#not the best setting for being a loving mother to the kids of the dude you’re scared of

[makncheese12]

Top Shelf

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Jenna Ortega x fem!reader

Masterlist

Summary: being the kid of a well-known book store owner was easy, so was running into famous people. But being book smart doesn’t make everyone people smart.

Warnings: my writing, language(bad words😯), my attempt at being funny, mention of gun shots and head shots, mentions of my favorite book(literally love Ruta Sepetys sm omg.

A/N: part 2? I am going to make you all suffer through the most oblivious slow burn. R if going to be so dumb/oblivious it’ll hurt you all🫶🏻

Word count - 3.6k

Credits: @novmoth (my friend from school who feeds into my delusions and gives me more ideas for this story🫶🏻)

(bare with me English is not my first language🥲 I’m getting help from my friend to edit it)

You were born to it.

The books. The films. The music and video games.

It was your life, literally. With your parents being owners of the infamous establishment called ‘top shelf’, you had no choice but to.

And you wouldn’t ever change.

Books upon books, movie after movie, games old and new and music that could last you weeks. Who would want to change such a life?

Your father was the first to start it.

He was poor man in Washington but had just enough money to buy it from the man who owned the small movie shop before he retired. He slowly started added book shelves and video games to the mix. Getting few customers but enough to survive day to day during the time of his early years

Your mother was a wealthy run away. Wanting something different and new in her life when she met your father. The man was playing on his game boy behind the counter before he saw her.

The poor boy and his run away wife, a classic really.

The rest after that is history.

As soon as they found out your mother was pregnant with you, they used the rest of her money they saved and went to New York where they bought the huge abandoned apartment complex.

They broke all the insides down and built what you now know as your second home. Hundreds of video games, films and music in one section and thousands of books in another.

Thus, Top Shelf was born only two weeks after you.

You met many friends there in the comfort section where students and business people worked as you all goofed off.

Your had also met your small friend group during your younger years, the four of you all never letting your father have the peace he wanted and dragging him all over New York.

With the thousands of books and hundreds of video games and films your parents sold, you had money. Lots of it.

But your mother made sure you never let that get the best of you, never. It went against everything she went for when she ran away.

She would make sure you would work for and earn everything you got, always.

She never let you have too much online activity, in case her family found you and made sure you were both street smart and book smart.

Your neighbors made sure you were street smart more than anything but you still gave her credit for trying.

Though, the book store was beautiful in every season. Winter was a favorite and when it was busiest. It was too your favorite.

Your father lighting the public fire place, your mother setting soft seasonal music, hell even the cheesy Christmas cartoons on the TV’s set the mood for the perfect bookstore vibe.

The lights dim just enough to where it almost felt like dark academy yet the plants that grew down the upstairs railing made the entire place feel more alive.

————

“Bullshit!” You yell out as you throw your head back onto the head rest of your chair, groaning loudly as the photo sound of your death snapped in your ears.

“Man, he’s fucking using cheats!” Dru calls out through the mic before his name pops up above to yours in dark red on the screen as you respawn.

“Of course he is, he’s a pussy.” Mj says, as her name, too, pops up on the screen.

“Oh come on, guys!” Lyle says through his staticky mic. “You all just suck.” He laughs

“Now I know your cheating, dude. Your mic is acting up again, just like last time!” Dru says, the sound of his voice booming louder than needed and you roll my eyes.

“DD, just because you like to replay games without using cheats doesn’t mean the rest of us do.” Lyle says in a matter-of-fact tone.

“It’s multiplayer, stupid! It’s meant to be fair for everyone!” Dru says making you snort. “Says the guy who chases around little kids and steals their horses making them cry.” Mj says making Dru blow into his mic making loud, unnecessary noises.

“Quit that!” You say taking one head phone off your ear. “Tsk tsk tsk,” Lyle starts. “Such a sore loser.”

“I’ll show you sore loser, get on Elden ring and we’ll test your irritation.” Dru says, mic now muffled by his own spit.

“Your tank build is not enough to stop me, comet azur will always save the day.” He says in a sing-song voice.

“And you call me a try hard, yet you’re the one always using a broken spell.” Dru complains. “Theres nothing I have to try hard at when I can just hold a simple button.” The sound of Dru’s groans become louder as his spit clears out from his Mic. “Same thing!”

You laugh once again before picking up your phone and looking at the time.

“Shit!” Your eyes go wide at the sight, 8:48 AM.

You quickly throw the head set off and push yourself out of the chair, opening your closet grabbing a quick pair of jeans and a hoodie before rushing to put it all on.

Your cat skids across the floor, startled by your sudden movements before a crashing in the your pile of books and out the door.

“Shit, shit, shit,” you mumble as you jump up and down to put on your shoes, failing at not falling and race toward the door. “Sorry!” You call to your cat who yells at you next to his food bowl.

You grab your keys and rush out the door before slamming it shut and locking it.

“Ay, y/n!” Your neighbor, Rosa, shouts from beside her door. “Quiet will you! I just put Nona to sleep!” She yells raising her news paper tapping your head with it.

“Sorry! sorry, Señora Rosa.” You whisper yell as you try to push her weaponized hand away. “I’m just a little late.”

“And I just got a moment of peace! Quiet!” She says giving you one last wack making you try and shrink away from her as you rush toward the stairs.

“You got your pepper spray, right?” She calls and you raise your key chain to show her the attached small can. “¡Buena niña!”

You rush down the stairs and push passed the glass door, almost slipping on the ice before running down the street.

Your phone buzzes in your pocket making you quickly take it out.

“Hello?” You ask without knowing who it was.

“Arthur Morgan would be very disappointed at your sudden disappearance from an important mission.” Lyle says before sighing.

“It’s multiplayer, there are no main missions.” You say, trying to avoid the ice on the ground before stopping at the red hand across the street. “Plus, we were in the middle of four way 1v1. He’d be more upset that we were going against each other.”

“Loyalty is everything in such a game,” he says, sarcasm in his voice and you imagine him shaking his head. “Of course he would be upset at my bullet in DD’s head.”

“Why’d you call me exactly?” You ask watching the hand turn into a green man walking before taking off again.

“Well, you just yelled ‘shit!’ Before disappearing on us, had to make sure someone didn’t break in and kill you.” He replies casually as if he knew that weren’t the case. “But after hearing you continue on your ‘shit’ rant and the door slam I figured it was okay, just had to call and make sure, y’know?”

“Ever heard of a text, loser?” You ask, barley missing a man walking and looking down at his phone. “Gross,” he says before making a gagging noise. “why waste such time typing when I can simply just hit one button?”

“You’re so lazy.” You laugh out loud as you run across another street. “Work smarter not harder, Y/N. You should know this with that big brain of yours.”

“What if I want to work both smarter and harder?” You ask, running up to the glass window to see the books lined up. “Well, then your just weird.” You roll your eyes.

“Just kidding. I guess you can do both, I just personally prefer the alternative.” He says as the sound of guns shooting fills the phone. “Yeah, also sorry about leaving.” You say pushing into the store being greeting with the familiar smell of books and the warm smile of my mother.

“I forgot I had to get ready for work.”

“You’re at top shelf?” He ask and you reply with a ‘mhm’. “I might stop by later to say hello actually, I need a new game anyway.” He laughs as the sound of Dru yelling in the back ground becomes more prominent.

“Sounds good, see you loser” You say as you take your sweat shirt off, leaving you in your tank top you hand before leaving. “Later,” you hear him say before hanging up.

“Good morning,” you hear your mother say as you pull the staff sweat shirt over your head and pull up your sleeves. “Mornin’,” you reply before kissing her cheek.

“Wheres dad?” You ask looking around before your eyes setting on the woman stack a pile of books into one pile.

“He’s going to be out of town for a few days,” she says carrying the pile to the check back station. “A vacation, I insisted as I continue your training.” She says making you smile.

“We both know he needs it, he’s getting older.” She says and your smile fades as you nod. “So are you.” You mumble and she, too, nods.

“You know him getting old is different from me getting old.” She states, sighing quietly.

“What’s todays task?” You ask, quickly changing the subject at the sight of her sad frown. She looks at you for a moment before smiling once again.

She moves to storage closet and unlocks it, allowing you to see the boxes upon boxes along with stacks of different other things.

“To be a good store owner, you have to know your customers.” She says returning with a large box that you quickly take from her.

“Just put it on that table — and to know your customers, you must socialize and help them throughout the store.” She finishes as you take the box to the table noticing the label romance written across it.

“That also means having to work while helping the customers, so you’ll be on stock duty as well.” She says with a smile.

Yes.

You mentally say to yourself. Stock duty required work of you finding the places of different books, movies and games which also meant finding new things you didn’t know about before.

“One more thing,” you mother says as she walks behind the counter to finish opening up the store. “No head phones.” Your eyes go wide.

“But ma!” You call out to the lady who switches the sign from closed to open. “What else am I supposed to do when I stock!” You call, holding onto the white cords and swinging them around.

“Help the customers and socialize.” She laughs out making you frown. “I should call CPS.” You mumble carrying the box to the sorted area before hearing the woman’s laugh.

“Sure, call ahead but don’t be disappointed when they decline a twenty year old.”

You roll your eyes before continuing down the aisle.

“And after you sort those, get the others out of the storage closet!” You huff quietly as you glance back with a small playful glare on your face.

“If I wanted to work out, I would have gone to the gym.” You say and she rolls her eyes. “You’ll be just as sore in the morning, trust me.”

————

Hours hand passed, since you last seen the romance box having moved on to the horror section of the films.

You search through their placement areas, looking at all the old cinematic master pieces, the many Dracula films placed neatly next to each other, in order of both year and name.

Horror was one of the favorites when coming here, your father being a collected through his years he had many people couldn’t get their hands on.

Sure you could watch it online now but where’s the fun in that when you have a real copy with the static noises and written voices on screen. Some people still had some class left in them.

You hear a book hit the floor making the library echo as heads turned toward the cause of the sudden interruption of their silence.

“Shit—” You hear someone say quietly, making you roll your eyes as you place the rest of the CD’s in their rightful places before making your way toward the aisle the noise came from.

You subtly make your way toward the aisle while acting like your checking the books before taking a peek around the corner.

You see a rather short girl — shorter than the third shelf — craning her neck to look up at all the books in front of her.

Just to your luck, your mother placed a box for that genre next to the end of the shelf and you picked it up.

You make your way down the aisle and set the box toward the middle before looking up the girl who was already staring, and boy was she something.

Freckles littered across her tan skin, strands of her short hair fell from her half up half down style, her eyes — damn her eyes — they were the prettiest brown you’ve ever seen.

You smile lightly before picking up the first book and reading both the authors name and the title while trying to slow down your racing heart.

Who was this girl? Matter of fact, what was she? She wasn’t a regular, that’s for sure but you always get random people coming in so it didn’t exactly matter.

After putting away a few books, you glance up to see the girl a few feet away and on her tippy toes, reaching for a book on the fifth or sixth shelf.

You snorted quietly catching the girls attention making you quickly look away to keep yourself from laughing.

“You think this is funny?” She asks and you begin shaking in quiet laughter.

After a few moments, you compose yourself and stand shaking your head.

“No, not at all. Would you like some help?” You ask taking step toward her. She narrows her eyes. “Are you making fun of me right now?” She asks, both amusement and annoyance in her voice.

“Why would I do that? It’s poor customer service.” You say with a smile before watching her own smile grow.

“It’s poor customer service to laugh at a customer.” She mumbles before stepping back. “Please.” You walk up and grab the book.

“Look how easy that was.” She says, taking the book you held out for her. “Being six-foot-two does have its perks.” She says looking over the back of the book.

You roll your eyes but your smile only grows. Looking down at the book you nod and raise your eye brows, “that’s a good one, read it a few years back.” You say, making your way back to box of books.

“I’d hope so, for all the work I had to do to try and get it.” She mumbles making you smile and shake your head. “Anything else good?” She asks, looking down to you.

“You’re asking me if there’s anything else good in here when there’s just by the look of it thousands of books here?” You ask, smirking at her when she rubs the back of her neck.

“Yes, there is, I’ve read more than I can count. My recommendation board is up by the front desk if you want to check it out.” You say before placing crave by Tracy Wolff into the slot.

“You must have come here a lot before working then? If you’ve read so many books from here.” She asks, following hot on your trail with the book tucked between her arm. “Oh, for sure,” you say nodding. “The owners and I are real close, we were together a whole nine months before I was born.”

Her eyes widen slightly at the information. “You’re parents own this place?” She asks, gesturing to the entire book store and you nod, smiling.

It felt like you were a teenage boy, flaunting his muscles to a girl he finds attractive.

“Wow,” she says looking around once again. Book still tucked tightly into her arm as she did so. “Just wow. Your parents have taste.”

“More like their people pleasers.” You say shaking your head. The real other reason why horror is so popular in the movie section is because of their request.

Every week they check their request list and buy everything people ask for. New books, new movies, new music and games, there’s always something new. You’re surprised there’s still room, then again the place would be as big you supposed.

“They like having their customers choice their number one priority. It’s good business.” You say looking up to the girl who had a look of wonder in her eyes as she stared down at you but there was also something else. Something you couldn’t quite place.

She stares at you for another moment before speaking again, “do you.. know who I am?” She asks and your furrow your eye brows in question.

“Should I?” You ask tilting your head. She stares for another moment again, eyes scanning your face and it’s features as if searching for something.

Her smile then grows, as she shakes her head. “You shouldn’t, or rather shouldn’t have to. It’s just a surprise.” She says, tucking her hair behind her ear.

You knit your eye brows together in confusion.

She walks out of the aisle and you catch the light smile on her face as she does.

What the hell? You wonder to yourself as you place the last few books away.

You were pretty sure that was the last section, unless your mother put out some more stuff you didn’t notice. You’d just check out the to-do list.

Your mother and father always had one for both you and their own sake. Adding things so no one would forget.

As you made your way to check out, you see the girl walking in the general distraction as well.

“All set?” You ask, placing the box inside the others, moving past the small door attached to the low counter.

“Yep,” she says once again staring at you.

You take the book you got for her earlier along with another you recognize almost immediately. “Between shades of gray?” You ask, looking at her as if she were serious.

“Your description seemed trust worthy enough to make me interested.” You glance over to see your board clearly flipped through before nodding.

You scan both books. “Careful, it’s sad, dark and traumatic. It’s one of my favorites though.” You say looking up at her, she pauses for a moment, staring at you once again and just smiles and shakes her head.

“I think I can deal with a few of those.”

“Bartering or buying?” You ask. “Bartering,” she replies and you nod. “Good, I need to get a review on what you think.” You say with a smirk and you see a glint of something in her eyes.

“Name?” You ask and she looks at you a little confused. “We have to know whose using our books, how else do you think we send emails threatening to charge or get them back?” You snort.

“Oh, your totally right.” she says quietly before taking out her credit card.

“Jenna Ortega..” she says and you nod, typing in the name before reaching for the credit. Her grip on the card tightens at your lack of response.

You pull the card gently but her grip is to hard for you to take.

“Can I… get the card?” You ask, looking around slightly uncomfortably with the stone like stare she was giving you.

“Are you sure you don’t know who I am?” She asks letting go allowing you to swipe the card.

“Again, should I?”

You both stare at each other, both confused and entrapped by the other.

You find is strange how she thinks you know who she is or why you don’t know her.

Maybe she was some big deal somewhere off and you still have yet to hear about her.

Her name did ring a bell but you weren’t sure. Was she a person you knew from your child hood? An old friend trying to reconnect? Maybe some relative on your moms sent by the older ones to investigate if it was really you.

“Miss Ortega?” You’re both broken out of your thoughts as two large men stand behind her. “Time to go.” he says gesturing to a few people who were standing and staring in your general direction.

One grabs the bag off the counter before quickly walking towards the door.

“Looks like I gotta go,” she says, smile now suddenly shy with others watching. “Don’t worry, I’ll return your book Y/N.” She says before walking toward the door, one of the men right behind her.

“Yeah, you bet-“ you pause after the the realization hits you. “Wait, how’d you-?” You begin to ask before watching her gesture to her chest.

You knit your eyebrows together, you look down to see the name tag right under the library symbol.

She was strange.. cute.. but strange

Read next sort here!

A/N : Some parts once again rushed🧍🏽‍♀️This is just an introduction I suppose, the details will get better I tried my hardest🥲

[yellowjackets96]

the way you do the things you do / angus tully x reader — part one

summary / chaos is only natural when barton's resident misfit strikes up a bond with the middle child of the school's most despised instructor.

warnings / none

word count / 1,300+

hii! this one goes out to the very wise anon who suggested a plot revolving around angus and mr. hunham's kid, which, i must say, is an utterly brilliant concept. however, it turned out to be a lot longer than just a mere one-shot like my first one had been, so it'll probably end up being two or three parts. i hope that's okay, lovely anon. thank you for sharing your brilliance with me!

Moreso than anything else, the relationship between the two of you started as an agreement. Well, an unspoken one, but an agreement nonetheless. Somebody had to look out for the two of you, on equal footing as outliers, as social rejects, as the odd men out. No one could be better for that role than you yourselves. 

To your utter dismay, ever since your parents made the decision to ship you off to Barton Academy in order to get you “the best education available” for high school (which was made possible by your father’s half-off tuition staff discount), you found yourself under a level of scrutiny that you never once faced at your old public junior high. It was not your intention to be perceived as the offspring of the most hated man there, either, but word travels quicker than a deer crossing the road at Barton. A concept introduced to the dean on a Sunday morning ends up widely-understood knowledge by a Monday evening. You’d already been written off as the ‘spawn of Satan’ before you even started your first class. Tough fuckin’ luck.

On the other hand, Angus’s isolation was entirely self-imposed. Following several years of what his mother had promised would be a “short-lived maintenance phase,” he became fed up with the entire process — the constant shifting and forced socialization and paperwork and meetings with headmasters. Lather, rinse, repeat, over and over until he felt utterly insane. He grew to resist society’s forced conditioning of him, lashing out the only way he knew how, through acts of adolescent rebellion. Due to how much you contrast from your stickler father, you eventually saw eye to eye with Angus on this. Once you had finally worn him down to the point of dragging a tragic backstory out of him, you understood why, because, of course no teenager could possibly be interested in the art of befriending their peers and engrossing themselves in a community at their third consecutive school. 

But it didn’t start off too swimmingly.

He entered your life on the strangest day of the week, during the least-interesting possible time of year — a Thursday in late February. You learned of his arrival through the grapevine, mere hours before you first saw him. Perched at a seat towards the very corner of the dining hall, you had become increasingly intrigued by the nearby nonstop chatter from a group populated by Georgie Jackson, Philip McNamara, Billy Wolfe, and Teddy Kountze, a rare sight in the seven o’clock breakfast setting, which was typically chock full of half-dead, completely exhausted teenagers.

“You wanna bet it’s gonna be another freak?” Teddy had grumbled, shaking his head dismissively at something optimistic Georgie must have said. “They’re half the school, at this point.”

He not-so-transparently nodded towards you, earning him in-sync laughs from the more agreeable Philip and Billy, and a halfhearted head shake from Georgie. “Christ, dude. And you wonder why we’re the only kids who tolerate you.”

Teddy threw his hands up defensively. “Hey, I’m just sayin’! We could benefit from someone actually cool and fun.”

“God, could you imagine how cool a girl would be?” Billy daydreamed, practically drooling.

