#she gave 0 fucks and took no shit she was AWESOME

[enbeemagical]

Hey guess what cashiers do not find amusing?

"I want your discount"

"....excuse me?"

"I want your discount. Give me your discount."

"why"

"To save me money. Come on, give me your discount."

Literally what the fuck dude. You're a total stranger and you're not even being polite

[lassieposting]

Hi i havent read the books post-resurrection so im kinda lost on why you dont like phase 2 val? She was easily one of my favourite characters ever, she was flawed (and the books took time to acknowledge them) and relatable and still really admirable (intelligent, brave, loyal) and i really liked her and really appreciated that she wasn’t perfect unlike every other young adult heroines. What went wrong😢😢😢😢

Okay I'm gonna put this under a cut because I very strongly dislike phase 2 val and I know it bugs people who don't feel the same, so. Dead dove dont eat

Okay so first off, phase 1 val and phase 2 val are completely different people. literally. phase 1 val was based on an ex-friend of lardo's who used to apparently be involved pretty heavily in like, editing the books and "she'd react like this" or "val wouldn't say that", and that val she was one of my favourite fictional characters from when book one came out to the release of resurrection. phase 2 val is based on his whiny little girlfriend who likes to start shit with 14yos on twitter, and you can absolutely tell she is no longer the same person. so the long story short of "what went wrong" is "the original irl val's friendship with dirty laundry ended for whatever reason and he decided to retcon her entire personality to suit his gf"

Phase 2 Val, in my opinion:

Weak, like won't even fight back when she gets jumped bc boo fucking hoo she's so awful, bitch get up already, nobody signed up for ur pity party

Whiny. So fucking whiny. All the time. And she's the POV character so it's inescapable.

"Pacifist" but in a really pathetic virtue-signalling kind of way like "Oh, I've done such terrible thiiiiiiiiiiings I'm so awfulllllllllllll look how good I'm trying to be nowwwwwwww pay attention to meeeeeeee" kind of way, it was both boring and a massive eye roll. It's a book about magic and asskicking. Kick some ass. We're here for escapism not "realistic" whining. Yes, irl she'd be a mess. As an author it's his job to strike a balance between the "realism" he wants to portray and making his readers so depressed and done with his heroine that they quit reading, and in my case, he absolutely failed.

Everything must be about her at all times. Skug is having personal problems? Fuck him, they're about her now. Everything is about how it affects her, and her feelings, and be damned to the person actually having the problem. Fucks phase 2 val cain gives about anyone except herself: 0

Bitter and jaded. Which yeah I get why but it's like jesus christ what do we get out of reading about this? It's not even good bitter and jaded where it makes you empathise or admire her strength in adversity or whatever, she's just become a really nasty person with no redeeming features that I could see. Which? Landy outright said she's based on his gf? If your boyfriend is gonna drag ur entire personality through the dirt like that and write "you" as just a collection of incredibly negative traits...yikes.

Really ungrateful about the awesome life she leads? Which bugs me bc I fucking hate mundanity and knowing that all there is to life is fucking working and bad mental health. I would kill to live her life. All she does is moan about it. Like? Quit then. Fuck off back to being a mortal if it's that bad and live the shitty life you wanted to get away from in the first place. That way we'd get no more books, and quite honestly, thank fuck for that. But anyway, she needs to pick one, stick with it, and stop complaining about whatever she chose.

The girl wallows in self pity. And if someone else isn't indulging her enough, she'll wallow harder and louder and more obviously. Yawn.

Her POV is now so depressing to read that Resurrection literally tanked my mental health. I'm not kidding. I fell off the self-harm wagon, the suicidal thoughts came back, reading her dissociating would make me dissociate, I just did not cope whatsoever. Being in her head was just like being in my head during my worst points, and I hate myself, so naturally, I hate her too. Like I get why some people like phase two val. I get that her depression is "realistic" and that trauma does just make some people completely dislikeable and self-pitying, and if people want to read about that, then...sure. you do you, my dudes. But I live that reality, I am that person whose trauma made her a dysfunctional, isolated bitch, and I hate, passionately, having it infest the media I consume to escape.

Essentially if I wanted to engage with a bitter, spiteful, depressed piece of shit in her 20s who pushes everyone away and sucks at everything, I'd live my gd life. Yall see me tryna engage with my real life? Hell nah I'm on tumblr dot com burying my head up the ass of whatever fandom will force my brain to produce some s e r o t o n i n and that is what I need this series for

Also? The dynamic she had with skug in phase one? "Until the end"? "You save me, I save you, that's how we work"? Forget that, it doesn't exist anymore. I stopped reading after Midnight, because she was written like he was a coworker she could barely tolerate. They went from "Lardo confirms on twitter that they talked on the phone a bunch while she was in america and he'd always ask her to come home" to "she comes home and proceeds to blank him for five months while she sits in her fuckin multimillionaire's mansion feeling sorry for herself". Their friendship completely disintegrated, they were totally separated for most of the book, she's written as not giving a single shit about him. She treated him like dirt, and their dynamic basically felt like it was becoming "Local Man With History Of Gravitating Towards Abusive Women Makes Same Terrible Choices For Fifth Time" and? that was the point of no return to me. he supports her unconditionally, no matter what he's going through at the time, he's walked on broken bones to try and get to her when she was in danger, she can tell him anything and he'd never use it against her. I did not, for one second in phase two, believe she felt the same about him. tbh it felt like she could - and wanted to - drop him at the first opportunity and not even feel bad about it, and that's not the dynamic that made me so emotionally attached to phase one. i signed up for "until the end", not whatever bullshit phase two has going on.

Apparently she's "less depressed" now and their relationship is "better" in the books published since midnight, which! might well be true. but I haven't read them and don't intend to, and she's gone from one of my favourite fictional characters ever (which! was impressive! because i almost never bond with the female lead - i normally get attached exclusively to the character i crush on, which would be skug here. val was the first female lead i actually cared about since xena! so im deeply salty about losing her!) to a character i? honestly prefer to pretend doesn't exist. i live in war era dead men/generals crackship land because that way, i don't have to acknowledge her or the fuckin character assassination phase 2 pulled on her.

so yeah, no hate towards phase one val at all. phase one val was awesome and flawed and gave me something to aspire to despite my shitty mental health and trauma, and if she'd kept her original personality she might still have been those things. but the original "real life" val is no longer involved (and doesn't talk to landy at all anymore, apparently), and the val based on landy's insufferable gf? i cannot get behind her at all ever, four for skug and none for phase two val cain bye

(tldr; you're not missing anything by quitting after spx)

[nanoland]

new chapter (lucifer fic)

(earlier parts are here; whole thing is here) 

Ponder on the Narrow House, part 3 

Mazikeen + Eve + Michael, gen fic (for now), warning for gun violence 

0   

Along the California coastline, the cruise ship Illustrious Voyager bore four thousand three hundred and ten passengers, one thousand two hundred and ninety-six crewmembers, and two guide dogs.

Five thousand six hundred and eight souls, in total.

At around 4pm, without anyone noticing, that number became five thousand six hundred and nine.

Hands clasped behind her back, Eve strolled down the promenade, admiring the vessel’s size and beauty. This fresh new millennium’s wealth astonished her. Sickened, sometimes. Entranced, sometimes. But always astonished.

Back in the garden, they’d slept on and under rocks. When it rained, they got wet. When large animals came by, they hid. No weapons. No shelter. No blankets. The only resource they’d had in abundance was food. Good grief – so much food. God had been so proud of all the different fruits and nuts and mushrooms he’d made available to them, and Adam had been so grateful. Eve supposed she had been, too.

It hadn’t stopped her from one day approaching her husband and the plump rabbits resting in his lap – two of several dozen pets – and asking if he didn’t think the cold nights would be much more endurable if they each had a warm pair of fur slippers.

Then she’d met Lucifer. Fallen in love. Bitten the apple. Learned how powerful he and his Father truly were. That was when the real questions, the sticky, prickly questions, had come bubbling up.

If Lucifer has such a vast family, with so many siblings, why can’t I have even one? she’d asked the sky. Why is Adam all I get?

And later: If You can simply bring people into existence, why must I scream and bleed and shit myself in order to have children? Am I doing it wrong? Is there another way? If there isn’t, why not?

And later: Why is nothing fair?

And, most recently, after meeting Mazikeen: Why isn’t everything at least equally unfair? Why do humans get a world of options while Maze and her family are expected to serve angels from birth to death? Why isn’t Maze allowed into Heaven, even after an eternity of loyalty and hard work?

“Sorry,” she said, flashing white teeth at a passing crewmember. “I’m trying to find a friend of mine. Can you tell me how to get to Room 835?”

Half an hour later, there was a splash and the ship’s population dropped to five thousand six hundred and seven.

Before binding his arms and legs, Eve had secured Andrew Bismarck’s lifejacket and gagged him. Furious and helpless, he bobbed alongside her as the ship moved on and Mazikeen rowed up in her inflatable raft, wearing a sunset-orange swimsuit.

“Should I be worried about those, babe?” she asked as she gripped Bismarck’s lifejacket and hauled him out of the water.

Eve smiled at the dolphin pod swimming in playful loops around her, and patted the nearest one’s nose. “No. They’re my friends.”

The inflatable wasn’t big enough for three people, so Eve held on to a friend’s dorsal fin and let him drag her back to The Choronzon.

Michael stood on the deck, looking bored. As they climbed aboard, their prisoner slung over Mazikeen’s shoulder, he drawled, “Seriously? This sad specimen’s worth two million dollars?”

“Actually, his net worth is eight hundred million,” said Mazikeen, dumping him down. “Two million is just what his ex-wife is willing and able to pay.”

Wringing out her hair, Eve added, “She took half his money in the divorce but she gave almost all of it to a chimpanzee shelter. I really like her!”

His lip curled. “How delightfully sordid. Isn’t this all a little beneath you, Ms Mazikeen? I mean, you’re a big deal in Hell. High Commander of Lucifer’s legions, head advisor to the king himself. Aren’t you worried taking jobs like this diminishes you?”

Busy handcuffing Bismarck to the railing, Mazikeen said, “Eve, honey? Do me a favour?”

“Boop!” Eve chirped, having already snuck up behind Michael, and pushed him overboard.

“I know it’s your whole gimmick,” Mazikeen called down as he splashed and spluttered, his face red with princely indignation. “And I know you don’t have a lot else going for you. But the next time you try that on me, I will stop being nice. Kapish?”

“Kapish,” he muttered.

The Choronzon had barely travelled a mile before Eve spotted Bismarck’s henchmen coming after them.

“Someone gimme details!” shouted Mazikeen, busy putting a bulletproof vest on over her bikini and opening up the box she’d told Dan contained a fishing rod, not a halberd.

Eve peered through her binoculars. “Two speedboats. Twelve guys on jet skis. Guns everywhere.”

“Heh. Awesome. Mickey – move that tight ass to the front and make like a nice juicy target.”

“Wait, what about-…” Michael began, trailing off as Mazikeen dove gracefully into the sea.

Bouncing from foot to foot, Eve shot him a grin. “Don’t look so glum, sourpuss. This is the fun part.”

She’d never spoken to Michael in Heaven, despite the millennia they’d both resided only two miles apart, her in a lakeside cottage on the outskirts of the Silver City, him in the crystal palace in its centre.

Granted, she’d not exactly had a warm and fuzzy relationship with any of Lucifer’s siblings. They all knew what had happened in the garden. Some had been nice – Amenadiel had visited often, even though he’d never had much to say and they’d spent their time together skipping stones across the lake’s surface. But the others had kept her at a distance. She was a bad influence.

Michael, however, was the only angel she’d not ever said one word to.

She’d seen him, now and then, in the early days, when she was the only human in Heaven and, as such, grudgingly invited to divine family get-togethers. On those occasions, she’d spent too much time feeling awkward and out-of-place to pay attention to the sullen figure lurking in whatever shadows were available. The one time she’d glanced his way, it had been to marvel at the stories of people getting the twins mixed up; beyond the raw basics of bone structure, Michael couldn’t have looked less like her old lover.

Bullets sprayed across the hull. Humming, Eve stepped daintily into Michael’s shadow, seconds before they started bouncing off his shoulders and chest.

“It is beneath her,” he muttered.

She made an ambiguous noise. “How d’you figure?”

There came a shout and a splash from the nearest jet ski. The bullets stopped.

“C’mon. She’s Mazikeen. Everyone in the Silver City knows about Mazikeen. Ordinarily, we couldn’t give two dry shits about Lucifer’s minions, but her? She’s a minor celebrity. The power behind Hell’s throne. Christ, it’s no secret my beloved twin couldn’t govern his way out of a paper bag.”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling fondly. “He’s kind of bad at everything. Except music. He’s a great musician.”

More shouting. More shooting. More bullets bouncing off Michael’s torso. Mazikeen rode by, one hand gripping her newly-acquired jet ski’s throttle lever, the other clutching her bloodstained halberd. Watching her circle the enemy, Eve was reminded of a sheep dog.

Michael went on: “And then there’s the fact that for a while, everyone thought Lucifer was going to marry her. It was all anyone could talk about. Jophiel was taking bets on when the proposal would happen. She’d have been High Commander and the Queen of Hell. Instead? All of a sudden, Lucifer takes an indefinite vacay to the mortal realm, drags her with him, and next thing anyone knows, she’s working behind a bar.”

The remaining jet skis and their terrified, wounded riders had been neatly rounded up, which meant it was time for Eve to open her purse.

“Um – how long have those been in there?” asked Michael, watching her take out three grenades.

“You want one?” she offered. “Don’t forget to take the pin out before you throw it. I did that my first time.”  

One thing to be said for millions of dull, dull years spent sitting next to God’s Greatest Warrior, skipping stones across a lake; your aim got good.

The first blast was a warning, not close enough to actually kill any of Bismarck’s men, though the resultant waves did knock several into the water. They tried to retreat, turning their vehicles around, only to remember Mazikeen, corralling them single-handed and now armed with machine guns she’d confiscated from those already bested.

When they saw the second and third grenade incoming, they gave up and abandoned the jet skis, jumping into the sea and swimming for their lives.

“Fuck!” Michael yelped, blocking his ears at the concomitant explosions.

Gazing past the debris and smoke, Eve saw Mazikeen head for the nearest of the two speedboats. Its occupants, preoccupied with aiming a rocket launcher at The Choronzon, saw her coming far too late.

“I get your point,” said Eve, as her girlfriend and her halberd made short work of the crew. “But that’s a really… how can I put this? It’s a really angelic way of looking at things. Maze doesn’t consider anything ‘beneath her’.”

“Wow. Sick burn. You’re basically admitting she has no pride.”

“Oh, she’s got pride. Tons of pride. Her pride’s just dependant on how well she does a job, not on the type of job she has. She wasn’t happy working at Lux, but that wasn’t because she thought bartending was ‘beneath her’; it was because she prefers doing things she’s good at. Customer service isn’t really one of her strengths.”

The second speedboat was abandoned by its crew mere seconds before Mazikeen rammed the first speedboat into it, cackling victoriously.

“Actually,” Eve said, moving from Michael’s shadow to where Mazikeen had earlier set a crate of peach soda – her favourite – out on the deck, “now that you mention it, I guess I’m the one with no pride. Haven’t really ever had anything to be proud of. Your Dad never gave me the chance. I was never meant to do things. I was just meant to be.”

Michael snorted. “Lucky you. Trust me; he may have softened in his later years, but back in the day he never, ever stopped riding our asses. You think Lucy really rebelled because he had better plans for how the universe should be run? Because he was an innovator? Nope. Lazy dick just hated being told to do his chores.”

By the time Mazikeen swam back to them, saltwater had washed off the blood and her ponytail had come loose.

“Oh, hey,” said Eve, gripping her hand and pulling her up. “A mermaid.”

After pressing a rough kiss to her cheek and taking a swig of peach soda, Mazikeen asked, “You okay? He did his job?”

Eve patted the angel’s shoulder – the one that wouldn’t hurt. “He was terrific! Awesome addition to the team.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Michael mumbled.

Ignoring him, Mazikeen snatched up a towel to dry her hair. “Glad to hear it. Alright! Let’s get Bismarck back to shore, get paid, and find a place to have dinner so we can toast Team Hellrazor’s first successful mission.”

“R-A-Z-O-R,” Eve informed Michael. “To make it cooler.”

