#like they were sooooooooooo real for this

[angelnumber27]

[crayonflop]

i have never experienced true friendship in my entire goddamn life

[anotherpapercut]

sometimes people will ask me about working in a library and I have to find a gentle way to tell them they literally would not last a day working in a public library

[bandsanitizer]

anyways mama performance of sweet venom is the evidence that orange blood era is the best era enhypen has had yet bc it gives all of the members space to shine in different ways—both by showcasing newer parts or grown aspects of their artistry and emphasizing their strengths. as individuals and as a group as a whole

[orcelito]

Hm.

computer forced a restart. all my tabs r gone...

[kuiinncedes]

😐 :)

[love-belle]

you got me thinking nonsense !!!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ in which heartbreak led to her real love and she'd be damned if she didn't make sure everyone knows that.

or

for when they're everything to you. ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

social media au // charles leclerc x fem!reader

prequel - light as a feather ⋆·˚ ༘ *

warnings - language

author's note - posting this i simply couldn't resist!!! i'll try my HARDEST to post carlos' version of shout out to my ex tonight but if not then tomorrow fs <3 thank u so much for reading, i love u <3

taglist - @marsdreamworld @eviethetheatrefreak @22yuki @incoherenciass @bb-swift @willowpains @lordperceval-16 (tagging all those who asked for part ii <3)

≡;- ꒰ °instagram ꒱

liked by pierregasly, f1updates, exwagsclub and 79,726 others

paddock.club y/n y/l/n and charles leclerc spark dating rumours as they were seen out on a "date", which were further confirmed as the couple shared a kiss. for weeks, y/l/n and leclerc have been having coy and not-so-platonic interactions on social media and fans have speculated that these two are more just friends. this news comes after y/n's break up with a fellow driver of charles and while neither y/n or her ex have commented on this, it's clear that they didn't have a clean break up as there were rumours of cheating surrounding the ex. for more details, click on the link in our bio.

tagged charles_leclerc yourusername

589 comments

username LMFAOAOOA THE WAY LANDO ISN'T EVEN MENTIONED HERE

username "the ex" ur so right he's not worth mentioning 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

username olivia was talking abt lando when she sang "some weird second string loser who's not worth mentioning"

*liked by oliviarodrigo*

username my true parents fr ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

username she looks sooo happy with him im so happy for her

username love how none of yes are surprised like we all saw this coming

username the way l*ndo isn't even mentioned ONCE like that's what u get for cheating babes!!!!!!!!!

username CHARLES AND Y/N FUCK YEA

username she genuinely looks so much happier with charles like this is the type of relationship she deserved ❤️

username IM ❤️ SO ❤️ HAPPY ❤️ FOR ❤️ THEM ❤️

username no bc there was no way they thought that they'd be able to convince us that they weren't together

username istg i see one person comment some out of pocket shit im SWINGING

username l*ndo's crying rn like i can Feel it

username no bc HOW'D he pull 😭😭😭😭😭

-> username fr like u put him near y/n he starts malfunctioning

-> username no bc that one interview where he forgot his own team's name js bc y/n walked past him is LIVING proof

username i know the driver's gc is WILDIN rn

username see now idk who to be jealous of

-> username the only correct answer is both

username no bc IMAGINE THE SONGS SHE'LL WRITE ABOUT HIM!!!!!!

username pretty people (y/n and charles) ruining it for the ugly people (me) by getting together

username oh so he got GAME

username everyone bffr y/n was probably the one who took the initiative

username guys stop with all the l*ndo slander comments i can't like them all

username charles leclerc i will never forgive u for taking my wife

username im sooooOOOOooo normal about this. ha fucking ha.

≡;- ꒰ °instagram ꒱

liked by charles_leclerc, lewishamilton, carmenmmundt and 2,792,712 others

yourusername nonsense is now yours!!! i wrote this song on my very close friend's bedroom's floor and i can officially say that this is the most unhinged song i have ever written :) i love u all sooo much i could cry <3 (charles_leclerc be my personal photographer pls ❤️)

15,628 comments

username HELLO?????? PLEASE IM CRYING WHAT IS THIS SONG AND WHY IS IT MAKING ME CRY AND HORNY

username IM TALKIN OPPOSITE OF SOFT?????? Y/N?????????

username nah she's unhinged

username "on my very close friend's bedroom's floor" BABE WE KNOW

username how quickly can u take ur clothes off pop quiz 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

-> username oh she's wild for adding this

username IN LOVE WITH THE OUTRO

username PLEASE touch some grass and meditate

georgerussell63 wish i never heard it but cool beats x

-> yourusername i too wish u never heard it but thank u russell george x

username i know sebastian texted her after this

*liked by yourusername*

username okayyyy so at least he's winning off the track

-> username OH UR SO WRONG FOR THIS

username at least my girl's getting some good dick y'all leave her alone

username im a changed woman after hearing this song

username u gotta keep up with me!!!!! i got some young energy!!!!!!! i caught the l-o-v-e!!!! why do u do this to me!!!!!!!

username i know charles is blasting the SHIT out of this sin anthem (encouraging)

-> username PLEASE NOT SIN ANTHEM

lilymhe when will you write a song like this about me :/

-> yourusername if u would like i can show u????

-> lilymhe i'm On my way!

-> alex_albon STOP I'M STILL HERE

-> yourusername alex look away

-> charles_leclerc i'm

-> yourusername u too babe look AWAY

-> username BABE

-> username DID SHE JS CONFIRM IT FR FR

username said u like my eyes????? AND u like to make them roll??????

-> username if someone said that to me i would be AT the altar in most white dress ever

username charles won at life fr

username WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABT HOW GOOD SHE LOOKS IN THESE PHOTOS

-> username my heart stopped she's so barbie coded

charles_leclerc nice song

-> yourusername thank u

charles_leclerc any particular muse behind this?

-> yourusername js this cool guy i've been seeing

-> charles_leclerc "cool" huh? 😏😏😏😏🤪🤪🤪🤪🤗🤗🤗🤗🫡🫡🫡🫡🥶🥶🥶🥶😩😩😩😩🤧🤧🤧🤧☺️☺️☺️☺️😘😘😘😘🥰🥰🥰🥰😚😚😚😚

-> yourusername yes charles u are cool

-> username MY GOD SOMEONE TAKE AWAY THIS MAN'S PHONE

-> username y/n be honest does he blush and giggle when u call him a pet name????

-> yourusername what do u think

-> username I KNEW IT OMG

charles_leclerc if the person in front of the camera is you, i will gladly be behind the camera for the rest of my life.