The shaggy-haired blonde smirked. “You’re telling me. That’s all I wanted since I first enrolled here. Would be nice if old man Woodrup would do what the student body actually wants, for once.”

“Instead,” Philip piped up, wearing a dejected pouty frown. “I’m hearing this guy got kicked outta three different schools.”

Your curiosity piqued, you finally jumped in, against your better judgment. “What could possibly get a teenage boy tossed from not one, not two, but three schools? That sounds utterly ridiculous.”

The energy sufficiently changed as Teddy shot you a poisonous glare, you watched the trio of his small-time henchmen sink into their seats, seemingly anxious at how angry you were about to make him. His scrunched-up face twisted into a confident smirk, like he was one-thousand percent confident he could ensure you would never speak to him again. “What’s it to you, Walleye Jr.? You think I’d lie about some shit like that? Would you tell your daddy if I did?”

A scoff escaping your throat, you leaned back into your seat, slightly dejected. “Well, no, but-”

“That’s what I thought,” Teddy said, his lackeys chuckling in unison, practically on cue. “And you wonder why you don’t have any friends, loser.”

Just like that, enforced unnecessary social hierarchy had left you right back where you were before, with more questions than you could ever get proper answers for.

Once lunch period rolled around, you figured you may as well not try your luck again. 

Wrapping a gentle fist against the surface of your father’s door, you barely had to stand by for more than a few moments before he greeted you, the smile that he saved for you and the rest of your family plastered across his cheeks as he slung an arm across your shoulder, pulling you into a casual hug. Due to the academy’s policy of teacher’s children not being allowed to take their parent’s classes to avoid favoritism, you no longer spent time with him every day as you typically did with your mother back home. The reunion was definitely something you had been yearning for since you last saw him, even though it must have been no less than a week ago last Sunday. For the first time in far too long, something at Barton brought joy back to you. 

“How have you been, sweetheart?” your father asked, his reading glasses bouncing slightly on the bridge of his nose as he sat back down at his desk. He pointed to the chair on the other end of it, offering it to you. You gladly accepted, tugging the seat out and sliding into it.

You shrugged at the question, trying not to pay Kountze and his gang of blockheads too much mind. “Fine. Haven’t really done anything too notable or special.”

“Well, hey,” he offered, sliding a sheet labeled roll call across the desk to you. “Maybe this’ll brighten your spirits, despite how much the prospect of it annoys me.”

As soon as he finishes speaking, you instantly know what he was referring to, your eyes catching on the highlighted name sandwiched between Neil Sweeney and Todd Wedderling, bearing an emboldened word next to it — Angus Tully (NEW). And then, like it were on cue, the door behind the two of you swung open, revealing the sight of an instantly-enrapturing bearer of deeply brown eyes.

“Ah, Mr. Tully,” your father remarked, rising from the desk to greet him. “What a coincidence. I was just introducing them to you.”

Angus snorted. “All good things, I hope.”

“You’ve yet to prove us otherwise,” the older man quipped, before quickly turning toward you. “This is my middle child, the one Dr. Woodrup told you about. They’re a sophomore like you, so even though you won’t be in my class together, I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

Picking up on the hint, you offer the other teenager a hand, which he casually shakes. “Pleasure to meet you, Angus.”

The brunette offered a crooked half-smile, enough to draw one out of you, too. “Nice to meet you as well.” Everything about him seemed natural — the way he didn’t force his grin, the warmth of his palm, the distinct waviness of his mud-shaded curls. This school left you perpetually surrounded by well-off jackasses, standing where they were currently placed via generational wealth, rather than strength and perseverance, working off of their own merits as your father had. Not to say that Tully was dissimilar in that manner, but he just felt so distinctly different, like he was not even trying to cultivate a phony persona in the effort of impressing others. If only everyone were like him. Maybe Barton would be bearable after all.

[screamforyani]

still into you

pairing ↠ ethan landry x (f) reader x jj maybank

genre .. warnings ↠ smut, angst, friends to lovers, childhood best friend!ethan, unprotected sex, mentions of a ghostface attack, violence, mentions of alcohol consumption

summary ↠ when ethan visits the outerbanks with his friends, he doesn’t expect to find you there. you don’t expect to see him there, either, but trying to reconcile during a series of ghostface attacks is harder than it seems.

wc ↠ 6.3k

author’s note ↠ pt. 1/4 of the still friends, not lovers series. feedback is appreciated!

Summer break was en route. 

Everyday was summer break with the pogues. Impromptu escapades around the island and treasure hunts that took you across the ocean, to your parents’ chagrin. 

Anything to spite them. Six years later and you still didn’t appreciate being bulldozed eight hours away from home. Alas, your ailing grandmother was dying, and you were an optionless fourteen-year-old. Not that you didn’t care about your grandmother. Matter of fact, it wasn’t until she passed and all the grief wore you thin that you fell out with your parents. 

They just didn’t understand that you were an adult. You were more than capable of making your own decisions. Sure, plenty of them were careless, but half of it was their fault. 

That said, you fell in love with your life in the Outer Banks. The reckless exploits and dangerous feats. Your toes in the sand and the sun in your eyes. The splashing and surfing. 

You fell in love with something else, too. 

An engine resounded down the street and you turned, catching an eye full of dirty blonde while the ground reverberated beneath your feet as JJ parked in your driveway. 

“Dude,” you started, jogging over to your best friend. “Didn’t I tell you that you can’t just speed through here?”

“Damn, y’all strict on Figure Eight,” JJ retorted, a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. “Hop on, everyone’s waiting for us and I told ‘em we’d be there in an hour.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion. “Fuck, did I forget to mark another scavenger hunt in my calender?”

JJ’s sunglasses fell onto the bridge of his nose and he made no move to fix them, chirping, “You know, I was actually thinking more of a beach day. Surfing and sunburn. That kind of thing.”

You huffed, “Because you always forget to wear sunscreen. Why do I have to be the one to remind you?”

“Uh, because we’re best friends and you love me,” JJ said, flashing a full set of teeth. 

You rolled your eyes, backing away from his bike (and ignoring the warmth spreading through your chest). “Don’t move. I’m going to throw on my bikini.”

JJ shouted behind you, watching you run up your front steps, “Yo, could you bring some sunscreen?”

You shook your head in disbelief, vying against a beaming smile for control and losing miserably. When you were safely in your room, you rummaged your drawer and exited in your favorite, racy orange bikini with a beach bag slung loosely over your shoulder. 

Your father was currently occupying the living room and you parted your lips to tell him bye, opting to get out of there as quickly as possible after you spotted the scowl on his face, but he stood squarely in front of you.

Oh, brother, you thought to yourself. This guy gave other overprotective fathers a run for their money. 

“That boy is on my lawn again,” he hissed indignantly. 

“Yes, I know,” you chirped offhandedly. “And the longer you stand in front of me, the longer he’ll be waiting out there.”

Your father wasn’t pleased, if the disdainful glance he cocked you was any indication. “Your mother and I don’t like you going out with those kids. You know this.”

“Yes, I know, you hate pogues. We’ve been over this,” you droned, fighting a roll of your eyes. “Sorry to break it to you, Dad, but I’m a pogue!”

“It’s not about kooks or pogues - it’s about keeping you safe! This family has been troubled with enough grief,” your father shouted. 

You bristled, raising your voice even louder, “For fuck’s sake, Dad. We’re just going to the beach! Don’t you see the bikini? The worst case scenario is I drown.”

Your father opened his mouth to speak, but you cut him off. 

“I’m not a kid anymore, Dad. If I want to hang out with people from The Cut I will and there’s nothing you or Mom can do to stop me,” you seethed, stepping around him and slamming the door on the way out. 

Fortunately JJ was right where you’d left him and his eyes flitted over to you when he heard the loud, forceful slam of your front door. Your obvious shift in body language coupled with the less than faint shouting he heard told him everything he needed to know. 

“Get me far, far away from this place,” you grumbled, mounting his bike and wrapping your arms around his waist snugly. 

JJ revved the engine for effect, like he was trying to make a statement. “Let me guess - your old man old-manning again?”

“Yeah,” you huffed. “No worries. My mom will probably be home soon and they’ll talk about how much of a thorn in their side I am together.”

Pulling out of the driveway, JJ quipped, “They’ve got the house all to themselves. Maybe they’ll make another baby so they can finally stop treating you like one.”

You grimaced at the idea. “And risk having it turn out just like me? I’m sure they’d rather chew bricks.”

Your best friend clenched his jaw. He couldn’t even count on both hands anymore the amount of times he’d thought of pummeling your father to the ground. Something about the guy and how he treated you just triggered a different dimension of rage. 

The beach was all the fun you could ask for. Sarah and John B decided it would be a great idea to bring water guns without telling anyone and ambush the other five of you. You slipped off your flip flops to travel faster, hot sand scalding your bare feet. 

Had JJ not shoved you out of the way, you would’ve been blindsided by the volleyball hurling your direction. 

“Sorry!” came a distant voice, jogging over to check up on you. 

When their face came into your vision, you saw their eyes widen and their lips split, but you spoke before he got the chance, “Ethan?”

JJ whispered in your ear, “You know this uncoordinated klutz?”

Ethan whispered your name. 

Longing possessed you and you threw your arms around his neck, pulling him in for a hug. Tears threatened. The sun was your best friend, his warmth spreading through you. Feelings hit you like a freight train. “I thought I’d never see you again,” you whimpered. 

Ethan gently placed his arms around you, unsure of where to put his hands. You were very exposed and he didn’t want to touch you in any of the wrong places. But Jesus Christ you were working the hell out of that bikini. 

Something switched in Ethan when he saw you. You didn’t at all look the same as when he’d last saw you six years ago. For one, you were taller and your hips were a little fuller now. You were a grown ass woman. 

Ethan’s eyes flickered. It’s been that long?

Holding you in his arms, sensing his heart race, he wondered why all those feelings he had for you never changed. 

JJ cleared his throat and you shuffled back a couple of feet. You awkwardly introduced, “Oh, um, JJ this is Ethan. We were best friends when I lived in Manhattan. Ethan, this is JJ - my new best friend.”

Ethan smiled sheepishly, stretching out his hand. “Nice to, uh, meet you.”

“Yeah, man. Something like that,” JJ replied, forcing a grin while shaking Ethan’s hand for the most fleeting of seconds. 

Feeling the tension, you glimpsed back at the pogues and said, “Jay, Kie looks like she’s struggling with something and Pope and John B are fussing, and I don’t see Sarah or Cleo, so...”

JJ glanced towards the ground, chuckling. “Yeah, I should probably go help her with that. I’ll get outta y’alls way.”

You called behind him, “No, wait, it’s not like that!”

“I’m going,” JJ replied without looking back, taking off his cap and tousling a hand through his blond hair.

You blew out a breath, turned to face Ethan, and froze. For a second, you were borderline catatonic. You couldn’t even breathe. Like the fish were sucking up all the air. You gathered the strength to ask, “What are you doing in the Outer Banks?”

“Oh, for summer break my friends and I wanted to go on vacation together. I didn’t think I’d see you here since, you know, you never told me where you were heading. Or said goodbye.”

His obvious disdain weighed on his tone and you understood every bit of his feelings, but the gleam of yearning in his pretty brown eyes betrayed the hurt. 

“You know I wanted to,” you replied, taking a step closer. You were panicking, worried your best friend hated you like you thought he would have. If you could even call him that anymore. “I desperately wanted to stop the car then and there and run the whole way to your house, but I couldn’t do that and I’m sorry.”

“Yo, who’s this?” came a masculine voice. You immediately noticed the dude throwing an arm over Ethan’s shoulder, about his height, give or take. 

Five more people followed. You assumed correctly that they were the friends he spoke of. Good to know someone’s been keeping you company, you thought to yourself. 

Ethan made a face and hurriedly gave them your name before introducing, “This is Chad, my roommate. Mindy, his sister. Sam, Tara, Anika, and Quinn.”

Your eyes widened when you laid eyes on Quinn.

You almost spoke, but Ethan beat you to a word. “Hey, can I talk to you alone for a second?”

“Yeah, sure,” you said, furrowing your brows, but following him nonetheless. 

Once his friends were out of earshot, Ethan asked, “Could you please not say anything about Quinn being my sister?”

You made a face. “What - why?”

Ethan searched his brain for a convincing lie and came up with, “Nobody knows and we made a bet about who would slip up first.”

You didn’t question the authenticity of his words. Why would Ethan lie? “Good luck with that. You were never the lucky sibling when it came to bets.”

Ethan chuckled. “I’ve changed. And I can sell a good lie. For example, my name’s Ethan Landry and I have no siblings.”

“Okay, Ethan Landry, no siblings,” you quipped. “Your friends are waiting for you and mine are waiting for me. I’ll catch you later?”

Ethan bobbed his head. “Yeah. Sure. That’s cool.”

“It was nice seeing you.”

“Nice seeing you, too,” Ethan replied. 

You watched him walk away, getting a view of his sexy back and broad shoulders. He sure did change, that was for sure. Holy fucking shit. 

You walked back over to the pogues, oblivious to the huge grin you were sporting. Maybe you would notice it once your cheeks started to hurt. 

Cleo had returned with Sarah and was sitting on the cooler. “Who’s that?”

“Some asshole with really bad aim,” JJ replied with a straight face.

You cocked him a glance, hissing, “JJ!”

JJ threw up his hands, but didn’t back down. “You didn’t see the way he threw that ball. Even my nephew has better eye-hand coordination.”

Pope nodded his head in agreement. “I mean, it was a bad throw.”

John B winced, adding, “Yeah, you’ve got to admit it was kind of off.”

You rolled your eyes.

Nightfall came down. You’d been tipsy by dusk, thanks to your best friend’s idea of a good time. Everyone was officially spent, ready to sleep in till noon. Your legs ached from running all day like the police were hot on your trail.

Approaching you while you were helping your friends pack was one of Ethan’s friends, specifically his roommate. Chad, if memory served. He spoke your name and said, “Special delivery for a special lady.”

Your eyes flickered in surprise.

Chad handed you a card as if he was doing business with you, shot you an inviting smile, and leaned into your ear to whisper, “Just in case you need help finding your way.”

Then, he was gone. 

Sarah was amused. “What was that all about?”

“Yeah, what’s on the card?” asked Kiara, draping a duffle bag over her shoulders. 

You stood there, eyes flitting down to the card in your hands. There was an address scribbled in black ink, with a little note at the bottom and a smiley face. Whenever you’re ready, you can knock. 

You vaguely recognized the address as one of the houses along the shoreline. That must have been where they were staying. And Ethan was indirectly inviting you to come see him?

“Nothing important,” you lied, swiftly shoving the card into your bag. If you noticed the way JJ’s eyes lingered over you, you didn’t say anything. 

That night, you hardly slept. Your mind was roaring and your thoughts were restless. For a second, you thought Ethan hated you, just like fourteen-year-old you dreaded. But he invited you over. That was definitely his doodle and handwriting. There was no way it was a prank. 

When you did finally sleep, you dreamt of him. Bonding with your childhood best friend and making up for lost time. You dreamt of professing your love to him like you never got the chance to and kissing him like you’d always wanted. 

All you could see was the stars in his eyes for a minute. It made no sense for you to still be head over heels for Ethan after all these years. But all that history was conflicting with your current feelings and it was like a head-on collision. 

Crash and burn. 

After a sleepless night, you were at the chateau bright and early. Apparently John B had a lead and another day spent looking for treasure didn’t sound like the worst thing ever. 

Especially considering you were trying to take your mind off of recent events. 

Sirens blared down the street, making each of you turn your heads. One by one, you saw police cars zipping down the roads. You shuddered. You were getting deja vu. 

Confusion tensed Pope’s features and he squinted at the sight. Only the seven of you typically merited that level of attention, though as it turned out, they had a new target. “Is that a parade?” he asked. 

John B gave him a look. “Really? You think parades go that fast?”

“Nope. That’s a full-blown cop inroad,” JJ replied, watching the column of cars disappear.

You furrowed your brows, wondering what had them up so early. 

Perfectly on cue, Kie, who had been noticeably late, hopped out of her car and sped up the porch like lightning. “You guys aren’t going to believe what I just heard,” she panted, dropping in a chair.

“What happened?” you asked. 

Kie caught her breath before replying, “Before I snuck out, I overheard my parents talking about how a friend got attacked last night by someone in a Ghostface costume, but survived.”

“Ghostface?” JJ repeated, throwing you a glance. “Ain’t that like that Stab shit you watch?”

You bobbed your head, keeping quiet. You watched way too many scary movies for this kind of bullshit. You’d heard of the original attacks in Woodsboro, but you never expected them to come to you. A different kind of fear choked your lungs. 

Kie continued, “I drove by the scene on the way here, and you know what I hear Shoupe saying? It’s probably one of us damn pogues.”

“Well, his opinion of us is in the dirt,” Pope muttered under his breath. 

You pulled out your phone, pretending to get a notification. All you cared about right now was making sure all of your friends were safe. The old and new ones. You grabbed your keys and blurted, “Gotta go. My dad wants me back home. See you guys later!”

Before anybody could protest or remind you of today’s plans, you were already halfway to your car. 

Sarah glanced between her friends, confused, and asked the question everyone was thinking to themselves, “Since when does she listen to her dad?”

Speeding back to the beach, your thoughts were with Ethan. Obviously some random kook had been attacked, but you wanted to make sure the news reached him - and his friends - in time. You’d just gotten your friend back. You couldn’t have him added to the list of casualties. 

You double, quadruple checked the address when you parked in the driveway before you ran to the front door. Your heart was racing. Every second spent waiting made you nauseous. 

When the door opened, you saw Ethan. You didn’t even give him a chance to speak, pulling him in for a hug as you heaved a breath of relief. “Thank goodness, you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Ethan said, hugging you a little more comfortably this time. “I’m guessing you heard the news too, huh?”

You bobbed your head, pulling back. “Yeah. I came as soon as I heard. I wanted to make sure you weren’t left in the dark.”

“That’s, uh, thoughtful of you.”

You grinned sheepishly. 

Ethan mirrored your smile. To say things were awkward would be the understatement of the year. He added, “I think we should talk.”

You chuckled nervously, looking down at your toes. “Kinda overdue, huh?”

Ethan pointed backwards with his thumb, replying, “I’ve got a beach for a backyard and nobody’s back there.”

Glancing down, you gulped. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. When did Ethan Bailey get hot? You banished the thoughts immediately. Priorities, girl. Priorities, you chided to yourself. Hoping he hadn’t noticed your distracted gaze, you chirped, “Sounds good.”

Ethan beckoned you inside, shutting the door behind you, and brought you towards the back. You briefly greeted his friends when you passed them on your way out, the distressed looks on their faces not being lost on you. 

You breathed in the fresh beach air when you stepped outside, opting to abandon your sandals on the patio so that you could bury your toes in the hot sand again. 

Minutes of just wallowing in the silence together passed. Maybe it wasn’t exactly silent, but peaceful. You could hear seagulls cooing and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore before drawing back into the ocean. 

“I’m not mad,” Ethan said after a prolonged pause. 

Your eyes darted to his face. “Why?”

Ethan was looking at you with unfathomable tenderness, like you created the very sea rushing before your bodies. There was something reminiscent in his stare. “Because you were fourteen. Your hands were tied.”

That was true. You couldn’t get that day out of your head. Driving past his house with your fingers flat to the window like you were trapped in the backseat of your parents’ car, watching him obliviously help his dad out in the yard for all of two seconds before the sight was gone. 

