit, her lips pursed in a bashful smile. “Muchisimas gracias,” she said, taking a sip. Mrs. Gutierrez always left the cinnamon stick in it and added minimal creamer, just how Jane liked. Jane held back a moan. She decided she’d partake of the rest in the car, and then pocketed her change.  She picked the boxes up by the string tied to them and huffed, ready to begin the day. “Y el Jonny?” she asked, and Mrs. Gutierrez nodded her head towards the back of the bakery.

Jane nodded and made her way toward the door so she could pop around. “Qué tenga un buen día, Coach,” Mrs. Gutierrez called after her.

“Igualmente!” Jane replied, already on her way. She deposited her haul on her front passenger seat, keeping her coffee in hand, and then walked over to the alley between the Gutierrez bakery and the block wall separating it from the Cardenas market just across the way. She put her hat back on, threading her ponytail through its opening, and adjusted her Oakley sunglasses as she stood by the dumpster that Jonathan Gutierrez currently filled with broken-down cardboard boxes.

He heard her shoes scuffling his way, so he turned. “Coach Rizzoli! It’s early as hell,” he said, “what’re you doing here?” He sweated through the ribbed tank on his torso and the black basketball shorts on his hips. Jane commiserated, having helped her dad out on many a plumbing job in the summer when she was in high school.

“Well, first day for teachers is today,” she said, sipping her drink. “And I had to get some of your mom’s pan for the meeting. They’d expect nothing less. I’m here lookin’ at you because she exhausted all my Spanish skills, and I needed to remind you that practice starts at one today.”

Jonny, as tall as her, lanky too, smirked. “I’m sure you could’ve found a way to say that to her,” he teased, knowing that she couldn’t have, not well.

“You’re a riot. One o’clock, and not a minute later, a’right? I will not hesitate to bench our centerfielder for opening day if he’s late,” she warned. Then she started to turn.

“That’s like seven months from now!” Jonny whined, setting his box cutter down and running a hand through his thick black hair. “I got work today! Last day before school starts next week!”

Jane rolled her eyes. “The perfect hair thing may work on the girls at school, kid, but it won’t work on me. Find a way to make it happen - if you get into Fullerton, it won’t be because I sent you, but because you did it on your own. Part of that means showing up to practice on time. Even in August.”

Jonny sighed. His mom would understand, but his wallet would be crying. “I’m tryna save up for a pickup like yours, though, Coach,” he tried, batting his eyes for extra sympathy.

Jane laughed, and then he did. “Listen. You show up for practice on time every day this year, and you and me’ll have a talk about replacing today’s wages for that new Ranger, a’right?”

“Ok,” Jonny said quietly. He knew that Jane knew they didn’t have much money. And he knew that she knew most everything about him - she meant what she said. She’d taken him under her wing when she’d noticed his boundless talent and his faltering attendance. When she found out it was to make enough money to keep him and his brother on the team, she’d covered the cost in full. That was two years ago, and now that Jonny was an incoming senior, they’d righted the ship together. There was only a little more to go until he applied to the school of his dreams, the one with the killer baseball program and just miles from home.

It didn’t hurt that Jane was the first woman to play ball there as a range-y second baseman, was eventually drafted from Fullerton. He wanted to follow in her footsteps as best he could. “Good. See you then, kid,” she said. He knew that she knew the best way for him to do that was to grind. To eat, sleep, drink, and shit baseball.

“Hey Coach!” He called after her as she made her way back into the alley.

She turned around. “What’s up?”

“I wanna focus on my forearms this year. Should I go the Altuve way?” he asked, smiling.

The Jose Altuve way: banging sledgehammers into tractor trailer tires. Jane guffawed. “I’m not saying do it, but I mean hey, guy’s 5’5” and hitting thirty dingers a year in The Show, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jonny said. “I’ll take it under advisement. Thanks,” and with that, he waved Jane off. She spent the rest of the ride to school thinking about how to safely incorporate forearm work into the team’s regimen in a way that didn’t involve sledgehammers.

The bread had made her truck smell like heaven, and it was the perfect olfactory accompaniment through the working class neighborhoods of Coronita Heights - the part that she felt more comfortable in. She’d grown up down the 91 in Santa Ana, one of Orange County’s most vibrant cities, and her street looked a lot more like these than the ones that Empire High School sat on.

But Empire was one of the top 15 baseball programs in the state, and she had jumped at the opportunity to coach when she’d been approached about it. She packed the few boxes from her parents’ house, used the rest of her signing bonus to put a nice down payment on a house in Coronita Heights, and hadn’t looked back. It had been good for her - she kept in shape, used that teaching credential she’d worked on at Fullerton to teach PE, and led the Knights to a CIF championship in the five years she had been there. She hunted another.

Soon, the burger joints, smoke shops, and insurance spots gave way to expensive houses and palm trees, and she saw the massive campus come into view. She hopped out of the truck once she parked near the office toward the front, downing her coffee and tossing it in the trash. She tugged her belt, looped through her white baseball pants, making sure the fit was good, and then she took the breakfast out.

Another school year was about to begin, and she was determined to make it a victorious one.

___

Maura smoothed her dress in the full-length mirror of her bedroom for what must have been the hundredth time. It was tasteful: sleeveless, dark blue, with a thin black patent-leather belt around its waist. She paired it with black heels, and she looked good. She knew, intellectually, that she did, but this happened every time she started something new: the nerves kicked in and she doubted herself. She curled her impeccably styled hair behind her right ear out of habit, and then made her way downstairs for breakfast.

Her palatial home in Anaheim Hills sat overlooking the city below, still sleepy at six-thirty in the morning. She was anything but, having already completed her run and entire grooming routine. She perused the options within her double door refrigerator, still quite imposing even under the expansive wooden beams on the ceiling that ran from wall to wall. She thought about eggs, protein always a good start to the day, but then remembered the expected temperature and decided a cold breakfast of yogurt and berries would be best.

Again, it was too hot for warm coffee, but the massive cold brew dispenser she had readied just a few days prior called her name and she filled a tumbler with it and her favorite almond milk creamer. She’d have one cup with breakfast and a refill for the road, as she always did from May to October. She reveled in routine; it was what helped her not to shake as she brought a spoonful of honey, dairy, and strawberry up to her lips.

Today, despite her several years of doctoring, would be her first job with the living since residency. In fact, it would be her first non-clinical job, well, ever. Even when she had volunteered for research, it had been in pathology labs, or oncology centers, or Alzheimer’s wards. Now, she would head the pilot program for a pre-med track at Empire High School. Well, pre-pre-med, she corrected herself. The point of the program was to prepare students from non-private and non-charter school backgrounds for the rigor of medical school. And, as a graduate of the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, as well as Boston Cambridge University for undergraduate work, Coronita Heights Unified thought her very qualified to head its inception.

Maura was humble, so she did not consider that they also factored in her copious research articles within the field of pathology, nor her several awards from the Medical Board of California. But they did, and so today she started her teaching/counseling position that included Advanced Placement Anatomy and Physiology, as well as Advanced Placement Biology and an elective of honors molecular pathology to boot. She had negotiated that last one to retain a taste of her passion outside of teaching.

Satisfied both with her breakfast and her mulling, Maura rose from her stool at the kitchen island, its white marble counter still gleaming from its recent clean this weekend, and made her way to the sink. She rinsed her bowl, placed it in the dishwasher on the top rack with the others, and then washed her hands for twenty seconds. Soap on, palm scrub, back-of-the-hand scrub, webspace scrub, for as long as it took to hum happy birthday to herself, twice.

She reveled in routine.

She unscrewed the lid of her tumbler and placed it under the dispenser in the refrigerator again, watching dark coffee wash over ice cubes with pleasure. The properties of matter, their predictability and regularity, calmed Maura. She could predict where each rivulet would go with accuracy, and then watch the change of color with no surprise when she poured in her creamer. She could control how light or dark it became, and thus control its flavor. She savored that one last ounce of control before she screwed her lid back on and walked over to where her purse and rolling cart awaited her at the front door.

She took one last look behind her, at the open concept living room so large it needed a sectional couch that no one used because people hardly ever dropped by, at the kitchen with state-of-the-art, industrial appliances that often cooked meals for one. It was her home, even if all of that were true, and the way that the southern California sun poured in through her floor-to-ceiling windows thrilled her. It thrilled her the way it had the first time she set foot in LA, for her first day of classes. She let that embolden her as she locked the door and stepped into her S-Class.

Navigation popped up as soon the engine roared to life, already pre-programmed with the route to Empire High School. She saw the calculation of a twenty minute drive, rearranged a few numbers in her head as she thought about the day of the week, the time of the morning, and the unpredictability of the 91, and decided twenty minutes was probably just about right. She’d given herself a cushion for twenty-five, and with a glance to the men’s style cartier on her wrist, she smiled and pulled out of the garage towards the main drag that would lead her to the freeway.

She jumped out of nerves and surprise when the system notified her of a call coming in. She smirked when she saw the caller ID: Dr. Nina Holiday, Hoag Hospital. Maura pressed the call accept button. “Need a consult already, Doctor?” she teased, her own voice always just a bit foreign in the morning after not having heard it for hours.

Doctor Holiday scoffed on the line. “You wish,” she replied, and then there were beats of silence. “I just wanted to call to wish you good luck on your first day. And to see if you’d reconsider.”

“If this is Hoag’s way of trying to lure me back, by making their premier neurologist do all the dirty work, I think I’m going to have to pass,” Maura said, and Nina laughed.

“No, this is just a friend saying you’re gonna be missed is all,” said Nina. “But I respect what you’re doing.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it,” Maura demured. “Pathology is in... very capable hands with Doctor Pike,” she said, and then immediately the two women guffawed.

“You couldn’t even get it out before you started laughing!” Nina asserted, “see? We’re up a creek with no paddle!”

“Whom the department decided to hire in my stead is not my business,” Maura replied professionally, “especially if they do not take my recommendations into account,” and then with more spice.

“You right, you right. And I know I said it before, but I respect you for this. I think my road to medicine might have been a lot easier if I had someone like you at my high school to guide me through,” Nina said seriously. “Just answer me something: you didn’t leave because of Ian, did you?”

Maura stiffened. She hadn’t wanted to think about that on her first day, but here Nina was, dredging it up. Maura wrung her hands on her steering wheel. “No. Not really,” she answered, and that was the truth. The timing of it all had just been awful.

“Ok. I just… with him being gone, I didn’t know if that would be better, or if you’d be haunted by ghosts, you know? If you stayed.”

“I think I needed a fresh start either way, Nina. I really do,” Maura said.

Nina took the hint that they were done talking about it. Her voice turned chipper again. “I’ve got a call at seven, so I have to go, but I’ll talk to you soon, ok? You can tell me all about your first week. Maybe over bottomless mimosas.”

Maura sighed with relief. She would need that. “Sounds great. Nina?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for calling. I’m… I’m going to miss you, too,” Maura confessed.

“Aw, Doctor Isles, don’t get all mushy on me,” gushed Nina. “Bye. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Maura said after the line had gone dead.

Nina’s call had lasted most of the ride. Maura was grateful. Nina had been one of the few people to get to know her at Hoag. The hospital itself had a very competent staff. Excellent, really. And Maura was one of the best, so this led to a never-spoken, always-felt air of competition. It didn’t really lend itself to friendship. But Nina had consulted with Maura so often, that a comfortable working relationship eventually morphed into a casual friendship. That turned into drinks on the rare weeknights they had off and brunch on Sundays at some of the best spots in Orange County.

They promised to continue, and they would of course, but for the first time in their friendship, they didn’t work a floor away from each other, and Maura resolved that while she would do everything to keep it alive, she had to acknowledge the change. Fittingly, as soon as she did so, she drove into the staff parking lot at Empire High. Her new beginning.

Her welcome e-mail mentioned a staff meeting today, Friday, in the lecture hall at the front of the school, refreshments provided. So, she pulled next to the gunmetal gray Ford Ranger to her right, and gathered her things. Her cart could wait until they were dismissed to ready their classrooms, so she deposited her fob into her purse and sipped on her coffee for fortitude as she followed the sidewalk pathway past the front office to the lecture hall. She had mapped out the route when she had found out about the meeting, deciding that touring campus on her own before she began would reduce her anxieties, as well as the possibility of unknown factors. It was also why she had arrived right on time: early meant possible one-on-one conversations with strangers, and late meant all eyes on her as she hustled in.

She pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head when she reached the glass double doors of the hall, and breathed in one last time. It was a big, 360 degree breath: it engaged her pelvic floor and spread her ribs equally. It lowered her pulse and calmed her nerves, and then she was ready.