-> yourusername the most romantic thing u have ever said to me

-> charles_leclerc that's not true

-> yourusername u called me a chameleon yesterday

-> charles_leclerc because you wear a different shade of eye colour everyday

-> yourusername eye shadow* baby

-> charles_leclerc okay :D

-> username WHO IS THIS MAN

-> username nah he's GONE for her

≡;- ꒰ twitter ꒱

≡;- ꒰ °instagram ꒱

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55, arthur_leclerc and 1,538,976 others

charles_leclerc she wrote a song for me and while it wasn't the most romantic one, the sentiment is still appreciated. y/n, i adore you completely, even if you spend more time with my mom than you do with me. mon cœur ❤️ ( my heart )

tagged yourusername

12,629 comments

username im

username js gonna leave yeah (ABSHDHDJSJJSSJ)

username what do u MEAN charles is in love and what do u MEAN that it's not with me (i love them both sm)

username okayyyy she wrote how much she loves u and ur little thing that's the MOST romantic thing ever

-> username nah bestie given the way she wrote the song im not it's *little*

*liked by yourusername*

-> username GIRL PLEASE WHY ARE U LURKING

username i love them both so much

carlossainz55 you two make me nauseous but it's been a long time coming 🤍 happy for you both !!

-> charles_leclerc thank you for your approval <3

-> carlossainz55 had to make sure you'd treat her better 🤷

-> username "treat her better" is speaking VOLUMES

-> username i love carlos so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

username y/n being the grid's favourite is my aesthetic 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

username I LOVE THEM SOOO MUCH THEY'RE MY PARENTS LIKE AJSJSKSKSJKSKKS

username "mon cœur" can u hear me SCREAMING 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

username they genuinely deserve all the happy things in life like im SO fr

username ferrari better get their shit in order bc i know that if they fuck up again y/n is fr gonna destroy them and idk if that's gonna be by words or by a song or she's straight up gonna fist fight them

*liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc and carlossainz55*

danielricciardo at least she writes you songs, she writes me threatening messages

-> yourusername U CALLED ME THAT MCDONALD'S CLOWN

-> charles_leclerc i'm not gonna intervene

-> danielricciardo BECAUSE YOU LOOKED LIKE ONE

-> yourusername THAT'S JS CHARLES NOT ME

-> charles_leclerc i am going to intervene

username im so ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ about them

username i just fell to the floor what the fuck

username IM SOOOOOOOOO *cries*

lewishamilton 🫶🏼

*liked by charles_leclerc*

username i KNOW lando is pulling at his hair rn

username THAT NOTE OH MY GOD

username pls god when will it be me

username im so 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

yourusername wdym "u said u like my eyes and u like to make em roll" is not romantic

-> charles_leclerc the most romantic thing i have ever heard in my eye

-> yourusername ❤️

yourusername i love ur mom

-> charles_leclerc i know

-> leclerc_pascale mon ange 😘

-> yourusername MAMA LECLERC ❤️❤️❤️

-> charles_leclerc and i'm right here...

yourusername cannot wait to write songs for u my entire life

-> charles_leclerc cannot wait to compose piano pieces for you 😘

-> username IM SCREAMING

-> username WHAT DO U MEAN HE COMPOSES PIANO PIECES FOR HER 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

username they're so

username i would give anything to have a love like that 😭😭😭😭😭

username im crying.

≡;- ꒰ °instagram ꒱

liked by charles_leclerc, lorenzotl, lilymhe and 2,975,327 others

yourusername looking at u got me thinking nonsense!!!!!!!!!!! also special thanks to landonorris bc if not for him i wouldn't have met the love of my life so thanks dude even if ur a prepubescent piece of shit

tagged charles_leclerc

18,629 comments

username IM HOWLING WHAT THE FUCK

username THE TAG THE CAPTION

username prepubescent piece of shit will forever be engraved in my brain ❤️

username LMFAOAOAOAO

username y/n y/m/n y/l/n u will always be famous

username IM CRYINF WHAT THEBFUCK

lewishamilton both of you 💕

-> yourusername we love u lewis <3

username she will never let l*ndo live in peace and i love her sm for that

username i just cackled out loud why is she so funny

username SHE'S SOOOO UNSERIOUS

username i js know charles is MADLY in love with her bc HOW can u not be

username she's so unhinged. i love her.

username screaming

lilymhe i thought we were something

-> yourusername babygirl u own my heart and 4ever will

-> alex_albon wow.

-> charles_leclerc oh my god

username they're so adorable 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

username THEM

username no bc charles deffo manifested this shit like imagine having a crush on someone for YEARS and then they date ur friend but the friend cheats on them and u end up together like woahh wildddd

-> username and then they write a song about u

-> username AND THEN THEY WRITE A SONG ABOUT U

oscarpiastri a scream just erupted from *his* driver's room

*liked by yourusername*

-> username target audience reached 🫡

username stop with the l*ndo hate comments i seriously CANNOT like them all

username i would do anything to go to a driver's meeting ANYTHING

maxverstappen1 nice caption

-> yourusername thank u :) an angry dutch proof read this

username max proof reading this caption is sooo funny like omg

-> username they're truly destroying his peace and i respect them so much

username i truly cannot wait for the next race

username NO BC DID SOMEONE SEE THAT CLIP WHERE NONSENSE PLAYED IN THE PADDOCK WHILE LANDO WAS THERE AND HE LOOKED SO 😒😒😒😒😒😒

-> username LMFAOAOAOA THAT WAS HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY

-> username truly a cinematic piece ❤️

charles_leclerc was the first photo necessary

-> yourusername absolutely like look at my man ❤️

charles_leclerc looking at YOU got ME thinking nonsense

-> yourusername stop im blushing

charles_leclerc i thought we'd be nice

-> yourusername no YOU'D be nice i'd be mean

-> charles_leclerc okay amour ( my love )

charles_leclerc i love you ❤️

-> yourusername i caught the l-o-v-e

-> yourusername i love you more ❤️

username IM SOOOOOO 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

username charles and y/n ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

username me when.

[hotpinkstars]

ESPRESSO - aventurine x reader

- "now he's thinkin' bout me, everynight, oh, is it that sweet? i guess so." or, how does aventurine do when he's in love?

- GUYS GUYS QUEEN SABRINA DROPPED A SINGLE i've been listening to this for days and i needed to write about it sooooooooooo yeah! anyways i'll get to writing probably a few requests tomorrow and wednesday (expect 4-5 posts between those days to make up for my absence) and yeahhhhhh enjoy!!

- aventurine might be a little ooc, mentions of his trauma (so penacony main quest spoilers), reader confesses at the end. wc 1067

Aventurine doesn’t know what to do when he first figures out that the feeling in his chest whenever he saw you was because he liked you. He probably tried to deny it, until Topaz caught him blushing like crazy after you walked away from the conversation you two had just finished. (Even then, she had to tell him, and then he spent a long time thinking that possibility through. She might have been right). 