[gas-station-trackphone]

Fic Recs/Mandatory Reading for Reddie fans

Here is an incomplete list of some of my favorite Reddie fics on ao3, because i cannot get over the sheer talent of this fandom’s wonderful writers! A lot of these are the Greatest Hits that you’ll find on almost every fic list, but that’s why I consider them mandatory reading. like if you haven’t read some of these, what are you doing?

the years go by like days by georgiestauffenberg, rated M

the 27 years in between, but better because richie and eddie stay together. every time i think of this fic, i think of that lady gaga meme where she’s like “brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, etc” and maybe it’s bc this is one of the first reddie fics i ever read, but this one is always gonna be my favorite

broken record by spunknbite, rated E

the mother of all time loop fics. every reddie veteran gets chills at the phrase “the house on Neibolt was still standing”

literally everything by stitchy

like seriously just clear a few days bc you’re not gonna want to stop reading this author once you start. no other author has made me literally fucking cackle in one paragraph and sob in the next like this one, pls do yourself a favor and devour all their works like i did 

the night we met (take me back) by camerasparring, rated E

ch2 fix-it where eddie shows up at richie’s door alive and with no memory. great slow burn with a wonderfully conflicted richie, 10/10

let’s hear it for my baby! series by cloudings, rated E

OOOOOOOHHH boy! a modern teen!reddie grindr AU that’s both steamy AND sweet?? more like a fucking blessing amen hallelujah

a heart that laughter has made sweet by marjaani, rated E

another lovely teen!reddie fic that’s got it all! sweet, stupid boys, humor, a teeny bit of angst, and some 5-alarm fire smut with some top eddie, as a treat

keep talking. i’ll keep walking toward the sound of your voice. by theappleppielifestyle, rated T

angst with a happy ending is my favorite, and this one is just fantastic. so sweet, so sad! and stan is featured as eddie’s afterlife buddy and idk about y’all but i cannot get enough of stanley uris in my reddie fics. read this, then read all this author’s reddie fics, they’re all amazing

collateral by loosecannon, sheepknitssweater, rated E

a post-ch2 fic that i guess could be classified as fix-it, BUT with some very interesting twists. they beat the clown, everyone lives, but no one really gets the tropey happy ending. the WIP sequel is also incredible and i live for the updates.

the greater fool  series by mischiefmanager, mostly rated T with some E

this is a series i’ll reread a lot bc it’s so fucking good. follows young reddie into early adulthood, mostly a bunch of cute shit where they figure out themselves and their relationship. also contains the single best teen reddie fic in existence, he came in through the window, but reading the whole series is a must

brokeback derry and everything else by Amuly, rated E

27 years in between, richie and eddie reconnect in their 20s and meet back up in derry twice a year to remember and love each other before going back to their lives and forgetting. so much pain. there’s a lot of sweet stuff in there, but you can see shit’s gonna get complicated from miles away and the anticipation almost gave me stomach ulcers (in a good way). ultimate angst with a happy ending.

let me name the stars for you by playedwright, rated M

speaking of angst with a happy ending...Martian AU!!!!! this one fucked me up in the best way, i literally called my roommate at 2am to vent to her about my emotions after reading it. i go back and reread chapter 8 just to be overwhelmed by it, and it makes me cry every time. plus, there are awesome sequels/companion pieces in the series! read this, i beg you!

walk through fire for you by hyruling, rated T

unwind after all that angst with some cute, drunk, confused eddie being very upset when he finds out richie is engaged. richie only teases him a little before pointing out the matching ring on eddie’s finger. 

in the heat of the summer (you're so different from the rest) by kaboomslang, rated E

post-ch2 slow burn with tags that really say it all, including but not limited to: eddie moves to california and richie is a mess, Eddie Kaspbrak’s Hot Girl Summer, and cute middle aged man dates

pivotal moments by danfanciesphil, polypocket, rated E

high school reddie has a sort of fwb thing goin on, but emotions get in the way. featuring wonderful bevchie friendship, hella miscommunication, cute double dates, high eddie, and a happy ending

like a bullet in the back by jerry_duty, rated M

adult idiots in love! a personal favorite trope of mine! slow burn with a fair helping of angst but a really great ending. richie stays with eddie in new york while he’s there on business, and it takes these losers SO LONG to figure it out but the way they dance around it is very cute

no sense of living without aim [WIP] by liesmyth, rated E

richie and eddie meet on grindr in the 27 years between and hey, whadda ya know, they fall in love! i really love this fic but i’m pretty sure it’s been abandoned. i’ve had it open on my phone browser for like 3 months with no update but i still check it regularly bc i’m pathetic and this fic is just so good i’m DYING to know what happens next so read at ur own risk

a strange sense of familiarity [WIP] by Katranga, rated E

another “they meet and fall in love without remembering” fic, and even though it’s not complete yet, it gets regular updates. oh, also, i’m obsessed with it. they’re long distance fuck buddies who can’t admit they’re in love, and then they get hit with the childhood memories! and everyone lives! what’s not to love!  also PLEASE read kisses take like mint and every other reddie work by this author, they are all fantastic

adult friends by sudowoodo, rated T

AU where adult reddie meet at a first aid seminar for work (immediately fall in love), become friends, become best friends, and finally get to be happy. has some super repressed eddie and intensely pining richie, which is always fun, and genuinely made me laugh out loud. also please check out this author’s other reddie fics, there’s some super sweet kid reddie in there that really warms the heart

the mind's a funny fruit by joldiego, rated T

eddie wakes up barely alive in derry, has 0 memory, calls himself richie, and moves in with some lesbians. an absolute must read that ought to be on every reddie fic rec compilation. i read this a long time ago and just thinking about it makes me want to read it again.

now what i'm gonna say may sound indelicate [WIP] by IfItHollers, rated E

it took me entirely too long to find this fic since i joined the fandom, and it’s truly a fucking masterpiece. it’s almost at 200k now and still unfinished, and the slow burn is excruciating, but this is a legendary fic for a reason. eddie spends the first chunk of this fic in the hospital recovering from the massive chest wound, and then he and richie move the recovery to ben’s cabin in the woods. the author’s notes for each chapter are a story in themselves

signs of a new lifetime by swordfishtrombones, rated T

one of the sweetest, most romantic reddie fics i’ve ever read. a fresh take on a classic concept: post-ch2, they’re in love, they haven’t said/done anything about it yet, BUT!!! it’s not angsty! they are all cute and giggly like “you say it first!” “no, you say it first!” and it makes me fucking MELT

broadcasting tower by swordfishtrombones, rated E

back-to-back recs from the same author! bc i love these fics so much! sort of similar to the last one in that they both know what’s up and just haven’t said it, but this one’s got the angst! i didn’t know when i read it that it was the same author as the other fic, and i thought how funny, i found another reddie author that perfectly captures this pair in such a wonderfully romantic way! i also just noticed there’s a follow up to this so now i have to go read that immediately

eurydice; the original comeback kid by Vulcanodon, rated M

for the love of god please read this and the other work in this series. it’s a ch-2 fix-it with some intense action sequences and major pining, and it has haunted me since i first read it

love on the telephone by tempestbreak, rated E

okay this one is really just 30k of pure smut but it’s also so sweet and features a mini sexual awakening for eddie and some insecure richie with an emphasis on how much they love and trust each other. also it doesn’t hurt that the smut is fire, like does anyone else want that twink obliterated, or is it just me?

the boy who loves you by candlejill, rated E

eddie lives, richie confesses, things are chill and then they’re not. richie’s career flourishes, which is always nice to read and is what ultimately catalyzes eddie’s gay awakening and realization of his love for richie. it’s got some sad angsty parts and a very sweet ending, and it up there as one of my favorite reddie fics of all time

richie and eddie break up [WIP] by skeilig, rated M

a refreshing and realistic take on life ch-2 for the losers, because being in love at thirteen doesn’t mean you can fall into a perfect relationship at 40. i’ll admit, i’m hoping this will ultimately be a “richie and eddie get back together” fic, but it’s still a very good read (and often very funny in the second chapter) at the moment in the midst of their break up

september 1989 and everything else by pineapplecrushface, rated T

cute kid reddie figuring it out and making me smile. the follow up to this and the after derry series by this author are also personal favorites

go west by ssstrychnine, rated T

road trip fic! an absolute work of art slow burn with teen reddie in the 90s. it’s so beautifully written i just wish i could go back and read it for the first time again

the edification of eddie kaspbrak by tozier, rated M

character study with some incredible fucking prose, my lord it gorgeous. explores how eddie learns about love as he grows up, and it’s super fucking sad sometimes bc the poor boy doesn’t know how to have the things he wants and i just want to give him a hug, but it’s really a spectacular fic

circular motion by sinchronicity, rated M

soulmate!AU that follows book canon and even though it’s been a long time since i’ve read it and the details are fuzzy, i remember absolutely loving it and thinking it was incredible

tell me you know by RichiesToesHurt, rated E

college losers with some severely pining and jealous richie with a lovely ending 

predicament bondage [WIP] by dgalerab, rated E

i resisted reading this fic for so long, recently broke and binged all of it, and now i’m like frothing at the mouth for updates. richie’s a closeted actor/comedian who meets eddie, a professional Dom, when he needs help researching a role. they become friends, they develop crushes, richie realizes he’s a sub, and it’s just so much fun to read

there’s a lot more fics to rec so i might add on to this in the future, but in the meantime my biggest tip for for reading fanfiction that took me embarrassingly long to figure out: focus on the authors! if you read something you like, check out the rest of the work by that author bc odds are you’ll like that too. i mentioned it in a few specific works above, but check out the authors catalogues for these fics. if i included every work by these authors that i loved, this list would be miles long

feel free to add on any great stuff i missed, there’s sure to be tons of it!

[wheresmynaya]

Lost in the Lights Ch.2 | Brittana

Okay so I’m breaking routine here by posting another chapter so soon but I’m just blown away by the response so far and I got excited. LIKE WOAH, I really thought I wasn’t going to reach many people with this bc like...sports. Guess we all just really love Brittana, huh?

Also, 9-0 baby! 😘

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) 

No one is more surprised by the discovery of the Titans’ new quarterback than Santana. Actually, surprised doesn’t even begin to cover it. Santana’s flat out dumbfounded by the news.

Is it the fact that they’ve never had a female Titan, let alone a female QB? Is it the fact that she’s actually really good? Is it the fact that it’s Brittany?

Santana’s at a loss.

The blonde just didn’t strike her as the type to play such a rough sport. She’s like this walking ray of sunshine that irks Santana to no end and she’s only had to deal with her for like a week! No one would’ve ever guessed that Brittany was the one to lead the Titans to their first win but maybe that’s because there’s apparently this side of her that Santana just hadn’t seen yet?

Judging by the way Brittany dominated on the field, Santana had her all wrong.

Santana spends her entire weekend trying to stay on top of her tan before the Autumn chill sets in, but in between sips of cold sweet tea and scrolling through her social media feeds there’s Brittany. Again, she doesn’t know why the quarterback keeps disrupting her thoughts, but it seems like she can’t outrun the girl.

At the moment, Brittany’s everywhere Santana looks! Mainly on social media; one minute Santana’s liking a picture Quinn posted of them before the game on Friday and the next she’s being bombarded by shots of Brittany posing with her teammates. Mike and Sam basically make the same exact post with the whole New Year New QB, but what surprises her is that even Puck is on her feed doing the same thing!

To think that the guys would even allow having a female quarterback is beyond her, because the last time she checked they were all a bunch of sexist pigs. Then again, maybe Coach Beiste has finally taught them all a thing or two about respecting women enough to be okay with playing alongside them?

Santana has no idea.

It’s just crazy how this girl seems to have popped up out of nowhere and now Santana can’t get away even when she’s not at school. The weekends are sacred to her, it’s her time to relax and reset before having to deal with all the McKinley High imbeciles but seeing so much of Brittany has her thoughts running nonstop.

What’s worse is that Santana can’t describe why she’s so annoyed by it all!

\\

It isn’t until Monday rolls around that things finally start to come to a head.

The Titans’ recent win still seems to be the only thing anyone at McKinley wants to talk about, but Santana manages to evade all those conversations. She doesn’t know anything about the game other than the Titans have sucked for most of her high school career but she’s still obligated to cheer for them.

It’s a small price to pay when you’re a real winner. The Cheerios have way more titles and that’s really the only thing Santana cares about.

It’s all apart of her master plan to get the hell out of Lima once she graduates. With several National Championship wins under her belt, along with being Co-Captain since Sophomore year, Santana’s hoping it’ll help to expand her university options.

Although, she knows her future is practically mapped out for her – deep down she still has hope for a miracle. Until then, she just wants to make sure she’s well-prepared for anything which means retaining her position on the squad and making good grades.  

\\

Santana goes through the motions of the school day as usual, and as usual she fights the inescapable feeling of giddiness as she makes her way towards her final class of the day. She doesn’t actually mind the class – Miss Holliday is secretly one of her favorite teachers at McKinley – but she’s not the blonde that’s making her stomach fill with fluttery things.

She’s barely taken two steps into the room when she spots Brittany already sitting at their shared desk. She had been resting her chin in her palm looking bored as ever until Santana walked in. That’s when Brittany perked up and turned on her signature mega-watt smile.

It was getting harder and harder for Santana to scowl at the sight of it.

“Hi!” Brittany greeted happily as Santana took a seat next to her, “How was your weekend?”

It was always the same with Brittany, no matter what kind of look Santana threw her way. Brittany never seemed to be fazed by her grumpiness. She just took it in stride and continued to try and make conversation even if Santana never gave her much to work with.

Maybe that’s why Santana’s drawn to the blonde? She doesn’t scare easily unlike most at the school who wouldn’t dare be so persistent.

“Fine,” Santana answered with a sigh of indifference while she got settled and took out her binder and pen.

“Awesome,” Brittany nodded and picked up her own pen to start doodling, “I had good weekend too. I went to the park, did some chores around the house, hung out with some guys from the team and – “

The team caused a crack in Santana’s façade.

She looked to Brittany, trying to figure out how the girl sitting next to her was the same fierce player she saw Friday night. With the confusion and curiosity that’s been building ever since, the words just came tumbling out of her before she could catch them.

“You’re our new QB,” Santana stated but it sounded more like an accusation than an observation.

Brittany’s brows rose and a coy smile began to spread across her lips, “So you can say more than two words?”

Santana rolled her eyes at the sarcasm but even more so at how that smile made her stomach flip. She really needed to get her shit together.

“But yeah,” Brittany added coolly, “Seems like I am.”

Santana looked down at her binder, “You didn’t say.”

“You didn’t ask,” Brittany replied just as quickly.

Before Santana could get wrapped up in that giddy feeling again, she hardened herself. She was starting to see how Brittany could keep up with the guys on the team, the girl was quick and she had confidence.

Santana liked that…or whatever.

“Sup dudes!” Miss Holliday greeted the class as she strolled in just after the bell, “Is this Monday dragging or what?”

Some kids grunted in agreement. Brittany chuckled away and Miss Holliday smirked up at her.

“Awesome game, Chica!” Miss Holliday complimented as she walked down their row closest to Brittany. She held out her fist for Brittany to bump, “You kicked butt out there.”

“Thanks,” Brittany replied sweetly as their fists connected, “It was a team effort.”

“Spoken like a true leader. About time we got a little girl power in this school,” Miss Holliday nodded approvingly before moving down the row.

Santana watched Brittany giggle then get swept up in listening to Miss Holliday’s instructions for the warm-up activity. Again, Santana found herself in awe of how Brittany was the same girl who could break tackles and fire a football downfield. Brittany was friendly and soft and diplomatic, nothing like any of the guys on the team.

“You’re staring,” Brittany pointed out although her gaze remained on Miss Holliday now standing at the front of the class setting up the projector.

Santana doesn’t know why, but Brittany’s comment makes her cheeks burn.

She was glad when one of the kids closest to the door was asked to turn off the lights. In the darkness, she found some comfort and a little confidence. She was able to get a grip and act like a normal person.

“We’ve never had a female QB before,” Santana whispered. She had her pen in hand, trying to follow along with everyone else by doing the activity but her focus was elsewhere.

“So I’ve heard,” Brittany replied just as softly.

Santana didn’t know what to say next; this was the most they’ve spoken to each other thus far and she really didn’t know where the conversation was going.

What she didn’t anticipate though was fucking it all up with one sentence.

“Girls,” Santana breathed out and for some reason the word made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She didn’t realize she hadn’t said it in awhile, maybe not since seeing…  

Santana swallows hard at the memory trying to worm its way in. She pushes it to the back of her mind; now isn’t the time for it.  

“Girls,” She repeats herself with a steadier voice, “They aren’t supposed to play football.”

When Brittany looks at her, the friendly smile is gone and her pretty blue eyes are darker and fill with disbelief.

Santana knows she said the wrong thing the second the words leave her lips. It’s not exactly what she meant, but it’s too late to take it back now. Her words have already done the damage.  

“Huh,” Brittany scoffs and averts her eyes back to her work, “Didn’t expect to hear that coming from you.”

Santana frowns – mostly out of guilt – but her instincts have her on the defense, “What’s that suppose to mean?”

She watches Brittany’s jaw tighten before she’s turning to look at Santana again. Her brows knit together, “It means I didn’t think you were the small-minded type.”

Santana feels winded.

She’s been called many things in her life and has heard some creative insults aimed at her, but never has she ever been called small-minded. She’s surprised by how much that one actually hurts. After everything she went through last year, after all the backlash, after having to deal with real small-minded people she feels a little offended. She can’t be lumped in with them. It’s not possible, because she’s…

The word gets trapped her throat and Santana has to swallow hard again to steady herself.

She isn’t like everyone else.

On second thought, maybe she is if she’s still saying something like that?

“I’ve always been told that those who can play the game well should,” Brittany tells her firmly, “I think I’m someone that can and judging by your team’s standings for the past three years, you could use someone like me on that field.”