When she entered, she heard chatter. Lots of it. When she turned the corner and yanked open the wooden door of the room itself, she was shocked to see what looked like most of the staff already deep in conversation in their seats. Some stood, others stretched their legs over a couple of seats at once, some laughed and some nodded seriously. For a moment, Maura panicked, then checked her watch again. She felt her heartbeat fall a little bit when she looked up to the front and realized that no-one had started the meeting. In fact, there was a small line at the sign-in sheet, so she decided that rather than have a breakdown in the walkway, she should join the line.

She mustered as much courage as she could and stood behind the last woman, who smiled at her politely. Maura smiled back and thanked whatever powers that be that the woman didn’t try to engage. The line moved quickly, and staff members grabbed what looked like sweet bread just off to the side of the table as they signed in. She forewent the sugar and decided just to take the requisite printouts instead. By then, things started to feel a little more like a normal job orientation, so she turned on her heels to make her way back to the crowd.

The confident turn ended up being another mistake, however, because as she started to walk, she saw no openings. It was like the middle of a very bad dream, in which she needed so desperately to blend in, but all she could do was stand out. She felt eyes on her as she passed tables full of other adults, she heard conversations quiet and alter when she walked by.

However, just as she was about to give up and stand all the way in the back, someone called out. “Hey,” the voice was firm, raspy, and kind. She turned instantly and it kept talking. “You need a spot? I was savin’ this one for my brother, but, big shocker, he’s late.” Seated at a table in the middle of the hall with an all-white backpack on the empty chair next to her, two aluminum bat handles sticking out on either side of it, was… “Oh, and I’m Jane. Rizzoli. By the way.”

Jane Rizzoli. Maura thought the name fitting. Jane was so tall and so dark-featured and so handsome that she needed an Italian surname. And by god, she had one. One with a trilled-r and a plural i and everything: it was perfect for her in the way that all its sounds signified abundance. Maura’s mind rambled and she caught it; she wasn’t even sure how the phonotactic rules of Italian applied to Jane’s physicality, but they did, and Maura sat next to her without hesitation. She chanced one glance to the length of Jane’s torso as she curled to put her elbows on the table, and then she met Jane’s dark brown eyes.

It was then that she realized that Jane probably awaited some kind of response. “Maura Isles,” said Maura, holding her hand out. Jane shook it and Maura was not at all surprised by the firmness of the shake.

“Hey Maura. I’m uh, I’m the head baseball coach here. I also teach PE,” Jane explained. Then she looked down at herself, her uniform and the bats in the backpack now on the floor. “But you probably guessed that.”

Maura smirked, and laughed softly. “I don’t like to guess. It puts people in awkward positions. But I would say there’s lots of evidence to that fact, yes.”

Jane laughed openly and then took her hat off. “Well, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess you’re the hotshot doctor that they hired for our new pre-med pipeline.”

Maura raised a perfectly-sculpted eyebrow. “And why would you assume that?”

“You talk like a doctor. And you dress better than everyone else in this room. Real doctor-y,” Jane wagged her own eyebrows up and down.

Maura watched Jane’s crooked grin, rapt. “One…” she began slowly, “doctor-y is not a word. Two, what if I were independently wealthy and taught, oh say, English?”

Jane shrugged. “Words are made up. And are you? Independently wealthy?”

Maura’s mouth twitched in humor. “Yes,” she answered. Jane threw her head back in defeat. “But, I am also the doctor piloting the pre-med program here.”

Just like that, the slender column of Jane’s neck brought her head forward again. “Thought so!” she said. Just as she did, The man who Maura knew from his photo online as the school principal walked in. People started to hush as he made his way to the front podium. Even she turned her attention, until there was the distinct warmth of whispering by her ear that dismantled all other thoughts. Jane was speaking. “Well, Dr. Isles,” she responded, “welcome to Empire High, then.”

[we-are-inevitable]

not moving on, not looking back // ch. 3

A/N: AHHH HES HERE !!! 

Tag List: @tarantulas4davey (let me know if you’d like to be added!)

Read on AO3!

***

He's about five minutes early, but that's fine, right? Yeah. David raises his fist and knocks on the door.

Just a few moments later, the door opens, and David grins. “Hi, Ka-- Oh, you're... not Katherine.”

The first day is actually a lot better than David thought it would be. His kids are all pretty chill about him being the new teacher, and they all cooperated well and let him know exactly where they were and what they needed to be doing. It was a nice change of pace from the class he used to teach back in New York, which was all so fast and strict, but this is much more subdued. David loves it already, but he’s thankful it’s over; it’s been a long day, and right now, he just wants to go home and relax for a few moments before he gets ready for dinner with the Kelly’s.

Once home, which he arrives at around 4:15, David changes into something a bit more casual- a pair of ripped skinny jeans, a white shirt, and a light blue flannel that he leaves unbuttoned. The sleeves are shorter on this one, just barely to his upper arm, but he still rolls the sleeves up to his shoulder. David sees no point in dressing up particularly ‘fancy’ for this dinner; he’s 26, and Katherine seems to be around his age as well, so it isn’t like he needs to impress any actual professional adults.

David waits until about 5:30 to leave his place. According to Google Maps, Katherine’s house is about a twenty minute walk away from his own, but that's fine with David. He walked everywhere in the city, and he’s looking forward to the stroll. On his way there, David takes in everything he can: the color of the trees changing, the crunchy leaves beneath his brown boots, the crisp autumn air. He can get used to this feeling. It feels… nice. It isn’t rushed.

Maybe Tarrytown isn’t such a bad place after all.

David tilts his head to the side as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking down at the address. He checks the number on the mailbox and nods to himself, rubbing his arm as he walks up the driveway. The house isn’t huge, but it’s two stories. It looks historical. Colonial. He takes a deep breath and checks his watch. He's about five minutes early, but that's fine, right? Yeah. David raises his fist and knocks on the door.

Just a few moments later, the door opens, and David grins. “Hi, Ka-- Oh, you're... not Katherine.”

No, no. The man standing in front of him is most definitely not Katherine, but David isn’t exactly upset at the mixup. This guy is hot. He has a square jaw, tan skin, dark brown eyes, and perfectly messy hair- which is wavy and kind of long, coming just a few inches above his shoulders. He's a few inches shorter than David, too, but he seems pretty strong, especially since the shirt he's wearing- some college t-shirt- is perfectly tight in all the right places and, wow, David has never felt more homosexual. Someone call 911. Cause of death: hot guy.

The man standing in front of David raises a brow, then glances him over. “Nah, I ain’t Katherine. Who're you?”

Oh, fuck, his voice is deep. David isn't going to make it through dinner. “Uh-- Heh, David Jacobs, I work with Katherine… She, um, invited me. To dinner. Unless I have the wrong place--”

“David!” Katherine calls out, and he sees her rush out of the kitchen. She looks different outside of school- her hair is tied low, her bangs are swept to the side and held by a few pins, and she’s wearing a pair of mom jeans and a simple white turtleneck. She looks almost unrecognizable outside of her professional clothes. “Gosh, I’m so glad you’re here! This is my husband, Jack. Jack, this is David Jacobs. He just moved into town. Took Mrs. Ingram’s job, remember?”

“Mrs. Ingram got fired?” Jack asks under his breath with a confused expression, before shaking his head and turning his attention back to David. “Come on in, man.”

David nods slowly, taking a step into the house. It’s cute- there’s a fireplace, a big leather couch, and a nice little coffee table. A shelf lines the wall in the back of the room, with books and little knickknacks, as well as a few plants here and there. The living room was spacious, connected to a staircase that led upstairs. Everything is lit up inside, and it feels… bright. It feels homey. “You’re both really good at interior design,” David comments idly, but doesn’t miss the weird look that Jack shoots Katherine.

“Thank you! I got a lot of this stuff at TJ Maxx,” Katherine admits with a grin, before leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss Jack’s cheek. “You boys have fun, alright? I’m gonna go work on dinner.”

Just a few moments pass until Jack and David are alone. Jack looks at David with a curious expression, before gesturing for David to follow him. He walks to the living room and plops down on the couch, turning the volume on the TV down. “You’re the gay one, right?”

David sputters for a moment as he sits down, before nodding. “Yeah? Listen, if you have a problem with-”

“No, hey, it’s cool! I was just wondering. Calm down, man,” Jack shoots him a kind smile. “Want a beer?”

“No, thank you.”

“Suit yourself,” Jack says with a grin, then leans forward, grabbing his can of Bud Light and taking a sip. His eyes are on the TV, and as soon as the commercials turn off, Jack turns the volume back up. It isn’t very loud- probably because David is there- but Jack seems entranced by what was on the screen.

David turns to face it, and has to hold in a sigh as he sees a football game being played. Of course. David doesn’t know what else he was expecting. Slowly, he pulls his phone out of his back pocket, scrolling through his Twitter timeline for a few minutes before hearing a chuckle from beside him. “What, is football boring to you or somethin’?”

“Huh?” David glances over at Jack, who seems to be studying him. “Oh-- Sorry, no, I just don’t get how it’s played,” David admits, hurriedly shoving his phone back into his pocket.

“What do you mean, you don’t get how it’s played?” Jack asks with a bewildered look, then scoffs. “I mean, just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you can’t watch football. You’re still a dude, right?”

David shoots Jack a look. “Are you serious right now?”

“Right, sorry. I- I didn’t mean- I’m sorry. That won’t happen again,” Jack cringes, before leaning forward. “I just… Who ever said football is for beer-guzzling troglodytes in trailer parks? We scholars, you and I, can enjoy this on a whole other level!”

“Scholars?” David asks with a tilt of his head.

Jack makes a noncommittal gesture, but Katherine chimes in from the kitchen. “He’s a history professor down at Mercy!” She brags cheerfully, which causes Jack to shake his head. 

“That- That isn’t important right now. What’s important is that you know football basics when you leave my house tonight,” Jack says with a smirk, moving closer. He wraps his arm around David’s shoulder- clearly, he isn't averse to physical contact- then points toward the screen. “Look, first you got your two teams. Yeah? There’s a coin toss to begin the game. Both teams really wanna win tonight, it’s a big game, so this is gonna be intense. The coach assigns a starter and, boom, the game starts with kickoff. And…" Jack pauses, watching the action on the screen, before letting out a subdued cheer with a raised fist. "We’re four downs to the ten-yard line! Ya follow?”

“Uh…”  David really wants to speak, but Jack’s arm is still around him like that and, wow, it’s kind of hard to think. This was just a silly little attraction to Katherine’s hot husband, though, nothing worse than that. 

The rest of the first quarter goes just like that. Jack explains everything he can to David about the inner workings of the game. He’s so goddamn passionate about it, and David really has to concentrate in order to even hear what he’s saying. He’s talking, he’s saying all of this information that he knew by heart, but all David can focus on is his voice.

“Davey, dude, you’re missing the game!”

David blinks and comes back to reality for a moment. He nods and looks back at the screen, a soft blush rising to his cheeks. “Right. Okay. Focus on the fine men.”

“The offensive linemen?”

“Have you seen number 49? I said what I said.”

“Right,” Jack says with a chuckle, shaking his head. “Whatever. Choose your valentine, but let me have my game in peace.”

“Why else do people watch this stuff?” David asks with a soft laugh, smiling at Jack, and Jack smiles back and wow, David’s heart stops for a second. “When’s the intermission?”

“Inter-- What, you need a glass of wine?” Jack teases and gently nudges David’s shoulder. “God, ya kill me, Dave,” Jack murmurs, turning to face him. Their eyes lock for one, two, three seconds, before Jack tears his gaze away and focuses on the screen. “Glad you’re at least enjoyin’ yourself.”

“Me too,” David admits softly, turning back to face the TV. An awkward silence falls over them, until David slowly speaks up. “It isn’t as boring as I thought it was.”

“Huh?” Jack glances over at him, then chuckles. “Aww, you like football now?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” David clarifies, “but it was entertaining. Better than what I watched in high school, at least. I was in the marching band. Drumline.”

Jack shoots him a toothy grin, and looks as though he was about to speak until Katherine’s voice sounds from the kitchen. “Jack, David, dinner’s ready!”

[emmy-writes-sometimes]

Found Family

When your real family seems to ignore you, Chris becomes a father figure. 

-

          “Oh, and did you hear?” Your sister said over the phone. You gritted your teeth, sighing as you handed your ID to security to let you onto the stage.

           “What?” You asked dryly, looking around to see if anyone was already there. Luckily, you were one of the first people ready for the scene. You walked over to your chair and sat down, watching a camera guy start to get ready.