You plague his visions. Why does he always want something to do with you? Why does he always want to be in your space, but also never wants to see you again? You’ve noticed his weird behavior, considering you were one of the first people he’s ever genuinely called a friend, but didn’t really think too far into it. 

Though, it didn’t stop you from paying more attention to it, that's for a fact. Sometimes you’d pay more attention to his body movements around you, the way he speaks, his etiquette, etc. You and Topaz communicate through it, and it’s a little bit different from his conversations with her. 

You know he can be cocky. Like, very cocky. You know he’s not too afraid to talk back, to challenge someone to a gamble (spoiler he wins), and to be reckless. Though, you also know about his backstory. So you can kind of understand where he’s coming from. 

He’s been pretty open with you about all of the things he’s endured. You know his real name, he’s described how his family has looked, and he’s described his years he endured slavery and what his home planet was like. You know about the Men in Black and the Katicans. And you know how traumatized he is.

Now, you’ve known him for a long, long time before this. You welcomed him into the IPC when Jade first announced his arrival, and you kind of showed him the ropes. He thought you seemed kind, so he stayed in contact with you.

You’ve watched him change, all of his progress through life, the hard times and the good times, and so much more. And that's what gets him the most, he thinks. 

He never realized how much he trusted you until he realized he liked you. You know every single thing about this man, which was the reason why he was rather… nervous when he’d have to communicate with you face to face. He did a good job at keeping up his front he uses to talk to people, but you sensed a slight form of stress underneath all the layers he put up to look tough. 

He lays awake, thinking about you. You’ve made part of his mind your home, and it’s the part he comes back to over and over again. You replay in his mind like a good song that he can’t get enough of- on, and on, and on, and on. 

He does like to bring you little trinkets he finds pretty when he goes out in public to do some shopping. Considering how wealthy he is, he could probably afford to buy out the whole store, so if you even mention something you like to him, he’s on his way to find it for you. He likes to think of it as he’s buying your kindness, but you think something completely different. You enjoy his sudden gift giving, not just because of your gain, but because he thought about you enough to do such a thing. It always makes you slightly blush before laughing while opening the box presented in front of you. He thinks that's the most precious part about your time spent together; all of the opportunities he gets to listen to your gorgeous laughter and see your flawless smile. Topaz, pinch the man, he’s in his own personal dreampool.

Oh, how bad he wants to confess to you, but he’s really afraid of rejection. He fears losing you entirely, fears that you won’t look at him like you always do if he asked if you two could be a thing. He fears you’d think he was odd for wanting you to himself, and that you’d slowly back away until you refuse to even look at his broken, battered form any longer. The thought makes a shiver crawl up his back. He can’t lose you too. 

All this man asks is to find a way to remove you from his head. You’re absolutely tormenting him! Notice how he’s been lacking on his work lately, always caught in a daze when he’s sitting down at his desk? That’s you he’s daydreaming about. He’s no good with his emotions. He knows how to hide sadness, fear, and anger, but he’s never been in this boat before. Love is a whole new concept to him. 

“Aventurine, you’ve been out of it lately. Tell me, is something the matter?” You barge through the blonde's office, not even bothering to knock. You know you don’t have to, he’s never doing anything so significant in that tiny space that it needs to be kept private.

“What are you saying? Nothings up with me,” he drops his pen in the small plaster pen cup you bought for him. “Work has been tiring lately. Nothing to stress over.” 

You plop into the chair in front of his desk, resting your arms on the top and putting your head in between your palms.

“I can tell when you lie. Tell the truth.”

He looks away. What was he supposed to say? That he couldn’t get you out of his brain, and that you’re the only thing he can focus on? That’ll scare you off for sure!

“Aventurine?? You there?” you wave a hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his daze once more. “You know, you don’t have to lie. I already know what you’re thinking.”

His eyes slightly widen, just enough for you to notice. You giggle very lightly before continuing on with your sentence. “You have a little crush, don’t you? Don’t worry, I like you back. Seriously, I do.”

He doesn’t know how to reply to that. He doesn’t know if he wants to faint or make out with you right now. “So that makes us…?”

“I don’t know. We could remain friends, we could be boyfriend girlfriend, whatever you want. I don’t care.”

Well, he believes he already knows the answer he’s choosing.

[ivysangel]

in an alternate universe partition was written about dick grayson because it's so him i just KNOWWW he'd do that shit!! with his cocky smile and everything 🤭

NONNIE NONNIE NONNIE !!!!!!! saw this ask half asleep while checking my notifs and had to force myself to get some rest instead of answering it bc i got SO excited even in my delirious half asleep state. obviously i'm listening to it rn while writing this, like NONNIE ??? i'm smiling, literally not joking i'm cheesin like a fucking loser. quick ro lore before we get into the GOOD stuff: massive beyoncé stan, MASSIVE partition stan !!!! massive music lover and pop culture fiend too like this might just be my favorite ask ever. anyway.

who said in an alternate universe bc it's definitely this one. i literally ghostwrote the song with dick grayson in mind err? like i do just wanna be the girl he likes (everybody point and laugh). like the song, aside from being about super hot sex, is about being so into your partner that you'll give everything to them, do anything for them, put all this effort into catching their eye as if you don't already have it. 'take all of me i just wanna be the girl you like' (cassie in euphoria s2 is that u?) IS SOOOOOOOOOOO REAL TO ME !!!!! like i would do anything for him. (side note, why am i listening to partition and hearing jay on the bg vocals? like am i going insane orrr)

(everything under the cut is just smut)

'he popped all my buttons and he ripped my blouse/he monica lewinski'd all on my gown' and 'took forty-five minute to get all dressed up and we ain't even gon' make it to this club' ??? oh exactly. you put all this effort into looking good for him, and unlke CASSIE in eufuckingphoria season 2, it works out for you oh my god it does. 'driver roll up the partition please/i don't need you seein' yoncé on her knees' bc...car sex. but you're not going to a club, no it's a wayne enterprises gala and you don't even get there until hours later because you're almost fully naked in the back seat getting dicked down by dick grayson !!

'handprints and footprints on my glass, handprints and good grips all on my ass' ugh real music literally real fucking music. you're straddling him as he manspreads, cock buried in you, and your fingernails are digging into the black leather seats. his ties been loosened, shirt opened, and there's red smudged on top of blooming hickeys. the glass is foggy, the only semi clear parts being your handprints from when the pleasure got overwhelming. 'now my mascara runnin', red lipstick smudged/oh, he so horny yeah, he want to fuck' like it's dick grayson, he'd fuck you into next week on a normal day so ofc he'd do it when you get all dolled up. ofc everyone's wondering when pretty boy grayson's gonna make an appearence in front of the flashing cameras. 'over there i swear, i saw them cameras flash' rolls down the partition just a smidge, to tell the driver to park somewhere private so you're not caught in an extremely compromising position. not that he really cares, everyone already knows he gets play anyways, it's more about your comfortability. tits out and pussy facing the world, on the cover of tmz and shit bc he got just a bit too cocky. no never that.