And you never saw him again. Until yesterday, of course. 

“I heard from your neighbor that your grandma was sick,” Ethan whispered. 

Your heart was taut with emotion, a weight sitting squarely on your chest. “Yeah. We left as soon as we got the news. She, uh… she passed away four years ago.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry.”

“We were expecting it,” you said, not that it made it any better. Tears burned your eyes, but you fought them with all your strength. You remembered spending every waking hour in that goddamn hospital. “She wasn’t getting any better. She was dying and she knew. After she passed, I had a falling out with my parents. All things considered.”

Spotting the petulant look on your face, Ethan was quick to slip his fingers through yours in consolation. You fought a smile. That always did make you feel a bit better. “If it helps, I lost someone too.”

“Who?”

Ethan heaved a breath. His face was dark for a fraction of a second before he confessed, “Richie.”

Your heart dropped. “No way. Are you serious? What happened?”

“He was murdered. Last year,” Ethan whispered, wistful. “Stabbed.”

That made you even more sad. You’d always liked Richie. He was like the older brother you never had and the sole reason you loved horror movies. 

You squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry,” you crooned. “Did they catch who stabbed him?”

“My dad says they’re working on it,” Ethan said quietly. 

“They better catch them.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, mood shifting. “Would’ve made a difference if I had you to lean on.”

There was a sinking feeling in your chest, but Ethan didn’t give you the chance to speak.

Ethan gave you a knowing look, pulling you flush to him, and said tenderly, “You have nothing to feel guilty about. If you’re guilty, then I’m guilty. I wasn’t there for you either. But we have each other right now.”

You locked eyes with him, wanting to be everything he needed. You would hurt twice as much if it meant you could take away all of his pain. “That’s all that matters.”

One second, you were staring at each other, sporting beaming smiles. And the very next? Your lips were locking. 

Kissing him was even better than you used to (and admittedly still did every now and again) dream of. It was slow and sweet, like you were taking your time with each other. Your heart thudded. 

Pulling back, the two of you giggled. Ethan confessed, “I’ve always wanted to kiss you like that.”

That made your heart do somersaults. Like twenty. “Me, too.”

You were giddy with excitement. Ethan took your hand in his again and walked with you along the shore, chatting with you about everything under the sun. Like old times.  

There was no doubt that you missed Ethan. He was your person and you were his. It felt euphoric to be in his arms where you’d longed to be for six whole years. And it felt… right. Almost as if you’d left your heart with him. 

Maybe you did. A piece of it, at least. 

When you returned, he brought you to a hammock. All he could think about was you. How you laughed at all his stupid jokes. She still has a mesmerizing smile. He was squinting at you, deep in thought. 

You sat on the hammock, peering up at your best friend. “Why are you squinting at me?”

Ethan was smiling like an idiot. “The sun’s in my eyes.”

You gave him a look, baffled. Both of you were in the shade. The tree that the hammock was hanging from served as a great shelter. Then, you realized he was talking about you. 

Heat filled your cheeks. You wrapped your legs around his waist and steered his head towards your face, kissing him again. You just couldn’t get enough. 

First, it was steady and gentle. You were kissing each other with all the affections you had to give, feeling every inch of your bodies burn with want and passion. Ethan’s hand slipped down to your hips, holding you still. He sucked on your tongue and you moaned, tightening your legs. 

In a matter of seconds, the mood shifted. 

A gasp of surprise escaped you when Ethan pushed your back to the hammock and trapped you under his weight, only slightly rougher than before. His lips bruised your neck, marking you for all the island to know who you belonged to. 

Your dad was going to go ballistic when he saw those, but ironically, he wasn’t who you were worried about. 

Ethan caught your worries in his palm and crushed them. All you could think about when he kissed you was how badly you needed him to mend the ache between your thighs. Your skin was on fire, your heart skipping a beat the closer he got to your waist. 

Anticipation was killing you softly. Ethan glanced up at you and asked, “Can I take off your shirt?”

You nodded. You didn’t trust yourself to speak. 

Ethan grabbed your shirt and you briefly sat up while he pulled it over your head, revealing your lacy black bra. His mouth was watering. 

His stare combined with his lack of speech or action made you slightly self-conscious. “Are you just going to look at me?” you prodded. 

“Sorry. It’s just… you’re beautiful,” Ethan whispered, breathless. “I have to stop and marvel for a second.”

You playfully rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t battle the smile on your lips. 

Bringing a hand behind your back, you unclipped your bra and let it drop, throwing it somewhere on the hammock. You desperately pulled Ethan into you, sucking a bruise onto your neck while he made a noise and kneaded your breasts. 

Nobody could see you. You were in a little nook by the shore, cloaked by trees. As far as you were concerned, it was just you and your best friend. And the sea. 

His body was so warm in your hands, so sensitive. You saw him shudder and suck in a breath every time you marked him, sinking your teeth into his skin. Your lips felt like silk and the sensations were colliding. 

Ethan tapped your bare back, making you grind to a screeching halt. You immediately pulled back, wanting to be sure you hadn’t hurt him, but he was quicker. “Are we really doing this?”

“If you want to, yeah,” you told him, brows furrowed. Then, you asked, “Do you not want to?”

Ethan hurriedly explained, “No, I want to. But I’ve never done this before.”

“Really?” That surprised you. He kissed like a pro. And with how confident he was, you would have never guessed. Plus he was fine as hell. Girls must have been throwing themselves at him. 

Ethan sat to your right, more than a little flushed. “Yeah. Never gone past third base. I mean, I had all the chances in the world, but I didn’t want to.” Because I was waiting for you. 

“That’s okay. Everybody moves at their own pace,” you reassured him, smoothing a hand down his thigh. 

His eyes darted to your hand. “What about you?”

You laughed, though it was nervous. The body count conversation. Your favorite. “Well, I’m not exactly pure anymore. I lost my virginity to Topper Thornton. Not my favorite guy in the world. Then, I fucked some dude whose name I don’t remember. And finally, I fucked my best friend.”

Ethan reeled his head. “The one that hates me?”

You blew out a breath. “Yeah. The one that hates you.”

“Well,” Ethan started, sporting a wry grin. “Fourth time’s the charm?”

You giggled, grabbing the back of his head and kissing him again and again. Until your lips were swollen and Ethan decided he wanted to kiss something else. 

Sucking in a breath, you parted your legs for him, your panties now tossed into oblivion. Ethan, knees buried in the sand, met your eyes and said sternly, “If you want me to stop, don’t be afraid to tell me.”

You bobbed your head. “Okay.”

Then, he was eating you out. 

You made a noise at the sensation of his hot mouth against your warm cunt. He was licking and sucking, his tongue out to devour you whole. Your chest heaved when he rounded your clit, making your pussy tighten. 

Ethan’s big hands were holding your thighs on either side of his head, his firm grip keeping them locked in place. You couldn’t move them if you tried. His strength was a little more arousing than you cared to admit. 

If you were counting, you’d only been eaten out once before now. Both times by your best friends. Jesus fucking Christ, they didn’t miss with the foreplay. 

Muscles tensed in your thighs. Your whole body was awake, far from numb to the sensation. You were so sensitive that even his brushing lips made you tremble and try to squirm, but Ethan had power over your entire body. Including its movements. 

“Shit. You’re really good at this. Like,” you stammered, your words canceled by a moan. God fucking dammit. You couldn’t even speak. 

That was the kind of control he had over you. 

Ethan was getting hard watching you break at his mercy, his half-hard cock aggressively twitching in his pants. He didn’t want to bust a nut in his pants, but he neared dangerously close every time you called out his name. 

Your anchor was his hair, fingers tangled through his fluffy head. You needed to feel like there was something to ground you. Every time you closed your eyes, you were convinced you were levitating. And every time his thumb circled your clit, you winced your eyes shut. 

She tastes like heaven, was all Ethan could think. He didn’t want to stop. Not until you’d come undone in his arms, crying out his name. If nothing else, he wanted to make you scream. 

You were already halfway there. For fuck’s sake, it made no sense how quick he was to finish you. You were so aroused, so full of wanting. Your body was calling out to him. 

So was your heart, but you tried to ignore her. She didn’t know what the hell she wanted. Or what the hell was good for you. Nor did she care. 

Fuck, you were so restless. It was too much, but not enough all at once. You didn’t understand. How could your body be so conflicted? Your heart was already warring with itself. No man should have had this kind of power over you. 

But Ethan did. The ecstasy he made you feel was otherworldly, like the gods had sent him to you and it was no coincidence that you’d met again. Like we were meant to be. 

“Baby, I’m so close,” you rasped, losing your grip. Your vision was blurring and everything was hazy. 

Ethan perked up at the little name, but something about it - combined with the announcement of your impending orgasm - made him pull out all the stops. His hand abandoned its clutch on your thigh, fingers slipping into your cunt. 

You cried out when his thumb brushed your clit again, but nothing could prepare you for the pair of fingers between your walls, coating themselves in your slick. Throwing your head back, you balled your hands into fists. You were broken. So fucking broken. 

“Eth,” you whispered, because it was all that you could manage. You desperately endeavored to meet his movements, grinding your hips into his mouth. Your body was begging for release. 

Ethan was more than happy to give it to you. His tongue lingered at your clit, applying way too much pressure to be safe, and it was enough to finish you then and there. You shook with climax, trying to fight him away, because you couldn’t handle the overstimulation. 

Slumping on the hammock, your whole body went limp. Your lips parted in a loud, euphoric cry of his name, weakness gathering in your eyes as you tried to get over the high of your orgasm. It hit you like a damn freight train.

For a second, you couldn’t speak. You could hardly breathe. Ethan pulled back, admiring his handiwork. He all but came in his pants. 

You blinked a couple of times, sensitive tears in your eyes. “Jesus.”

Ethan perked up. “How did I do?”

All you could do was give him a thumbs up. Your throat was hoarse from screeching his name and you more than likely needed a glass or two of water. 

“Can I fuck you now?”

“You can do whatever you want with me,” you replied without a second of hesitation.

There was a smile on Ethan’s face before he pushed your back to the hammock for a third time (not that he was counting) and kissed your neck. You gulped, aroused. Not only at the feeling of his teeth in your neck, but his hard cock. 

He couldn’t believe how naked you were in front of him, only for him. Taking you on a hammock on the beach was something he would have never imagined. Not even in his wildest dreams. 

Ethan stripped out of his clothes, leaving you to watch with bated breath. Your heart stopped when you caught sight of his dick, curling tall against his stomach. He had no business being this size. 

“That is going to take me out,” you said, almost a little worried. 

“I was hoping that I could take you out,” Ethan quipped, always having time to make silly jokes no matter the occasion. Only he was half serious. 

“You are,” you exhaled. “And you can.”

Ethan smirked. Everything was falling into place. 

You gasped when he finally penetrated you after what felt like ages. Ethan whimpered, slowly sinking into you in fear of hurting you, but he couldn’t wait to move. Your pussy gripped him immediately, throttling his cock. 

Wrapping your legs around his waist, you pulled him into you, deepening his position. When he was finally buried to the hilt inside of you, the two of you let out a noise of perfect sync. 

“Holy shit,” he hissed, grabbing at your thighs and finding purchase in them. 

You were extremely sensitive from climax and felt so overcome, but a little bit of your fight returned when you remembered you were his first. “How does it feel?”

“Tight,” Ethan staggered, breathless. “Really tight.”

You hummed. “What else?”

The only way Ethan could see this was as you trying to break him back. “Warm. And wet. Holy fucking shit.”

You smiled contentedly. That was what you liked to hear. 

Ethan found a rhythm, particularly one that made your eyes roll. For a virgin, he wasn’t as bad as some of the other people you’d slept with. For one, he wasn’t jack-hammering you. 

It felt so good for him, but he wanted to make sure that the feeling was mutual. Ethan locked eyes with you, asking, “Is this okay?”

“Baby, this couldn’t be better,” you panted, grabbing onto his forearm. 

That was a great answer. Ethan leaned into you, resting some of his weight on you, and kissed you with desperation. Like he would never get the chance again. You moaned into his mouth, fisting your fingers through his hair while your other hand raked down his back. 

His eyes winced shut at the feeling of your nails in his back, but there was something about the pain that was also pleasure. Plus as long as you were enjoying yourself, he couldn’t give less of a damn. 

If you wanted to use him for your own pleasure, he was more than content with that. He wanted to serve you. He wanted to be everything - and the only thing - you needed. Your friend and your lover. 

But you were also so snug around his cock that he was going to bust. Luckily for him, you were close. The previous orgasm helped him make short work of you. 

Ethan grunted, all the heat going straight to his dick. “Where do you want me to cum?”

“Flip me over,” you said through ragged breaths. 

Ethan’s eyes widened, but he followed your commands. You cried out when he flipped you over, spread your legs apart again, and stuffed you full of his cock again. You were floating on a cloud. There was no way this was really happening. 

A couple more thrusts was as long as you could hold out and you came again, your orgasm ripping through you. Your hands bundled into fists, gripping nothing in particular. 

That was all it took to finish Ethan. He wallowed in the godly sight of your ass and your pussy squeezing him for dear life, and he pulled out at the very last second, releasing with a deep sound rising from the very back of his throat. You could feel his cum on your ass. 

Ethan collapsed over you, his weight on your chest. Both of you spent a moment catching your breath, completely and thoroughly spent. You smirked at the blank look on his face and panted, “Home run.”

The joke took Ethan a second, but once he understood, he burst into a fit of giggles with you. 

Both of you got cleaned up and removed all evidence of sexual intercourse. Then, you decided to walk the shore again, arm in arm. You leaned against his chest, smiling. 

Ethan couldn’t get enough of you. Just the sight of you made his chest warm. He whispered softly, “You have a really pretty smile, you know.”

You parted your lips to reply, but before you got the chance, you felt something scrape at your shoulder and cried out in a mixture of pain and shock.

Turning, you saw a masked figure holding a knife. You gulped. 

Ethan exclaimed, “Run!”

You grabbed his hand, pulling him with you. Like hell you were leaving him alone with a psychopathic killer. Unfortunately, Ghostface gave chase. 

“Baby,” he started. “Run back to the house.”

You gave him a look, shouting, “And abandon you to get murdered? New plan.”

“Listen to me,” Ethan said sternly. “Go back to the house. Tell everyone to lock the doors. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

You shook your head. Tears threatened. 

Ethan grabbed your hand, kissing the back. “I love you. Do this for me. Please.”

You heaved a breath, finally nodding. “Okay. I love you, too.”

Then, you split up, darting back to the house. You didn’t look back. You were too scared of seeing something worthy of haunting you in your nightmares. 

Ethan hid behind a cart, obscured from your view. Ghostface came up to him, lowered their knife, and Ethan hissed, “What the hell, Quinn? This wasn’t a part of the plan.”

Quinn snatched off her mask, seething, “That bitch almost exposed us yesterday. She could have ruined our plans.”

“But she didn’t,” Ethan spat back, full of vitriol. “I’ve got it under control. I told her we’re in a bet. Don’t fucking hurt her. She’s off-limits.”

Quinn obviously wasn’t pleased, throwing back on her mask and walking away without another word. 

Ethan ran a hand through his hair. Finding you here was both a blessing and a curse. He didn’t need you to be collateral damage. “Jesus fucking Christ,” he mumbled under his breath. 

taglist ↠ @xyzstar @bugballer @maybankspov @sweatytriumphwhispers @alinag11 @niyahwhoreworld @tvdumarvelhpsimp @imvenqeance @ravisinghs-wife @aquarium777 @dessxoxsworld @yuimius @swiftsgirlfriend

[turcott3]

back to you

mackie samoskevich x fem estapa! reader

warnings?: cursing, allusions to smut? kind of?, mostly just fluff tho ofc

a/n: this is long af i’m so sorry (i’m not)

masterlist

2008

“mom! mark and mackie are trapping me again!” i yell from the bathroom.

“stop being a wuss y/n.” i hear mark reply.

“please just let me come out.” i beg them. i was always being harassed by mark and his best friend and i never caught a break.

“mark, let’s just let her out okay? she’s been in there long enough.” i hear mackie say.

“ugh fine.” he says opening the door. i stand up off the ground and walk out, wiping the tears that had sprung loose. i didn’t like the way they treated me. i was always being terrorized and i was scared.

“we made her cry dude.”

“that’s sick.”

“okay…..” i hear mackie close out the conversation as i made my way down the stairs to my mother. i sat on the couch with my tear stained face, wrapped in a blanket, watching my favorite movie.

“hey.” i hear a whisper behind the couch.

“mackie?” i ask.

“i’m sorry for locking you in the bathroom y/n. i didn’t mean to make you cry.” he says leaning on the back of the couch.

“it’s okay.” i reply.

“mark likes to do that stuff but i don’t really like doing it to you. i don’t like seeing you cry.” he says and i smile. he runs around the couch to hug me before flying back upstairs before mark notices he’s gone.

-

2014

we all packed into the car to head to mark’s game, which is have been dreading a little less lately. my father putting on classic rock as we make the drive to the rink which became short due to how used to it i was. we find our seats in the rink watching the boys warm up, watching mackie and a few others fly by me every now and then.

“he shoots he scores! mackie samoskevich with the third goal of the game!” the commentator announced as we sat at my brothers hockey game. the crowd overcome with joy for their kids as they got ahead of the opposing team.

“yay mackie!” i yell loudly, my mom chuckling lightly.

“why are you laughing?”

“you two are gonna love each other for the rest of your lives babydoll.” she says adjusting my hat.

“you’re crazy, my only love is harry from one direction.”

“okay y/n.” she laughs, directing her attention back to the game. the game ended wonderfully, mark’s team winning of course.

“alright we’re going to dinner everyone in.” my mom says to mark and i, waving mackie over as well.

“here i’ll sit in the middle.” mackie says smiling at me. we sang and laughed all the way to dinner, mackie and i seemingly closer than before.

“you guys are gross.” mark says coming to the realization at our proximity.

“we are not.”

“are too.” he says turning away and looking out the window.

“mark will you quit, they are literally just sitting next to each other.” my mom says sternly.

“yeah whatever.”

“they’re just mad they aren’t as cool as us.” mackie whispers in my ear, a smile spreading on my face.

‘love each other for the rest of your lives.’ what does she mean?

-

2018

“you kids look great, have so much fun tonight. mark make sure you all get back in one piece.” mom says sending us all out the door. it was my sophomore homecoming.

“you excited?” i ask my boyfriend of 3 months.

“yeah totally.” he says blandly staring at his phone. mark and mackie sat in the front seat chatting amongst themselves. i turn away from him and lean my head on the window, watching the sun set. things had been this way lately. my boyfriend made me feel like i was trying too hard, like he was uninterested.

“alright we’re here. y/n don’t do anything stupid with your boyfriend.” mark says putting the keys in his pockets and walking off. mackie standing behind for just a moment.

“find me if you need anything.” he says earning a nod from me as he walks off to join his best friend.

“let’s go.” my boyfriend huffs, grabbing onto my hand. we find our way into the dance. i look around to see everyone having fun with their dates and friends, meanwhile we sat on a bench barely speaking.

“i’m going to the bathroom.” he speaks to me, standing up and walking away. leaving me alone on this god forsaken bench for losers. many minutes go by and he hasn’t returned.

“what the fuck?” i say looking down at my phone. i stand up adjusting my dress before seeing him dancing in a group of friends, mostly containing girls, his hand tucked firmly on one of their hips. i exhaled loudly, knowing deep down this was happening all along, allowing a tear to escape.