           “I got into Harvard. And Yale! And I think NYU is sending acceptances out next week, so I expect that too. Dad’s so proud of me, he’s taking me this weekend to see…” You rolled your eyes at your sister. She was such a goody two-shoes. It was always about her. Her academic achievements, her cheerleading achievements, her debate team, her everything. Ever since your mom who had been your best friend, died a few years ago, your father just… ignored you. He only paid attention to your sister. He took you to auditions, sure, but there was no guarantee you would ever have a ride home. Home, even. The man barely came to visit you when you were shooting, ever, unless he happened to be near the studio. Your solution was simple. Your dad hated you and blamed you for everything.

           “That’s great,” you said as you watched the director and one of the producers start walking onto the stage, along with the lead prop head.

           “Dad said he’s never been prouder of anybody in his life.” You could tell she was excited, but that was the wrong thing to say. “How’s that acting thing going?”

           “Well, I actually have a scene with Chris coming up, so…”

           “Oh, he’s hot.”

           “Yeah. I guess.”

           “You are such a loser, you can’t even agree with me on that. I have to go start pyramid, so…”

           “Fine by me.” You hung up the phone and put it under your thigh. If you weren’t wearing makeup, you probably would’ve started crying. It wasn’t a particularly harsh exchange like some of them were. It wasn’t even really harsh at all. But it meant she had more bragging rights. Dad had one more excuse not to call you and tell you all about what she was doing. It was starting to get to you that maybe your sister was right. Maybe you should be doing something other than what you’d wanted to do since you were a kid. Acting was the only thing you knew you could do well. Your sister, though? She could do anything. And you were starting to think that maybe Dad liked her more because she was better at everything.

           “Hey!” Chris said as he walked over to where you were sitting. His chair was right next to yours. “You wanna get lunch after this scene? Next scene’s going to take them a couple hours so we don’t have to rush. We can go to that ramen place you like.” You nodded.

           “Yeah, sure.” Chris cocked his head like his dog would. He could tell something was wrong, but he couldn’t tell what. You two were close. Very close. But he was more like a father or a brother than anything else. He was like the father you dearly wished you had. He was the one who would drop you back by the apartment at the end of the day. He was the one who took you to get your tonsils out when you had tonsillitis three months in a row at the beginning of shooting.

           “Something wrong?” He asked curiously. “You’re quieter than usual. We can have a few extra minutes if you wanna talk.” He sipped at his coffee. He was in a good mood. The last thing you wanted to do was bring him down. And he was right. Usually you were talking all the time, too much, even. But you were stunned into silence. You were thinking.

           “I’m fine,” you just responded.

           “For someone who’s such a great actor, you’re a terrible liar.” You sighed, getting ready to tell him that you talked to your sister again, but the red light came over the stage and it was time to work the scene. It was the scene in the movie where Chris’s character finally recognized your character as his daughter, because of course it was.

           You got it done in five takes. A record, because usually you and Chris would laugh too much or someone would break and send the other into a giggling fit. Chris knew something was wrong, though, bless him, and he did the scene. And as soon as the director called cut on the final shot they needed, you were done for the next couple of hours. You set your phone for your call time, and forgetting all about lunch, you started walking back to your trailer.

           “Hey! Kid!” Chris called halfway across the trailer-filled parking lot. You had your hand on the handle of your trailer, but you didn’t take it. You turned back to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

           “Nothing,” you lied.

           “Again. Terrible liar. Go get changed and meet back here in ten minutes.” You nodded, and after texting your assigned costume assistant that your things would be in your trailer, you changed into real-person clothes and stripped off the fake dirt on your face.

           Chris already had his car parked outside of your trailer when you emerged, and he was listening to some bad 80’s music. You couldn’t help but smile a little bit. He was such an idiot. But he understood how much you loved bad 80’s music.

           “Why are you so quiet today?” He asked as you sat down in his car and buckled your seatbelt, because God help you if you got in an accident and your dad had to come. “Come on. Tell Dr. Evans and he’ll buy you ice cream. And beat up the boy making you sad.”

           “It’s not Ashton,” you said. Ashton was a guy you’d been talking to who was shooting another movie across the lot.

           “If you say so.” Chris just drove to your favorite restaurant in the area, thankful that he had enough time to break you down. You didn’t even look at your phone, which was even weirder to him. It kept lighting up with texts from your family group chat where your dad and sister were talking about another acceptance she’d got. How many schools did this girl apply to, you thought? And why did that seem to reflect on you so badly?

           Come to think of it, why did it say anything about you in the first place? It shouldn’t. She was your sister, she was a polar opposite of you. Her college acceptances didn’t have anything to do with the lack of yours. It was you, you decided. Just you. Something was wrong with you, to the core. Why else would your father act the way he was acting? Why would he act like you were making the worst decisions of your life every time you spoke to him? Why was he so angry that he didn’t even want any of the money you offered to send to him even though he and your sister were very comfortable. Why didn’t he care one single bit when you texted him the other day that you’d gotten into a summer acting program?

           “Hey. Kid,” Chris elbowed you as you sat on the bench outside the restaurant, where he’d put your names in five minutes ago. You hadn’t said a word since you got in the car, and that was what worried him. Sometimes you were just quiet, yeah, but this was a different kind of quiet. Your eyes were blank. It was like you were in another world that he’d never seen you go into before. It occurred to you that he’d never even seen you cry before unless it was for a scene.

           “What?” You asked. He had stood up in the few seconds it took you to answer.

           “Are you high?” You shook your head. “Then what is going on with you? You’re being super quiet. You’re never quiet. You didn’t even yell at me for my bad parking job. Don’t just tell me nothing’s wrong because something’s wrong.” You followed the waiter to the table and took a seat, watching Chris as he ordered water for the both of you. He was always saying you looked dehydrated.

           “I talked to my sister earlier,” you finally said. “She keeps getting into all of these schools and doing all of these things and bragging about them.”

           “That’s what siblings do,” Chris responded. “I’m sure she’s not trying to.” You wanted to tell him that no, she was for sure trying to, but maybe you were just being paranoid. Maybe he was right and it was just a sibling rivalry thing.

           “Yeah,” you muttered. You took a sip of water and gave him a weak smile.

           “And that’s her problem if she doesn’t see how talented you are. You don’t need to go to college or be on debate teams or any of that bullshit.” The waiter came back and took your orders, but you were still thinking.

           “It’s not just her.” Chris looked up at you, blinking a few times.

           “What?”

           “It’s my dad, too,” you sighed, putting your head on your elbows. You were trying to hide the cloud of tears that was trying to fall, but you knew you weren’t doing well. “What’s wrong with me, Chris? Why am I not good enough for either of them?”

           “Honey,” Chris responded. You hated that you were crying in public about something so trivial, but you were. Chris, without hesitation, called the waiter over. “I’m sorry, can we possibly get those to go?”

           “No problem, just a minute,” the waiter said. He obviously saw you crying. Chris stood up from where he was sitting and slid into the booth beside you, gripping onto your shoulders.

           “There’s nothing wrong with you,” he assured you. “Why would you even think, for a second, that something is?” His hand started rubbing up and down your back before you could start truly blubbering. You did your best to breathe deeply. It felt good to let everything out, but you hated that it was a public place and that you were unloading everything on Chris. He didn’t deserve that.

           “It feels like there is. Neither of them care, at all. My dad doesn’t even call me anymore. All he cares about is my sister. I told him I landed that role for the movie in the fall and all he told me was that I was making a bad decision. I told him I got into that program over summer and he just said I should be going to fucking cheerleading camp like my sister. He doesn’t care, neither of them do.”

           “Yeah?” Chris started. You looked up at him. His eyes were red-rimmed like he was doing his best not to cry, too. “I had no idea, kid. I’m sorry.”

           “It’s fine, I just… I feel like something’s wrong with me. Because ever since my mom died, it’s like my sister is the only thing that matters.” The food was set in front of you in to-go boxes, but Chris wasn’t leaving just yet. He slapped his phone on the table, open to Apple Pay, and watched the waiter take it away.

           “Nothing is wrong with you,” he repeated softly, pulling your hair into a ponytail at the back of your head. “You are gorgeous. And talented. And smart. And funny. And anyone that can’t see that, even if they’re family, is blind and stupid and they’re not worth your time.”

           “It’s not like I can just cut them off,” you said.

           “No. But you can distance yourself.” He hesitated before saying something else. “Why don’t you stay with me for awhile, okay? When shooting finishes up, you can stay with me until you can find your own place back home.”

           “I can’t just de-rail your life because you feel bad for me.”

           “I don’t feel bad for you. I care about you. A lot. And if I can help you with this, I want to. Because clearly your family isn’t.” You took in a deep breath and sniffled, nodding as he rubbed your shoulders.

           “Thank you.” He smiled at your teary eyes and ruffled your hair in his hands.

           “Alright. Let’s go back to the trailer and we can start apartment hunting. I have some very specific requirements.” You rolled your eyes and sniffled again, standing up to help him carry the food back to the car.

           “Whatever you say, Dad.”

           “That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” he quipped as he took his phone from the waiter and fished his car keys out of his pocket.

A/N: I hope the person who requested this enjoys ❤️

[aleidawrites]

Baby Animals Are Romantic

A gift for @semicolonsandsimiles who gave me the prompt “post-canon/established relationship” for the @pynchpromptweek​ Pynch Secret Santa 2020. Have some of Ronan and Adam being soft and going on dates with each other!

Title: Baby Animals Are Romantic

Word Count: 3301

Summary: Adam had never been to the county fair before, so when Ronan suggests they go he figures this is a farming thing. But Adam's eager to spend time with his boyfriend, even if he also has to listen to an auctioneer trying to sell steers. Or, in which Ronan just wants to take his oblivious boyfriend on a date and maybe hold hands on the Ferris wheel.

Read on AO3

Ronan approached him a couple of weeks after they had finally discussed the dream-goop. It felt like they had progressed to a new stage of their relationship, with Ronan dedicated to his dreaming again and Adam figuring out what school was going to look like. Adam was bent over one of his many lists (this one a bulleted list of all the work study opportunities on campus) when Ronan rested his shoulder on the door jam to the study where Adam had taken up residence. 

He liked the large wooden desk.

“You know, the fair’s coming up,” Ronan muttered.

“The what?”

Adam looked up from his list — the best chance for steady hours was working in the campus cafeteria but the assignment at the library would let him do surreptitious homework on the job more often — and frowned at Ronan. He could remember a school fair in elementary, but Ronan wouldn’t have those same memories. 

“Wait, the county fair?” Adam laid his pen down carefully on the desk and leaned back. 

The county fair took place every August at the fairground, which was just another field north of Singers Falls. Aglionby never paid much attention to the county fair, with the ruckus of the Fourth of July always outshining anything else that happened during the summer up until last year. Adam vaguely remembered some of his classmates in elementary school talking about their 4H projects or art submissions with markers and crayons.

“I’ve never been to the fair,” Adam said slowly. Ronan stood up straighter, pushing himself off the door. “What’s even there?”

“Y’know, competitions and shit, who can grow the biggest pumpkin, who’s got the best pig.” Ronan slumped fully into the room to lean against Adam’s desk, like standing straight was a hassle for him. “There’s rides they set up for kids, like those tiny airplanes that you get in and spin around.”

Adam didn’t say that he had never been in those rides as a kid. He knew Ronan wasn’t bringing that up to remind Adam of what he hadn’t had. They just had different perspectives of what kids had. Adam had a mattress on the floor of the double-wide, and Ronan had a dad who created magical things from dreams.

“And the auctioneer will come by to sell off livestock and shit,” Ronan said, speaking faster. “Steers and stuff for farmers. Sometimes there’s baby animals from the stock.”

Oh, so that was a thing. Adam leaned his elbows on the desk so that he could be closer to Ronan’s downturned face.

“You wanna go?”

Ronan’s shoulders slumped so fast that Adam barely noticed how high they had been before. But Ronan’s face relaxed at the same time, and that was more fun for Adam to watch.

“Shit, Parrish, don’t act like you're doing me a favor or anything,” Ronan drawled.

Adam rolled his eyes. For everything that had happened over the summer, Ronan was still shit at asking for what he wanted. He could’ve just asked Adam to go with him to the county fair auction.

“Fine.” Adam hid his smile in his shoulder and picked up his pen again. “When’s the auction?”

“Friday afternoon,” said Ronan. “You just have the factory shift on Friday, right? You’re free after that.”

Ronan asked like he didn’t have Adam’s whole work schedule memorized. Adam looked up and didn’t bother concealing his smile at Ronan.