'cheauffer eavesdroppin' tryin' not to crash' you and the driver both end up getting a tip that night. he's sorry, he really is. but he just couldn't resist you, not when you were dressed like that. your intention was to have amazing mind blowing sex with dick that night but not in the back of a moving car. 'driver roll up the partition, please/i don't need you seein' yoncé on her knees' bc it was just supposed to be some quick head and now his pants are ruined, your dress is torn, hair messed up on both ends, and the amount of hickeys between the both of you is concerning.

you'd do it all again tho, and he knows you would. shit, he would too !!! and that's so evident in the way he teases you for the next few weeks about it. asking if he should take the dress to the dry cleaners knowing it looks like you'd been in a fight, suggesting you wear the lipstick shade from that night, asking if you need a cheauffer anytime you have to go anywhere, and giving you knowing looks everytime someone asks why you guys showed up at the gala over an hour late. "wardrobe malfunction and car trouble." he says with a smile. it looks normal to whoever you're talking to but you know it holds a level of cockiness that is so completely unfathomable, a level of cockiness he only gets when he fucks you.

(got a little carried away nonnie my b. ughh how i love a good lyrical breakdown, even out of order lol. seriously, this made my day. literally woke up and got straight to it. did not proofread this bc i...just woke up lmao)

[technicallymaximumkitty]

Ok so @mooncalf87 brought up the fact that snakes go blind when they shed and me being mentally unwell had to make a fluffy found family sick fic about it sooooooooooo-

(i am so weak for the trope) 

(warning I know nothing about snakes and don’t have anything factually right about snakes and snake shedding in the fic, herpetologists plz don’t get mad)

(also this fic looong you have been warned) 

It has been a while since Sir Pentious joined the Hazbin Hotel. Long enough that he would consider the other residents his friends, and they would consider him their friend as well. It was nice, having friends, real friends and not little eggs he programmed to be his company. However, having friends means they also grow concerned about you when you act differently, the Egg Bois believed anything he said for better or worse. The others? Wouldn't take his word if he wasn't convincing enough. 

******** 

It started about three days ago when he woke up, his bed was peppered with loose scales like a sesame seed bagel. Pentious groaned to himself, shedding season was awful on Pentious. On his airship it would be two weeks of scales, scales, and more scales everywhere he went. His skin grew sensitive, his skin bruised and cut easily, and it was another week of cleaning after he was well again, those buggers getting stuck anywhere and everywhere. The worst part was the three to five days where he basically went blind. He would curl up in a nest of pillows and blankets and not leave until his vision unclouded, relying on his Egg Bois to help him with almost everything. Pentious swears that his spacial awareness gets worse during that time, points where the Egg Bois would have to spoon feed him as it was impossible for Pentious to get the spoon towards his mouth without nearly poking his eye out. 

Sir Pentious stiffened up as it dawned on him, this wasn't his airship. This was the Hazbin Hotel. There were other people he had to think about. Shedding ment anywhere he went he would knock off loose scales, the action of moving would leave scales in his wake. Sharing living quarters meant he couldn't leave them lying around till he felt up to cleaning them. Now he believed that Niffty would be thrilled at the idea of cleaning up such a mess, however Vaggie was incredibly strict on making sure everyone cleaned up after themselves no matter how big or small said mess would be. 

Whatever, it was the early days of the shed perhaps he could get away with it. The night prior his Egg Bois left one of his many identical suits, freshly pressed, draped across his vanity. Quickly changing into his suit he cringed at the scales that fell from his nightgown and sleeping cap. He always had some sort of scales stuck in his hat, it wasn't enough of a punishment having to shed around eight times a year, no, his scales on his frill also acted like dandruff. The loose scale falling off occasionally. It still haunts him the time he saw Niffty eat one of those dandruff scales, no second thought just, chomp. It’s really best not to think about what that little maid does, well anything really. 

“Hello mr.boss man! When did the bed get sprinkles?” one of the Egg Bois piped up as they toddled towards him. Pentious gripped the non existing bridge of his nose, stupid, stupid Egg Boi. 

“You do this every time I swear.” he grumbled, mostly to himself as he adjusted his top hat as it was the most important part of his outfit. Thank you very much. Eyeing the Eggies through the mirror as they dressed themselves for the morning (he would need to help them with buttons later) He nearly choked in disgust. There sat one of the Eggies holding a rather shiny scale close to his lips.

“No! No! Don’t fu**ing eat it!” he shrieked. The egg blinked once or twice before lowering it back onto the bed. Pentious grumbled to himself, stimming with his bowtie. Better than them eating it. How those things could help build ray guns but forget how to tie their shoes is beyond him.

That day he played it like it was nothing, best he could. Considering how awkward he was already, it worked in his favor. The day was a lazy Saturday which worked in his favor, no activities, no group bonding, just him and his Eggies locked in his airship’s workshop building to his heart's content. Everyone knew better than to try to find him on Saturdays. First and last time that happened Alastor got his jacket stuck in one of the gears of his latest project. If not for Charlie he would have been beaten an inch within of his afterlife. Now it was mandatory to plaster the door of his workshop with OSHA compliant warnings. 

He worked the day away tinkering on this and that actively avoiding interacting with others and having his Eggies run around gathering the scattered scales. He had to cut his tinkering to nine PM as that was curfew and he did not need a cranky Angel Dust breathing down his back because his “steampunk bull**it was the loudest kind of banging he ever heard” Pentious had half the mind to presume it was some sort of innuendo. 

Two days later the hotel was seeing less of him and more scales decorated Pentious’s sheets now moving up to his pillowcase as well. It did cross his mind to just tell everyone what was going on, but should he? He honestly didn't want anyone to worry about him, or worse, get freaked out or grossed out by such a thing. First time he was shedding he threw up in pure disgust, his skin was peeling off his body for crying out loud! And that was his reaction to himself, considering how colorful the others were, he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about their reactions. 

The edge of his frill was now a raw pink, almost all the scales gone from it, patches of pink covering his face and lower neck there were even some red flecks from the now broken skin. Some of his sheds took the entire two weeks, and some, like this particular shed, took about one week. It was a blessing and a curse as he didn't need to hide himself longer but he looked like he crawled out of his own grave with how fast the scales were falling.

“Jussst peachy.” he spat to himself how was he going to face the others looking like his own face melted off? Thing was he could not. Make-up, the usual go to, would upset his sensitive skin; it would sting worse than rubbing alcohol on a cut. Biting his lower lip, Pentious paced back and forth.