“y/n?” i hear a familiar voice speak.

“oh uh, hey mack.” i say looking at him and then returning my gaze to the floor.

“hey, are you okay? what’s wrong?” he asks noticing my tone and sitting down next to me.

“im breaking up with him.” i say looking back up, mackie following my gaze to him.

“give me your phone.”

“why?”

“give it to me, unlocked.” he demands so i follow. he scrolls to find his name and number in all my socials, blocking him. cutting him out of my life for me.

“thank you.” i say wiping my tears.

“of course y/n.” he says wrapping an arm around my shoulder comfortingly.

“i know you liked him a lot but you deserve better than that.” he speaks after a few moments and i feel his gaze piercing the side of my head.

“i really thought i loved him.” i sigh.

“it hurts i know.” he says, thumb caressing my bicep.

“can we go?” i ask looking into his warm brown eyes.

“yeah of course, come with me.” he says grabbing onto my hand as we hunted mark down.

“hey bud, we gotta go.” mackie says patting my brother on the shoulder.

“why?”

“y/n got, well to put it bluntly, cheated on.” he says simply and marks demeanor changes.

“yeah let’s go, ill catch you guys later” mark says to his friends, grabbing the keys from his pocket and guides us out of the dance. the drive home was quiet, the only thing silencing my cries was the music mark chose to play loudly so i could be alone. once we arrived home i made my way up into my bedroom and changed, not once stopping the tears that left my body. i hear a knock on my door once i’m settled.

“come in.” i say aloud.

“hey y/n,” it’s mackie in his pj pants and umich shirt, ”i’m so sorry about tonight, i’m staying over so let me know if you need anything okay?” he says not stepping in my room.

“thank you mack.” i say smiling lightly, my heart beginning to flutter.

“of course y/n/n.” he smiles shutting my door. the butterflies in my stomach seem to settle over the next hour but never truly going away knowing i could call him in here in two seconds. i zone back into my movie, unfortunately i picked a sad movie on an already sad night, and i started to cry again. i pull out my phone texting him, requesting his presence. moments later i hear a light knock on my door.

“come in.” i say sniffling.

“are you okay?” he asks standing in the door. i shake my head looking down at my hands sitting in my lap.

“hey y/n it’s gonna be okay, we’re here for you.” he says.

“can you come in here?” i ask and he does so shutting the door behind him.

“mark is asleep, i wanted to stay up in case you needed something.” he says walking over and sitting on the floor next to me.

“mack you can sit on the bed, it’s big enough for the both of us.” i giggle lightly.

“i wasn’t sure if you wanted me to.”he says standing up and walking around to sit on the bed with me. i lean back up against my headboard, still allowing slow falling tears. i sniffle loudly, not wanting my nose to run, causing him to look at me and frown.

“y/n.” he says leaning closer and wiping my tears away.

“what?” i ask frowning at him.

“you don’t need to cry, he was an asshole.” he laughs not breaking eye contact.

“yeah but-“

“no buts, he’s not worth your tears.”

“okay,” i say leaning my head on his shoulder as i try to fall sleep.

“you deserve so much better, i hope you see that one day.” i hear him whisper and kiss me on the head as i begin to slip into a peaceful sleep.

‘love each other for the rest of your lives’?

-

summer 2020

quarantine hasn’t been so bad with mark having all his friends over to keep us company.

“hey hey y/n.” mark asks as im about to walk inside.

“can you grab me a drink?” he says.

“yeah.” i say grabbing one from the cooler. i feel eyes staring at me, intensely.

“thanks.” he says taking the drink from me and i return to my chair next to mackie. i lay on my stomach, resting my chin on my forearms shutting my eyes.

“shut up.” i here mackie whisper in a stern tone, the other boys laughing.

“huh?” i say sitting up, clearly having fallen asleep.

“well how was your nap?” mackie asks as i roll onto my back.

“it was great.” i smile at him ignoring the snickering boys behind him. my cheeks burned red as id developed strong feelings since that night i feel asleep on his shoulder and was flustered by his care for my nap.

“i’m glad.” he says returning the smile. after a few hours of laying out in the sun, i make my way inside and sit at the kitchen island after making a sandwich.

“shut the fuck up, please like actually.” i hear mackie say from outside with the boys laughing. shortly after i hear the door open and shut and im greeted by none other than mack himself.

“hey mack, what’s up?”

“they’re driving me insane because gosh dare i look in your direction.” he smirks shaking his head.

“that’s stupid i’m sorry.” i laugh.

“like sorry im enjoying the view.”

“oh?”

“well since i said that, you look great y/n.”

“well thank you.” i blush hiding my cheeks with my hands as my elbows rested on the counter.

“yeah of course, i’m just telling the truth, you look amazing.” he says taking the other half of my sandwich and heading back to the door.

“hey hey no come back here with that.” i say and he pauses, taking steps backwards.

“so you weren’t gonna ask me first?”

“nope.” he smiles.

“we’re splitting it.” i say firmly.

“you have a whole other half.”

“mackie i made a full sandwich because im hungry for a whole sandwich.” i laugh.

“fine.” he says hopping up on the counter next to where i’m sitting, he takes a bite and hands it to me.

“thank you.” i smiled at him flirtatiously taking a bite directly off the part he just ate off of, his face slightly turning rose.

“always gotta share with my favorite estapa.” he smirks.

“favorite?” i raise my eyebrows at him.

“don’t tell mark.” he winks, taking the sandwich back and having another bite, the tension in the room rising.

“i won’t.” i blush as he holds out his pinky for mine to latch onto.

“you gonna come back out with us?” he asks me, handing the last bite back to me.

“honestly no i’m pretty exhausted from the sun.”

“okay i won’t either, think ‘m gonna shower and change. all the guys are probably gonna go out on the boat.”

“you don’t wanna go with them?”

“nah not really, the sun really does suck the life out of you.” he says in an odd tone.

“well i’m gonna go get cleaned up, i will see you in a bit.” i say standing up and pushing my chair in.

“alright me too.” he says hopping down from the counter.

“if you need anything i’ll be in my room.” i say to him as i make my way up the stairs.

“perfect.” he smiles and exits the room. i’d consider that an invitation accepted. i shower and change, melting into the comfort of my bed, hearing the familiar knock.

“come in.” i say, as per usual.

“whatcha doin?” he asks coming in and shutting the door behind him.

“oh i just finished drying my hair about to watch something.” i laugh switching on my tv.

“so what are we watching?” he asks laying down leaning up on his elbow still shirtless but in running shorts, making it hard for me to focus.

“whatever you wanna watch.” i smile and look at him nervously.

“just put on the office or something.” he says.

“but you’ve watched it a million times.”

“yeah well i figured you’d wanna talk so id be able to pay full attention to you.”

“oh okay.” i blush not knowing how to act. after a while of a little small talk, i grew cold at the temperature in the room, goosebumps littering my skin.

“c’mere.” i hear mackie whisper as he pulls me to his chest, heat radiating off of him.

“thank you.”

“yeah of course, i could tell you were cold.” he giggles, running his warm hand up and down my arm, rubbing away the goosebumps.

“you’re so warm how?” i laugh.

“not really sure honestly.” he replies smiling, i roll over to face him.

“like a teddy bear.” i smile.

“your teddy bear only though, got it?” he laughs.

“got it.” i giggle as he places his chin on top of my head and sighs.

“why are you sighing?” i ask, wrapping my arm around his torso.

“oh nothing, don’t worry.” he says as his grin on me becomes firmer.

“oh……. okay.” i say shutting my eyes inhaling his sweet masculine scent, wishing this moment could last forever.

“i wonder where the guys are at.” i say after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

“not sure.” he says simply.

“are you okay?” i ask pulling my head from under his chin to look at him.

“perfectly.” he smiles, pressing a light kiss to my forehead, burning my cheeks red.

“just had to make sure you were good, it’s not like you to not be with them.”

“well, guess i just needed time away from the chaos, time to myself. needed some peace.”

“well you’re not by yourself.”

“i know,” he laughs, “i needed some peace and that’s what i feel when i’m alone with you.”

“oh.” i smile lightly placing my head back under his chin.

‘love each other for the rest of our lives…….’?

-

2021

my feelings for mackie only grew daily after that pool day with all the boys. i practically melt into the floor every time he even speaks to me, which is often. my family and i sat on the couch, watching the draft. several of mark’s teammates were being drafted and we all wanted to support them, mackie being one. it sparked fear in me, the idea of him being whisped away from me.

“the florida panthers are proud to select, from the chicago steel of the ushl, mackie samoskevich.” the man announced as we all jumped for joy, or at least most of us. i was devastated. that’s like an 18 hour drive.

“he’s coming over later tonight so we gotta make him dinner or something. he said he wants to see you guys.” mark says, filling me with anxiety. i get to see him today. as we all quickly scrambled to throw together a meal for him, my mind wouldn’t stop spinning. when is the last time im gonna see him? after an hour or so, the doorbell rings and i sprint to go answer it. i open the door to mackie, dressed still in his hat and jersey.

“hey.” he says smiling at me.

“oh my god i’m so proud of you.” i say practically knocking him over in a hug. he lifts me up off the ground hugging me tightly before setting me down and entering the household, guiding me back in by the small of my back, covering my body in goosebumps at the light touch.

“hey mister draftee.” my mom shouts walking over to hug him, mark following suit.

“we made you dinner.” mark says turning him to the kitchen.

“you guys didn’t have to, thank you so much.” he says smiling gratefully. we sat next to each other at the table as he told us everything about his day. it was exciting and packed full of interviews. i just wish he could stay. once we were done with dinner, i put my plate in the dishwasher and found my way up into my room, barely being able to stand being around him. shortly after, hearing light knocks on my door.

“come in.” i say as the door reveals a lone mackie, shutting the door behind him.

“why’d you come hide out?” he says sitting on the edge of my bed.

“because i couldn’t be down there anymore.” i say keeping my voice from waivering too much.

“why not?” he asks with a concerning tone.

“i’m so happy for you, please understand that but i don’t want you to go mackie, i don’t want you to leave.” i say allowing a single tear to fall.

“oh y/n/n, it’s okay. it won’t be for at least another year or two.” he says reassuringly.

“i know but it’s still gonna happen.” i say using my sleeves to wipe my tears.

“hey no don’t cry, it’s okay. c’mere.” he says as we meet in the middle, hugging into each other tightly, only making me cry more. he held me until i calmed down, rubbing my back soothingly. once we break apart, he removes his hat, placing it on my head.

“keep it, it looks amazing on you.” he smiles as he adjusts it to fit me.

“thank you.” i say quietly, our faces inches apart.

“of course.” he smiles, closing the gap between us, connecting our lips sweetly. eventually, we separate, his hand cupping my cheek.

“i’m not going anywhere, you’ll always have me.” he says as i place my hand back on top of his.

“promise?” i say, my eyes glimmering with hope.

“promise.” he says kissing me again. somehow instinctively, i lay back allowing him to deepen the kiss. i remove the hat from my head, tossing it to the floor as my hands find their way around his shoulders, keeping him close to me. allowing myself to let loose and give into his touch, removing our clothes one piece at a time, never wanting to separate our lips that seemed to be made for each other.

“don’t stop please.” i say as we break apart for a moment, locking eyes.

“are you sure?”

“yes i’m sure.”

“whatever you want.” he smiles reconnecting our lips, fireworks setting off in my stomach. i was nervous beyond belief but i knew i could trust him. his lips trailing down my jaw to my neck, peppering my exposed skin with kisses, his hands holding me gently as though i was made of glass, allowing myself to relax into his touch and trust his guidance into something i had never experienced.

-

my first time having sex was with the boy i’ve loved since i was a little girl and i couldn’t imagine it any other way.

“how are you feeling, do you need anything?” he asks as i trace shapes on his bare chest.

“i’m okay thank you though.” i reply and he kisses me on the head.

“of course.”

“i need to-“

“woah and just where do you think you’re going?” he asks grabbing onto my hand.

“i was gonna go check the pantry.”

“baby no, come back here, i’ll order us some doordash later okay?”

“okay.” i say, crawling back into his grasp.

“can you stay over tonight? well i mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to but i kinda would like you to.” i ask running my fingers through his dark hair.

“yeah of course i can, let me text my mom. and yes i do want to.” he says grabbing his phone off the night stand, ignoring the texts from mark and all his friends and family.

“you should answer them.” i say.

“i’ll get around to it later, all i care about right now is being here with you.” he says texting his mother, then setting his phone down on dnd.

“oh, okay.” i say blushing, looking away from his face.

“are you going to regret this tomorrow?” i ask out of the blue and he looks down at me like i just said the most outlandish thing ever.

“baby no, of course not. it was so special how could i ever regret having sex with you. it was so intimate and beautiful, especially since it was your first time, i’m glad it was me so i could make sure you had a good experience.” he explains, my heart fluttering at his words.

“okay, thank you for reassuring me.”

“always.” he says kissing me lightly on the lips.

“and it was more than good mackie, you’re absolutely fucking amazing and also very beautiful. i’ve never felt so connected to someone, no pun intended.” i say giggling at the end.

“you may not have been my first but god damn you were the best, so so beautiful baby.” he says smiling and littering my neck with light kisses as my fingers find my way back into his soft curls.

“i never want you to leave mackie.”

“honestly, i’m starting to question it myself too.” he smiles and we laugh as his thumb brushes my side lightly, his grip on me sending butterflies through my whole body.

‘love each other for the rest of our lives.’

-

may 2023

it was the morning of mackie leaving for development camp in florida and i’m devastated. we never made anything official but we were always together for the last two years. attached at the hip, so hopelessly in love with him.

“i’m coming over in a few, i already have all my stuff packed.” he says over the phone while i get dressed.

“okay, how long does it take to get to the airport?” i ask him.

“like an hour probably.” he replies.

“okay ill see you in a few mack.”

“alright bye.” he says hanging up. i wish i could just tell him how i feel but i can’t. a few minutes later hearing my front door open. i spray on my perfume and bolt down the stairs.

“mackie!” i say hugging him.

“hey y/n.” he says returning the hug.

“are you ready to go?”

“oh uh, my flight is actually tomorrow. i wanted to spend the day here before i left.” he says.

“i’m the only one here though? mark is at his girlfriends.” i say.

“maybe that’s because i wanted to come spend the day with you.” he smiles pushing his suitcase handle down.

“really?”

“yes.” he laughs.

“oh thank you.” i say hugging him again.

“wanted to come spend my last day in michigan with my favorite girl.” he says rubbing his thumb over my cheekbone. i hold onto his hand as he guides me up the stairs back into my room. he lays down on my bed opening his arms for me to lay with him, which i quickly do.

“i wish you didn’t have to leave.” i say quietly.

“i know, but i need to.”

“promise you won’t forget about me?”

“no, i could never forget about you. i’ll fly you down to come see me whenever you want okay?” he says brushing hair out of my face.

“are you sure? i don’t want to hold you back.” i reply.

“you would not be holding me back, i am not looking for anyone okay. no one can replace you.” he mumbles into my hair kissing me.

“mackie.”

“y/n.”

“i’m gonna miss you so much.” i say skipping over what i was going to say.

“i’m gonna miss you more sweet girl.” he says smiling kissing me. after a good night together, we wake up bright and early to take him to the airport.

“mackie.” i say softly shaking him awake.

“what?” he groans.

“it’s time to go to the airport.” i say whispering kissing him on the shoulder.

“let me put a shirt on.” he says sitting up and stretching, his raspy morning voice driving me insane.

“all your stuff is downstairs ready to go.” i say sliding on a pair of shorts.

“let’s go.” he says exiting my room. we get into the car and i put in the directions.

“so are you excited?” i ask him.

“i am excited but im sad to leave here.” he sighs.

“why?”

“because i’m leaving my whole life behind, my friends, and you.” he says sliding his hand into my thigh and resting it there

“well this is gonna be good for you okay? we’ll all still be here.”

“i know but i can’t just pull up to your house to see you now.” he laughs.

“true true.” i reply, the rest of the car ride goes smoothly and we arrive at the airport. we park and i go in with him, not quite ready to leave his side.

“well this is where i have to leave you.” he laughs looking up at security check in.

“bye mack.”

“bye baby.” he says hugging me tightly, kissing me on the head and then the lips after pulling away.

“i’ll see you soon okay?” he says holding my cheeks in his hands.

“okay.” i smile weakly. he kisses me lightly on the forehead one last time before turning away and walking into security. i stand there and watch his license get checked and boarding pass scanned before he disappears into security.

“i love you mackie.” i whisper to myself before exiting the airport and walking back to his car that he is so graciously letting me borrow. i shut the door and sat in the car in silence, admiring the way it still smelled like his cologne and the way he left a bracelet wrapped around the gear shift. i remove it and place it on my wrist, slightly dangling at the size difference but still i admired it. i turned the car on and made my way back home, pulling into my driveway.

“glad you made it home safe, how’s his car?” my mom asks.

“oh it’s great.” i smile.

“don’t worry babe, you’ll see him soon.” she smiles hugging me.

“hopefully.” i smile making my way upstairs.

“mark?” i ask knocking on his door lightly, mackie having been dropped off two hours ago.

“come in.” he replies.

“hey.” i say, tears filling my eyes.

“what’s up?” he asks setting his controller down.

“can i uh, can i talk to you?”

“yeah of course. what’s up?” he says a tear exiting my eye.

“please don’t be mad when i tell you this.”

“y/n don’t cry, whatever it is i can’t possibly mad at you for.” he admits, his voice calming me down. in recent years he’d become a much kinder older brother.

“i love mackie. like love love him and i don’t want you to be mad at me, which im sure you will but please you have to understand.” i say to him which he starts laughing.

“why are you laughing?”

“you think i didn’t already know that you love him?” he asks.

“well….. no.”

“oh y/n come here.” he says opening his arms and hugging me.

“i’ve known you loved him for years, i’ve been watching it unfold.” he says.

“so you aren’t mad?” i say pulling away.

“no of course i’m not. you’re my sister and he’s my best friend. i want you guys to be happy, and if you’re happy together then i have no complaints.” he laughs.

“i did not expect this.” i laugh wiping my tears.

“the real question is, have you told him yet?” he asks genuinely.

“i haven’t, he’s gone now.”

“well why don’t you go see him at the start of the season? i don’t want you to keep it from him y/n/n.”

“i’ll talk to mom.”

“she’ll say yes.”

“how do you know?”

“you really think her and i haven’t talked about you two?”

“oh.” i reply slightly embarrassed, “well thank you for the talk, i love you.”

“i love you too.” he replies, we never speak to each other this way but it felt right after the talk we just had. our relationship steadily improving by the day.

-

october 2023

the first game of the preseason is in one day and my mom is flying me down to see him play.

“have a safe flight hun, text me when you land.” my mom says as i hang up and board my flight. i tell mackie i have a lab exam so he doesn’t get suspicious as to why i don’t answer for 3 hours. once i land, i uber to my hotel, anxiously waiting for it to be the next day, going to bed extra early even.

“meet your 23 florida panthers at our pregame meet and greet and arrival.” i read the tweet aloud to myself. i put on his hat from the draft and the crewneck i ordered a few weeks ago and head out of my hotel room to the location of the event, keeping my head low. as the event begins the players all enter the fenced area to greet anxious fans, when i see mackie walk out i practically fall to the floor. slowly, i approach him as he’s talking to a teammate.

“hey what do you- oh my god.” he says as i look up and he gets a good look at me.

