#renee rambles about her three years on tumblr

[emerald9d]

Ricka

No ask prompted this, this time. I just need to talk about her because she's, like, the other main OC of mine, right up there with Shelly. I just... don't draw her as much as I should.

The art here is in no particular order and the last two are actually Allie, a "version" of her I used for a tabletop campaign where the setting was different enough (Princess: The Hopeful, for those who are wondering) that she needed a new background and name. She basically looks and acts the same though. Also ignore that other guy for now lol.

This is going to be more rambly than when I described Shelly.

So yeah. Her full name is Ricka Rene Fuyu. She lives on Earth... or, well, "Earth." It's called that, and it even resembles our current-day world. But, there's a bunch of people with pointed ears, and most everyone can learn telekinesis. (though it's difficult and not THAT useful to most people, sorta like martial arts. guess what there's a lot of martial artists in my stories)

Also the ladmasses are (roughly) the same but everything else is different! Ricka lives in "The Triad," a collection of three closely located cities situated around the location of current-day Moscow. Ricka lives in Trifol, the "poorest" of the three cities. The other two are Slayton, a more froufrou college town, and Elaros, the capital of the country.

The tech is very "30 minutes into the future." There's fancy prosthetics and crazy computers and power armor, but most people can't afford them, and see them infrequently. I hesitate to call it cyberpunk, but its in that ballpark for sure. (Half of Ricka's design is "wannabe Matrix character") The most noteworthy development is "biotech drones," however, mindless attack-and-defense robo-creatures have started filling out military and police forces worldwide, courtesy of a subsidiary of Unity, a massive corporate conglomerate with its sites on controlling basically every major industry in the world. The only thing they haven't broken into fully, however, is the energy industry...

Anyway, Ricka couldn't be more different than Shelly, at least outwardly. She's quiet and reserved, and slow to react emotionally. (dissociative, really) But she's quite technically intelligent, and has a rich inner world, which she will show off when she lets herself relax and open up. This girl has opinions. And memes. And blorbos. She's basically the equivalent of a seasoned lefty Tumblr user. She's kind of my answer to the Rei Ayanami type of character, though her influences are myriad. Many years ago she started off by being a ripoff of Lucca from Chrono trigger. How far she's come.

Llife for Ricka started off promising enough. But, when both her parents died when she was 8, (one from a workplace accident, the other from cancer) only her grandfather and older brother were left to take care of her. (or take care of the older brother, for that matter)

For the next several years the family struggled with poverty, and mental illness. Ricka in particular barely hung on through the course of middle school, before succumbing to a massive breakdown at the beginning of highschool. Though, if there's a silver lining, is that she grew close to a former friend of her parents, who she sees as an uncle of sorts. Some particular interests of his, like boxing and motorcycles, rubbed off on her. (I know she's doing karate stuff in that one pic, but I changed my mind on that later)

After her breakdown, even her somewhat conservative grandfather had to admit her struggles needed to be taken seriously. Thankfully, around that time the family's finances improved somewhat. Since then, she's had a therapist and homeschooling, while pursuing her various technical interests as best she can.

The story begins with her starting university at 19. A rather big step for her considering her history of social anxiety, she's confident she can handle it. And she does! Especially with the help of a friend of hers from online, who also happens to be attending the same university as a transfer student.

However, despite making some irl friends, the future still presents a struggle. Corporate interests rule higher education to the point that they outright dictate what majors are available to matriculate into. It's hard to be an engineer when the powers that be decide that there's currently enough engineers.

Being around attentive friends who aren't used to her quirks reveals just how odd some of those quirks are. Which then leads to a discovery both illuminating and somewhat upsetting. See, I said telekinetic powers exist, but not telepathic. So mind-to-physical influence, but no mind-to-mind interaction.

Well, it turns out Ricka is unnaturally good at knowing what people are feeling, and where they are, and what they're about to do. To the point that it becomes clear she's got some special, unheard of mental abilities. And that, furthermore, she's had these powers, unknowingly, for most of her life. It becomes clear that it was actually a major source of her social anxiety, as the feelings of those around her overwhelmed her to a supernatural degree. However, Ricka's conditions are still quite real. Knowing the reason (or, at least, a reason) for her issues does not make them go away overnight.

