#other people decided to run with it for whatever reason and suddenly people are acting like it's something we were told by the showrunners

[leothil]

Sad that we apparently have reached a point where people need to be told outright to manage their expectations for an episode of a tv show lest they throw tantrums afterwards.

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Party Animal

Steve hated parties. And who could blame him? The infamous Halloween party of 1984 left more scars on his heart than he carried from all his other misadventures. Alcohol made people say thinks they buried deep inside, but then instead of owning up to them, they'd say "I was drunk", as if that was any excuse. So yes, Steve and parties didn't go together anymore.

And yet he stupidly decided to throw one anyway.

Look, they deserved it. All of them did - Eddie, Nancy, Robin, even Jonathan and Argyle, they all earned acting like actual teenagers for one evening. Steve wanted to see Eddie, now miraculously his boyfriend, just have fun, laugh, be silly. So a party it was.

It all went great - dancing, drinking, nibbling on mountains of Argyle's homemade pizza - but eventually they all got drunk. Not Steve, he just sipped one beer and kept an eye on everyone. Jonathan and Argyle were smoking outside, Nancy and Robin flirted in the most embarrassing way possible and Eddie...

Steve heard sniffling from the bathroom and his heart sank.

He didn't want to go there. He didn't want to be told that this was all a misunderstanding, that he pressured Eddie with his flirting, didn't want to hear he's bullshit again.

But no matter how terrified he was, he could never abandon Eddie. So he went in.

Eddie was leaning over the sink, wiping at his face and trying to control his breathing. "Shit..." he muttered and turned away from Steve. "Sorry, I...uh. I'll be there in a sec."

"Eddie..." It came out as a whisper. "Are...are you okay? Did I do something?"

Eddie just chuckled and pulled hair in front of his face. "Sure did," he mumbled.

And it made horrible sense to Steve. Of course he was the reason Eddie was crying. He couldn't help fucking up, he'd tried so hard to change but apparently it was 1984 all over again. So he took a deep breath and waited for the final blow.

"You're just perfect, Stevie."

Oh.

That wasn't what being broken up with sounded like. In fact, Eddie didn't seem angry at him at all. "...sorry?"

Eddie laughed, wet and high in his throat. "Like, you...you are too good to be true, you know? You throw a party for us and then you even don't drink so we're all cared for if anything happens? You...you give your best friend a green light to date your ex who shredded your heart to pieces? You invite the guy that your ex cheated on you with and his friend? You're just so good about it. And you're funny and so bitchy that I want to kiss you all the time. And I just...I love you so much, you know? And I've never felt that way about anyone and it's fucking scary, man."

Steve's racing thoughts came to a screching halt. Where he was too busy panicking and praying he'd still have time to fix whatever he did, now his brain settled on maybe I'm not getting broken up with? "So, uh..." he muttered as he watched Eddie try fix his eyeliner, "...there's, like, nothing wrong? Or maybe...do you want me to go slower? I know I can be a lot."

His boyfriend gave an incredulous laugh. There was no salvaging the eyeliner now, it was getting caught in Eddie's early crow feet, and Steve had never seen a more beautiful sight. "No, Steve. You're not a lot. In fact, you're just enough in every single way, but knowing that you're it for me, that good things can happen...it makes me terrified. I've never put all my drugs in a single lunchbox, or whatever metaphor you want to use for it, but with you I'm just throwing all the caution into the wind. And for the first time, I..." he stopped, chewing on his lip, "...I don't want to run away when I mess up. I want to stay, face the music and fix it. You're re-writing the Munson doctrine again and again and I just...I don't want you to settle for me, Steve. You are the whole package and I'm still cleaning all my messes. I guess today showed me that and I...yeah. Sorry about all this," he pointed at his tear-streaked face.

Eddie suddenly seemed so small, so insecure, and that wouldn't do. It woke Steve up from his frozen state and he took a step forward, cradling Eddie's face in his palms. "I'm not. Settling for you, that is." He was probably smudging the black even more, but Eddie would have been beautiful to him even fully covered in grime, and there were more important things to focus on. "Eddie, you keep talking about the Munson doctrine and being work in progress, but you don't see how you've thrown all the stuff I used to do out of the window, and I'm better for it. With you, I don't feel rushed, I don't have to perform or pretend. I can just live in the moment."

As he continued his speech, something strange started happening. Seeing people cry normally had a guaranteed effect on Steve - just one tear, quiet sob and he pushed his emotions down to be dealt with later or possibly never, someone needed him, and that was the priority. But now, staring at Eddie's wet eyes and shaky hands? He felt his own face crumbling and what better place to hide it than in Eddie's Metallica t-shirt. It smelled of cigarettes, pizza and the cheap laundry detergent that had come to mean home to Steve. "Sorry," he choked out. "Shit. I was...sorry, I'm supposed to be...you know. Consoling you. But I heard you crying and I thought...I..."

Eddie shook his head and tightened his grip on Steve's waist. "Oh Stevie. Whatever that pretty head of yours thought of, it's not happening. Unless it's kissing me, which duh, that's happening, if you want to of course, and staying with me to the point that you're sick of me."

Steve just whimpered into Eddie's shoulder, something that suspiciously sounded like "Now who's perfect, huh?"

His boyfriend just chuckled. "I guess that in a way, we both are. Maybe for each other?" If he'd aimed for self-deprecating tone, he failed. Instead, it was hopeful.

Steve didn't answer, but his embrace said it all.

They remained wrapped around each other for a long while, until Eddie whispered in Steve's ear: "how about we let the others celebrate on their own, hm? They won't be driving, their stuff is already in the guest bedrooms, and I hear your bed is wonderful this time of the year."

There was a muffled "yes" coming from Eddie's shoulder, and a few adjustments and "Good night!"s later, they found themselves in Steve's bedroom. Eddie managed to remove most of the rogue eyeliner, which was lucky. The time in the bathroom wasn't the last time he shed a tear that day, because as they were falling asleep, Steve said:

"You might be the first person who is dating the real me, and I'd like you to be the last one as well."

Tomorrow, he'd hold a funeral for the Munson doctrine. But today, he was going to wrap himself around Steve like a cuddly octopus and know that even if he doesn't manage to hold on tight the whole night, Steve would be there in the morning.

[primalbeatsourhearts]

Agility Courses

This is based off a small prompt I found on @kenvamp 's page! Here!

Thought it was a really fun prompt, and decided to do it myself! Enjoy!!

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

"No."

"Twilight! Come on, this will literally be the best way to get enough rupees for all of us to sleep at the inn tonight!" Wind practically whined. As if the other didn't know full well that Twilight was stubborn enough to sleep in freezing cold rain just to keep a little bit of his pride. 

And maybe a bit of his sanity cause dealing with all of the chain’s antics can really put it to the test.

And while the Rancher won’t admit that he’s probably a bit to prideful for his own good, the rest of the group knows how much he despises acting like a true dog (or wolf) when he is in the other form. So Wind asking Twilight to compete in a dog agility course as Wolfie was frankly an insult to the Rancher. 

“It’s literally 1,500 rupees! 1,500! That could easily give us an entire week! And fill up Wild’s slate with all the provisions we need and more!”

Twilight did have to hand it to Wind. 1,500 rupees really was a lot, but usually Wild had a lot more. However, the other had to spend the rest of his rupee’s on red potions since he ran out of whatever he needed to make them. They also had no way to replenish the rupee shortage unless they stayed around town and completed odd jobs here and there, or end up in Wild’s Hyrule so he could sell off all the ores he somehow keeps finding. 

He really needed to talk about his cubs hoarding tendencies. 

“No Wind, frankly it’s just insulting that you would even ask me that!” Twilight snapped, his eyes narrowing on the younger who put his hands on his hips as if it would make him seem more intimidating. No matter that Twilight stood at least a foot taller over the kid. 

“Come on! It would be so easy to win! You are so much smarter than all the other dogs, and I even checked to make sure Wolfie could participate and he can!” Wind said excitedly, “Wolves are entirely allowed, well Wolf dog because technically full wolves aren’t allowed” 

Well there goes that question. Still, he refused. He wouldn’t do something as demeaning as a dog competition. 

“I said no Wind, and that’s final!” he said, his voice leaving know room for argument. Which of course caused the younger to practically groan dramatically. 

“If we end up sleeping outside tonight, I am blaming you!” The sailor then declared, before going to storm off when he was suddenly stopped by Wild. Wind running face first into him and Wild quickly put his hands on the pirates shoulders to help steady him. 

“There’s a dog agility thing, Twilight you should join as Wol-”

“If you continue that sentence Wild, I will shut you up” Twilight hissed, causing Wild to freeze. “Seriously! I am not doing some dog thing!”

Wild gave an annoyed look to Twilight, as though it was this time Twilight was being the dumb kid. Even though it was usually Wild on the end of those stares. Which the kid definitely deserved due to the crazy shenanigans he has found himself in. 

Twilight only crossed his arms at Wild’s stare. “Don’t look at me like that! I don’t think it’s that bad for me to say no! It’s not even gonna-”

Cue the sound of thunderclap in the distance, and Wild’s knowing look that caused Twilight to glare even more harshly than before. It did always annoy him that Wild was eerily good at predicting the weather. But he was the survivalist of the group for a reason. 

“I talked with some of the people there though, it really would be an easy win. I even made to sure get a map so we know the course pretty well, plus I already signed us up”

“What! You-” Twilight growled, standing up straighter as he approached Wild who seemed entirely amused at the Rancher’s reaction. “You signed us up? Without my permission? What makes you so confident that I would even do this!”

Wild just still had that really annoying smirk on his face, confidence in his eyes. “I wasn’t going to originally. But when some fancy lady said that my mutt couldn’t win against her purebred, I put Wolfie down immediately because screw her”

That made him pause. Someone called him a mutt? What? He couldn’t help the little growl that escaped him, the wolf inside him practically twisting in offense. “What kinda dog did she have?”

“Pretty sure it was some sort of poodle”

“This lady thinks her poodle could win against a wolf?” Twilight hissed. “Oh we are going to prove that lady so wrong! Come on Wild, Wind, we are leaving now!” 

He pointedly ignored Wind and Wild’s laughter, and Wild’s hands signing to Wind that he told Wind not to worry, and that he’d get Twilight to join. Whatever. He didn’t care that Wild basically played him like a fiddle, because if there was one thing that Twilight hated more than being called a dog. It’s being called a mutt. He would prove that lady wrong, and win that competition better than that stupid poodle of hers.

————————

Twilight was beginning to regret this. Already he could tell how severely out of place he was amongst all these various breeds of dogs. Especially considering he’s much bigger than all of the other creatures here, and while Wild was one of the shortest in the chain. It didn’t help that he was basically half the other Hylian’s height. 

When they had arrived, he could instantly spot who Wild was talking about. The lady one of the most ugliest looking outfits that Twilight had ever seen and it took everything he had to not curl his snout up in his disgust. No. He had to focus on acting like a proper wolf and frankly he should have a lot more experience in this since he practically raised Wild. 

Then again, Wild didn’t even know the difference between a wolf and a Hylian for the longest time so he may not be a good candidate in knowing how well he can act. Plus, no one was really casting suspicious looks his way. The only ones that were, Twilight was sure they were looking at him because they didn’t know if he was a wolf dog like Wild and Wind said he was. 

Either way, he did not like the lady. To the point where he almost felt bad for her poodle since it’s fur was entirely dyed pink, and not even a pretty pink. 

Probably one of the most obnoxious pinks he has ever seen in his life. Standing beside her seemed to be a younger man, maybe around Wild’s age. He’s probably the one that actually trained the dog and most likely the one to guide him through the course. 

In fact, that was Twilight’s biggest worry. Cause he refused to do this stupid competition without being sure that he would win but Wild promised he already studied the course layout and said they are one of the last to go so Twilight can study the other dogs. Much to his annoyance. The fact that he has to study actual dogs to win this thing. 

“Twilight your growling” he heard Wind whisper, lightly nudging the Rancher’s side. Breaking him out of his thoughts, to which he sees that Wind was right. He needed to calm down if he didn’t want to drag anymore unwanted attention to themselves. 

Wild was off getting them snacks since Wind loudly declared how hungry he was, and Twilight mentally agreed with him. There was about 7 other dogs to perform before them so they had plenty of time to eat. Especially since they all agreed that it would be Wild leading him through it. The two of them were instinctively bonded in a way that none of the other chain was, even with Wolfie’s instincts getting in the way. 

The others didn’t really understand that when Twilight was Wolfie, he did follow his more animalistic instincts more than his human thought. Wild was the only one who could properly understand him in this form, so if Wolfie ever need to make an appearance, Wild was the one in charge of taking ‘care’ of him.

It didn’t take long for Wild to come back with a few bags of what seemed to be popcorn…with caramel on it? Twilight tilted his head as the sweet smell entered his nostrils and practically made him drool with excitement. His tail slightly wagged as Wild handed one bag over to Wind and set the third one on the ground. “Only needed 5 rupees for three bags, so I had enough” Wild signed.