“hi mack.” i smile as he picks me up in a hug like he hasn’t seen me in years.

“hi y/n.” he smiles, interlocking our fingers and finding a less populated area.

“i’m so happy you’re here.”

“me too, i booked my trip literally two days ago.” i laugh.

“you’re too good to me.” he says.

“i have something i need to tell you and i feel like now is the best time since you have a game in a few hours.” i say holding my breath.

“yeah what is it? did you pass your exam?”

“i didn’t take one dumbass.” i laugh and his gaze never faulters.

“i love you mack. like so much, and i’ve been keeping this from you for so long because i didn’t know how you would react.” i finally confess. barely catching him off guard.

“oh you’re fucking incredible y/n i love you more baby, so much more.” he simply replies kissing me sweetly, allowing the moment to dwindle as long as possible.

“let’s go say hey to the kids yeah?” he asks grabbing onto my hand again. my face showing how shocked i am at his reaction or lack there of.

“yeah ok, are all the girlfriends and wives here too, i need to have someone to sit with.” i ask snapping back into reality.

“yeah they’re here, and now i have mine.”

“yours?”

“baby, you’ve been all mine since my draft day, at least to me you have been. i didn’t look at another woman the way i look at you, i didn’t even entertain anyone, i was just too scared to ask you out because of mark.” he laughs.

“mack he knows i love you, i told him first and well let’s just say he’s known for years.”

“well i mean it all works out right.” he smiles.

“yeah it does. it feels good to be yours.”

“same he- hey buddy what’s up.” he says holding out his fist for a small fan.

“you’re my favorite player ever!” the little boy confesses sporting a michigan hockey tshirt.

“thank you buddy.” he says squatting down for a picture with the young fan. he has small talk with his parents before they move onto the next.

“you’re so precious.” i whisper in his ear.

“well it helps because i’m happy you’re here with me.” he replies kissing me on the cheek.

-

present

“baby?” mackie yells walking in the door with his bag of gear.

“in here,” i replied from the bedroom. mackie and i made it official that day in october and ive been doing most of my school online.

“how’d you do on your exam?” he asks walking in, my eyes directing towards is damp, dark curls.

“i got an 87, so better than i thought.” i smiled.

“good i’m glad.” he says walking over and kissing me on the head and taking a seat next to me.

“i bought your christmas gift today.” he smiles.

“oh did you?”

“i sure did.”

“what’d you get me?”

“and that’s the question where i stop answering.” he laughs.

“damnit.” i reply.

“let’s go watch a movie baby.” he says shutting my laptop, and picking me up off the bed.

“didn’t even give me a chance to answer.”

“it wasn’t a question.” he laughs tossing me on the couch and climbing over me, laying his head on my chest, my fingers instinctively finding their way into his dark locks.

“you know what my mom told me at one of your games when we were little?” i say breaking the focus from the movie.

“no what’d she say?” he asks.

“i still remember her exact words, ‘you two will love each other for the rest of your lives babydoll’.”

“she said that?” he asks sitting up

“yes, i’ve loved you since i was 8 mackie. she was right and i never wanted to admit it to myself until that night of the draft but i never told you, i was too scared you wouldn’t feel the same.”

“would it kill you to say i’ve loved you since then too.” he laughs.

“no shot.”

“yep you heard me, since i was 9 years old. and draft night really confirmed it for me too, i waited patiently. and that one pool day, where we shared the sandwich? i was falling for you so hard y/n, like you don’t even understand.”

“wait really?” i giggle.

“yes oh my god, i didn’t wanna leave your bed or you. i just wanted to lay there together. i never wanted the boys to come back.” he laughs.

“how did it take us this long to get here?” i ask.

“it doesn’t matter how long it took, what matters is that we’re here, together, now, and i wouldn’t change a thing about it.” he smiles.

“what do you see in our future?” i ask him.

“well, getting married to you has been on my mind since i was like 13 but now that we’re adults that can actually happen.”

“oh really?” i laugh.

“yep, and we can start a family and buy a house and get a dog.”

“we could.” i smile at him pausing briefly, “i love you mackie.”

“i love you more.” he replies kissing me deeply.

and it turns out mom was right, we do love each other, and definitely for the rest of our lives.

[happysparklingshadows]

𝙻𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜 ('𝟿𝟼)

Note: Sorry for being away for so long, depression came and kicked my fat ass this month. Chapter 4 of Certain Hunger is coming out September 25 so watch out for that, and i hope you like these headcannons! Comment your own and reblog if you like!

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝙻𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜

♡ Lottie is a Pieces Sun and Libra Rising 

♡ Lottie’s favorite color is Purple, Royal purple, to be specific. 

♡ Lottie is a cat person through and through. She likes to be very gentle with animals and take things at their speed. If they didn’t want affection, that was okay, they will eventually want something, and Lottie will just be content. 

Lottie's spirit Animal is the Bear.

♡ Lottie, for sure, had a pet cat that was her best friend as a child. Her mother wasn’t emotionally available, and her father thought throwing money at problems would fix them. Lottie grew up believing she was messed up and wished she could just be how her parents wanted her, but she never really understood what was wrong with her. 

♡ Lottie is a Extervert. She loves connecting with people and talking in general. She is the type of person who always makes little friends in public places. It could be an old lady, a frat dude, or a little girl. It doesn’t matter because she is now their friend, and they are talking. 

♡ Lottie likes spicy food a lot, and she would be the person to proudly eat chili without flinching infront of people. 

♡ Lottie’s favorite food is a Spicy King Crab roll and Miso Soup from her hometown Japanese restaurant. She likes to add wasabi to all her sushi, even the Californian roll. 

♡ Lottie's childhood was not horrible, but it was very lonely. Lottie had all the toys, Nannies, and friends to fill her time. She never went without, and she never really had to worry about her basic needs not getting met. But her mother was emotionally absent because her father was a very intense control freak about how the family should be. Her dad came from money, and her mother did not, and she was the collateral damage of two different philosophies about raising kids. She didn't get any reassurance, and she was seen as messed up in some way. If she wasn't perfect or had opinions against her father, he would throw her mental disorder in her face. Lottie loves her parents and will follow what they say to the word, but she holds so much resentment towards them.

♡ Laura Lee, Taissa,  and Van are her closest friends on the team. In high school, Van, Tai, and Lottie always sat together in classes and at lunch. They were their own cliche in the team, and Laura Lee was the innocent add-on they all had a soft spot for. 

♡ Lottie's sex drive is pretty normal, it isn't all that crazy. Lottie likes to have sex 1 or 2 times a week, and she likes to have wholesome intimacy in between. Lottie is a Switch! in her normal setting, but she does lead towards Top! most of the time.

♡ I think Lottie’s main vice that she uses at a party, which might be crazy but hear me out, is cocaine. I believe this because she is 1. a girl from NEW money 2. It’s an upper drug 3. It’s the fucking 1990s. 

♡ ⚠️Unpopular opinion⚠️ I think that Lottie is not ashamed of being rich and taking her father’s money. It’s the culture of her family and their upper-class peers. She is thrilled that she doesn’t have to work or struggle, and she grows to learn that it is a profound privilege never to have to work or struggle in her early adulthood or ever really. 

𝙳𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙰𝚄s/𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎s

♡ Royalty AU! Lottie Matthews would be a Merlin or Head Mage of the castle. I can see Lottie playing some kind of magical role in a fantasy setting and that she would be someone who is seen as crazy still because I feel like it is core to Lottie’s character. She would give you healing potions, and she would give you a protective rune for your armor or a necklace for your journey. She would be watching out for you through a looking glass. 

♡ Delinquent AU! Lottie is a hardcore shoplifter who got busted for stealing $670 worth of clothes from the mall. She was arrested, her parents paid her bail, and she kept doing it. It gives Lottie feelings that she usually has numbed through her many medications and uses Shoplifting to thrill her in her watered-down, milquetoast privileged life. 

♡ Supernatural AU! Lottie is a forest witch for the reasons above in the Royalty AU.  

♡ Superhero/Marvel AU! Spiderman. No other words. 

♡ College AU! Lottie would be a pothead in college and would get into spirituality. I think in every timeline, Lottie gives off goop vibes and would become some kind of spiritual influencer. She would be on Witchtok for sure. Lottie would change majors a lot. I see English, Communications, French, and even a try in Gender studies. She will eventually drop out because she has her dad’s money to fall back on.

𝙿𝚛𝚎-𝙲𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜

♡ Lottie would be the one to tell you that she likes you first, and she would be very blunt about it. Lottie wants to take bandaids off as quickly as possible, so when she has feelings, she just wants to shoot her shot and lick her wounds as quickly as possible. 

♡ Lottie is a firm believer in retail therapy. Lottie has always really liked to go shopping and go to the mall. She likes to try on clothes and make you try on different looks. Want to try goth, preppy, sporty, chic? She would never be shy to buy you some things on her dad’s credit card. 

♡ Lottie likes to take you out on dates to restaurants and lovely places like ballets and theatres. I see Lottie taking you out for a good dinner and going off to see the Nutcracker with hot chocolates around Christmas time.

♡ Lottie is the more anxious partner in the relationship. She will call you and try to talk when you are away from her. She wants to ensure you are always okay and doesn’t like her favorite person being away from her. 

𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜

♡ Lottie leans on you for support when she runs out of her medication. She entirely relies on you to tell her what reality is anymore because she can’t tell with her chemicals being misplaced. Her delusions become very real, the voices seem more real and responsible, and she doesn’t trust herself. Even with her connection to It, Lottie doesn’t trust her perception of anything. She doesn’t ask you about things most of the time. 

♡ Lottie always tells you about her dreams at night, how they happened, and the surreal plots of her mind, and she wants to know yours. She grows to believe that everyone’s dreams tell you something that could bring the Yellowjackets more food and breaks from the wilderness. A deer must be nearby if you see a deer in a dream. If there was a conflict with people or the girls on camp in a dream, that indicates there must be some bad times coming your way (small or big could cast lives) 

♡ Lottie cuddles with you all the time in the wilderness for warmth. Lottie is always cold, even in the summer. She likes to have you physically near her to feel your heat. She is very physically affectionate out in the wilderness. 

♡  Lottie gets jealous quickly, even before the crash, by giving something or someone more attention than you give her. She doesn’t like it. If you are hanging out with your friends on camp, Lottie will wander into the conversation seamlessly. But if you are getting flirted with, or she perceives someone is flirting with you, she goes a little crazy. She gets confrontational, and she becomes somewhat aggressive in her words, but she always comes to her senses and apologies.

♡  Lottie has more sexual desire now in the wilderness, and the freedom of being in love with you makes her want to have sex anytime you move. In the wilderness, Lottie develops a primal kink and a breeding kink out there and begs to get you pregnant (which can't happen).

[youcouldmakealife]

LBTE: Jared (106-110)

Quick return to summaries, for: in which two dorks get married.

106 - Jitters

“It’s stressing me out,” Jared says. “Like, obviously I love Bryce, I wouldn’t be marrying him if I didn’t, but like, figuring out how to say it and not like, embarrassing myself in front of everyone? I dunno. It’s hard.”

“You are your father’s son,” his mom says, and Jared can’t even argue that. His dad’s fucking awful at this kind of stuff, so Jared inherited it honestly, he guesses. Like, it’s so really clear his dad thinks his mom’s the shit? Jared’s over being embarrassed by his parents being happy in their relationship. But his dad kind of sucks at the expressing good emotions bit, to the point where him saying something really nice is the kind of thing that sticks with you for a long time because of how rare it is, but at the same time, Jared’s never doubted his dad loves him, and Erin, and his mom.

Jared is SO MUCH his father’s son, in a way he generally refuses to acknowledge, and yes, they’re both straight up awful at expressing their feelings, but no one doubts Jared loves Bryce after any time spent around the two of them. Ditto Don with Susan. (It horrified Jared and Erin as kids, how gross in love their dad was. Marcus Mathesons will be able to relate.)

“You’re not going to be a troll with your grandkids, are you?” Jared says, doubling down on the making her feel old since she can’t make him set the table twice.

“Oh no,” his mom says. “I’ll treat them like gold and spoil them rotten until they doubt every story you tell about me being a troll.”

Rude.

“Oh god,” she mutters. “I’m my mother.”

“Grandma’s a saint,” Jared says.

“Well,” she says. “At least I know firsthand that the strategy works. Table.”

She is going to do it and it is going to WORK and none of the M&Ms will doubt their grandmas are saints, no matter how much Jared insists only Elaine is actually a saint.

With a week to go Jared realises he totally forgot to ask Arvan for time off, and he only realises when he hears Raf ask Arvan for time off, that time off being, oh, Jared’s wedding.

“Um, me too!” Jared says. “And Chaz. We kind of need to all take that off.”

Raf gives him an utterly disgusted look

Raf will tell this story for YEARS, along with Bryce and Jared meeting. So many unflattering stories about Jared that Raf was forced to witness.

“It’s cool if you’re — you know it’s normal, right? To have — doubts.” “Cool, but I don’t have any,” Jared says. “…do you have cold feet?”

Bryce makes a very dismissive noise.

Please, Bryce has been ready for years at this point.

Him and Julius go over to his parents for his last dinner as like, an unmarried man — weird — and Jared’s half waiting all dinner for his dad to like, grab his shoulder and go ‘if you’ve changed your mind…’ or something, but he doesn’t. Best behaviour. Mom probably threatened him.

Honestly proud of Don for not doing that. (Susan definitely threatened him)

How’s the lake house?”

“It’s huge,” Bryce says. “You’re going to be so annoyed.”

I love that Bryce’s first thought about the place is ‘wow, this is so nice — that’s going to piss Jared off’, and he’s RIGHT.

107 - Preparation

“Nervous?” Julius asks him over breakfast.

“My feet are toasty warm,” Jared says, and after a very confused look from Julius, breakfast is briefly derailed to explain the concept of cold feet and no, Jared doesn’t know why it’s called cold feet, and then they’re looking up the etymology and Julius is making disgusted noises because it’s just based on some dude writing the words and it sticking, no actual clarification as to why

Nope, no proper origin to this idiom either. Enraging. I am Julius in this matter.

His dad insists on driving, saying it’s because Jared will be distracted, but actually because he’s a control freak who can’t handle not driving himself. Jared doesn’t fight it — he doesn’t know the area around the lake house at all, and if they get lost his dad will be unnervingly backseat stressed about it — but the fact that Julius gets dibs on the front seat, because ‘he’s a guest’, in Jared’s car, on Jared’s wedding day?

Jared sulks in the backseat, bags stacked between him and Erin like a barricade.

Shades of the blanket already. The brother Jared never had.

Elaine meets them outside, steering them towards the main house — apparently Bryce is getting ready in the bunk house, and Jared is very tempted to like, cut and run in that direction. It’s dumb. He’ll see him in three hours. He’s still considering it. “Don’t even think about it,” Elaine says cheerfully, apparently wise to Jared.

“I wasn’t going to do anything,” Jared protests.

“Bryce made that exact face when we heard your car pull in,” Elaine says. “Gail and my mom have him covered, and Gordie’s been instructed to stop you at the door by any means necessary.”

Do not mistake Elaine’s kindness for weakness.

“Wait, are there bigger rooms than this?” Jared asks. Because if so, this place is insane: this room’s the size of their living room and dining room combined. Maybe Bryce was right that Jared would be annoyed by how big it is — stupid thing to be annoyed by, considering how many people need to stay over, but there’s big and then there’s obnoxiously big.

It is nice and Jared is annoyed, just as Bryce predicted.

How’re you feeling? Jared texts.

pretty great get to marry the love of my life today, Bryce says

Bryce.

“Yeah, me too,” Erin says. “But it’s a pretty dress, so.”

Cue another twirl.

With a dress that swishy, you gotta twirl -- Erin is only doing what is necessary.

“Honey,” she says. “There’s going to be crying today. You’re probably going to cry today.”

He refuses.

“Bryce has already cried at least three times already,” Elaine says. Oh god. Every time Bryce cries Jared wants to cry. This is going to be a disaster.

Jared often stubbornly believes things despite evidence to the contrary, but I continue to have no idea how he thought he would get through his wedding day without crying.

There are going to be many matching PJs in his life, won’t there? He can’t even bring himself to mind.

It’s gonna get REAL cute with three generations in the same pjs.

“Wait, you gave Erin the rings?” Jared asks. “Why does Erin have our rings?”

“Because I’m maid of honour,” Erin says, with a little eyeroll like ‘duh’. “I’m standing up there with you, so I get the rings.”

“Do not do something to them,” Jared says. “Don’t — pretend you’ve lost them, or drop them, or—”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Erin says, sounding almost hurt.

Jared does not believe her.

“I wouldn’t do that to Bryce,” Erin adds.

Bryce is the brother ERIN never had. Because her brother is much worse than Bryce.

“When have you even tied bow ties?” Jared asks.

“Haven’t since my own wedding, but I looked it up on YouTube just in case you needed the help,” his dad says. “Now quit talking, I’m focusing.”

“Okay,” Jared says, and it looks pretty good after the third time his dad subjects him to a ‘wait, fuck, I’m trying again’.

“Don’t tell your mom I fixed your bow tie,” his dad says. “She looked it up on YouTube too, and she even bought one to practice with, she’ll be annoyed with herself.”

This right here encapsulates the Mathesons. A lot of snark and plenty of faults, but these hobgoblins love one another a lot. (Also randomly sneaky about their kindness because can't be obvious about their loving acts, how embarrassing.)

His mom wipes his eyes for him. “I did a really good job on that bow tie,” she says, sounding pleased.

“A great job,” Jared says, and bites down a smile when his dad gives him a thumbs up behind her back.

<3 Mathesons.

108 - Impaired Judgment (and other excuses for falling in love)

I’ve said it before, but this was the original title of the series, shortened for a few reasons (mostly brevity), and it felt right to use it for this part.

“Your dad spent the entire morning of our wedding day convinced I wasn’t going to show up,” his mom says. “You’re doing fine.”

“I didn’t really think that,” his dad mutters. “It was just a possibility.” If Jared was marrying literally anyone else, that’d probably bring the freak out to a new height, except it’s Bryce, so it doesn’t.

Seriously, can you imagine Bryce not following through with it? I can’t. Jared can’t. Dude’s cried with joy three times today in the presence of his mom alone. Nothing could get him to miss this.

Chaz does this goofy salute at him when Jared glances over the crowd of people ready to witness the inevitable mortification, and Jared smiles back weakly.

The person unironically referring to his time at the altar as ‘inevitable mortification’ does not get to call other people goofy.

“I’m not hugging you,” Erin says, when his dad finally lets go.

“Didn’t ask you to,” Jared says, which apparently is the permission Erin needs to hug him.

It’s like he doesn’t know her at all. Of course that’s the permission. Also: every time Erin and Jared hug my grinchy heart grows two sizes.

Jared looks over, sees Elaine and Bryce coming out of the back door of the bunk house, their hair glinting gold in the summer light and Bryce’s tux tailored perfectly, some full on James Bond suave shit going on, and Jared just — he gets to marry him.

We have TWO soppy ass dudes in this relationship, I don’t care what Jared says.

Who would dare pointed cough at him in the middle of his wedding? It’s probably a Matheson. Or Julius. Jared bets it was fucking Julius.

Chaz had a ticklish throat, sorry for LIVING.

Who let Jared open his mouth, holy shit. Someone stop him.

An excellent summary of Jared’s vows and also Jared’s life.