“Yep.”

To Adam’s delight, the tips of Ronan’s ears turned pink as he nodded as if nothing was unusual about that.

“Good.” Ronan turned on his heel and marched back out the door. “Hey, brat, what’re you doing with that?”

Adam left Ronan to manage Opal on his own, but he was still smiling when he hunched back over his lists.

…

They left Opal with the Fox Way ladies on Friday, something Opal herself had mixed feelings about, but she seemed happy enough with all the various herbs the women let her chew on. Ronan drove the two of them back through Singers Falls and up to the fairgrounds.

Adam had only ever seen it when it was an empty field, mostly mowed down grass with patches of dirt or mud, depending on the season. Ronan kept vibrating in the driver’s seat, shifting so aggressively that Adam wondered if he should’ve offered to go “driving” with him before going to the fair. Or instead of it.

When they finally got to the fair, just after lunch, the field was already half full of cars on one side of the skinny two-lane road. The field on the other side of the road was full of white tents and footpaths around the various attractions. Rows of red and yellow and green tractors stretched out from one side of the fair into the empty trimmed field. True to what Ronan had said, there were a few carnival rides for kids, including a full sized Ferris wheel near the center of the fair.

“There’s a lot of people here,” Adam noted as they parked and got out of the Beemer. Lots of people was typically not Ronan’s jam.

“Don’t be a wuss, Parrish,” Ronan said. He hurried around the car to stand close to Adam’s side. “Let’s go.”

He grabbed at Adam’s hand and jerked him towards the road. Adam went. It was hard not to follow Ronan Lynch when he was this much like Ronan Lynch, a black T-shirt covering his shoulders while the wicked curves of his tattoo peeked out at the base of his neck.

For a minute as they crossed the road, Adam wondered if he should be more careful, if he should take his hand away from Ronan’s. His parents weren’t generally fair-goers, so he didn’t expect to see them or anyone else from the trailer park here, but farmers were their own kind of people. What would they think about two boys holding hands as they ran to the admission booth? But as soon as they pulled up to the ticket window where a gray-haired lady with a straw hat sat taking money, Ronan let go of Adam’s hand to dig in his pocket.

“I could’ve got that,” Adam protested, mostly because he could.

“So, you can buy us lunch,” said Ronan as he folded his wallet and shoved it back into his jeans.

The lady gave a string of pink paper tickets to Ronan, who tore it in half and gave one half to Adam. He took them and frowned at them. They looked like raffle tickets, but Adam wasn’t sure what purpose they served here.

“C’mon,” Ronan said and walked through the gates.

Inside the fairgrounds were full of lines of people grouped and moving like pods of fish. The packed squadrons of bodies all moved the same way, like rush hour traffic with bodies instead of cars. Ignoring everyone, Ronan pulled Adam to a stop in front of a fork in the dirt path and tilted his chin up towards the open sky.

“The games are that way.” Ronan pointed to the right.

Adam saw the pointed tops of colorful booths painted in reds and oranges and mechanical spires that — sure enough — propelled tiny metal airplanes up with kids strapped in and screaming in delight.

“I wanna know if they have the stupid carnival shooting games,” said Ronan. Adam rolled his eyes, but Ronan’s eyes went yet another direction. “There’s the Ferris wheel.”

Adam followed Ronan’s finger to the large white and purple wheel at the other side of the fairgrounds, straight ahead of where they were.

“Yeah, looks kinda cheesy.” Adam had only seen those kinds of things in movies. But it wasn’t what Ronan was here for, and in lieu of a responsible farmer, Adam supposed he could nudge Ronan towards the actual prize. “Where’s the animals? You said there would be babies.”

A frown darted quickly across Ronan’s face as he turned to Adam, but then he softened into something private, something reserved for Adam and the Barns. It was the kind of look that made Adam think they could survive a few years of long-distance, as long as Ronan always looked at him like that when he came home.

“Yeah, sure, Parrish, let’s go look at the babies,” said Ronan.

Slipping his shoulder behind Adam’s back, Ronan nudged Adam forward and down the left-hand path. They navigated around the people walking the opposite direction, and Adam felt Ronan’s hand pressing against his back, just below his shoulder blades where Ronan’s body blocked anyone looking closely at the two boys. Adam’s skin felt hot under his T-shirt.

They walked together to a long barn with a shiny metal roof, and Ronan shifted to take the lead up the incline to the end of the barn where the main doors were standing wide open. Adam recognized the smell immediately: hay and warm bodies and corn. But this was different from the Barns in a way that Adam could only attribute to the dream quality of Ronan’s home. Even once everything was awake again, there was a sense of peace over the whole thing, a wildness that the cows, the deer, Opal, and Ronan himself all were a part of.

But Ronan looked happy enough to be in his natural environment. The thought of teasing Ronan that he belonged in a barn made Adam’s mouth quirk up. Ronan grabbed his hand before he could say anything and pulled Adam towards one side of the barn.

“Look,” Ronan pointed into the pen.

People were pressed up against the wood of the pen, but Ronan just elbowed a man out of the way and ignored the glare that he received in turn. Adam scoffed but walked up beside Ronan and looked inside the wooden pen. Two lambs sat in the pen next to the back wall while a third lamb walked around on spindly legs, jerking its way back and forth from the many outstretched hands of the people crowding the pen then darting back to the safety of the other lambs away from people.

Adam rested his elbows on the top of the pen and watched the lamb dance back and forth adventurously, nipping at the outstretched fingers of a kid who had climbed up the rungs of the pen and then hopping back out of reach of all the adult hands that stretched out to pet the animal. Beside him, Ronan sighed and leaned down over the closed pen, nearly folding himself in half. He let his hand dangle loosely near the fluffy bedding lining the pen and ignored the rest of the people clamoring to see the baby lamb and entice them closer. Adam watched as one of the lambs from the back of the pen got up on its own shaky legs and nosed its way closer. Ronan wiggled his fingers and let the lamb approach him and sniff cautiously.

Adam leaned harder onto Ronan and watched the lamb lick at Ronan’s fingers, wary but eager for something that Ronan had. Adam could sympathize.

Ronan glanced up.

“Wanna pet him?” he asked softly, his voice toned down from his usual boisterous shredding of the English language.

Adam scooted closer to Ronan and leaned down with him, letting his fingers dangle just like Ronan had instead of thrusting his hand out in beckoning motions like the rest of the people. The lamb moved from sniffing Ronan’s fingers to seeking out Adam’s. It’s tongue tickled the tips of his fingers, and Adam stretched his hand out a little further and gently patted the top of the lamb’s head. He turned to see Ronan grinning at him.

“C’mon,” said Ronan. “I bet there are some calves they got further down.”

…

They passed through the other end of the livestock barn, where Ronan had stopped by pretty much every pen to see the baby animals and try to entice each one closer. Every time he had gotten an animal to come close to him, he offered petting privileges to Adam, which he appreciated. But Adam liked seeing Ronan’s unique magic with barns and baby animals even more than touching them himself. For all his dangerous appearance, Ronan was most at home being soft around animals.

After the barn, Ronan dragged Adam — fairly willingly but still — down the continuing path that looped back around to the carnival games that were all grouped together, next to the mechanical toy rides. Adam beat Ronan in a game of “shoot the water gun at the target,” which won him both an oversized red foam cowboy hat and a heated look from Ronan. It was only when Ronan had a bizarrely large stuffed giraffe under his arm that Adam thought he might be missing something.

“We should get food,” Ronan said. “You’re buying, right?”

Adam glanced down at the beaten watch on his wrist, still able to tell him when he was about to be late for a shift.

“What about the auction?”

Ronan frowned at him.

“Why would you wanna see an auction?” he demanded. “It’s just a bunch of people yelling about cows.”

“You yell about cows on a regular basis, Lynch.” Adam rolled his eyes. Ronan was probably just protesting too much and didn’t want to go to something that he was being forced to.

“Those’re my cows, though,” Ronan said into Adam’s good ear. “Special breed.”

Adam felt his cheeks flush and tried to brush the blush away with the back of his hand.

“Let’s do whatever you want,” he tried. “Where d’you want to go?”

Ronan stopped in between a booth with a ring toss and the back of a food cart that smelled like hot oil and sugar.

“I brought you to have fun, Parrish,” he said. “Are you that much of a workaholic? We talked about this.”

Adam bristled. He breathed in deeply, almost matching Ronan’s smoker-inhale, and told himself to be calm.

“Excuse me for trying to make sure you get what you need outa this,” he muttered lowly.

“Excuse you?!” Ronan’s eyebrows flew up.

Adam grimaced. The words had slipped out. Fighting with Ronan was still a charged activity for the both of them. Adam was still getting used to softness, from both himself and from Ronan Lynch.

“Look, I’m trying to be considerate of you here,” Adam explained very calmly.

“Well, don’t feel like you have to spare my fucking feelings!” Ronan bit out.

Adam threw his hands into the air, funny cowboy hat and all.

“You wanted to come!”

“I wanted to go on a date with you!” snapped Ronan.

Adam blinked his way out of his sudden anger and felt his stomach sink in its absence. Ronan looked suddenly sheepish and angry that he was sheepish. His jaw ticked like he was clenching his teeth, like he was trying to hold his words back from where they could do the most damage to Adam.

“I can do better than just driving in cars,” Ronan said. “This was gonna be fun. Way to ruin the day.”

Adam’s stomach turned to lead. He hated the idea that this was all ruined because of him. Part of his mind argued that going to the county fair was a weird idea for a date, but he recognized the defensive part of himself, the part that constantly looked for ways that he could get hurt so that he knew where to protect himself.

But the larger part of him saw Ronan’s jaw clench the same way it did when he was trying not to let his lip tremble, trying not to show how much he felt.

Adam thrust his red cowboy hat into Ronan’s hands and shoved him towards a wooden table in front of the food truck.

“Wait there,” he ordered. “I’ll get us lunch.” Ronan glowered at him unconvincingly. “Just wait there—” Adam just needed a couple of minutes to get his brain in order. “—I’ll be back.”

He marched off, trying to see what looked like actual food in this place.

…

Adam returned with a paper plate damp with grease and soaked in powdered sugar. Ronan was still sitting at the wooden picnic table, his head resting on his folded arms on the table. Adam slid the fried pile of dough toward Ronan and sat next to him. Sitting across would be too far away.

“I bought a funnel cake,” he said.

Ronan lifted his head and stared at the deep fried treat. It wasn’t real food, but Adam had thought it smelled good and was the kind of thing Ronan would enjoy stuffing his face with.

“I’m sorry,” Adam said. “I didn’t know this was supposed to be a date. I thought you were just looking for more animals for the farm.”

Ronan snuffled into his bare elbow and then rested his chin on his arms.

“You’re a real romantic, Parrish.”

Adam bent his head and leaned into Ronan’s shoulder so that he could hide the small smile that threatened his mouth. Ronan was at least willing to forgive him, which made the shameful tightness in his belly abate a little.

“You like baby animals, though.” Adam pressed his head against Ronan’s stubbled skull. “I knew you wanted to come here.”

Ronan shifted beneath him like he wanted to sit up straighter but didn’t want to actually lose Adam’s touch.

“So, you didn’t wanna come?”

“I didn’t say that,” Adam said quickly. He drew his head back so that he could wrap his arm around Ronan’s waist cautiously, still aware that they were surrounded by people who had probably grown up like Adam’s parents. “I liked seeing you with the lamb. That was cute.”

Ronan’s ears turned bright pink, and he turned to hide most of his face against Adam’s neck.

“Shuddup.”

Adam grinned.

“I’m just saying.” He shifted his hand up to cover Ronan’s ribs. “I would’ve come even if I didn’t know it was a date. I like being with you.”

Ronan relaxed into him, and Adam held his breath like he always did when he had to remind himself that this was his now. He wasn’t being selfish for having this.

“So, next time I should spell things out for you,” Ronan murmured into his neck.

“Might be good.” Adam knew his own weaknesses, and he was prone to not communicating. He was working on that.

Then Adam straightened, shifting so that Ronan’s head rolled off his neck.

“Or I could ask you,” Adam said to Ronan’s confused (and slightly disappointed) look. “Ronan Lynch, do you want to ride the Ferris wheel with me?”

The brief glance of Ronan’s wide eyes made Adam smile through his heated cheeks. He knew he was blushing, but Ronan’s cheeks were fully pink now.

“I can try to bribe the guy to stop us at the top,” said Adam. “Like in the movies.”

Ronan inhaled his smoker’s breath and leaned so close that he nearly headbutted Adam.