Wind did express his worry for not having enough Rupee’s to get anything, but thankfully Wild did seem to have at least some stuff left over. “Told you, I just don’t have enough for all of us to be in an Inn”

Twilight quickly stuffed his mouth with the popcorn, the sweet taste flooding his sense as he heard Wind snickering behind him. “I think Wolfie likes it” he teased, but Twilight only gave an annoyed ear flick in response. 

“Don’t eat to fast Wolfie” he then heard, the champions hoarse voice familiar but uncommon to hear. “Don’t want you getting sick”

Twilight only gave a whine in response but he did slow down his eating. Wild was right after all. 

“I wish we could’ve at least brought the rest of the group here, I really think they would’ve enjoyed watching this” Wind then chimed in, seeming to let out a disappointed sigh. 

Wild only rolled his eyes, throwing in another piece of popcorn in his mouth before signing “You know Twi would kill us if we did, he’s already embarrassed enough. Now keep working on that story you promised him, we need to explain how we got so many rupee’s once we win”

Wind only grumbled at that, as the three of them watched the course go. Of course, the poodle was sectioned right before them. The dog walking with an aura of smugness that really shouldn’t be possible for a creature like that. Then again it might be his own annoyance for the little thing, which definitely didn’t deserve his ire. 

“Now announcing Princess Rosa and her trainer Doron! This purebred poodle has been the champion for the last three games now, and quite a champion she is! Let’s see her grace in action, so judges whenever you are ready!” the announcer shouted, causing Twilight’s ears to perk up. While he was studying the rest of the dogs, it took only two competitors for him to realize just what the course entailed. It really shouldn’t be too difficult to perform. His only issue would be his size so he’s not as maneuverable as some of the smaller dog breeds. However, he is confident that he can figure it out on the fly. 

He was a hero after all. How difficult could a dog course be?

Yet, while watching Rosa, she went through the agility course with ease. A creature with limited intelligence did this course with a certain sort of grace that Twilight didn’t think he could live up too. Shit. How is that a dog moving with an ease that Twilight couldn't even begin to do. He knew he took a lot of practice from actual wolves, when it came to learning his new body alongside Wild who was raised by a small pack.

But maybe he should also take lessons from show dogs and agility dogs, who move with such confidence in their strides. Working with the smoothness alongside the orders of their pack, but with such confidence to stand out on their own. Wolves taught you to blend in. It seems this poodle knew how to take the space given to you, and own it. 

Though it was still a poodle, and he refused to let it win. 

He pointedly ignored Wild's knowing look however, but he knew the other was studying Rosa's movements just as much as Twilight was. 

She finished with almost perfect scores and Twilight was pretty sure she even beat her previous score. How was he going to even win that? He's not even sure if he can jump through the hoops that quickly or slide through those weave poles as easily as Rosa did. However, he knew he would try his best. 

"Now! We have a new dangerous duo this competition! Introducing Wild, and his wolf-dog Wolfie!" the announcer then shouted after Rosa was done. Twilight immediately stood up, a certain form of determination in his step as he knew he would be trying his best to still win against a dog. 

Him and Wild easily fell into step together as they walked to the center of the course. Twilight's eyes scanning the course and mentally going through it. Wild kneeled next to Twilight, having the wolf stare at him in the eyes. Before Wild's eyes closed and head butted him. Twilight's ears going back as he leaned into the touch. 

They didn't really need to do this, but for them they swore it helped with their bond and getting on the same wave length. Helping them become one mind, one heart, one spirit before separating and doing what they needed to. Usually it happened before they hunted together and while they would enjoy being able to do it before a fight, they simply don't always have time. However, they don't do it just because and usually there has to be certain situations that really need them to really focus together. 

It seems as though this was a moment, as ridiculous as it was. 

Twilight then found himself sneezing, causing Wild to snort and roll his eyes in amusement as he pulled away. Flashing the wolf a large smile and a thumbs up and Twilight's ears only flicked in response. He still had to seem somewhat normal after all. 

Twilight easily slipped into position, right next to Wild's size as the two of them easily fell into stride. Now simply waiting for the bell to ring, and the two of them would be off. 

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

"We're back!" Wind shouted to the small little campsite that Time and Warriors seemed to have thrown together. Twilight and Wild were following right behind, both of them having amused looks on their faces as Wind excitedly went to show Time their winnings. Much to Time's surprise. 

"How in Hylia's name did you guys get this much rupees?" Time said, narrowing his eyes at the three of them. Though Wind was the one most likely to have sticky fingers, it was clear there was way to much for even a pickpocket to get. 

"Don't question it Time" Twilight then stepped in, giving off an aura of innocence cause frankly he was still way too embarrassed to admit where those winnings came from. "Let's just go get that Inn, Wars and the others can pick up the camp"

Time only narrowed his eyes at the other, before giving a tired sigh. Which was understandable, having to deal with the chain's shenanigans all the time. "I'll get it from you guys eventually, but I am really too tired to care and I want a bed"

The three of them only smiled at each other.

[pencileraser1]

pencil eraser one. you word your long posts about dps very well so im pointing my frustration with media-ly illiterate people in your direction. im constantly seething with rage at this podcast episode i listened to a very long time ago abt dps bc they said neils suicide was STUPID and OVERDRAMATIC. and i just. i wanna throw up that boy killed himself and ur calling himnoverdramatic what do i even do. i am high a little and this is very much affecting me i cant get up from this couch 🎀

you're completely correct for this i actually have a few thoughts about this so uh bear with me for a second

theres something that sucks so much about this specific type of criticism of this movie in particular to me because of how much i relate to neil. i watched dps for the first time when i was 17, severely depressed and borderline suicidal and i related So Much to him. i didn't write off his suicide or criticize it because i'd Been There.

generally i feel like this criticism probably stems from lack of understanding Why he would do what he did, and there's a number of reasons that that this could be although that would be leaning a bit too much into psychoanalysis and assuming things i don't know about them so i'm not going to go into it really

up until it happens, neil seems like he's doing mostly okay, and particularly if you haven't seen the movie before i could see how to certain people his suicide might seem overdramatic since it's a bit of a sudden shift from mostly okay to suicidal. but the thing is that up until this point, neil has just been doing a very good job at hiding that something is wrong.

my interpretation of the movie has always been that he'd struggled with some form of depression as well as dealing with some amount of suicidal ideation before the movie and had just generally been good at masking it. during the events of the movie he is the happiest he has ever been because of the combination of the poets, acting, and keating. so when at the end of the play his father suddenly takes away all three, and his options are either to confront his father (something that he feels is impossible to do- even if it technically isn't, the fear he has surrounding it of his father listening but not caring, or making things worse than the are, or anything else, prevents him from doing it) or suffer through 10 years of medical school away from anything he actually cares about, he decides to remove himself from the situation entirely instead.

(theres something about the way his suicide is framed within the movie where in some fucked up way his suicide more than anything else is his carpe diem. he's seizing control of his life in the only way he is physically capable of anymore)

neil's suicide isn't rational but that doesn't mean it doesn't make sense or that he's overdramatic. just because logically waiting out the 10 years until he's away from his dad or leaving as soon as he graduates high school or turns 18 or whatever it is is a better option doesn't mean that 1. he'd have the idea to run away early or more importantly think it doable (he tries so hard to not directly disobey his father the whole movie and after doing it one time is now stuck in This situation, additionally, while this is the 50's and in general shit costed less/jobs were easier to get/etc. he is financially dependent on his father and running away without any support is not the smartest decision) and 2. that he'd be physically capable of enduring the 10 years. because 10 years is a long time Especially if it's 10 years studying to become a doctor, something that is both generally difficult and also something he Doesn't Want To Do. and so the sudden switch from happiest time of his life to suicidal throws people off and they don't understand why he wouldn't have done any of the other options that they thing are the logical ones but to him probably didn't seem physically possible.

[gothic-thoughts]

House of Memories

(Sorry bout the hiatus and sorry i came back with angry content 🙃)

Diluc Ragnvindr x Black Fem Reader Angst

Exes2LoversAU

CW: jealousy after breakup, featuring Kaeya, cheating allegations, Diluc acting out of character

TW: cursing (ig cuz there's a lot)

Word Count: 1565 (give or take)

I thought I knew why we broke up. I thought it was cuz I was always out and busy and I felt bad knowing that. (Y/n) was right; I was always called in for work and instead of spending my free time with her, I spent it patrolling the outskirts of Mondstadt or double-checking that the townspeople didn't need any help. There was no reason for me to keep busy the way I usually did because I had her and I blew it. 

I don't know why it took her leaving for me to realize but I decided I wanted to make it right. I went back to her house after a month to talk it over calmly this time but as I stopped outside her house I caught a glimpse of her and Kaeya kissing on the couch through the window. So that's why? So that's why. My vision narrowed and before I knew it, I was knocking on her front door, knocking so heavily I thought and hoped I would break it.

She opens the door and scowls, "What is it, Diluc?"

"It..." I take a deep breath, "Not one month has passed and here you are; kissing other people, are you being serious right now?"

"Kiss--?!"

"And him of all people. What, you just couldn't wait to put your lips all over your 'best friend', huh?"

"You know ion like Kaeya like that!"

"Whatever, I have eyes and I'm not blind, (Y/n). And you."

I storm past her towards Kaeya, who stepped back with his hands up in surrender. I shove him by his shoulder with one hand before getting in his face with narrowed eyes and boiling blood.

"How long?"

"How long what?" He asked.

I scoff, smiling angrily before grabbing the collar of his shirt in my fist, "Act dumb if you want, Kaeya, I'm not in the mood for your bullshit. I don't give a damn how often I was gone, you knew we were together. I want to know how long this affair has been going on."

"Diluc, nobody was or is having an affair."

"You sure? Cuz any time I was out on a quest, she was with you. Anytime she wasn't with me, she was with you."

"And what's wrong with hanging out with one of my good friends? When neither of us are busy, she hangs out with me because I'm the closest person to you. Besides, Lisa is nearly as busy as you."

"You're telling me you've only been hanging out 'watching' a grown, able-bodied woman by yourself, no strings attached and then suddenly you're over at her house and all over her?"

"Aight, that's it." (Y/n) yells pulling me away from him, "You're either drunk as all hell or outta ya fuckin mind, regardless get out."

"I'm not drunk, I'm trying to figure out where my brainiac of a brother got the bright idea to 'watch' a grown woman when I'm out of town. A grown woman who happens to be my girlfriend no less."

"I don't need watching, the fuck are you saying? Am I six?"

She pushed me away from her and towards the door, convinced that I was intoxicated but I resisted, not leaving until I got a correct answer from my shocked, blue-haired brother. Realizing I was almost back at the front door without pressing her just as much, I looked down at her shorter frame with the same scowl I gave her side piece.

"What about you?" I ask, taking her hand off my chest.

"What now, Diluc?"

"How long have you been choosing him?"

"Choosing him?"

"Yeah, cuz I seem to have gotten the short end of the stick because you seem to run straight to him for comfort. So tell me how long I've been your second choice."

"The only thing I chose was to leave you because I thought it would be easier on both of us since you were working so fucking much. I fucking loved you, Diluc! I still do and you're acting like a dickhead like I didn't. Like, you're it's not your fault we broke up in the first fucking place?"

I scoff and look across the living room at Kaeya who has his arms crossed. "Kaeya, get out."

"What, no Kaeya stay."

"If you and him aren't a thing behind my back then let's talk about it. You're kicking out the wrong person to prove your point."

"I'm kicking you out cuz you acting like a fucking baby."

"Glad to know you think my love for you is childish."

"The way you acting is childish. And I shouldn't have to prove shit to you."

"When this much evidence of cheating is here in my fucking face, I suggest you reconsider and kick him out."

"Again, I'm kicking you out because you're acting irrational."

"Brothers fight all the time. That being said I should technically be beating his ass for even attempting this stunt."

"Stunt? Nigga, for the last- you know what?" She crossed her arms and looked back at him, "Kaeya?"

"Already gone."

"Yeah."

She looked back at me as Kaeya walked past us to stand in her yard or something. We continue glaring at each other waiting for the sound of the door slamming shut behind me when she lets out a deep, exasperated sigh.

"There, he's gone. You wanna be an adult now?"

"The only reason I came over was to talk out a way for us to date to see each other more. That was until I saw you two kissing like we didn't just break up, you couldn't have gotten that far with him in a fucking day."

"For the last time, my nigga, we weren't kissing! I don't know when you saw that but Kaeya was here for all of half an hour and we ain't kiss once. What you prolly saw was me resting my head on his fucking shoulder. We were talking and I put my forehead on his shoulder and he leaned in and hugged me like that."

"Well, sorry if I thought you'd kiss him by how often he visits your house. Like why do you keep calling on him for everything when I'm not here?"