Santana gulps. She can’t remember the last time someone at this school spoke to her the way Brittany is. It’s not a tone she’s familiar with, but she knows she deserves it.

“I don’t know you very well, but I thought – I don’t know – I thought you’d at least be a little more accepting than the hicks I’ve come across in this town,” Brittany continues, “I guess I was wrong.”

Santana’s lips part to defend herself, but nothing comes out.

Brittany doesn’t notice, “It shouldn’t matter if I’m a girl or a boy or a damn alien from outer space. If you can play – if you want to play – then you should, no matter what the sport is. Anyone that thinks otherwise is just…well, they’re stupid.”

The last word has Brittany’s voice cracking and the sound finally has Santana sputtering for an explanations, “I – I didn’t mean to – “

“You should probably just pay attention to the board, Santana.”

Santana bites her lip at Brittany’s clipped tone – that might’ve been the first time she’s ever heard Brittany say her name. She does as she’s told though. It’s best if she doesn’t dig herself a deeper hole.

\\

Santana spends the rest of the day mulling over Brittany's words. Even through Cheerios practice after school, Santana can’t seem to get her head on right.

Maybe she really has become a product of her environment? Maybe all the small-minded people she's surrounded by have somehow managed to rub off on her after all of these years?

That can’t be the case, can it?

She hates that she has to ask herself that. Usually, Santana’s not one to have any regrets or remorse once she spits out her vicious words but this time she finds herself backpedaling when it comes to Brittany. She wasn’t trying to be a bitch, it just sort of happened and for once in her life she feels kind of horrible about it.

\\

“You okay?” Quinn asks hesitantly after she dismissed the squad for a water break. Santana was meant to lead warm-ups today but Quinn seemed more eager to take over and Santana didn’t mind considering she’s so distracted.

“Yeah,” Santana shrugs, “I’m fine.”

“You’re quiet today,” Quinn notes, “You didn’t even laugh when Bec accidentally called Coach Sylvester sir.”

Santana tries to mask her worries and shrugs again, “She’s not that far off, have you seen Coach lately? Very mannish.”

Quinn smirks, pleased to seemingly have her best friend back, “So true.”

Just then Coach Sylvester blows her whistle and barks orders at the squad. Santana’s reluctant to move, but she pushes herself up anyway.

“God,” She groans as they walk over to the others, “I’m over this year and it hasn’t even started.”

“Same,” Quinn chuckles, “Let’s go make fun of the JV squad later? I hear they need a ton of work and their practices runs longer than ours because they suck so much.”

If it were any other day, that suggestion would have Santana eager to get a front row seat but even that doesn’t help. Still, she has to retain some sort of normalcy even if thoughts of Brittany are trying their hardest to disrupt that.

“I can’t wait to see that train wreck,” Santana quips and together, she and her best friend fall in line with the rest of the squad.

\\

The remainder of the week is more of the same: class, Cheerios practice, homework then repeat. The only thing that’s out of the ordinary for Santana is the icy, cold shoulder Brittany’s giving her now.

Or maybe Santana’s the one avoiding her?

It’s all minor details. What’s important is that they aren’t speaking to each other anymore and Santana’s starting to miss Brittany’s usual cheerful greetings.

She knows what she needs to do to fix this. It doesn’t make it any easier for her to actually do it though. To admit that she was wrong, to apologize for her words, to accept responsibility for her actions? Santana’s not use to most of that!

It’s a weird kind of tension though between her and Brittany, so Santana’s not sure how much more she can take. Instead, she steals sideways glances in the dark and hopes Brittany takes pity on her and makes the first move.

Brittany doesn’t and soon one week’s worth of silence ends up turning into two.

\\

Santana had every intention of making amends by last Friday’s game, but things just kept coming up. There’s class and Cheerios practice, but now she actually has to study for upcoming quizzes and assignments. She can’t fall behind again so once practice ends, Santana usually gets changed right away and heads straight for her car without even glancing in the Titans’ direction.

Is she using schoolwork as a lame excuse to avoid dealing with her shit? Of course, she’s a teenager. Procrastination comes naturally to her!

\\

Later that night, Santana sits with both of her parents at the table for dinner. It’s a rare occasion to have Maribel and Hector home at the same time, but that quickly loses its novelty when Hector starts to grill Santana on her studies.

“Papi, it’s only the third week,” Santana gently reasons.

“And?” Hector gives her a stern look, “You need to stay on top of things, Santana.”

It’s a simple sentence, but Santana feels like there’s way more beneath the surface. Sometimes it’s hard being the daughter of a successful doctor whose father was also a doctor and his father before him. There is a long line of them in the Lopez legacy and that looms over Santana like a dark cloud, especially now that she’s in her Senior year.

It’s gone without saying whose footsteps Santana will follow, but it’s still a lot of pressure for her. It’s only a matter of time before her dad begins to lecture her again about college and the importance of good grades and extracurriculars while her mom tries to elevate some of that stress.

She’s never met two people who show their love for someone so differently.

“Don’t put too much pressure on her,” Maribel says and squeezes Santana’s hand from across the table lovingly, “You’re doing fine, mija.”

Hector frowns at his wife, “Fine isn’t enough. You think any of these Ivy League schools care about fine? Of course not. They’re going through thousands of applicants a year and fine doesn’t stand out. Fine doesn’t get into Harvard.”

Maribel narrows her eyes at his rambling.

“Don’t give me that look,” Hector huffs but his voice softens as he looks to Santana, “You know what I’m talking about.”

Santana can already guess what he’s about to say. She’s heard it so many times before.

“You can’t get complacent, Santana. You have a lot to make up for,” Hector adds just as Santana knew he would, “Especially after the year you’ve had.”

“That’s an understatement,” Santana mumbles as she pushes food around on her plate.

“What was that?” Hector raises a challenging brow.

“It’s nothing,” Santana dismisses and smiles reassuringly at her dad, “I’m on top of everything this year, Papi. I promise, you don’t have to worry. I won’t disappoint you.”

When Hector matches her smile, Santana feels a little relief even if it only lasts for a moment.

\\

It isn’t until they’re nearing the end of the third week of school when things on the Brittany-front begin to shift for Santana. They still aren’t speaking to each other, but the blonde practically pops up everywhere she goes – if not physically, then someone’s bound to be talking about her.

After securing a second win for the Titans, Brittany has quickly climbed the ranks on the popularity ladder. The buzz around her grows, but what’s odd is that despite her obvious talents and annoyingly charming smile the students of McKinley have mixed feelings about her.

More importantly, about having a female quarterback.

On her walks to class, Santana has overheard the murmurs of doubt in Brittany’s abilities. Some are frustrated at how a new kid was able to dethrone Finn Hudson who has been leading the team all of her high school career. Some think Coach Beiste is getting soft. Some think it’s all a hoax, but Santana doesn’t really understand that one.

Regardless of how they feel about her though, Brittany’s still able to part crowds any time she walks down the hall. It doesn’t look like she pays them any mind, but Santana’s been wrong about her before.

But with popularity comes the irritating gossip mongers and Santana happens to overhear Brittany’s first encounter with McKinley’s most annoying: Jacob Ben Israel.

\\\\\

Between her morning runs, class, football practice, weight training, homework and helping out with Pete, Brittany’s having a hard time finding a moment to relax. She should be use to the hectic schedule by now, but making the change from her old school’s system to Lima’s is throwing her off a little. The school days start earlier, football practices run later and the work is a little harder than she use to.

Then there’s everything going on with Santana and that might be the most frustrating.

For nearly two weeks, they’ve kept this thing between them going. Did Brittany overreact by saying what she said? She doesn’t think so. Maybe Santana didn’t think what she said to her was a big deal, but to Brittany it was. The things people say to her in Lima aren’t anything knew, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to their sting.

Most times, she’s able to ignore them but it just hits differently when she hears the utter disbelief coming from a fellow female. It’s like, whatever happened to empowering and uplifting each other? Did Santana not grow up listening to the Spice Girls? Has she never watched She’s the Man? Bend it like Beckham? A League of their own?

It’s so irritating because she can’t even ask Santana, the girl avoids her like the plague! The only time they’re ever close enough is in English class and that’s only because they have to share a table.

\\

Brittany’s tired and achy and she’s so wrapped up in her thoughts as shuffles through her locker for her textbook for next class that she doesn’t notice she is no longer alone.

“Brittany Pierce!” Brittany hears someone say and the sound makes her flinch, “You’ve become quite the celebrity.”

She leans back slowly and peeks around her locker door to find a rather dorky looking guy with a huge cloud of hair. She notices the mic in his hand next and is instantly confused.

Is she on tv?

“Who are you?” She asks and glances around unsurely for a camera.

“Jacob Ben Israel,” He says and holds out his hand for her to shake, “Some call me JBI for short. I’m McKinley’s #1 source for news and the hottest gossip.”

Brittany shakes his hand; it’s grossly warm and sweaty as hell but she’s not surprised judging by the look of him. He certainty isn’t dressed like a journalist or one of those news reporters she has seen on tv.

She can hear her dad’s voice in her head chastising her for judging a book by its cover so she gives JBI a polite smile, “Oh okay. Nice to meet you.”

She goes to turn back to her locker, but JBI is quick to start the questions.

“So you’re the first female QB here at McKinley High. You’re new to the school and you’re the first to ever bench Finn Hudson and you’ve already led the Titans to their second victory this year. Hoping for a third this Friday?” JBI pauses and holds out the mic for Brittany.

She clears her throat, she’s not sure where the camera is so she just looks at him, “Of course. There are a lot of really great players on the team and I’m confident we can win a lot more games this season.”  

“Awesome,” JBI replies enthusiastically, “A winning streak isn’t something a lot of the students here have experienced. You’re off to a great start this year. You’re bound to be nominated for Homecoming Court!”

Brittany almost laughs at that.

She’s been nominated at her old school before – even won a couple times – but that’s because she was voted for by her peers, peers who have known her for years. She doesn’t expect any nomination this year, the only reason anyone knows her is because she plays football. If she were to be nominated, it wouldn’t be because she’s well-liked or something like that. It would be because she sticks out like a sore thumb.

“Sounds cool,” Brittany replies despite disagreeing with him.

“So tell us,” JBI’s voice takes a dip. It’s sneaky, almost mischievous, “Would you rather be crowned the King or the Queen?”

Brittany’s stomach flips. She doesn’t like this interview thing anymore.

“What?” She asks because the question confuses her but she finds him wearing this sly grin like he’s just found her weak spot.

He hasn’t, but Brittany’s guard instantly goes up.

“Don’t be shy,” He coaxes with the wag of his brow, “You know what I’m talking about. You’re a female QB, no way you’re strai – “

“Hey!” Suddenly Santana’s there, of all people, and there’s fury in her eyes as she shoves JBI’s mic to his chest, “Fuck off.”

Brittany blinks like she’s caught in a daydream. Her eyes shift from Santana to JBI whose grin widens upon seeing the Co-Captain.

“Now this is a pairing I’m sure everyone would love to see,” He says as he talks into the mic again like nothing’s happened, like Santana isn’t about to beat him over the head with it. He looks to the camera – the kid’s been lingering over Brittany’s right shoulder thus far – and says, “It’s the infamous Santana Lopez, gracing us with her presence.”

Santana rolls her eyes, “I’m not gracing you with shit. Your little show sucks.”

“That’s not what my viewer count says. I’m sure you remember,” JBI quips as he turns back to the pair, “So Brittany, you didn’t answer the question.”

Brittany feels like a deer caught in the headlights; she can’t even remember what the question was, but thankfully Santana interrupts again.

“I said beat it, loser, before I shove that camera so far up your dumb ass you’ll be spitting out polaroids,” Santana snaps.

To Brittany’s surprise though, JBI doesn’t move right away.

“That doesn’t make sense, we’re not even using that kind of cam – “

Santana grits her jaw and takes a threatening step forward. Her voice dips low and gravely, “Try me, Jewfro. Please. I’ve been itching to kick you square in the nuts.”

That threat has JBI reaching to protect his crotch before he turns and runs down the hall with his camera-friend following him.  

Brittany watches Santana smirk like she’s so proud of herself for being able to instill the fear of God in someone before she’s averting her gaze. When her stormy brown eyes land on Brittany, the blonde feels a cold chill.

The smirk’s gone and in it’s place is a familiar scowl. Brick by brick, her wall goes up.

“I know you’re new here, Pierce, so a little word of advice,” Santana warns as she turns to the lockers, “Don’t talk to him. He’s a wannabe journalist that reports nothing but bullshit. He’ll twist your words if you let him, trust me. I’ve seen it happen many times and I don’t want you to get caught up in his shit.”

Brittany’s at a loss for words.

Santana hasn’t spoken to her all this time and now all of sudden this? Why would it matter to Santana what she did or said or who she spoke to? Why would she care, she doesn’t even know Brittany?

There’s so many questions beginning to swarm her, but none make it out of her head.

“Thanks,” Is the only word Brittany ends up saying around a shy grin.

There’s a hint of smile on Santana’s lips when their eyes catch for a quick second, but it disappears just as fast.

“It’s whatever,” She says and Brittany hears a locker door slam, “I’ll see you in class.”

It isn’t until Santana’s halfway down the hall that Brittany finally realizes that their lockers are right next to each other’s. She can do nothing but laugh at the small coincidence.

\\

The second time Santana speaks to her, it’s because Brittany accidentally scared the crap out of her.

It’s Thursday now – the last day of practice before the Week 3 game – so Brittany wants to get a jump on warm-ups. She knows there’s a thirty minute buffer between Cheerios and Titans practice, but she has to account for the extra time it takes to pick up her gear from Coach Beiste’s office first since everything’s stored in the boys’ locker room.

Usually, she gets the whole room to herself and plays a little music from her phone to get amped up. This time though, there’s one Cheerio that’s already there and this particular Cheerio surprisingly has a beautiful singing voice.

Brittany feels like she’s being lured in by one of those sirens she has read about in Greek mythology. She thinks she should probably make her presence known because creeping around a locker room is kind of weird, but she’s so in awe of the girl’s voice.

More importantly, the owner of that voice.

“Jesus!” Santana gasps when she rounds the corner to find Brittany lingering by the hampers. Her hand flies to chest to steady her beating heart, “What the hell are you doing, Pierce? Trying to give a girl a heart attack?”

Brittany thanks the heavens when she finds that Santana’s fully clothed already.

“I’m sorry!” Brittany blushes, “I didn’t think anyone would be here.”

Santana just shakes her head before eyeing Brittany again. There’s a flash of concern when Santana says, “You look like shit, worse than yesterday when I saw you with JBI.”

Brittany’s not sure how to take that. She hasn’t been sleeping well, that’s for sure, but it worries her that her tiredness is beginning to show. At least, that’s what she hopes Santana is talking about.

“I’ve been super busy lately. Guess I’m just ready for the weekend,” She says instead as she fumbles with the shoulder pads in her hands, “Sorry for interrupting you.”

“Interrupting me?”

“Yeah, you were singing. It sounded really pretty.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Santana brushes off before crossing her arms over her chest, “Why are you in here so early? Doesn’t your practice start at 4?”

“Why are you in here so late?” Brittany challenges, “Didn’t your practice start at 3:30?”

Santana cocks her head to the side, “I had to talk to Ms. Pillsbury about something.”

“Who?”

“She’s the guidance counselor. You’ll probably meet her soon, she’s on all the Seniors about their college application due dates. Figures, she’d want to start off with me.”

Brittany wants to know more. Afterall, she’s naturally curious when it comes to getting to know new people so the questions build but she doesn’t voice any of them. Not that Santana would give her any answers anyway.

Santana’s looking at all the gear Brittany’s toting along with her duffle bag and her brows furrow, “Did you carry all of that here?”

Brittany looks down at her gear and nods.

“Why?” Santana scrunches her nose, “Don’t you have a locker or something?”

Brittany shakes her head, “I was never given one. Coach Beiste said Coach Sylvester is meant to assign one to me, but I guess she’s been busy.”

“Doubt it. She hates Coach Beiste so in turn, she hates you.”

Brittany frowns; what’d she do?

“She’s probably just giving you a hard time because you’re a Titan instead of a Cheerio,” Santana answers then walks off. She goes to grab the clipboard that hangs above the hampers, dangling from it is a key, “I can assign you one, it’s part of my Co-Captain privileges. This side is reserved for the squad, obviously, but the set by the showers are all free. You can leave your football stuff there too, doubt anyone in here is going to want to steal it.”

Brittany’s taken aback by Santana’s random act of kindness for a second time that week. She let’s her smile shine, “Thanks. It really helps having everyting in one place. I don’t have to waste so much time walking back and forth.”

Santana nods and there’s that hint of a smile again before she’s leading the way over to the section of lockers that’s now become Brittany’s.

“Top or bottom?” Santana asks as she scans the list attached to the clipboard. Brittany smirks and notices the moment Santana realizes what she has said, “As in locker preference.”

“Duh,” Brittany jokes with a straight face, “What else would you mean?”

Santana’s face is flushed now and Brittany tries her hardest not to laugh. She’s kind of cute when she’s flustered like that.