“Thought that was cheesy.”

“I don’t need a replay of what I missed out on, Lynch.” A bit of leftover shame curled in Adam’s stomach before he smothered it entirely. He focused on softening his face, and he took Ronan’s hand tentatively. “But if you want to show me your favorite stuff, I can get behind that.”

Ronan threaded his fingers through Adam’s.

“I wanna be with you,” he said. “The rest doesn’t matter so much.”

Adam grinned.

“So, come on.” Adam pulled Ronan until he followed Adam to his feet. “Let’s go.”

“What about the funnel cake?” Ronan protested. Adam didn’t think he really meant it.

“That’s barely food, Lynch.” He rolled his eyes anyway. “I’ll buy you some real food after the Ferris wheel.”

“Fair food is a time-honored tradition, you pleb.”

Adam grinned all the way through Ronan’s complaining as they walked hand-in-hand through the fairgrounds.

[riverdalesfangirl]

Melody Andrews (FP Jones)

Melody Andrews  ~ Home Sweet Hell ~ Drinks  ~ You Need A Break ~ But A Number

~Trouble~

I drive to Jackson's house knocking on the door. Suddenly he comes out with a gun pointed at me. "Woah!" I scream crouching down. "Shit Mel! What the fuck! I could have shot you!" "Why the hell are you coming to the door with a gun?" I ask shocked and confused. Jackson puts the gun in his waistband sighing. "It's been a little rough. I got into some trouble, and now it's... bad." I walk into his home throwing myself onto the couch. "What kind of trouble?" Jackson walks back and forth nervous. "You know the whole Blade situation?" "That dude is still alive?" I ask laughing. We use to party with him back in the day. 

"He's...got into some business, and asked me to do a couple of runs for him. I got hit by a car and I fled. Left the entire shipment there. Now he's going to kill me! I lost so much shit!" Jackson flings his arms around crying. "Hey! It's alright. You're going to be fine." "No! I-I'm going to die Mel!" He cried into my shoulder. "No, you wont. I won't let that happen." Jackson laughs. "Yeah? Please enlighten me how you're going to stop a fucking drug lord." "We pay him back." Jackson pulls away fully looking at me shocked. "Mel! Do you really think I got that much money? You're fucking crazy!" I shake my head. "I didn't say you had to pay them." I go to walk out of the house and once I do I'm met with a group of men. Scary looking men... with guns pointed at me. I look in the middle and see Blade standing there, arms crossed, stern face. "Hey there Blade." He tilts his head confused. "Do I know you?" "Melody Andrews. Nice to see you again." "Shit girl. We thought you died. Everyone did." I nod sighing. "Yep. Been around just moved away alone." "Well good to see you, but I've got some business with your friend there." I turn to see Jackson as white as a ghost. "You know what. You don't. I'm taking care of it. You're not going to hurt him." They laugh at my statement. "What makes you think you're going to stop us?" I whip out my wallet and open it pulling out hundreds of dollars. "This enough?" I ask throwing the stack of cash at Blade. He looks up at me shocked. "He lost a shipment. Money isn't the issue." He tries to push past me but I shove another couple hundred at his chest. "Leave Blade." He smirks and sneers in my face. "You think you're tough little girl? How about I show you-" I cut him off punching him as hard as I can knocking him down the steps and at his follower's feet.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" I scream at them. Blade hides his fright and leaves with the payment. "Melody." Jackson calls from the door. I turn to see a couple of Serpents staring at me. "I've got to go." I get into my car and drive around the town without a real destination. I pass Pops, the school, a couple of playgrounds, and then I finally pass my childhood home. I pull off on the side of the road and stare at the house. My old room lit up by lights. I smile when I see the glimpse of orange hair just like mine.

"I've waited long enough." I mumble and step out of my car. I walk up to the house and begin to softly toss pebbles at my brother's window. He opens it and peers down at me. I wave at him nervously. He just stares at me with wide eyes. Seconds later he is out the front door and just looking at me. Suddenly a full grown Labrador retriever bolts out towards me. "Vegas!" I praise and hug the dog that was just a puppy when I left.

My brother smiles at me and rushes into my arms. No words exchanged, only tears and huffs of breaths. I pull away looking at him. "Oh my gosh,  you're so old." I laugh admiring his face. He has gotten so handsome. "You're back." He speaks in a shakey voice. "Melody. Where did you go?" He asks burring his head in my neck and holding onto me tightly. "I can't stay long Archie, but I promise to tell you everything soon." He looks at me with serious eyes. "Are you in trouble Melody?" I smile at him kissing his head. "No Arch. I'm safe. I'll be back don't worry. I love you." My brother smiles wide and hugs me as hard as he can. "I love you too Melody."

~

-FP-

Fred and I walk into the office trailer of the site and see both our boys sitting there tossing a ball around. "Oh, how was your first day back?" Jughead asks me with a small grin. "Oh, it was great." I say my mind running elsewhere. Like Melody for instance. She doesn't know that I've taken a new job. She doesn't even know I've been thinking about her day and night, regretting telling her we didn't belong together.

"Your dad is the hardest-working guy on the crew, as always." Fred laughs patting me on the back. "Oh, in that case, why don't we celebrate to mark the occasion?" " Yeah, Juggy and I were thinking the four of us could have dinner or something." Fred looks at the boys. "Uh, tonight? I don't know." I shrug looking at my old time friend. "I'm game if you're game. On me." Fred nods and we all soon drive down to the local diner.

"Anyway We spent the whole summer fixing up that old VW bus. Yeah. Remember what we called it, Fred?" "The Shaggin' Wagon." We say in unison laughing. "This was before your dad had game. Senior Year, he started a band, and then the girls were all over him." I explain to the boys laughing in the memory. "We were awful." Fred says. "Yeah, yeah, we were."  "You know, your dad was what is commonly known as a BMOC, Jughead." I roll my eyes with a grin. "Come on. The hell I was." I watch as a familiar red car pulls in the parking lot and I get caught up in a smile.

"He single-handedly defeated our arch-rivals, the Baxter High Ravens." Fred says making me come back from my trance. "He doesn't care about that stuff, Fred. Football, sports. Takes after his mom in that respect, and I mean that as a compliment. I'd rather see you spending your time writing, thinking up stories, you still do that? Nose in a book? Typing away?" My son nods but doesn't say much else.

"Yeah, yeah, Jughead works on the school paper with Betty." Archie speaks perking my interest. "Betty? - Ooh. Who is Betty? Is that your girlfriend?" Jug shoots the subject down. "I wanna know more about the band. What was the name of the band?" I laugh remembering. "Ah, yeah. It was called The Fred Heads." Fred says ashamed.

The door chimes and I see Melody walk in. I wave to her sending her a small smile her way. She looks away shuffling to the back. "Who is that?" Fred asks looking at me confused. "Melody. She moved into town about a month ago." This catches Fred's attention and he turns around faster than spreading flames. He stands up just staring at her. "You okay Fred?" My eyes wander to Melody behind the counter putting her things away when she freezes at the sight of Fred.

Am I missing something?

"Melody." Fred says in a cracking voice. Her eyes dart from me to Fred with shock and worry written on her face. She walks closer slowly. Her steps becoming more unstable as she nears. She gets close to Fred and suddenly tears fall from her eyes. I almost stand wanting to protect her, but her words stop me completely. "Dad." Fred grabs her holding her close and crying as well.

Oh shit...

I turn to Archie watching him smile. "You got a sister?" He nods standing up and joining his family. "Don't you remember dad? Archie's Mom kicked her out. She went missing for a long time." Jughead explains to me. "Oh fuck." I do remember! Shit Jugs mom use to take him over to play with them when they were all younger.

Fred pulls away and leads Melody over. "FP, this is my daughter Melody. I don't know if you remember." I look at the women I have come to know and care for in the weeks since she arrived. I planned to find her and tell her it was a mistake letting her walk away. I guess this makes things more complicated.

"Yeah. We actually met when I got into town. It's good to see you again." I nod still shocked to the bone. "How'd you meet?" Fred asks confused. "Um. I wanted a drink. Found a bar on the South Side. FP kept me company." Melody stumbles on her words. She makes eye contact with me. Her eyes searching for something.

"I-I have to work, but I should be getting off around 12. o'clock." Melody speaks looking at me. "Do you want to come home?" Archie asks staying by his sister's side. "Um, I can't tonight-" "No. Melody you have to. You can't just wait to explain yourself. Please come home. Please darling." Melody shakes her head. "I'm not going anywhere near Mary." Archie looks down showing sorrow. "She's not here anymore. She moved to Chicago." Melody smiles slightly. She nods peeking her eyes at me every so often. "Oh, well then I guess I will come by."

Pop comes up from the back smiling. "No worries for you tonight Mel. Go on home." Melody can't hide her smile as she thanks Pops. "You want to ride with me Arch? Jug?" They both nod and move to get out of the booth. Melody gives me one last look containing a trapped box of emotions. The three walk out the door leaving me and Fred alone. He grabs the bill as I sit in shock. Fred places his hand on my should bringing me out of my trace. "You coming, man?" I nod and follow him out. Great. Plenty of time to talk when I'll be in her house. 

My phone buzzes and I look down to see what it is. 'We need to talk' - Mel

I rub my eyes sighing. "Shit."

[eak8753]

High School AU 

There were two people at Rebel High that you didn’t mess with. Damian Wayne and Raven Roth. Damian was the son of playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne. He was a violent little shit that got into fights just for the fun of it. He had been kicked out of numerous schools so his Father sent him to the only public school in town as punishment. He could hold himself in a fight and even if he couldn’t, he knew his Father would bail him out of anything.

Raven was a part of the demons, one of the deadliest gangs in America. She was born into it by her Father, as it was her birthright to be a part of it. She was the school's best known drug dealer and had spent the summer before junior year locked up. She had no quarrels with kicking someone’s ass if she needed to, but her preferred method of attack was verbal abuse. Both of them could cut you down to size with a single look and people were far too scared to get on their shit lists. That didn’t stop the rumours though.

“Todd, what are we doing here? I thought you were taking us to get food?” Damian asked his older brother, Jason. He had told their Father that he was grabbing a late lunch, when Alfred had insisted that he take Damian along. That had been thirty minutes ago and they still hadn’t gotten a single thing to eat. Instead they were at some trailer park on the opposite side of the city. The trailers were smaller than his room and it didn’t make sense why Todd would want to come here.

Ignoring his younger brother, Jason got out of the car, banging on one of the trailer's doors. Following his brother's actions -for what reason was beyond him- a man with two dyed white streaks in his primarily black hair, eyes the colour of ambers, covered in tattoos opened the door. looking Jason up and down he motioned for them to come in. Upon entering Damian noticed two things, it was bigger on the inside, and the place reeked of weed.

“I need papes*” Jason told the man once they walked in. “What happened to the ones I gave you?” the man questioned turning the T.V off. Damian always had to marvel at how differently they all handled their problems. Todd used drugs and alcohol, Drake would isolate himself, Grayson would throw himself into work, and Damian used violence. Sure they each tended to do what the others did -minus Damian and drugs- but they all seemed more prone to do one thing.

Damian was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a girl’s voice, one he had heard a couple of times before. “Hey fuckhead” the girl said, anger evident in her voice. Turning to the sound he looked at a form dressed in a white tank top, black sweatpants, and a bat in hand. Right in front of him was Rebel High’s most feared female; Raven Roth. “Shit” the man Jason had asked papes for pailed. “Rae…” he said trailing off as she went towards the television. She glared at the man, then proceeded to take the bat and swing it into the T.V. effectively rendering it useless. Glass shards fell to the ground, all the while the lavender haired girl never took her eyes off the man.

“What the fuck Raven” the man yelled at the young women, looking back from the shattered T.V. to her. “Remember this next time you wanna go through my shit” she said walking up to him, stopping only a few feet away, dropping the bat. “As your older brother I can go through your crap whenever I want to, and how else was I gonna find out that you’re fucking a thirty year old” the dark haired man replied, still in disbelief over the events that took place not even five minutes ago. “Simple, you don’t. Besides it’s not like it would be the first time” the girl replied with venom, clearly still angry, for what was lost to Damian.

The Roth siblings glared at each other, while the Wayne brothers -or the ones there at least- kept glancing at each other, in mild confusion and fear. She looked at him for a moment. Damian had never had a conversation with the young dealer. She rarely ever spoke unless it was to rip someone apart, disrespect someone -who more often than not deserved it- or was to talk about deals. Seeing as Damian and her didn’t run in the same crowd -that of which meant he was popular, thus meaning he sat with popular people and she was always by herself- and he didn’t have a purpose for drugs, they never spoke. Although they did have English together. Turning back to face her brother she flipped him off and walked out the door.