“Think da** you, think!” he hissed to himself, some genius he was, why was he drawing a blank? He had to come up with something! Anything! 

That day he locked his door. Hiding was the only option. He knew it would be a fruitless endeavor, Charlie would chase anyone down if they were fifteen minutes late to breakfast, no way in Hell would she let him hole up in his room for a week. Curling up back into bed he hissed as the old scales dug into his exposed skin. He should have asked the Egg Bois to clean his bed, too late now. He wasn't going to get up, he made his bed and he was going to lie in it! 

“Boss man, it’s morning time!” an Eggie chimed up, shaking his shoulder a bit. Pentious growled tossing himself to face the other side of his bed.

“Not now, Eggie. ‘M not waking up.” he grumbled pulling his blanket over his face. Maybe if he did so he could just disappear for a few days.

“But boss man is already awake!” the egg nodded.

“How obssservant of you.” Pentious rolled his eyes, “jussst leave me alone.”

He didn't need to turn around to know his eggs were congregating, rubbing their collective three brain cells together trying to come up with what to do. Their boss man was obviously sick, they needed to do something! This time Pentious couldn't fault them for their confusion, dare he say, he was just confused as them. Hell truly has frozen over.

******** 

Charlie was catching onto Sir Pentious. He was becoming more and more distant each day barely making it to group activities and trying to skip out on meal times. She did not like it one bit, growing concerned over the snake’s activity. 

She knocked on his door, once, twice, thrice. Without an answer she was growing more concerned. 

“Pentious? It’s me Charlie, is everything alright?” 

“. . .”

“Pentious? Pen please, is everything alright?” 

“. . .”

The door swung open revealing one of the Egg Bois who smiled and waved at her “Hello!” Charlie let out a small sigh of relief.

“Hello there, is Pentious in there?” she asked, gesturing inside the room.

“Oh boss man insent takeing any visitors right now!” 

“Can I ask why?” 

“Boss man is shedding right now!” The egg nodded curtly. 

“Shedding?”

“Shedding.” the egg nodded. 

******** 

Pentious woke up from his nap uneased. Someone was in his room, he could feel it. And feeling was the only thing he could do, his eyes had clouded over to the point he couldn't see jack.

Footsteps, he definitely heard footsteps. “who goesss there?” he stiffened up, he locked the door didn't he? 

“Pentious it’s me.” ok he knew that voice. It was Charlie, she owned the hotel no doubt she probably could access a locked room. That did very little to ease his worry, but little was better than nothing.

“Pentious are you alright?” she asked, the question being accommodated by a dip in the bed. 

******** 

Sir Pentious looked at Charlie’s general direction, his once magenta eyes a glassy blue.

“What are you doing here misss Charlotte?” he was on the defensive and it only caused Charlie to become more upset, they were friends right? Why was he so scared of her?

“I came to check up on you, you disappeared there and I was growing worried.” 

“Worried, yesss I, I can sssee how one would grow worried yesss.” Pentious rang his hands, fidgeting the best he could with the lack of bowtie. Charlie reached her hand out gently cupping Sir Pentious’s face. He jumped back startled.

“Pentious your acting a bit strange. What’s going on?” 

“I, I guess I have nothing to hide now.” he sighed. He could admit he was more than grateful with how gentle Charlie was acting. The way she treated him with comfort instead of disgust was something he didn't know he needed until now.

“Yesss im sssheding. It’sss normal for me but, I wassss nervousss about how you and the othersss would react.”

“So that’s why you tried to avoid us.”

Pentious nodded, gently sinking his face into Charlie’s hands. “It’sss rather embarrasssing.”

“Would it be rude of me to ask you something?”

“I don’t sssupossse ssso.” 

“Why are your eyes like that? Is that apart of the shedding?” 

Pentious sighed, “yesss. It isss.” 

“You can't see right now?”

“No I can’t.” Pentious curled up back into his makeshift nest. “it will passs do not fret, one weeksss time and i ssshall be right asss rain.” 

He could feel Charlie get up from the bed, she probably walked away now. Charlie has already done so much to help him already it would be selfish of him to ask for me, especially since he's done this many, many, many times before. And it’s not like he lied to her either. He nestled himself into his blanket nest. Maybe he would ask one of the eggs to fetch him a book later (he had learned how to read braille for such occasions) but for now, he would get more sleep. 

******** 

The next time Pentious woke up he could tell the sun was up high in the sky. Was it a bad thing that he basically slept until noon? Maybe. He stretched himself, getting the excess sleep out of his system. 

“Holy sh** you can unlock your jaw, that far?” 

Pentious jumped back in shock smacking his head into the headboard. How did angel dust get into his quarters? 

“Oof right, my bad i forgot you can't see” 

“What in the nine realmsss are you doing?” 

“Hey man, i don’t want to be here either but Charlie put me on babysitting duty, so like, you're stuck with me now big boy.” Angel Dust sat on the bed next to Pentious, the bed dipping under.

“You don’t have to ssstick around you know. I'm not a child.” Pentious curled onto himself. Shedding was his most vulnerable time and he knew Angel, he wasn't the kindest of people. Angel noticed the snake’s recoil.

“Relax toots I ain’t gonna hurt you, I know where you're coming from.” 

“”You ssshed to?” Pentious didn't bother looking up at Angel, he wouldn't make eye contact even if he wanted to, which, dollars for doughnuts, he didn't. 

“Well when spiders do it it’s called molting but ya. I shed. It’s a fu**ing nightmare, i lose so much fur you could make another me outta’ll those hairballs.” Angel chuckled. It was true, he mottled around four times a year and he showered at least three times a day during that time to try and keep his fur at bay. First time he molded he would have sworn up and down he was dying of some sort of disease. “Oh god I probably got some creepy fans that made dolls outta my old molt.” 

Pentious couldn't help but chuckle at that statement. By all accounts it would be horrifying, a hair doll, but the premise was also so absurd it was humorous.

“He, glad you think it’s funny.” Angel swung his legs so that he was now fully sitting on the bed and not just its edge. 

“You're sitting on the bed?”

“Where else would I be? On the floor? Pfft I'm way too classy for that.” Angel reclined himself making himself comfortable before slinging an arm over Pentious. After the initial recoil of the unexpected touch Pentious leaned into the hug. It felt really nice actually the warmth of another person in his time of unwell. A small coo like hiss came from his throat in a way that could only be described as content.  

“Ohh you like cuddles now do you?” Angel teased pulling himself closer to Pentious in a way where Pentious was leaning his head on Angel’s shoulder.

“Yesss i sssupossse ssso.”

“Aww don’t be such a tease, you like it.” Angle giggled as Pentious nuzzled himself into Angel’s shoulders. 