“I’ll put you down for top,” Santana answers stiffly. Now her eyes are solely glued to the clipboard in her hands, “I guess I can unlock the bottom one too though so you can have the entire segment. You can – uh – decide which you want to use or whatever.”

“That works for me,” Brittany replies casually before she starts to undress.

Santana practically runs into a wall when she sees Brittany pull her top up over her head and let it drop onto her open duffle bag.

“I’ll just leave you to it then,” Santana calls over her shoulder as she scurries off.

Brittany watches the whole thing curiously. Has Santana never changed in front of other girls before or something? That’s the only explanation she comes to for how awkward she’s being.

Brittany doesn’t dwell on it, just continues getting dressed.

\\

By the time Brittany’s got her practice gear on, Santana appears again. She looks a little shier than before and she’s fiddling with her hands.

Brittany just smiles and reaches down for her helmet, “You going now?”

“Yeah,” Santana answers, “Just trying to enjoy the last bit of A.C.”

“It’s not that hot out,” Brittany chuckles and motions to her pads, “At least you don’t have to wear all this.”

“True,” Santana smirks, “Now that would suck.”

Brittany chuckles again. She likes this version of Santana, she hopes she can see her more often but there’s still a giant pink elephant in the room so Brittany doesn’t get too excited.

“I’ll see you out there I guess,” Brittany says.

Santana nods and turns to leave, but then stops and turns back to face Brittany again.

“Actually, I just wanted to say,” Santana starts.

Brittany wonders if this is it. If she’s finally going to get an apology after what Santana said to her the other week, or at least the start of a conversation about her opinion? Anything would suffice by this point.

Brittany waits.

“I just wanted to say,” Santana repeats and her voice is so shaky. It’s completely unlike the confidence she possessed when she told off JBI, “Have a good practice.”

It’s not what Brittany was anticipating her to say – and judging by the uncertainty on Santana’s face, it wasn’t what she was anticipating to say either – but she’ll take it.

“Thanks,” Brittany grins as she walks by her to leave, “You too.”

\\

By Friday night, Brittany’s feeling better than she has all week. Although they’ve yet to acknowledge Santana’s misjudgments, baby steps in the right direction have been taken.

Kind of.

First Santana defended her against JBI then on Thursday she assigned Brittany a locker and today? Today Santana brought her a drink from the Cheerios special lounge while Brittany was getting ready for the game.

“What is it?” Brittany asked hesitantly as she eyed the color of it. She’s sitting on the benches in the locker room completely dressed now in her uniform. All that’s left are the final touches like a quick dance party to get her pumped and applying a little Game Day eye make up.

“It’s a bunch of healthy stuff like fruits and veggies. All fresh so that explains the color, no preservatives. There’s some vitamin supplements in there too,” Santana explains like it’s all a bother.

Brittany’s beginning to see through that though.

“I don’t take drugs,” Brittany replies and tries to give the bottle back.

Santana rolls her eyes and there’s that hint of a smile again, “Does Vitamin D count as a drug? If so, then Puckerman is definitely on something stronger.”

Brittany frowns at the accusation, “Wait, seriously? The team can get in a lot of troub – “

“Easy, Pierce, I’m sure he’s just all-talk,” Santana amends, “I wouldn’t open an investigation on him or anything.” Then there’s a pause and for a second she looks a little shy as she motions to the bottle in Brittany’s hands. Her voice comes out softer, “Drink that. It’ll help with the tiredness and it’s good for your immune system too incase you’re about to come down with something.”

“You think I’m getting sick?” Brittany chuckles and turns back to apply thick black stripes to the apples of her cheeks.

Santana lifts a shoulder casually before standing, “You almost fell asleep in class today.”

Brittany blushes. Did she really? She’s so tired, she can’t even remember.

“What does that have to do with getting sick?” Brittany wonders.

“It’s almost that time of the year and bugs move quick,” Santana explains, “A lot quicker if you’re not taking care of yourself…for example, not getting enough sleep.”

That takes Brittany by surprise. Santana caring about her? Why? But despite the surprise, Brittany feels warm and fuzzy all over.

“Alright Doc, I’ll drink it,” Brittany jokes as she finishes up drawing on the left stripe. She turns to Santana as she twists off the lid and makes a show of taking a long drink.

Santana actually laughs this time before she shakes her head.

“I feel better already,” Brittany beams as she stands. They’re close now and it’s then that Brittany really notices the height difference, “Thanks for this. What do I owe you? Pressed juices like these probably cost an arm and a leg here.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Santana dismisses and takes a step back to put some distance between them, “Just bring home another win.”

“You got it,” Brittany winks and goes to take another swig while she watches Santana leave the locker room.

\\

Unfortunately, it’s a rocky start this time for the Titans. It’s not that Brittany isn’t playing at her best because she always brings 110% to the field no matter how she’s feeling. It’s actually her teammates who aren’t as focused as she is for some reason. There’s still a lot of work to be done when it comes to being a cohesive unit, but today they’ve really taken a step back.

They’re down by 17 points when the half is called.

\\

“Alright, what’s going on out there?” Coach Beiste questions. She’s fuming as she eyes everyone for an answer, “What I’m seeing is that Pierce is the only one here that’s come to play.”

Karofsky scoffs and folds up his arms, “I’m so over hearing about her!”

“Me too!” Azimio chimes in, “First we let in Hummel and now her? What’s next? She gonna join the Puck Heads in the off season and change the game for them too? The rest of us are chopped liver now. It’s not good for my reputation!”

“Your reputation? You were a loser just like the rest of us before Brittany came,” Mike replies but the two don’t take kindly to being called a loser and start shoving at him.

“Cut it out!” Sam tries to breaking it up.

Brittany looks over at them and grimaces. Dave and Azimio both have been a pain in her ass since she’s joined the team, but she thought they were past this by now? They’ve got a winning record, they’re actually improving on being a better team, so what’s the issue all of a sudden?

Coach Beiste shakes her head at them, “Give me a break! One person doesn’t win games. You don’t have to like Pierce but you’re going to give her your respect if you want to play on my field. It’s as simple as that. You work together, you listen and respect each other. That’s what it means to be a team, is it not?”

Brittany eyes her teammates. Aside from the select handful that actually like her, the guys look at her like she’s the enemy. It makes Brittany feel really unsettled.

“Is it not?” Coach Beiste presses.

There are mumbles amongst the squad but it’s not enough for Coach Beiste.

“Louder!”

“Yes, Coach!” They say in unison.

“Okay then, let’s starting acting like a team out there and win this game!” She says with the clap of her hands.

\\

They’re in the fourth quarter now and the Titans have managed to make it a close game despite their rough start. Coach Beiste’s pep talk must’ve worked because the team is playing harder than the first half, but Brittany still senses the undertones of resentment.

She packs it away for now and just focuses on making plays. Afterall, she’s meant to be winning this one for Santana. Well not for Santana; it’s more like paying her back for the drink earlier.

Brittany nods resolutely and looks to the sidelines to see the Co-Captain shaking her pompoms. She does a high kick and yells out a cheer in time with the others, but the smile she’s wearing is what catches Brittany’s eye.

She shakes her head and focuses on the snap.

“Down!” Brittany calls out. She catches the other team’s Line Backer’s movement from the corner of her eye. The defense looks hungry, but so are they. She smirks and braces herself, “Hut!”

The ball is snapped and Brittany quickly hands it off to Puckerman. So far their run game has been pretty weak tonight, but Puckerman surprises everyone and kicks into gear. He plows through the defense at full speed, breaking tackle after tackle, until he crosses over for a first down and steps out of bounds.

He spikes down the ball and makes a sawing motion with his arm while the crowd goes wild. Matt runs up to congratulate him with a hard pat on the back.

“Yes!” Brittany jumps up and down as she cheers.

Over on the sidelines, the Cheerios are just as excited as they chant:

“First and ten, first and ten! First and ten, let’s do it again!”

Brittany sees Santana watching her with a huge grin and it makes her feel warm all over again. She knows it’s silly to think that Santana’s cheers are just for her – same goes for that smile – but she can’t help but dream.  

Yeah, she’s decided. She’s really going to win this game just for her.

Brittany quickly runs up to their new line of scrimmage and everyone starts to take their position. She smacks Puckerman on the back when he jogs up next to her to get in formation.

“Nice carry, Puckerman!” She compliments.

“Sawed right through them!” Puckerman shouted excitedly back.

“Let’s keep up that energy,” Brittany praised and called out another play. They were in field goal range now, but like always – Brittany wasn’t here to play it safe especially with the new set of downs.

This time she wanted to try another play-action route since it worked pretty well in the pre-season game. Mike and Sam have proved to her that they have great hands, but they needed to work on their speed and timing. Now was a perfect time to test that. With Puckerman on a roll, the defense was sure to up their coverage on him rather than the receivers which would work perfectly in Brittany’s favor.

“Blue 82!” Brittany repeats and looks to her sides for confirmation that they’ve picked up the slight change.

Mike and Sam give her the barest nod before they’re glaring at their defenders. Brittany kicks up her foot and Mike quickly changes position so that he’s next to Sam now on the right side of the field.

“Blue 82!” Brittany calls out again and readies herself for the snap, “Down…Hut!”

The ball is hiked and she fakes the hand off to Puckerman so smoothly that the defense follows after him just as planned. While they chase him down to the left side of the field, Mike and Same cut up the right. Brittany holds onto the ball longer than she likes, making sure she gives her receivers enough time to breakaway from their defenders.

The other team’s Line Backer is trying his hardest to break through her O-Line though. Thankfully, Matt ends up making a key block for Mike and Brittany’s able to step up in the pocket and fire down a quick pass. It’s a little lower than Brittany wanted, but Mike makes the catch and pushes past a defender for another first down!  

Everyone went wild, but the play clock was still going since Mike hadn’t made it out of bounds.

Brittany motioned for everyone to hurry into position – this time she was going for a slant route with Matt being the intended receiver. She kept her eye on the seconds ticking away, but the team was able to make it in time to get set.

“OG 30!” She called out. She was really starting to feel that adrenaline kick in but she kept her cool and held out her hands, “Down…Hut!”

Again, Brittany caught the ball and dropped back as everyone began to move. Despite the grumpiness during half time, the guys that made up her O-Line – mostly Dave and Azimio – did their jobs correctly and held the line. Brittany looked to her right and faked a throw before turning to her left and firing at Matt.

He juggled the ball in the air, but ultimately was able to secure possession of it and ran up the side of the field for an easy touchdown!

“Let’s go!” Brittany pumped her fist in the air. That was their best drive all game and now with the new points on the board, they’re finally up by 6! With just a little over ten minutes left in the final quarter, Brittany’s feeling good about their odds in coming away with another win.

\\

She was right to feel confident; Titans end up winning the game 27 – 21. When the final whistle was blown, everyone was cheering and some of her teammates rushed to congratulate her efforts. She happily returned the sentiments, but she couldn’t help but glance over at the sidelines to see if Santana was watching her again too.

And she was, alongside Quinn and the rest of the Cheerios.

Brittany just grinned as she pulled off her helmet and let down her hair, happy that she was able to make good on her promise to Santana.

\\

Despite how great she felt after Friday’s win, Monday morning was a different story.

Everything hurts and she was so exhausted that she didn’t even go for her usual morning run which is telling because she’s one of those rare people that actually works well with routine exercising. She guesses all those late nights studying combined with her patchy sleep schedule have finally taken its toll on her body.

She thinks back to what Santana said Friday about getting enough rest. God, she hopes she isn’t coming down with anything. Getting sick is just not what she needs right now.

“Hey mom?” Brittany taps on Whitney’s bedroom door. The curtains are already drawn and welcome in the morning sun so she knows her mom’s awake already. Whitney appears in the doorway of the master bath in her work uniform and instantly looks worried.

“You feeling okay, kiddo?” She asks as she crosses the room to press at Brittany’s forehead.

“I don’t think I’m sick, but I feel horrible,” Brittany explains.

“Yeah, you don’t have a fever. Have you been getting enough sleep?” Whitney asks.

Brittany shakes her head. Whitney eyes her with concern.

“It’s not the dreams again, is it?”

Brittany shakes her head again, “No. I haven’t had one since the last time I told you. I think I’m just worn out.”

“You’re a busy girl,” Whitney nods.

“Is it okay if I stay home today?” Brittany asks hesitantly, “It’s the only day of the week that I don’t really need to be at practice. I think I can access most of my schoolwork online so – “

“It’s okay, Britt. Just rest today,” Whitney says, “Missing a day isn’t going to break you and I know you’ll catch up when you’re feeling better.”

Brittany fills with relief and gives her mom a weak smile. She’s so happy that Whitney’s so understanding, but she guesses that’s come from experience with everything that happened at the beginning of the year with her dad’s passing. Many mental health days were taken, but Whitney never made her feel bad for it. If anything, she always encouraged them.

“Thanks mom,” Brittany says before taking herself back to bed. She’s able to fall asleep fast for once and she doesn’t wake again until she has to use the bathroom.

\\

When she wakes up the third time, it’s just after three. She sees a text from her mom saying that Gran has Pete and she’ll pick him up once she gets off of work so that Brittany can continue resting.

She smiles and sends a text back to thank her before getting up. After a quick snack and a big glass of OJ, Brittany heads to the couch for another nap.

This time, sleep doesn’t find her as easily as it did the other times so she turns on the tv and tries to find something to watch. She decides to put on something she considers boring in hopes that maybe it’ll bore her right to sleep.

Miraculously, her plan works and she settles in for another nap.

An hour or so goes by when Brittany begins to stir because Pete’s trying to squeeze onto the couch next to her. His cold feel touch her bare ankles beneath her blanket and she flinches at the feel.

“Honey, what did I say in the car?” Whitney whispers, “Let your sister rest.”

“I am,” Pete pouts, “I just wanted to sit with her.”

“How about you come help me with – “

“It’s okay, mom,” Brittany pushes to sit up. Pete instantly beams at her, “I’ve slept enough I think.”

“Feeling better?” Whitney asks and brushes her hand over Brittany’s wild hair.

She nods and does a little stretch, “Much better.”

“Good to hear,” Whitney says and bends down to press kisses to Brittany and Pete’s head, “I’m going to make dinner then. Just leftovers so it shouldn’t take long.”

When she heads off for the kitchen, Pete snuggles in closer to Brittany.

“Did you get to watch cartoons all day?” He asks curiously.

Brittany shakes her head, “Nope, but I did take many naps.”

“Nice!”

“Totally.”

\\

Brittany and Pete are watching tv together a moment later when Brittany hears a knock at the front door. Pete jumps up at the sound and rushes to see who it is.

“Don’t open that door, Peter!” Whitney calls out from the kitchen, “Let your sister get it.”

Pete pouts and hangs back as Brittany moves to get up. She chuckles and ruffles up his hair as she passes by. When Brittany takes a peek, she’s shocked by what she sees and quickly opens the door.

“Santana?” Brittany greets. She’s both confused and pleasantly surprised.

“Who are you?” Pete asks curiously with his head tilted up at the Co-Captain.

“Hi,” Santana smiles kind of nervously as she glances between the two. She’s dressed in her Cheerios warm-up gear – she must’ve just finished practice – and has her binder tucked under her arm.

“Uh…I’m Santana,” She answers softly, “And you are?”

“I’m Peter!” Brittany’s brother holds out his hand to shake, “Everyone calls me Pete though, so you can too if you want.”

Santana quirks a brow at him but smiles as she shakes his hand anyway, “Nice to meet you, Pete.”

“Pete, can you go help mom?” Brittany instructs. She waits until he’s run off then asks Santana out of disbelief, “What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t in class today,” She says.

“Yeah…I didn’t feel well.”

“Didn’t I say you were going to get sick?” Santana smirks.

“I’m not sick,” Brittany sighs, “I was just tired.”

“Right,” Santana keeps the smirk and motions to her binder, “Well, I brought you the work you missed. It’s kind of important for the paper due in a few weeks.”

Brittany just blinks. Maybe she’s still asleep and this is all a dream?

“Here,” Santana offers and goes to flip through her binder for a couple handouts to give to Brittany.

The blonde accepts them although she’s still trying to grasp the fact that Santana’s standing on her doorstep, “Thanks.”

“Sure,” Santana nods and it looks like she’s about to turn away.

“Wait. How’d you know where I lived?” Brittany quickly asks before she can run off.

“Mike told me,” Santana shrugs, “Actually, Mike told Quinn and Quinn told me. Apparently you two are neighbors?”

“Yeah, he likes to tell everyone that,” Brittany chuckles before she gets a sudden burst of confidence and asks, “Did you…want to come in?”

“Uhhh,” Santana looks unsure but then she gives Brittany a small smile, “Okay.”

Brittany opens the door a little wider and leads Santana into the living room. She pushes the blanket she brought down from her room to the side so they can both sit on the couch. Brittany starts to flip through the packet Santana gave her and she’s already dreading the assignment.

“Woah,” Brittany gasps, “This is a lot.”

“Yeah,” Santana nods, “I can help you with it though if you want? Miss Holliday said we can work in groups if we wanted, but we’ll be graded individually.”

Brittany blinks blankly again, “Huh, that’s funny.”

“What?”