“I was such an angry person when I met you,” Bryce says. “Angry, and unhappy, and not — I didn’t want to be who I was. I didn’t like me. I didn’t like pretty much anyone. But god I liked you. And I wanted you to like me back so bad. And somehow you did, even though I wasn’t someone who even close to deserved you. And my biggest goal since I met you has been to become someone who does. And I don’t think I’m there yet, and I don’t know if I ever will be, but I promise you that’s going to continue to be something I strive towards every single day for the rest of my life.”

Bryce Marcus in his feelings is my number one kryptonite, and it got me good again.

He shakes his head, because he knows Bryce worked on it. Draft after draft, probably, trying to articulate his feelings for Jared, managing to land on the most devastating words possible, because he’s devastating in the best way possible.

Jared inhales, exhales, tries to get his breathing under control. Bryce waits for him to try to put himself together, and if Jared hadn’t been sure he wanted to marry him before this — and obviously he was pretty fucking sure — that would have done it, all by itself.

I’m not crying, you’re crying.

109 - Wedded Bliss

“Have a great season, guys,” she says, and Jared’s all panicky, suddenly, wondering if she’s a fan, which team she’s a fan of, before realising like — maybe she is a fan, maybe she isn’t, no way to know. If he was her, signing a non-disclosure agreement, he’d be immediately looking up the names if he didn’t recognise them, wondering what made an NDA necessary in the first place. And even if she is a fan, she’s not going to snitch; like, she signed a binding contract that would open her up to being sued for everything she’s worth, and also she’d probably lose her marriage licence…thing or whatever.

Besides, no Flames fan would be able to tell an Oiler to have a great season with a straight face.

Jared going through all the possibilities before stating the obvious.

(This reminds me of a fun fact I learned recently: in a map showing most hated teams by state and province, Alberta’s most hated team? The Calgary Flames. Meanwhile the Boston Bruins has all of Eastern Canada and two of three territories, for the largest geographical spread, good work dudes.)

“No one’s going to look at a picture of you standing alone in a tux and say, ‘hey, he must have been getting married to a man who plays for his rival team’,” his mom says dryly, which — fair point.

I mean…

“Bear, come here for a sec? I need a favour,” Elaine says, and Bryce immediately stops mid-conversation with Chaz and Ash and trots over, like the momma’s boy he is. Ridiculous.

Jared blinks when Elaine’s phone goes off. “Much better,” she says. “Thanks, honey.”

“I didn’t —” Bryce says, sounding confused, and Jared shrugs at him.

Elaine knows all the tricks. Jared’s smile went from strained to soppy watching that jog.

But, then, fuck it. He doesn’t need excuses. They’re literally all at his and Bryce’s wedding, who’s going to complain about a little kissing?

“Hey,” Bryce says, wrapping an arm around him when he comes over, mouth surprised against Jared’s when he kisses him, but only for a second before he’s kissing back.

“Okay, no,” Erin says. “Stop.”

Erin. Erin will complain about a little kissing. (They're so happy they get to kiss in front of PEOPLE. While OUTSIDE. Downright giddy.)

Also, Jared is pretty sure at a normal wedding, him and Bryce would get first crack at the food, but nope, he’s got to wait in line like everyone else even though he’s starving. Julius won’t let Jared butt in front of him, all ‘just because you’re married now doesn’t make you special’. Julius is the fucking worst. Jared can’t believe he even invited him.

I’ve said it before, but: truly the friend Jared deserves.

“So Jared’s like ‘I’ve never hated someone more in my life’ and ‘what a stupid flashy car Bryce Marcus has, don’t you hate Bryce too, Raf, I hate him so much that I can’t stop talking about him’ and ‘how dare Bryce Marcus say a single word to me, doesn’t he realise how much I loathe him, that handsome bane of my existence’, and he’s blushing bright red every time Bryce walks within ten feet of us, and—”

IJ(aoe), Act I: a summary.

“You didn’t bring lube?” Bryce says.

“No?” Jared says.

“You forgot lube?” Bryce hisses.

From comedy to tragedy.

Jared has to get up to hit the lights — they played rock-paper-scissors for it and Bryce lost but then he looked so dejected Jared got up anyway

True love right there.

“Thanks for marrying me,” Bryce murmurs.

There are so, so many sarcastic responses on Jared’s tongue. So many. And Jared’s sure that Bryce is expecting one, wouldn’t mind, would probably even laugh. But like. He doesn’t want to say any of them. And if there’s any time he can be like, unselfconsciously sappy, he thinks his wedding night probably qualifies.

“It was my privilege,” Jared says, cheeks heating anyway, because apparently nope, there is no time that he can be unselfconsciously sappy up to and including his wedding night, but the smile on Bryce’s face, small and sweet and almost shy, the way it lingers when Jared kisses him, well, it’s worth any embarrassment Jared feels.

They’re so gross, I love them.

110 - Refuge

And they order Thai from their usual place, but Jared doesn’t know if the orders got swapped or someone was new or not paying attention or what, because his usual order is his usual order, except there’s shrimp instead of chicken in his noodles and he can smell shellfish the second he opens his soup, and Bryce is ridiculous when he calls them back, all ‘how can you not see ‘shellfish allergy’ in the notes’ and ‘do you want to kill him?’, like Jared would actually die and not just be moderately to severely uncomfortable if he ate it, which he hadn’t.

Jared is right on the verge of telling Bryce how ridiculous he is when he remembers his dad’s pre-wedding advice, and he bites his tongue and lets Bryce take care of it, even if Bryce’s version of taking care of it is a total overreaction.

Bryce is PROTECTING HIS MAN. And look at Jared listening to his dad’s advice.

There’s a tiny part of Jared that’s faintly appalled he hasn’t left the house for days, hasn’t put on a shirt in just as long — Bryce has offered to be the one to get dressed every time they order food

Bryce transparently wanting to be the provider. Also not wanting Jared to put any clothes on.

“So hey,” Bryce says. He’s trying to make it sound casual, but it doesn’t, and Jared squints up at him suspiciously.

"I want us to keep wearing our wedding rings,” Bryce says.

Bryce being the initiatior of the first step of many that leads to their eventual outing. (I mean, the wedding would also count, but these rings get scrutinized at the time and then down the line).

“You’re worth like, everything,” Bryce says. “You know that, right?” Jared presses his face tighter against Bryce’s shirt, Bryce’s thumb tracing the heated shell of his ear.

Oh kids.

“So you’re okay with it?” Bryce says.

“If you stop saying nice things to me for like, at least an hour,” Jared says. “Then okay.”

“I’ll do my best,” Bryce says solemnly.

“Okay,” Jared says.

“I love you,” Bryce says.

“Bryce!” Jared says.

“That’s not a nice thing, that’s just like, a fact,” Bryce says. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jared says, then commences to pull Bryce’s shirt up and stick his head under it, because the only way Jared can maintain the absolute fiction that he’s not blushing is to hide his face.

Jared would protest vociferously, but: he is adorable.

Bryce sacks out early that night, exhausted from his day of lounging around the couch and like, complimenting Jared too much. Jared’s half tempted to poke him awake to just like, not have the honeymoon end yet, but that’s mean. He looks so peaceful, Jared can’t do that to him.

Jared’s a place Bryce can rest, and he takes that role seriously.

[seas-storyarchive]

Wine On - Garden Gang what if

Summary: Has light Radiorose, but mainly because the Deer is tired of the rest of the Garden Gang and Hotel Crew

Also: it's my bday today, so I'm giving all of you a gift.

[[MORE]]

☆☆☆

Bad idea to get everyone drunk off of Al's aged since the days of Eden liquor. Bad idea.

Husk was on a ceiling rafter with Lute and they were fighting over the space, Angel was running around nude with a lampshade, Niffty was running to and fro everywhere, Cherri was taking shots off of Saint Pentious' body as he lay wasted on the table, Vaggie was crying to Lilith who was comforting her, and Lucifer was still chugging the liquor with Eve and Adam.

Where Al was? That was a mystery. He'd vanished after hour 2 of being drunker than anyone had ever seen him. And that was 3 hours ago.

"Guys.. we need to find Alastor." Charlie said, finally.

Lilith, Lucifer, Adam and Eve all laughed.

"What's so-"

"Kid, he sent a text. Lookat.." Adam showed her the phone.

Charlie read it out, "about to go the the flower garden. Don't tell Charlie." She was confused, looking at Adam. "What does he mean by-"

"Char-char, shh. Charlie ain't s'pposed ta hear that Antlers went ta his lady friend's to finally get *hic* tapped out like a light switch." Lucifer said at the bar. "Dude's about to be bow chicka wowed!" This drew a laugh from almost everyone.

"About time." Eve said, slamming her bottle down.

"Oh.. well, good for him I guess.." Charlie said, giving in to temptation and grabbing an unopened bottle to drink from.

--

"How'd you sleep?" Rosie asked Alastor, he'd shown up at her place drunk out of his mind and collapsed onto her shop floor.

Alastor gave a thumbs up. "Best sleep ever." He smiled at her, looking at the frilly gown she'd dressed him in. "I feel pretty." He leaned on her. "Am I pretty?"

"Gorgeous." Rosie chuckled, wrapping an arm around him.

"I don't wanna go back to the hotel yet. I'm not about to be the only sober one." Alastor murmured as he yawned.

"Good, I like having a deer to cuddle." Rosie moved her other hand up to cup his face and kiss his cheek.

"Thank you, for not taking advantage of me, in that state.." Alastor didn't elaborate further.

"Oh babe, I would never." Rosie kissed his cheek. "And I wouldn't let anyone else see you that way. You're too innocent for that."

"Me? Innocent?" Alastor chuckled, before his stomach growled.

"Aw, does my deer want a snackie?" Rosie pinched his cheek.

Alastor bit her fingers, just a nibble, grinning. "Yes, but you'll be more than enough."

Rosie laughed, kissing him. "Stay put, lover boy, I'll go fetch you a nice leg."

"Big enough to share? I don't want to eat alone."

"Of course, you clingy drunk buck." Rosie pinched his nose before she left to go retrieve the piece of meat.

--

There Alastor stayed with Rosie, talking about everything and nothing.

"Your mother, tell me about her." Rosie said after finally convincing Alastor to let her do his hair, deciding to put her spare set of curlers in his hair to be careful of his ears.

"Most loving woman you'd ever meet." Alastor chuckled. "She'd make you feel like you'd always been part of the household. Give you a simple chore, a cuppa, plate of whatever she'd made that day." He sighed. "I miss that, honestly. But, given my sins.."

"Why not try, Al?" Rosie asked him, knowing what that would mean.

"I.. I'm afraid to lose the only.. I- I mean.." Alastor, the radio demon, tongue tied? Oh, this was a treat.

"I know. I'd miss you too much too." Rosie kissed the top of his head. "The man who taught me what love could be."

Alastor hummed, smiling. "I'd miss how freely you can move me. Like a mannequin in your shop. The only woman who will ever truly have my heart in a way I thought not possible."

They lapsed into a silence filled with love, Rosie finishing up with curling his hair. Alastor quickly returned the favor, using her brush to untangle her hair and brush it out into waves of white before putting it into a messy french braid.

From there, the two danced. To music and laughter. Just the two of them.

--

The hotel? Oh..

Lucifer, Vaggie, Lute and Adam were all drunk and sharing a braincell that had them flying around a passed out Lilith and Husk like vultures.

Niffty had flooded several toilets - how? No one dared ask.

Cherri had disappeared with Pentious.

Angel and Charlie were drunk dancing on the bar and screaming karaoke. Eve reviled in the chaos, laughing between swigs of her bottle.

Yup, Alastor would be one angry deer when he came home. Especially concerning the snapping gators that had just escaped his room - thanks Niffty.

--

Alastor returned the next morning, Rosie having driven him to the hotel herself, opening the door. What greeted his curly head was a disaster. A mess. Shit he was NOT dealing with. He closed the door and walked back to Rosie's car, sliding across the hood and then getting into the passenger seat.

"That bad?" Rosie asked with a laugh.

Alastor nodded. "I'm just going to hang about Cannibal Town today."

"Perfect. Oh, hey! Let's go to the theater! They have black and white shows today." Rosie started to drive away from the hotel.

"Rosie, take me on your magic journey. Be my guide." Alastor said, turning the radio on to jazz.

"As you wish, my dear deer." Rosie laughed as they sped down the road, soon joined by Alastor.

[lady-phasma]

Phazzie could you please explain the appeal of Aemond? In great detail please and thanks

I can and I would be honored! I have been saving this one until I could really dig into it. Thanks for your patience, anon.

I'll start with the hair and get it out of the way. Targaryen hair. Now that's done we can move on to why Aemond is such an appealing character for so many in the HotD fandom.

Aemond doesn't have very much screen time and that makes him a bit mysterious. It also makes him fun for fic writers because there is so much blank space to fill in until the next season. You asked for "great detail" so I think the best place to start is with younger Aemond because that part of his character sets a solid foundation for aged-up Aemond who is the primary focus of the Aemond stans.

This kid is complex! Not going into controversies about bullying or whether his actions were justified, objectively Aemond was designed to be more than a one-dimensional character. Your question wasn't about why people hate him but I have to mention that his claiming of Vhagar is the point where fans seem to begin to disagree. However, that such a moment can be so divisive is evidence that it is crucial to his character development.

Back to his appeal. Until this decision is made Aemond is a kind of privileged underdog. He shows disappointment that he was not expected to fulfill any princely duties as his brother is. He is pushed aside as a second son. He isn't a true underdog because, well, he's a Targaryen prince but he has been given a hurdle that is perceived by other characters to be a major disadvantage: he does not have a dragon. For Targaryen royalty that's an embarrassment as well. We all know about the Pink Dread but it's deeper than that.

He makes a rash decision to claim Vhagar at the first opportunity. He's a kid, they act before they think. But he succeeds. Vhagar allows this princeling to ride her. I may not be a good judge of character but dragons are, they know if the rider has the mettle it takes to ride them.

So here's this kid, who lacks for nothing but a dragon, and he finally gets one... under the most inconsiderate circumstances possible. Yup, at Laena's funeral. Kids aren't smart or thoughtful as a rule. Regardless of the 'why's and placing blame, little dude ends up losing an eye by the hand of his nephew Lucerys. Now Westeros is no longer his oyster. A damaged prince, a "cripple" as Bran Stark puts it, and a second son who will have even less duty placed upon him. He's still not to be pitied and he is still privileged beyond imagining, but now his complexity becomes more interesting.

Let's jump ahead. What makes this bizarre, cocky, one-eyed price so likable? Especially when about half of aged-up Aemond's screen time is sass and being rude and literally shoving people. All of that, that's what.

Aemond's appeal is his lack of fucks. He has none to give. He lost them all with his eye. Yes, he loves his mother, honors his father, brother, and sister (don't come at me I'm sure he loves them too). He also worked hard to make sure that he could be arrogant. He didn't wake up a badass. He strove for it. He earned his cockiness. He doesn't give a shit about tourneys because tournaments are for pretty knights who wear armor and ask for favors. He needs no armor, he even discards his shield and still bests a man wielding a morning star. He antagonizes his nephews immediately because he is hyper-aware of his surroundings and planned his words carefully to instill the most insecurity in them as possible.

You might be asking 'how on earth is that appealing?' Well, because the average viewer has to give fucks, day in and day out. His air of superiority is something very few people can get away with without alienating everyone around them. This is why fiction is fun. He is superior and he knows it.

He has no plans to overthrow his brother for the crown but this man knows, and I mean knows, that he is better suited to be king. He knows he is better at everything. Is he right? That's irrelevant for most fans. This grandiosity is sexy. Not only in a sexual attraction kind of way. It's gravitas.

Yet all of that comes from this thin, graceful, precise young man with only one eye. Can you see the juxtaposition, the contradiction, that has been set up for this character? He is, by Westerosi standards, a broken thing. He inhabits a nebulous space, a space not yet concretized by the series, that requires nothing from him while also requiring everything from him.

On top of all of this is a fierce need to rectify what he sees as injustices. He is an ass when he makes his 'strong' pun, as princes can be. He isn't a lovely, compassionate person who rises above, takes the 'high road,' or 'turns the other cheek.' That is appealing as well because it's not how viewers get to navigate their own world. They have to bite their tongues and be the better person. Aemond doesn't have to at all.

To wrap up this monster answer, I want to skip to Storm's End and no, not the chomp, a bit before that. Viewers see Aemond as this rakish, cavalier, sexy Targaryen but I have my doubts that he is viewed that way in the narrative. Lord Borros's daughter isn't fanning herself and melting into a puddle at his feet. He might have Targaryen hair (you knew I couldn't mention it only once) but he is not at all "traditionally" handsome, not as he could have been perhaps, again by Westerosi standards, if he had not lost his eye.

Viewers see him as extremely sexy, again that gravitas as much as his appearance, but aren't frightened of him. The fourth wall protects the viewers from the frightening aspects of Aemond's personality, shields them. And that is the space from which all the appeal emerges. I think I've done pretty well so far to not say "I like this or that" about Aemond. I'm going to do it now. I find him appealing because he is unpredictable. I could very well be frightened of him. I'm not special. I only have a special viewpoint: from behind the fourth wall. His unpredictability makes him interesting (like claiming Vhagar at a funeral) and it makes him a bit dangerous. Of course I think he is beautiful, but that's not the je ne sais quoi of him. What Aemond does that few characters in HotD seem to be doing is making viewers genuinely curious. How that curiosity is expressed is as varied as the fans. Some hate him because he is enigmatic, others love him and project their needs onto him, some want him to be one-dimensional and perhaps evil, and nearly all of them wait with bated breath to find out what he will do next.

[moreespressoformydepresso]

What are your honest thoughts on all Descendants boys? From both books and movies?

Oehh that’s a good question! I’ll base most of this off of the movies because I remember them more clearly. Sorry this is so late, I needed some time to sort out my thoughts. Let’s see:

Ben: cutie, golden retriever energy, needs to grow a bit more of a spine but as a recovering doormat I vibe with him.

He’s got a good heart, and he’s definitely going places, but I have no idea who decided a 16-year-old should be king. Hilariously, he’s a better king than his dad because he cares about all of his people, not just the “heroes”. But still, he’s 16, let him have his dumbass teenage years. He’s still in his phase of wanting to please everyone and that isn’t gonna lead to the best decision making. You’re king, Ben, you can overrule your girlfriend’s selfish idiotic plan of closing the barrier. Just tell her “the barrier was opened for you to come through too. If those kids aren’t worth the risk, does that mean you aren’t either? Should we throw you back?!” And she’s change her tune real fast. You gotta give some tough love sometimes.

Jay: cool, I wanna know his gym routine, pretty funny but rash, needs Carlos to temper his brand of crazy (love their bromance).

I love the narrative parallels to the movie Aladdin. Jafar thought himself so far above a street rat and now he’s raised his son to be one so he can continue being a con-man. In the movies, Jay is actually a very accurate representation of your upbringing shaping you into who you are. All Jay knows is stealing, he’s never been taught to pay if he doesn’t have to, so to him stealing’s perfectly fine. It’s normal. It’s a lot more subtle than the whole “who doesn’t like being evil” bit, but the core idea is the same: when all you’ve ever known is one perspective, that’s gonna feel like the objective truth because you’ve never had a chance to try a different one.

Carlos De Vil: Best (movie) Boy, my baby, I love him. What a little nerd (affectionate).

He’s a big part of why I willfully ignore the absolute stupidity that is the third movie’s ending. I’m sorry Mal, wtf is wrong with you??? You set your supposed friend’s abuser free for nothing but some empty platitudes and dare suggest you’ve become an empathetic person?!?! In the books, we get a lot more insight into just how horrible of a mother Cruella is, but even in the movies we see he’s had it bad because of how jumpy and nervous he is. Disney is still Disney so we don’t get much of the healing process, but we see how he calms down and adjusts to a normal life over the course of the movies when he’s out of the bad situation, which is pretty good by Disney standards. Cameron Boyce did an amazing job playing him (R.I.P Cameron) and seeing an abuse victim get comfortable within their own skin and getting the happy ending they deserve is always fun.

Harry Hook: Insane (affectionate), most fashionable drama queen ever, absolutely crazy, more than a few screws loose but in the best way possible, he’s hilarious.

So on the surface, Harry’s pretty simple. A dude who’s lost his marbles and flirts with everyone. He probably has some kind of moral compass, since he didn’t rip Mal’s throat out with his hook when she revealed her little stunt in D3, but it fell overboard at some point and couldn’t be found so nobody knows what it is except Harry himself. Also, he has his sane moments, like during that same confrontation in D3 I mentioned before where he says “And you, King Benny... you're probably gonna throw us all back inside.” It’s the first time I’ve heard him sound… not like Harry. It’s sombre and defeated, a little disappointed maybe? Either way it’s really good acting and it implies he can act completely “normal” but he just chooses not to, which makes me like him even more. He’s just a dude living his best life despite the circumstances he was born into.

Gil: adorable, hilarious, kinda clueless but in a good way.

I love characters that have no idea what’s going on half the time but are absolute sweethearts trying their best. He’s like- the opposite of his dad in every way and I’m living for it!

Gaston Jr and Gaston the third: I don’t have much to say on them, let alone separately, so they get a section together.

Honestly? I don’t remember having an opinion of them. They made Evie happy by wresting, which is cool so they get points for that. Seem like they’re trying to out-gentleman each other to win Evie’s heart and since they’re not being creepy assholes about it they are objectively better than their dad. Very much brawl over brains, the two of them, with their constant wrestling reminding me of Carlos and Jay except they’re both the muscle. Kinda cute sibling relationship, even if it’s in a VK-typical villain-flavored way.

Anthony Tremaine: squeeeee, my type is pretty boys who sigh in annoyance at everything, I guess? We only get scraps but I happily cradle them to my chest.

Uhmmm so Anthony’s personality is mostly up for imagination? The only canon information we have is that he’s most likely Anastasia’s only kid (someone on Tumblr pointed out that, in the scene with the wicked step-daughters, he’s referred to only as their cousin, not their brother) and he’s very bored with his cousins’ antics. Given A Twist In Time the potential drama is endless. Every time Anthony’s mentioned we’re reminded he’s pretty and has good style, and I love that for him. Dude lives on an isle of junk and still looks like a supermodel. Lots of room for my own ideas while still remaining within the realm of “could be canon” with just enough base in there that I’m not just creating an OC, and as a writer and artist that’s all I need tbh.

Hadie: cute, deserves better, I need more of him and Mal bonding

Mal’s half-brother, son of Hades, very cool. I like that he’s trying to turn good and having a hard time, because that’s very realistic for someone who grew up not knowing anything other than evil. Descendants 2 tried to tackle it with Mal, but failed miserably. We know Hades sucks as a parent in descendants (neglect is abuse) so that’s not gonna help him.

Dough: Awww he’s so cute with Evie 🥺

No really that’s it. He’s a nerd that gets the girl, has some very funny moments, but honestly most of his character is centered around Evie? And they’re cute together it’s not a bad thing but there isn’t much to analyze. He’s understandably pissed about someone like Chad getting all the girls while using them, but that’s also only ever seen in relation to Evie.

Chad Charming: what a bitch (derogatory), total coward, I hate him but he’s funny.

So I have no issue with characters who conduct themselves terribly (I love Audrey, (fanon) Anthony, Uma, and many others from many fandoms) if, and that’s a massive IF, they have a good reason for it. And I’ll count “because I can and I want to” as a good reason, because by that point you have someone who’s mean and owns it. I can appreciate the self-awareness and usually those characters are very extra so it’s entertaining. If not that, there needs to be a reason they are the way they are. Audrey has the pressure from her grandmother (and the borderline verbal abuse), Uma has the very real grievance of living in squalor on a run-down island full of the worst of humanity because she was born, what does Chad have? He’s spoiled. A spoiled brat. And he goes from that to an overtly whimpering coward with none of the pretense of superiority in any field. His one saving grace is that he’s a massive joke.

Diego De Vil, Clay Clayton, Gonzo, Jace and Harry Badun, Herkie, Aziz, Jonas, Lefou Deux, Li Shang Jr, everyone else I missed: no opinion, because they’re not relevant enough for the writers to give them a personality.

I have nothing I’m sorry. I barely remember reading their names and I don’t remember anything from the scenes they’re (mentioned) in to get an idea of what to talk about here.

That was… a lot lmao

[sp0o0kylights]

Since I’m on a roll, here’s another part I had fun with. Both this and the Steve-Goes-Into-The-Car-Blanket-fort scene are apart of Illustrated which is my lil Soulmate AU. 

“The famed bedroom of King Steve. I feel like I should have made you work harder to get me in here. Rumors say you enjoy the chase after all."  Munson drawls, as they walk down the hallway.  

"Rumors say a lot of things, Munson. Most of it’s-" Steve stops, catches himself before he says the word bullshit and inflicts psychological damage on himself. "Stupid." 

"Stupid." Eddie echoes, teasing lilt to his voice. 

“Tommy once spent six weeks trying to convince last year's freshmen that Ms. Click is in a motorcycle gang.” Steve counters. “Went so far as to try and get the school’s journalist club to fake some pictures for him.”

“That explains the entire debate club's fixation with leather vests.” Eddie says triumphantly, looking like there’s a story he’s about to tackle (likely with many dramatics, because omelets seem to have somehow restored the guy’s energy) but stops dead as Steve swings his bedroom door open. 

“Oh my god why is there so much plaid?” Eddie’s jaw drops, teasing forgotten entirely as they step into Steve’s room. 

Who rolls his eyes. “Why does everyone always say that?”

“Because no one in their right mind has plaid walls, dude.” Munson blinks, dramatically staggering backwards like he’s been hit. “My eyes are being assaulted right now.” 

Steve should be annoyed, but surprises himself when he finds he actually wants to laugh. “Does it help if I tell you I didn’t pick it?”

The look Eddie gives him almost makes him laugh anyway. “Who the hell did? Satan?” 

“Close enough. My mom.” Steve turns to look at his room, imagining how someone like Eddie must see it. 

Plaid walls, minimal décor, a bed that’s made (only because Steve’s mother drilled that habit into him) and hideous, matching curtains. The whole set was picked out of a catalog, right down to the stupid, framed car poster. 

The only thing that shows any signs of life is his desk, which is covered in scraplets of paper, pens, a phone and random other objects. 

(Steve’s favorite is a small stuffed penguin wearing a sailor costume. Robin had a matching one, a tribute to the way they had met. It would be the very first thing he’d grab in a fire, one of the very few possessions he owned that Steve truly treasures.)  

“Ahh the fabled Mrs. Harrington. I thought she was made up.” Eddie says, finally  entering the room. He explores it like something might pop out at him, and hell, Steve couldn’t blame him for that either. 

“Yeah. She picked it out when she used to be here more. Before her and my dad fucked off to New York.” 

“And you didn’t immediately renovate?” 

This is the most expressive Steve’s seen Eddie in the last twenty four hours. Feels almost like he’s got the guy back to some semblance of a balanced mental state, which makes the part of Steve that loves caring for people unbelievably happy. 

Steve shrugs. “Honestly, I never thought about it much.” 

Doesn’t mention that these days he tries to spend the least amount of time he can inside his own home, instead bouncing between work, Dustin’s house, and any antics the kids or Robin had pulled him into.

Thinks vaguely that he and Robin may have actually slept in his living room more than his actual bedroom-or, him in her bed, considering how often he sneaks into her room. 

A fact her parents would be furious about except they’re so painfully relieved that they’ve purposefully given Steve some grace. Something Robin hates and Steve does his best to distract her from. 

“Yeah we’re gonna fix that.” Eddie spins slowly, looking all the way up like some bit of personality is hiding out on the ceiling. “Immediately.”

Digs around in one of his pockets, and pulls out a thick black Sharpie, before turning with it to give Steve a wild grin.  “What do you say to a little home makeover?” 

Steve raises an eyebrow at him, before looking over his room once more. “You sure you don’t want a shower first” He asks, to buy himself time to think.

Has a feeling Munson can find the time to shower, nap and cause chaos, in equal amounts. 

Sure enough, Eddie waves him off. “Don’t you worry about me, Steve-o,  I think I can manage to figure out how to use your bathroom after giving this place a little art CPR.” 

Screw it.

Will in fact, likely help Munson channel out whatever leftover emotion he had left into whatever horrors he drew upon Steve’s wallpaper, which at the very least, could always be removed later.

It’s not like his parents can get any more disappointed in him. 

“Fine, just promise me no dicks.” He agrees, with a sigh. 

Eddie cackles. “Don’t you worry man, just watch the master work.” 

Steve rolled his eyes.

Does actually hang around, if only to turn on his cassette player and point out where all his tapes are. 

Leaves when Munson momentarily stops “redecorating” in order to trash Steve’s taste in music, in alphabetical order. 

“I get it, I’m a mainstream prick, you jerk.” He calls over his shoulder as he exits. “Now I’m going to go where I won’t be insulted, and see if Cunningham needs anything.” 

(She doesn’t, but does playfully insult him, having overheard the conversation. 

“Well fuck me I guess.” Steve mutters with a sigh, as she laughs at him.)

[shares-a-vest]

@steddie-week Day Five: Together/Established Relationship/Hold the Line by Toto

Steve and Eddie being in a relationship might be the worst thing that has ever happened to Dustin.

Demagorgons, evil Russians, Vecna, undead bats and dogs, government conspiracies and his cat being eaten have all been bliss compared to the sickly sweet, ooey-gooey, puppy-love, lovesick, utter grossness bullshit of Steve and Eddie actually being together.

Of course, he is okay with it in terms of them being two dudes. His mother taught him never to judge people like that.

Nope, that isn't the problem.

It's awful and just plain annoying because they are inseparable.

Attached at the hip. Practically living together in Steve's parentless house. Going everywhere together... Making everything about the other all the damn time... Talking on the phone when they can't be in the same vicinity... Eddie being granted a lifetime riding shotgun pass in the Beemer... Steve declaring that Eddie is his best friend...

And it is all impacting Dustin's life a little too much at this point.

He barges into Steve's house, not bothering to wait at the door after his knocking remains unanswered. As were his phone calls hours ago It's 11am on a goddamn Saturday morning and neither of the guys has work.

They were supposed to meet him at the arcade two hours ago.

Inseparable. But also selfish and forgetful.

He walks into the living room to find Steve and Eddie cuddled up on the couch (barf) and tucked under a blanket. Both are still dressed in pyjamas, a disgusting matching set Eddie had bought at the beginning of last Winter as a joke that they now wear unironically all the goddamn time.

Eddie (as usual) has his hands in Steve's hair, petting him like he's an overly furry house cat. And Steve (as usual) is on the precipice of sleep.

"You were supposed to meet me at the arcade!" he blurts out.

He probably should have thought of something better to announce his presence - something that would make them feel oh so very bad for abandoning him. But he is too distracted by the realisation that this relationship has also turned his best friends into senior citizen-homebody-couch potatoes. If only Steve was wearing the dorky old man spectacles he needs for the computer at work...

The pair startle a little but barely move. If anything, they look annoyed that he is even in their presence. They don't even look guilty or caught out! Have some sort of reaction - assholes!

"We're watching TV," Steve mumbles through a yawn, completely blowing over the plans they had made and now missed.

"Yeah," Eddie drawls, eyes glued to the screen, "MTV time, go away."

He punctuates his lame explanation with a hiss that makes Steve (now the chief of egging him on) snicker into his chest.

Yuck.

Dustin groans at the sounds of Toto crooning from the TV, whining when he catches Eddie of all people, mouthing along to the words.

Maybe he should just get it over and done with and call Hellfire for an emergency talk about their (decidedly no longer 'metal') Dungeon Master. They were already talking about it. Even Gareth, Jeff and George were willing to overthrow Eddie and replace him with Will if it meant some consistent campaigns without a fawning Steve lingering around asking silly questions - all an excuse to lamely flirt and grab Eddie's already-waning attention.

Although, it might be more effective at this point to simply disable Steve's cable access...

"What!" he screeches at the sight of Robin shuffling in from the kitchen, slurping away at some cereal.

She stops mid-spoonful, gawking. A Cheerio slops onto her chin before dripping down onto her sweater without her noticing.

"Hey," she mumbles through a mouthful nonchalantly.

She squishes past the lovebirds to sit in the empty spot next to Steve - which is basically three-quarters of the couch considering his proximity to Eddie.

"Why are you here?"

Robin shrugs, "Kid, this is the only way I can spend time with Steve that doesn't involve being at work."

"Are you fucking kidding me!"

Steve grumbles, "I'm not going with you, dude."

"But we made these plans a week ago."

"No, I don't wanna."

"Henderson," Eddie pipes up, overly stern alongside Steve's baby-whining ass, "We just want some peace and quiet."

"Can't we just chill out, Dustin?" Steve begs as if they aren't like this all the time these days.

Before Dustin can express his utter disappointment, Steve retreats into Eddie's chest and pulls their blanket up to cover himself completely. Eddie just continues petting the mass glued to his side as Dustin scrubs a hand over his own face, resigning himself to an arcade session alone.

Robin whines, likely annoyed that their communal blanket is now being hogged by a total traitor of a friend. She reaches forward to deposit her cereal bowl on the coffee table with a pointed thud. Clearly 'spending time with Steve' just means being a rickety third wheel that eventually topples off the proverbial clown car entirely.

"I'll come with you to the arcade," she says, jumping up and rushing towards him.

She rolls her eyes in the direction of the cocooned duo on the couch.

"Really?" he can't help but beam and as Robin nods, a toothy, even guilty smile creeps across her face.

"But I don't have any money," she admits, chewing her bottom lip.

Fuck it, he'll take it.

Dustin grabs her arm and begins leading them to the door, grumbling as Robin's socks slip on Mrs Harrington's shiny floorboards.

He calls over his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll just find a new older friend. I hate you two."

"Fine," Eddie chimes, matching his mocking singsong tone.

Steve just grunts something Dustin doesn't catch, he's too busy listening to Robin launching into a series of complaints about the prospect of walking back to the town centre from Loch Nora.

Robin stops mid-rant as she tries to spin at the same time she hops into one of her boots, almost falling straight into the coat rack.

She frowns, "Did you just imply we weren't friends, Little Dude?"

Dustin pinches his nose, "Are you coming, or not?"

Eddie watches, craning his neck to peek over to the front door. When he hears it click shut, he flicks the blanket away and begins pulling on Steve's pyjama sleeve.

"Now that Rob is gone, you wanna get back in bed, Stevie-Bear?"

He is practically on his feet before he finishes talking, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Steve leaps up and wraps his arms around his middle, already setting about waddling them as one cozy blob towards the stairs.

"Duh."

[doodle-do-wop]

I am asking abt the other cabins, I totally have not been hypnotized to ask

OKAY OKAY OKAY

so this is gonna be one long ass post (possibly) and it's going to be formatted weird because I rambled about this on discord ages ago

Sophie Foster: Daughter of Zeus

girly can fly, shoot lightning, and is mega powerful with enough low self esteem to match

as stated in a different channel she's picture perfect to be a demigod with her origin story

fatal flaw: ambition (reasoning being she tends to do things on a whim a lot and that can also be chalked up to hubris but let's not forget Sophie is a genius by all definition of the word. She was going to go to college based off of pure intelligence alone but there's a certain type of bite that comes with power and it's the realization you can do more)

Keefe Sencen: Son of Aphrodite

literally the goddess of love and beauty, emotions are her forte and thus the best godly parent for Keefe's powers to fit into

he can still be the funny sarcasm guy, kids can have more than one personality trait

also beauty and love don't just apply outwardly and only romantically. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, self love and platonic included

fatal flaw: low self esteem (literally look at that sad wet noodle of a boy and tell me he thinks he's worthy of anything)

Biana Vacker: Daughter of Athena

vanisher fits Athena to a T and yet even with a cool ability she's overshadowed by Fitz still

smart girl, was a brat in the beginning but grows into one of the most capable fighters around while keeping a caring side to her

once again, kids can have more than one trait and girls in STEM can like make-up and sparkles. It's usually the girls that have a cute blouse and know what they're doing that are the most lethal (mostly because the blouse might have a knife)

fatal flaw: Loyalty (sure she kinda abandoned Maruca but this is a new universe and look at how much she's gone through with Sophie and been a consistent and stable rock for her best friend. Girly has tackled multiple murders for her friends, she is insane)

Fitz Vacker: Son of Athena

while not a total perfect fit Athena has always focus on the mind, strategy, and being ahead of the game. What better way to do that than to make a son with the power of the mind itself, a telepath

a shining rebound ability that gives him enough pizzazz to overshadow Biana (not on purpose) but also keep him from being super socially gracious (because he ain't)

smart boy but can get a little too ahead of himself in things and send focus in the wrong direction

fatal flaw: Wrath (the boy's got a fighting temper and it's caused rifts in his relationships and even extreme pain for himself. If anything would take him down it would be his own anger)

Dex Dizznee: Son of Hermes

"doodle he's the technopath" Dex is also expecting things often only to get something else completely out of left field

the trickster god of travelers and roads ain't limited to putting a bucket over a cracked door, technological pranks work in his domain and let's not forget Dex did spike Stina's drink and make bombs

what better way to set your expectations high and get them destroyed than to expect Hephaestus or some minor god only to get the dude with wing shoes

fatal flaw: Grudges (we've seen I in action before, Dex can let a grudge like jealousy or his general dislike of the Vackers blind him out of many things including being a good friend at times, sure this was more prominent when he was younger but he still has a lot to hold against Stina even after she's shown herself to be a friend)

Marella Redek: Daughter of Ares

"but Leo is a fire powers" Marella? A daughter of Hephaestus??? Besides I doubt someone with Ares' rep can't spawn a child with fire powers

Marella's whole main goal, the very core of her motivation is her mom, she'd do anything for her and even if it meant being claimed by Aphrodite or Athena (evidence her father was unfaithful to her mother) Marella would've given anything to do something to help her mom

just to be claimed by the one god she never wanted to be claimed by, war and bloodshed, fear and hate are all Ares' domain, his kingdom of stacked skulls and crushed souls

fire is not easy to control and the path of 'easy' is almost never on the Ares' agenda

Fatal flaw: Loyalty (her relationship with her mom is a good point but also the fact that Marella was abandoned, essentially betrayed by someone she considered a friend and immediately turned cold and bitter for quite some time. She only came around because she knew she could do something to help the greater good)

Linh Song Wildwood: Daughter of Poseidon

hydrokinetic=ocean man

personally I have no idea where else she fits

the sea is a powerful thing that can't always be contained and controlled perfectly down to the last atom and Linh could've definitely had some trouble controlling the pull of the water causing the Songs to abound their demigod children once and for all leaving the twins to fight for themselves before a saytr could find them

fatal flaw: Ambition (the girl flooded Atlantis, the pull of the water is often too much for her to handle and that's the call of the sea challenging her and Linh giving into the temptation of more)

Tam Song Wildwood: Son of Poseidon

"dont you mean Hades" guys that's not how twins work

Poseidon isn't just about water and he's had kids that don't even possess his power over the ocean (ex. Chrysoar)

the ocean has depths, depths so dark and deep there are parts unexplored and uncharted due to the crush and pull of the water, a single sea current could blast you from here to another continent if you're not careful

the sea is dark but there's also light, balance, calm waves gently blanketing over sandy beaches, the moon waving between high and low tide. There is more to it than what's bobbing on the surface

fatal flaw: Loyalty (Tam is the most normal dude in a group of weirdos but those are his weirdos. Tam had always put Linh before himself and has even held an escape plan in his boot in case things got so bad he had to go back home. If Linh got kicked out Tam was going with her and staying by her side no matter what)

Wylie Endal, Son of Iris, goddess of the rainbow

he's a flasher this is quite literally his entire power scheme

each color of the rainbow possesses a slightly different kind of magic inside of it so Red might have a different affect than Blue or Green and its difficult to master the entire rainbow like Iris can

fatal flaw: Grudges

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Group F Round 2

[image ID: the first image is of Ellie, a girl with medium length blue hair and green eyes. a spherical red clip is in her hair. she wears a white sleeveless dress, a brown bag slung over her shoulder, and a large red bracelet. the second image is of the Protagonist of Melatonin. he's a young man wearing a pink hoodie, black sweatpants, and pink slippers, sleeping on a couch in a dark living room, illuminated only by a TV and a small lamp. on his chest is an open laptop. the living room is populated with items like books, gaming equipment, empty cups, glasses, and paper coffee cups, and an empty pizza box. end ID]

Ellie

Monster Tale is an old game for the DS (13 years old holy shit) and in my opinion a VERY underrated classic Ellie is a young girl that gets magically transported to a world filled with monsters. Soon after she meets a baby monster she names Chomp. Chomp was separated from his mother, and so Ellie sets out to help him find her and hopefully find a way home Along the way Ellie learns multiple other kids have been transported to this world, but unlike her, have been using the monsters for their own selfish desires. So she beats them up to get them to stop :p More seriously, the game is very cute and has a big message on friendship and being kind while also standing up for what you believe in. You'd think Chomp would do the fighting, but no! He mostly just assists Ellie, who fights with her handbag and this cool bracelet she found as she explores and tries to find his mom Overall she's a very sweet and caring girl, wanting to help others and do what's right, even if she has to get her hands dirty to do it. I love her a lot! Also a fun fact I thought was neat is that the team behind the game had to go through multiple publishers because they all wanted to change Ellie into a boy or an older woman, and the dev team was adamant that Ellie stays as she is.