"Uh, cuz you're busy and I trust him the most. You're acting like he wasn't my friend before I met you. We only got closer after you seemed to get busier and busier."

"That's not weird that you hang out with your boyfriend's brother when he's away?"

"Frankly, I don't give a shit how it sounds because nothing fuckin happened." She claps with each word, "He's my best friend who also happens to be your brother, big fuckin deal. The fuck you want me to do, stop being his friend and cut him off because you're an insecure baby?!"

My jaw drops getting ready to retort right but her words punch the air out of me. I close my mouth with a deep sigh, looking away to think better, anger finally clearing from my head as her logic snaps me out of it. I give another sigh and hang my head slightly.

"Fuck, you're right."

"Huh?"

"No, you're absolutely right."

"I know but I didn't mean to say it like that..."

"No, you're right, babe. I can't ask you to do that. Shit, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, (Y/n). I guess I was jealous that he knew you for longer and spending time alone with him made it worse for me, especially since I just can't seem to want to stop moving. All my reason just left."

I pinch the bridge of my nose, wiping my eyes in annoyance and shame only opening them when she cups my face and guides my head down to look at her eyes.

"Why you so insecure anyway?"

"Have you met Kaeya? You know how flirty he can be, I don't know how often or how hard he flirts with you but I didn't want you to fall for it one day."

"Yes, Kaeya is a flirt but he's also a good person. He does flirt with me, at the very least it's very very toned down. You really think I'd fuck your brother behind your back or something?"

"No, no. I just...I'm so sorry, darling." I kneel down before her, kissing her hand as my vision becomes blurry, " I mean it."

She sighs, "I know."

"I came to say if you take me back, I won't be taking weekend quests anymore and no quests that take longer than a week unless it's urgent. Once I'm done with work, I'm coming right over or inviting you over to be with me, alright? I swear I'll be here more."

"You swear?"

I place her hand over my racing heart while staring up into her beautifully dark eyes. "On my life, I will be here more. I will be with you more, baby just please take me back."

"Hmm..."

"Or at the very least let me prove it. Gimme...gimme a week or something."

"Fine, you get a month. A whole month to see how this goes, get me?"

"Thank you, baby."

I smile sadly before quickly standing up, leaning down, and pulling her head to me to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. and pulling her in for a hug that she quickly reciprocated.

"You know if you don't I'mma kill you, right?"

"I expect and encourage it."

[thestrangestthing89]

Obviously people can ship whatever they want. But it kind of irks me when I see El in a romantic relationship with other people. She doesn't know how to be in a relationship with anyone. Removing Mike from the equation won't solve her problems. It implies that Mike is the entire problem with their relationship when she is partly to blame too. She is just now for the first time learning how to be someones friend with Max. It's a new thing for her. She has no other friends and her and Max haven't spent much time together (Dustin and Lucas clearly didn't spend much time with her in S3). She makes a choice to continue that relationship with Max and takes positive action to include her in her life. But it took her a while to get to this point. She shut Max out completely when she first met her. She is learning how to be in different types of relationships - friends with Max (and Lucas and Dustin), familial relationships with Will, Jonathan, Joyce, and Hopper. These are all new things for her. She deserves a chance to have a stable home life and solid friendships. And of course she can have these things with a romantic relationship but there is no reason why this should need to be a top priority for her. People act like being single is shameful and constantly try to pair everyone off and it just isn't the best thing sometimes. She has no idea how to be in a romantic relationship and that's ok. She doesn't need to be. She needs to learn how to communicate better and be honest with people before she can be in a romantic relationship again. She deserves a chance to learn how to do these things and figure out what she likes and who she is. There are so many comments about how Mike is mistreating her and how she is going to go off and have a girl power moment and find herself a new boyfriend who treats her right but that's not at all what's happening here. She isn't treating him well and isn't suddenly going to learn how to do this with a new person. She is just going to have the same problems with someone else because she is part of the problem. People are so hesitant to blame her for anything and it does her no favors. She doesn't treat people well sometimes and it's entirely because she wasn't taught how to interact with people in a healthy way. She lies to both Mike and Will, she dismisses Mike's feelings, she spies on the boys and doesn't care that Mike is bothered by this, and she runs off and avoids Mike when he doesn't tell her what she wants to hear (she does this twice - once in S3 at the mall, and in S4 when she goes to the lab). Not to mention how she simply decided when they were breaking up and getting back together without talking to him about it. It was solely up to her and Mike's opinion didn't factor into it. She decides the state of their relationship and when Mike needs to tell her he loves her. It is really not ok that she decided they were getting back together at the end of S3, doesn't wait for a response from him about it, spends the next several months lying about her life, pretends their relationship is perfect and doesn't mention that she's upset with Mike until she's fighting with him, demands he say he loves her, then runs away from home and leaves him an emotionally detached letter fully expecting to not see him ever again (or at least not for a while).

It's the way she fights with people that for me is one of the biggest problems. Brenner and Hopper didn't exactly set the best examples here. Mike tries to talk to her and openly communicate in S4 and we see that he clearly knows how to do this because he does this with Will later. He knows how to have a conversation about a fight he just had with someone. But she dismisses any attempt he makes at connecting with her and completely changes the subject and starts attacking him for not saying he loves her. Forcing someone to say this isn't ok. He isn't an asshole for not saying it when it isn't true and him getting defensive is understandable. This whole relationship has been about Mike needing to give her whatever she wants even at his own expense. And I'm glad we are starting to see him not wanting to. Because it's not good for him. None of the ways she treats him are ok. I honestly can't think of a time when she did anything for him or showed that she was aware of his feelings/well-being. Mike has been shown to not get what he needs from her over and over again and a lot of this fandom completely dismisses this. Her having a different boyfriend won't fix any of these problems. She deserves a chance to learn how to make friends and build her family relationships. This is what will help her build a foundation for any future romantic relationship if she wants one. For the record, I love El. It's why I want her to learn from her mistakes. She is fully capable of being held accountable for this and growing. She should be allowed a chance to do this. But I really don't like how Mike gets all the blame for this relationship because she has not been treating him well at all.

[lizzielikeborden]

no dying

1.1k words

“There is no way you’re gonna get anyone to join Reggie’s cause. I think it’s sweet you guys made up, but I don’t think that the others are gonna see him that way.” You walked with Klaus down the hallway trying to get him to understand that not everyone was going to be willing to accept the idea that this timelines Reginald was a totally different guy then the one that abused them as children. 

“But Y/n he’s changed! He’s also got a plan to save us all.” He walked ahead of you and then stopped moving completely putting his hands on your forearms. 

“I would love to believe that, I really would, and I understand that it’s easy for you to think that he’s changed because you see how different Ben is. You remember him best, you had him longer than any of us,” you returned Klaus’s gesture and put your hands on his forearms as well, “I know you miss him, but that doesn’t mean Reginald is any different. If he took someone as good as Ben and turned him into whatever the hell that is, how good can he really be?” You felt bad for bringing up his Ben, you knew how bad that got to him, but you couldn’t let him blindly trust Reginald, not this time. 

“He gave me ice cream, he wants to help me learn how to actually do something with myself.” Klaus was talking quietly, almost like he was just now hearing the words that were coming out of his mouth. He was hurt, torn, tired, and unsure. 

“He gave you issues, he knows that, and he sees them,” taking one of your hands off his arm you touched his cheek, rubbing the other up and down his arm, “I am not saying that you are by any means easy to pick on, he just knows how to make people, especially his kids, feel small and then use that to make them fuck up.” 

“Five isn’t helping, no one else is, and dad’s the only one who’s doing anything. I wanna learn how to use this,” he flashed his hands at you, taking them off of you for just a moment, “It’s the only chance we’ve got to live.” 

“Klaus, are you scared you can’t die? That you can’t control how long you’re dead or how you come back to life? That you’ll be alone?” His head was bowed, he wasn’t speaking anymore, just taking in breaths getting ready to say words each time. 

“That’s just a bullshit question, I wouldn’t let you die.” Suddenly Klaus was back, hyper, overactive, and acting like the conversation you had just started was over. He wasn’t ready to really answer those questions or even begin to have that conversation. Everything was already confusing to him, this whole situation had him messed up in many ways for many reasons. It wasn’t that he didn’t wanna break down in front of you, this just was not the time. 

“But this is out of your control, you can’t stop the apocalypse.” You giggled and played along with what he was doing, holding each other's hands and swaying around while you talked. His eyes were bright like they were most of the time, for someone who was considered lazy he was certainly full of energy right now. 

“Right, but I could march,” He started doing all the things he was saying, keeping his hands in yours, “right down to hell and drag you back up here to live in apocalypse land with me.” It was almost like a dance the way he marched in place and then took both your hands pulling you forward like a dragging motion. 

“What if I was fully at peace and didn’t wanna come back?” Klaus immediately looked offended as he took one of his hands off of you and put it onto his chest. But kept one intertwined with yours, he knew he had to keep this conversation running as long as he could so that you wouldn’t go back to the other one. 

“If you didn’t wanna come back to be with muah?” Pulling his hand off his chest you just kept laughing and messing with his hands as the two of you talked in the hallway barely moving. 

“Yes, if I decided that I was happy, content, and ready to stay in the afterlife.” You were just messing with each other's hands now he was pulling you close against his chest. 

“I don’t care what you want, you think I am gonna live without you,” he bopped the tip of your nose before continuing his speech, “who’s gonna wake me up in the morning? Who’s gonna baby me when I make bad choices? But most importantly, who is gonna get drunk and dance around with me?” Spinning you around in a small circle he smiled at you the moment he saw your face again. 

“Awe, honey, you’re gonna have to make some new friends.” You thought about him for just a minute, what would he do without you? What would he do without his siblings? Without people to care about him, look after him, and be there for him he needed people to just exist around or possibly annoy? That had happened before and he turned to drugs and alcohol to make his way, but even then he had Ben in his ear. He had never been truly all alone before, even though he had certainly felt like it. You played the words he had previously spoken in your head and then realized something he had said, “Wait, why would you be pulling me up from hell? Why am I in hell?” 

“Is that really a question?” Klaus seemed surprised that you questioned him at all. 

“Yes!” You giggled and let him put his hands on your waist, placing your hands on his face waiting for his answer. 

“Have you met yourself? You act and fight like my siblings which makes you evil, and anyone who acts like they’re a part of this family heaven is not gonna just let in. The gates are not gonna open for any of us and that’s okay!” He was really trying to be reassuring and kind about what he had said since he hadn’t meant it with any malice. 

“I’ll take that any day.” You hugged him around his neck encouraging him to hug you. Maybe he didn’t wanna talk about all of that with you just yet, and maybe he never would. Maybe he was right and all of this would fix itself somehow. Maybe you didn’t wanna live in the afterlife if it meant that you had to be without him. You couldn’t trust him to be alone, to survive without you to help him and take care of him. Either way he would follow you around, no, you’d follow each other. No matter what…

[bedofthistles]

The Little White Horse: Robin Minette

In continuation with my analysis of the novel, the Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge, I want to cover the characters and the main themes of both the book and the movie.

Here's my thoughts and opinions one Robin De Noir, and Robin Minette, two wildly different characters

TL;DR

My enemy. 

My beloathed. 

The one I despise! 

This boy is insane, he is the definition of toxic masculinity, he’s only a child and already he sucks, and I know for a fact he will never get better because he is never punished for his actions. 

And what did he do wrong? 

Well first I would like to remind you all of my beautiful, wonderful, fantastic, baby-eyed Robin De Noir. I have no idea how we got Robin De Noir out of Robin Minette, but I am forever grateful. 

For starters, Robin De Noir takes the place of Mr. Cock in LWH. Where Mr. Cock has trapped the hare, Robin De Noir has, where Maria gets chased by Mr. Cock in the book, she gets chased by Robin De Noir in the movies (and yes, technically the Coeur De Noir and all of the De Noirs are chasing after her as well), where Maria and Mr. Cock run through the forest so she can show him the White Horse, she and Robin De Noir run through the forest in search of the pearls. Additionally, he is no longer Robin Minette, Loveday Minette’s son, but the son of the Coeur De Noir, and Loveday’s brother. 

One, this change is already ten times more dynamic. Throughout the book, we are only told that the De Noirs are wicked, and it isn’t until Maria’s last minute change of heart about them that suddenly they aren’t. Those poor people are demonized in the book, and are not given any sympathy. Now I hear you saying, the movie was the same! They were evil until Maria decided she needed Robin’s help! 

I need you to go back and give Augustus Prew his due, because that boy acted his ass off. I don’t think I’ll be able to go over all of his exemplary acting choices, and I may make a separate post for that, but that will require gifs and screengrabs. Anyway! There are several scenes that show us, the audience, that Robin De Noir is just a boy who is trying his damnedest to make his father proud of him. We see this when the Coeur De Noir calls him a ‘dolt’ after the rabbit trap, and you can see his face just fall, he is devastated, not that he lost the princess, but that he disappointed his father. 