While grappling with that, some strange things start happening to people around campus, which leads her and her newfound friends into unwittingly becoming a group of amateur sleuths. Ricka's empathic powers, naturally, become very useful for this task, making her into the functional core of the group. This then leads them into stumbling across things that they weren't supposed to know, and... well, the plot had to start at some point. What happens from there is a conspiracy thriller of unreasonable proportions.

Because, you see, those empathic powers didn't come from nowhere. And where they did come from...

...

One more thing. A somewhat more recent development is that she lost her left forearm when she was young. Or, hell, maybe she was born without it. Either way, she wears a prosthetic a lot. Normally... well, I'll let Ricka herself explain, in a block of narration I wrote randomly a little while ago:

My prosthetic could be covered by insurance. Well, kind of. The school health insurance will get you a part, but only within a certain price range. And, really, that’s not unreasonable. A fully articulated human-like hand is a bit much for the everyday, especially for your typical student. I’m not your typical student. And I don’t like being told what to do by an insurance company. No, the only thing that’s covering this hand is a leather glove.

You can see that leather glove in the pic where she's princess carrying that guy. And the prosthetic itself, uh, coming apart in that one doodle.

She also wears a simpler hook/pincer sort of prosthetic half the time. But she got that more advanced one at a young age, and has basically been learning how to maintain and adjust it herself for years. It's kind of her pride and joy. If it wasn't clear already that she's a big smarty pants.

So, yeah. That's Ricka. I find her a harder to think about because she's less upfront than Shelly by a long shot. Her presence doesn't come with the same bombastic instant gratification. It does however come with an internal narration that would feel at home in a hard boiled detective mystery novel. So, that's something.

[rayonfrozenwings]

Hey mutuals, followers and p0rn bots, 

Its my blogs 3rd birthday! 

I’ve been lurking, posting, ranting in the SJM fandom on tumblr for three years and that’s kinda Crazy to me. 

So here are some fun Facts that kinda evolve into an appreciation post… and then an anecdotal history of this fandom I’ve been a part of. So thanks for hanging round and talking shit with me. :D

if ur tagged it’s just like a thanks or when I met you - lol you don’t have to read the whole thing... 

and the rest is under the cut.... 

I only liked posts for the First month, I never reblogged. It was my first time on tumblr.

I’ve had the same URL since the start

The first post I reblogged and commented on was @miladyaelin ‘s post about a Volcano in the Frozen Wastes - such a wasted opportunity for World destruction that was not used to full potential at all in KoA hahaha - maybe a spin off series? joke.

The first person to reply to one of my asks was abookandacoffee or @bookofmirth 3 months after I joined tumblr and that’s kinda scary because that means we have been speaking longer than we realised. 

@propshophannah​ thanks for letting me go nuts about theory with you!

The Big blogs in the SJM fandom change, and it's cool that being in the fandom for so long means that I get to talk with all these people and make some real friends.

I made read friends from reading books and talking about them - How Cool Is That!

I had fun making shit posts about Dorian’s couch, Rowan’s relationship status after EoS and seeing my friends come up with some pretty clever memes too. 

The Art is amazing, and actually getting to talk to artists about their art is something I didn't think would happen ever. So I’m so grateful to tumblr for that.

I want to tag a lot of people but - having been here so long means that urls change and I lose touch - plus I think I would go over the “50 tag limit” easily. 

The first kiwi blog who I talked to was @verifiefangirl and we bonded over the Old El Paso advert of “why not both”. 

I want to thank those who encouraged me to write my theories, and I did that for the first year on here. 

I want to say thank you to the people who told me “You know, you can write your theories as fic and people don't get as angry.” Because you were right! And so that started my writing of fan fic, and thank you to those people who wanted to be tagged and let me know what was up - sorry I haven’t written in a while. 