Brittany just shakes her head and shrugs, “Just the other week you were insulting me then you stopped talking to me for awhile and now you’re being super helpful. I just can’t get a read on you.”

Brittany wasn’t trying to make Santana feel cornered, she just wanted to open up the conversation. She was over ignoring the obvious, so she went straight for the kill and brought it up head on.

Santana’s shoulders dropped, “Look, I’m…I’m really sorry about that. I was so out of line.”

“Yeah, you really were,” Brittany replies but she isn’t trying to rile Santana up by being argumentative, “You know how many times I’ve heard something similar over the years? Ever since I started playing sports it’s always been: you run like a girl, you throw like a girl, you’re pretty good…for a girl.”

Santana looks apologetically at Brittany and goes to fiddle with her hands in her lap. Brittany notes the familiar motion and decides its something she does when she’s nervous.

Brittany adds, “Like being a girl that plays sports is somehow less than, like it’s a bad thing. I’ve never understood it. I’m just as good as they are.”

Santana shakes her head, “No. I’ve seen you play. You’re so much better.”

“Thanks,” Brittany chuckles weakly, “You know, when I first started I wasn't trying to make some big statement. I didn't want the pressure of being the first female whatever, I just wanted to play. And my family, they've always been super supportive no matter the sport, especially my dad.”

Brittany feels the lump in her throat slowly start to form at his mention and takes a deep breath before speaking again.

“He use to come to every game. But people are so stuck on how I've disrupted their precious norms and it makes things harder than they need to be. No matter where I go, the people will either love me or hate me for this. It's crazy. I'm just a girl who loves playing football, why's that so odd?”

“It’s not,” Santana reasons, “You’re a good different, a kind of different a place like this needs.”

Brittany smiles fondly at Santana’s kind words, “Then why did you say what you did?”

Santana pauses for awhile trying to find the right words but in the end she just shakes her head and sighs, “Probably because I’m a bitch?”

Brittany flinches, she doesn’t think that’s the case.

“You’re just…you’re not what I imagined. I thought football players were rough and you’re not like that at all. You’re soft, delicate. You treat with kindness.”

“So does Kurt,” Brittany offers kindly, “And Mike, Sam too.”

“You know what I mean,” Santana replies.

“Yeah, I do. It’s called a stereotype,” Brittany smirks, “Football players happen to come in all shapes and sizes though. Some are soft and delicate like you say I am and some aren’t, but out on the field we’re all the same. We’re one team.”

Santana nods, “I’m sorry about what I said. You have every right to be on that field, same as the guys. I’m sorry if I made you feel otherwise. I guess I’m still trying to adjust too. It’s not really something you see here…”

“I accept your apology,” Brittany grins.

Santana lets out a deep sigh, “This town can be so old school sometimes and it sucks how there are younger generations out here that don’t know any different. They don’t see how wrong it is to have such a shit mentality. I guess I forgot what progression looks like until you came.”

Brittany knows Santana’s being genuine now and it makes the wait for this conversation worth it. She goes to joke, “Well it’s a learning process. Now you know for the next time you come across someone who doesn’t fit the status quo.”

“Yeah,” Santana matches Brittany’s grin, “I really do.”

“Well hello,” Whitney greets as she enters the living room. She glances between Brittany and Santana as Santana rises to her feet. She stands up straight and proper, “You going to introduce me to your friend, Britt?”

Brittany gulps at the label. She doesn’t know if she’d call Santana a friend just yet.

“This is my mom Whitney. Mom, this is Santana,” Brittany says while Santana gives a polite smile, “We have class together. She was just bringing me some work I missed today.”

“That’s so kind of you,” Whitney compliments Santana.

“It was nothing,” Santana replied and glanced to Brittany, “I tried to warn her about the risks of over-doing it. I can’t imagine having a schedule like hers.”

Brittany’s brow rises at the overly polite tone. Who knew Santana was a little suck up when it came to parents. She smirks as she watches it unfold.

“Stubbornness, she gets that from her dad’s side,” Whitney jokes, “Would you like to stay for dinner? We’re just having leftovers but there’s plenty to go around.”

“Lasagna!” Pete cheers as he runs in from the kitchen.

Santana chuckles but shakes her head, “Thank you, but I should probably get home before my mom starts to worry.”

Whitney nods, “Of course. Well, it was lovely meeting you. Come on Petey, let’s make our plates.”

When they both wander off, Brittany’s again standing alone with Santana in the living room.

“So you’re a kiss-ass,” Brittany jokes, “Never would’ve guessed it.”

Santana rolls her eyes despite smiling, “I have a thing with parents. They love me, okay?”

“Sure, sure,” Brittany giggles, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you’re secretly kind. Wouldn’t want to ruin your rep.”

“I appreciate it,” Santana quips playfully before gathering her things, “Well, I really should head off before my mom starts blowing up my phone.”

“Cool,” Brittany nods and leads the way over to the front door to walk Santana out, “Well. Thanks again for bringing over the work I missed.”

“No biggie,” Santana waved off as she turned to leave, “Glad you’re feeling better. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Brittany waved and watched Santana make her way over to her little red Mazda with a pleased smile.

Maybe they weren’t exactly friends yet, but compared to the downward spiral they’ve been experiencing…they weren’t enemies either.

And in football terms, that’s called forward progress.

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

Nicole's Rambling: The Avengers Problem (for PS4)

Let's start with the usual chanting: ❗this is my opinion, it's biased as hell (since I grew up with Marvel comic books and movies) and you don't have to agree❗

I was wondering why Avengers game gets so hated... So I took a look and I played it myself. Let’s have a look.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First off: the game isn't in any way horribly bad. It's just a button smasher with a story that has its good and bad beats. It's not memorable at all, but it could've gone way more downhill in my opinion.

At the start of the game, you meet the mighty Avengers through child fan's eyes - it's pure fanservice and let's be honest, it's dope. It was sweet, but pretty dragged, to be honest. I really didn't need to play as all five Avengers (HAWKEYE IS MISSING, AGAIN) in the first hour of the game, but sure, why not?

For the most part, you see the squad through Kamala Khan's eyes. For those who might have not a clue who the hell Kamala is; I am not wondering about why you don't know who the hell she is. She's a Marvel heroine who outed in 2013 and who will have her own spinoff on Disney+.

And again, Ms Marvel is fine, but not memorable at all. I've never, until this day, met anyone who would say that 'Ms Marvel is my favourite superhero'. I was halfway through the game before I even realized it's Ms Marvel - AFTER SHE PULLED HER DAMN COSTUME OUT. That can be due to my utter ignorance or because I heard of her so little that I can count it on my fingers. In all honesty, I loved Kamala as the story progressed, the gal's not bad at all - but as the whole game, she had good and bad beats. There were times where I wished to play as Iron Man and the game forced me to play as her... Whatever.

Let's look at the three problems I have with this game and three positives I found in the game:

0. (Technically zero since it's a personal problem of mine) The soundtrack and the voice actors:

By any means, I am not trying to say they should hire RDJ for the role of Iron Man and Mark Ruffalo for the role of Banner... But it was so hard to distinguish the voice of Nolan North (For example: Nathan Drake x Iron Man) and Troy Baker (Samuel Drake x Bruce Banner). For me, as for a PS4 gamer, it's annoying to hear the same voices again and again in every game I am genuinely excited about (Idk how Xbox players are familiar with them). Of course, there's even Laura Bailey as the Black Widow; I feel like these are the three only people who do voice acting for games these days and sure, I should've seen that coming.

Side note: Nolan North is not a good fit for Iron Man in the slightest in my opinion, but if you like his Iron Man, that's cool as well!

The soundtrack... M A N, the soundtrack. When I heard Marvel gave a green light to the Avengers game, I expected to hear at least the iconic Alan Silvestri's 'The Avengers'. Problem with this is simple: Marvel had spoiled its consumers with good and memorable soundtracks (don't you tell me you don't remember as they all gathered for the first time). Since it was Marvel itself who gave the green light for this project, which was supposed to be based loosely on the movies' and comic book success, I hoped to get all of it.

It's not Iron Man when AC/DC song isn't playing in the background as he flies through a canyon for his life. I mean, Iron Maiden are fine; but come on. COME ON. It's not the same. It's not the Avengers (WITHOUT HAWKEYE) without their significant theme.

1. IT. BUGS. ALL. THE. TIME and the combat is incredibly repetitive:

When I was little, I was a rage gamer. I could barely play Crash Bandicoot or Rayman without losing my cool. Since then, I grew up, skilled and etc. I try not to rage when playing games since it's simply not worth it.

But when you're replaying a boring mission for the tenth part and you're almost over and SUDDENLY, the game bugs out and you lose control over the character (it starts running in circles, etc.) it sucks shit. And don't let me start on the minor bugs. Like when you don't cross the platform by one pixel and the game doesn't let you make combos when you're in the air and bug into a tree when you bug into a wall, a rock, fucking nothing... Bruh. It was released in August, shouldn't these bugs be fixed by now? The game is fucking broken, hoes. It barely feels like a game ready to launch at times.

When you're so lucky that you don't bug out in the middle of doing something, the combat... It isn't bad. It's not terrible, but the Avengers deserved something better. It didn't deserve mediocre combat that repeats itself in every level. Once you find yourself good combo, you're done for. You can use it to finish the game if you will.

2. There's too many missions, too much information and too much things player has to understand if he wants to play the game properly:

Okay, this might seem to be a little confusing; I didn't understand the game system at all when I first ran it on my PS4. There's story missions, HARM training sessions, daily missions for particular heroes, faction missions (SHIELD, Pym, Stark, etc.) and character-side-story missions, and a lot more.

Trust me, it doesn't sound that hard, but once you open the map menu for yourself... Oh boy, that's a different story. And if it only was the map menu. The inventory and such aren't too collected all together either. Before you can safely tell what is what, it will take you at least a whole afternoon. Also, the fact that game just spills it on you just like that, one thing after another, it doesn't help the overall feel.

On top of that, there are MULTIPLE currencies in the game; some even involve microtransaction. It mostly is involving the customization of the Avengers, so it's not THAT big of a deal; you can get one currency by collecting boxes and stuff, but it takes ages before you can buy one single thingy.

Also, if you would like to get stuff (very useful stuff) from factions (SHIELD and Pym mainly), you have to do in-factions daily quests, which usually require to do a certain amount of things as a particular hero (you can do some quests with Ms Marvel only, some with Black Widow, it usually involves the damage dealt while playing as a character etc.). And if you forget to fetch these minies? Well, no faction points for you, bucko.

The system feels overall too complicated in the begging and even after finishing the game, I am not certain by some.

3. The gameplay of the one and only... Natasha Romanov, and the entirety of Steve Rogers:

Right off the bat: IT. SUCKS. SHIT.

This was your shot in opening our mouths and showing why Black Widow BELONGS to the Avengers in the first place. Like, sure, storywise you proved the point, but gameplaywise... That's a different story.

Out of the bunch, Natasha feels the slowest, most clumsy and overall not too pleasant to play as. Mainly is because her attacks do... Nothing. The gun reloading is basically constant when I have to put it simply and it takes about 3-5 seconds for her to even reload; which can be a matter of life and death inside the game. Sure, she can make herself invisible; but that's like... It. It's not that it would be suffering when you are forced to play as Nat... But not a pleasant experience either.

On the other hand, maybe it's just me. I have friends who told me the same about her gameplay, but maybe there's someone who enjoys the Black Widow. It's my personal with the entirety of the gameplay.

Steve, on the other hand, isn't hard to play as. It's just fucking boring. At the start of the game, I couldn't wait to play as Steve's character. He seemed to be awesome - Jesus fuck, how could I be so wrong? As I said, he's incredibly boring and dry, his skills would do the same amount of work if they even weren't there. I think that Rogers is there just for the shock value (as a value that doesn't even work in the slightest) and nothing more.

As you learn to do the tricks and combos with them, it gets slightly better and skill tree and equipment upgrades can help almost unnoticeable... But really, Steve and Natasha are the absolute worst.

Now the reasons why the game convinced me it isn't a hot mess as I initially thought:

1. The characters, dynamics, chemistry and the overall story:

Sure, it is mainly a basic plotline, a cookie-cutter one, full of cliché - Avengers have to regroup after a traumatic event and you're the one who has to find them and bring them together.

Yet it is quite interesting; the game leads you to believe that Steve Rogers is dead after an event called the 'A-Day' (which you won't believe even if the game does the hardest to make you to, constantly remaining you that 'Oh boy, Cap died, did you know that?') and the Avengers had left to exile because they were considered as big bad for the people and the country. They have their emotional baggage and the banter between Banner and Stark (though it ends too soon), is just the thing that makes them human and relatable.

Even the villains are quite compelling; not like ultra super convincing, but the game can turn around when you least expect it to; which is definitely a huge plus.

The characters were done GOOD. The dialogues are full of personality and jokes you'd expect from each one of them; Banner is a wallflower cutie, Tony fishes for compliments all the time, Natasha is the big independent woman she always was and Thor? CHEF'S KISS, I swear. It hits the Shakespearean vibe perfectly and at the same time, he still is charming and quite funny to hang around.

Every time you can listen to a chit-chat between two characters, it is a great pleasure for you as a Marvel fan. Also, I need to say that regardless of my personal issue with the dub (regarding Tony and Bruce; since they're the people you spend most of your time with), the dialogues for these two characters are on point without a doubt. And I kinda grew fond of the in-game Bruce Banner throughout the course of the game, to be honest.

There are references, jokes, inside jokes, one-liners... The dialogue was done amazingly and that's a huge   T H A N K   Y O U  to the developers.

2. The mind-blowing gameplay of... Tony Stark and Thor and AI, while not being too bright, getting stronger as you do:

In what the Natasha gameplay lacks, these two give you exactly what would you expect and way, way more than you'd ask for. Again, it mainly reflects the personal gameplay preferences of the player; let me tell you why I think these gameplays are, in my opinion, the best.

a) Tony's gadgets and weaponry: The suit itself is bloody brilliant. Once you master the ability to attack and fly at the same time, you have the moments when you can not only feel like Iron Man - but really be Iron Man. It's not even that your gameplay would suddenly become 10x easier; it significantly becomes funnier.

b) Thor's heavy fist-to-fist and Mjolnir preferences: the Mjolnir is bloody brilliant as well. Thor's combat is mainly physically based, but when you want to throw the hammer around like the madman you are, you can suit yourself. You can use the lightning if you please and you can fly if this style of combat suits you. It's all in your hands. Thor can take quite a bit of damage, which is significantly supporting you in this style. If you accidentally drop Mjolnir? Well, call it back and smash them!

Also, regarding the AI... As I said, they're certainly not the brightest sparks in the flame; yet thanks to the power getting bigger as you level up and continue with your story and a huge variety of enemies - from turrets to flying men with flamethrowers. It is just button smasher, but a pleasing one in this regard, I must say.

3. The fanservice to comic book fans, movie fans and loyalty to the property:

As one IGN review once said... "This game makes you feel like Batman." And this game more or less accomplished it as well, but diluted and stripped down. Of course, in no way I can compare this to the masterpiece to the Arkham saga; these games are brilliant.

But there are moments when the game can just drag you inside the story and tell you: "You're Iron Man now, boss. It's in your hands." And it's there. I think the only issue was that the team of devs just took too big of a bite. I wouldn't mind stand-alone titles emerging into one and big Avengers game. That would be fun as well and I would spend my time with it gladly.

To end it: it's a mess, but a good mess you might like. If I was to rate it, would be 5.1/10 Wait until it is on sale, don't rush it. I'm overall disappointed and I most likely will forget I have ever played it.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

all the good girls go to hell

Summary: Alya and Kagami break down.

Warnings: Torture, murder, mentions of child abuse and neglect, mentions of children being sold, references to sexual situations. 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 Alya had a normal childhood. Sure it was a bit effed up from time to time- Nora had anger issues and her boxing was only discovered later in life- but it was normal. Busy parents, babysitting your little siblings when you were only nine and your sister was off somewhere and-

 Okay so maybe it wasn’t so normal.

 Alya… didn’t have much to complain about though. She was fine right? Everything was okay. 

 It was fine.

 “Sugar, you’re amazing,” said the grubby handed man as he grabbed at Alya. She giggled and managed to escape his grasp. Alya was a blue-haired girl with a skimpy outfit showing everything off.

 “Naughty Mister! I’m on shift.” She pouted at him and he laughed. Inside she laughed at the reminder she’d bugged him with a tracker when he’d grabbed at her.

 Heroes and saving the day and journalism. It’s all she wanted. Alya dreamed of one day being like Lois Lane or Clark Kent and reporting on her own heroes. She dreamed of being famed for her words. Having Ladybug appear? Cemented that. Having a best friend, a boyfriend… it all cemented it. 

 Then Lila showed up. At first, she’d paid into it. It sounded awesome. But slowly Alya started seeing the cracks, the truths. She felt awful and begged on bended knee to Marinette who’d accepted. It would go back to the way things were.

 Or well she thought.

 “You’re my best friend,” a woman sobbed onto Alya’s shoulder. Alya soothes her, paying her back as the woman cried. Alya was brunette that day, with green eyes and frumpy clothing. “I’m so stupid!”