We also see this when Robin quickly decides to help Maria. The very first time I watched this, I didn’t really understand his reasoning, but once I started thinking about it (probably about the time I started writing fic and needed to get inside of his head) I realized that he is fundamentally good, just born on the wrong side of the valley. Robin chooses the Valley over his father, he chooses to help Maria despite not even fully trusting her, he is beside her until the very end because he knows she is doing the right thing, because he loves the Valley and wants to save it. So, despite what we are told about the De Noirs (as by sir Benjamin, who calls them bandits, poachers, and plunderers) we know from visual cues, Robin De Noir’s desperation to be a good son, and his choices at the end, that the De Noirs are not purely wicked. 

Robin Minette on the other hand can die on a stick. Robin and Loveday Minette are actually a part of the Merryweather family (more on that later) and are not associated with the De Noirs at all. 

So what are all of Robin M’s sins? 

Well, if you’ve heard about the bird theory, it is the simple idea that when you call out “oh look, a bird!” the response of your partner/friend/companion should be “where!” Not because they are necessarily interested in the bird (though they should be) but because you are interested in the bird. The logic being that the person will listen to whatever random, boring, stupid thing you’re saying because they are interested in you, and are not looking at you as a source of entertainment. It’s a very simple, and beautiful concept, that shows a person who is interested in you, is interested in you! 

Robin Minette is not interested in Maria. 

I say this because in the book we are told multiple times that whenever Maria asks too many questions, Robin just walks away. He does not answer, or even asks her to stop, when he is astral projecting into Maria’s dreams, he just leaves the dream and wakes up. Again, this is in conjecture with one of Goudge’s morals: female curiosity is of the Devil. 

“All my life, Robin, I'll always tell you all about everything." “And I'll tell you," said Robin. “If I didn't you'd ask me so many questions that life would not be worth living."

This is not an okay lesson to teach to children, any boy or girl should not be learning that her voice does not matter, that her questions should be squashed, and that curiosity is a bad thing. I genuinely have no idea where Goudge got this idea from, other than it is just a very old and misogynist viewpoint. It’s not even Christian, as scripture encourages followers to study, and yes that includes women. 

I don’t think it is a harsh stance to take that a character who walks away from another while they are talking, is not interested, or in love with that character. Maybe possessive, but not in love, and it's certainly not the kind of love anyone should be idolizing. 

Furthermore, like most entitled men, Robin Minette has anger issues. I don’t want to quote the entire section, but I can post it somewhere because it is absolutely insane. 

After Robin and Maria defended Paradise Hill from the De Noirs, they go back to his house. Since it was raining, they had to change out of their wet clothes. For whatever reason, Loveday Minette decides to put her old wedding dress (that she never wore because she ran away) on Maria. 

Maria loves it, and asks if it can be her wedding dress, and Loveday M says yes. 

When Maria joins Robin in the kitchen so they can have tea, Robin asks what that is. 

“It's my wedding dress. I'm trying it on to see if it fits." "Are you going to be married?" asked Robin sharply, his munching jaws suddenly still. “Of course," said Maria, reaching for the cream. “You didn't expect me to be an old maid, did you?" “Are you being married today?" demanded Robin. “Of course she isn't being married today, Robin. She isn't old enough to be married yet. But when she is married she will wear that dress." [Loveday] “When you do marry, whom will you marry?" Robin asked Maria. Maria swallowed the last of her bread and cream and honey, put her head on one side and stirred her tea thoughtfully. “I have not quite decided yet," she said demurely, “but I think I shall marry a boy I knew in London." “What?" yelled Robin. “Marry some mincing nincompoop of a Londoner with silk stockings and pomade in his hair and a face like a Cheshire cheese?" The parkin stuck in his gullet and he choked so violently that Loveday had to pat him on the back and pour him out a fresh cup of tea. When he spoke again his face was absolutely scarlet, not only with the choke but with rage and jealousy and exasperation. “You dare do such a thing!" he exploded. "You--Maria --you-- if you marry a London man I'll wring his neck!"

Now, you’ll notice three things here: 

One, the fate of all Moon Princess’ is to get in a fight with her love, and if she doesn’t humble herself, she’ll be forced to leave Moonacre. This is something Maria knows at this point. 

Two, Robin is a thirteen, fourteen year old boy displaying this much anger, possessiveness, and audacity. This is not something he is punished for, and he gets away with this behavior. 

Three, his mother is right there???? And her chief concern is: 

“Robin," said his mother, “that's not at all the way to propose. You should go down on one knee and do it in a very gentle voice."  

Ma’am your son is a maniac and you’re giving him tips on how to propose properly? 

Now, I want to swing back to my first point. To state it very plainly, this is one of the reasons as to why people stay in abusive relationships for so long. Maria knows that if she and Robin hadn’t made up right then and there, she would have to leave Moonacre. This language and ideology puts the blame on the victim’s shoulders, making the victim feel as if they have to be the one to make amends, to fix what is broken, and appease the abuser. This is the cycle of abuse that is seen time and time again, and while Goudge does not frame this as an ideal relationship we can gather that based on all that Maria has learned, it is her job to keep the peace. 

Am I calling Robin Minette an abuser? Yes, yes I am. 

Maria immediately forgives his behavior, Loveday is obviously okay with it, because she does nothing to stop him or scold him, and Goudge obviously sees this as okay male behavior. 

It's preposterous and yet this book is only eighty years old, we can obviously see people who behave this way, and we all know people who are like this. However, I think we have finally pivoted to presenting this behavior as abusive in media and art. Too often we think of abuse as just physical, but so often it is emotional, financial, and sexual, and the consequence of that mentality is people suffering abuse thinking that they aren’t because they don’t get black eyes. 

Here, I would also like the mention the BBC miniseries, Moonacre. The Miniseries is boring, it’s praised for being a more direct adaptation of the book, however they do make some major changes, especially to the plot. They add this thing about the ‘Blackheart’s’ having their water supply being cut off, all their wells are saturated with saltwater, and they blame Sir Wrolf for cutting off a pipe that would lead freshwater back into the valley. In this, we do get Loveday and Robin (still mother and son) as De Noirs. Loveday is the direct descendant of Black William, and despite teaching her son to hate the Blackhearts, he is also a De Noir. Robin Minette in this movie is boring, he doesn’t get mad at Maria for asking questions, but all he really does is show up at convenient times to save her from the Blackhearts. He’s fine, he’s not as problematic as Robin in LWH, but his character is not as compelling as Robin De Noir in TSOM.

Prev | Next

Full wedding dress excerpt

[bqluvr]

Stranger - (2/?)

Warnings: none!

Words: 5.2k

A/N: this was a tough one to write, but i had a lot of fun. there will be another chapter soon, im still not sure if that will be the final one or if there will be more. like i promised, there will be smut soon. enjoy!

—————

The dress that hugged your curves was growing more and more uncomfortable by the minute, the fabric rubbing against your skin in a way you weren’t quite used to. You had accompanied one of your friends, who was some sort of producer, to a big dinner. Normally you would’ve said no, but he had done you many favours and you had to return a few.

It was a peaceful night. The stars were shining in the sky, there was a slight breeze, and the scent of fancy food surrounded you. It was a lot busier than you expected, but you managed to get a little more comfortable and even strike up a few conversations with different people.

“Hey, you okay so far?” Brent, your producer friend, approached you. He had a smile on his face and you could tell he was tipsy.

“Yeah, I’m having fun actually,” you answered, shooting him a grin. He put his drink down on the nearest table and walked closer to you.

“Thank you for coming. I know this isn’t really your scene,” he started, his words stumbling over each other, “I really appreciate it.”

“Of course, Brent. It’s really no problem.”

“I thought it might be nice for you to meet some new people,” he told you, “especially after that whole thing with the bar-stranger-guy.”

You knew who he was referring to, of course. The man you met at the bar had lived in your mind for the past three months for some inexplicable reason. It had also been three months since you went to that particular bar out of fear that you’d run into him.

It sucked because that used to be your favourite bar, but you couldn’t take the risk. Sure, you wanted to talk to him, but you were afraid that something would happen and you’d get hurt. You didn’t even know his name, you figured it would be easy to simply forget about him. Getting him out of your mind had been a daily struggle but you forced yourself to act like it didn’t bother you.

“I’m over it, you know that,” you scoffed playfully, nudging Brent’s shoulder with your own. He laughed a little, brushing his hair out of his face.

“I don’t believe you, Y/N. You wouldn’t shut up about him for months. No way you’re over him all of a sudden.”

“I really am over it.” A lie. But in Brent’s half drunken state, you didn’t think he’d really care.

“Whatever you say,” he mumbled, grabbing his drink and downing it, “there’s so many famous people.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of crazy,” you agreed with a hum. With this being a huge dinner with producers and actors from different TV shows, there were many people that you used to dream of meeting. Luckily you had a chance to talk (and get pictures) with most of them, fulfilling your inner fan.

“I’m gonna talk to that girl,” Brent told you, his eyes trained on a rather pretty woman. You nodded with a laugh and he whisked away into the crowd, leaving you on your own again. You decided to grab a drink, making your way to the bar and ordering a whiskey on ice.

“Jack and Coke, please,” the voice stopped you in your tracks. You all but whipped your head around, and your jaw dropped at the sight.

It was the guy from the bar.

You recalled how he told you that he had a TV show with his friends, but you didn’t even think about the possibility of him being here. Had you known there was a chance, you wouldn’t have bothered coming.

You didn’t know what to do. Three months you spent avoiding the man and suddenly he was right in front of you? Fuck, what were you supposed to do? You couldn’t talk to him. But if he saw you, it’d be even more awkward than having a conversation.

Before speeding off you took a second to observe him, noticing all the little things about him that hadn’t really changed over the months. His hair was slightly longer with more grey in it but his beard remained the same. He still wore that ring on his finger, which he tapped against the table as he waited for his drink.

And of course, his eyes were darting everywhere, looking for a threat that wasn’t there.

Luckily he hadn’t looked over in your direction yet, so you took that opportunity to briskly walk as far away as you could from the bar.

Every instinct in your body was telling you to approach him, to talk to him and see if things would be the same as they were, but you couldn’t. You weren’t going to do that. You knew that if you and him became friends, you would grow attached and want something more.

You already found him very attractive, you wouldn’t be able to have a platonic relationship with him. On top of that; knowing the fact that he was left a week before his wedding which was only a few months ago, you simply couldn’t make a move on him. He most likely forgot about you, anyway.

If he was important enough to be at some fancy function like this, he probably met dozens of people a week. You were simply someone he had a conversation with in a shitty bar once.

That thought upset you, even though you tried not to let it. You hoped that you meant something more than that to him. In a twisted, selfish way, you hoped that he couldn’t get you out of his mind the way you couldn’t get him out of yours.

You were now a good 20 feet away from the bar, and you blended in well with the other guests so you weren’t too concerned about him seeing you. With that, your eyes wandered over to his broad back which was facing you. He made gestures with his hands as he spoke to another man next to him, who was thin and sort of resembled a ferret.

When you finally peeled your eyes away from the bar, you searched through the crowd for Brent. He had the keys to his car and you wanted to go home as soon as possible.

The second your eyes fell on Brent, you groaned quietly in frustration. He was only a couple feet away from the bar. You tried calling his name but to no avail. Brent was busy ordering another drink, with his back turned to you just like the bar-stranger-guy.

As quietly and swiftly as you could, you weaved through the people and made your way to the bar. The strong smell of different colognes, perfumes, and sweat filled your nose and almost made you gag.

By the time you were close to the bar, you thanked god when Brent saw you.

“Y/N! Come here!” You flinched as his loud voice boomed, the boisterous noise ringing in your ears.

The man behind him did a double take.

Fuck, he saw you. You locked eyes with him for a moment before tearing your gaze away.

You tried your best to avoid eye contact as you sped towards Brent, grabbing his wrist before pulling him away without another look back. If you looked and the stranger was already looking at you, you knew you’d fold. You knew you’d let go of Brent and make your way to the man.

“Why are you pulling me,” Brent slurred slightly, resisting your death grip.

“Shut up and come with me,” you gritted out, finally making your way out of the maze of people and praying that the man would just forget this ever happened.

“Give me the keys,” you told Brent, holding a hand out like a mother scolding her child. In that same fashion, Brent shook his head.

“No, I wanna stay,” he argued.

“Brent, so help me god if you don’t give me those fucking keys,” you started to get impatient and nervous. The longer you took to get out, the bigger chance there was of bumping into him or him seeing you again. You just needed to go home and cool down.

“Their alcohol is so good, though,” your friend whined. You rubbed your temples and sighed heavily.

“I will buy you whatever drink you want if you just give me the keys.”

“You said you were having fun,” he scrunched up his brows, looking upset. You moved so you were on the other side of him, your back facing the entrance of the building you just left.