Thank You to @faenet and my Faenet Fam. I joined to share theories, switched it up to write fic, and then evolved into Edits. I was able to learn how discord works and be a part of a team and learn new photo editing skills - I knew nothing before I joined and it's so cool to have become a part of that community.

Thanks to my BookClub brotp - It’s been the best getting to know you all over the last year, discuss books and life. And just have fun. I honestly wouldn't have connected with you guys if we just relied on tumblr because it often requires me to say something first, and i'm not good at that. @theyretheirthere​ sorry I had to tag you twinnie. :P 

Some Fandom History for those who have been here a while ... (well for as long as I have been in the fandom, I know there was a time before this).

Phase One - POST EOS Theory and Beach Scene Debate, Elorcan exists now even tho People still HATE Lorcan (not me but lots of people did). ACOMAF love, nickname of Tam the tampon takes off. 

Phase Two - PRE ACOWAR, Moreil Hype, Fandom super excited, Acomaf love, Rhysand love.

Phase Three - ACOWAR IS AWFUL - Dumpsters on Fire, lots of fandom people left. The ones who stayed had discourse about Moriel, Mor’s sexuality, Nessian, the ending and how it was rushed, Azriel is a smol cinnamon roll who deserved better - lots of Az fics and the birth of Elriel started here. 

Phase Four - TOG FANDOM ARE MAD because Chaol’s novella turned into a Novel. Cyber bullying of Chaol lovers in fandom led to a lot of blogs leaving - just be kind to one another, you can talk about stuff without personal attacks.   

Phase Five - WE ARE ALL GOING STIR CRAZY, Someone released a TOD mock cover and there was a lot of ableist stuff going on. Bad time in fandom. 

Phase six - TOD Came out - Lots of people refused to read, other people felt vindicated about theories, other people were shocked about Maeve. Praise and Hate towards the book and for how SJM handled race and disability. Was she being sensitive or appropriating? Mixed Reviews, again fandom got a little smaller. Acotar Fandom was taking off in terms of fics. 

Phase Seven - Acotar Fandom PRE ACOFAS Fan Fic Mania. Most of us re-read acotar, acomaf, acowar and Fix-it fics, Nessian Fics, Feysand Fics, Lots of Fics. Lots of Art. I noticed the ACOTAR fandom kinda took off while the TOG one floundered.

Phase Eight - A New Novella for ACOTAR, ACOFAS - lots of hype. Lots of mixed reviews - “it had no plot” or “I love it” or “I don't like how the first pov changed depending on the character” or “Yay christmas!!!” or “boo wall scene” or “yay Wall scene!!” Again - more fics and art came from it. Snowball fight was a highlight, art was gorgeous, Amren as a snowball was also good. Fandom was flourishing again, yes we lost some people but we also had a resurgence in creative content.

Weird non-phase - Catwoman: Soul Stealer, was released but wasn't a “must read” for many people.

Phase Nine - Pre KoA, Fandom was Hyped! We were all doing our re-reads, theories came out again, discussions about favourite quotes of things we had forgotten were shared. Again - Some good ToG fic came out because people had it fresh in their minds again  - we were preparing. Edits were great, lots of Edits, Lots of Art. 

Phase Ten - KoA Came out and destroyed us. Fandom was relatively quiet while people abandoned tumblr to read it. Anti’s came out in force, they had more to say about it that the fans did. Fans didn't see this immediately because they weren't on tumblr. About a month after release, We got Meta and discourse on KoA and what it means and what Aelin’s story has meant to us personally. Edits started taking off again. This Phase is still ongoing even a year later. Personally I am in Awe of that book and what it managed to achieve, I wanted to re-read it straight away but it still has so many parts that HURT to read. 

New people slowly trickle into fandom, or pick up the books, its sweet, but as a veteran sometimes seeing the same arguments gets tiring and so I dont comment as much as I used to. I’m still here reading, but I don't really want to write another essay like the ones I've previously written to defend a point so i’m quiet. 

Where I think it will go next? 

Most of the people who remain in the fandom are good at looking at things with a critical eye but saying “I can still enjoy a book”, which I like. 

We will get hyped as a fandom for Crescent City which was pushed back to March 2020, even if we are unsure it’s what we want, I don't think we can help ourselves. 

ACOTAR 4 is in the works with no confirmed release date, just vague mention that it was being pushed back - twas supposed to be 2020 but I'm doubtful, especially if other titles are pushed back first like CC:HOEAB - it was by three months from Jan to March. 

WOTOG was also pushed back, first from release with EoS, then from release with ToD and now from release with KoA (those are all goodreads dates as I was waiting for it and keeping an eye out, but we also had novels added and other books like acofas - goodreads also isn't the best at staying on top of release dates)…. we have had mention of it that it will include art and is co-authored by Lynette Noni, so It is still being made at least - I mean I don't have to cry about it being cancelled just yet. And So I have to stay around for those. I became invested in the World building of TOG to not wait for WOTOG. 

So yeah, it’s been a wild 3 years. <3

[jedichick04]

Rachel’s Rambles - 6x03 Next of Kin

Okay, time to fess up...which one of you is actually a paid staff member of the Arrow writers? Because what I saw on my screen this week was like the best kind of fanfiction...and I truly mean that as a compliment. The kind of fanfiction that absolutely nails the characterizations of the characters while giving me some fluff that help with additional character development.

My more detailed rambles are behind the cut...

The Good

SO MUCH GOOD this episode. I have to admit, I’ve been loving this season of Arrow so far. And I’m pretty sure from what I know of upcoming episodes, that love is only gonna deepen. But I’ll try to limit my rambling tonight!

First things first: OLICITY IS BACK, Y’ALL. LET THAT SINK IN.

Not just “oh they shared a kiss in the finale”. Not just “they’re on a path towards each other”. No, they are INDISPUTABLY BACK TOGETHER ON THE SHOW.

Now, I’ve been an Olicity shipper from season 2 on. I never doubted that someday the show would allow them to get back together. But last year was hard. It’s so nice that here we are, three episodes in, and the show isn’t even trying to beat around the bush anymore. I totally respect that they paused their relationship so William could adjust to his new normal. But there comes a time to press “play” again, and Oliver recognized they’d hit that point.

And can I just say how delightful and refreshing it is to see Oliver taking the lead? For him to tell Felicity with utter sincerity that she would make William’s life better, just like she makes Oliver’s life better? That’s relationship goals, my friends!

(Side note: How adorable is it that Oliver not only wrapped the key to his apartment, but took the time to pick out a keychain that’s a smiley face with glasses? He’s such a sap, and I absolutely adore him for it.)

Arrow writers, I’ll sort of forgive you for fading to black, if only because I know that fandom will happily step in to fill that gap. And because there were so many other fabulous scenes we got tonight.

Like...Felicity and William. I’ve been somewhat neutral on William being full-time in Oliver’s life. On the one hand, William--and Oliver submitting to Samantha’s demands he keep William secret--was the whole underlying reason Olicity blew up in season 4. On the other hand, I was excited to see Oliver as a father. And man, did the William storyline deliver tonight. I loved the sense of normalcy that a math test brought to the show. I love that Oliver went seeking advice from a fellow father (Quentin), then Felicity. Her grin when he asked her for help was priceless. And then again when Oliver asked Felicity to tutor William...but all that paled in comparison to the actual scene with Felicity and William. It was everything I could ever hope for. They connected, they were starting to bond, and William was just as enchanted by Felicity as his father was from their first meeting. Give me all the Queen family feels!!

I loved all the nods to Oliver loving to cook this week, from making William breakfast to the nightime snack of Monte Cristos. And gee, Felicity, something tells me that Oliver must have made you a few Monte Cristos late at night during season 3.5 and 4a. Though I’m raising an eyebrow at the waffles. I don’t know realistically how good those would be as the bread for a Monte Cristo. ;) Also, I cracked up at Felicity scrambling to pick up the boxes of take out when Oliver commented on what she’d done with the loft. And the contrast between Oliver making William breakfast, and Felicity eating a bag of chips because she hadn’t had breakfast? Yeah, I see you, show. I’m gonna need lots of scenes of Oliver making both Felicity and William breakfast ;)

LOVED the Diggle and Oliver talk--it was so rewarding to see their roles reversed, I enjoyed Oliver joking about the brooding being a part of the costume. I also appreciated that Diggle’s wife and son were brought up, and addressed. I know that was something that was left hanging in the air last week. The fact that they took the time to address it? Gives me continued hope for the direction of this season.

Also loved that Felicity confronted the team when things went wrong, but also was understanding and supportive of John after he explained. It’s going to be interesting to see the dynamic with Dig leading the team and Oliver staying out of things, to see how Felicity’s role develops. 

I like Samandra Watson as a nemesis. It’s a different feel than the typical bad guys, and she’s unpredictable. I think there are elements of what they were trying to do with Dragon Lady’s character last year, but they are a lot more believable coming from Agent Watson’s character. It’s nice to see somebody with some brains piecing together the obvious about Oliver, and his close associates. I mean, someone was gonna figure it out eventually...

Loved seeing Oliver succeed at mayor-ing this week...though Star City’s political structure baffles me (especially after I went through nine weeks of classes about my local city government...that’s where I’ve been Thursday nights ;) Really, though, would it kill the writers to out a tiny bit more effort into the city government structure??)

And I could keep rambling on about all the wonderful things in this week’s episode, but I’ll limit myself to two three more: I really enjoyed the fight in and around the limo with Green Arrow and Onyx; I love that Oliver did end up taking William to a Rockets game; and I really appreciated that Felicity is the one who is going to name her new company (including the nod to Oracle once again).

The Bad

This week’s villain felt like a filler. We know that Michael Emerson is out there, and that there are multiple villains this year, but this felt much more like an old school villain of the week than either Black Siren or Anatoly--probably because we didn’t have the history with Onyx that we have with the other two. She was effective enough for New Team Arrow to grow and develop, but that’s really all she was...fairly unremarkable. And did they ever address why she and her team weren’t bothered by the flash bangs?

I like Dinah...I really do. But the idea that she’s the only one who noticed something was wrong with Diggle, when Felicity was the one who was there when it happened and also happened to be in the bunker when they were arguing--you’re trying to sell me that she didn’t know something was up too? Yeah, right.

WHY THE FADE TO BLACK, Arrow? Take advantage of your 9 pm slot already!!

The Ugly

JOHN WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING UP?!?!?! This is SO going to bite you in the butt in a few weeks when Oliver finds out. UGH. (Though...,my amazing friend @mrsd923 is working on a very interesting theory about Dig and how what’s going on may be part of a bigger storyline...)

The anti flash bang glasses just reminded me  of eclipse glasses and I may have laughed a little too much at them. 

Also, totally giggled at Dinah’s Canary Cry containing the nerve gas. But hey, this is still a show based on comic books, so I’ll go with it.

Next Up and Last Thoughts

More Black Siren....I’m underwhelmed. But I did see that lovely shot of Felicity and Oliver in the bunker, and I’m intrigued by the article that hints at Felicity’s personal storyline heating up, with regards to something personally connected to her that she doesn’t lean on the team about. Michael Emerson’s debut, perhaps? :)

Also, the promo didn’t show it, but the lovely promo pictures did: Olicity is going on a date next week. And it looks like a beautiful revamp of their very first date, only minus the explosions. I AM SO EXCITED.

You could see hints of the supposed “Civil War” alignments to come...Rene going Team Oliver, Dinah going Team Diggle. It’ll be very interesting to see how it all shakes out!

Am I the only one absolutely not missing flashbacks this year? I think they’re a handy storytelling device when they make sense, but I already think this season is stronger without being tied to flashbacks.

Felicity’s comment that the loft is only six blocks from City Hall only serves to confirm that the loft and Oliver’s apartment are either in the same building, or in the same complex/block.

That’s all I’ve got! Looking forward to seeing all the fantastic fics that pick up where the show left off with a very rude fade to black. And as always, you can find me on Twitter or message me on Tumblr. Until next time!

[himbowelsh]

Can I please please have BabeRoe based on this -> quackworth tumblr com/post/56518924771/hohenheiny-you-guys-so-i-actually-did-this-a Renee and Ralph putting it and making Gene open the door or Bill and Julian pranking Babe PLEASEEE

AN: this was the most fun thing to write!!! also pizza boy babe is A++

Gene knows something’s up when he spots Renee eyeing him over the top of her book.

He’s no fool. He figured that his friends were planning something when they both insisted on pizza tonight. Renee is usually health-conscious, not a fan of “greasy American food”, while Spina will eat pizza any day of the week but is never determined when it comes to dinner. Gene knows his friends like the back of his own hand, so when it became clear that they were having pizza tonight whether he felt like it or not, he was confused.

Only now, however, with the eyes of both Renee and Ralph trained “discreetly” on him, is he beginning to feel suspicious. He has no clue what their scheme is, but it will probably be very inconvenient for him. Renee has a super villain’s mind for chaos, and Spina loves to cause trouble as long as he doesn’t think it will come back to bite him.

They don’t have the sort of friendship that leaves them constantly expecting each other to do something embarrassing (Gene doesn’t think he could share a house with either of them if he had to worry about sugar in the salt shaker or rubber snakes in his bed). He doesn’t know what’s going on, but the fact that his friends are acting so suspicious tells him that something is happening.

“What?” he finally asks, meeting Renee’s eyes. She quickly turns her attention back down to her book. Instead Gene’s gaze swivels to Spina, who has his nose buried in his laptop screen and is very intently “focusing” on his essay. 

He clears his throat. Spina doesn’t look up.

“We’re just wondering where the pizza is,” Renee speaks up. “It’s taking a long time.”

Not really. Gene ordered it all of forty minutes ago, and it’s a Friday night. He definitely isn’t surprised by the time it’s taken to get here, nor is he annoyed. If they wanted pizza fast, the should have just put a frozen one in the oven.

He’s about to say as much when the doorbell rings, startling all three occupants of the room. Gene is on his feet before he can hear another word out of his friends; he doesn’t miss the silence that follows him out of the room. They’re waiting on something, he realizes, and it probably has to do with the pizza.

(He hopes to god that Spina didn’t order pineapple again. He did that once, and Gene was so disgusted that he walked out of the house. This is what Gene gets for allowing his friends to order online instead of doing it himself – he should know better by now.)

He opens the door to possibly the most stereotypical-looking pizza guy he’s ever seen. The kid has to be in his first year of college (if he’s graduated high school at all), and wears a nervous look on his freckle dusted face. A crooked pizza delivery hat rests upon his head; the clash of the bright blue uniform against his red hair makes Gene’s eyes hurt. The kid has two boxes of pizza in his hands and is shifting on his feet like he really needs to pee.

“Umm, hi,” he blurts out as soon as Gene opens the door. “Pizza!”

Gene could have figured that out for himself. He gives the kid a pass; if his nervousness is any indication, this must be his first day on the job. (It’s not like Gene is very intimidating himself, so he doubts he’s the reason the pizza boy looks ready to bolt.) He takes the receipt from the top of the boxes and glances around. “You got a pen I could borrow?”

“Oh -- sure. Here.” The kid reaches into the pocket of his uniform. He almost fumbles, but manages to catch the pen before it can hit the ground, and hastily passes it towards Gene. Gene offers a quiet thank you and scribbles down his signature before he takes the pizza and passes the receipt and pen back.

Nervous Pizza Guy’s face, if possible, has gotten even redder. He’s almost as bright as his hair now. Gene wonders what he’s supposed to do if the pizza guy passes out on his doorstep. (He’s a med student, so of course he knows what to do – but does that mean they get their money back? Can they keep all the extra pizzas?)