Damian briefly wondered if he had been possessed as he saw her walk out the door, slamming it. He didn’t want her to leave, which was unusual in itself since he wasn’t much of a people person. Looking at the two older men before him, Damian ran out of the trailer home, running up to the young girl, calling out her name.

Stopping a couple of meters in front of him she slowly turned around, her arms crossed in front of her, confusion visible on her face. “Wayne?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow as he ran the last few meters to her. “Hey, I um” he stammered, suddenly his mouth felt dry. Despite other’s beliefs, he had no clue how to talk to teenage girls, especially ones who were just as explosive as him. He knew he had to be cautious, not say or do anything that might make her upset.

“I didn’t know you had a brother” he said casually. “I have five more,” she said, never letting her defences down. Why was Damian Wayne talking to her? It didn’t make any sense, and honestly she couldn’t be bothered to figure out the truth at the moment. She hadn’t eaten yet and was fully aware of how violent and rude she could be if she didn’t eat. “Really? Where are they” he asked with genuine interest. He was observant and used that to his advantage, he pretty much had everyone at Rebel’s High story -or the basics of it- figured out, all’s except her’s.

“Prison” she answered sharply, turning on her heel, she started walking again. Then a hand reached out to latch on to her own, effectively stopping her. Spinning around to him, she looked at his hand on her arm, then at him. Did he have a death wish? Moving his hand from her after a moment -way to quickly, he noted- he went to speak, but was beaten to it. “Look Damian, if my brother asked you to check up on me-“ “Your brother didn’t tell me to do shit. I just wanted to make sure you were okay” he cut her off, nonchalantly.

She was suspicious, he could see that but she didn’t ask “why” which he was grateful for. Honestly Damian didn’t know why he did it, maybe it was because something about Raven had always intrigued him or that she had yet to throw herself at him but he did want to make sure she was okay. Plus if what her brother said about the thirty year old was true, he wanted that pedophile to get locked up.

“I’m guessing you’re one of the shithead brothers Jay is alway complaining about?” She asked him after a moment, still keeping her guards up. Raising his eyebrow slightly he crossed his arms. “He talks about you guys, so are you Kiss Up, Replacement or Demon Spawn?” the girl question. “Demon Spawn, definitely Demon Spawn” the boy answered, smirking.

Sure being called a demon spawn wasn’t something to be proud of, but honestly he couldn’t give two shits. When he first went to live with his Father seven years ago he purposefully was a disobedient, cruel, nasty child, something he undoubtedly would be punished for when he lived with his Mother and Grandfather. He also really liked the names for his other older brothers. Kiss Up had to be Grayson, Father was always comparing everything the others did to their eldest brother. Replacement must have been Drake then, which for Todd was fitting, considering he was adopted a few months after Father had sent Todd off to boarding school in London.

Tuning back into his conversation with Raven he asked “what does he say about us?” “53% of the time it's complaints, 17% is talking about how we should sell him a gun“ this shocked Damian for two reasons; why did Todd need a gun? And he didn’t know the Roths dealt them. Of course he wasn’t stupid and valued his life so he brushed it off as if he already knew these things. “What about the remaining 30%?” The young Wayne asked. At that Raven just grinned.

It was then that she came closer to him, he stood still, tensing up at the contact. He didn’t really like being around people, females no less. He had only really ever had two females close to him; his mother and ex girlfriend, both of which were no longer a part of his life. Raven, being completely oblivious to his uneasiness reached forward for the front of his jacket, playing with the unzipped sides before looking up at him. “Is that a Balmain Biker Jacket*” she questioned, still playing with the sides. “Yeah it is, how did you…” he trailed off, looking at her suspiciously. “Just because I can't afford it doesn’t mean I don't know what it is,” she smirked.

He looked at her a bit sheepishly, then she quickly pulled away from him. For some reason he liked having her close to him, but he brushed it off as wanting physical contact from a female -that he was comfortable with- after going months without it.

“I'm hungry” she stated, and started walking away. Before he could do anything she turned to him again with a raised brow. “Well, are you coming?” She asked. It took him a moment to realize what had happened. Raven Roth had just asked him if he was going to eat with her, it really wasn’t her style. He had rumours that she had slept with -or done something similar- with almost every guy at school. He didn’t think she did dates, then again this wasn’t a date. Did he want it to be a date? That was a question he didn’t need answered at the moment, running up to her he made sure to leave a good five inches of space between them.

Entering Big Belly Burger, they sat down at a booth, across from each other. “Need help deciding what you want,” Raven asked with an amusing smile, clearly teasing him. It wasn't a secret that Damian always had the best of everything; clothes, technology, and food. He knew that she thought that this was his first time coming to a Big Belly Burger, or any fast food place. Yes it was true he didn’t usually go to places that served food high in fat, but he did indulge once in a while, this being one of those times. “Nope” he answered, popping the P, as the waitress came over to them.

“What will it be?” The waitress asked, who Damian quickly realized was a new girl who went to their school, a sophomore he believed. “I'll have a grilled chicken burger and an ice tea, with a side of fries” Raven said, putting the menu down. “I'll have the same thing except for a surprise veg burger” Damian responded to the waitress. Looking up from her notepad, she looked both of them over, registering who exactly was in front of her.

“Holy shit, you’re Damian Wayne” it wasn’t really a question but he nodded anyways. Immediately she became much more cheery. She patted her uniform skirt down, fixed her hair slightly and put on a bright smile. “So what brings you here” she said, he cringed internally at the overused pickup line. He found it a little disrespectful that she would try and talk to him when he was clearly in the middle of something with another person. The complete disregard for Raven infuriated.

He gestured towards the purple haired girl in front of him, the waitress just scoffed. “You certainly are a cheap date” she said to Raven. “Didn’t know you were into rich boys, then again I wouldn’t put being a gold digger past you. Or is the trailer trash you’re used to just not cutting it anymore, you would sleep with anyone who wants it” she said with clear disgust, Raven for her part was keeping her cool, she didn’t even seem bothered by what this girl was insinuating. Damian knew the rumours, and what her brother said didn’t help her case, but she didn’t have to take this kind of treatment.

Looking away from Raven, the younger girl looked Damian, bright smile again. “You know you don’t have to go through the trouble of buying this skank lunch right? I mean you could do so much better-“ no doubt referring to herself, he thought “-and she never needed to be dined before. I heard that she” “I don’t give two shits what you heard about her. Now can you please go get us our fucking food” Damian snapped. The girl, slightly taken aback by his outrage, just nodded and left, all the while having Damian glare at her.

Looking back to Raven he saw her brow raised, something he noticed she did a lot. “You know you could report her right, get her fired. No doubt that she deserves it” he said, still not understanding how she managed not to be angry. “It’s not that big of a deal” she shrugged, playing with a ketchup packet. Not that big of a deal? She had just been disrespected and thinks it isn’t a big deal.

Then a thought struck him. “Does that happen often” he questioned, although deep down he already knew the answer. She pretended to think for a moment. “All the time” she answered, leaning back in her seat. “You don’t have to take it,” he said, placing his hands on the table leaning forward slightly. “Look, I'm a Roth” she sighed. “People are always gonna talk. If she wasn’t bitching about me being a slut, then it would about me being a dealer” she said, eyes pleading with him to just drop it.

“That's fucked up” he said, staring out the window. “I come from a pretty fucked up family” she responded with a smile in her voice. “Yeah, my family’s pretty shit too” he stated, still not looking at her. He was upset with his Father for not knowing about him until he was ten years old, he was upset with his Mother for not telling his Father about him, but more importantly he was upset that they both never treated him like a normal child, then again Damian wasn’t a normal child.

“Damian” Raven's voice snapped him from his thoughts, turning to look at her; she had an incredulity face. “From what I heard you have a pretty great family” she stated matter of factly. Seeing the look of confusion on his face she elaborated. “I know that your Father is sort of a distant asshole, but he also has a multibillion dollar company to run, so he can’t exactly be there for all of you. Clearly he shouldn’t have so many kids but you all turned out pretty fine. The worst of you being Jason, dubbed by the media, and all he really does is smoke weed” she gave her two cents. She wasn’t wrong, in fact she was completely on the nose. Damian understood why his Father was away all the time, but a part of him still wished he could see him after he came home from school like most kids.

“Still wish he’d be there for us sometimes though. We really only see him on Fridays for a mandatory family dinner” Damian said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “Family dinner sounds nice, if my Father isn’t locked up then he’s doing something to get locked up” she responded as their food arrived, thankfully it was a different waitress this time. “How much time has he done?” The young man questioned, taking a sip of his ice tea. “30 years on and off” she answered, taking a bite of her fries.

“So, what’s your story?” She asked him after about three minutes of silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence though, and he actually quite enjoyed it. When he was with his -now ex- girlfriend she hated the silence and would talk for hours, which was fine with Damian if it meant he didn’t have to talk about himself. Obviously this tactic wasn’t going to work with Raven.

“I don’t have one” he simply answered, taking a bite from his burger. “Bullshit” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “Everyone's got a story, whether they acknowledge it or not” she stated. “If that’s true then you must have one” he countered, crossing his arms and leaning back into his seat. “Yeah I do, but I asked first” she shrugged, reaching over and grabbing one of his fries.

His eyes followed his fry in her hands, all the way to her mouth, looking up he realized she had been watching him the whole time, sighing he had no other choice but to answer the young woman. “I grew up with my Mother and Grandfather. They took care of me and taught me how to defend myself. After my Grandfather was killed my Mother had trouble taking care of us, so she brought me to my father.”

“Apparently he didn’t even know I was born and made me take a DNA test to determine if I was even his or not. Surprise surprise, I was. I’ve been living with him ever since, sometimes my Mother comes to visit but I wish she would just leave me alone” at her confused face he explained. “My mother was mentally abusive, and kept me isolated from most of the world. It wasn’t until I lived with my Father that I realized how shitty she was though” he finished, taking another bite from his burger.

They just sat there for a while, unmoving. That was until he reached out to take a sip of her drink, she followed the movements with a raised brow, at his smirk she slightly chuckled. “So...” he drawled out, indicating for her to finish, she sighed. “I lived with my mother up until I was eight” she started. “She was murdered and I was taken. Apparently my father didn’t take too kindly to her running off after they found out she was pregnant.”

”Of course I was beyond angry at him for what he did to my mother. Sure she was a bitch at times but she was the only person I had. He went to jail, for unrelated reasons, after that. My brothers were in and out of the house, so I enlisted in school and about four months later he was released. Forced me into the family business. High school kids are more prone to buy drugs than adults. Of course then the rumours came and he totally lost his shit. Went full on psycho, I had to leave for a while so I got my ass thrown in juvie. While I was locked up he got caught for some shit and now has to do 18 months with a chance of parole in 12” she replied in a monotone voice, not betraying how she actually felt.

“Why’d he go psycho” the youngest Wayne questioned, what rumours had her Father heard that would make her want to go to juvie. “That I was a slut” Damian couldn’t help but snort at that. “Yeah, he thought that I was doing it with everyone; high schoolers, felons, junkies, guys in their thirties” she gave him a small smile as she finished her burger. It was odd, he had never told anyone as much as he had told her. He believed that his mind was something for him and him alone, which drove everyone else crazy. But for some reason he was willing to tell her all of his inner thoughts. Then it struck him.

Thought? What do you mean he thought you did those things. No offence, but you have done those things” he told her with a face of confusion. She looked at him with dull eyes, and shook her head slightly. “I've only slept with one man, Damian, and it wasn’t even consensually” she said with the utmost seriousness, then again when wasn’t she serious? “What...what about the rumours?” he probed with a frown, he believed her, he was just taken aback that someone would spread such nasty lies about another person.

“A few weeks after I started school I was invited to this girl’s birthday party. There was this boy there and he tried to kiss me, I said no. Next thing I knew he told everyone that we had hooked up. Guess he got some of his friends into it too, because they made up shit as well” she shrugged, taking another one of his fries. “Why didn’t you deny it?” He asked. “I did it, but by then the damage was done. It only got worse when I became a freshmen” her eyes had clouded over, as if she was remembering something; something particularly painful.

“What about the guy your brother was talking about?” He inquired, looking her over. Snapping back into reality she answered. “My brother doesn’t know shit. I'm not sleeping with the guy, he's my Social Worker. I have to report to him every two weeks on how shit in my life’s going and based on that he deems whether I can continue living with my father or not” obviously she hadn’t told him the truth, or the entire truth at least. There was no way he would let her live with that maniac if he knew what really happened.

Her words bounced around in his mind. “I’ve only slept with one man, and it wasn’t even consensual. Wasn’t even consensual” she hadn’t given consent. “You were raped” he blurted out. she looked at him with a face of indifference. “Well I wouldn’t go so far to say that-“ “did you and this man have intercourse?” He cut her off. “Yes” she answered honestly, “did you give him consent” “No” she shook her head. “That means you were raped-“ she was about to protest but he continued “-he invaded your body without asking or having permission.”

“Even if you had given consent, that still makes him a pedophile, you have to report this” he couldn’t believe this. The girl everyone had belittled for being a slut was actually a rape victim. “I can't,” she whispered. “Why not” he raised his voice slightly, maybe she didn’t understand the magnitude of this situation, but he did. “Because in some fucked up way...I care about him” she laughed but there was no humour in it. Looking up at him he noticed the unshed tears in her eyes, and he knew that this was hurting her, breaking her. She was pleading with him to drop it. “Rae...” he trailed off, he was sorry for her, not in a pity kind of way, but in a you-don’t-deserve-this kind of way.

“Look,” she said, straightening up a bit. “It happened years ago, I have no way to prove that it even happened. The bastard is already in jail anyways” she said, reaching across the table to put her hand over his, not to take a fry. She smiled at him softly, he didn’t agree with her and was willing to take this to court, even pay for a lawyer, but there wasn’t much he could do if she didn’t want to. So, he just returned the smile.

It was weird, less than an hour ago he hadn’t spoken to her once, and now it felt like they knew each other better than anyone else. He had just thought of her as a skanky dealer, another criminal that should be locked up. It was true, what she had said, that everybody has a story. He silently vowed to never judge another person without truly knowing their story first. This may have been their first conversation, but something told him it wouldn’t be their last.

***

A/N: This came to me when I was watching Euphoria and Shameless videos :)

Papes - The paper you roll weed up in (I think, don’t know if that’s how you spell it)

Balmain Biker Jacket is this expensive leather jacket

[aforrestofstuff]

Okay! I have a burning question for you, my dude. Music is my life, and I wanna know what kind of music the OPM casts listen to. Thanks, my guy!

I had a feeling this would be inevitable lol. I don’t really know a whole lot about music or genres or anything like that so I’m just gonna give you a rundown of each character individually and some song recs along with that just to smooth things out a little. Thanks for your ask, by the way! ❤️ Now my playlists will be put to good use.

A Brief Rundown of the Major OPM Characters’ Music Tastes:

Blast: hc that he doesn’t even have ears since he never fucking LISTENS

Terrible Tornado: Stuff that makes her feel powerful. Loud vocals and good instrumentals. Also, she’s a little angsty since she’s saltier than the gotdamn Pacific almost all of the time. (Recs: Florence and the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Susanne Sundfør - Delirious, Florence and the Machine - What Kind of Man, Kali Uchis - Dead to Me, Let’s Eat Grandma - Falling Into Me)

Fubuki: some of that real classy shit. Slow songs that are nice to just have a cup of tea with. Nothing too meaty or fast-paced, she enjoys taking a moment to breathe every once and a while since life gets pretty hectic when you’re managing a gang of some 30 hooligans. (Recs: Wes - Midnight Low, any song from Lana Del Rey’s entire discography lol, Florence and the Machine - Grace, The Marìas - I Don’t Know You, Yellow House - Ain’t Gonna Call, Feng Suave - Toking, Dozing)

Silverfang: Stuff from his time. I hc that he was a bit of a party animal back in his prime so he’s gotta have those grooves. Disco to the extremo. Also, another hc: Garou absolutely hates his music. He would play it during training and Garou would contemplate homicide. (Recs: Frankie Valli - Grease, The Edgar Winter Group - Free Ride, KC and the Sunshine Band - I’m Your Boogie Man, Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride, The Main Ingredient - Everybody Plays the Fool, Andrea True Connection - More, More, More)

Bomb: save as Silverfang, although I hc that Bomb was a little more of a nerd growing up. Still, he never missed out on a good party. (Additional Recs: KC and the Sunshine Band - Get Down Tonight, The Trammps - Disco Inferno, Tierra - Together, Cornelius Bros and Sister Rose - Too Late to Turn Back Now)

Atomic Samurai: Old shit. Shit older than Silverfang. He’s really not that old, but his soul is fucking ancient and he’s got that classic “grrr music these days sucks” kind of shithead attitude. (Recs: Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle, Dion - Runaround Sue, The Carpenters - The End of the World, The Band - The Weight)

Child Emperor: Upbeat synth. Stuff to listen to while he’s working on his machines and whatnot. Probably has meaty beats to keep him in tune with what he’s doing, like working around a clock. Probably some groovy citypop in there too. (Recs: Taeko Ohnuki - 4:00 AM, Junko Ohashi - Telephone Number, Tatsuro Yamashita - Magic Ways, Hiroyuki Sawano - NEXUS, Superfly - Kakusei, Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love)

Metal Knight: Intrumentals that Disney villains listen to. Deep, dark shit that makes you feel sad. He probably feeds off of negative emotion. What a toolbag. (Recs: Lucas King - Sociopath, Abel Korzeniowski- Table for Two, Max Richter - Never Goodbye, Max Richter - She Remembers, Evelyn Stein - Quiet Resource, Mac Quayle - Adagio in G Minor)

King: video game soundtracks, obviously. Might be some electro funk in there too, as a treat. (Recs: Metal Gear Solid 3 OST - Snake Eater, Mick Gordon - Rip and Tear, Xenoblade Chronicles OST - Main Theme, Persona 5 OST - Last Surprise, Daft Punk - Verdis Quo, Toby Fox - Hopes and Dreams, Disasterpeace - Prologue, iamthekidyouknowwhatimean - Run, Darren Korb - Old Friends)

Zombieman: Dad Music. Old rock that makes you wanna rail some lines of white thunder and dance on top of a car. He’d be reluctant to try out new stuff but does so nevertheless. Just a little bit of weird alternative here and there. (Recs: Poison - Unskinny Bop, Mötley Crüe - Dr. Feelgood, Black Sabbath - War Pigs, Def Leppard - Animal, CRX - Walls, MGMT - Little Dark Age, Pink Floyd - Money, Queens of the Stone Age - Villains of Circumstance)

Drive Knight: Dark synth, obviously. Need I say more? (Recs: El Tigr3 - She Swallowed Burning Coals, Trevor Something - Enjoy the Silence, Greg Drombrowski - Devour, GUNSHIP - Woken Furies, GUNSHIP - Thrasher, Carpenter Brut - Invasion A.D., Kavinsky - Nightcall)

Pig God: this guy probably just listens to ASMR of people eating food lol.

Superalloy Darkshine: Upbeat stuff that’s good for exercise; loving those new jams along with some of the old. He’s got a pretty groovy style. (Diane Ross - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Saint Motel - Puzzle Pieces, CRUISR - All Over, Barry White - Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up, Sade - Kiss of Life)

Watchdog Man: 10 hour loop of wolves howling on a summer night.

Flashy Flash: classical. Some nice instrumentals to listen to while training. Stuff that preferably doesn’t have any or very little lyrics so it’s not too busy on his ears while he’s fantasizing about killing someone. (Recs: Vaughn Williams - The Lark Ascending, Debussy - Rêverie, Grieg - Peace of the Woods, André Laplante - Une Barque sur L’Ocean)

Metal Bat: Modern alternative. A little bit harder than say, Mumen and Kama, but not as hard as Zombieman or Death Gatling. He’s that middle ground where he’s still got some real bangers, but Zenko can listen as well. He’ll play this stuff loudly as he’s doing chores and working out, no headphones ever. It gets pretty annoying. (Recs: Foals - Exits, The Blue Stones - Black Holes, Solid Ground, CRX - Broken Bones, Jungle - Happy Man, The Strokes - Reptilia, We Are Trees - Girlfriend)

Genos: synth. But not just any synth, some heavy, fast-paced synth that’s just like him: speedy, relentless, and powerful. He listens to shit that’ll make you wanna get up and start killing Terminators. Probably. There’s some other synths in the mix too because we love a three-dimensional king. (Recs: Carpenter Brut - Division Ruine, The Protomen - I Still Believe, Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth, Gunship - Tech Noir, TWRP - Phantom Racer, Le Castle Vania - Red Circle)

Tanktop Master: Dad music but the type of dad music that makes you think your dad was a sappy nerd back in the day. Long tracks that are good for workouts. (Tears for Fears - Woman in Chains, Pink Floyd - Us and Them, Duran Duran - Ordinary World, Billy Idol - Eyes without a Face, A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran, The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky, Tears for Fears - Sowing the Seeds of Love)

Puri-Puri Prisoner: Pop. Dance music. He doesn’t really get to listen to a lot of music in prison, so he holds on to whatever he can and savors every second of it. (Coldplay - Talk, Bruno Mars - Runaway Baby, Lady Gaga - Bad Romance, Flo Milli - Beef Flomix, Doja Cat - Say So)

Mumen Rider: Hes a lighthearted, soft boy. Likes some fluffy indie tunes. It helps to motivate him when working out or doing hero stuff. He might need to cry every once in a while though, so there’s some sad songs in the mix too. (Recs: Varsity - The Dogs Only Listen to Him, The The - This is the Day, Amarante - Don’t Look Back, Alvvays - Saved by a Waif, The Monkees - As We Go Along, Acid Ghost - Hide my Face, Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice)

Sonic: same as Flash. He’s a little more hip with the times however, so he’s got some more groovy, electronic instrumentals to listen to in addition to some elegant stuff and isn’t opposed to having a little bit of lyrics sprinkled in there as well. In fact, he’s not opposed to uppity pop either. He thinks dancing is frivolous but he secretly does it when he thinks nobody is looking. (Additional Recs: Odesza - Bloom, Pretty Lights - One Day They’ll Know [Odesza Remix], BØRNS - Electric Love, Hembree - Culture, The Cinematic Orchestra - Arrival of the Birds)

Garou: same as Metal Bat. Bang let him have a little MP3 player during his time at the dojo and has since collected a few songs on there. They’re very near and dear to his heart since it’s one of the few good things that came from his absolute disaster of a childhood. (Additional Recs: Foals - Inhaler, CRX - Slow Down, Deep Sea Arcade - Close to Me, Gorillaz - Empire Ants, The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger, Glass Animals - Take A Slice)

Death Gatling: Shit your old Vietnam-vet grandpa would blast on the back of his F150. He gives me self-righteous asshole vibes, if I’m honest. Like, don’t get me wrong, I like Death Gatling, but he seems like the type of trailer park-dwelling sewer rat to carry a revolver into a Walmart for “self defense” and that’s probably the type of music he listens to, too. (Recs: Megadeth - Trust, Megadeth - Angry Again, Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son, Glen Campbell - Southern Nights, Mötley Crüe - Kickstart My Heart, Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize)

One-Shotter: I hard hc that he had an emo phase he never quite grew out of. He doesn’t quite listen to emo anymore but he’s still into that alternative shit. Homeboy also likes some slow tunes every once and a while because he’s an emotional dude who’s not afraid of a good cry. (Recs: Anything from Blink-182, Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?, MGMT - When You Die, Mazzy Star - Fade Into You, Cigarettes After Sex - Dreaming of You, Yon Ort - Other Matter)

Lightning Max: Same as Genos but without the terminator-killing. Fast-paced stuff because he’s a fast lightning dude. A little more upbeat because he’s not as much as an edgelord as Genos, however. (Additional Recs: Carpenter Brut - Hang’em All, The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize, Worn Tin - Sensitivity, B.E.R. - The Night Begins to Shine, Martin Hall - Different Kind of Love)

Stinger: he’s all about that FUNK! Stuff that gets him moving! Stuff that makes him wanna dance! (Recs: Daft Punk - Doin’ it Right, TWRP - Body Image, Wild Cherry - Play that Funky Music, Chemise - She Can’t Love You, Saga - Wind Him Up, Saga - On the Loose, TWRP - All Night Forever)

Okamaitachi: they give me electro vibes! New, modern shit that’s good to dance to or to just sit down and have a listen! Also, some shit that’ll probably play in a coming-of-age teen movie or something. They don’t really vibe with heavy music and that’s alright, babey! Keeping it light and bouncy. (Recs: Tei Shi - Bassically, Varsity - Must Be Nice, Class Actress - Weekend, CHVRCHES - Richard Pryor, Alvvays - Marry Me, Archie, Sobs - Telltale Signs, Goth Babe - Sometimes, ALASKALASKA - Meateater)

Iaian: Nice, low tunes that are good for meditation and to be used for background noise during training sessions. He never really sits down to listen to music, it’s always in the background of something else he’s doing so he prefers to have some soft beats that don’t really interfere with his senses. Tunes so quiet, he sometimes uses them as lullabies; especially since the trauma of losing his arm has since made it hard to sleep. (Recs: Boy Scouts - Saddest Boy, Susanne Sundfør - Mantra, Vashiti Bunyan - If I Were the Same but Different, Starman Jr. - Blue Fairy, Patrick Watson - Je te Laisserai des Mots, Sibylle Baier - I Lost Something in the Hills)

Bushidrill: same as Atomic Samurai just without the shitty attitude. He’s happy to listen to some newer stuff, he just doesn’t like it and that’s okay, baby! Probably some classy shit your wise old grandpa would listen to. (Recs: Dean Martin - Volare, Dion - The Wanderer, Peppino Gagliardi - Che Vuole Questra Musica Stasera, anything from Luis Miguel lol, Franco Micalizzi - Sadness Theme)

Amai Mask: probably just listens to his own music like a putz. If not, he’s listening to the sound equivalent of glittering diamonds. He’s probably got this shit playing at the end of a long day while he’s chilling in a hot bath or something. (Recs: Fergie - Glamorous, Rita Ora - Hot Right Now, Lana Del Rey - Freak, Lana Del Rey - Art Deco, Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards)

Saitama: He doesn’t listen to music much anymore, sadly. He did, however, have a killer motivational mix to get him through his vigorous training prior to becoming a hero. (Recs: Paul Engemann - Push it to the Limit, Journey - Don’t Stop Believin’, College & Electric Youth - A Real Hero, Joe Esposito - You’re the Best Around, Survivor - Eye of the Tiger, The Bee Gees - Nights on Broadway)

Here’s the playlist with all of these songs in order (mostly):

It’s on YouTube because I’m allergic to Spotify. I’ve got a doctor’s note. Also, all of my other playlists are on my little profile thingy so if you want to listen to my pile then go right ahead.

Thanks for your ask, my dude! ❤️ this took up ALL of my energy lol but it was fun.

[clexa--warrior]

There’s a new group of villains on Fear The Walking Dead.

Well not entirely new. These are the same people who’ve been scrawling “The end is the beginning” everywhere. The same people with the submarine who are looking for Morgan who took the Magical Key from the bounty hunter way back at the beginning of Season 6.

I admit, I’m just kind of tired at this point. Tired of all the bullshit and bad writing and the tedious characters and the predictable stories. Tired of the parade of mediocre villains. Bone weary. And yet here I am, still reviewing this damn show.

Let’s take a little walk down memory lane, shall we?

TV’s Greatest Villains

At the beginning of Season 5, after the Most Horrible Villain Of Any Walking Dead Show was taken care of at long last, we got a new group of bad guys who . . . just wanted their warehouse back? And directions to an oil refinery?

Truly, these were now The Most Horrible Villains Of Any Walking Dead Show Ever.

Logan (played by a woefully underutilized Matt Frewer) was the head honcho of these bad apples and he fooled Morgan’s group into flying a plane they didn’t know how to fly far, far away to help some strangers in another part of the vast continent of Texas. Then he . . . moved back into his warehouse! The bastard.

After half a season of trying to fix the plane so they could fly back across the Pacific Ocean (which we all know separates the two halves of Texas) Logan tries to pretend like he’s a decent guy and fools the Morganites into showing him where the oil refinery is. Dastardly Logan! Then, just when Morgan and Logan decide that their names are similar enough that they might as well be friends, the Rangers show up!

They show up on horses with rifles and expertly kill Logan and every single member of his crew but for reasons (reasons!) they spare Morgan and the Morganites. It turns out that Logan was working for the evil witch queen of Lawton, Virginia—Truly The Most Horrible Villain Of Any Walking Dead Show Ever (Seriously). She is so evil that she kills the people working for her, who helped lead her to the oil refinery, and spared some people she didn’t know who weren’t loyal to her at all for reasons.

Yes, you heard me. Reasons! You don’t get to know the reasons. That’s not how scripts work. Scripts are supposed to be confusing, opaque and riddled with plot holes and inexplicable character choices.

Anyways, Virginia and the Rangers with their horses and their cowboy hats and their idyllic Texas aesthetic become the new Big Bads sometime in the second half of Season 5. Morgan and Friends make a PSA documentary to make sure anyone wandering from gas station to gas station is able to know who to call (GHOSTBUSTERS!) if they’re in trouble (which, like, yeah it’s a zombie apocalypse) because Morgan really wants to make up for all the bad things he’s done and so do all his friends.

Virginia is very mean, though, and so she makes a PSA, too, and that pisses Morgan off so bad that he takes his people far, far away to an abandoned Western-themed park-town filled with zombies and they make another PSA on the way that’s even more amazing and magical but a dude dies making it, marking the Best Walking Dead Death of All Time in the process. Seriously a dude decides it’s so important to film a selfie shot for the PSA that he dies when a bridge that’s collapsing surprisingly collapses! And then everyone is very sad!

Then, uh, after a spell at the new town that has no resources or water because it’s a theme park town instead of a real town, Wes and Alicia paint some stuff and June and John Dorie get married and Daniel plays some guitar and sings and Frank Dillane is like “Holy shit I’m so glad I bailed on this show” and then Virginia comes because Morgan calls her because instead of walking somewhere else they decide they should call the Evil Witch Queen Of Lawton so she can rescue them by splitting them all up (even Skidmark the cat!) and then the season ends with Morgan getting swarmed by zombies but don’t worry he’s still alive and they’ll tell us as much in a trailer that comes out before Season 6 because AMC is criminally addicted to spoiling their own shows for no reason on social media and . . . and . . .

Somewhere between Season 5’s finale and Season 6’s premiere AMC and showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss must have put their heads together with Scott Gimple and decided that the Rangers and Virginia were actually super dull villains, just like the last few villains (I skipped the whole Vultures plot because they were actually so stupid they put the stadium under siege but still let Madison and co. go out scavenging because somehow they never read the Siege 101 manual or something).

Anyways, for reasons that must be obvious by now, somebody must have pointed out that Virginia is not a very good villain after all, partly because she’s just not that convincing but mostly because she made a goddamn copycat PSA and someone thought that was actually a cool story because there is no God and life’s not fair and this is also why we can’t have nice things, son.

And they must have realized that the Rangers are a like a cartoon version of what might happen in Texas after a zombie outbreak (just compare this clown show to the far more realistic Vatos gang from Season 1 of The Walking Dead). All these realizations must have felt strangely repetitive after what I can only imagine were similar revelations about Martha, the Vultures and Logan. So many revelations, so little useful insight or meaningful changes!

The Believers

In any case, they had June kill Virginia after a weird series of events that also saw one of the only good characters left on this godforsaken show get killed by yet another brat, and came up with The Believers, a group almost entirely inspired by The Monkees. These totally realistic folk live underground where they grow crops and embalm zombies and talk about how you need to be able to “see” when you look at this one creepy zombie they have entwined in vines in their basement. They’re led by a guy named Teddy played by John Glover who must really be down on his luck to take a role on this ridiculous show, though he’s actually creepy as a villain so that’s something. But no, I’m not going to feel any hope or optimism because fool me once shame on me, fool me again and George W. Bush, man. He has something to say about this.

Wes and Alicia and Al and Luciana all find their way to these people. I honestly can’t remember how they found them, but they show up to scout things out. They get interviewed like we’re back in Alexandria. Things go bad when Wes runs into his long-lost brother and ends up killing him after a scuffle over a gun. Wes’s brother has had a little too much of that Kool-Aid if you know what I mean. Wes isn’t too shook up about it. Remember when the entire brothers Dixon conflict between Merle and Daryl played out over the course of one single episode of The Walking Dead? Yeah, me neither.

Luciana says stuff because she’s still on this show for some reason. She says stuff a few times and people say stuff back to her. Al checks an embalmed zombie with a helmet on thinking it might be her lover girl from Season 5, because you totally embalm zombies with their helmets still on, but it’s not. Boy I was really worried there for a second!

Alicia sets the embalmed zombies on fire so they can get away and the others escape but Alicia doesn’t and then she has to have a whole entire conversation with Teddy and it’s pretty damn awkward when she tells him “You wanna kill me? That’s not gonna happen.”

Teddy’s like “whoa damn I was going to kill you but now that’s not going to happen crap” and Alicia’s like “So there, Teddy. You jerk face with your crazy-man beard.”

He knows something about Madison somehow. And he wants to “save you, Alicia” but “I don’t need saving” she tells him and then he talks in more cryptic circles. Teddy’s been looking for someone like Alicia for a long, long time and she’s like “listen old man at least I got some lines this episode!” which, to be fair, is true.

THE END. CREDITS ROLL.

Verdict

Yes, I am clearly mocking just about everything about this show. But I didn’t come up with this crap. I didn’t come up with Martha and the ethanol, or the plane and the beer-balloon, or Totally Pointless Logan, or Ginny and her boring ass cowboys. Maybe Teddy will be a better villain than all these. To be fair, he is a better villain already in a lot of ways. Then again, the bar set by the Vultures, Martha, Logan and Virginia is not very high. It’s so low, it’s less a bar and more of a speed bump.

So while Teddy is far more intriguing than the rest, and it’s even possible that Glover’s brief appearance here in this episode was better than the sum of all the other villains in this show since Season 4, I imagine they’ll find a way to screw him up also and then, as soon as he’s worn out his welcome, replace him with some other group of bad guys. The Shouters, a group of post-apocalyptic crazy people who wear zombie faces and shout at each other really loud, led by a bald woman named Alphapha.

Here’s the thing.

We need more than just Good Guys vs Bad Guys. There are other struggles to work with in fiction. Friction between the group that causes realistic, compelling internal strife. Survival against the elements and just the struggle of surviving in a world laid low by a pandemic, maybe without creature comforts like walkie-goddamn-talkies. Or perhaps a compelling story about a survivalist group at odds with a Native American tribe over water rights, whose intertwined family histories are marred by murder and revenge, where our heroes find themselves torn between both sides of a bloody fight they know very little about.

Yeah, what a notion.

Like I said at the very top of this review, I’m tired. I’m tired of Fear The Walking Dead. I’m tired of the same crap happening over and over again, another absurd bad guys who ultimately make the same fatal choice: They mess with Morgan Jones. NOBODY messes with Morgan Jones.

Maybe Morgan can make a PSA about how mean and delusional Teddy is and then Teddy can make a PSA about how The End Is The Beginning, Actually, Morgan You Twit. It’s just all nonsense at this point and it has been since the end of Season 3. We aren’t dealing with actual stories about real people. We’re watching a cartoon with two-dimensional cartoon villains and a bunch of uninteresting flat characters. Except a cartoon would be more fun.

What is the point of this show now? It’s like a goofier version of The Walking Dead, which also suffers from too many villain groups at this point and too many characters but not this level of crappy writing (usually).

Let me predict the plot for the remainder of Season 6 and likely part of Season 7 if AMC is actually going to let the current showrunners continue driving this show into the ground:

Teddy wants the key from Morgan so he can use it to activate the nuclear bombs on the nuclear sub that’s in the middle of Texas (because Texas, you recall, is separated by the Pacific Ocean which has dried up because ZOMBIES and the sub is there now). He wants to nuke the planet because he wants to save everyone because they’re weak probably. From this nuclear wasteland, new life will spring eternal and his cult—well protected in their underground parking garage with their cute little gardens—will be the new rulers of the world. Or at least of Texas which—we know because of geography class—accounts for approximately 57% of Earth’s land mass.

Look, I’m sorry. I’m really truly sorry but if this show continues to be a joke I don’t know why we should take it seriously. A mocking review if only fitting for a show that continues to make a mockery of itself. AMC has the resources and the wherewithal to produce a better zombie show and quite frankly audiences deserve one. There was nothing fundamentally awful about “The Holding” so I’m honestly not fully sure why I’m in such a snarky mind frame, but there was nothing very good about, either, and it’s just plain as day to me that they’re already falling into the same traps they keep falling into over and over and over again. Meet the new bad guy, same as the old bad guy. It’s all so predictable.

Because they don’t really learn from their mistakes, or because even if they do they just don’t know how to course correct. That’s the problem when you just don’t have much talent but nobody steps in and says “enough is enough!”

Because seriously, my droogies, enough is enough already.