“I feel sssafe, for sssome reassson.” mumbled Pentious. Not to purple his pros but the hug felt like a rock of which a boat was tied to. Anchored so the boat wouldn't drift into the sea. 

“He, the first time someone said that to me.” Angel shook his head before petting behind Pentious’s frill. 

******** 

after dinner charlie made her way to Pentious's room.

"Pentious?"

"oh yes, good evening Charlotte" he smiled closing his braille copy of paradise lost.

"I baught dinner for you."

"oh, thank you I'm very grateful." he smiled. he could smell it from where he sat, Alastor defenalty had free range in the kitchen.

Charlie handed it to him and with uncertain hands he was able to grab the bowl, only getting his thumb into the gumbo. He gave a shaky smile holding the bowl in a near death grip.

Charlie noticed the uncertainty Sir Pentious had with the bowl "is everything alright?"

"I, I'm afraid I am a bit consered on how I shall eat it." he did not want to spill it on himself, especially since he could feel the heat radiating off of it.

The bed dipped under the weight of Charlie as she sat down. "If you're ok with it, could I help you?" Pentious was taken aback, she would be willing to do that for him?

Charlie grabbed a spoonful for him gently pressing the spoon to his lips he accepted the spoonful. any other time Pentious would be embarrassed at such acting, being doted on like a child, but right now it felt nice, being cared for when he couldn't do it himself. Charlie was a lot more gentle than the Egg Bois, who would jam the spoon down his throat. first time in a long time eating during his shed was not a nightmare and rather enjoyable

********

a few days later and his eyes cleared up as well as his scales finally growing in. he cleaned up as much as he could noting that he dident have to spend the entire day cleaning up his old skin (Niffty must have found her way in his room) but what shocked him most was the response of the others. they treated it like nothing happened. he liked that. no mocking words, no insults on his appearance, no one thinking he was anymore incapable than before.

yes he liked the hotel, and its residents. he never knew the true meaning of friends until now and he was ever so grateful for them.

******** 

Might do some more I had fun writing

[barelynotsinking]

Gen V theories

Memory Loss:

I don't think it was rufus, it is too obvious and also he said that "it wasn't what it looked like" which I am skeptical of because he was LITERALLY NAKED, and is sooooooooooo slimy, but it is so obvious that I think they might do an expectation subversion and have him have a part of the puzzle. Hes been getting a lot of pointless attention, nothing he has done so far has furthered the plot despite getting so much screentime, so I think he'll be more important in the future (and probably pissed at Marie).

I am suspicious of the dean, tek knight said she doesnt have powers but it seems like the kind of thing she'd hide (victoria nueman style). Even if she doesn't have powers she has plenty of supes at her disposal. Doctor Cardoza seemed a bit too wimpy to mind wipe them. She seems to have a lot of secrets, and is the one who is gonna take the fall for Sam, so despite her soft spot for Marie (is it real? idk but it seems sweet for now) she'd still do that.

It would make the most sense if it was all of them were mindwiped because then giving them amnesia would serve the purpose of having them all forget about Sam.

Working off the theory that it was all of them I dont think it was cate, its been established that pushing to many people tire her out and she has been over working herself.

Jordan/Marie

Marie is full on gay panicking, and I don't think she would've ever been in a proper relationship before given her childhood which adds another layer of shit into their relationship. Its gonna be rocky for a bit, but I think that they won't break up because of Jordans gender. Their flirting in the hallway and also their general vibe makes me think she is attracted to them, and she doesn't seem like the kind of person who would run from that, but idk, my point is i dont think she's straight.

Jordan is prob panicking about if Marie is straight, given that they switched genders, which makes sense, would also indicate that they geniunely like her.

Jordan doesn't seem like an asshole to me they just seem introverted and very driven, Marie just met them in the worst possible circumstance where their goals were incompatable but I don't think they are.

Marie's sister

there is a chance she could have powers, the parents did it for her so why not her sister too, there is the question of why it didnt manifest by then, but maybe powers are genetic so they developed late like marie's

maybe she went to the woods like sam

Cate lying about Sam

I think maybe her and luke were actually both mind wiped, luke got really upset when he found out sam was being hidden, maybe both he and cate were brainwashed to forget.

[hostilemuppet]

woke up to get some water and the discussion is SO GOOD. jd's character is great, bc even though he was a hardass manager that pushed his own family to the brink of collapse, he was also the first one to leave. and that opens up SO MANY NEW DOORS. like, was he tired of managing the band? why didn't he ask for help?? was everything elhe put them through for Nothing???; bruce and clay's faces are so funny, but then you think "this is the same guy that starved one of them and publicly shames the other" and it's like, those faces make sense. and he clearly hasn't put any thought into how messed up the whole thing was in the last 20 years bc during the argument, after he tries to force those same roles in his family again, his justification is "4 little brothers is a lot of responsibility!"

and like. sure, being the oldest is indeed a big responsibility, the more siblings the more complicated it gets. but there's a line between wanting the best for your siblings and abusing them with a thinly veiled excuse. they ALL knew jd wanted them to be perfect for the public, he didn't make it a secret, and even though right now they're trying to rescue floyd (a crisis) jd slips so easily into is role again. branch not only has met jd for the first time in 2 days, but the others too. he knew clay and bruce when they were already in a very bad place. so yeah he kinda gets that jd is bossy and that's annoying, but he doesn't really understand the extent of it; he didn't see his oldee brother slowly become a controlling asshole. and that's also probably why he also looked to distraught at the thought of everyone splitting up again afterwards. surely it can't be that bad?? they can't hate jd more than they love him, right??

i'm probably not making much sense lmao, i'm going back to bed and checking again with y'all in the morning 🤙

theres genuinely sooooooooooo much cool shit you can think about irt jd, but its like. no one wants to actually treat him as his real character. hes just The Eldest Sibling Who Did His Best. and... im willing to believe that WAS his best. but his best really wasnt good enough innit love

[alexisomnias]

TUMBLR APPRECATION POST (IM SORRYYYY if you don’t like being tagged ;;;

i recently got to 400, so just gonna leave some appreciation for some of gave me lots of inspiration!

@streetbystreets :: you’re my BEST friend on the platform, and one of the sweetest people i’ve ever met! You’re a role model to me, and love you forever/p. Your writing is so poetic, and beautiful and I fall in love with it everytime i see a piece. You’re a wonderful person, and I think it’s wonderful how kind and talented you are!

@kalims :: you’re one of the BEST writers on the platform without a doubt! Your writing is phenomenal and I find myself actively rereading it, and enjoying it just as much as the first time. Your writing is so soft, and always ends up so wholesome!

@yuyumaru :: JUELLE YOUR SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD AT WRITING. PLEASE IM GONNA JUMP YOU/j I LOVE YOUR WRITING SM, I REREAD IT AS A MORNING ROUTINE FR. ITS SO SOFTT AND CUTE. 