 “Aw honey, ya ain’t stupid. He’s the stupid one.” She soothed, grabbing the woman’s phone and tossing it away, snapping a small hacking bug on it for Max. “C’mon don’t let him talk to ya anymore, alright?”

 Lila was… something. To this day Alya doesn’t know what. But she was a rat. She knew how to play the game and her lies for some reason just… worked. Even when they were ridiculous. 

 People believed them. People looked at Alya and her friends and beloved rumours. Alya’s parents stopped wanting her to watch her sisters. Bad influence. Nora eyed her sometimes but never said if she believed the rumours.

 Her baby sisters… they did. And they hated her.

 “I’m sorry,” sobbed the man. “I’m so sorry baby…”

 “No, you’re not!” Alya shouted, bottle blonde with blue eyes and a fake chest. “You’re nothing but a liar and a cheat!” In Alya’s pocket was a USB full of files on the gun trafficking the man was doing. She was done with him. 

 She hadn’t been sure when she started her relationship with Chloe. Her and Nino had kind of talked about a third occasionally but that was casual. Chloe just made her so mad she just did it. Luckily Nino liked it. 

 And it was wonderful. Her parents did not approve and it just added to the rumours but Nora actually pulled her aside to say sorry. For like everything. Including the effed up bits of their childhood. 

 She felt like she could breathe. Maybe.

 Then Chat was stabbed and he was Adrien and Ladybug was Mairnette and things went to hell.

 “Sup Nora,” Alya said into the phone, a redhead with grey eyes that day. She smirked and winked at a handsome man across the room, a man with his fingers in various drug rings.

 “Not much. The brats are doing good after mom and dad lost custody.” Nora replied. Alya smiles softly. 

 “That’s good. I’m happy you’re all doing better.”

 “You doing alright?”

 “Oh just doing my job, I’m keeping safe. Promise.”

 They beat Hawkmoth and instead of their happy ending they were hurt. Instead of their happiness, they got fucking Lila muscling in on their glory, their earned achievement. 

 And then she pushed. And she nearly killed Marinette. 

 They all just… snapped. 

 Alya wished she was the one to kill her.

“Sup baby,” she kissed Nino as he approached her, confusing the pathetic sob in front of her with a ring in his hand. “Got the info on the drug ring?”

 “I did. Got the info on their finances?” Nino asked and the dumbass stared in horror. Alya grinned, her hair going from pink to her normal shade, her glasses reappearing.

 “Baby you know me.”

-0-

Kagami had a shit childhood. She had to be the best. Everything has to be perfect, she had to be perfect. Or she’d end up like her siblings. She had a lot but no one knew. Her mother gave them away. The League of Assassins likes them. The Council of Spiders did too.

 Kagami wondered how many siblings she had.

 She was a tool, her mother’s next reach into the world. Her mother’s hopes and dreams. 

 Kagami sliced through the man’s throat, hot sticky blood covering her. She sighed. The man hadn’t bothered being a challenge. He’d basically given up as soon as she started.

 How disappointing. 

 “Mother would be upset.” She said casually to no one before she left the scene. 

 When she moved to Paris she’d been scared. Would mother give her to the League now? Would she be safe? But instead, she met Adrien. Adrien who smiled and laughed and who mother wanted her to marry. 

 Mother got what mother wanted even if Kagami wasn’t sure about romance. 

 Kagami found friends though. Adrien was a great friend and he led her to more friends. It was… awesome. 

 Then Lila happened.

 Kagami dove under a sword strike and threw wind at the man, blowing him back hard enough to slam into the wall with a sickening crack. But Marinette wanted his head so she’d bring it. She walked right up the man, lifting the sword and bringing it down with a thud.

 “Messy,” She grumbled, staring at the blood. “Though somewhat fun. Perhaps I’ll pick up your sister tonight. She seems fun.” Kagami told the corpse before she took the head and walked away.

 Lila didn’t really touch her so much. Her mother knew they were lies but… 

 People hated her friends. She didn’t like that. She didn’t like the looks and the sneers and the snarls. She didn’t like how they glared. She wanted it to stop.

 It got worse when Kagami’s things were destroyed- when she was glared at and sneered at. Her mother did not approve. Luckily she couldn’t vanish. Not yet. Not when Adrien was her friend and he would see if she vanished.

 She was safe. For a while.

 Kagami glared at the body in front of her, feeling heavily annoyed. 

 “What’s wrong Dragon?” Asked Marinette as she came into the room, dressed in a nice black suit. “Oh. Well, who is this?”

 “An annoyance Horse will have to track,” Kagami growled. “He scared off my partner for the night.” She glared even more at the body. Marinette sighed.

 “Sorry. I’d offer but neither of us like the bottom.” Kagami sighed.

 “Correct. Hmm… is Snake up?”

 “He is. Have fun.”

 It all went to hell when Gabriel showed he was Hawkmoth and ran his own son through. They saved him. They all died they saved him and they were bonded ever closer to him in a form of harmony. 

 And Kagami was in danger again. 

 She got lucky that Adrien still dragged her into the spotlight, that he kept eyes on her. That he needed someone to be his voice.

 But Lila was trying to change that. 

 Kagami drove her sword into the gut of the ninja in front of her, a snarl on her face.

 “Tell Ra’s I Said go fuck himself.” She announced to the shadows, knowing others waited. “I won’t go to him. My mother had no right to sell me and I will cut anyone down who tries. I did it to her too.” Her mother lying on the floor after Kagami had cut her down, after learning she’d been sold, filled her mind and she bared her teeth. 

 She would not be part of the League when she had her own team already.

 Lila nearly killed Marinette. Nearly killed Ladybug. And no one gave a damn. Not even Marinette’s parents. It made her blood boil and her lungs fill with fire and smoke.

 Was it any wonder they snapped?

 She was just happy Lila died at her hands. 

 “Please!” Lila screamed as Kagami drove her sword down, separating her leg from her body. Kagami had already claimed her arms, her blade hot and preventing blood loss from killing her. “Please stop.”

 “No.” Kagami grinned, vicious and deadly. 

 She wouldn’t stop. 

@northernbluetongue @ines-nz  @seraphichana, @glasswolff, @crazylittlemunchkin, @miraculous786, @viinaa08, @18-fandoms-unite-08 @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @my-name-is-michell @emjrabbitwolf @starsshineandgivehope

[ben-the-hyena]

REGARDING THE END OF THE MAYRIN ARC

Spoilers in case

Am I the only one having HATED it ?! I keep finding posts about “aaaw happily ever after^^” “aah pwecious babies ;3; “eeeeeee we had our weddiiiiiing^^” “OTP ayy lmao” “yeees ! I’m rooting for them !” UUUUH IT WOULD HAVE HAD IF THEY WERE FOR ANOTHER STORY, NOT MAYRIN BUT ANOTHER CHARACTER INSTEAD AND PROBABLY TAKING PLACE DURING AOR. BUT AS A PREQUEL OF MAYRIN !!?! I mean no ship shaming of course uh you guys are allowed to ship it... WHAT I MEAN IS I WOULD HAVE HAD AND I WAS READY TO DURING ALL THE PREVIOUS ISSUES BUT THE WAY IT ENDS NOW MAKES ME HATE IT AND FUME WITH RAGE. IN WHAT IS IT AN “ENDING” ?! IT ONLY MAKES US WONDER MORE QUESTIONS AND FEELS SUPER RETCON-Y COMPARED TO THE SHOW !!! THINGS INDEED CAN HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE, BETWEEN THE COMICS AND THE SHOW, BUT FOR AN ORIGIN STORY ARC SHOULDN’T IT HAVE ENDED WHERE THE PLOT POINT WOULD START INSTEAD OF LETTING FANS IMAGINE SO THAT THE WRITER WOULD HAVE THEIR CANON X OC OTP FANTASY BECOMING CANON HAPPILY INSTEAD OF I DUNNO MAKING THEIR AU FANFICS/FANART ?! AND NOT JUST THEM BUT IT FEELS LIKE THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW THE REAL LORE WITH HOW EVEN SKEKSA WAS TREATED ! Her and the clans in general since now it is aaaaaaaaall happy go lucky BITCH DID THEY EVEN WATCH THE SHOW AND THE DISTOPIAN PREMISE ?! IF SOMETHING REALLY AWFUL THAT MADE A 180 TURN IN MAYRIN’S LIFE HAPPENED WE NEED TO KNOW INSTEAD OF ACTING LIKE IT’S NOTHING OR NOT IMPORTANT AS MUCH AS A PWWWETTY WEDDING !!!

THE MAIN POINTS I HATE :

SKEKSA BEING ALL LIKE SKEKSIL. THEY DIDN’T READ THE BOOKS AT ALL DIDN’T THEY ? THEY ASSUMED ALL SKEKSIS WERE SKEKSIL AND THAT PEOPLE LOVED HER JUST FOR HER DESIGN AND TOOK HER BECAUSE SHE WAS A FAN FAVORITE AND NOTHING ELSE. I KNOW THE SHOW IS DIFFERENT FROM THE BOOKS BUT MAKING HER A SKEKSIL CLONE ?! AT LEAST GIVE HER A NEW PERSONALITY INSTEAD ! AND DON’T REMOVE WHAT PEOPLE LOVED, HER BEING EVIL AND HAVING A SUPERIORITY COMPLEX BUT STILL LOVING HER SIFA DEARLY HENCE WHY THEY ADORE HER, HERE SHE ONLY THINKS ABOUT HERSELF AND GIVES 0 SHIT ABOUT THE SIFA AND DISPOSE OF THEM WHEN THEY ARE NO LONGER USEFUL OR FAILED HER WTFFFF SHE EVEN SPEAKS LIKE SKEKSIL !!! #notmy SkekSa The only good thing is how it implies she and SkekTek indeed are friends, my HC is true wooo BUT AT WHAT PRICE

OKKKK SO SHE HAS THE VASSA OUT OF A WHIM. “NNNGGGG I HAVE A COOL SHIP ALREADY BUT I WANNA THE BIG ANIMAL BECAUSE I SAID SOOOOOO” *tramples the ground like a spoiled little girl à la Princess Morbucks* INSTEAD OF SOME EPIC STORY OF HER ENSLAVING HIM, OR AT LEAST NO CHOICE BECAUSE HER SHIP IS DESTROYED OR SOMETHING. NO. A SKEKSIS TANTRUM. AWESOME YOU GUYS GOT THE CHARACTER SO MUCH

MAYRIN AND KAM’LU FUCKING MARRYING HAPPILY EVER AFTER ?!?! RIIIIGHT IT’S NOT LIKE THE CLANS ARE SUPER RACIST TO EACH OTHER UNTIL AOR AND THAT VAPRA, MAYRIN IN PARTICULAR ACTUALLY, ARE VERY CONSERVATIVE ABOUT HOW RULES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN. I WAS EXPECTING SOMETHING TRAGICAL, LIKE THE ONE TIME SHE INDEED FALLS IN LOVE WITH A DIFFERENT CLAN HE WOULD HAVE DIED, OR SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN FORCED TO MARRY SOMEONE ELSE WHILE PREGNANT OF SELADON (I WAS SURE OF IT) OR HE WOULD HAVE LEFT HER FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER AND THAT WOULD HAVE MADE HER BITTER AND GO “...Never again. I should have never broken the rules. I will never break them again and my daughters will not.” EXPLAINING WHY SHE WOULD BE SO STRICT AND ALWAYS BITTER AND TIRED-LOOKING AS IF SHE HAD NOT HAD THE LIFE SHE WANTED. BUT NO ???? YOU GAVE HER THE ENDING SHE WANTED ??? SO YOU GUYS ARE ACTUALLY IMPLYING SHE BECOMES THE RACIST BAD MOTHER AND COLD RULER SHE IS BY HERSELF NOT OUT OF A TRAUMA BUT BECAUSE SHE IS A HYPOCRITE AND A BITCH FROM THE START (MAKING HER PREVENT TAVRA TO GO WITH ONICA EXTREMELY HYPOCRITICAL “HEY ONLY I COULD BREAK THE RULES ONE TIME, NOW YOU DON’T”) AND YOU THINK THIS WILL MAKE US SYMPATHIZE WITH HER LIKE WE IMAGINED ? BITCH NO THIS MAKES US HATE HER EVEN MORE !!!

THE VAPRA ALL HAPPY AND ACCEPTING ABOUT IT. AFTER HAVING BEEN SHOWN HAVING BEEN THE MOST RACIST CLAN AND CHANGING ITS WAYS ONLY IN AOR AND HAVING HAD THE RULE TO NEVER LET MIXED CLAN IN THE ROYAL FAMILY. THEY FUCKING ACCEPT IT. SO WHY DO THEY BECOME RACISTS WITH A SUPERIORITY COMPLEX AGAIN JUST AFTER BEING ALL “oh uwu it’s not so bad after all our All Maudra is happy not a big deal if our future ruler will be a bastard to our stadards” ??? SERIOUSLY DID YOU WRITERS WATCH THE SHOW ???

NAMING SELADON AFTER HER TOXIC ABUSIVE MOTHER. OK WOW. FUCKING WELL PLAYED. NO WONDER SHE GETS SO MANY ISSUES LATER ON. YOU GUYS THOUGHT THAT WAS CUTE AFTER ALL THESE TIMES SHE TELLS HER MOTHER WAS CRUEL TO HER ??? ALSO HOW DO THEY KNOW ALREADY IT’S GONNA BE A GIRL ?!

WHERE THE FUCK IS KAM’LU BY THE TIME OF AOR ??? DON’T ANSWER ME “something must have happened to me inbetween that’s also why Mayrin does a 180″ NO BECAUSE NOT ONLY IT’S NOT JUST HER BUT ALL THE CLANS WHO DO A 180 TURN BUT ALSO BECAUSE IF IT WERE THAAAAAT IMPORTANT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOWN INSTEAD OF SUGGESTING ALL TO END ON A HAPPY CUTIE WEDDING FOR THE SAKE OF THE CUTES !! “Hey hey heeey thanks for the wedding and the sex now Imma totally let you raise our daughter alone and go buy cigarettes at the store and never come back !”

Yeah I don’t know if they want to imply he’s the father of Seladon only or of all daughters BUT OF ALL DAUGHTERS WOULD MAKE 0 SENSE (oh also Tavra and Brea look a lot alike while Seladon looks like her own person so I DO wonder if that was what I think it is). SELADON IS THE MOST RACIST/CONSERVATIVE ONE AND ALL DAUGHTERS FEEL VERY LONELY SINCE MAYRIN WAS BAD TO ALL OF THEM, TAVRA HAVING COMFORT WITH THE PALADINS AND BREA THE LIBRARIANS WHILE SELADON HAD NOBODY HENCE HER ISSUES. KAM’LU/ANY FATHER MUST HAVE LEFT OR DIED VERY EARLY FOR HER NOT REMEMBER, SHE ACTS LIKE ONLY VAPRA ACT AS IF SHE DIDNT EVEN KNOW SHE HAD SIFA BLOOD ! OR IS SHE A HYPOCRITE HERSELF TOO ? BUT WHY FEELING SO LONELY IF HE HAD SUPPOSEDLY BE AROUND UUUH ???

AND IF INDEED SELADON WAS THE ONLY ONE SHE HAD WITH KAM’LU AKA THE ONE SHE LOVED WHY IS SELADON TREATED LIKE TRASH WHILE THE YOUNGEST HAD MORE FAVORS IF SHE WAS FROM SOMEONE ELSE ? AGAIN BECAUSE HER NAME IS “SELADON” ? YES I KNOW I know her mom was cold and abusive and she doesn’t know how to raise another way BUT THAT PROVES THAT 1) KAM’LU WAS NOT THERE TO TELL HER TO CHILL AND BE AN ACTUAL PARENT TO HER OR ALL THE DAUGHTERS DEPENDING OF THE PATERNITY AND 2) YOU REALLY NAMED HER SELADON FROM THE START TO HAVE A DUMMY RIGHT ?

HOWEVER IF ALL THE GIRLS ARE KAM'LU'S INDEED WHY ARE THEY STILL RACIST, DON'T SEEM TO KNOW THEY ARE NOT FULLY SIFA (WITH ALL THE SIFAN SLURS AND CLICHÉS THEY USE AS IF THEY WERE NOT FAMILIAR TO THEM AND ONCE AGAIN THE VAPRAN SUPERIORITY COMPLEX) AND ONCE AGAIN SANS ANOTHER PARENTAN FIGURE ? HE REALLY DIDN'T LIVE WITH MAYRIN, THEY KEPT IT SECRET TO THE DAUGHTERS WHILE ALL THE COURT IS AWARE (AND SOMEWHAT BECOMES RACIST AGAIN TOO AS I SAID ALREADY) AND JUST BREED EVERY BLUE MOON IN SECRET ?