Protagonist

Literally super relatable dude. Bestie has sleep problems and dreams about stuff that we usually worry or stress about. Things like money or the future or whatever. Despite the dreams feeling challenging sometimes he still manages to persevere and sleep through the night though! Not me trying to explain the plot of a rhythm game- that’s the best I can do LMAO he’s just a silly guy with a good sense of rhythm and a poor sleep schedule (omg it’s me)

[meirimerens]

hi, i know you headcanon some pathologic characters to be homosexual, like Daniil, Artemy, Yulia, Stakh... what do you think their relationship with their sexuality were throughout their lives? also, i remember in one of your older answers you mentioned Daniil coming out to his mother... how exactly did that happen in your vision?

hello darling this reply has made tumblr give me that "there was an error processing your post" over 15 times now for no good reason. it's like it was too big at first but this is the same length and if you read this it means it sent. anyways.

i had posted something kiiinda similar here (below the cut) including bi characters (eva + the twins) but i had forgor to include stakh + by god i can repeat myself/elaborate (i love. repeating myself <3 for real honestly especially on this) so ooh baby here we

Dankovsky (longest because i'm writing about him so the thoughts are many) knew at a young age (like 11-12) he didn't like girls and instead did boys so he had to come to terms with it in some way Pretty Quickly. to me he was raised christian eastern orthodox, which like all christian denominations comes with its fair share of religious-specific homophobia, he wasn't particularly like. Thrilled per se. + the familial/ancestral culture comes with its own set of expectations around masculinity which homosexuality inherently challenges and the fact that he was already more into cello than like war as a kid made his father raise an eyebrow on him right. so from ages like 11-16, dankovsky was like Well i'm going to have to pretend i don't see it and hope the sky doesn't fall on my head. at around 17 it became evident that was IT really that truly what he was and there was nothing he could possibly do to not make it be this way. it came with a sort of like. acceptance that it just was going to be how it was, but he was already starting to think how he could push the Acting on It part long enough for him to maybe become busy with something else. i think as he grew up he shed the concept of "sin" as he actualized himself atheist so no "hate the sin love the sinner" for him, but you can't really pull the religious guilt out of a man raised religious ykwim. eventually as he accepted that He Was, and that by god it wasn't even a bad thing to be/started Embracing it as one more of his Transgressions (when it. not really is, a transgression comes with a degree of consciousness and will to violate a law or code, the fact that he's gay is just. how it is. that's him forever and that'd be him regardless of context etc), he started assimilating gay codes for himself (the red tie…) to be like. Yes. ykwim. he still had not met a gay person in his life so it truly felt like Him Against the World, but he started being more comfortable with the fact that he was gay. however, it still didn't stop him from started a whole… "i'm not in a relationship rn bc i'm focusing on my studies" mindset. at uni, he truly like. came into his own internally while still trying to maintain a certain ambiguousness outwardly. andrei saw right through that and, even if he's like not gay but bi, he was the first dude daniil met who was also (Loudly) into dudes. dankovsky owes andrei the first like. actual coming out to Someone else than his mommy when andrei would bait him into hanging out with other gay and bi men, dankovsky would sit in a corner not fuckin wit anyone just Soaking In The Homosexuality In The Air, and when andrei went "u got a problem with that? you homophobic?🤨" dankovsky had to go like "i don't have a problem with it at all… when it's other people" [implied: i might deal with it not too well when it's me myself]. and from that point on he was like ah fuck me [not literally] why do i bother being insecure about it. from ages 20+ he was still very much in his Married To My Work Era + as he founded Thanatica he tried to lay low to not get investigated and being very loudly homosexual was not the best way to "not make waves" so even as he settled in himself with the fact that Well he's gay and he's gonna be gay forever so he better live with it, he still stayed closeted for his safety. i think from ages 18 to current game-day 28, not getting laid pardon the frankness led to him developing like an internally Fucking Crazy relationship with love and eroticism and he might have kept himself from entering relationships because he needed someone who Understood He'd Want To Eat Him. (love wins!)

re:coming out to his momma i think she had had her Doubts for a while yknow has had her Doubts. his dad too, but from his dad's perspective it felt deeply Painful (bc when the son is gay it is the father's masculinity that is threatened.. i've spoken about it on the post i've linked in the beginning) whereas his mom didn't have that My Masculinity Threatened. dankovsky knew he was gay since age like 11-12 but only came out at around 14-15, when it became obvious for him and hard to ignore, especially as people begin to have little boyfriends and girlfriends at this age. he told his mom first because he was closest to her and she was like.

she believed him from the beginning because she had had her Doubts. for a while she didn't quite know what to do with this information as it all dawned on her that it likely meant no grandkids, no daughter-in-law to whom she could give her pretty jewelry and so on… but also i think she like. could relate her son's homosexuality to like. fucking Tchaikovsky. who attempted suicide because his marriage to a woman made him so miserable. so she was like… well. that's just how it is isn't it. she's just gonna have to make peace with it whether she likes it or not. i think eventually she came to the conclusion that she spent 9 months building him from her blood and bones and a full day putting him out in the world so it would be stupid to be mad at him for that. + that's god's doing isn't it. she can't be mad at god. and if god's mad at her son he can take it to himself. etc .

Burakh for the longest time um. Didn't know. i think he realized that about himself genuinely age 26 in the 12 days. he's going through an entire coming-of-age/coming-into-place story and i think that includes a realization story lol. i think for the longest time he just thought he didn't love anyone period. up until 20 methinks he was like "well i'm just a late bloomer". then he went to war as a medic and was like "well i'm just so fucked up in the head my mind's full of corpses that's why there's no place for love". then he went home and… lord almighty. for years he thought was just not made for love because he truly. hadn't looked the other way (he's just like me fr fr). he went from not knowing what a closet was to realizing he was in it and the door was ajar to being out and in a man's arm in the span of 12 days. he didn't really have the time to brood about what it meant for his future/himself/his relationship to his people for him to be homosexual because love slapped him across the face and he fell on his ass. as his whole story is about finding his own path and learning to cope with doing things that might not be approved of him and living with choices that are of love regardless it's truly just like. learn to cope FAST. you have way more problems. + as i think the herb brides Know i think he's not given too much grief by his community and doesn't have the religious trauma background of dankovsky. also since his parents are. well dead. he doesn't have to respond to them + his dad textually is like You're gonna have to do something boy. (and that something might displease him but that's out of his hands. and into burakh's).

.

Yulia knew early too like 12-13. she always was a tomboy as a kid and almost just like… naturally blossomed into a masc lesbian. i think from early on she was like. ok well we're coping with that. she already was going against social conventions by being an educated woman a woman in ""typically"" male professions a masculine-dressed woman so at this point the fact that she liked women that was like. well if you don't like it tough luck buddy. she always had a relatively distant (if loving) relationship with her parents so she didn't feel the need to justify herself to them + won't lie they saw it coming. they had it comin… she was not in any relationships for a while because she's kinda like Dry of a person/passionate about things most people just don't see/don't fuck with so while she is charismatic and handsome and knew she could be desired she didn't have any long-term relationship before eva because you truly need a girl who's a lil bit crazy to handle her. and vice versa. so love wins. i think that while she might not have frequented lesbian spaces like bars because her ass does not do well with crowds i think she never felt like she was So Alone like Only Lesbian on Earth. i think she did feel a sense of loneliness about it but it was also mixed with a deep sense of Well I'm Here and I'm One So Someone Like Me Exists.

.

Stakh for a little while was also that "well i'm kinda too fucked up for love" and he was also fighting for his life to be seen as a good student a good protégé a good foster son so romantic love was Far from his mind. i think he realized he was gay around age like 15-16 when it all starts to Dawn on you y'know everything Dawns on you. he was very quickly like. well that's how the cookie crumbles. i think there was a sort of immediate acceptance about the Being Gay factor but more of a restraint about acting on it because he too was like Married to The Student Behavior and didn't want to risk losing his place by isidor's side, especially since he didn't know how isidor would react to him being gay (i know what isidor did to that old man so i know he wouldn't have cared but rubin is not a mind-reader). it was truly like. well i am and i can't do much about it but i'm soo focused rn. as 18-20 came around the corner and his relationship with isidor truly felt like he was fighting for his life trying to be seen as a good student he was like I'm either going to war or becoming a monk. he was fully willing to commit to lifelong monkish celibacy because he's always been. kinda dry. kinda with issues. + i think subconsciously he was trying to not let Desire creep up on him because it would distract him from the menkhu way (nice dichotomy idiot what lies outside of it etc). he went to war [p1 lore which i abide by] and. well when you put a bunch of fit young men together away from the women of course something like this would happen. anyways he comes home having acted on his homosexuality which he is fine with + feels kinda like a weight being lifted off his shoulders but he stil hasn't tasted Desire ykwim. Want. Hunger in the lover sense. but he's like. shrugs. whatever. monk it is. he doesn't become a monk. he clings to being isidor's foster son until his knuckles go white. it ends up being for nothing. grief and anger scythe him right. and in what follows he bonds with someone who's Fucked up and who Knows Hunger and Desire and omg flushed emoji etc. (+ my belief when dankovsky comes to peter's loft to talk about god-knows-what they kinda realize pretty fast He's Just Like Me Fr and dankovsky appreciates his + peter's company kinda like he appreciated Just Sitting There surrounded by gay and bi men even if they barely talk. just knowing you're like. Not Alone. etc)

.

bit long. sorrey.

[julie-su]

Still left frustrated that KTE and it's surrounding issues sew the seeds of 'Generational trauma sucks' and then goes on to flop the landing with 'but that's your FATHER, he's trying his BEST, so you have to love him. okay?!' -- A good point was almost made.. Then squandered. And I suppose it comes down to "Damn, dude, I think you shouldn't have tried to work this one out under the licensed Sonic The Hedgehog Comics".

I mean- that's what was set up with Janelle-Li, Athair, Sabre, and Locke, wasn't it? As much as we all tend to hand-waive the swirling depths of these comics, there are clear lines to be drawn.. Or perhaps I'm playing 'death of the author' to see this one out. Either way - Janelle-Li is dying, and Athair, Sabre's father and daughter of Janelle-Li, refuses to leave his place as Mitre of the Lost Tribe, deeming it an act of religeous importance* This frustrates Sabre, who sees Athair as cruel and heartless, thus he seperates from his father to see his grandmother before she passes on.

This sews the seeds of an apathy for religeon in Locke, who goes on to roll his eyes every time his ex-wife brings up Echidna Theology; of course, she is an avid studier, and frequently visits the.. Aurorium.. (Aurora is a once-echidna, who had evolved into a higher being with her connection to the Chaos Force, appearing to those sometimes to aide with their issues. Y'know.. Like Jesus, but not! I say once-echidna, as she appears to suit whichever species of mobian she visits.) ... ... This leads Knuckles to have not a clue about Echidna Theology, even so in that he feels uncomfortable stepping foot in the Aurorium, without much of a thought as to why.

*Echidna Theology is thus influenced by The Ancient Walkers, who are highly connected to the Chaos Force - who very much fortold of dangers coming, and their great wisdom was documented into the Tomes - which are essentially Echidna Religeous Texts.

... It's just.. There's clearly a strong thought put into the understanding of cyclitical generational trauma; even when we have moments in Penders' stories of Locke going 'hmm, I know I've gone wrong' as we explore how 'chucking your kid into the wilderness and waiting to see if he copes' is an archaic training method set by Rembrandt, after his first son died on a lone mission... Rembrandt being a guardian from 11 generations before Knuckles. That's a lot of years of chucking your kid out into the wilderness! (Though, interestingly, it seems that in the middle, Tobor lived at home with his mother, with sporadic visits from his father, until presumably he came 'of age'.)

I suppose I wrote all of this to say; I feel like removing "Locke being a bad father" in an act to fix his character feels antithetical to what story was being told, and also does a disservice to the story itself. I'd much rather see stories where we explore the trauma and cyclitical abuse, and call it for what it is - not unlike Flynn's run with Locke. There are some really fun plot threads to follow if you allow yourself to really pull the story apart and look at its ooey, gooey innards (... And a lot more things to complain about, but I get that part out in private chats, HEY-OO!)

Well, my final write-off is; I wrote all of this at 1am, incredibly sick, and off my konk.. so if I've misremembered anything, do tell me.. POLITELY, in asks or replies ^^

[elementalladymallorie]

You know just seeing all the talks about Scooby Doo reboots and re-watchin the old movies and shows, got me thinking on things I'd like to see in a remake, 'adult' or otherwise.

I'd love to see a Scooby Doo where it's a healthy mix of both the monsters are people in rubber masks and tricked out costumes and Werewolves, vampires, zombies and ghouls are real. This is why Shaggy and Scooby are hesitant to directly deal with the spooks the gang come across, because while most of the time it is a dude in a mask, there's still the chance of it being the genuine deal and

Give me a Fred who looks like he's the high school baseball star and small town sweet heart but is a huge dork, auto mechanic and somewhat engineering nerd who loves his traps and mechanical marvels. He's eager to share, and fell in love with mysteries and the like after something like a good mystery podcast or novel, and decided to investigate right away the first time a mystery lands in Coolsville/Crystal Cove/their hometown. It leads to him running into the individuals that would become his best friends and Mystery Inc.. He's the 'face' of the group, the one who put out his number and talks to the clients to set up investigations and the Mystery Machine was a van he rebuilt and painted.

Give me a Daphne who is still girly and loves her fashion and trends, but is also an avid journalist, martial artist of some form, and the one with the most connections. She gets the gang rides when the Mystery Machine on it's own won't cut it, she gets them the hotels, and just general things like that because of extended family or people she's befriend. Occasionally she uses the money her parents send her way, but for the most part, she uses her own inherent personable nature to help her and her friends along. She's also the gangs note take, and has a file on each case carefully catalogued and stored away. It would've been Velma that did so, but when she gets enthusiastic her hand writing tends to start becoming illegible to everyone else, so Daphne takes over the case notes and complies everything when it's solved for if they ever need it later.

Give me a Velma who studies various sciences and languages and is a straight A student, but who also dabbles around in old stories, mythologies, and cryptids as a secret hobby before throwing herself into it fully after the first time her and her friends encounter something supernatural that she can't explain in a way normal sciences could. She's the 'forensic' expert of the time, working out the details of how the man in the mask is able to pull off their 'supernatural' feats, while also examining the actual supernatural things to figure what exactly they're dealing with because different creatures have different rules and you don't want to mix those up. She helps Fred build his traps, or at least reigns them in enough to be feasible. She actually met Fred in a shop class/engineering class and he'd made an off hand comment about a trap idea that she responded to and it spiraled from there. She makes the little details the whole gang collects work into one coherent picture.

Give me a Shaggy who is still an anxious, eats a lot, and is goofy but who's also the most athletic of the crew, gymnastics/track team, has a slew of odd little talents from hobbies he took up as kid, and cook like no one's business. He and Scooby, despite wanting the least to do with the actual supernatural things some how has the most contacts on the supernatural side of things like how Daphne has with humans. He does ironically meet Daphne first, while she's taking her mother's dog to the groomers the same day Shaggy's taking Scooby and they hit it off. Like the gang investigates a town saying that Dracula is terrorizing them, and Shaggy helps clear it up because he happens to know the particular vampire because he helped coach his daughter's volleyball team one summer, and said daughter shrieks in delight when she sees coaches Shaggy and Scooby again and asks when they'll coach again. He makes sure the gang stays fed, keeps up the first aid supplies, and the other things that fall under that blanket.

Give me a Scooby, who is a nervous great dane that has an appetite and dry wit to match his 'owner's'/best friend's but is a mystery the gang is lowkey trying to solve because he doesn't match any supernatural creature Velma can find but no one knows how can talk and even he wants to know, and who despite seeming like a coward is one of the first run back to defend his friends from a monster, real and not. He knows that there's something a bit more going on for the group, something watching them and waiting but it doesn't mean harm so he doesn't bother it too much and focuses more on his humans. He's the one who makes sure that the gang takes a step back and breathes, he helps Shaggy through anxiety/panic attacks, brings Velma the vegetarian chili from dinner while she's hunched over an analysis and comparing stories, makes Fred sit after he's been pacing for 30 minutes to look at a new angle, and makes sure Daphne sleeps when she's caught up looking through old cases to find similarities/connections cause they know there's one to the latest case they're working, he keeps them in the moment and helps make sure that this thing they're doing stay fun.

All I want is these 4 kids/young adults who meet for one mystery, and decide they like what they did and carrying that on from like high school and through college. They'll poke fun at each other, good naturedly of course, but they're there for each other through thick and thin and will solve any mystery that crosses their proverbial door step, especially if they start finding connections and clues to something bigger.