@ceruleancattail :: YOU’RE SO SWEETTTT CERU!! Your writing is also amazing !!! I love it so muchhh and I think it's always consumable no matter what it is~ you’re a joy to read the posts on my dash and it's always exciting seeing you interact!

@oepionie :: I’m screaming in thanks and joy to those who allowed me to come across your writing. YOUR SUCH A GOOD WRITER AND I LERWW4R3R SUCH A LARGE INSPIRATION TO ME!! I’M SOOOO HAPPY I FOUND YOU AND YOUR WRITING! Everyone needs to go read pio’s writing if you haven’t

@bladetism :: KHOI, THE GOOFIEST FISH, you make me so happy stg, you’re the most wholesome person i’ve talked to, and i always laugh during our conversations. You’re a bundle of joy even when you’re not the happiest. Your writing is also SO good!! Love it a lot

@shutupkida :: your writing has done something to me, and i want to murder you for it/j, YOUR LITERALLY SO SWEET STFU , also so funny! I love your writing sm, and just watching you interact with others lmao

@shkanoin :: I'M GONNA SOB. I LOVE U SM LEI/p, YOU’RE SO SWEET, AND AND YOUR WRITING HAS ALTERED MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY. I LOVE IT SM !!! also your ace content is PHENOMENAL. I reread the nanook fic actively

@mikacynth :: MIKA, your one of the nicest, most wholesome people on this platform. You’re a trophy on tumblr frfr, KNOWING U IS LITERALLY A BRAGGING RIGHT. Your writing is so so nice, and soft and i just want to squish it frfr

@floraldresvi :: Vi, i’m at your wedding. Baivi is real, and it deserves to be real along with all your other wishes because RAH. YouR SO SWEET AND CONSIDERATE AND SELFLESS!! I ADOREE ALL OUR INTERACTS. Your lit the n1 supporter of my selfship fr and your so big sister.

@faeragremlinhole :: I LOVE. YOUR ART. AND YOUR WRITING SM. PLEASEEE IM YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN FAERA !! I LOVE ALL YOUR WORK SMMMM!!!

@kunehori ::I LOVE YOUR ART STYLE SM, AND YOUR SOOO TALENTED!! You may not write anymore BUT I'M SUCH A FAN OF THOSE WORKS TOO!! You were a headstart to my writing and I adore you for that, you also were a role model for me too when forming my writing style! YOUR AMAZING, AND I WANT TO NOM ON UR AMAZING ART.

@mishantics :: I want to consume, stare, and be your drawings all at once. ITS SO GOOD RAHHHH, I lOVE THEM SMMMM, AND FGYEW4W IT’S A DRAWING I WANT ON MY WALL!! You’re also so silly, and fun to be around. I love talking to you, and ur so funny.

@ashipiko :: your art is gorgeous, and i LOVE all your selfship content!! Its so cute, and always so well drawn out (both in an art sense and dynamic too!) and your art challenge is so cute too! You’re also such a sweet person, and I wish you all the best !!

[buckybarnesss]

Also....irgh

What is it with JD backing up on Kate not gr@@ming Derek in s1, as in he was confused about what age they both were, but in s4 it's REALLY explicit that what was done was exactly that?!

Also petition for the Sherrif to learn this and like, straight up pummel Peter into the ground for EVER romantising the relationship or sounding it out like Derek was 'in love with her'

sooooooooooo like here's the thing. the narrative never really wavers on how gross kate is. from start to finish they make it clear that kate is a monster with very little redeeming qualities.

kate argent is a rapist on top of being an arsonist, a murder and all around awful human being.

i think they realized that by having derek be 19 in the pilot presentation script that derek would've been 13 at the time of the fire and when he was involved with kate. it was younger than they were comfortable with depicting so they aged him a bit.

also the timeline is made of wet noodles and vibes.

derek's age is never actually confirmed. visionary puts him as a sophomore in high school (oh the parallels) when the paige incident happens which would be about 15/16 during the school year. cora states she's 17 in the same episode.

peter and stiles even hang a lampshade on the age issue in the episode.

but by bringing back ian nelson to play teen derek the audience is meant to understand that derek was a child when kate was involved with him.

to me derek is no more than 22 when the shows starts. the paige incident happened when he was about 16 and kate got her claws him not too long after taking advantage of derek's grief.

it's uncomfortable but derek did think he was in love with kate. he trusted her. she manipulated and groomed him into thinking he was. derek did have real feelings for the version of kate she presented to him.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

hello! I once heard the opinion that the zutara fandom (the loudest and most toxic part of it, of course, we are not talking about normal people who just enjoy their ship) has features of cultist, sectarian thinking and organization. I haven't thought about it much, but recently a friend of mine who understands quite a lot about cults and sects and to whom I showed the most popular zutara blogs and their meta tags here, tumblr (I didn't push him on this idea, we were just chatting about fandoms) said that according to the type of thinking zutara's fandom has features of a religious cult. this thought seemed interesting to me. what do you think about it?

I'd say it's true, but it does not apply solely to Zutara, or even to the ATLA fandom.

I lost count of how many times I've seen some legit insane news here in Brazil about angry fans of some soccer team violently beating, or straight up murdering, people that were wearing the "wrong" t-shirt after a game.

Harry Potter had the weird thing with the Snape wives, and now has the current cult-like TERF bullshit JK Rowlling encourages on a daily basis.

One of my cousins is VERY into K-pop and told me some WILD shit about some idols literally have to sign contracts that forbid them from dating (or at least publicly dating) anyone because half of the marketing around their persona is "You, regular person, could totally date them!" and faced some ABSURD backlash, including death threats towards them and their partners, when they were revealed to be in a relationship.

Anything, no matter how mundane, can be used by some disturbed people to excuse/encourage awful behavior. It's usually a result of desperate, lonely people needing to find ANYTHING that makes them feel like they belong, are part of a group, of a community, to the point that they shut off from anything else and become obsessed. That kind of thing has always existed, but BOY, has the internet made it sooooooooooo much worse.

I mean, seriously, just look at the things the "extreme" zutara fans do.

Creating whole conspiracies to justify why their was totally canon until some evil authority screwed it over, lying about anything and everything that happened both in canon and in the making of the show, even going as far as creating fake "evidence" of some huge power struggle between Bryke and other writers (mainly Ehasz).

Harrassing, bullying, doxxing and threatening anyone that has a different opinion, and justifying their actions with "Oh, but the people were doing this to ship Kataang/Maiko, which means they're all raging mysogynists, rape apologists, and 100% against interracial relationships."