I AM SO FUCKING MAD. AND EVEN MORE MAD THAT UNLIKE THE SEQUEL COMICS THAT CAN BE IGNORED, THESE ONES CANNOT ! ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY WERE MADE UNDER THE SAME SIGN AS THE 2 OTHER ORDON AND HUP PREQUEL COMICS WHICH THEM, HOWEVER, ARE ACCURATE TO THE SHOW. THESE... IT STARTED SO GRAND ! WHY RUIN IT ALL IN THE END WITH SO LITTLE SENSE AND ACTING LIKE IT’S THE RIGHT THING ?! SOMETIMES TRAGEDY IS GOOD FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE IT DOES ANSWER QUESTIONS AS SAD AS IT IS ! BY DOING THIS IT FEELS LIKE AN AU MADE BY A SHIPPER WHO MADE A FANFIC CALLED “HOW THINGS WOULD HAVE GONE IF THEY COULD HAVE HAD MARRIED INSTEAD”. IT CHANGES EVERYTHING AND I’M FURIOUS. AND EVEN MORE FURIOUS LITTLE TO NOBODY ADDRESSED IT YET

BECAUSE YES INDEED, WHETHER SELADON IS THE ONLY TO BE KAM'LU'S OR ALL 3 ARE, THEY ACT AS IF THE SIFA WERE STRANGERS TO THEM. THEY SAY THEM FOR SIFAS AND US FOR VAPRA (THE PUZZLE SCENE. BREA PUTTING VAPRA ALWAYS FIRST AND CHOOSING SIFA AS SECOND ON THE SECOND TRY AND TALKING ABOUT "THEY"), HAVE CLICHÉS ABOUT SIFAS (THEY NEVER GIVE THINGS FOR FREE) AS IF ONLY TAVRA KNEW ONE FOR REAL, THE FACT THAT UNTIL SELADON'S REDEMPTION AND BREA'S PUZZLE EPIPHANY THEY REALLY THOUGHT "THEY" VAPRA WERE SUPERIOR AS IF THEY REALLY GENUINELY HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT KAM'LU

OOOH AND LIKE ANOTHER BLOG POINTED OUT, ALL HER DIVERSITY AND FREEDOM AND "I AM THE ALL MAUDRA" ENERGY SHE HAS IN THIS COMIC WHILE SHE IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE HER BADASS EPIPHANY IN AOR ONLY. WHERE WAS IT ALL HER LIFE THEN ? IT WENT DORMANT !?

BRAVO

BRAVO IN A FEW PAGES YOU MADE ME HATE A STORY AND A SHIP I WAS LIKING

BRAVO

[gra-sonas]

Hiiii! What are you thoughts about RNM finale! How do you feel about it? I'm glad Alex was happy and I kind of understand why Micha walked out in the middle of the song even though I know some people didn't like it... Anyways! Hope you have a great day! 😁

Hi nonnie!

Am I having a great day, running on roughly 2 hours of sleep and sheer force of will? Debatable. :P

I’ve been listening to Tyler’s song all day tho, that has definitely improved my mood significantly. I’ll never be over the beauty that is this Malex song. WE GOT A MALEX SONG, Y’ALL!!!! And Tyler’s voice... yeah, the absolute best thing ever. I’m at peace just listening to him. 🥰

WOULD YOU COME HOME is without a doubt the best thing of this episode, the best thing of the season tbh. With that being said, I wrote down some more things.

Putting this incoherent mess behind a cut tho (I’m LJ years old, it’s a cut, not a Read More :P), fingers cross Tumblr doesn’t botch the damn thing.

Hmmmm, I’ll admit that last night (I watched live at 3am, which probably was NOT the best idea, but then I’m an adult, what else am I supposed to do other than make TERRIBLE LIFE CHOICES...), I really hated it.

Nothing made sense, too many questions were left unanswered, Malex were robbed of saying “I love you” to each other first, they were also robbed of an opportunity to talk (dear god, when will they finally TALK, it’s literally all I want), Michael was made to leave IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LOVE LETTER ALEX WAS SINGING TO HIM IN PUBLIC (omfg, I’m still so fucking PISSED about that, I’m FUMING) by the writers just to keep the ~drama going, Malex were robbed of a first public kiss, in one moment at the bar it looks like Michael took the handkerchief off, but there’s no way of telling whether they simply forgot to put it on him, or if it was deliberate and he actually took it off and we were robbed of that very significant moment.

Also ngl, Jesse’s death? Underwhelming. I mean, I’m glad he’s finally gone, but his whole storyline this season was underwhelming and so was his death. Oh well, underwhelming is my rating of S2 overall, guess it makes sense for this super villain to go out with a meh instead of a bang.

Blah, I'm still not super happy about the finale, and I especially wanted Michael to hear the WHOLE song, mainly the final two lines

You were the best of me You are the best of me

but since we can’t have nice things it’s not surprising that I’m not a huge fan. At least it wasn’t as devastating as 1x13, or as gross and triggering in 2x06, small mercies, I guess :P

Ngl, the Forlex kiss didn’t spark joy for me personally. I’m a mono shipper, and just like I hated seeing Michael kiss someone else, I hated seeing Alex do the same. But I understand why he did it. Michael left halfway through the song, and Alex was so relieved and proud of himself that he sang it, and Forrest was right there (wearing his Deep Sky ring 👀).

And hey, Alex asked and Forrest gave enthusiastic consent, I appreciate that very much!

I also really liked that Alex and Michael got to destroy the damn shed. I absolutely ADORE that Gregory was there when Alex sang,  alive and looking like the proudest big brother ever (like you don’t even know HOW MUCH I love him!!! ). Tanner’s such an amazing addition to the cast and I hope we’ll get to see him more often next season!

I’m glad that neither Alex or Michael were burdened with Jesse’s death, I hate that Gregory is carrying that burden now, but he seems to be better equipped for it, and I think he’ll be okay living with it.

Also a glimmer of hope for my baby Flint and a possible redemption arc? I like it (mainly bc I adore Kiowa, I just want him back).

The Echo breakup was long overdue, IDK, I haven’t cared that much about them as a couple for a long time, they’ve been lying to each other throughout most of the season, insofar it makes perfect sense that they go their separate ways now.

Rrrrosaaaaaa!!! My girl, I’m so damn PROUD of her!!!! She’s doing absolutely amazing, and I hope they’ll bring Iris back for her in S3 as a real friend. She deserves to spend time with people other than the “alien circle” at large.

M/M breakup... let’s just say I’m glad that particular nightmare is finally OVER. Time for Michael to work on himself. He didn’t get much opportunity to do that all season.

I’m a bit worried that due to the larger time jump between S2 and 3 we’ll either not get to see much of his development, or - even worse - he hasn’t worked on himself when we meet him again. That’s why I really rather hate S2 for him as a character. Oh well, that’s something to worry about in a year, I guess.

KYLE. I was happy about the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Kylex moment, but overall S2′s done him dirty. Constantly sidelined, stuck in a relationship I still don’t care about even a little bit. And now Liz even played “god” and saved Steph (which in itself is a good thing, but Liz has been doing this all season, and no one’s stopped her, and I find that worrisome.) I guess with Steph being saved she’s also going to be in S3? Meh, I couldn’t care less, but also something to worry about next year.

Isobel didn’t get to do all that much this episode, but I love her, she’s had an amazing journey this season, and I feel she’s in a really good place right now. GOOD FOR HER!

SANDERS! Not in this episode, but damn, I love him, and I’m SO glad that MICHAEL’S DAD HAS BEEN INTRODUCED TO US THIS SEASON!

Jenna & Charlie AAAAAAHHHHHHHH, I’m so happy for them! And I’m excited to hopefully see both of them again next season! They are amazing, and as a duo a force to be reckoned with! Excited for Riley’s show Hightown to be renewed, still hope she’ll find time to travel to Santa Fe to be in several episodes of RNM.

Max... Ngl, I’m not a fan of the character. Never have been. And while Max 2.0 was nicer than Max 1.0, I never really warmed up to him. Let’s see how things with “Mr. Jones” and Max will go next season.

Maria... Let’s see how things with her go next season. Maybe she’ll finally be allowed to have a storyline that doesn’t revolve around other people.

Circling back to Alex. I love him, I love him the most. He’s on par with my other favorite character of all time (Derek Hale, in case that wasn’t clear). He’s so important to me, and Tyler did the most exquisite job playing him. S2′s been a difficult season for him and I hated that for him.

The writers held him back at almost every turn, he wasn’t allowed to move on, instead Michael got to “dump” Alex every second episode. Man, it got old real fast. But Alex’s resilience finally hammered it home to Michael, that Alex is not leaving again. He’s right there, and he’ll even show up when Michael calls him. New experience for him, I’m sure.

IDK, this whole season was such a mess, so many things that weren’t resolved in the end, the lack of a main plot kept bothering me, and I hated that some of my favorite S1 friendships were completely sidelined.

I hate that an entire season was wasted on Malex being apart, especially wasted for Michael who had a lot of shit on his plate I hoped he’d get a chance at working through (at least in part) in S2, but that didn’t happen. He had some lightbulb moments, but overall he’s still pretty much in the same spot he was at the beginning of the season.

And while I agree that he’s not ready to be with Alex atm, I hate that he did not communicate that to Alex properly, and instead left halfway through Alex’s song.

IDK, I just feel like pretty much every fanfic writer in our fandom would’ve done a better job at writing them this season, they would’ve been allowed to move forward separately, but still towards a common goal.

I know, they are endgame, there’s no doubt about that, but I’m TIRED of them not talking. And especially after Alex’s performance.

Either way, I don’t think any of this makes much sense, coherent thoughts, I don’t have them atm. I’ll need more time to think things through, and maybe my overall negative opinion of this season won’t be quite so negative anymore. Who knows.

I’ve always wondered whether I’d feel like finally watching S2 once I know how it ends, and right now I can answer that question with a firm NO. Canon exhausts me. I’m looking forward to fandom getting time to take a deep breath and process this season. 

I’m excited that we get to take care of the characters for the next year. It’s time for some good development, for tons of fics where Malex actually talk to each other, where Gregory is an awesome brother, Sanders adopts Michael and a million other things.

If there’s one thing I’m grateful for is, that the finale didn’t ruin Malex entirely. I’d been really worried about that.

THEY ARE OURS AGAIN, FOLKS! \0/

[my-proof-is-you]

Someday We Could - Ch. 3

Request from anonymous:

Could u do a Dean x Reader where they have been friends since childhood and when they were younger they made a deal where if neither of them were married by 35 they would get married, but the last thing they expected was to actually fall for each other? ( i have been watching too much Friends)

Masterlist  |  Tag Yourself

Previous Chapter

*I do not own and pics or gifs

Now - Dean

Dean had barely slept. He laid there, wound up from the party. He replayed your reaction to the surprise in his head over and over, his mind’s eye focusing on your megawatt smile. 

After a few hours of that, his mind went to other things. 

Like the deal he’d made with you when you were thirteen.

He wasn’t sure if you remembered. You had a pretty sharp memory, though. So he wouldn’t be surprised. 

Regardless, he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t. He couldn’t put you in danger like that. 

He wasn’t even crazy about you living with them. Of course, he loved having you around all the time. But being close to the Winchesters was dangerous. Everyone they loved got hurt. 

His mind ping-ponged all night between several thoughts: what it would be like to be married to you; the risk he’d be taking with your life if he did marry you; 

How much he would actually love to be with you forever.

The last thought was one he would scarcely admit to himself. He was Dean Winchester; he didn’t need anyone. He and his brother against the world, that’s all he knew. 

But there was something about you that screamed “home,” something that made him weak in the knees. 

He made his way off the floor of the living room where he’d slept at Jody’s, heading into the kitchen in search of coffee. Jody was there doing dishes, a fresh pot brewing on the counter. 

“Well hey there, sleepyhead,” she said, getting a mug down from the cupboard in anticipation of his need for caffeine. 

“Mmm,” he grunted in response. 

“Not a good night’s sleep?” she asked with a chuckle. “Gettin’ too old for the floor I guess.”

“Nah, that doesn’t bother me. Just couldn’t sleep,” he responded, pouring the steaming liquid into his mug. He turned back toward Jody who had sat down at the table. He joined her there, watching as she nodded with a knowing look in her eyes.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothin’.” She paused. “This whole thing you did for Y/N was pretty great, Dean.”

Dean narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing,” she replied with a chuckle. 

You walked into the kitchen then, your eyes half-closed and your hair disheveled. 

“Oh, shit, better get her some coffee quick,” Dean said. You weren’t a morning person, and he was well aware of that fact. You scowled at him and he laughed, getting up and getting you a mug. 

“Fuck off,” you muttered, taking it from him and filling it. 

“Yikes,” Jody said from her spot at the table. 

“Oh, good morning, Jody, I didn’t see you there,” you said cheerily. Dean’s mouth dropped open. 

“So I guess it’s just you she doesn’t like in the morning,” Jody said with a chuckle. 

“Apparently,” Dean deadpanned. 

You gave him a sarcastic smile as you sat down with your coffee. 

“I know what’ll cheer you up,” he said, coming to stand next to your chair. 

“What?” you asked, eyeing him suspiciously. 

“I have one more birthday present for you.”

Your eyes widened, and Dean laughed. You’d always loved birthday gifts. He took Baby’s keys out of his pocket and held them up, dangling them near your face.

“No. Are you serious?” You asked, incredulous. 

“I am,” he replied, watching your smile grow as you took the keys from him. 

You stood up and nearly knocked the wind out of him with your hug. He had never let you drive Baby in all the years you’d been friends. He smiled, unable to stop himself. 

“Just be careful, okay?” He said sternly, recovering his macho attitude. 

That was what he said on the outside. 

On the inside, though, he was thinking, anything to make you smile. 

Then - Dean

Dean slammed the door behind him as he entered the motel room. 

“Bad day?” he heard from the couch.

“Y/N?” he asked, coming further into the room to see you laying on the couch on your back with your legs crossed. You sat up.

“Hiya,” you said casually, getting up and giving him a hug. 

“What’re you doing here?” he asked. He couldn’t help but feel relieved to see you after the day he’d had. 

“My dad and I were nearby and your dad wants us to go on the next hunt with you,” you replied, opening the fridge. You scowled at its lack of contents before closing it and sitting down at the tiny kitchenette table. 

“Cool,” Dean said. He was excited, but his bad mood returned pretty quickly. 

“What’s your deal?” you asked. You gestured to the chair across from you and Dean sat, glad you were there to talk to. His dad apparently didn’t understand what it was like to be a teenager anymore, and Sammy was too young to understand girl troubles. 

Dean told the story of what happened at this latest school: how he’d met a pretty blonde named Amanda; how he’d told her that he didn’t really have any rules to live by; how he’d been caught making out with another girl; how he’d tried to explain that it didn’t matter, that he was a hero. 

You nodded, listening to his story without interrupting. When he was finished, he looked up from his fiddling hands to see what your reaction would be.

“Why were you in the closet with that other girl?” you asked, your eyes sincere. You truly wanted to understand. 

“I—I don’t know,” he said truthfully. He really didn’t understand why he did the things he did.

“I’ll tell you why. You got scared. You knew you were leaving, and Amanda was getting too close.”

Dean gritted his teeth, annoyed that you were right—just like you always were. 

“And while she was right to say she feels sorry for you—and she was right,” you said with a pointed look in his direction, “the truth is, she never would have understood. She’s not a hunter. She doesn’t understand how hard it is for us to have real attachments.”

Dean sighed. He had a feeling he knew what was coming.

“Regardless, making out with another girl was stupid. You’re a dick,” you said, getting up and walking past him. You elbowed him as you did.

“Ow!” he yelled, grabbing his side. 

“Keep it up, Winchester, and I’ll be the only one that’ll marry you by default,” you joked, laying back down on the couch. Dean knew you were done lecturing him. He got up and jogged toward the couch, launching himself over the back and landing next to you, grabbing your feet. 

“That would suck,” he said, tickling your feet. 

“I will KILL you!” you yelled between giggles. Dean laughed, too, finally feeling actually happy for the first time that day.

Forevers:

@malfoysqueen14 @divadinag @lynne1993 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @infj-slytherclaw @onethirstyunicorn @sammykb1994 @lilulo-12 @mellorine-paprika @tranquility-or-chaos @collette04 @differentstudentrunaway-e70bf763 @hoboal87 @bi-danvers0 @miraclesoflove @defenderrosetyler @babypink224221 @fabfan00 @calaofnoldor @beatifuldisaster018 @olyamoriarty @satans-0-spawn @coffeebooksandfandom @supernatural3002

Deanies/Jensen:

@tftumblin @deans-baby-momma @akshi8278 @weepingwillowphoenix @playingdeep17 @justanotherwinchester @flamencodiva @caligraphee @emma.penberthy.11 @tranquility-or-chaos @jxackles @supersassyprobablysad @heavensangel45135​

Someday We Could

@biggirlauthor​ @bi-danvers0​ @tftumblin​ @thwiso​ @defenderrosetyler​ @ladyofletters67​ @formulafun @shortwinchester​ @the-obsessive-fangirl​ @a-dorky-book-keeper​ @thelittlestarfighter​ @fandomsrourlives​ @greenarrowhead​ @heyyy-hey-babyyy​ @letsby-writes​

[ft-dads-au]

Into the Lion’s Den

Gratsu Weekend 2020 Prompt: Joke Pairing(s): Gray x Natsu, Lyon x Loke, Sting x Rogue, Gildarts & Loke, Natsu & Sting, Gray & Lyon, Rogue & Gray Rating: M A Collaboration by @mdelpin​ and @oryu404​

AO3 | FF.Net | Takes place after I Like You Too, Dumbass

June 12, 2021

Gray picked up his phone, surprised to see Natsu was calling him so early, “Hey, you’re on break already?”