He extends a handful of dollar bills to the guy, who gapes dumbly at them before plucking them from Gene’s hand. When he looks up at Gene, he’s still holding the money in front of him like he has no clue what to do with it.

“That’s your tip,” Gene says.

“Yeah,” the guy replies. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

A few more seconds pass. Neither of them speak; neither of them move. Finally, Gene clears his throat.

“Umm, is there something else you needed?”

The guy springs to attention like Gene’s just tased him. Gene has to actually check to make sure the guy didn’t stumble into the bee hive in the bushes – he looks alarmed enough for it to be a serious possibility. Instead of jumping around and screaming, however, the guy just starts stammering. “Nah, no, I mean, I – have more deliveries, and I’ve gotta – I mean, your order – it’s, I mean –”

“Are you okay?”

“Fine!” The guy answers so quickly that Gene’s concern, which has steadily been building over the course of this really weird interaction, only grows. “Yeah, I’m good!”

He raises an eyebrow. “You sure? You could come in for some water, maybe sit down for a minute.” (He doesn’t want to say “before you faint”, but the possibility is looking more and more likely.)

“N- no, I mean, I’m fine --” The kid forces his mouth shut, and inhales a deep breath through his nose. Gene watches him, half intrigued and half concerned, as he seems to regain some of his wits once more. A nervous chuckle escapes him, and he scratches behind his ear.

“It’s just... did you really want me to say what you wrote?”

Now it’s Gene’s turn to look confused. “Say what?”

“What you wrote. When you placed the order.” 

Gene’s brow furrows, and the guy looks even more flustered than he has all night. His face is cherry red right now, and it’s slowly dawning on Gene that this isn’t nerves, but embarrassment. “You said...” He swallows hard and exhales another raspy chuckle. “You wanted me to tell you you’re pretty?”

Gene blinks, frowns, and then exhales. He should have known.

(He did know that his friends were planning something from the beginning, he just had no clue what. Renee and Spina are probably hidden just around the corner, fighting off hysterics at this whole mess. His best friends are awful people.)

“You don’t have to say that,” he clarifies, hoping to soothe the poor pizza guy before he has a heart attack. Maybe he mistakes Gene’s exasperation for disappointment, however; because instead of relief, he just seems more alarmed.

“No, no, it’s okay! I mean, you are pretty! Really pretty!” It takes a second for his brain to catch up with his mouth. “In, like, a handsome way, you know? And not a creepy way. I’m not trying to be creepy. I don’t know what I’m doing. I hate this job, I just need the money, I’m really sorry --”

“Breathe,” Gene interjects sharply, because that entire ramble came out in one breath, and he really doesn’t want to deal with a passed out pizza guy. The kid’s voice shuts off immediately, and he inhales a deep breath.

Gene looks him over. This guy is ridiculous. Everything about him screams it, from his awful uniform to his hair to the deer-in-the-headlights look. He’s also oddly charming. Something about him really does make Gene want to reassure him -- but not only that. He wants to introduce himself, to get to know this amusing stranger.

He takes a deep breath of his own, and finds himself fighting off a smile of his own when he speaks. “My roommates placed the order. I think this is all just a big prank.”

The guy’s relief is visible as he exhales, slumping forward. “Oh, thank god.”

“Can I borrow your pen again?”

The kid doesn’t hesitate to hand it over, but Gene catches his hand before he can take it back. He quickly scrawls a series of numbers across the pizza boy’s pale flesh, and presses the pen back in his hand before releasing him. He offers him a small smile. 

“That’s my number. Have a nice night.”

He closes the door to the boy’s gaping, thunderstruck face. When he turns around, boxes in hand, he catches sight of two pairs of eyes peering at him from around the doorway to the living room.

“I hope you two had your fun,” he chirps, breezing past them, “because I’m not letting you have any of this pizza.”

He doesn’t miss the way Renee and Spina high-five out of the corner of his eye, but he’s merciful enough to ignore it. If the pizza boy calls him later on, he might even have to thank them.