“I was, but I saw someone I didn’t expect or want to see and now I’d like to go home,” you tried explaining, angry beyond belief. Not only were you frustrated with Brent’s childish manner, but you were frustrated with the situation entirely. Seeing the stranger brought up all the regret you felt for the past three months when you left the bar without asking for a number. You were frustrated with yourself back then, and you were even more upset now. You were relying on the expectation that you’d never see him again so tonight threw you off entirely.

Brent’s eyes fell behind you and he had a quizzical look on his face for a second before you heard a gruff voice.

“That’s not about me, right?”

You flinched and your heart dropped to your stomach. It was beating like fucking crazy, and all you could hear was the pounding noise it made as it vibrated through your body. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Fuck.

That’s the only word that repeated itself in your head as you slowly turned around, having to look up slightly to stare at the man in his eyes.

And there he was.

His deep brown eyes searched yours, looking for any signs of what you were feeling or thinking. You did the same for his, and a weak smile plastered itself on his face.

“Oh my god! I know you!” Brent’s obnoxiously drunk voice sliced through the few moments of silence, and the stranger looked over at him with a wider, more fake smile.

“You’re that guy on the show,” Brent rambled, “where they do the pranks!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” the handsome man in front of you huffed, and you could tell he desperately wanted to break eye contact with Brent so he could go back to looking at you. You were glad he was distracted, though, because it gave you a second to recuperate and make sure your knees didn’t turn to jelly.

“Shit, what’s your name again?”

You listened a little closer when Brent asked that. You were finally going to find out what his name was.

“Brian.”

His name was nice, and it suited him. It was simple but still had character to it, just like him. Of course, he wasn’t very simple (in fact you thought he was more complicated than anyone you’ve ever met) but it was a nice thought.

Definitely moan-able.

You slapped yourself mentally when that was one of the first things that came to mind.

“Right, Brian Quinn! Q!” Brent said excitedly, moving in between the two of you. Brian shot you a quick glance before entertaining Brent’s conversation and taking a few pictures with him.

You were more than grateful that Brent put space between you and Brian, it felt like it was suffocating you. While Brent was distracted, you slipped your hand into his pocket and grabbed his car keys.

After doing that, you slowly backed up, depending on Brent to keep Brian distracted for a little longer while you searched for Brent’s car.

You were finally far enough to turn your back to the two men and you didn’t hesitate to walk away quickly, spotting Brent’s car and making your way to it. You weren’t going to drive away without Brent, of course, but you could wait in there until he was done speaking with Brian.

Thoughts rattled inside your brain almost to the point where it hurt, with ‘what ifs’ throwing themselves at you one by one.

What if you never saw him again? Would that be a good thing? The feelings you tried to keep at bay (rather unsuccessfully) had flooded through the dam you built up, and what if they wouldn’t subside after having seen him tonight?

What if it took longer than three months to get him out of your mind again?

What if it was only you that was freaking out about this? What if he didn’t care about you and forgot you? Would that be a good thing?

You took multiple deep breaths, focusing on calming your racing heart. You felt a little lightheaded, and you knew deep down that it wasn’t that serious, but it felt like you were dying.

He was simply a man you felt a connection with one night. Why did you feel so overwhelmed?

After a few more minutes, you saw Brent approaching the car on the passenger side. You felt a flash of relief but that was immediately engulfed by another bout of nervousness when you saw Brian walking next to him.

Brent opened the passenger side door and you wanted nothing more than to kill yourself at that very moment.

“Take the front seat, I’ll sit in the back,” Brent said politely even in his drunken state, gesturing to Brian.

“No, no. It’s your car, buddy,” he answered, his eyes darting to yours. You looked straight ahead while you held your breath.

“It’s really alright, I don’t mind the backseat.”

“You’re already offerin’ me a ride. I can’t-“

“For fuck sake, just get in the car,” you grumbled loudly. Both of their eyes shot to you and Brent laughed a little, opening the backseat and sliding into it. He immediately sprawled out on it, and within seconds he had his eyes closed as his breathing grew slower.

Brian stepped into the passenger side before closing the door and clearing his throat. Your eyes scanned over him for a second, noticing how he anxiously fidgeting with his ring while his foot tapped the floor like it did in the bar.

You swallowed thickly and started the car before pulling out of the parking spot and driving to the main road.

“Uh, where do you live?” You asked, cringing at the awkward tension between you two. Brian cleared his throat again and told you his address, which you typed into your phone after pulling over.

“How have you been?” Brian’s gravelly voice broke through the painful silence that had coated the car like a thick, miserable jacket. You didn’t want to talk to him, just so you wouldn’t have any conversation to pick apart in your head later at night, but you knew the uncomfortable stillness in the right space would eventually break one of you. He just happened to break first.

“Fine. You?” You kept your answers short, not giving him too much to work with. You felt bad about it, because honestly all you wanted to do was talk through the late hours of the night with him again, but you couldn’t. It would be wrong and unfair to both of you.

“Good. Busy,” he chuckled, and you melted at the sound, “I’ve been runnin’ around with the guys a lot.”

“Oh, I see,” you mumbled, forcefully stopping the conversation. You couldn’t bear to keep talking to him. It was so fucking horrible, and you knew it was your fault because he wasn’t the one making it weird, but you couldn’t do this. You couldn’t be friends with him.

“So, what brought you to that dinner?”

“The idiot in the backseat,” you replied, making him laugh. You noticed that his laugh wasn’t very hearty, and his eyes were constantly peeking over at you and trying to read your body language.

“Listen,” Brian started, and you already knew what he was going to say, “about when we met.”

“Brian, you don’t have to,” you used his first name, which made him give you another double take. It felt weird to finally have a name to call him.

“I just wanted to apologize. It didn’t go the way I wanted it to.”

“It didn’t?” You asked, your curiosity piqued.

“Did you want it to go the way it did?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting anything else,” your answers were truthful. You didn’t feel like lying to him, the same way you didn’t feel like lying before. Despite the weirdness that had settled like dust around you two, you found yourself falling back into comfortable conversation with him. Sure, the topic you were on wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t exactly unpleasant.

“Y/N,” he used your name, judging whether you were okay with it or not. Once he noticed that you didn’t care, he continued.

“I shouldn’t have just left like that. I don’t know if this’ll make you uncomfortable, but I really felt somethin’ with you.”

You felt like the wind had been knocked from your lungs. Never in your life did you expect to hear that from him. Though to be fair, you didn’t even expect to ever see him again, so your reaction was justifiable.

“I felt something with you, too.”

“You did?”

“Yeah,” you sighed, taking your eyes off the road and looking over at him for a second. You took in his expression; it had disbelief written all over it. You guessed that he had expected to get rejected by you, so your answer surprised him just as much as his surprised you.

“I went to that bar almost everyday,” he admitted, “thought I’d see you there.”

“I avoided that bar for that same reason.”

He laughed at that, and this time it was genuine. You could hear it in the way his laughing got a little bit high pitched, and his hand went to grab the left side of his chest. His laugh made you laugh a little.

“If it’s not too late, can I still get your number?” He asked after you two settled down. You contemplated it. If you gave him your number, you knew you’d be done for.

Giving him your number forced you to be consistent. Consistently texting back, calling, whatever he wanted. You knew you’d fall into him if you had the opportunity to talk every day, and you also knew that that was dangerous.

You didn’t want to get hurt again, and you could tell that the man next to you had hurt many hearts in the past. But he’s also had his heart hurt, did that make him more trustworthy?

“No,” you finally said, shocking both you and him. The answer slipped out before you could properly think about it, but now it was out there. You turned him down. The man that had run rampant in your mind for the past three months was sitting next to you with a stunned look on his face because you just rejected him.

The weight of that didn’t even hit you until you pulled in front of his house and pressed on the brakes, the slight jolt bringing you out of your foggy state of mind.

“I’m sorry if, uh, if I made you uncomfortable with that,” he quickly apologized, turning in his seat to face you. You put the car in park and mirrored him with your seatbelt off. Before opening your mouth you checked in on Brent, who was now snoring loudly with his mouth wide open.

“It’s not that, Brian,” you tried to explain without sounding like an asshole, “I can just tell you’ve had your fair share of girls, and I can’t do that.”

“Can’t do what?”

“I can’t be a one night stand.”

“You think I’m askin’ for your number so I can fuck you?” He raised his voice a little, his eyes staring deep into yours.

You didn’t know what to tell him. If you were honest and said yes, would he think you were a shallow person? If you said no, would he be able to tell that you wanted him?

“Yes, honestly,” you finally said. He scoffed, his body giving away how upset he was. His fists were starting to clench at his sides, and he was letting out quick breaths.

“Why?”

“Because I’m not an idiot. I know you’re good with girls, otherwise you wouldn’t have been so smooth and charming with me when we met,” you said. Brian looked at you incredulously.

“That doesn’t mean I want sex.”

“If you wanted a friendship, why didn’t you ask for my number?” You looked at him pointedly, and you could see him racking his brain for an answer that you’d be satisfied with.

“I don’t know. I should have,” he sighed in defeat, “I regretted not asking you. I regretted everythin’.”

“Everything?”

“Startin’ up that conversation with you. Walkin’ you to your car. Everything.”

You felt tears well up in your eyes. You were half expecting him to not care about you, but for him to actually say it and speak it into existence was a huge fucking blow. You looked away from Brian, your gaze falling onto your friend who was still snoring gently in the backseat.

“I have to drive him home.”

“Let me explain,” Brian stopped you, his hand reaching out to grab yours for a second before he debated against it and pulled it back, “I only regretted it because if I hadn’t done all that shit, you wouldn’t be the only thing on my mind.”

That made you mad. He was tossing around your feelings, giving you answers based on your reactions. He was good at it, too. Had you been a little stupider, you would’ve believed him.

“Please get out, Brian.” A tear fell from your eye, and you could see him peering at you, concerned.

You were looking everywhere but at him, knowing that if you locked eyes with him, it would be over for you.

“Look at me, please,” he begged, even going as far as to brush his thumb against your cheek to wipe away the tear.

“Brian.”

“I’m not leavin’ you again. I can’t,” he huffed, his voice getting a little shaky. You finally looked at him (a mistake), and you couldn’t hold back the tears that dropped heavily from your eyes. They coated your cheeks and some trailed to your mouth, leaving a salty aftertaste on your tongue.

In his eyes you could see the hurt he went through. He was no longer masked the way he always was. He wasn’t scanning his surroundings anymore because with you, he felt safe. Safe enough to let his guard down. Safe enough to fully let someone in for the first time in years.

You felt the same, of course. You felt like you could trust him, which was difficult for you usually. He made you feel secure. You were kicking yourself for feeling this for someone you had met once three months ago, but you couldn’t help it. You wanted him. Needed him.

“I’m so, so sorry,” he mumbled, tears now pricking at the corners of his deep, brown eyes.

“I’m sorry, too,” you sniffled, and a soft smile fell on his handsome face.

“Please stay with me tonight.”

“I can’t. Brent,” you moved your head to look at your friend. Brian did the same and gave you a hum in understanding.

“Then get home and send me your address. I can’t be without you tonight,” Brian said firmly, leaving no room for arguments. Not like you were going to argue, anyway. You needed that just as bad as he did.

So you did exactly what he asked. You drove Brent home and got him into his bed before jotting down a quick note telling him that you’d drop off his car when he woke up. Then, you drove yourself home and opened your phone up, clicking Brian’s number that you got before you left his place. You sent him your address and waited.

You weren’t sure what to do while he made his way to your house. Everything around you was clean, you were cleaned up, there was nothing to fix. All you could do was wait anxiously and sigh as bad thoughts flooded your brain.

The three sharp knocks on your door jolted you back to reality and you quickly moved to the door, making sure to check the peephole to confirm that it was, in fact, Brian on the other side.

You opened the door and tilted your head to look at him. He had changed into grey sweatpants with a plain black shirt on top, the ring on his finger ever present. Did he ever take it off?

Without a word you moved to the side to give Brian space. He walked in carefully, his eyes taking in the room in front of him. He barely made any noise as he toed off his shoes and followed you while you gave him a quick tour.

Once you made it to your bedroom, you were more than nervous. What were the two of you going to do? You weren’t ready to have sex with him, and though he told you he wasn’t in it for sex, how could you be sure? A man like him was usually after one thing no matter what he said.

“Can I?” Brian finally said, looking at your bed. You nodded and he moved towards it cautiously, as if he was waiting for you to explode on him. He slowly got on top of the bed and you did the same on the opposite side. You had a twin bed and with Brian being a bigger guy, your shoulders were brushing together. You couldn’t help but notice the sparks you felt every time they bumped.

“You have a nice home,” Brian commented. You mumbled a shy thank you.

“I’m sorry if I’m making things weird,” you blurted out, “I’m just worried because I don’t want you to be here if you’re going to use me.”

You knew it was unfair to say that after he assured you he wasn’t going to try anything on you, but the words spilled out against your wishes. You waited for Brian to blow up, to get angry and ask you why you wouldn’t believe him just like how your ex would have, but you couldn’t see anything but sympathy when you looked into Brian’s eyes.

“I’m not gonna use you, Y/N. I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Why do you want to stay with me then?”

“Because we spent too many months apart. I should have been with you the entire time,” he leaned his head against the headboard but tilted it so he could make eye contact with you, “I get butterflies around you. I feel things I haven’t felt for years. Hell, I didn’t even feel like this when I was about to marry my ex.”

You were at a loss for words. You felt the exact same, but the commitment part was terrifying to you.

“I can’t,” you trailed off, not being able to find the right words.

“Can’t what?”

“You’re just so…” you mumbled, frustrated, “you. I want you, but I can’t have you.”

You both sat in silence for a little bit, letting the words sink in and take their full effect.

”Why can’t you have me?”

“Because we can’t be anything more than friends. And I don’t even think I can be just friends with you,” you wanted to cry because of how complicated this was.

“You don’t think we can be just friends?”

“No.”

He didn’t ask why, but you could tell he wanted to.

“I don’t want to be your friend, Brian. I want to be the person you think of when something good happens. I want to hold you when you’re sad and celebrate those stupid little milestones in life with you,” you took in a deep, shaky breath, “I can never be your friend because I want so much more than that.”

And there it was. You couldn’t help but cry, the tears falling freely down your face. You were too ashamed to look Brian in his eyes, so you kept your gaze trained on your hands that were fidgeting in your lap.

After a few moments, Brian’s large hand covered both of yours. You still didn’t look at him, but you squeezed his fingers.

“I don’t want to be just friends with you, Y/N. I want the exact same thing you do.”

You paused at that, tears falling harder. Brian used the hand that wasn’t holding yours to wipe away your tears and pull your face so he could look at you. You could see that he also shed a few tears, with his eyes and nose turning slightly red.

“I wanted to be with you tonight because I can’t risk lettin’ you go again. I need you.”

“I need you, too.”

“You have me. For as long as you want, I’m yours,” he mumbled, brushing the hair away from your face. You cried a little harder at that and he pulled you in for a hug.

His embrace was something you never wanted to escape. The way he cradled your head with one hand and rubbed up and down your back with the other provided a level of comfort you had never received before. You felt so fucking safe, so comfortable in his arms.

You climbed into his lap slowly, straddling him while you buried your face in his neck. He only held you close, not saying anything and giving you time to adjust to the new dynamic that had been created between you two.

“It’s so difficult,” you said, pulling away from him and holding his face in your hands. His beard scratched against your palms and you used your thumb to brush against his lips. He placed a soft kiss on your thumb and you smiled gently.

“It doesn’t have to be,” he said, “tell me you don’t want to try this and I’ll leave right now. But god, Y/N, if there’s even a tiny part of you that thinks we’ll work, say it.”

He looked at you with wide eyes, waiting for your words. The next words out of your mouth would either send him home and you’d never talk again, or they’d plunge you deep into the abyss of love and leave you to fight through it together. If you chose the latter, it would be difficult. You knew that. Being with someone was a commitment that you had only been through a handful of times, and you had never felt the way you did now.

You were scared. Scared because if you told Brian what you truly wanted, your heart would be in his hands. It would be his to keep or destroy. He had the potential to make you feel full, or ruin you completely. That’s what made you hesitate. You could openly admit to yourself that you love the man in front of you, but you couldn’t get the words out. If you said them, they’d be there forever. You’d be at Brian’s disposal.

“I want to try,” you finally said, and you swore you had never seen someone’s eyes light up the way Brian’s did when your words reached him. He was careful not to kiss you, but he pulled you in for another close embrace.

And as his strong arms held you close, you knew you made the right decision. Whatever happened in the future, you wanted it to be with him.

It could only be him.

[faunabel]

i took a nap! and my dream was long (well, not really) and complicated.

soo... dream journal time!

oh shit i dont know how to do the read more on mobile well pretend this has a read more and maybe if we imagine hard enough the tumblr gods will put one here

JK im on desktop later here's a read more

it involved me talking on discord to one of my mutuals ^-^ who i was nervous wanting to Impress. and they said england is hot and i was taken aback (sort of. more complicated than that but whatevs.) but also like u arent wrong. england is overhated these days i would maybe date or sleep with him is all im saying. i was speaking to a few diff mutuals on discord but especially excited/nervous to speak to this one.

blurry for a second.

and then a dog pounced on me. and this little old lady ran a training school i was for some reason in. but it was a Psychological training school meant to strengthen your mind apparently. it was popular in canada so i was excited one opened up down here for some reason. they had one where i used to live in florida so i was happy they had one in my new state, and with dream logic i'd moved 0.2 seconds ago so yknow. and the lady was training a lot of animals especially a dog and this one dog was not well trained so he bit onto my arm, and i stood there in horror for a few seconds, not wanting to move to do minimal damage, until she came and bitched at him for acting up, so he let go. and she was like yeah this is why i run a training school.

and her house was tiny so it was in her backyard. she had me follow her to the back where it looked like a dog park. all dirt and dust and equipment. no grass. i thought it looked nice in the dream altho now that im awake it looked pretty crap. but actually i thought it was nostalgic like playgrounds u go to as a kid. it looked like a dog park. also apparently she hammered in one of the rules for me. i forget what it was exactly but later she specified it was related to "the treadmills."

suddenly it was no longer me but a group of people who were all friend and who i identified as being friends with. but i myself was no longer there. and these people were eager to try out the equipment.

tw body horror for this part

pretty sure this is impossible irl but for one of them, this girl pushed her two friends down onto this sheet of barbed wire, and i guess what's supposed to happen is that it pierces your outer layer of skin, but she pushed way too hard and pierced many layers of skin. what you're supposed to do is pierce a few and pull yourself off. it hurts and builds your pain tolerance. the old lady was like oh shit i fixated so much on explaining how to be careful on the treadmills that i forgot this. and the people on the barbed wire were in pain slowly ripping through each layer of skin to minimize the damage. they accidentally leaned back in Pain so their arms also got attached but just the few outer layers so it only hurt a bit to pull them off. like stinging pin pricks. totally tolerable but still unpleasant.

the girl had been so excited btw she just shoved them down hard and didn't realize it would cause problems. i could feel the pain and fear of these people it was ouchie.

also i was trapped consciously. strapped down. unable to move unless i agonizingly ripped spiky metal through my skin all at once to get away. i have many nightmares abt being trapped lol.

then randomly the mlpfim ponies showed up. and they started triggering my severe emetophobia which i dont even wanna talk abt. it was more hinted at than anything but i was scared being trapped like that. also a common theme in my nightmares.

then fluttershy who felt Ill decided to go upstairs (we were suddenly in a basement but also not really bc the initial house had stairs too and was bigger and fancieron the inside than it seemed. that bitch had an aquarium against the wall. and fancy dark wood.) to make food for the others and herself to feel better. and since this dream was like a movie "i" the consciousness followed her upstairs to watch her. and she prepared something that had marshmallows on top i think.

and then i woke up.

also at some point the people strapped down were jeremy and candance from pnf i think. or timmys mom and dad. my brain smashed a bunch of junk together.

[avisrkive]

marriage in ‘gilmore girls’ (pt. 1)

in this post, i'm gonna talk about how marriage/proposal is used to sweep problems under the rug in 'gilmore girls.'

wow, what a cheery topic!

1x21 - love, daisies, and troubadours

to recap, lorelai and max are fighting before a date about luke of all people. luke has just left lorelai’s house after telling her that rachel has left again. max is jealous because he thinks luke is an ex from their time apart. understandable.

max says, “why do we always do this, lorelai? when it’s just getting good again?” or whatever

they both conclude that it never ends up working out when they get back together. they both conclude they need a solution.

lorelai says “let’s break up.” max says “let’s get married.”

oh wait, but-

a few episodes back, lorelai had said to max, “i don’t ever want rory to feel unsettled in her life.” she said that was the reason she chickened out and ran. fine. this is the first time you’re dating with rory around.

you getting married after breaking up with the same man every five minutes over two months seems quite contradictory to me…

but anyway, don’t even get me started with when she called off the wedding on the fly because she realized she didn’t love max and then rory was extremely confused. that’s rory feeling unsettled.

like hello??????? i would’ve run away too.

(i know rory ran away before lorelai and max got engaged but rory was feeling unsettled way before that because of dean as well)

but okay i gotta give it to them because the thousand daisies lorelai found at the independence inn were cute.

honestly, i love max.

lorelai treated max so horribly and don’t get me wrong, her being confused was valid but taking time to figure it out instead of rushing into marriage would have been better than ghosting and hurting that poor man. AND THEN SHE COMES BACK AND KISSES HIM IN S3.

this is just one of the reasons why i don’t like season one all that much. i start my rewatches with season three because i am personally a team jess girl.

anyway, then there’s christopher. he’s a whole other post.

i’m just gonna talk about one of the times he proposed here.

1x15 - christopher returns

“lor, i wanna marry you.”

that whole conversation was insane.

to recap, chris and lorelai are standing in the kitchen discussing what had happened the night before. on emily and richard’s balcony. i shall say no more. lorelai very clearly regrets it and expresses her desire to never ever do that again with him. his first thought is to get married-

that's not even the bad part. he then says:

"c'mon, we're already a family"

WHO'S WE? you deign to show up for once for thirty mins and suddenly oh my god we're all happy and together?????

no. that doesn't make up for the 15-16 years rory didn't have a father involved in her life. you don't just get to show up and act like everything is all hey howdy doody. AND HE ALWAYS DOES.

he always just shows up when he wants to.

with gg, he couldn't escape that because she didn't have a mother either, so he had to be her father. he had the choice to either raise gg or abandon her. thank god it wasn't the latter because i- yeah. he finally understood what lorelai went through even though it wasn't totally the same because she was 16. that's one of his only shining moments when he admits what he did with rory was wrong, so i'll give him that.

this is just one facet of his personality that i very much loathe.

oh! here's my personal favorite: dean telling rory he’s getting married to lindsay :) but that’s in part 2.

see ya hehe

****i can't decide whether this is rambling or not but this is what this whole thing is for

[ridiasfangirlings]

A Reisaru Spy x family Au? Munakata as the spy, and Fushimi as the assassin. (Not sure who will be the child though)

Maybe one of the alphabet boys can be their kid, imagine like tiny flustered Akiyama being raised by Reisaru parents. So Munakata is the country’s top spy, he’s known for his flawless efficiency. Even though he seems like he should be really conspicuous due to how elegant and clever he is he’s actually very skilled in disguising himself, and even when he’s acting in his normal way he just has this air about him that makes people trust him and not suspect his motives. When he’s given the order to adopt a kid and find a spouse he immediately takes to it, perhaps being a bit pleased by the fact that he will get to be a father now. When he stops at the orphanage he’s very impressed by how cute and precocious young Akiyama-kun seems to be, unaware that Akiyama can actually read minds and is highly concerned about the scary oya man who has just adopted him. 

So now Munakata needs a spouse, initially he assumes that his handler Awashima would take the role but she has other duties to take care of and orders Munakata to find someone on his own, and don’t let them know who you are. Munakata considers who could be an appropriate spouse and that’s when he happens to run across Fushimi Saruhiko, who works at city hall. Fushimi is gloomy and irritable and incredibly skilled, which is the only reason he hasn’t been dragged away as a possible spy. He’s aware that he’s always under suspicion by his coworkers though, who find it strange that a good looking young man like him has never even so much as had a date with anyone. Fushimi claims he isn’t interested in that kind of stuff and he isn’t, especially since he’s far too busy with his other job as the country’s most skilled assassin.

Fushimi gets invited to some party and is asked to bring a date, with the undertone being that if he doesn’t that might be the last straw and despite his skills he’s getting reported to the authorities. Fushimi thinks this is a total pain and why can’t he just kill them all, he’s stopping by a tailor to pick up a suit when he happens to run into Munakata and Akiyama (Akiyama reads Fushimi’s mind just he’s thinking that ‘why can’t I kill them all’ and now Akiyama’s concerned again). Munakata immediately takes to Fushimi though, starting up pleasant conversation and finding out that Fushimi needs a date. Not one to leave an opportunity alone Munakata offers himself as a possibility, Fushimi only agrees thinking he can dump this guy later.

However then when they actually meet for the date they get attacked by some guys who suspect Munakata is a spy, Fushimi assumes they’re after him as an assassin and the two of them end up working together to get the guys off their tail (all while offering very thin excuses for why Munakata seems unperturbed by all this or why Fushimi is covered in knives). Afterward when they’re safe Munakata decides to just go for it and asks Fushimi to marry him, Fushimi’s immediately like why should I. Munakata lays out a perfect list of all the reasons why it would make sense for Fushimi to marry him and how it would make things easier on them both, Fushimi sighs and is like fine whatever I guess I can but don’t expect me to like you.

Munakata says that’s perfectly fine, this is a business arrangement after all, but of course he can’t help himself from wanting to dote on Fushimi a little. He quickly learns how talented Fushimi is (clerically, he hasn’t figured out the murder part) and he thinks that Fushimi is very intriguing in general. Fushimi suddenly finds himself with a husband and a kid and he has no idea how to deal with this, imagine Munakata suggests he make dinner while Munakata’s at work and Fushimi just stands there staring at the kitchen like how (Munakata is also not skilled in cooking beyond heating up noodles, Akiyama has to cook for them). Munakata’s always being so casually affectionate and Fushimi has no idea why, like this is supposed to be a business arrangement between them so why is Munakata so kind to him and why can’t Fushimi bring himself to hate Munakata the way he wants to.

[tacosandtouchtanks]

"Stuck in the Bathroom With You" Prompt Idea

Post Bob’s Burgers movie and everyone is aged up 3 years. Tina recently broke up with Jimmy Jr. after realizing she is outgrowing him (not literally outgrowing him mind you). Though the worst part of the break up to her was that they ended it amicably, Jimmy Jr didn’t even try to beg for her to stay in the relationship. Tina was heartbroken in that it confirmed that all this work to be in a relationship her next door Romeo was for nothing if Jimmy Jr acted this mature in their separation. Tina took the breakup hard and begun to distant herself from the kids she used to hang out with, knowing that Jimmy Jr would be part of that group. So she spends most of her off time in her room, work, and attempting to hang out with Susmita with mixed results (she felt awkward being a 3rd wheel whenever Henry Haber showed up). She’s relieved not being around the toxicity that is Tammy anymore, but she also missed being part of something even if that something was a boring, toxic mess. She can’t risk being part of any group Jimmy Jr. is in anymore because she can’t bare awkward tension she feels with him now. It’s not like there’s anybody in that would miss her anyway she thinks to herself. Her family are trying so hard to get Tina to not shut herself out from the world and get her out of her breakup funk. How can Tina even bare to look out the window if all she can see is the person she broke up with working, moving on with his life without her? Tina defends her actions by saying that she has way more time to actually help the family business and it’s not like there’s anybody else that would be willing to work here for free. Suddenly Zeke enters Bob’s Burgers and offers to work there for free because of community service (or some other reason that makes it seem like working here was the better option). Tina is annoyed by this because she was hoping to avoid anything that reminded her of Jimmy Jr. At first it was okay because Zeke was mostly outside doing mascot work while Tina could ignore him inside. Zeke exceled at being the mascot (runs in his blood after all) and bringing people in with his charismatic personality. Gene appreciated not having to be the mascot as much now. Though Tina’s hope for her to avoid Zeke quickly changes when Bob immediately trains him in the kitchen, even listening to suggestions for what to do for the next burger of the day. Everyone had something nice to say about Zeke, even Linda and Zeke were bonding over public pooping with him even jokingly giving her tips. Worst part of the day is when Zeke’s shift ends and he offers her to join him and the rest to do whatever they were going to do while Tina awkwardly has to make up excuses why she couldn’t go. Zeke was still friends with Jimmy Jr. so there was no way he was not going to be there. Oh the irony of Zeke trying to get Tina to join in on the Kid Krew after the breakup even though he was the one responsible for unintentionally keeping Jimmy Jr. and her apart before they were official. It’s driving her crazy how easily Zeke is able to get along with everyone in her family and making it better for the restaurant as a whole. The only hope she had was for Zeke’s community service to be over soon since she didn’t want to be selfish and make her dad fire Zeke just because she wants him to. Louise and Gene are reaping in the benefits of Zeke working at Bob’s Burgers and rejoicing that they get to slack off more than they usually do. Their only obstacle is that Tina is the only one that’s not happy with the arrangement. So even though the thought makes Louise sick, she and Gene decide to play matchmaker and kill two birds with one stone. Get Tina out of her funk and get Zeke to want to permanently work at Bob’s Burger’s. Louise and Gene’s plan is made a lot easier (or harder depending on your pov) when Zeke decides to change it up a bit to ask Tina to hang out just the two of them as friends. Tina still makes excuses why she can’t go and now realizes that all this time he wasn’t asking her to hang out for Jimmy Jr’s sake, it was for his sake. Tina knew that in the past Zeke implied a few times he had a crush on her, but she figured it was mostly teasing or to save his own butt. As an avid erotic fiction writer, she can see a mile away that Zeke is trying court her. She wasn’t ready to get back in the dating game though and it felt wrong to agree to date the best friend of her ex. There was also a childish part of her that wanted to prove Zeke and his overconfidence wrong. There was no way she was ever going to let him “get her” and prove him right. Besides it’s not like Zeke was her type anyway. Sure, he had perfect lips, he has gotten taller, more muscular, and she always had a thing for accents. So maybe he could also be very sweet, brave, and it’s charming how he is willing to be everybody’s hype man. So what if he had all of that going for him? He still is very gross, not very bright, and with no shame about it whatsoever. Nope, no way was she harboring feelings for him. Louise and Gene begin to “coincidentally” have things happen around Zeke and Tina that could be perceived as romantic but were “total accidents” such as Gene practicing a romantic tune on his keyboard or Louise “unintentionally” pushing Zeke closer to Tina. They get desperate an release the “big buns” which is just Louise and Gene just dropping stuff for Zeke to pick up which Tina makes eye contact with Zeke’s glorious gluteus maximus. This causes Tina’s face to go completely red with her nervously groaning and immediately noping her way out of the restaurant to get back to her senses later. Louise and Gene were about to give up until Louise thinks up a brilliant idea that’s so crazy it just might work. Gene and Louise both separately tell Zeke and Tina that the bathroom really needs a good cleaning. Once both Zeke and Tina are both in the same bathroom, Gene and Louise block the bathroom door with a table and vaguely say that they won’t release them until they work out their issues/truth comes out. Tina is pissed at her siblings because there is nothing to tell while Zeke is confused/a little nervous on what could possibly they know that needs to be told. Tina starts hyperventilating which Zeke tries to that shut down because they need all the air they can get while stuck together. Tina tries to play off like she has no idea what her siblings are trying to do and make small talk with Zeke while stuck in the bathroom. Zeke, thinking this was about his thing gets serious and admits to Tina there was never any community service he needed to do. Zeke reveals he was willingly working at Bob Burger’s for free because he was worried about Tina shutting herself off from her friends and wanted to make sure she was alright. Zeke admits that he missed her and just wanted to hang out with her again, even if it was through unpaid labor. Even if he wasn’t friends with Jimmy Jr. he still would want to be friends with Tina. After his attempt to get Tina to join with the Kid Krew again failed, he thought maybe without Jimmy Jr. they could still hang just the two of them as friends. However, he guesses that since he made it clear that he has a crush on her, it would of been too weird for her. He never wanted her to make her feel weird about him wanting to hang out with her. Even if he did like like her, he knew that what she needed was to know that there are people that still want to hang out with her even without Jimmy Jr’s influence or some other reason. Tina is touched, he isn’t trying to swoop in to make a move on her once Jimmy Jr. was done with her. He genuinely sees her as one of his closest friends and missed her. She never knew how much Zeke valued her and felt terrible for accusing him of only trying to prove he was right and that he would “get her” after all. Since Zeke is being honest about everything, it was only fair for her to be honest about what she was feeling lately. Tina admits at first she hated that he was working here because she wanted to move on from Jimmy Jr and dating in general. The more he spent time the more she realized how much better everything was with him in it, how much happier she was to have a friend there. She was warming up to him but at the same time hated that she was warming up to him because it made it harder to deny the feelings she been pushing away for awhile. Now that she let go of Jimmy Jr. she couldn’t deny the slowly growing feelings that she was feeling for Zeke. She was holding back for so long because she wanted to prove Zeke wrong for something he said 3 years ago. Why was she being this stubborn? Why would it be so bad if he did get her? It wouldn’t, she comes to realize. Maybe being caught by Zeke was something that she now wants more than anything else in the world now? After hearing Zeke being honest about his intentions she realized that she had no reason to hold back anymore and brings Zeke in to passionately kiss him in the bathroom. Not her most ideal kissing spot, but neither she or Zeke were complaining right now. Louise and Gene finally release Tina and Zeke after Linda and Bob find out. Mixed reactions galore when everyone finds Tina and Zeke making out in the bathroom. Man, I typed a lot more here than I expected. You can end it with the reactions or you can end it however you wish. I just want it to funny though. This is just a rough concept of an idea I wanted to do anyway so I’m open to however you feel will make it better/more in character if you to choose to write this story.

[electricbluebutterflies]

LOVE your Joel and Tess drabbles!!! If I can prompt (unsure of your comfort levels with smut so please pick what you’re cool with!):

SFW: “If you had asked me to stay, I would’ve.”

NSFW: dirty talk + overstimulation

Decided to do one of the nsfw prompts... this is unusually graphic by my standards and I kinda love it. Cross-posted on ao3.

Fuck lockdown.

Tess may be a little more prone to questionably legal activity than most people, but she’s not actively suicidal and there are worse things in the world than being stuck in the apartment with her partner for however long this lasts. Two people who are attracted to each other and have basically nothing to do, on day two in a fairly small space…

If this doesn’t make him fall completely in love with her, she thinks, nothing will.

Not that she’s thinking about love, at the moment. Not that she’s thinking about much at all right now, spread out on the floor, thankful that this has all happened at a relatively pleasant time of year to be stuck with closed windows and no real idea what’s going on outside and-

“You’re wandering again.”

Spread out naked on the floor, her partner in similar state next to her, one of his hands playing with one of her breasts without any real intent. Circumstances as they currently are, sex is an easy way to kill time; they are now both well aware exactly how long his refractory period is at this point in their lives, and all the other mildly annoying complications of getting older, and-

“Fix it. Distract me.”

He moves onto his side and gets his other hand between her thighs where she’s still somehow aching. “This what you want?”

Midafternoon tired as she is, Tess suddenly has an idea. “You trust me?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Keep touching me until I’m dry, then get your mouth down there and fix it. See how much I can take. Don’t… don’t stop, whatever I do, okay?”

“How about skipping to that second part? No reason to waste you like that.”

Like she’d ever say no to that. She likes when she can be a little more passive, lie back and let him take care of her – they both run switchy, her own dominant streak usually just vocal enough to win, but there are moments she doesn’t want that. Why keep a lover if she has to do all the work all the time? Why-

She remembers the first time this happened, something like ten years ago now, the pleasant realization that she’d gone and gotten herself a man who looks pretty on his knees for her. She doesn’t know if Joel’s always been like this or if she just brings it out, but she can’t remember him ever saying no when she’s asked, and he even initiates sometimes, wants to fade away a long day in her sweetness, wants-

He’s good, too. The familiarity of her body helps, she knows, and the frequency of this act, and the scratchy kisses all down her torso before he finally gets where he’s going. They could play that game too later, maybe, see if he can mark up all of her skin, she does like that, she does-

“You sure about this?”

“You could say no.”

“To you? Never.”

That’s enough to make her comfortable, enough for her to close her eyes and let it happen. They’re bored, and her body is still in good condition, still able to reach the edge quickly enough and then… stay there, for a while. When given opportunity and permission and time, Joel has a tendency to drag things out, and she’d basically told him to see how much her body can take, and-

She’s not sure if the ruin is intentional, but he at least realizes what he’s done and crawls back halfway up her torso before she can even be mad about it. “That what you want?”

Tess takes a moment to weigh her options. She could tell him no, tell him to go slow and gentle with her for as long as it takes him to get hard again, and he’d listen. She could stop this entirely and he’d listen to that too. But there’s such light in his eyes right now, and that’s so rare, and-

“Yeah. See how many of those I can take.”

She makes herself still for it as he goes back to going down on her, tries to be all cute and cooperative like she almost never is, she trusts him she trusts this she trusts-

“Play with your tits,” he says after the next ruin, this time at least having the sense to stay where he is. “Wanna see what that does.”

As if she has the focus, she’s tempted to hiss, but rolling her nipples between her fingertips is low-effort and-

For that, she gets an actual orgasm, and he draws that out too until her lines blur, until there is nothing but warmth and this beautiful man who will not stop sucking her clit and-

Maybe it’s multiple bursts at once, for all she can tell. Her body is at its limit, but she’d made herself clear earlier and the attention does not stop, and this is why she’s territorial, because sometimes she can talk him into absolutely wrecking her, sometimes-

“Don’t wanna hurt you,” he says at some point – time has lost all meaning – as he moves to curl up with her. “That felt like… you count?”

“Lost track. You’re that good. You need…?”

“Think you need a moment first.”

“I’ve got other parts,” she murmurs, putting one of her hands on his thigh. “And we have time…”

“We have time,” he repeats as his fingers curl around her wrist and move her hand just slightly. “Use it.”

[daybreak-academy-fanfic]

KH OC Week: Day 5

Day 5 of @khoc-week is here, and I can’t remember if I had this idea a few days before the prompt list came up, or after. Ah well. There are references to the Epic Mickey series because it’s become a part of Sabrina’s backstory in the years I’ve had her. But it should still be easy to follow along with.

In which Sabrina has to take a breather while overseeing an experiment with Gummi Ships and power sparks.

Word count: 1,445

☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆

Sabrina was not a mechanic. Quite frankly, she mostly cared less when it came to whatever experiment the gremlins decided to partake in. But this project needed a supervisor. It was too dangerous not to. No one had ever tried to place a power spark into the Gummi Ships before. Somehow Gremlin Sparks thought he was qualified enough to go through with the theory. He set up a workspace at Tomorrow City where he could have access to all the tools he needed- as it was where the Gremlins conducted most of their inventing experiments due to the area’s more technologically advanced structure.

Chip and Dale should have come to Wasteland, though. It would have made things a LOT easier.

“Sabrina, hand me my wrench.” Sparks requested.

“A wrench?!” Chip immediately squeaked through the Gummiphone. “No, no, no! You’re going to break it with a wrench!”

“Yeah! You needa hammer instead!” Dale chimed in.

Gremlin Sparks gave a scoff so pretentious that Sabrina had to roll her eyes.

“A gremlin’s wrench is many tools in one- not just a measly day-to-day wrench like you two would have.” Sparks boasted to the chipmunks. “Trust the process, my friends. We gremlins know our stuff when it comes to fixing things.”

Both chipmunks gave a prudent huff at the idea.

“Yeah,” Chip argued, “And we know Gummi Ships.”

“We practically invented them!” Dale agreed.

Sabrina pinched the bridge of her nose. Next time, she’ll try to convince someone else to watch over a bunch of gearheads. She’d rather suffocate under a pile of bunny kids than experience a wrench-measuring contest in the making.

“I’d rather help Roxas put together a garage kit skateboard than this.” she hissed under her breath at some point. To the others proper, she finally questioned, “Are you sure this is even going to work?”

“Of course!” Sparks immediately told her, almost in time with Chip saying, “Of course not!” and Dale shouting, “No way!”

Sabrina groaned. She was getting a headache now. Were all men this difficult, or just these three? Oswald had his moments, she knew that for certain. But Oswald also knew when to relent. He’d fester in it, sure, but he wouldn’t keep arguing.

“Sabrina, hand me the torch, would you?” Sparks then requested. “Turn it on for me while you’re at it.”

“Right.” she idly agreed before reaching for the only flashlight available. She switched it on, only for the light to immediately flicker slightly.

“Looks like the battery’s running out.” she told the gremlin as she passed the flashlight to him.

“The batteries run out so quickly on this thing…” he agreed. “But it’s the only one I’ve got. If only I had a better light to use…”

It didn’t take long for the peanut gallery to chime in.

“You’d have better light if you were anywhere but in Tomorrow City!”

“Yeah! It’s always night there! Sabrina, you should have told him better.”

“I did.” she grimaced.

“There’s a reason why I chose Tomorrow City,” Sparks informed them, “And it’s not because of the lighting.”

“It’s because you’re a moron!” Dale cheerfully declared, netting a gleeful laugh out of Chip. As Sparks suddenly came out from under the Gummi Ship, Sabrina took that as her cue to leave them to their own devices. It’s not like she needed her Gummiphone anytime soon. It might not survive with the way those three were acting.

Sabrina made her way out to Tomorrow City’s square and rested against one of the pillars holding up the People Mover attraction. It was nice and cool against her skin. The honorary princess of Wasteland allowed herself to relax slightly. Arguing was exhausting, she knew this well from experience. But when that arguing wasn’t being done by her? All irony aside, it was the absolute worst.

When she felt like opening her eyes, the reminder that she was still stuck in Tomorrow City made her whine. Maybe she could bring back a crowbar and use it to whack Gremlin Spark with? But how would she get Chip and Dale when they kept riling him up? As she wondered if she could make a quick call to Queen Minnie for assistance, Sabrina noticed a pair of blue bunny children hanging out. They were probably thinking about doing something bad. Their interest in the power generator that kept the People Mover active looked awfully suspicious.

“Hey you,” she shouted at the bunnies, making them jump a solid foot in the air in surprise. “Come here.”

The bunny kids looked at her, then at each other. It didn’t take long for one to shove the other Sabrina’s way. The chosen bunny came over with its head hung low- as if it expected to be in a lot of trouble. And honestly? On any other day they would be. But for today, Sabrina felt like being self destructive.

She bent down to its height before telling it, “Smother me. Kill me right now and we’ll make it look like an accident. Please. I’m begging you.”

The bunny kid looked at her as if she had just told a really outlandish joke. It tilted its head a bit as it looked her over. Having an idea, the bunny kid hopped up into her arms, reached over to pat her on the back (even saying “Pat. Pat.” with each touch), then got back down again. It gave her a wide grin before joining back up with its sibling. Apparently, it thought that had made Sabrina feel better.

It did not.

Sabrina groaned as she stood up again. When was the last time she gave up and had a fit? It had to have been years- maybe even a solid decade.

Not long after, with a familiar little pop, Chirithy appeared beside her. Sabrina barely acknowledged her Dream Eater’s presence. There was a small glance, but that was about it.

“There you are!” Chirithy greeted. “I was almost thinkin’ that you left Tomorrow City without telling anyone.”

“And let two chipmunks verbally murder a gremlin? There’s no way I’d miss that.” Sabrina huffed back.

Chirithy bashfully rubbed the back of its neck. It had a hard time saying that it could disagree with her.

“I think you can head on back now.” Chirithy then told Sabrina. “I stayed behind a bit to make sure.”

Sabrina lulled her head over to look at her Dream Eater.

“Thanks,” she said- her voice sounding exceedingly weary in that moment. Sabrina let out a long sigh before asking, “Hey Chirithy, can I scream into your body for, like, five seconds?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t.”

A pained look crossed Sabrina’s face. Even if she wasn’t going to say it outright, she was making it rather obvious that she didn’t want to go back willingly. Chirithy decided to take a seat as it thought something over.

“Hey Sabi, can you explain something for me?” it eventually asked.

“Hmm?”

“Why is it so important that the Gummi Ships use power sparks? Don’t they already have a pretty good something-or-another to keep them going?”

“Well,” Sabrina mused, “You see Chirithy, it's all because I’m a bundle of freaking sunshine.”

“Ah. I see.” Chirithy nodded.

Sabrina slid down the support pillar to sit by her Chirithy.

“Gummi Ships run on smiles and laughter,” Sabrina explained, despite not really needing to, “And we all know that scowls are more habit for me than smiles. Then there’s the dead fact that I’ve only felt safe enough to laugh in front of two people…”

“I think it’s kinda great that people care about you so much, they’re willing to experiment with something new.” Chirithy mused. “I hope the power sparks will work with the Gummi Ships in some way. Even just for one ship. Maybe we can deck it out with some cool flames or something. Gummi Ships are a bit too bright colored in my opinion. Oh! Dragons! We can put a big dragon on the side of the power spark ship! A great big purple one with black eyes and blue flames! Wouldn’t a Gummi Ship dragon be cool?!”

She couldn’t help it, but a small chuckle erupted from Sabrina’s lips. Her Chirithy gave a bright grin in return. The laugh of its Keyblade wielder was a Chirithy’s favorite sound.

“Hey,” Chirithy then said when an idea came to it, “I think I can make a trip over to Disney Castle without much problem. Let me bonk those chipmunks over the head for you!”

Sabrina raised an eyebrow.

“You?”

“I am no stranger to a baseball bat, Sabrina. I’m your Chirithy.”

The flat response was met with a bemused snort and even a half smile.

“Alright,” Sabrina agreed, “Let’s do this.”

[jakesuit0]

Guardians of Sunshine Review

“Guardians of Sunshine” has one of the only title cards to forego the usual torn painting style and go with a video game start screen. It’s also the only animated title card. Not counting the red tinted version of the usual opening credits in “Stakes”, these credits are the only to be stylized differently. It helps to make this feel like a special adventure. 

Finn and Jake’s conversation while playing Guardians of Sunshine on BMO captures what kids say to each other while gaming. Finn and Jake are very overconfident with their skills at first, despite only being on the first level. They mistake random elements of the level as glitches.  

Like Finn and Jake, people often disagree which collectibles they should care about getting, like useless coins. Finn reaches Sleepy Sam in the game. It’s funny how such a simple looking enemy gives him so much trouble. It looks like Finn can easily just jump over him, but he instead makes himself vulnerable by trying to perform a long combo move. Sleepy Sam is able to eat Finn’s character and poop out a pixel.

Finn blames the game for his loss. He claims it would be easy if he were in it for real, which is definitely something I’ve said while frustrated. Cope harder Finn. BMO lets it slip that he has the ability to send Finn and Jake into the game. Moe is a genius and I can buy that he could give BMO this ability. But, why would he give it to him? Did he think it would be another way to make BMO’s new family happy? I wish this had been brought up! It’s also weird that there’s an extra compartment with the button that’s suddenly in this episode and never seen again. BMO is almost egging Finn on when he says it’s “too dangerous” for him and an “incredible adventure”. Finn and Jake act real sus and decide it’s “time for bed”. BMO, for some reason, doesn’t take any actions to stop what he knows is coming. When BMO falls asleep, Finn and Jake get him to push the button, sending them inside the video game. Adventure Time gets to do its take on the characters going inside a video game trope!

This marks the first use of guest animation in an episode! Finn, Jake, and the video game world are computer-generated. It’s a great decision that makes it feel like Finn and Jake have really entered the virtual space, especially with the green and black background. Due to their new pixelated circumstances, Jake gets to join in on the autotune singing with Finn for once in a cute song.

They reach the first pit that Finn and Jake thought was so easy. Jake idiotically jumps right into the lava, which is now much bigger. Turns out the game is actually much harder now that it’s real! Jake still has two more lives so he purposefully kills himself again for fun. It’s funny how much amusement Jake gets out of killing himself. Also Jake death foreshadowing or whatever. Finn is worried that maybe iF yOu DiE iN tHe GaMe YoU dIe In ThE rEaL wOrLd. Jake’s stretchy powers should make the game much easier and they use it to cross the pit. 

They run into Bouncy Bee. I love the cut from Finn and Jake ready and amped up to face the enemy to Bouncy Bee brutally murdering Finn as he screams in agony. Jake just stands there, when he could easily defeat it using his powers. I guess he was frozen in fear. After Finn returns because of his extra lives, Jake declares that they should never die again. Yikes, that hits differently now. Jake insists on taking some gold coins with them, so they’ll be rich in real life. Jake forgets that they are already loaded with gold and are super rich. His old thieving ways still have its influence, I suppose.

Finn and Jake have to run away from Honey Bunny. It’s cool that the episode acknowledges that being transported into the game means you can’t do certain things you can do with a controller, like summoning the bomba. Finn and Jake reach Sleepy Sam. He’s still very tiny. They could easily get around him. Instead, Finn slowly sneaks up to him. The suspense and ominous music works very effectively. Sleepy Sam’s scream definitely got me as a kid. Finn gets eaten, making them both down to their last lives.

They run away from all the monsters in fear and get cornered. Jake tries to rip off the bomba icon from the edge of the screen. It’s interesting that the UI part of the game is still accessible from within. Jake pulling out the bomba creates a portal back into the real world. Not sure if the logic lines up there but it works!

Finn and Jake rip a hole through BMO and are back home. Jake’s coin being a penny in the real world is a hilarious twist. The enemies from the game follow, ripping through poor BMO. They seem like they are going to be chill after they finally get what they want, sunshine. However, they turn their attention to BMO for imprisoning them. After Jake gets eaten, it’s up to Finn to save his pals. He uses the combo move in real life to defeat them. Sleepy Sam really should have eaten Finn instead of just watching Finn and slowly opening his mouth. BMO is rightfully pissed at Finn and Jake, especially after they say they want to give it another go. He starts using the combo move on Finn and Jake. The episode ends on a game over screen, implying BMO murdered the boys. A great ending!

Finn, Jake, and BMO are able to use the combo in real life. At first I assumed it would only work on creatures from the game. But then, BMO uses it on Finn and Jake. Maybe them being in the game makes them forever vulnerable to that combo. Don’t let The Lich find out! Perhaps only people who have been in the game, and BMO who hosts the game, can perform it.  I wonder if the monsters actually originated from the real world and were transported the way Finn and Jake were. It’s also possible they were created for and born in the game.

It’s nice for BMO to finally have a more active role in an episode and be a major plot point. We get to see his bossy and sassy side of him for the first time. Usually BMO is depicted as Finn and Jake’s child. But, sometimes we get to see him as the voice of reason and scolding Finn and Jake which can also be funny. Finn and Jake are finally shown to care about BMO as a friend with them showing concern when he is damaged and trying to save him from the game’s enemies. He’s not just a video game console anymore!

My only problem with this episode is the glaring oversight that Finn could have just spammed backpack to win the game like he always does.

Grade: A-