The constant claims of "Bryke are creepy pedos because they only pushed Kataang because they are attracted to Katara, a cartoon character, and thus are attracted to real-life 14-year-olds! That's even the real reason why Aang is bald! To look like one of them!" that are not only ridiculous but could EASILY lead to a lawsuit, and ignores the fact that Zutara, like any popular ship, has tons of smut of it even though both characters are underage - make it make sense!

And, of course, the classic "This bad behavior people accused some of us of is completely false! I didn't see it, so it didn't happen! Nobody here would do that! Never one of us! Must have been one of them, the evil fans of kataang/maiko/(insert any ship for either Zuko or Katara here)!"

Some of the bad apples in the Zutara fandom are just entitled assholes, but I'm also pretty sure that some of these people legit need to see a mental health professional. There's being passionate about a ship and being upset that it didn't happen, and then there's being downright delusional.

And before anyone tries to pull the ableism card on me: I've been through this shit. Thankfully I've never reached the point of ever harming anyone in any way, but I was a mentally ill child/teenager that just latched onto the media I liked, and it made it my whole life.

I had full on panic attacks because the power went out and I couldn't watch my favorite TV show, and I'd cry for DAYS when something bad happened to my favorite characters. I legit started showing signs of depression because one of my favorite bands had broken up, to the point that my parents were really fucking scared. I got FURIOUS at an annoying classmate in school who talked shit about my favorite singer, to the point that I legit had to get away from them as fast as humanly possible because I was three seconds away from starting a physical fight - again, all because a random kid whose opinion on literally anything else wouldn't have meant a damn thing to me.

That is not being passionate. That is not being a loyal fan. That is a clear sign that something is VERY wrong and that you need some help FAST. See a therapist, deal with whatever it is that is pushing you to act like that, THEN engage in fandom stuff as much as you want. But don't ever make this your whole personality.

[elibean]

sooooooooooo i binged this entire show + ep 5.5 + chibi shorts + caught up to s2 over like 2 days and i was like “haha yeah this show is entertaining and all, not perfect or anything but it’s fun, I like Lu Guang” to “OH MY GOD I LOVE THEM” in the span of like 24 hours. 

I don’t know Chinese naming conventions, in other words if like you HAVE to write first and last name all the time or how nicknames work, or anything like that. I wanted to drop the “Cheng” and just refer to him as “Xiaoshi” a couple of times because it felt stuffy, but I realized that I don’t think they ever do that in the show? So I just referred to him with his full name every time, haha

This is a little fic of them practicing the chibi dance for the shorts. Lu Guang is whipped: the fic, basically

Anyway here take this. There’s another one coming in 5 minutes lol

              “Absolutely not.”

           “Lu Guaaaaaang!” Cheng Xiaoshi whined. “C’mon! Think of all the customers that it’ll draw in! Besides, it wasn’t even my idea, so you can’t get mad at me!”

           “It’ll draw in plenty of customers without me. You and Qiao Ling have fun.”

           “No, we need our resident pretty boy with us! Plus, it’ll look so much better with three people! Pleeeeaaase?” Cheng Xiaoshi was giving him that look again. Why was it so hard to say no to this boy? Because you love him, his mind unhelpfully provided, which he pointedly chose to ignore.

           So this was how he ended up doing this silly little dance with Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi. Cheng Xiaoshi was surprisingly patient with the ever-clumsy Lu Guang, which was surprising; he was sure he’d be annoyed and make fun of how uncoordinated he is. After practicing for a couple of days over several hours, Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi had it down perfectly, but the same couldn’t be said for Lu Guang. They were ready to record the promo, but Lu Guang still didn’t have the moves down perfectly. During the break of one of their “super extra special exciting bonus lessons” as Cheng Xiaoshi had decided to call it, between just the two of them, they were sat down as Lu Guang decided to mention they should just do it without him.

           “This is silly. I’m only slowing you two down. Just shoot it without me. If we go ahead with recording it tomorrow, I’m gonna mess up.”

           “Nah, we need you! And it’s fine if you mess up. Makes it feel more real.”

           “…If you say so,” Lu Guang murmurs, too exhausted from practice to argue. A pause. “…Sorry for being so clumsy,” he mutters. Cheng Xiaoshi turns to look at him.

           “It’s all good! If anything…” he begins, then snorts. Lu Guang looks at him, frowning. Cheng Xiaoshi was definitely about to make fun of him again. He began preparing himself to make a clever comeback. “If anything, it’s nice to see that the serious, perfect, flawless Mr. Guang isn’t as perfect as he seems,” he finishes. “Even you have things you suck at,” he says with a smile. Lu Guang feels like he should be offended, but the way Cheng Xiaoshi is looking at him and the way he said it, he can’t help but feel a wave of fondness overtake him.

           “I feel like I just got insulted, but…thanks,” he murmurs. Cheng Xiaoshi laughs, and god Lu Guang loves that sound. He stands up and offers his hand.

           “One more round?” he asks. Lu Guang takes it and lets himself be helped up.

           “One more,” he agrees.

           --

           They end up filming the next day. Cheng Xiaoshi is of course flawless, giving Qiao Ling a run for her money. Lu Guang stumbles a few times and has to look over to Cheng Xiaoshi to remember the moves, but they successfully make it through the dance either way.

           “And…done!” Qiao Ling excitedly chirps, running over to turn off the camera.

           “YES!” Cheng Xiaoshi shouts. Lu Guang turns to him, ready for a high five or something, but is instead surprised by a tackle hug from Cheng Xiaoshi, with a force that almost knocks him over. “We did it!” he exclaims. Lu Guang feels himself blush as he returns the hug.

           “Yeah, but I messed up a few times,” he mumbles, ever the pessimist. Cheng Xiaoshi rolls his eyes, pulling away, and Lu Guang immediately misses the warmth.

           “Shut up, you did great! I’m proud of you, man! Your hard work paid off!” Cheng Xiaoshi says with a grin, ruffling Lu Guang’s hair. The blush deepens, and he can’t look Cheng Xiaoshi in the eyes. How is it so easy for him to rattle off praise like that?

            Qiao Ling takes that moment to come back with the camera. “What’re you two lovebirds talking about?”

           “Lo-lovebirds!?” Cheng Xiaoshi sputters, turning to look at her. Is he blushing too? She rolls her eyes.

           “Anyway, it’s time to celebrate! I’m thinking boba, c’mon!” she exclaims, walking over to Cheng Xiaoshi and grabbing his arm. “Hey!” he exclaims, and extends his arm to reach out to drag Lu Guang along too. Of course Lu Guang lets himself be dragged, of course he doesn’t try to pull away. She and Cheng Xiaoshi start bickering, something about how he should be the one to pick where they go, but Lu Guang drowns it out and just lets himself be pulled along. He feels every point of contact between him and Cheng Xiaoshi, the warmth of his hand on his arm, and can’t help but smile to himself.

           Maybe all the silly dancing was worth it.