“Nope, turns out I have the night off. A water pipe burst, and they had to close Fairy Tail down until it’s fixed. Uhm, Mira and Erza already took the kids somewhere, did you wanna maybe come over?”

Gray stared at the phone with a smile, thinking how cute Natsu sounded when he was unsure. He was about to say yes when he remembered he already had plans.

“I can’t, pain in the ass Loke was waiting for a night when both me and Sting were free to do his housewarming party, but you’re welcome to come with me if you want. You’ll know everyone, and I’m sure Loke would love for you to be there.”

There was silence on the other line, and Gray decided to push a little, “Live a little, how often do you get a night off?”

“To spend around drunk people?”

“Yeah, I’m not even gonna try to lie, you know they’re all getting plastered. Doesn’t mean it won’t be fun, though. Come on, if you hate it we can leave after an hour or so, I want to see you too.”

“Fine, but you’re driving,” Natsu demanded.

“You do realize Loke lives in this building now?” Gray pointed out.

Silence.

“Fine, I’ll come pick you up. I have to drop Aki off with my parents anyway,” he said, mostly for Lyon’s benefit. Not that it mattered, he was already laughing at him, swishing an imaginary whip in the air even as Gray flipped him off.

He hung up, turning on Lyon, “Keep it up, and I’ll just go out on a date and leave you to go to Loke’s alone.

“You wouldn’t do that, you already promised you’d go,” Lyon smirked.

“Every single one of you guys sucks,” Gray complained, grabbing his keys and wallet and going into his room to check that all of Aki’s things were packed.

“Too bad you’re dating someone who won’t,” Lyon called after him, and Gray could hear the ice moving around in his tumbler as he took a drink.

“That was rude! Starting early?”

“I’m spending an entire night at Loke’s place, what do you expect?” Lyon retorted, and although he sounded irritated, it was nowhere near his usual levels.

“Spending the night already?” Gray teased, getting a dig in while he could.

“What?! No!” Lyon protested, but Gray couldn’t help but notice that his face had changed colors at the implication, and he laughed.

“Interesting. You are much gayer than I ever gave you credit for.”

“Fuck you!”

“Sorry, taken.” Gray winked, going back into his room to grab the overnight bag and pick his sleeping child up in his arms. Now that Natsu was coming as his date to this stupid party, his night was definitely looking up.

Lyon had already opened the door for him, walking him to the elevator to help him with the buttons. “Come get me when you guys get here,” Lyon whispered, being mindful of Aki.

Gray nodded, waving as the elevator doors closed.

0-0

Gray could already smell the alcohol when Loke greeted them and let them in, although he didn’t show any signs of being tipsy yet. He did, however, pull Lyon into one of the most awkward hugs Gray had ever seen.

“It’s good to see you guys, glad you could make it!” Loke grinned, “Welcome to the lion’s den!”

He waved them inside, ignoring the way Lyon rolled his eyes, and Natsu let out a loud snort. Gray could only smile. As ridiculous as the name sounded, he could imagine Loke must be happy to have his own place now that all the shit he’d been through surrounding his marriage and divorce was in the past. And the place looked great, it had the same layout as Lyon’s apartment, but a different interior.

Sting, Rogue, and Gildarts were sitting on the sofas, already provided with drinks. They paused their conversation when they saw Gray, Natsu and Lyon come in, Sting’s face lighting up immediately when he noticed his best friend.

“Hey! I didn’t think we’d be seeing you tonight, aren’t you supposed to be at work?” he wondered.

“Nah, I got the night off cause of a burst pipe,” Natsu explained, looking around the room curiously, “Nice place you got here, Loke.”

“Thanks! Make yourselves at home, can I pour you a drink?”

“You know what?” Natsu remarked as he found a seat next to Sting, “That sounds awesome! It’s usually me who’s making the drinks, it’s nice to have it the other way around for once.”

“Don’t get used to it, I’ll give you the first round, but it’s all self-service after that.” Loke opened a cabinet, revealing a considerable collection of alcoholic beverages, all stored on the top shelves where his kids wouldn’t be able to reach. “Take your pick.”

“Anything is fine, uhm, how about a Rum and Coke?”

“Seriously?” Loke asked, looking disappointed but putting the drink together nonetheless, “You make all these amazing drinks, and that’s all you want?”

Natsu shrugged, “Just cause I make them doesn’t mean I want them, you’d be surprised how often I get the same lame jokes and come-ons from people using drink names. Bachelor and bachelorette parties are the worst!”

“Wait, what?!” Loke exclaimed, eyes glittering with interest, “What types of stuff do they ask for?”

“Well, one time I was at Crime Sorciere, Lyon’s ex asked Natsu for a Naked Lady,” Gray added helpfully, smirking at Lyon’s annoyed expression when he brought her up.

“That doesn’t sound that wild, Gray,” Rogue muttered.

“No, it was, she was like,” Gray imitated Juvia’s voice warming up to his performance once they started laughing, “Juvia would like a Naked Lady, unless you would like one instead.”

“That’s nothing, I’ve had people ask me for,” Natsu stopped to think for a minute, counting the drinks off on his fingers, “Red-headed Sluts, Cocksucking Cowboys, Creamy Pussies, Ass, Golden Showers-”

“There’s a drink that’s named Ass?” Sting burst out in laughter, “Now I’m curious, can you make it with what Loke has?”

“Come on, McDreamy,” Gildarts chuckled, “don’t tell me you’ve never tasted Ass before. Actually, on second thought, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know what the Half Pint gets up to in that department.”

“What makes you think it would have been Rogue?” Sting challenged, making Gray wonder how much he’d already had to drink.”

“Please! I’d bet 10 million jewel that you were each other’s firsts.”

The sheepish glance that passed between the two men was enough to send everyone else off into a fit of giggles.

“Well, it’s not like you have that kind of money anyway,” Sting grumbled.

“Who cares? There’s nothing wrong with that, Lisanna and I were each other’s firsts,” Natsu shrugged, coming to their defense. He sipped his drink calmly, receiving a beaming smile from Sting. “I think it’s romantic.”

“Fun fact,” Rogue smirked suggestively at the edge of his glass, “remember that double date we had in Edolas?”

Natsu squinted as he recalled the event, flashing a wide grin at Sting when he put two and two together. “Really?! Did my advice motivate you that much?”

Sting didn’t respond, only offered his fist so Natsu could bump it.

“And today, on ‘Too Much Information’... “Gray sighed, regretting opening his mouth the second he noticed the mischief in his brother’s eyes.

“I still remember the exact date, it was on your birthday.” Rogue had trouble holding back his laughter.

“Well, at least someone had fun that day,” Gray shrugged in response, sitting next to Natsu and grabbing his hand. “Just tell me it wasn’t on my bed.”

“Yes, Gray, I totally brought your bed over to Edolas.”

“Hey, it’s a comfy bed,” Gray grinned, giving his brother a wink.

“Oh, we know!” Sting retorted, waggling his eyebrows at Gray, “I stayed in your room for months.”

Okay, that bothered him a teensy bit more. “Don’t look at me like that, you look idiotic,” Gray groused.

“Well, this is fun and all, but I get the feeling those two are going to have the least amount of dirt, so why don’t we make things more interesting? We could play a game?” Loke suggested, taking a few bottles of liquor out of the cabinet and placing them on the counter.

His suggestion was received by groans, “A game, really? What are we fourteen?” Lyon asked, frowning as Loke sat down next to him and put his arm around his shoulders.

“A game could be fun,” Gildarts agreed, “You got any shot glasses?”

“I bought some of those plastic ones,” Loke got up and looked through some shopping bags that were on the kitchen counter, returning with a package of red plastic shot glasses and some snacks to replenish the ones that had already been devoured.

Gray could feel Natsu squeezing his hand tightly and turned to see that he looked irritated. “It might not be so bad,” he mouthed. Natsu rolled his eyes in response but loosened his grip.

“Hey, Natsu, can you mix up some shots with this stuff?” Gildarts asked, flashing one of his brilliant smiles, and Gray could only hide his laugh, knowing full well that Natsu couldn’t say no to him.

“Whatever, I got paid for the night, so I might as well work.” He got up and looked at the contents of the liquor cabinet, pulling out bottle after bottle and placing them on the counter with the ones Loke had already set out.

Gray could see they were about to get screwed by the wicked gleam in his boyfriend’s eyes. Natsu had the uncanny ability to make amazingly strong drinks that tasted just like any other, if he wanted to he could make you incredibly drunk in only two drinks, Gray was terrified to think of what he could do with shots. Seeing as he didn’t particularly want to be there, Gray could see him knocking them all out in a few rounds.

“Oh!” Sting bounced on the sofa, “Can you do one of those shots that you set on fire? I’ve always wanted to try one of those!”

“No!” Loke, Gray, and Lyon all yelled out, “No fire!”

“Why do I get the feeling that went horribly wrong one time?” Rogue quipped, laughing at the three men’s expressions.

“Alright, what type of game are you going to play, one where everyone drinks or one with a punishment shot?” Natsu peered at Loke, waiting for a response.

“You’re playing too, aren’t you?” Sting asked.

“I don’t really drink all that much,” Natsu replied, relenting when he saw the disappointment on everyone’s faces, “but I guess I could play a few rounds.”

“Alright, let’s play ‘Never have I ever,’ “Loke suggested, “I assume everyone knows how to play?”

Sting looked confused, and before anyone could explain, Rogue spoke up.

“Never have I ever had a drink called Ass,” Rogue explained, “If you have, you drink. If you haven’t, you don’t. It’s pretty simple.”

Sting nodded his understanding, and no one objected to the idea.

“One where everyone drinks then,” Natsu muttered, starting to mix up shots. He soon placed a small cup in front of everyone and moved the bottles to the coffee table so he could refill them easily.

“Who’s going to start?” Gildarts glanced at the other men expectantly.

“I suppose Loke should, it’s his party after all,” Lyon suggested, and the others agreed.

“Hmm, let’s see, never have I ever had sex in a public place,” Loke grinned, looking quite proud of himself as he waited to see who drank and who didn’t.

“Wait,” Rogue objected, hesitating to bring his cup to his lips, “let’s make sure we’re all on the same page when it comes to the definition of sex for the sake of this game.”

Gildarts shrugged and drank anyway, before Loke established, “Anything and everything that has the intention of getting yourself or someone else off.” With delight, he looked on as everyone took their shots, joining them because he didn’t want to fall behind. “I want to hear stories later,” he giggled. “Damn Dragneel, you trying to kill us?”

“If I was trying to kill you, I would have mixed you a different one,” Natsu snarked as he refilled the cups, “Who’s next?”

“Never have I ever asked Lyon for divorce advice,” Lyon smirked.

“Booring,” Gildarts cried out.

“I don’t know, I got exactly who I wanted,” Lyon grinned, watching Gray, Loke, Gildarts, and Rogue drink.

“Rogue? Something I should know?” Sting looked like a kicked puppy, making Rogue glare at Lyon.

“You did that on purpose!” Rogue accused even as he hurried to explain, “I was asking him about Gray’s stuff.”

Gray started to laugh at Gildarts, “You’re not even married yet!”

“Never too early to learn about your options,” Gildarts winked, “I also was asking about yours, though. Targeting is deserving of some punishment, I think. Let’s see,” he spoke ever so innocently, stroking his chin.” Never have I ever had homosexual thoughts about someone in this room.”

Everyone groaned as they grabbed their small cups, but Gildarts seemed to only be interested in Lyon’s response. When a minute had passed, and Lyon made no move to drink, Gray spoke up sweetly, “Hey Natsu, can you make Lyon another shot?”

Rogue began to giggle as Sting looked around in confusion. “What’s going on?”

“If you get caught in a lie, you have to have an extra shot,” Gray explained, still engaging in a staring contest with his roommate.

“I fucking hate you,” Lyon spat before taking both shots and refusing to comment on all the badgering he received about the subject of said thoughts.

Natsu provided more refills, and they waited for Rogue to take his turn.

“Never have I ever had someone walk in when I was performing sexual acts on someone else-” he winked at Lyon before turning to Sting with a smug grin and adding, “or myself.”

“Never have I ever learned how to knock!” Sting snapped, his cheeks flushing with humiliation.

Lyon stared at Gray in disbelief, “I thought you promised never to say anything about that!”

“He didn’t,” Rogue assured him, “Juvia did.”

Rogue had managed to get Gildarts, Lyon, Loke, Sting, and Natsu, leaving him looking quite pleased with himself.

“Okay, my turn,” Sting called excitedly, and it was obvious from the way he gave Rogue the side-eye that he was coming after him in retaliation. “Never have I never lied to make a move on someone!” He cast a look of judgment at his husband.

Gildarts and Loke raised their cups at each other in mutual understanding before downing their shots, while Lyon snickered and made sure that Gray was drinking his.

“You make it sound terrible, it was just a white lie,” Rogue rolled his eyes and drank, blinking slowly as he was hit by the effects of Natsu’s devastating mix.

“Alright, Natsu, you’re off mixing duty. At this rate, we’ll all pass out by the end of the second round,” Loke complained, “Besides, Gildarts and I made a drink earlier, and it should be chilled enough by now.”

Loke went into his kitchen with Gildarts following after him. Gray could hear the two of them laughing about something but paid them no mind. Now that Natsu wasn’t playing bartender, he had nudged him onto his lap and was busy kissing him.

Natsu returned it, parting his lips for more. They’d finally started getting a little bit physical in the last few weeks, and for Gray, it beat any high he’d ever experienced. He knew enough to take it easy, Natsu was still getting used to dating a guy, and Gray didn’t want to scare him away. As far as he was concerned, they had all the time in the world. He kept kissing until he became aware of someone clearing their throat.

“You guys done?” Loke raised an eyebrow, although he was also smiling.

“Nope,” Gray replied, hugging Natsu to his chest and letting go, “Now I am.”

Loke rolled his eyes and muttered “honeymoon period,” under his breath. Gildarts trailed after him setting cups on the table that Loke then filled from the pitcher he was holding.

“What’s so special about this drink?” Lyon grabbed the cup and sniffed it before setting it down, “It better not have something gross in it like a worm or something.”

“It’s not tequila, Lyon,” Loke mocked, “It’s actually called Screaming Orgasm, oh I should have asked, is anyone here lactose intolerant? No? Good.”

Gray could tell Loke was up to something, but he wasn’t sure what, “What’s in it?”

“It’s like you guys don’t trust me, I’m hurt. I told you, Gildarts helped me make it.”

“Yeah, that actually makes me trust it less.”

“Here,” Gildarts poured some in his cup and drank it, “Satisfied, you big baby?”

Gray still had some misgivings, but he kept them to himself. The game continued, and it was now his turn. He tried to think of something that was likely to get everyone.

“Never have I ever been hit on while at work,” Gray poked Natsu playfully, teasing, “Given how often it happens to you, you might want to drink twice, love.”

“In that case, you should probably drink too,” Natsu suggested with a knowing smile.

Gray raised his glass in mock salute and took a drink.

Everyone grabbed their cups full of Loke’s drink and sipped it.

“This is pretty good,” Sting commented, causing Loke and Gildarts to giggle. “I still don’t get this game, is the person who asks supposed to have done the thing or not?” his voice was becoming more slurred with every drink.

“I don’t think it really matters, the goal is to get drunk after all,” Loke pointed out.

“Well, if you’re caught in a lie, you’re meant to take two shots, I think that should apply to the askers too,” Lyon declared.

“Alright, Natsu, you’re up, make it a good one,” Loke encouraged.

Natsu giggled into Gray’s chest, “Uhm, what should I ask?”

Gray shrugged. holding him close and feeling the warmth of his body against his, “Anything you want.”

“Uhm, never have I ever gone to college,” Natsu laughed as he realized he’d just managed to get everyone while still telling the truth.

Everyone groaned but took another drink, and Natsu joined them, agreeing with Sting that the drink tasted good.

“You two are sugar freaks,” Loke shook his head, noticing the growing pile of cupcake and candy wrappers in front of them.

“Okay, my turn,” Loke announced, rubbing his hands together in glee while avoiding looking at Gildarts. “Never have I ever swallowed another guy’s cum.”

Sting, Gray, Rogue, and Gildarts all rolled their eyes at Loke’s infantile antics but drank anyway. Loke, however, wasn’t focused on any of them. His eyes were set on Lyon, who met his eyes with a shrug.

“Well, now you have,” Loke’s laughter rang loud in the otherwise silent room as he dropped a book on the coffee table.

Semenology - The Semen Bartender’s Handbook

“Your faces, oh my god, I want to take a picture,” Gildarts managed through his guffaws.

“The fuck?” Gray got up from his seat and grabbed the book, skimming it quickly.

It took him a moment to think about Natsu. He looked back to the sofa, taking in the way his boyfriend was curled in on himself. Natsu’s eyes were open wide, and while he didn’t precisely look disgusted, he certainly didn’t look pleased either. