#i remember her last name lets fucking goooo

[ozymoron]

(wip) drew one of my old mha ocs cause a friend of mine is watching the anime again.

i tried to replicate the mha style idk if i did a good job but eh who cares i tried out lineart tho and found out its fun so thats cool

heres an old as drawing of her from may 2020 (please ignore the kangi on her shoes i dont know what that says also i flipped it cause i copy pasted the shoe so im not sure which ones even the right one lmaoo)

[relicsongmel]

you should. tell me your thoughts about ray shields

OH GOD OH FUCK OKAY IF YOU INSIST. I hope you’re ready cause hooooo boy do I have some for you HERE WE GOOOO

Where the hell do I even start. Raymond Shields…my ray of light. My hotshot wonder. My weirdgirl king. I guess before anything else I’ll tell you about how this man absolutely blindsided me—Uncle Ray put your friend Mel through a turnabout of her own and she’s gonna explain how it happened so buckle in. I’ll try to make this as coherent as possible but I need you to understand this man has way too much power over me and a single fleeting thought of him can melt my brain into mush so. Apologies if this comes out as completely nonsensical it’s his fault not mine

I’ve been in the Ace Attorney fandom for a little over a year and had a couple of things accidentally spoiled for me as a result (some of which was my own fault, admittedly) but when I started Investigations 2 last September all I knew about Ray was his name and (sort of) what he looked like. Like a lot of English-speaking fans, I was initially put off by his portrayal in the localization. This immediately stuck out as odd to me because my personality is such that I don’t have a lot of characters I genuinely dislike, especially if they’re part of the main cast—even if they’re not my favorite I can almost always find something to love about them. It made me wonder if maybe some of his quirks got lost in translation somewhere (and I did find out later that this was indeed the case), but I didn’t actively seek out that information at the time for fear of being spoiled, so I just suffered through the early parts of The Imprisoned Turnabout doing my best to ignore what I perceived as questionable behavior on his part.

However, if I’ve learned anything from my time in this fandom it’s that nothing in Ace Attorney is surface level—one of my FAVORITE things to do when playing this series besides voice acting the characters is figuring out what makes them tick and speculating character motivations as the game progresses using the little hints scattered by the writers here and there—I was already somewhat intrigued by Ray’s apparent grudge toward Miles but when the revelation of his partnership with Gregory dropped my brain immediately went BRRRRRRRRR. I started wondering what that experience of working for him was like and how it affected him (and if his unwavering loyalty to Gregory was related to his grudge toward Miles). I started exploring the whole WEB of parallels between him and Gregory and Miles and Phoenix and Mia and Maya and Kay (and probably more but those are the main ones). I fell in love with the beautiful mentor-student relationship he developed with Miles, even if in the moment I was baffled by the weirdly flirty things Ray sometimes says to him (like the line about swapping clothes in the Winter Palace. What the fuck was that about sir) and VERY confused/worried about whether Miles had met him as a child or not (I still don’t know/can’t remember if the game ever gave us a concrete answer on this btw—if any of you know please do enlighten me). And above all I knew—I KNEW that he was hiding a boatload of trauma regarding the DL-6 incident; made even more clear to me by the contrast between his teen and adult selves once I got to The Inherited Turnabout. I knew he was using humor as a mask to hide the pain of what happened. I knew from the fact he still had Greg’s old coat and wore his hat every day that he hadn’t moved on. This, I thought to myself, is a deeply emotional man deathly afraid of emotional vulnerability haunted by the ghost of a loved one. And let me tell you, as someone who’s been in a similar position myself, to say that really struck a chord with me is an understatement.

AND THEN THE THIRST. Oh boy. If I’ve sounded really eloquent up until now that shit’s about to go out the goddamn window because SWEET MOTHER MARY I AM DOWN SO BAD IT’S EMBARRASSING. I recorded my playthrough starting from Chapter 2 (just for fun—I’m not nearly brave enough to post any of it on the internet except maybe some short clips here and there) and you can literally see the clear turning point I had after hearing his Objection voice for the first time. I started making innuendos left and right (IT’S NOT MY FAULT his dialogue lends itself really well to that sort of thing ok). In true Ray Shields fashion it started half as a joke but devolved into absolute chaos. This coupled with the fact that I was slowly but surely becoming more invested in the inner conflict of his character? I was beyond saving at that point. No hope for me. Nothing left but to leap into Uncle Ray’s arms and let them wander where they will. “Ride that stallion into the sunrise,” as it were. I could go on but quite frankly the things I want that man to do to me (and what I want to do to him) are too unholy for this world so I’ll leave it there.

And that’s the story of how Raymond Shields permanently infected my brain. It’s been an absolutely wild ride but I hope you enjoyed the journey—glad we can share our love of this silly disastrous emotionally repressed paper-eating man together <3

[ace-of-whatever]

I really liked the Fallout show. Though I like most media and stories I consume so that doesn't say much.

I wanna talk about it so this'll be my post where I list all my thoughts and it WILL contain spoilers so if you haven't finished the show then you have been warned.

(this is me creating space between the spoiler warning and the spoilers)

I have never heard of a ghoul serum in the games. How would that even work? I thought you became a ghoul as a result of prolonged radiation exposure.

Apparently Cooper managed to get his daughter somewhere safe and then she and his wife were moved somewhere else. I assumed she had died and he was just unlucky enough to become a ghoul.

I thought the experiment of vault 111 was to test the cryo pods. But they were seemingly essential to the plan in vaults 31, 32, and 33. So does that mean they already knew how they would work? What was the deal with vault 111 then?

I'm kinda actually mad about the reveal that Vault-tec dropped the bombs. I thought it was supposed to always be a mystery, but now they just came right out and said it.

I swear Cooper called the dog "Dog Meat" once in the show. I think it was before that other scribe got her but I don't remember. They did a Wired video where he said it's name was some random letters and 404. I don't remember what. I guess the character wouldn't have known that.

I was trying to think of Special stats for those main characters and I can't decide if Lucy had high luck or low luck. It seemed like she kept lucking her way OUT of situations. And there was an amount of actual skill too. All the same could be said for Maximus.

That episode that ended with her being arrested in vault 4 felt actually stupid. It was a dramatic ending that felt like it led into nothing. Also, I would definitely hit them with the "why does it seem like a considerable portion of your dwellers worship the woman who kidnapped my dad?" After they arrested me. Feels like an important thing to ask in such a situation, seeing as that's kind of the question that landed you in that position in the first place.

PREWAR MR. HOUSE! LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!

Is moldaver the one who told Cooper to spy on his wife? He had that flashback or whatever when talking to the president of "The Govermint" so I thought she was. But then how was she still around 219 years after the bombs fell. She wasn't with Vault-tec, right? So she didn't have a cryo-pod?

Cooper was in the Vault-tec building spying on his wife and he called that woman who brought in Henry (Hank) Betty. That was the woman who became overseer of vault 33, wasn't it?

The other company heads listing what they would want to do with their vaults was a cool scene.

I thought the vaults already had a lore explanation that had to do with the Enclave and space travel. That is clearly not the case in the show.

But now I'm remembering there was more to that last thing because I think Vault-tec pretended to be working with the Enclave.

Was that THE Prydwen?

Did the BoS say they got the tip about an Enclave defector from their Brothers in the Commonwealth? The Enclave moved there within the last 9 years? Would Nate or Nora join the Enclave? But if the BoS is in the Commonwealth, wouldn't that mean the canon ending to fallout 4 is to side with them? Or maybe take no side at all?

The Enclave is a prewar faction. Just saying it would've been neat to see reference to them in the prewar scenes. Or maybe there were references and I missed them.

This wasn't in the same area of California as the first two games, right?

I remember how the BoS seems wildly different across 3, 4, and New Vegas. They seem different in the show compared to how they are in these games. Is the shows depiction of them more in line with their 1 and 2 iterations? I have a hard time getting into those types of games so I can't really make myself play them to see for myself.

In the Wired interview they were wondering what Gulpers are. In the show they look like Axlotl's to me.

They goin' to the Mojave. You know what that means.

Fucking Cazadors.

I didn't see even ONE live Deathclaw in the show. Just that skull in the LAST SCENE. What a let down.

I probably had more thoughts but I can't remember them. Most of these thoughts are based on my memories of the earlier episodes and so might be inaccurate to the show itself. Take them with a grain of salt.

[theclo4ked1]

I was sorting through my dirty laundry today and needed some music. Suddenly, memories of my SECOND time on Instagram (yes there was a first but thats not pertinent at the moment) came flooding back to me. Instead of sorting my dirty clothes, I got distracted listening to the past that is the email chain I have with myself. That time on Instagram was during the period in my life when I was just getting into music composition. I used to change my name A LOT too and the one I stuck with, that time, was a persona by the name of Charlotte Tricks (stylized as ch4rl0tt3.tr1ck5), possibly due to a Game Night of Light Fingers with my uncle, sister, and brother. Anyways, since I didn't quite have the footing and style I have today with Deflemask, then, I was using resources (a website in this case) like beepbox.co to make chiptune music, hence why it sounds so basic in comparison to what I've made in 2022 (since I haven't made much since then. too many things burning my creativity i want to leave). For reference, please check out my SoundCloud playlist, PROJECT NINA (c. 2019), songs 7-15. Below are the only three I made when I used the website.

I think I made them specifically to put on my page for Pride Month 2019. beepbox stores user's musical data through a url that's entirely unique for every project because all characters after the hash (#) is raw data that's processed by the website and becomes output place onto the DAW. or something something tehcno-babble i dunno. I'm just surprised the website still stands after four years.

gaypride, made June 1, is just plain, nothing too remarkable about it. Please note my current stances on these old tunes I've created are not reflective of my thoughts on the Gays, Lesbo, and Bicycles, respectively. I feel obligated to make this as clear as I can since some people can misconstrue things and/or get offended easily, and can jump to conclusions that the someone, me in this case, is bigoted.

lesboprideday, made June 2, is where things get more interesting, on a technical level, because the melody is made from a repetitious C major scale arpeggio. But then at the end of the track, part of Nina's theme song (not quite a leitmotif here) is played during the last two measures. Why here? I can't remember, but the reason I would say makes more sense for the next song.

bipride, made June 3, is a song I remember someone positively commenting on the buildup. It's also one I, undeniably, have a bias for, solely for the fact it was just another one of the many versions of Nina's theme song, one with a few names either incorporating "Nina" or "Neko" into it. This one specifically is just that because in her infancy, I initially wrote Nina as a bisexual character, who had a crush on my friend's OC, Cat Woods (please check out their art, it's real good shit btw). Later down the lane, years later, I was like

yknow what, lets make her PANsexual she could love everybody just because she could!

Mind you, I didn't exactly know the full extent of sexuality at the time. It's not just love, it's also wanting to fuck that person, so Nina being panromantic (if that's a thing) would make a lot more sense... interjectory edit 10/7/23: I'm not sure if I can believe if "panromantic" even is a real thing. From what I've read, it's just...basic-ass love (whatever that is) and compassion for your fellow man; man, used in an all-inclusive sense--I shouldn't have to say that. I hope you understood that I didn't just mean literal men, i.e. those with a penis and can create testosterone and semen yada-yada, and I hope you don't believe I'm like "woohoo patriarchy less goooo". Just...please understand that I meant EVERYONE. ...however, Nina's sexuality being anything but straight makes no sense nowadays, so that one story I wrote that's meant to be noncanonical is totally fucked. It also touched on how puberty would work for her (she turns into a giant spider monster with neurotoxic-zombification venom and would return to her former state by midnight unless otherwise events i cannot remember). That story is very much not for kids. Please don't think I'm exclusive of non-white-LGBTQA+-plus-sized-etc. characters because I made Nina straight (also she's not even white wtf). I'm only doing what makes the most sense for the story and, more importantly, her character. Also because I'm older than I was during her conception, I are more smarterer now, okay? I just don't want things to feel forced. There exists no kind of concept of sexuality in the land she lives in, in fact, there ARE no other humans but her, so what's there to love/sex? The Koi fish? The trees? Well, there is that one part in Shattering Jugs...

(Each .GIF and the above image were made on the Piskel website)

[dreamwraith]

@floralflowerpower mentioned wanting to read an idea I had, soooo....

Alright, this is largely inspired by the M*A*S*H episode “Who Knew?” It’s a very bittersweet episode. It begins with the news that a nurse died the previous night when she wandered into a minefield. One of the main characters, Hawkeye, was the last one to see her alive. He offers to write her eulogy when no one else steps forward, though he barely knew her himself. He’s stymied by how little anyone can tell him about her, until the priest suggests he reads her diary. He learns who she was through her own words, the person she had hidden beneath a shy exterior that others interpreted as standoffish. She had true feelings for Hawkeye and he never knew. The last entry is how she can’t get Hawkeye out of her thoughts so she’s going to go for a walk. 

As you might guess, my idea starts off with a bittersweet tale. 

Jack and Maddie got the portal working without Danny needing to die, and for two years, Amity Park has been under threat from whatever ghost chooses to try their hand at conquering them. Jack and Maddie are the town’s main defense without Danny Phantom to protect them, and they’re not as skilled or as prompt as canon Danny was at catching ghosts. Sometimes a ghost slips through. Sometimes, people get hurt. 

I don’t have the full details worked out, but in this case, a ghost attacked the school. Danny is almost killed. He’s the son of the town’s defenders, so perhaps he’s an easy, desirable target. One of his classmates saves him by sacrificing himself. He (I’ve been going with the name Alexander in my notes) later dies at the hospital, and Danny, suffering from survivor’s guilt and PTSD, blames himself. He didn’t know his classmate very well, he doesn’t even remember his name right away, he doesn’t understand why Alex saved him. 

He tries to find out more about him, feeling like he owes him that much, but he discovers only superficial information. Alex was a foster of Amity Park; he had no family. No one but Danny is currently mourning him. He’s determined to get answers, though, and that causes him to clash with Dash and teachers when they say things like “Alex was a creep” or “he was a troublemaker; I heard he ran away from his last home.” Danny’s fights get him brought to Lancer’s attention, and it’s during that meeting that Danny is given Alex’s diary. 

Eager but frightened, it takes Danny a long time to work up the courage to begin reading. 

Meanwhile, “Phantom” begins to form in the Ghost Zone. 

Alex hated himself enough that his self-image is dismissed from his spirit, and his last thoughts were of Danny, so when he forms, he takes on a ghostly impression of Danny. It’s an important detail because that’s what makes this pitch pearl, and it’s why Danny doesn’t recognize him. 

He doesn’t have a clearly defined obsession, but he definitely feels a pull toward the human world. Johnny and Kitty help Phantom cross the portal, and that’s when he meets Danny for the first time. Idk why Danny came down to the lab yet, but I know he’s up because of PTSD nightmares/insomnia. Phantom feels his whole being focus on Danny, Danny freezes in place because he had just woken up from a nightmare of a ghost attack, and Johnny and Kitty look between Danny and Phantom, putting two and two together and reaching “Phantom’s purpose”

The three ghosts make a quick escape once protective parents Jack and Maddie come storming down the stairs, but first impressions were made, and now Phantom is determined to find out more about Danny and why his soul is crying out for him. 

Unfortunately, Danny is entangled in Alex’s diary and his own grief. Every effort Phantom makes toward befriending Danny is rebuffed because 1) ghosts can’t be trusted, and 2) Phantom’s resemblance to Danny combined with his interest in him is fucking creepy. In his downward spiral, though, Danny is losing connection with his friends, his grades, his safety, and Phantom isn’t willing to let Danny fade like this. Circumstances change when Phantom saves Danny from a human threat (human crime, let’s goooo) and Danny starts to actually pay attention to him, enough to start letting down his walls at least. 

And just in time for Danny to reach the point in the diary where Alex confesses he had a crush on Danny. Danny’s grief finally breaks, and Phantom comforts him through the loss. Phantom learns about Alex and Danny’s growing feelings for a boy that’s no longer within reach, and reluctantly pushes his own growing feelings for Danny aside. Danny is going through too much to deal with Phantom’s own failings. He needs time to mourn.

A real friendship starts to build.

With his feelings for Danny on hold but satisfied by their friendship, Phantom begins to explore who he is. He begins to take on a protector role, determined to save other humans from feeling the grief Danny is under. He focuses less on fighting and more on saving. A ghost will attack, and he’ll erect a shield around humans to deflect debris or catch someone who is falling or just comfort someone who got hurt. Jack and Maddie are still the ones that ultimately defeat the ghost, but Phantom’s actions begin to catch everyone’s attention. 

He is exactly what they needed, and he begins to be hailed as a guardian.

Danny is happy for him, but something about Phantom’s focus with protection over fighting resonates with Alex’s thoughts in his diary. He begins piecing things together. He proposes his wild idea to Jazz one night, but she warns him not to try to “bring Alex back from the dead” for Danny’s own mental health. 

Danny proposes the idea to Phantom, and at first Phantom thinks it’s nonsense, but Danny insists Phantom read the diary, so Phantom reluctantly (tho he doesn’t understand why he’s so reluctant) humors him. He can only get through five entries before he shoves the diary back into Danny’s hands and refuses to read anymore.

His self-hatred caused him to lose his identity in death, remember? He doesn’t want to remember, it’s painful. He tells Danny to forget about Alex. No one cared about him when he was alive, they won’t care who he was now. But Danny cares, and it tugs at Phantom’s feelings to meet Danny halfway, but does Danny like him because of Alex or because of Phantom, the person he is now?

I don’t have the full details worked out, but I know I want Danny to reveal Phantom’s past as Alex to Amity Park so that they can see their foster son has grown into their defender, savior, protector. He wasn’t loved when he was alive, but they must honor his past because it made him the hero he is now. Amity Park goes wild for the story. They love Phantom all the more, knowing who he was, how he died, and who he became. 

A bittersweet beginning becoming an uplifting, hopeful note, maybe? 

That’s all I have planned :P

I haven’t written anything for it yet because I haven’t figured out how to start. I’m terrible at action scenes, and I feel like I have to describe at least PART of Alex’s sacrifice. But ugh, ghost attack, ugh. Choreography, description, pacing, urgh, I hate action scenes, how do you guys WRITE those, it’s witchcraft I swear

(Side note for the name, Alexander means “defender of men”)

(And because I’m classy as a unripe grape, the story is titled Right Here (Departed) in my folder, which is actually a song by Brandy oiasjdlkfej I song titled it. omg. But listen, listen...it fits)

[robinofinashiro]

request: “could I request some more highschool au of Reiner x reader? :) maybe something with jealousy or a bit of angst (such as a popular girl being jealous that they’re together?)”

note: IT’S HERE!! TODAYS THE DAY!! LETS FUCKING GOOOO!!! but damn, i can tell yall are thirsty for more AoT content now bc that’s all that’s in my ask box rn, LMFAOO. it’s okay tho bc I fell yall. 

requests: kinda open? 

pairing: reiner braun x fem! reader

both you and Reiner walked down the hall, his arm wrapped around your shoulder as he spoke to you about his upcoming football game. you were half listening, more focused on a play you had to preform for extra credit in one of your elective classes. 

you wanted the extra credit to boost your GPA so you figured that taking a part in a roll in a English class play would be the most beneficial. you were the main love interest, someone with minimal lines to begin with. the main character was the guy you were supposed to be in love with and he did the talking for the two of you. 

“hey Reiner!” you heard a girl scream from behind the two of you. you stopped as Reiner turned around to smile at her. you weren’t the jealous type of not, not by a long shot, however; this girl came around the two of you a lot. she seemed like she knew Reiner for a while but you had yet to introduce yourself to her, “thanks for helping me in class yesterday....it was nice of you to stay behind,” she giggled. 

you tried to keep your cool, not trying to let your jealousy get to you. Annie could see you repressing the emotion as Bertl looked to Reiner. you continued to watch their interaction as you realized Reiner wasn’t looking to finish the conversation off early. 

“hey, tell Reiner I’ll catch up to him later!” you told Annie, looking to clock quickly, “I need to meet my English partner before class starts!” you mentioned before running in the other direction, hoping you didn’t make it late for class. 

Annie rolled her eyes, clearly seeing the intentions of the girl talking to Reiner. she could see that the girl was jealous of the relationship you had with him and with the few times she was around the two of you when she came up, Annie could see you getting annoyed with her. 

after Reiner finished talking to her, he quickly scanned to find you, “where’d she go?” Reiner asked. Annie sighed, “to class. she was going to be late and you know she hates being late to any class.” Reiner could tell Annie was annoyed at him but didn’t bother to pick at the reason why.

+

Reiner waited for you by the door of the classroom. he could see you reciting lines for the play you were in and bashfully smiled at seeing you. the boy on the other hand, he found himself getting annoyed with him. he knew the boys name was Colt and was in a few classes with you. 

the bell rang, making him jump a bit at the sound. you packed your things slowly before making your way out. you made your way over to Reiner, quickly grabbing his hand, “how was class?” you asked him. he shrugged, “fine, boring as usual. how was English?” he asked back. 

“great! we were just practicing for the small play we have due on Friday. you should totally come and watch! I know Mr.Smith wouldn’t mind you watching! plus, Bertl and Annie are coming to watch!” 

Reiner nodded as he kissed the top of your head. nothing made him happier than knowing that both of his friends got along with his girlfriend. he knew they could be a little bit rough around the edges but you seemed to be getting along well with Bertholdt and he saw you and Annie hanging out each others houses a few times. 

“Reiner, should we be heading to class? we have that war presentation to work on!” you heard that girls voice say. you felt your eye physically twitch in annoyance. Reiner nodded, “hey, you wouldn’t mind me going to class a few minutes early, would you?” he asked you. 

the girl had an annoyed expression written across her face, almost as if she was jealous at the two of you. you looked up to Reiner, “what else would be new?” you responded, not waiting for his response before leaving. 

Reiner looked at you stunned as the girl herself stood in silence for a moment, “what a girl you have there, Reiner,” she said, playing up her cutesy voice. he didn’t pay no mind to her, “maybe I should go see if she’s okay,” he told himself. 

the girl immediately perked up, “nonsense! she said it was okay so we should go to class!” she tried to compromise. 

Reiner nodded, taking his friends advice as they walked down the hall together. the girl had her arms on his left shoulder, hanging onto him as he remained silent almost the entire time. once they got to the class, they saw Annie and Bertholdt walking their way. 

Bertholdt immediately saw Annie’s face change as soon as she saw the girl hanging off of Reiner. “hey Reiner, where’s ( your name ),” she asked the blond. he pointed to the back of him, “she walked to class already. she seems like she isn’t having a good day though,” he murmured. 

Annie laughed, “I wonder why,” she said fully glaring at the girl. Annie and Bertl walked a bit ahead of them, Annie purposely shoving her with her shoulder, “watch yourself,” she told the girl in her ear before walking at Bertholdt’s pace. 

Bertl immediately tried to calm her down as Reiner didn’t even catch her doing it, his brain still wracking for what could have upset you. the girl now going back to talking as she looked up to Reiner who wasn’t responding, “hey, Reiner, are you okay?” she asked, “if you want to skip class and you know, talk instead, we totally can,” she offered. 

he shook his head no, “lets go to class, I’ll just deal with his later,” he told her before trying to snap out of his gaze. 

+

Reiner hadn’t seen you for the rest of the day and your texts the rest of the night were at a small minimum. you were responding very half-ass and he could still tell whatever was bothering you was still there. 

even this morning when he offered to give you a ride to school, he mentioned that you had already gotten a ride from someone. you didn’t tell him who but from the few snap videos he saw you post in the morning, it was a guy. he just couldn’t tell who. 

when he got to school, he saw you waiting for him in the front like you usually did. okay, this had to be good right? you were still waiting for him! 

“hey sweetheart,” he whispered, bringing you in for a hug and kissing the top of your head. you smiled, “hey, did you eat breakfast?” you asked, grabbing his hand and walking inside. 

he nodded, “yeah, had a protein shake and a granola bar. you?” he asked. you nodded this time, “yeah, Colt and I caught breakfast at the McDonalds by the school. lets go before we’re late to class,” you mentioned to him as he hummed. 

Reiner didn’t like the idea that you and Colt went to school together and even got breakfast on the way. that tradition was usually left for the two of you on Friday mornings. 

the two of you walked, talking about whatever came up as you reached your AP Physics class. just as you were about to reach up to give him a quick kiss, you heard that god awful voice behind you. you felt yourself physically get tense as she called Reiner’s name. 

“oh, she’s with you,” she said, giving you a look before looking up too Reiner, “want me to walk with you to math?” she asked him. Reiner waited a moment, “uh sure, let me tell her goodbye,” he said, turning around. that was when he realized that you had already stalked off and inside the class room.

he felt that sense of confusion again. Reiner had texted you during class, not receiving a text back from you in the entire 50 minutes. once the bell went off, he immediately grabbed his things, rushing to your class to see you. 

you were still in the class, thankfully talking to the teacher when you saw him. your anger grew again as you tried to leave the class, trying not to talk to Reiner. you weren’t a jealous person, not by far, but the girl was constantly around the two of you and you couldn’t remember a single time in the last two weeks when you and Reiner talked to yourselves without her interrupting. 

“hey, what happened?” Reiner asked you, cornering you in a semi-empty hallway. you rolled your eyes not in the mood to talk but you figured Reiner would just keep bugging you, “your friend is who is bothering me! she is constantly around-,” you were promptly cut off by her voice as she walked towards the two of you. 

this time you turned around, immediately putting your hand between the two of you, “you’re going to have to give me a minute,” you practically screamed, “seriously. you can have him but you know, for once, give me a second alone with my own boyfriend,” you stated as she remained stunned in silence. 

“she’s going to be the reason why we break up,” you told Reiner as his face dropped at what you were saying, “yeah, your little friend interrupting us every time we’re together is getting real fucking annoying and she’s lucky she hasn’t gotten punched yet. just know that you’re on thin ice, both of you, and honestly, if you want Reiner, you can fucking have him! remember what I told you when we first started dating! our relationship can easily end and I wouldn’t care because I don’t depend on a man to keep me happy. I can easily toss you to the side without giving a fuck, clearly like you are with me!” 

Reiner’s eyes widened, not realizing the amount of anger you were clearly holding against him. he wanted to reach out to grab your wrist but Annie had walked into the hall at the right time, taking you away as you tried to keep your tears at bay. 

Bertholdt looked at his best friend, shaking his head disappointedly, “we told you Reiner. more than once, actually. that girl was not sitting right with any of us and look at what that caused,” he said.

he nodded, not knowing what to say. he tried to process what you were saying and what you said was actually true. the girl, now that he thought of it, was constantly around him. trying to flirt with him and talking him away from you while she gave you a dirty look when the two of you were together. since Reiner was a relatively popular guy, he knew he had to keep up this nice persona for the team and maybe that was what made him not see the girls intention. 

the rest of the day went in a blur. the girl no longer around him much as Reiner tried to get your attention every second he could. blowing up your phone, trying to catch you after class, even seeing if he could drive you home but by the time the day ended, you were hopping into Colt’s car and on your way home. 

the entire night was spent with him in bed, cursing himself out as he knew he had to fix this first thing in the morning. the good thing with that was that your English class was now your first class of the day because of the play you had to do. he knew if he brought your favorite coffee and snack, that could be a way of him starting to apologize. 

the morning came as he held your snacks and drink by his chest. his friend no where in sight as he booked it to the AP English hallway. you were fixing the dress you had to wear for the play as Colt was talking to you from the hall. he could tell whatever it was the two of you were speaking about, it seemed rather entertaining as you laughed at whatever it was he was saying. 

he waited for a few minutes, watching you walk into class as he saw Bertl and Annie walking to him, “you actually had the audacity to come?” she said a bit bitterly. Reiner nodded, “I have to apologize before I lose her. you know how she is. I could be instantly dropped and she could care less if I’m hurt or not. I want her, no, I need her by my side and I want to make this right,” he exclaimed. 

Annie and Bertl were a bit surprised at his friends command. “she was extremely upset at you yesterday so I hope you know you have a lot of work to do on your end to actually make this work,” Annie spoke before walking into the class. 

Bertholdt looked at his friend before nodding and walking in with him. you saw Reiner walk in with Bertholdt, your anger instantly rising as you tried to compose yourself. Colt walked behind you, putting his arm around you, “relax and focus on the extra credit,” he whispered while the Mr.Smith turned the lights off and focused the few small theater lights on the small make shift stage. 

the play some play about love and tragedy that Reiner could have cared less about, however; the way Colt was speaking to you and holding you in some scene made his blood boil. you looked like you were enjoying it as you looked at Colt with heart eyes he felt. 

it wasn’t until the end of the play, Colt holding you close as he sang a song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOo8m0kNvI) to you that Reiner almost about had it. the way you were dancing and kind of singing with him made Reiner want to jump over the desk to kick him a few times. the two of you holding each others hands and faces a few times, sometimes your faces almost touching is especially what killed him. 

as soon as the play finished, the few people the class clapped as you both bowed and walked into the costume room to get undressed from the clothes. they were a bit uncomfortable but you were glad the play was over with and you could finally relax. 

Annie and Bertl pushed Reiner over to you the moment after Colt left you. you stared at Reiner with a mean expression, really in no mood to speak to him, “can I ask why you’re here?” you said. 

Reiner sighed, closing the costume room door close and looking at you, “I want to apologize. I know you don’t want to hear it but please let me say this. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for her to get in our way. I didn’t really realize it until you and Annie pointed it out. I guess with being one of the most ‘popular’ guys here, I just assumed she was being nice or I had to be at least. I didn’t mean for her to get in our way and I swear I don’t even like her. she’s kind of annoying if I’m being quite honest,” he explained before taking a breath and continuing, “anyway, I bought you this in hopes you can take this as the beginning of my apology. I know I’ll probably have to work for you taking me back but I’ll whatever it is you want me to do, just please give me a second chance,” he practically begged. 

you stared up Reiner for a few seconds, leaving him in suspense before sighing, “you know what Reiner? fine, you have one chance and that’s it. if she or anyone else gets THAT close with you again, I swear I’ll get their kneecaps and before I do that, I’ll get to you first,” you said. 

Reiner nodded as he thanked you profusely. you shoved your bag to him, forcing him to carry it as you grabbed the semi-warm coffee, “you can walk me to my next class,” you said as you opened the door. 

the walk to your next class, you ran into the girl as she tried to look down at the ground and trying not to catch your eye. you laughed to yourself knowing what you must have said to her more than likely scared her off of Reiner and yourself all together. 

but it wasn’t all your doing. Annie might’ve had a few words with her after school knowing that if you didn’t intimidate her enough, she more than likely did the rest of the job well as she was now not even giving either of you the time of day. 

[baby-bearie]

take me home - part 2

(not my gif)

jj maybank x reader

a/n: part twoooo let’s goooo. as you can tell this is not the end, there is quite a bit to come, but i wanted to finish this part before i head out. i’ll not be posting any new work for a week because of some things i have going on in my life outside of tumblr. this part was a little more to all the boys i’ve loved before influenced, can you spot where? 

“It’s fine, Maybank. It’s fine, just. Just take me home.”

The drive to your house is filled with a tense silence. Neither of you knows how to talk to the other anymore. Not without hurting yourselves again. You’re grateful he doesn’t try and make small talk with you. His silence gives you time to think.

Time to think about the hurt in Rafe’s eyes when you told him you were scared of him. The momentary flash of despair and devastation. And more importantly, time to think about what you would tell everyone. 

There was no hope that Rafe would keep you and JJ’s “relationship” to himself, you wouldn’t be surprised if half the island knew by now. As street lamps pass over the car, running shadows over your legs, you tell yourself that he was probably too drunk. He probably crashed somewhere and doesn’t even remember. 

You repeat this in your head like a mantra, you hope that if you keep telling yourself this, maybe you can believe it. You can forget about the hurt in his eyes that would never have been there if he was really drunk. 

You’ve lost yourself in that shot of hope when JJ finally stops outside your house. “Thanks for the ride,” you mumble. You turn to open the door, walk back into your kook life, and hopefully make JJ Maybank nothing but a memory for another two years and-

Click.

Darting over, he locks the door. “Not so fast, Y/l/n. I think we need to talk about what happened back there.” “Nothing happened back there.” You tug at the door again. 

“C’mon. What the hell was that?” He rests his hands on the steering wheel. 

You look over at him, ready to yell at him too, to force this door open. But the genuine concern in his eyes breaks something in you. You sigh, leaning your head back against the seat. 

“I’m so sick of guys like Rafe. You know, scratch that. I’m just sick of Rafe! Every single day it’s the same thing, the touching and the pet names and it’s terrifying! I mean, I used to look at that boy and see Rafe, my friend, my first love. And now I see Rafe Cameron.” 

“There’s a difference?” “A huge one. One of them used to call me beautiful and the other one tells his friends he’d hit that whenever he wanted. It’s fucking terrifying, being around him.” You cradle your face in your hands, shaking your head. “I walked in on him doing drugs at a party a few months ago. I don’t mean like weed, I mean he was snorting coke off of a coffee table. And then he threatened me to get me out and quiet.” 

Your phone starts buzzing then. You flip it over and the screen is lit up with a picture of you and Sarah at last year’s Midsummers. You hit decline and drop your phone back in your lap. 

“Jesus. I mean, I knew Rafe was screwed up, but I didn’t think it was that bad.” 

There’s a beat of silence, and you think it’s done, that he’ll let you go now that you’ve confessed to Rafe Cameron being your first love. “Can I go now?”

“What’re you going to tell your friends?” JJ ignores your request. “The truth. I made you up as a fake boyfriend to get Rafe to leave me alone. They’ll buy it, we’ve all done it at some point. The real question is, what are you going to tell your friends?” 

“What?” “I think you might be in trouble with a certain girl for posing as my boyfriend.” “Kiara?” He winces. You nod.

“Jesus,” JJ groans, thumping his head against his hands on the steering wheel. “Does everyone know?” “Everybody knows. You’re pretty obvious, staring at her like that.” “Well, why would she be mad? Didn’t you come tonight so you guys could make up?” “Just because she’s ready to talk doesn’t mean she won’t be mad that I spent the night posing as the girlfriend of her future man-to-be.”

JJ is silent again, and you tug on the door handle once more, trying to signal for him to open the door. “Dude, seriously, I need to get-”What if we didn’t tell them?” 

“What?” You’re taken back by his outburst. 

“What if we didn’t tell them,” he swallows, “that we were faking?” “Why wouldn’t we?” “Think about it, Y/n! I want to make Kiara jealous. As her former friend, you can do that better than anybody. It’s perfect, it would drive her crazy.” “And why would I want to do that?” 

“C’mon, Rafe just left when he thought you were with me. Seriously, he’d at least stop bothering you so much! Isn’t that what you want?” “Well, yeah, but is this really the best way?” 

“Yes!” He grinned. “It would make him just as mad that you’re dating a pogue! If not him, then it would at least make your parents go crazy.” 

You can hear how insane this sounds, but at this point you’d do anything to get out of this car, and you’d do anything to get Rafe out of your life. A voice in the back of your mind, far, far behind from all common sense is whispering that JJ is right. That this could work. You wonder if this is how he lives, making every decision based off of the voice of impulse in the back of his head. 

You’re sure that by tomorrow, that voice will make JJ forget all about you and your kook problems, and that is the only reason you tell him, “Okay, Maybank. You’ve got yourself a deal.” 

JJ pumps his fist in celebration. “Yes! You won’t regret this. Maybank guarantee.” 

You smile in defeat. The last Maybank guarantee you booked was Valentine’s Day of freshman year. JJ had promised you that one day, he would make you his girlfriend. 

Maybe Maybank guarantees really do work out. 

JJ finally unlocks the car, and you climb out in a hurry. “Oh, wait, Y/n, digits.” He’s pulling out your phone before you can close the door. You take it from him and hesitate to officially sign this off. You consider giving him a fake number, but eventually decide you’d like to see if he actually means this. “Fine, JJ. If you drunk dial me, I will block you immediately.” You hand back the phone. 

“No promises.” He takes it back from you and salutes you goodbye. “Later, princess.” 

You shut the door, and he drives off at an alarming speed. 

You tiptoe up to your bedroom, desperate not to wake your family. As you close your bedroom door, your phone buzzes again. 

“Hello?” You pick up this time. “JJ Maybank? Goldilocks? Are you joking?” Sarah’s voice shrieks from your speaker. You pull the phone away from your ear. 

“So I’m guessing Rafe told you?” “Yeah, he was ready to cry, Y/n. What happened?” “He was trying to take me home, but JJ was with me so he got all involved. I don’t know, Rafe just found out.” “Well, why didn’t you tell me?” 

You freeze. You have not had enough time to plan out this conversation. “I mean, you were having problems with your whole kook/pogue love triangle, I didn’t want to worry you with me and JJ. Plus, I didn’t really know how to explain I was dating John B’s best friend.” 

Sarah huffs on the other side, but she accepts the answer. “Do your parents know?” “No, but they’ll probably know by morning, if Rafe keeps blabbing.” “How long has this been going on?” “It’s really new. Sarah, I’m pretty tired. Can I call you tomorrow?” “Oh, uh, yeah. Tell me about it tomorrow.” “Ok, bye.” You rush your words and end the call. 

You collapse onto your bed, exhausted. You groan as your phone screen lights up again, but lift it to check. 

hey kook it’s jj

So he did follow through. And really quickly, too. You fire off a text back.

we need to sort this out. pick me up tmrw at 9

The next morning, as predicted, your mom was excitedly waiting for you downstairs. “Good morning, sweetheart.” “Morning, mom.” You poured a glass of juice.

“So, Rose called this morning.” She stood across from you. You hummed. 

“She was asking about your new boyfriend.” Your mom couldn’t hide the excitement in her tone. “Why didn’t you tell me you were dating?” “It just happened last night, mom. I was going to tell you today.” You set down your glass. 

“Who is he? Tell me everything!” Your mother had been trying to get you in a relationship for years. She had even tried to set you up with her friend’s kids. You hoped the news of your boyfriend’s identity wouldn’t shatter her excitement too much. 

“It’s, um, JJ. JJ Maybank.” 

Your mom’s smile faltered. “That sounds familiar. Does he go to school with you?” “Yeah, he does. He’s not from around here, though. He lives on the Cut.” 

Her mouth formed a small ‘o’. You could tell this wasn’t what she had been hoping for, but it seemed she was going to take it. 

You knew your mom tried. She tried to be a good mom, to be accepting of her kids. And she really did care for your happiness. Although she could be clueless sometimes, she loved you. And that put her well above many of the parents on Figure 8. 

“Well, when can we meet this JJ boy?” “Hopefully soon?” You bluff. 

“Invite him over for dinner sometime. I’m sure he’s lovely.” “He’s actually picking me up for breakfast, so I’ve gotta head out.” 

You grabbed an apple and rushed out the door. Promptly on time for the first time in his life, the giant van sat on the curb. 

“Where are we going?” “There’s this diner by the dock. We can sit there.” JJ proposes as he pulls out of your neighborhood. 

The diner is nice, but neither of you order anything except for waters. The waitress is obviously annoyed with you, but you tip her enough to let you stay. 

“Okay, rule number one, keep your lips shut. Fake dating you is more embarrassing than dating you.” “Ouch, Y/n. But, yeah, obviously.” He leans forward in his chair. You nod. 

“What’s rule number two?” He asks. “What?” “You said rule number one, what’s rule number two?” “I only had one rule.” Then why did you start with rule number one?” JJ knows how to press your buttons. 

“It’s a figure of speech, asshole.” You mutter, slinking back in your chairs. 

“Okay, we need to have a story for how we met so we can tell people the same thing.” You sip from the tall water glass.

“Sure, we met at a kegger in the Boneyard. I gave you a beer and you fell madly in love with me.” He smiles. “I fell madly in love with you? More like you fell in love with me.”  “We mutually fell in love with each other.” JJ compromises. 

“You’re bad at this.” You laugh. “Here, we were at a kegger in the boneyard, you gave me a beer, you started talking, and we still had feelings left over from freshman year. Sound believable enough?”

“Not better than mine, but okay.” He grumbles. 

“I have another rule, you have to do dating things with me.” JJ taps the table. 

“Dating things?” You raise an eyebrow at him. 

“Yeah, dating things. You know. Dates. Public affection. All that.” “Makes sense, but nothing much, please. I don’t need to be making out with you in front of everyone I know.” “That sounds like a bucket list item to me.” 

“Why do we need to do the dating things?” “Because, if it’s all behind closed doors, people will call bluff. The point is to make them jealous. Kiara won’t get jealous if she never sees me with you. Rafe won’t leave you alone unless I’m around.” “Okay, good point.” “Right. Dating things.” 

“Speaking of dating things, my mom knows about you.” “That’s a pretty official deal, then.” “She wants you over for dinner.” 

JJ high fives you. “We’re so good at this, we’re already at the meet the parents phase.” 

JJ gets hungry eventually, and orders a plate of fries, which you periodically steal. He either doesn’t notice or he doesn’t care. 

What he does notice, is Kiara on the dock, staring at the two of you. He grins and tilts his head at her. You turn to look as she waves. You wave back and she watches you two for a little while longer. 

“Progress, Y/n. Progress.” 

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[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1976

The X-Men, those fiery mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 97 - 102) - by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum

If I ever participate in Drag Race, this will be my entrance look. (“Hear me, bitches! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am fierce! I am fashion incarnate! Now and forever, the winner of season 27!” *mugs at camera* ) (X-Men 101)

It really amazes me how quickly Claremont shifts things into high gear. One year in and he absolutely does not calm down, giving us both the Shi’ar, more Sentinels and the (motherfucking) Phoenix. SO LET'S GOOOO

You’d think that, as a telepath, Charles would be used to dreaming absolutely twisted shit, surfing everybody else´s freaky dream waves, but apparently, vividly dreaming of space is so exhausting that he needs a vacation.

To be fair, I’d be exhausted too if I dreamt of schizo space bugs on detailed splash pages. Get into it, Mr. Cockrum. (X-Men 97)

Meanwhile, Alex and Lorna have absconded to the sizzling Rio Diablo to work on their doctorates. It’s unclear what they’re studying (archaeology?) and where this Rio Diablo is (Panama, Chili, Ecuador?), but considering that Rio means River, I’m unsure whether drawing a dry dry desert is the appropriate setting. But hey, this was the pre-Google era and you’re not here for topographical nitpicking, so.

Lorna is shot by an unknown assailant and continues the long, long history of Polaris being mentally overtaken by other entities. Together with the equally not-himself Havoc, they travel back to NYC and attack the plane Xavier is boarding. The X-Men battle them, until it is revealed that these former not-quite-X-Men are in league with… Eric the Red?

Scott is all: But I was Eric the Red! Also, Eric the Red does not exist!

Xavier escapes, apparently not giving a fuck that all kinds of X-Men are demolishing the JFK airport, but the still-evil Havok and Polaris also get away. The X-Men are shook!

Some time later, The X-Men celebrate X-Mas at Rockefeller Square, where Claremont skips some steps in favour of narrative expediency. Moira and Sean are apparently in a relationship, Jean and Storm are the best of friends. It’s some pretty rough telling, not showing, but we’ll allow it, but only because the Storm/Jean-friendship is one of my favourite things.

What, you think only the movies indulged in Lee/Kirby-cameos? (X-Men 98)

Anyway, Jean and Scott are attacked by the Sentinels, who continue their trend of being way too sneaky for supersized racist robots! Xavier is kidnapped on his boat trip with super-duper scientist Peter Corbeau (seriously, he has two Nobel Prizes), while they steal away Jean, Sean and Logan in NYC. When they come to, there’s some gloating from Stephen Lang.

Jean Grey being a literal pin-up while delivering nazi-burns is such a big middle finger to everything she was in the sixties and I am here for it. (X-Men 98)

When the three kidnapped X-Men make a break for it and escape the Sentinel’s clutches, they burst through a wall, only to be greeted by the cold vacuum of space! They’re not on Earth at all: they’re on a formerly SHIELD space station! GASP! (literally)

In secret, Peter Corbeau, inventor of sliced bread, helps the X-Men back on Earth board a space shuttle, where Colossus remembers his brother Mikhail (objectively the worst Rasputin), a kosmonaut who died at the launch of another spacecraft. It’s another Future Plotline Seed©.

The X-Men dodge solar storms which sounds like a made-up contrivance but aren’t, while the Sentinels try to destroy the shuttle. In what the kids these days call a pro-gamer move, the X-Men instead ram the space station and go through to these apparently sub-par Sentinels like Magma through butter. Kurt’s showmanship and Colossus’ loyalty are highlighted, while Cyclops becomes more robotic and repressed the more Jean is in danger.

Colossus’ secondary mutation is apparently BEING THE BIGGEST DORK. (X-Men 99)

Scott almost kills Stephen Lang, but then Stephen throws his ace in the hole at them: THE OLD X-MEN? This reveal throws us right in the hallmark one hundredth issue!

And, look. Stephen, this is just a terrible plan. Instead of using most of your budget on making more impressive Sentinels, you blow half of it on making janky X-Men clones to… what? Confuse the real X-Men?

It works for a hot minute, but Kurt and Ororo quickly figure out something is wrong. This Beast, for example, isn’t hairy and this Jean doesn’t remember being in Storm’s confidence. Wolverine is the first to snap: acting on instinct, he kills ‘Jean’, proving she’s an android.

Stephen Lang, foiled by the X-Men’s logical thinking skills (which, to be fair, are notoriously unreliable), spews some hatred and accidentally blows himself up. Nothing of value is lost.

Too bad the X-Men can’t return to Earth: their space shuttle is too damaged. I actually love this: going to space is kind of a big deal for most people and the fact that the X-Men have trouble because they’re stranded in space lends them a kind of vulnerability that has been lost over the recent years. Jean steps up to the plate, herds the other X-Men into the protected life cell and assumes the pilot seat of the shuttle. This is after zapping Cyclops into unconsciousness and telling the other X-Men to kindly fuck off when they try to stop her.

As the X-Men descend onto the Earth, Jean’s telekinesis isn’t enough to protect her as she’s engulfed by solar flares. OR IS SHE?

Nothing funny. All of these panels are just beautiful. Forget those robot copy X-Men, this is why this issue is worthy of being the hundredth one. (X-Men 100)

The space shuttle crashes, rolls over JFK airport before dunking in the water. The X-Men emerge, safe, sound and very lucky and then, defying all odds, Jean emerges as the Phoenix. Fire, life incarnate, etc.

After a brief but melodramatic burst of energy, Jean collapses into unconsciousness and is hospitalized. Wolverine intends to bring her flowers (aw!), before throwing them out when he realizes the gal’s taken, establishing the X-Men’s most famous love triangle. (You can fuck right off with your Scott/Jean/Warren-bullshit.)

I’m not sure what my favorite thing is here: the absolutely bonkers everybody’s-elated-panel (special mention to Kurt’s boots and his bounce) or the subtle character beat where Kurt goes all heart-of-the-team and checks on Scott, who turns out to be not so stoic. (X-Men 101)

Charles orders all the X-Men (except Scott) to go on vacation, so he can take care of Jean. Like, Charles, you’d think they could just go hang out at the X-Mansion. Instead, they go to Ireland because Sean has conveniently inherited the ancestral Cassidy Keep.

All the X-Men dress up fancy for a welcoming feast, and it seems Kurt and Ororo are flirting? But sometimes, it also seems like Ororo and Piotr are flirting? Listen, I’m not judging: I love these polycule vibes from the early X-Men. Especially because neither Kurt nor Ororo have had particularly satisfying romantic plotlines for the past 20 years.

I’m not here to insinuate nothing, but last time I said “I enjoy being with both of you”, it ended up in a spitroast. (X-Men 101)

The soiree is interrupted by… THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH, and Black Tom, Sean Cassidy’s evil cousin. They are hired by an unknown someone to kill the X-Men! Since nobody subtle is involved, they quickly wreck the castle and everybody tumbles into the dungeons. (Local news paper reports: gay power couple harasses ill-dressed American tourists.)

This story is mostly a vehicle to tells Ororo’s backstory: Storm, one of the few who could conceivably put up a fight to Cain Marko, feels caged by the cold rocks of Cassidy Keep and is incapacitated by her claustrophobia.

Back in the USA, Charles, who’s heard Storm’s mental anguish, is furious with Scott because he doesn’t hop in a plane to save the other X-Men, even though Scott correctly points out that he’ll never get there in time if he leaves now. Meanwhile, Jean awakens, convinced she somehow brought herself back to life. Yeah, you go girl.

While the rest of the X-Men fight the evil duo in Ireland, Claremont tells Storm’s backstory in a few gorgeous spreads.

“I could write a novel about Storm’s backstory.” “You get two pages.” “Deal.” (X-Men 102)

Another classic comics trope appears here, where family members are immune to one another’s powers. I have no idea how Black Tom is immune to Banshee’s sonic scream - he has ears.

Does Black Tom just have a voice in his ears going NEENER NEENER NEENER when Sean screams? (X-Men 102)

When Storm finally pulls herself back together, it’s too late: the Juggernaut has pummeled the other X-Men into a paste and she also falls to his onslaught. IS THIS THE END OF THE X-MEN?!

Other things introduced this year:

Kurt’s image inducer, which he abuses to look like Errol Flynn. (I would abuse it to look like an amalgam of Milo Ventimiglia (ca. Gilmore Girls) and Timothée Chardonnay. OR like Emmy Raver-Lampman.)

The fastball special!

All kinds of name confusion: Lorna is Polaris, Havok is sometimes Havoc and Piotr becomes Peter.

Best new character: Phoenix. Hit me with that iconic shit.

What to read: The Stephen Lang arc is not fully necessary, just read issue 100 and 101. Don’t skip issue 102 if you want to know all about Storm’s past.

[loftec]

Hi! in this prompt, could we know about Mickey's ex boyfriend or something? I think his name was Matt?

thank you for participating + pre NTW - Mickey's POV 👀

Anon: tell us about Matt

Yevgeny: his name was Mark

Mickey, pinching the bridge of his nose: Martin, and no. I’m not gonna tell you about Martin.

Narrator: little did Mickey know that he had zero say on the matter, let’s goooo.

April 13, 2013. Saturday.

Mickey is just off the L when his phone rings. For a moment, he considers ignoring the buzzing in his pocket as he lights up a cigarette and bounds down the metal steps. The list of people likely to call him is very limited, and most of that list is very welcome to fuck off to voicemail on a Saturday evening. Work can fuck off, telemarketers can doubly fuck off. On this particular Saturday, even his extended family can fuck off. It might be Martin, wondering where he is, but he can quite frankly also fuck off, seeing as Mickey is no more than five minutes away from their agreed rendezvous.

That only leaves one, and the thought alone is enough for Mickey to step out of the flow of people rushing to and from the platform, and check the damned call. Seeing the ID, he quickly picks up, pressing the phone to his ear.

”What the fuck?” he asks, unsure if he should be annoyed or alarmed and figuring this would best cover a bit of both.

”Hey dad,” his son says, unexpectedly.

”Yev?” Mickey says, inching towards annoyed. At least his son is unharmed enough to dial a phone, so it can’t be too bad. ”What’s wrong? Where’s Sonya?”

”She’s right here,” Yevgeny says, he sounds fine, normal, good, ”we can’t find the cake poking thing.”

Staring at the empty space in front of him, Mickey feels the rest of his mood swan dive head-first into annoyed. ”The what?”

”The thing we use to poke cakes, to check if they’re done? We can’t find it and we need it, the cake is almost done.”

Taking the forgotten cigarette from his lips, Mickey angles the burning end away from his face as he rubs at the deep line between his eyebrows.

”Kid,” he says, trying to sound calm, ”give the phone to Sonya.”

There are some muffled noises over the line, and then Mickey can hear his son’s distant voice. ”He wants to talk to you.”

”Hey Mickey,” Sonya comes on, breezy as anything. ”Is it supposed to be in the cutlery drawer? Been rifling through that thing for a good minute already.”

”Are you fucking kidding me?”

”What? It’s not such a weird guess, is it? I’d say it’s cutlery adjacent at least.”

”I’ve been outta the fucking house for less than forty minutes!” Mickey says, calmly. He is absolutely not screeching loud enough to have people on the street give him concerned looks. ”And you call me about some fucking–, I don’t have anything like that! Who has a thing specifically for poking cakes?!”

”Oh please,” Sonya scoffs. ”Plenty people do, you being one of them!”

He wants to point out that this is categorically not what he meant when he said ’call me if there’s an emergency’, but he’s got a feeling that this is only going to get him into an argument about the definition of ’emergency’ that he’s not going to win, and besides, he’s got bigger fish to fry right now.

”I absolutely do fucking not!” he splutters, glaring at a couple throwing him side-eye as they rush past him. ”Are you outta your mind?”

”I know you have one, because I gave it to you,” Sonya says, clanking sounds in the background from where she’s still presumably rifling through Mickey’s shit. ”Remember? When you moved in? I got it in Sweden when I was visiting for my cousin’s wedding. It was hand crafted, Mickey, you better not have thrown it out!”

”That thing?” Mickey balks, smoothly electing to not point out that they both know Sonya came home from her trip with like ten of those in her luggage and then spent the next two years giving them to all her friends and family whenever she’d forgot about getting gifts for an occasion. ”I stuck it in Merida.”

The silence on the other end of the line is palpable, and it takes a second for Mickey to hear what he just said.

”Who is Merida, and do I want to know why you stuck my hand-carved Swedish cake poker in her?”

Mickey sighs, and decides that he doesn’t have to answer that. He can try, at least. ”Tell Yev it’s in Merida.”

”I most certainly will not tell your sweet summer child that you’ve stuck the cake poker in–,” her increasingly high pitched voice abruptly falls to a hiss, ”–Merida, who is Merida?”

Luckily, Mickey can hear his son in the background, saving him from having to explain. ”It’s this thing?”

There’s another silence, Mickey takes the opportunity to smoke and accept the inevitable.

”Two questions,” Sonya says, her usual good humor back in her voice. ”One, you stuck my hand-carved Swedish souvenir in a potted plant? And two, you named the plant Merida?”

”It’s cartoon character–,” Mickey starts, before realizing what he’s saying and cutting himself off, ”I didn’t name it, obviously.”

”But you still call it by its name.”

”Whatever,” Mickey blows out a puff of smoke and can’t help smiling. Sometimes he just has to stop and take stock of how fucking ridiculous his life has turned out. And how much he fucking likes it, despite himself. ”Congratulations, you found it. Any other emergency you needed me for, or can I get back to my–”

He swallows, catching himself mid-sentence, suddenly unsure of how he intended to end it.

”–thing.”

”You’re there already?” Sonya asks, sounding genuinely remorseful now. ”Sorry, you left so late I thought for sure you’d missed the train and would still be en route, or I wouldn’t have told Yev to call. How’s the date going?”

Mickey swallows again, throat dry. He starts walking down the street in the direction of the bar.

”It’s fine, still on the way,” he says, ”and it’s not a date.”

”Like heck it isn’t,” Sonya tuts, ”you’re out on a Yev weekend for the first time since I’ve known you, and I saw that shirt you’re wearing.”

He runs a hand self-consciously along his belt, his button-down still tucked in and in place. He refuses to worry about it.

”You looked good, Mickey, I meant to tell you,” Sonya continues, and she doesn’t even sound like she’s teasing anymore which Mickey knows even less how to handle. ”And you’re undeniably on a date.”

”Shut up,” Mickey mutters and smiles to himself when Sonya laughs. Feeling a little more himself, he chucks his cigarette to the curb and stops to look across the road at his destination. ”Maybe.”

He hadn’t really considered the possibility, before Martin asked him. But the sex was always good, they got along really well, and when Martin looked up at him from his bed as Mickey was pulling on his jeans, his hair rumpled and lips still shiny, and asked if he wanted to go to some kind of hipster showcase gig together, Mickey had barely even hesitated.

”About time, too,” Sonya says. ”Was starting to think the guy wasn’t all there, taking his sweet time. Maybe he was waiting for you to ask.”

”Ey,” Mickey shakes his head, ”it’s only been a couple of months.”

”Try six! That’s half of a whole year.”

”Try minding your own fucking business,” Mickey says and frowns. Maybe it has been that long since the first time they hooked up, but it’s not like they’ve been fucking on the regular the whole time since then.

”Just happy for you, Mickey,” Sonya says, like it’s an easy thing for her to say. ”You like him, right?”

He doesn’t say yes, but he doesn’t outright deny it either, which probably tells Sonya everything she needs to know.

”Gotta go,” he says instead, ”and don’t call me again unless it’s an actual fucking emergency. See you tomorrow.”

Not waiting to see if she’s got something to say to that, he hangs up and shoves the phone back into his pocket. Staring at the unassuming building across the street, he allows himself a moment to take it all in. He’s just casing the joint before he enters, it’s normal fucking behavior. He isn’t stalling.

It doesn’t look too busy from the outside, there’s no line, and no bouncer or guard by the propped open double doors. The walls of the building are littered with layers of posters, on both sides of the doors and across the covered windows. Not much can be seen through the doors from his vantage point, but he assumes that it’s a front room leading to whatever’s going on inside the building.

There’s a guy standing off to the side of the doors, smoking. He’s got a lanyard shoved down his back pocket, ID badge dangling in clear sight. Most likely someone working at the bar, out on a break. His shoulders are hunched and he’s got a phone clutched to his ear, head bent and lips pressed together in a thin line. He nods at whatever is being said to him over the phone. Mickey looks up at the worn sign above the door.

”Fuck it,” Mickey mutters and, pushing aside the last of his niggling doubt, makes his way across the street and through the doors. It’s dark enough inside that his eyes need a second to adjust, before he quickly orients himself and heads toward the noise and lights leaking out from behind a set of swing doors beyond the coat check.

”Excuse me!” someone pipes up behind him, and he turns back to raise his eyebrows at the girl standing behind a counter by the entrance. ”We’ve got a showcase tonight, you need to buy a ticket.”

She makes an apologetic face as Mickey gets closer and pulls out his wallet.

”25,” she says when he gives her a questioning look.

”Christ,” he mutters, but forks over the money. ”This better be good.”

”We’ve got a really exciting lineup tonight, all local acts,” she says, obviously relieved now that he’s payed and she can tuck away his hard earned cash in her little lock box. ”I’m hoping I can take a break soon so I can sneak a peak of the headliner.”

She winks at him as she hands over a ticket, and he has zero fucking clue what he’s supposed to do with any of that.

”Okay?” he says and accepts the ticket. ”What’s this for? I’m already here.”

”In case you want to go in and out,” she says, and then tacks on when she seems to remember something she’s supposed to say; ”there’s no smoking in the venue.”

Mickey shrugs and pockets the ticket, biting back the urge to tell her that there’s no fucking smoking anywhere these days, thank you very much. The girl is still smiling at him when he turns his back on her and heads for the bar.

”Have fun!”

Finally inside, the place seems to be a collection of smaller rooms with some walls knocked down to make a larger, oddly shaped space. The bar is crowded, three bartenders moving around each other and pouring drinks in the narrow space behind it, and all the tables tucked away in the dark half-room next to it seem occupied. In the main room, Mickey finds the small, raised stage with a bigger crowd gathered in front of it. There’s a guy on stage, talking about something and looking like he’s about to cry while getting thoroughly ignored by a majority of his audience.

Mickey included, when he spots Martin a bit to the left of the stage. He’s talking to a couple of people he must have met in the crowd, smiling in that carefree way of his, eyes squeezed together and head tossed back when he laughs. He seems to do that a lot, laugh and talk and make friends wherever he goes. Open about himself in casual throw-away lines as he lets Mickey into his apartment, takes his clothes off, catching his breath, seeing Mickey off again. It’s nice seeing him out here, in the real world.

Maybe this could work. Mickey really should have tried harder to be on time, leaving your date to make new friends while he waits for you to show up seems like a bad move, now that he thinks about it.

Shit. Here goes nothing.

”Hey!” Martin exclaims, face lighting up with a wide smile when Mickey walks into his line of sight. He doesn’t sound upset, really doesn’t look it either when he pulls Mickey in for a quick kiss. It’s over before Mickey’s had the chance to do much else than blink in surprise.

”I’m late,” he acknowledges and hopes Martin will take the attempt at an apology for what it is.

”It’s fine,” Martin gins at him, tilting his head in the direction of the stage, ”you haven’t missed anything good.”

”– have you ever noticed that?” the guy on stage mutters into the microphone, ”I mean–, uh, I’ve noticed, that–, sometimes–”

Tuning the guy out again, Mickey looks past his date at the two people still standing on his other side, regarding them curiously.

”We got a problem?” he asks them, raising his eyebrows further when the woman just smiles at him.

”Oh,” Martin says, angling himself so the four of them make a little semi-circle in the crowd. ”My friends, Nora, Ethan, this is Mickey.”

Mickey stares at the side of Martin’s face for a moment, before he notices Ethan’s outstretched hand. He feels confused enough to grab it in a quick handshake. The woman, Nora, just keeps smiling.

”Nice to meet you, Mickey,” she says, clearly hiding something. People generally aren’t this smiley without an agenda, in Mickey’s experience.

”Sure,” Mickey says, glancing at Martin for some clue as to what he’s supposed to do now.

”You wanna go get yourself a drink?” Martin asks, pointing in the direction of the bar. ”This comedy train wreck should be over soon, hopefully.”

”Sure,” Mickey says again, wrong-footed by the whole odd situation and frustrated with himself for not being able to shake the feeling that he’s made a huge mistake.

”Go with him!” Nora says, making Martin take a half-step closer to Mickey by shoving lightly at his shoulder. ”We’ll save the spot.”

She gives Martin a pointed look and some kind of silent communication seems to happen between them, ending with her looking victorious and Martin dropping his head back with an exaggerated sigh. Then he turns to Mickey and playfully gestures for him to lead the way.

”Sorry about her,” he says once they’ve reached the bar, leaning in closer to speak directly into Mickey’s ear. The warmth of his breath makes the hairs on his neck stand on end. ”I keep telling her to back off, but she’s got it in her head that we’re doing something we’re not.”

Mickey swallows and turns his head to look at Martin when he leans back.

”And what are we doing?” he asks, and he doesn’t realize how it sounds until he sees Martin’s gobsmacked expression.

He lets out a startled laugh. ”Are we really gonna talk about this now? Here?”

And technically, Mickey agrees with him. He really doesn’t want to have the ’what are we’ conversation, and he definitely doesn’t want to have it now, here. But he’s already said it, and now he needs to know.

”Maybe,” he says and frowns when Martin just stares at him for a moment.

”I don’t know?” Martin eventually says. ”We have fun, right? I didn’t think you wanted it to be more than that?”

Mickey can barely hear his own thoughts over the noise from the bar, but he can practically feel his heartbeat in his throat. ”Do you?”

Martin makes a pained face, like it’s an involuntary reaction to the mere idea, before he shrugs helplessly and gives Mickey an uncertain smile.

”We don’t really have anything in common, Mickey,” he says. ”I don’t know, I just don’t see it going anywhere.”

”Thank you for participating,” the guy on stage says, his voice louder and verging on hysterical. It gives Mickey a reason to look away from Martin’s face for a second, hating the sympathetic twist to his lips. He feels like a fool.

”You suck!” someone yells in the audience.

”Yeah? Right back at you buddy!”

”Get off the stage!”

”Sure,” Mickey says, and nods. ”No, sure. You’re right.”

”Sorry?” Martin says and grins when Mickey rolls his eyes. ”And we can still have fun, right? Hey, I’ll buy you a drink! What do you want?”

”Anything, a beer,” Mickey tries to focus on Martin, on the list of prices pinned to the wall behind the bar, but there is suddenly too much noise, too many people, too much… stuff. ”I just gotta–”

He doesn’t know what he’s trying to say, so he stops. He doesn’t know what he wants, but getting out of this room would be a good start.

Martin looks confused, and then tuts reproachfully when Mickey pulls out his pack of smokes and gestures in the direction of the doors. He hates it when Mickey smokes, always makes him brush his teeth before they do anything. Guess that’s another thing they don’t have in common. Mickey hadn’t given it much thought.

He leaves Martin by the bar to fend for the bartender’s attention on his own and goes back outside, ignoring the surprised look on the girl by the door when he strides past her. Once outside, he’d hoped the fresh air and relative silence would knock him back on track, but it doesn’t. Everything is exactly the same, only now he can add ’running away like a pussy’ to the list of tonight’s embarrassments. He hates this, this isn’t him.

He should go back inside, show Martin and his friends that he doesn’t give a shit. Have a couple of beers, get through the night, make that asshole suck his dick until he can’t feel anything but a warm mouth and his own pleasure. But he’s not repaying any favors, not tonight, let that shithead take care of himself, since he can’t see it going anywhere. Fuck that. It’s fine.

”I know–, no, I know…”

Wrapped up in his own bullshit, Mickey hadn’t noticed he wasn’t alone. The same man from before is still on the phone, and he looks if possible even more miserable than he did when Mickey first arrived.

”That isn’t–, no, I know you didn’t… listen–”

Mickey ignores him, taking out a cigarette putting it to his lips. Might as well, he’s already out here. He lights it up. He, lights it up… come the fuck on, he lights it up. His lighter is out. Fucking great.

”Ey,” he says and turns to the guy on the phone, ”you got a light?”

The guy stares at him, and Mickey absently thinks he looks even worse up close. Like, disturbingly hot and built enough to properly toss a guy around if he wanted, but absolutely worn down by whatever it is he’s doing with whoever’s on the phone with him. Whatever, not Mickey’s problem. He shakes his empty lighter when the guy doesn’t immediately react.

”Oh,” the guy blinks, his eyes are red. He digs out a lighter from somewhere and hands it over. ”Here.”

”Thanks,” Mickey steps close enough so he can reach out and take it, and consequently hear the distant sound of a man’s voice on the other end of the line. He can’t make out any words, but the tone is unmistakable. The guy frowns and turns away slightly.

”Jesus, Jace, what the fuck?” he says, voice low and sharp. ”Are you serious right now? I’m not–, you know what?”

Mickey lights up and takes a couple of steps away to give the guy some privacy, but might still watch him out of the corner of his eye and hear pretty much everything he says. Call him a nosy bitch, but he really needs the distraction right now.

”I can’t do this right now,” the guy sighs, rubbing a hand over his eyes. ”We’re on in like ten minutes and I can’t–, I can’t do this with you right now. I asked you for time.”

He listens, and whatever it is that’s being said to him seems to hit a nerve. The general air around him of annoyed resolve slowly shifts into something more resigned.

”Yeah, I know… I’m sorry,” he says, and Mickey doesn’t know him or his situation, but he knows this can’t be right. ”Tomorrow, we’ll talk. I promise. Yeah, thanks… I will. Love you, too.”

Mickey shouldn’t be listening to this, he should finish his cigarette and go back inside. Find Martin and enjoy the night, have some fucking fun. Maybe he should, but he doesn’t want to.

He wants to go home, put on some fucking comfortable clothes and watch a movie with his kid.

”Heads up,” he says and waits until the phone guy looks up before he lobs the lighter back at him. He fumbles, but catches it. ”Fuck him, you deserve better.”

The guy stares at him, and rightly so. Mickey doesn’t know why he said that, he doesn’t know anything about it. But the guy looks… he looks a bit like Mickey’s feeling, deep down and buried many times over.

He looks lost.

”You deserve better,” Mickey repeats, because he already said it and he’s nothing if not all in. The guy opens his mouth on a shaky exhale, but he doesn’t say anything. Probably thinking of ways to get away from the freak accosting him on the street with unsolicited affirmation bullshit. Which, fair enough. Guess that’s Mickey’s cue to fuck off. If the guy would just stop staring at him like that.

A hand-holding couple suddenly walks right through their intense moment, heading for the doors. Mickey comes back to himself and, thinking quick, he takes out his ticket and waves it at the couple to get their attention.

”No thanks,” the man said, probably thinking he’s trying to sell it.

”Just fucking take it,” Mickey grumbles, shoving the ticket at them.

”Uh, thanks?”

Mickey waves a dismissive hand at them, already on his way.

”Thank you!” someone shouts after him.

He can’t wait to get home. Kick off his shoes, wash out the gel in his hair. Untuck his fucking shirt. Investigate whatever that cake poking business was about, hopefully cake. Watch his kid watch a movie, see his little face light up and mouth along with the words. Absolutely ignore Sonya’s inevitable attempts to get him to ’talk about it’.

His life is fucking fine the way it is, he doesn’t know why he got it in his head to try and make it something it isn’t.

[crimsonandcloverwrites]

ok bhah ch1 reread thought dump lets goooo

@youngbloodbuzz  @romanitwontletmetagyouuuu??? thank u for writing this. in return I gift u this lightly unhinged commentary

oh the opening quote “Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home?” violence

lmao ok I started this ages ago and then got distracted for a week because that’s just who I am as a person lets try that again

eddie n his glowing glasses nice we love a canon nod

ok I remember getting really emotional reading the chapter where Dani’s car died bc of what it represented to her n now I’m being reminded of it all again with the ‘poor little car’ comment oh dear we’re like 2 paragraphs in and I’m already compromised

the wavering reflection in the water in her hands..... Dani posessed by the ghost of comphet..... I am Drawing Conclusions

eddie “we can hang out more” dani “aha wouldn’t that be neat”

god the prom photo... remembering Dani’s meltdown at the prom bc she missed Jamie... I’m dying Jack I’m dying

lil palm kiss... I know u will not ever love hm that way Dani but fuck I’m a sucker for a palm kiss

lil nerd ass w her folder tabs I love her

god the tone of this is so comforting like I can just hang out n imagine each scene progressing so naturally. wish I did not have to suffer emotionally at the same time but at least it’s a smooth read

Dani feeling like an invader amongst all the physical representations of her relationship w eddie BABY U DON’T HAVE TO LIVE THIS WAY STOP LETTING OTHER PEOPLE INFLUENCE UR LIFE AND RUIN UR HAPPINESS

“Hannah Grose, seamlessly elegant” yes

Hannah: congrats on ur engagement. Dani, with tears in her eyes: thank

Dani relaxing when they’re talking about teaching pls I love her love for it so much

Dani at the blackboard with the “Miss, Ms?” confusion now I am thinking about the Ted Moseby professor/proffessor scene. HIMYM my beloved

mikeyyyy my boy

the image of Dani w chalk dust on her skirt is v endearing.

oooh the library trip gay foreshadowing yes

wait the silver stars on his backpack......... cup of stars crying time

Mikey correcting her on his name when she was the one to give him the nickname in the first place... feeling some kind of way

Dani fostering the talents she sees in her kids is so sweet and mikey shy lil math genuis is also so sweet pls i love this duo

i do wonder if part of her is like I know a Mikey Taylor but I literally refuse to believe it is the same one bc his sister broke my heart and we are absolutely not in the business of confronting hard feelings in this house!!

keys on a lanyard... ok lesbian

“You’re still here?” the love I have for canon lines being used when I can hear them being said in my head

awww bonding over Wonder Woman. cute!!!! When Dani becomes Mikey’s official second mum (everyone be quiet I am manifesting) my heart will explode

eddie ur really just gonna rock up and toot at her. jail for 1000 years

ooohhh Dani is Realising who the sister is. honey you got a big storm comin. oof (the ‘wonder woman punching stars out of her foes” to “dani feeling like she’s just recieved a blow to the ribs.” the cinnamontography). aw baby :(

“Jamie. Jamie, here. Jamie, home.” please i am thinking about her last letter and I am not strong enough

“Somehow Eddie didn’t notice.” sum up a relationship in a sentence

“Jamie would appear, as if summoned by the gravity of Dani’s pounding heart” fuck this hits on so many levels I need to go think about my life for 45mins

CARSON MY BOY. in his studded leather. a fashionable gay never loses.

I looove how soft n caring Dani n Carson are with each other thank gods she has him.

DID WE EVER FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN CARSON AND JASON MY SPIDEY SENSES ARE STILL TINGLING FROM READING THIS THE FIRST TIME

god this post is already so long n I’m only halfway through why do I have so many silly thoughts

god just the... expectations of affection from her by eddie w that placating cheek kiss she gives him is like... I cannot imagine Jamie ever asking that from her in the same way even when they are in a relationship!!! and it’s not even wrong of him to do that??? but it’s just a lot to think about the kind of person Dani makes herself to be to stay with him vs the kind of person Jamie lets her be by not expecting anything of her. they’re such opposites

dani not even feeling at home in her own (former) home pls when is she going to find a soft place to land (it’s also making me think v hard about the title like... the haunting of Dani and Jamie’s relationship (and what that represents for Dani) on Dani’s whole life and Jamie coming home and bringing that to Dani’s doorstep. resurecting a ghost so to speak........ too many homes to think about. I don’t know if I fully understand but I am Thinking)

dani and her inhaler... asthmatic bitches represent

oh my god not the box of memories. been trying to erase that from my own for weeks now let me live

ooh the line about her feeling like an archaeologist at the start of this section and then her ‘exhuming the past’ w the photos of her n Jamie i love a consistent narrative.

THE MIXTAPE. THE MIXTAPE. is there a playlist for this chapter I would like to take that aural journey

oh no i cannot remember where the flower comes from but aahhh this box of memories pain.

this description of carson in a tight white undershirt tucked into his jeans makes me think of freddie mercury. didn’t mean to make you cry etc

lmao Dani trying to get info from Judy abt Jamie in a roundabout way... international superspy she is not

Dani entirely uncomfy in church... i feel it. godd the repression of it all w the movie and the feelings and the Jamie-influence on the feelings my heart hurts.

God knowing how much Judy loves her but the weight of that love also stifling her... pain

they’ve really got her all shacked up w a house and a husband and a kid on the way can we let the girl be a lesbian in peace (also lowkey hoping Dani gets some time on her own at some point no Eddie no Jamie no weight of expectations pls she needs it we all need it)

the thread of Dani refusing to do things for herself in order to make other people happy throughout this entire piece hits so fucking close to home and is entirely heartbreaking to read thank you

jamiiiiieeeeeeeee

Jamie: appears. Dani: every single emotion all at once

Judy and her girls back together is v sweet even if Dani is dying inside at it all

“Jamie only had eyes for Dani.” Again, sum up a relationship in a sentence.

What do you even say to a girl who *the sky goes dark as i attempt to even summarise a fraction of their relationship*. Apparently the answer is “Jamie. Hi.”

TWO MONTHS JAMIE TAYLOR. CRIMES

It’s ahh. fairly entertaining to be going through Dani’s emotional journey alongside her and knowing that Jamie is also Going Through It on some level but having 0 insights to it bc she keeps her emotions so in check.

oooh how much of a gut punch is this engagement revelation for Jamie??? like on some level I’m sure she always knew this was coming but I’m sure another part of her still desperately hoped one day Dani would choose her. god I would kill for Jamie’s POV in this scene

Jamie’s scarrrr. Literally Dani’s impact

oh fucking hell that moment of like... familiarity and almost a coming home for Dani when Judy is talking and she meets Jamie’s eyes... she really was entirely screwed from that moment on huh.

oof god this is a hell of an opening chapter lets see if my attention span will let me continue this journey (also @ myself reminder to read this all in chronological order one day for a real nice session of emotional destruction)

[iamanonniemouse]

Okay, tumblr was being bitchy so @vector-to-the-heavens ​ had to dm me the questions she wanted to me answer for the Book Recs Ask Game. Let’s goooo--

3: a stand-alone that you wish was part of a series

Hmmmmmmmmm this is a gOOD one and yet I am BLANKING WHY

I guess maybe because I’m just thinking of how many shitty sequels are out there in the world lol

Okay, no honestly?? I can’t think of any book I wanted a sequel to or a series from, because the standalone books I adored all were just so perfectly wrapped up, and I feel like writing more would ruin them??? I SWEAR THIS ISN’T A COP OUT I HAVE BEEN SITTING HERE FOR LIKE 20 MINUTES.

But because I make the rules here, I will ABSOLUTELY take this opportunity to gush about a book that I don’t want a sequel to but a book I NEED to tell everyone about lol

I worship this book. I love everything about this book. It’s called Extraordinary Birds, by Sandy Stark-McGinnis. It’s about a girl named December. And it’s about foster care. But it’s about SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. It’s about -- gah I don’t know that I even have words to summarize it other than This book is everything I would ever want a fiction book about adoption/fostering to be. It’s just so good. It was written with such LOVE and such CARE and just !!! Everyone should go read it.

:steps off soapbox:

:shoves this book into everyone’s hands:

62: a book with a forgettable plot but amazing characters

VEC STOP PICKING SUCH GOOD BUT HARD QUESTIONS DAMMIT

I read a book a couple months ago (:checks goodreads: *six months ago) called Fragile Remedy, by Maria Ingrande Mora and it wasn’t a forgettable plot but it was one of those books where the most special thing about it, hands down, was the characters and the way the author wrote the relationships between them. Like, the plot itself was okay? But damn the characters. I would die for them.

86: a book with an insane plot twist

One of the first books I remember reading that had a :gasp: plot twist was The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner. The entire series is golden, for sure, but this was a book I read when I was probably elementary/middle school and I remember when I got the twist at the end (which really isn’t a HUGE twist in the grand scheme of things) and going O.O AMAZING.

Other plot twisty books I liked include

Bonds of Brass, Emily Skrutskie

Red Rising, Pierce Brown (Pierce Brown is AMAZING at plot twists)

The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang

The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (book 2 of a series, but the twist on the LAST DAMN PAGE of this book sent me REELING i was like OOOOH SHIT)

104: a fluffy, sweet read

Okay, I’ve got TWO THREE because once again I MAKE THE RULES HERE and also this is going under a cut because wow I got SO carried away

Deal Maker, Lily Morton

Gah, this book is one of my comfort re-reads. It’s soft and sweet and filled with PLENTY of hilarious moments but also just such WARMTH. There is also a cute as hell child named Billy who is my favorite in the world. This book follows a model who ends up working as basically a temporary secretary to an award-winning actor, and it’s GREAT because when the actor (Asa) finds out Jude’s a model, he’s all like oh you’re too stupid for this job but whatever, do your best, and then Jude spends weeks if not MONTHS purposefully screwing everything up just to fuck with Asa. These hijinks include:

Drafting answers to fanmail with increasingly outlandish things

Telling Asa the journalist who arrived was the plumber

Bringing back a child’s suit from the dry cleaners and telling Asa, wide-eyed and innocently, that he thought Asa was going to slim into it

Red, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston

Hilarious. Adorable. Enemies who have to pretend they’re friends -> actual friends -> secretly dating while pretending to be friends. One of those awesome, classic rom com plots except the main characters are the son of the president and a prince of England. Features hilarious moments like

the first son (accidentally!) pushing the prince of England into the wedding cake at a wedding

a bi-awakening that includes the MC trying to figure out if he’s bi and his best friend going, wait you didn’t know?? WAIT ARE YOU COMING OUT TO ME RIGHT NOW? OKAY WAIT LET ME GET MY SUPPORTIVE FACE ON.

a mom who prepares a SLIDESHOW when she finds out her son has been secretly dating the prince of England

demon turkeys (but not really)

our main characters and their friends wildly singing at a karaoke bar

and also really heart-warming, absolutely touching moments like

love letters are OUT love emails are IN, especially emails that have quotes from queer historic figures at the end

“I love him on purpose.”

both characters fighting to be together despite the metric TON of pressures on them not to

a secret date night in a museum after hours

This book is adorable, okay??

Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall

I recced this in this ask too because it’s just adorable and hilarious. It has a brief bit of angst towards the end for that classic “we broke up but I want you back” bit (that isn’t nearly as cliche as you think it’ll be) but it’s absolutely hilarious and lovely and then hits you RIGHT in the face with feels and then has you laughing anyway because dammit you fell in love with these characters along the way and didn’t even realize. It’s got fake dating (and fake breakups and fake makeups) and crap I actually like you and SO MANY JOKES. And did I mention how damn English it is????

Aside from the joke I mentioned in the other ask, there’s a great scene right at the start of the book where the two main characters are having dinner together and it’s like

Oliver: I’m a barrister. Go on, get it over with, ask me the question everyone asks when they find out I work in criminal defence.

Luc, mind blank and panicking: Do you have sex in the wig?

Oliver:

Luc:

Oliver: The question people usually ask is how I can live with myself, putting murders back on the streets?

Luc: Ah. That’s a good question.

I am belatedly realizing all three of these books are set in England or involve an English character. Oops? I JUST REALLY ENJOY THESE BOOKS OKAY.

[nexusconjunx]

@artsy-hobbitses​: LET ME HEAR ABOUT THESE BOOTLEG MEGATRONS

LETTTSSSS GOOOO AAAAAA THIS GOT SUPER LONG I tried to list everyone I can remember and who has some backstory sdjsjdkdj

Disclaimer: I’ve only read MTMTE/LL. My knowledge about any other continuity is based on Fanfic and random tumblr meta I’ve read.

Also, in theory, all of these characters are from different universes and wouldn’t have met, if it weren’t for those meddling Lost Light shenanigans…  There is a very loose background story connecting all the different universes.

(Namely, the LL that hopped universes keeps on hopping, and because unfortunate circumstances, it keeps homing in on Megatron. This is due to their first jump landing them in a SG universe where the Decepticons lost, and the resident Starscream shoved all of his surviving companions into different universes to save them. Of course, the LL wants to help, but Starscream thought it was a VERY good idea to first get his lover leader back and messed with their technology. It stops being funny after the third time they find themselves at the hands of very a pissed and murderous war lord.)

But enough of that! They do find a few Megatrons that are a bit more chill. I wish I had pics of all of them, but alas. One day. All of them get nicknames, because else it would be very confusing.

 TFA Megatron: Codename “Juno”, he/him, far over 17 million y/o. HF age: 60 - 70

He’s from a heavily modified AU where he was constructed as a kind of middle man between the protectobot high command and the warframe army. Even back then the civilian bots didn’t like to be confronted with the people that fought their wars for them, so they build new ones. Juno is at least glad that he got a pretty face out of the deal.

He learned to fight relatively late, had been sent to the battlefield as a last resort in a loosing battle against some organic planet, and Strika saved his life. They have been best buds ever since and go through thick and thin.

After the organic wars there was a short rest period on cybertron, but soon war frames were pushed to the edges of society, the rise of Megazarak, Juno joining him, the great cybertronian war, Junos overthrowal of Megazarak, and eventually Juno lost the war, but all the Decepticons (war frames and civilian alike) retreat to a new home planet.

Juno himself is. Old, worn, but still very much at the top of his game! He never crash lands on earth, but he does end up being captured by Autobot high command, and our Lost Lighters arrive just in time for him to break out.

He, Strika and Lugnut end up hopping universes with them when the LL is attacked by the TFA autobots, and Juno is delighted by how fucking shitty every other Megatron is. He won the fucking moral high ground game by loosing the war! He has bragging rights. He might still have done terrible things, but, shush!! Let him have this.

The subsequent name change comes because he really doesn’t like being shot at. Plus, after 17 million years, its time for a rebranding! His favourite activity is beating up (killing) other Megatrons. Not just because they are assholes, but to prove that he’s still got it! AU optimus primes look at him like “how did u do that” and Juno be like “What, like, is it supposed to be hard?”

He’s also delighted to tell you that, no, he does NOT fucking know who Optimus Prime is.

Besides all that, he’s the “sick cat of the multiverse”. He might be a super soldier, but you can bet that one day he’s gonna have a sparkattack and randomly die. He has a ton of scars and as a HF, a lot of them are visible. His spark is not really the strongest anymore, due to the previous loss of a conjunx, and by honour of being old as balls.

His storyline is basically “Have fun while you still can, and admit that you would really love to be in a polycule with Strika and Lugnut”.

 TFA Megatron: Codename “Junior”, he/him, just scratching 1 million. A baby. HF age: 20

He’s basically Juno from an earlier point in time. Doesn’t yet know Strika, has no battlefield experience. A real baby. Lies about his age to get into bars. Probably shouldn’t do half the stuff he gets up to.

Junior and Juno develop a father-child bond, but both would deny it under torture. Until Junior saves Junos life, that is, but they don’t talk about that.

He hates his nickname and is soon best friends with Rodimus who finds his existence delightful, because they are the same breed of young reckless dumbass.

 G1 Megatron: Codename “Molly”, she/her, only available as human, age: 50

Just an older gal living her best life in some desert. Wears tight leather pants, high heels and white shirts with a deep neckline. Sings Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” very well and very loud at her favourite bars karaoke nights. A delight to be around, if she says so herself. Still yearning for that sweet trucker gal she met on the road years ago.  Might still have ties to gangs. Drives a motorcycle.

This universe is more of a rest stop for the LL, and coincidentally it’s also a Wings!AU. Molly has Californian Condor wings.

 IDW Megatron: Codename “Billy”, he/him, only available as human, age: ~ 200

A right mean bastard. Lives in the Magnus Archives universe, and a Hunter Avatar by nature. Although, he wouldn’t define himself as such. Sure, he’s a hunter, but doesn’t that encapsulate so many more fears? The fear of being Watched in the Dark, and Slaughtered for Meat in the End?

He would say that he has had honest and good intentions. He thought himself so great when he was young and killed his first monster! But then the monsters didn’t stop. And after so many years, well, he paved his road with good intentions, and it’s leading him right down to hell. He might have killed a few more humans than necessary. But oh, it is for the greater good! And he can hardly stop now.

Someday, there will be a new, fresh hunter, with enough determination to finally take him out. He’s made his peace with that. He does hope they will stuff his shaggy hide and display it in a trophy room.

Only Megs so far who wears plaid shirts. Is actually nice to be around, if he isn’t actively after you. Hunts Pigs for sport.

Also the only one I’ve drawn so far. His Hunter form would be a irish wolfhound. With a few more jaws than neseccary.

I think that’s all of the bigger ones so far ssdjsdjsdhshshdlf. Juno really is my favourite (if you cant tell).

[brideofcthulhu10]

Behold another Lost Boys holiday special! It was between this and Valentine’s day, but honestly I love writing Christmas specials, its such a cozy time despite the high suicide rates, but lets not get into that. A BIG SHOUT OUT TO @imlostinsantacarla FOR HELPING ME EDIT MY FINAL DRAFT!

Fun Fact! My husband, David (yes, that is actually his name) actually does have the bah humbug hat I mention in the head canons. He’s a heavy metal goth so when I found it at the store I had to get it for him. And you just know if our David found that, he wouldn’t be able to resist it!

Christmas with the Boys

Alright, so the whole touchy, feely and mushy feelings that surround even the topic of Christmas time is not something any of the boys will ever openly admit to enjoying. After all, they see themselves as these bad ass brutal killers who thrive off of death instead of holding hands and caroling with the goodie goodies of this coastal town. 

Yet, it's challenging for them not to get sucked into the glitz and glam of the holiday season. Everything is a big deal in Santa Carla. Dia De Los Muertos, Halloween, Thanksgiving- everything! But especially Christmas.

Christmas in Santa Carla dwarfs the frenzy craze of Halloween. The entirety of the boardwalk is decked out with red and green lights that are tightly wound around palm trees, red bulbous bows are wrapped tightly around street lamps, the reds and whites of velvety fabric swirl down the posts, creating the effect of candy canes. All the store windows are painted to appear frosted, or covered with painted snowmen whilst several rooftops are covered with white felt in which mimics the texture and sight of snow. Even the boats in the harbour are all extravagantly decorated in a sea of lights that parade around brightly at night in every color imaginable.

Between the dates of the 30th of November all the way to the 24th of December the city of Santa Carla hosts a plethora of wondrous events in it's annual Holiday Festival. Large green, white and red kiosks are erected, selling a wide range of baubles and treats, from delectable chocolate coated rice krispy Santa Clauses, elf candy apples caked in a plethora of dark chocolate and peppermint, to a variety of Holiday hats, masks and even hand made costumes by the many local artists. Even hand carved candles in wondrous scents of pine, mint, or spice.

Currently, David possesses a black fur Santa hat which he acquired on a night out that boasts the words "Bah Humbug" proudly sewn over the front. It's the only holiday attire he'll even humor. Last time Marko attempted to place reindeer antlers on his head, David had set them on fire roasting atop a pan of chestnuts. Now it's not to say that he's a grinch persay. Rather, the complex and intense emotions that come hand in hand with Christmas can leave him perpetually indifferent at best, disdainful at worst. The whole occasion leaves him displeased. After all, he was an orphan who had been almost eagerly abandoned by his hooker mother left to fend for himself from the beginning, and  of course never met his father. Even she could not identify which of her many clients may have been responsible. Most of his mortal life he had lived as a street rat, barely making ends meet by picking the pockets of tourists and Santa Carla citizens oblivious to the true dangers of the lower side of town. The rich and uppity classes who often snubbed their entitled noses his way would never suspect as he lurks between alleyways, leaving them cornered at knife point. It was scarce that he ever did see a kind face in the sea of those who had little interest for anyone that was not themselves. Back then it was rather uncommon for anyone to step outside their own little lives, which led to most interactions, outside of the other boys, having been met with great hostility, thus he had learned to be just as equally hostile in turn. Even the mere thought of anyone suddenly dawning a false kindness due to a certain time of year simply agitated David. It rattled him to the very core in a way very few other things did. Why bother with the lies? Couldn't people just face the very basic fact that they weren't nearly as charitable as they often deemed themselves to be? I mean, the young man had seen firsthand a family having previously snubbed a dirty homeless man with appalled disdain at the sight of his muddied clothes and dirt stained skin, only to then begin volunteering at a soup kitchen to purge whatever guilt they carried on their conscience once the holiday season began. The whole ordeal was pitiful! Nevertheless, - more so for Paul and Marko's sakes than his own -, he did humor these traditions amongst the holiday's festivities. Ruining a good time just wasn't his style. Unless they started fucking singing.

Most traditions David could tolerate, some he even enjoyed slightly; although he would never be caught dead admitting something as embarrassing as that! However, he just couldn't stand Christmas carols! They were the bain to his immortal existence. The repetitive nature of these overly cheery jingles left him covering his ears lest they nest in his brain leaving him humming the same damn melody for weeks. This was the case because the dynamic duo of dumbasses were well aware of his hatred for Rudolph the Red Nosed fuckin' roadkill! Stupid red nosed abomination. 

“OOOOOOH-,” Paul begins with cheerful mischief.

“Don’t. You. Fucking. Dare.” David seethes through tightly clenched teeth, eyes screwed shut in indignance. 

Paul hesitates. He looks at Marko. Marko looks at Paul. Wicked grins of agreement spread wide like wildfire across their faces as their master plan comes into play. Full throttle. What’s more fun than annoying the shit out of David? One on the left, the other on the opposite side of the cave on the right. This was nothing but Divine perfection if you asked the two troublesome vampires.

“OOOOOH DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW!” Paul belted out at full volume.

“IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH!” Marko followed in suit, the widest eerie grin plastered on his face.

“OVER THE HILLS WE GOOOO” Paul howled enthusiastically. 

“I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU BOTH!” David's voice hit a whole new octave it had never in all his life so far. All the while Dwayne had opted to vacate the room lest he be caught in the middle of the escalating madness with Laddie in tow. He loved these guys, but not enough to dive head first into their fuckery.

Paul thrives during the Christmas holidays! How could he not? The food, the punk rock covers of Christmas songs, the absolute babes prancing around the town in Santa hats under mistletoe?! He loved it all! You can find him sneaking under mistletoe with many sweet honeys on a constant basis, regardless of whether or not he's acquainted with them. Most do roll their eyes or laugh it off, but every once in a blue moon the guy will get a little lovin' from a beach babe in the Yuletide mood. What else could he ask for? You can bet he’ll run into the woods December first, and quite literally RIP a pine tree out of the ground to bring home like a wee carrot being plucked from the ground. The bigger the better! He may even drag Dwayne or Marko along with him if it's too big for him to carry himself. And all the boozy drinks he can concoct up? This boy is in his element! Mulled wine, spiked eggnog, candy cane vodka, butterscotch bourbon hot chocolate?! Yes! David straight up refuses to try anything that Paul creates himself (remember the concoction he made in Max's kitchen? Those poor goldfish....) which is also another reason why he has Dwayne help him. Or rather, the other boys insist the most responsible of them monitors the blonde lest he poison them with some sickly brew. That, and the fact that Dwayne's the least likely out of all of them to blow up the damn kitchen!

Dwayne is indeed the designated cook during the holiday rush, albeit a field even he tends to struggle. Avoiding the kitchen catching aflame, perfecting his craft lest he blow up the stove, leaving only a pile of ash in its wake. As previously mentioned, ever since the dreadful chain of events that lead to the unfortunate destruction of Max's kitchen, this raven haired vampire has attempted his hand at learning to use a stove properly: Although he often finds himself forgetting ingredients either in the midst of cooking or after the final product is done and he's taken a big bite. 

“Shit! I forgot the milk and eggs!” Dwayne grumbled with a mouthful of dry crumbs, a true disgrace of a cookie.

Paul always gives him crap for it of course.

“Oooh I just thought you were going for a sandy, dusty dry cookie kinda thing.”

"Yeah man, these taste like ass!" Marko would cough out in midst of choking. 

"And what, like you dumbasses could do any better," Dwayne retorts with a huff. Only Star manages to have any manners when testing his failed baking endeavors.

"Well I mean, the taste isn't that bad. Just a little dry is all."

"At least Marko wouldn't be choking to death." David would mutter from the darkest corner of the room, a little late in the conversation.

In all honesty, Dwayne's biggest motivation when it came to improving his skills was obviously Laddie. The kid never got much of a Christmas whilst living with his mom, so now that he was with the boys, he wanted to ensure that Christmas's were something that Laddie would remember for all eternity. Though granted, it is quite the mess when he was helping in the kitchen. But when the mini vamp grins from ear to ear whilst coated in flour and rapidly stirring an overflowing bowl of chunky cookie dough--the sight is too freaking cute!

Since Laddie joined the boys, they participate in Secret Santa every single year, which definitely includes Paul bursting through the entrance of the hotel as Santa on Christmas day. We won't talk about the fact that each year he almost falls flat on his face and swears, ruining the surprise for the kid. 

"Santa where are your reindeer," he'd question, to which Santa Paul scoffs

"Pff, reindeer, I don't need any fucki- Ow," cut off by a firm and covert kick to the shin from Star, Paul quickly changes his response. "Oh! Ho ho, well, you see little boy, Santa can fly too! On his, uh, uhm… magic motorcycle! Yeah, that!"

But it's okay because Laddie already KNEW (he figured it out a year or two ago after Paul's beard fell off not once, but three times), he just doesn't have the heart to tell any of them because, well Paul really gets into it. And he knows the others are playing along for his sake. But to be fair, Laddie would have to be pretty dumb to believe it was Santa. I mean, the beard Paul's wearing is hanging half off his face by this point! But anyway, just like Paul's style, the entirety of the goody two shoes schpiel is thrown out the window, replaced with sleeves that have been ripped off, muddy boots, spiked bracelets and his Metallica shirt in full view beneath his flared red coat. He calls this BIKER CLAUS!

Laddie is not a squasher of traditions! But there was the one time that David had to intervene when Paul and Dwayne thought it would be great to use Laddie as the star at the top of the tree. David practically had a heart attack. Well, that's impossible but it still felt like he was having one!  

“Ho ho ho! Now, don’t be a bitch, little David or Santa will have to give you coal.” Paul stated mockingly to David, brows furrowed. 

“Well, Santa,” David scolds, a wry smile developing on his face when setting down the eight year old now off to shake his presents beneath their behemoth of a tree. “You best be careful. You never know what's in those milk and cookies, hm?”

Each year Marko buys bird toys for the pigeons in the hotel. Well, buy is probably the wrong word. More like he liberates the stores of their stock. And then for the next six months, David has to hear the agonizing jingle of bells. David almost roasted one pigeon in particular that kept flying over him to drop the ball with a bell in it on his head. That was Paul's entertainment for the next five hours, hell, he'd try to find it if the bird lost it and give it back. Marko defends the pigeon. Between running through stores buying up surprises for his friends, he's helping Paul throw out decorations for the cave. The dollar store has some surprisingly unexpected treasures, allowing him to deck the fucking halls to the max. Tinsel here, ornaments there,  tiny light up trees to hide around the caves, a butt ton of cinnamon pine cones which he ends up throwing back and forth with Paul.

And Paul often steals his gifts or goes dumpster diving for any hidden gems. He forgets to take the tags off of them the majority of the time, which is always an indicator whether or not its new. Any time Star asks where he got them from he refuses to answer. Just gets up and walks away. But for David's gift? Well this lucky bastard has found coal in the dumpster and chucks it to David when he's not looking and he sighs deeply in disappointment because this is the third year Paul has done this. 

 "Huh? What? Who did that? Wasn't me. Somebody's throwing stuff."

Other than that he'll find a fat bag of charcoal and just tape the name David on it. David is certainly not amused. Dwayne will actually try to figure out what the others want, and has the sense to save the money taken from their previous meals. After all, they're dead, they wouldn't have much use for it anyway. He's not about to waste his hypnosis on some poor cashier. That would be a waste of time in his eyes. 

When Christmas did arrive the tree was piled with mysterious boxes crudely mashed and taped together with bows and ribbons underneath it. It's obvious which ones are from Star since those gifts are wrapped in neatly pressed paper, wound tight beneath curled ribbons that remind the boys of her hair. Marko often goes on a food run rather than allow them all to be subjected to a potentially charred turkey, no offense to Dwayne of course. So, with a table covered from end to end with copious bowls of gravy, potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, a beast of a turkey in the center packed to the brim with cornbread stuffing, the boys cram into their chairs knocking back beers and spiked cider. Keeping to their own traditions, after fattening up, they gather around the tree and play card games, just as they had over eighty years ago on that frigid night. David still slays them in poker, and Marko is an utter dark horse when it comes to blackjack. Paul insists they try Go Fish. No one ever wants to play Go Fish. Closer towards the end of the night Dwayne will slip away to Jasper's shrine and bring him a fresh glass of rum as well as unwrapping what he got him that year. While Dwayne is there, the other boys will join him - omitting Star and Laddie left unaware of the Lost Boy they'd never met - in celebrating the last hour or so of the Holiday season with their fallen comrade.

Although Christmas time is often about uncomfortable mushy moments and emotions that create deep, unfamiliar times for David. The entire ordeal becomes that for everyone of the boys and Star. But God forbid anyone who even mentions it! I mean, it's kinda obvious though considering he's spending it with the people he always called family, knee deep in traditions that are sentimental to himself and the boys. There's a fluster of emotions running rampant during this particular Holiday Season, and although the blonde brooding vampire decides to squint at it with skepticism he savors these moments, knowing like Jasper, it could all be swept away with a single ray of light or the foolish hand of a hunter. So as they sit, drunk, full, and laughing beside Jasper's grave he can't help but smile at the sentimentality of it all. Christmas is a pain in the ass, but… it's a pain he'll gladly sit through for his brothers.

[velveteencurtains]

evermore first impressions!

willow - GIRL EUEJDNSKJDJEJD LOST IN YOUR CURRENT LIKE A PRICELESS WIINE!!!!! TAKE MY HAND!!! WRECK MY PLANS!!! THATS MY MAN!!!!!! girl this is so fcuking GOOD! gonna be 100% honest the 1 is a better album opening but this is so fucking good you guys. life was a willow and it bent right to your wind!!! ID COME BACK STRONGER THAN A 90’S TREND???? EVERY BAIT AND SWITCH WAS A WORK OF ART??? SHES SICK SHES REALLY SICK I SWEAR. the way she sings “that’s my man!” yes ma’am yes ma’am!!!!!! the parallel between “I knew you stepping on the last train” and then “you know my train could take you home” SHES SICK YOUR HONOR SHES SICK

champagne problems - okay we love a piano opener. i’m so conflicted on what i think this song is gonna be about. MORE TRAIN LYRICS GIRLIE. this really is this is me trying’s older, sadder sister. “our group of friends/don’t think we’ll say that word again” MA’AM??? SHE WOULD HAVE MADE SUCH A LOVELY BRIDE SUCH A SHAME SHES FUCKED IN THE HEAD??????? IM LOSIJG MY FUCKIJG MIND. taylor and joe wrote this together? we love a couple with shared mental illnesses

gold rush - jack antonoff do not let me down. GIRL THE HARMONIES AT THE VERY BEGINNING JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE. okay I can definitely see what they meant by this song being about being lost in a daydream, the juxtaposition between the chorus and the verses is AMAZING. this is just gorgeous’s older sister huh???? “ocean blue eyes/looking in mine/i feel like i might sink and drown and die” and “eyes like sinking/ships on waters/so inviting/i almost jump in”

‘tis the damn season - i can’t tell if i want this song to be christmassy or not. OH SO THIS IS JUST HOLIDATE. TAYLOR JUST WATCHED HOLIDATE AND WROTE A SONG ABOUT IT. this is a continuation of tim mcgraw, argue with the wall. NO BC TIM MCGRAW IS ABOUT LIKE A LOVE FROM HIGH SCHOOL AND THIS IS LIKE COMING HOME FROM COLLEGE AND REUNITING WITH THEM BC YOURE BOTH DEPRESSED AND LONELY

tolerate it - jesus christ i’m not emotionally ready for this. STOP THIS IS THE PRELUDE TO BETTER MAN. LIKE BETTER MAN IS AFTER SHES ALREADY LEFT BUT THIS IS BEFORE WHEN SHES STUCK AND KNOW SHE DESERVES BETTER BUT SHE JUST TAKES IT IM GONNA CRYYYYYYYYYYY. okay but i’m imagining the babe music video and that whole of like the doting housewife who gave up everything for her husband and does everything to make him happy but he just does not appreciate it at all and he doesn’t see how much his indifference hurts her. @taylorswift mv now. honestly? loved that but as a track 5 it’s pretty weak

no body, no crime - I PREDICTED THIS WAS GONNA BE MY TOP SONG ON THE ALBUM LETS SEE IF I’M RIGHT. GIRL THE SIRENS AND “HE DID IT” AS THE FIRST LINES?? THEN THE COUNTRY INSTRUMENTAL??? TAYLOR HAS FINALLY GIVEN ME A GOOD OLD FASHIONED “MURDERED MY CHEATING HUSBAND” COUNTRY SONG HELL YESSSSSSS. OH THE WIFE IS MISSING???? NOT GONE GIRLLLLLLLLL MISS TAYLOR CHANNELING AMY DUNNE HERE!!!!! OH SHUT UPPPPPP SHES A LESBIAN WITH ESTE’S SISTER AND THEY COVERED UP HIS MURDER AND NOW THEYRE GONNA LESBIAN TOGETHER MISS TAYLOR

happiness - okay miss happiness you’ve got a lot to live up to but let’s do this. NOT THE MIRRORBALL PARALLEL “i was dancing when the music stopped” and “when no one is around, my dear/you’ll find me on my tallest top toes/spinning in my highest heels, love” NOT THE IDEA OF CHANGING YOURSELF JUST TO KEEP SOMEONE BY YOUR SIDE IM GONNA SOB taylor please stop this i cant emotionally handle any of this. girl this is the prelude to tolerate it which is the prelude to better man

dorothea - okay so seven’s older sister? so dorothea and whoever this singer is were besties when they were teens and then dorothea moved away and now the singer misses her former best friend and also first love and also they’re lesbians yeah it’s gay it’s so gay. taylor i’m literally begging you from the bottom of my fucking soul please give us a music video with two girls please miss swift i ask of you this one (1) thing

coney island - see i thought this was gonna be seven’s older sister when the tracklist was announced so now idk what to expect! JESUS OKAY I KNOW IT SAYS “feat. The National” IN THE TITLE BUT I FORGOT AND I GOT SCARED BY HIS VOICE. NOT A FUCKIJG CAR ACCIDENT TAYLOR IM REALLY SORRY I RRALIZE YOU ARE YOUR OWN PERSON AND I NEED TO STOP CONNECTING YOU TO HARRY BUT REALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. okay anyway here’s my theory hear me out: This is dorothea’s husband who’s confused why his high school sweetheart wife doesn’t love him anymore and why she’s now hanging out with her old high school best friend again damn that’s weird they’re like really super close that’s super odd. anyway that’s just a theory I actually don’t really know what this songs about! miss swift is too smart for me

ivy - stop this song is so sweet!!!!!! i feel like this is getaway car’s sister! i need to stop doing that i know it gets annoying but really honestly it is! NO NO NO THIS IS DOROTHEA’S PERSPECTIVE WHEN SHE HAS AN AFFAIR WITH HER HS BESTIE AND HER HUSBAND STARTS TO FIND OUT GUYS IVE FIGURED IT OUTTTTTTT. WAIT WAIT WAIT THE HS BESTIE IS FROM NO BODY NO CRIME AND DOROTHEA IS ESTE’S SISTER GUYS IVE FIGURED IT THE FUCK OUT YOU GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I GOT IT

cowboy like me - let’s yee and let’s haw ladies and gents. WHOS SINGING????? WHOS SINGING WITH HER???? taylor shut up for a second lemme hear who tf this is. AM I CRAZY OR IS THIS JOE???? i’m probably dumb. but am i? why can i not at all remember what joe’s voice sounds like rn. is that joe??? im so confused. maybe i’m super dumb and it’s really obvious and i’m just fucking stupid. it’s probably not joe it’s probably some country legend that everyone else knows bc they grew up yeeing and hawing and i’m but a wee city slicker but i’m gonna hold onto this stupid theory that it’s joe singing with her until someone proves me wrong later. also this song is fucking gorgeous where’s my cowboy hat not wearing one while listening to this song makes me feel sacrelige. okay wait tay and aaron wrote this one is it aaron? i’m sorry taylor i don’t listen to the national you can hate me if you want

long story short - god the production on this slaps!!!!! and the idea of being hurt before and then finding your love and being all about them and not even caring abt what happened before!!!!! god i’m gonna cry i’m gonna cry. NO MORE KEEPING SCORE NOW I JUST KEEP YOU WARM?????? taylor really said “oh you’re not in love and i’m gonna make you feel like SHIT ABOUT IT” taylor pls a petition to let us say “BITCH” after the last line so it’s “i survived...bitch!” okay pls and thank you

marjorie - oh is this about taylor’s grandma :(((( i knew she used her name but this feels like it’s really all about her. babey. this is so sweet. taylor i love you

closure - okay the opening??? slaps! literally! okay the production of this is interesting! okay i’m like trying to figure out who this is about....who cares this is so good. oh my god the distortion??? it just underlines the anger of it all so perfectly and i love

evermore - exile hive let’s GOOOO. please be an exile pt 2 pls be an exile pt 2. so odd to me because, as a whole, this actually feels like a way more happy and optimistic album than folklore did, yet the title comes from the line “i had a feeling so peculiar/that this pain would be for/evermore”. OKAY BON IVERRRRRR. the violence of the dog days? that’s my next instagram caption thanks taylor. NOT A DUET SECTION AGAIN LIKE IN EXILE TAYLOR PLEASE I CANT HANDLE THISSSSSSS. “we always walked a very thin line” AND “is there a line that we could just go cross?” THE PARALELLELLLLRJSNDBBD. I’m gonna die for this I really think. okay so she ends it on this pain wouldn’t last evermore so that’s good

overall? this is a masterpiece. miss swift has done it again. folklore aoty 2021 and evermore aoty 2022. no body, no crime is really THAT BITCH. i need a mv miss swift! okay bye gonna go cry over this

update: after listening all night i feel like i need to point out that i’m stupid and thought este was the mistress and the singer was the wife when in fact ESTE is the wife in no body, no crime. SO addendum to my theory: este and dorothea were besties in hs then dorothea left and got married and so did este but este’s hubby cheated so then este’s friend murders him and she’s cool w it, then dorothea and her husband move back home and este and dorothea reconnect and realize their long hidden feelings for one another, dorothea leaves her husband and she and este run away together

ANOTHER UPDATE: ‘TIS THE DAMN SEASON IS FROM DOROTHEA’S POINT OF VIEW!!!!!!!! WHEN SHE COMES HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND SHES SINGING TO ESTE!!!!!! CJNECNSJSNNDN

[cdfreak]

💙 l💧❄️ 📘 🔹 4 eve!!!

💙 What would your OCs last words be (or if they’ve died what were their last words)? What were their final moments like? How did they die? hmm ok so. thered be a lot of swearing i know that much. she would apologize, to the person shes with and also just to some people in her life regardless of if they r there or not. she would try to make whoever’s with her feel better and tell them they'll be ok. if she was alone it would just be a lot of crying and swearing and begging for her father. 

💧 What’s the worst pain your OC has ever been in? Mental or physical? What was the cause of this? hmmm physical probably that one time her ex best friend SCOTT god what a bitch i hate him. anyway he tried to kill her one time but he fucked up and like slashed her eye instead and she had to walk to the hospital after fighting him off and it kind of sucked <3 MENTAL pain ohohohohoh >:-) evil little grin. ok so backstory. she has like magic brain powers cuz her playbook for monster of the week is the spooky. and also her mom was like horribly abusive. so one time when she was 16 her mom was screaming at her and she was just soooo pissed off and she just kind of . snapped. and her powers went a little bonkers and she uh <3 brutally murdered her mother <3 and then had a complete mental breakdown <3 either that or when she was 10 and her dad left 

❄️ What is (one of) their biggest regrets or biggest mistake they’ve made? Is there anything they can do to fix this or is it so far gone there’s no point anymore? Is this something they dwell on a lot? ohhhh baby. i think her biggest regret was the career she chose. she works as a contract killer and shes really good at it but she feels soooo fucking bad and it fucking haunts her dude. she also is just very guilty in general because shes kind of a dick 

📘 Write a sad journal entry, an unsent letter or short sad drabble. + bonus, give a theme! >:-)))) ohohoh. fuck yes. ok lets goooo

dear dad, hey dad, harper,

hey. remember me? your daughter? the one you abandoned 17 years ago? it’s been a while. i dont know why i’m writing this, i have no idea where you are or if you’re even alive. uh, it’s eve. i miss you a lot. i wish i had gone with you, i wish you had taken me with you. how’s life? mines kind of shitty. i hope you’re doing better well ok. no i dont. i hope you’re tormented every night by the knowledge that you left me behind, left me with her.  that felt too mean. i dont know what i hope. i dont know how i feel. you ruined my life, but also i just. you’re my dad. you’re the only person whos ever truly loved me or has been close to me. i hope i find you someday. sometimes i forget what you look like. i have a photo to remind me, but it’s still scary. i don't remember what mom looks like. i dont remember my last name. god, fuck you. fuck this. i’m throwing this away this was stupid.

🔹 Does your OC have any scars? What are the stories behind them? Do they have any mental scars? Talk about the effects of their trauma in general on their day to day life. yes!! she has a big scar over her left eye! that's from when scott tried to kill her. she has sooo much trauma <3 one notable example is when she fell into a lake on her 7th birthday and drowned and almost died and her mom did literally nothing and her dad had to pull her out and save her. that's why shes scared of water

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 7 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: We can’t promise that this posting rate will continue forever, but for now, please enjoy! Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: The team scrambled to come up with ideas for the new Spring collection that would please their illustrious leader, and when they were out celebrating after the meeting, Pearl got a little too close for Violet’s comfort.  

This Chapter: Violet makes a new friend, wakes up in a very compromising position, and deals with a massive hangover.

***

“Fuck fuck fuck,” Violet whispered to herself, reapplying her lipstick, making sure her lip liner was perfect even as her hand was shaking a little. Violet could hear her work phone, the familiar ringtone that meant Pearl was calling her.

She wanted to take it, wanted to accept the adventure Pearl was promising her, but Violet had hooked up with coworkers before, and that was a mistake she wasn’t eager to repeat.

Violet was drunk, and confused, this entire thing not at all what she had hoped and dreamed of for her and Pearl’s first kiss.

Besides the fact that they worked together, that Pearl was her friend, that she was one of the few human beings Violet actually genuinely liked, at the end of the day, Pearl was a player.

Everyone in the fashion world knew that.

There was not a lesbian or bisexual woman in the New York Fashion industry that didn’t have some kind of story about Pearl, Violet having listened to her fair share at parties, and she would never want to become one of those.

Their friendship was too important to her for that to happen. Stupid stupid stupid.

A gorgeous blonde girl stumbled out from the bathroom stall, humming to herself as she washed her hands. The blonde watched Violet apply her lipstick with rapt attention, then smiled, a thick Australian accent leaving her mouth.

“Wow…How do you do that? Your makeup looks like…sooo good.”

“Thank you?” Violet would normally be a little weirded out by this kind of attention from a stranger, but the girl was so beautiful and earnest that she only smiled back.

“I can’t wear red lipstick, but on you it’s...perrrfect,” she slurred.

“Everyone can wear red lipstick,” Violet stated.

“You think? Should I try it?” she asked, eyes lighting up gleefully.

“Umh…” Violet looked down at the lipstick in her hands. “Sure.”

But when the girl wobbled a little in her heels stepping forward, Violet had second thoughts--she was a little buzzed herself, but that girl looked far too drunk to do makeup on her own. It would likely end up all over her face if she tried.

“Know what. Let me help you,” Violet offered kindly.

“Oh wow, are you my fairy godmother?” she squealed, climbing up onto the counter.

Violet laughed at the other’s words, immediately feeling the kind of connection only two very drunk girls could.

“Maybe I am,” Violet giggled, as she began applying lipstick--not an easy task, given the blonde’s bubbly chatter, telling her all about how she normally only wore chapstick and mascara and wished she knew how to do winged eyeliner like Violet’s but could just never get the hang of it. But soon, Violet had done a satisfactory job, and leaned back to admire her work. If that girl was beautiful before, now she was absolutely stunning. “Um, whoever told you that you shouldn’t wear red lipstick should be killed.”

“Does it look good?!” the blonde asked excitedly, turning around to look in the mirror.

“You look gorgeous. Like, so pretty I can’t even deal with it,” Violet said nodding emphatically and realizing that she was maybe a little drunker than she previously thought. She certainly didn’t bond this much with strangers under normal circumstances. Of course, most strangers weren’t beautiful, charming blondes with adorable accents.

Shit, she really had a type when it came to girls.

“I love it! Thank you so much, fairy godmother!” she said, green eyes sparkling with joy. She turned back around and threw her arms around Violet’s neck.

Suddenly, the door burst open, startling them both.

“Courtney! There you are! You need to come back to the dance floor, bitch!” said a vaguely familiar voice. Violet turned around, trying to figure out where she knew the voice from.

“Adoooore! I’m getting my makeup done. Do you like it?” The blonde girl, now identified as Courtney, giggled, arms still around Violet, a huge smile on her face.

Adore? Realization suddenly dawned as Violet placed the face and voice.

Of course.

Adore was Bianca Del Rio’s little sister, and therefore someone Fame included in her close circle of friends. A musician of some kind and known party girl. And, if Violet was correct, she also knew Pearl somehow. It all made sense--what a small world.

Adore seemed to recognize Violet at the same time, big blue eyes widening with joy.

“Hey! It’s you! Violet, right?”

“Yeah, hi.” Violet smiled a bit shyly at her. She didn’t know Adore very well, but her closeness to Fame made Violet feel mildly self-conscious. Adore didn’t seem to have the same problem, throwing her arms around Violet as if they were best friends.

“Court, this is Violet. She works for Fame at Galactica.”

Courtney’s eyes bulged, and she clapped her hands together excitedly.

“She does?! Omigod how perfect! I just applied for a job as her assistant!” Courtney said.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me, bitch?” Adore demanded. “You know that Fame is practically like family.”

“Well, I applied for like 50 jobs this week; I just need anything that’ll let me stay. But I didn’t think I’d have any chance. I don’t have a lot of experience and I’m sure a million people applied. It’s Galactica .”

“So what?! You don’t need experience, you can do anything!” Adore turned to Violet, grasping her by the hand. “Violet, you need to help my girl get an interview. She’s amazing. She’s the most responsible person I know, and a really hard worker, and so smart.”

“Awww, bunny!” Courtney cooed, slinging an arm around Adore’s waist.

“Plus she really needs a job so that she can get a work visa.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna be deported,” Courtney added solemnly.

“I know it’s kind of a weird problem for a white person to have, but there you go. And America is just soooo much better with her here.”

Adore buried her face into Courtney’s shoulder, hugging her tightly.

“Well, I’m looking over the résumés for the new assistant position. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll totally put yours at the top of the pile.” Violet found her drink on the counter and was just about to take a sip when Courtney jumped down, bouncing up and down excitedly.

“I swear I love you… Like I really honestly love you. I don’t remember your name just this second but you’re going in my gratitude journal, no, no, don’t laugh! And when I remember your name, I’m going to give it to my firstborn child!!” Courtney squealed, wrapping Violet in a neck-popping hug while hopping around in place.

“This is so beautiful,” Adore said. “I don’t know about you two hotties, but I’m ready to drink and dance some more, so the next round is on me! Let’s goooo!”

Violet let her new best friends drag her back out into the club and towards the bar, giggling the whole way.

***

“We gotta go, bunny,” Adore said, causing Courtney to whine.

“Nooo, I wanna dance some more,” she slurred, arms wrapped around Violet’s shoulders. “Me an’ Violet wanna dance.”

“I know, but Violet has to go home, too. Right?” Adore exchanged a look with Pearl, trying to extricate her friend from Violet, who swayed a bit in her heels, giggling and hiccuping. “Sorry, this one can’t hold her liquor for shit.”

Pearl laughed, putting her arms around Violet’s waist and pulling her gently from her new best friend.

“Seems that way,” she said.

“Say goodnight, Courtney,” Adore said.

“Goodnight, Courtney,” echoed the blonde sadly, looking over her shoulder with one final wave, then stumbling, nearly pulling Adore to the ground in the process. “Oops.”

Violet watched them, still giggling to herself, then allowed Pearl to guide her outside towards a row of taxis.

Pearl had never seen her hammered like this. Violet was a giggly, blushing, cuddly mess, and she had never been more adorable.

They were nearly inside the cab when Violet’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Pearl! Wait-” Violet grabbed for the door. “Wait wait wait wait.”

“What?” Pearl reached over her, grabbing her hand and furrowing her brow. “Are you okay?”

“Trixie!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Pearl we left Trixie behind!”

Pearl had to bite her lip not to smile, since Violet seemed genuinely distressed. “Trixie left with Katya and Max over 2 hours ago,” Pearl explained patiently. “He’s probably all snuggled up in his jammies, fast asleep.”

“Oh.” Violet’s shoulders relaxed as she slumped onto the seat. “Okay. That’s… That’s good.” Violet yawned a little, covering her mouth with her hand. “I wish I was wearing pajamas.”

This time, Pearl did actually snort. Violet was the only person she knew who could be near black out drunk, but still insisted on calling it pajamas.

“Do you?” Pearl couldn’t help asking, buckling her in. “What kind of pajamas?”

Violet gave her a sly smile, eyes half closed. “I’m not telling you that…”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head. Even drunk off her ass, Violet still managed to be more a mystery than not.

***

Trixie yawned as he made his way to the bedroom. He had brushed his teeth, swaying in place and humming to himself while he had done it.

Pearl hadn’t come home with them, Trixie was pleasantly tipsy, and he couldn’t wait to spend the night on some private time with his girlfriend.

Trixie opened the door, to see Katya who was standing by the mirror, brushing her blonde hair. She was perfectly sober, their eyes meeting in the mirror, and Katya broke into a giant smile.

“Hey cutie.”

“Hi.” Trixie couldn’t help but blush as he crawled onto the bed, the temptation to shake his ass too great to resist, and the move earned him a loud laugh from the woman he loved.

Katya was the beginning and the end of his world, and all he ever needed. He could listen to her all day, her laughs and giggles, her hyena fits and even when she snorted, all filling him with joy.

Trixie was more than ready to burrow into the pillows, and wait for Katya to finish her hair so she could come defile him, when he felt something that was horribly, horribly wrong.

One of the decorative pillows on the bed, the blue one, was all flat.

“Katya?”

“Mmh?” Katya was braiding her hair, her long fingers running through it.

“Did you wash the pillows?”

“Yes, isn’t it nice?”

“Mmmh..” Trixie picked the pillow up, gently trying to fluff it, to get it back to how it had been before Katya had thrown it in the washer but it was definitely dead.

“Shit.” Trixie whispered. He felt sad, the pillow one of his preferred companions on many a long night whenever he took “special” time with himself.

“What’s with the long face, sugarbutt?” Katya crawled onto the bed too, and Trixie could see that she was wearing nothing beneath her silk robe, the look in her eyes telling him that she was more than ready to fuck.

“I don’t have a long face, a round one, maybe, but not long.”

“You’re perfect.” Katya smiled, her hands gliding over Trixie’s scalp and grabbing what little hair he had, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss. “Now come on, you’re drunk and I want a piece of you before you pass out.”

Katya smirked, and caught him again, the two of them falling back on the bed.

Trixie tried to enjoy the kiss, but he couldn’t calm down, couldn’t let go of the fact that their washed pillows were filling him with something that almost felt like annoyance.

“Katya?”

“Mmh?” Katya had practically crawled in his lap, her legs on either sides of him, his hands on her hips.

“It was my special pillow.”

“What?” Katya stopped, her face the perfect picture of confusion. “Your special pillow?”

“You know,” Trixie closed his eyes. He was pretty sure that sober him would never say this, but drunk him had no such problems, “for when you’re gone.. And I, you know, miss you…”

“Wha-”

Trixie could feel himself blush, his cheeks burning.

“Wait. You mean. Oh, oh, ooooooooh. Really?”

Trixie wanted to die, his insides feeling like hot liquid, the shame painful, but also so delicious, his cock growing fully hard, and he knew Katya could feel it.

“Show me.”

“… Show you?”

Katya nodded, the woman quickly getting out of Trixie’s lap, sitting against the headboard, her hand gently going over Trixie’s face.

“Please me sweet boy, and I promise it’ll be worth it.”

Trixie closed his eyes, his heart hammering away as he pushed down his pajama pants, the pillow stuffed underneath him by Katya.

Trixie wanted nothing more than to serve, making Katya happy the most important thing in his life.

***

Violet blinked, her brain feeling like it could run out of her ear the first chance it got. “Ow…” Violet tried to turn over to go back to sleep, but her body felt like it was made of stone.

“There’s water and painkillers on the nightstand, but you need to get ready because you have work in a few hours.”

Horror slowly washed over Violet’s whole body, turning her blood to ice, as she realized who the voice belonged to and that the bed she was in was definitely not her own.

“Oh no, no no no no.” Violet looked around, ignoring the hammering pain in her head.

Pearl was lying next to her in nothing but a cotton bra and panties, a smirk on her face. Violet looked down, slowly realising that she was wearing one of Pearl’s t-shirts, and that was when it hit her.

“Did we, oh god- Why am I wearing” Violet could feel her throat close up, panic clawing under her skin. “What happened- Pearl, did we- Did we… Did we have sex?”

“Wow.” Pearl raised an eyebrow, “Is the idea of fucking me really that terrifying, ViVi?”

“I can’t remember anything after Adore bought that last round of shots...”

Violet felt like she was going to have a full blown panic attack trying to figure out what happened after they left the club.

Fuck fuck fuck.

“Violet. Relax, please.” Pearl reached out, gently petting Violet’s back. The sensation of Pearl’s palm - warm through the cotton of her t-shirt - was tantalizing, but Violet couldn't enjoy it at all.

“Nothing happened last night, I promise.”

“And why would I believe that?” Violet could feel tears threaten to fall, shame welling up in her stomach. “I wake up, and I can’t remember, you’re not wearing any clothes, I’m not in my dress- I’m not even in my apartment and I- I-”

Violet had to fight not to cry, not because she was disgusted at the idea that she had maybe slept with Pearl, but because she couldn’t remember anything at all. It was scary not to have any idea what she had done, but it was terrifying to think that she had wrecked her chance of a relationship with Pearl, or even worse, that she had ruined their friendship.

“Violet, listen to me.” Pearl turned Violet’s head so she could look her in the eyes, her thumb gently gliding over her cheekbone. “Nothing happened, I promise.”

Violet bit her lip, looking into Pearl’s blue blue eyes.

“I brought you here to help sober you up. I tried to give you some coffee without waking Katya and Trixie, but you passed out before I had the chance.”

Violet felt her throat relax, her breath slowly returning to normal.

“I undressed you since no one should sleep in Alexander McQueen.” Pearl smirked. “Imaging your horror if you had creased your dress.”

Violet snorted. “I guess…”

“And Violet-” Pearl smiled, grabbing her pillow and putting it back under her own head. “If we had actually fucked, I promise you would remember.”

Violet had to laugh at that, shaking her head at Pearl’s cockiness.

“You should probably start getting ready. I know your whole look probably requires a lot of primping, and it’s almost 6:30.”

“What?!”

***

Violet felt like a group of tiny dwarves had taken up shop inside her head, even the sound of her own nails on her computer keyboard too much.

Violet had rushed to work that morning, none of her usual calm present as she had practically verbally abused a taxi driver when he took a wrong turn. She had felt so bad she had thrown an extra ten dollars in his face, but the day had just gone downhill.

Thankfully Fame had been kind to her that morning, in an unusually sweet mood, not even commenting on the fact that Violet wore sunglasses indoors, even accepting the first breakfast with no complaints of the coffee being a little cold.

Alaska had called after lunch, her normal high pitched ‘hiiiiie’ feeling like a red hot poker forcing its way through her brain.

***

Fame was reading an email when Pearl came into the office, wearing sunglasses with shades the size of plates. Fame smiled; Pearl looked as bad as she knew Violet felt, and oh how she loved to see her pets get what they deserved.

“You sent for me, Miss.”

“Close the door.”

Pearl smiled, quickly obeying Fame.

“You’ve been a bad girl. Seducing my staff to go drinking on a weekday, paralyzing my poor assistant.”

Pearl snorted, a cheek grin on her face.

“Did you know that Violet gave me her own coffee this morning,” Fame held up her cup, Violet’s name scrawled on the side, “without even noticing?”

“I’m sorry Miss, that wasn’t my intention.” Pearl smiled, the air crackling with sexual tension. Fame loved teasing Pearl, loved playing this game of pretend between them.

“Perhaps not, but the damage has been done,” Fame said, keeping her tone cool and even, looking directly into Pearl’s eyes.

“Let me make it up to you, Miss,” said Pearl. Her sleepy voice with just a hint of rasp from last night’s debauchery made the offer implicitly sexy.

“You really think it’s going to be that easy?” Fame asked. She drummed her nails on the arm of her chair as she leaned back.

“Maybe not, but I can have fun trying.” Pearl took a few steps forward and dropped to her knees.

“Hm.”

Fame looked down at her lovely face, reaching down to remove her sunglasses.

“Please, Miss?” Pearl placed a kiss against her knee, lifting the hem of her skirt slowly.

“Fine,” Fame said, voice resigned as if she was indulging Pearl and not the other way around. “But be quick.”  

***

On Thursday morning, when Max stopped by Fame’s office to drop off a batch of photos with the new sample clothes, he noticed that Violet looked out of sorts.

To a stranger she probably looked perfectly poised, but Max could see it in the way her ponytail wasn’t completely tight, could see it in the way she kept sipping water.

So later that day, during a creative meeting which meant Fame was out of the office, he returned with coffees and a little bag of croissants, gently asking if she had time for a short break. She’d accepted the coffee gratefully, but hesitated about the pastry.

“They’re still warm, if that helps,” he said, and that seemed to seal the deal.

Violet reached into the back and pulled one out, sinking back into her chair with a sigh as Max settled on the sofa.

“It’s been a rather hectic week, hasn’t it?”

“You have no idea,” Violet smiled, shaking her head.

“Anything I can assist with?” Max offered.

“No, I just...I really need to find a candidate, any candidate for the assistant position that Fame will at least consider.” Violet sighed. “The last few didn’t exactly-”

“Go well?” Max guessed.

“That’s generous, and I have no idea where I went wrong.” Violet groaned. “Fame needs someone who can do well, who can support her in everything. Everyone so far has been more than qualified, one of them even worked as an event planner, and yet, she sent them all away without a second though.”

“That sounds like her.” Max smiled.

“If she won’t accept people who are organized and experienced…” Violet trailed off, eyes going to the resumes littering her desk, creases in them telling Max how many times she’d been through them. “I don’t know what to do.”

Max pondered her dilemma. Of course, considering their boss’s desire for perfection, it would make sense for Violet to bring in these competent professionals with years of experience. On paper, that made perfect sense.

But there was another side to Fame, one with which Violet was probably less familiar.

“Have you considered…” Max paused. He needed to be careful to phrase this correctly. “You know how she loves to cultivate talent. To discover people, so to speak. So while it’s important to bring in people who are smart and capable...perhaps consider someone a bit more...green?”

Violet tilted her head, brow furrowed. It seems that offering up fresh young faces simply hadn’t occurred to her.

“You never know,” Max said, “But she may very well appeal to someone eager and ready to learn. And, uh...aesthetically pleasing, shall we say?”

“I guess... “ Violet’s eyes drifted back to the resumes on her desk, realization dawning on her face as she pulled one from the pile. “It’ll be worth a shot. Thank you Max.”

“Don’t mention it,” Max said with a wry chuckle. “Really. Don’t mention it. HR would probably not appreciate the way I phrased that.”

“Probably not.” Violet laughed, and they clinked their paper cups together.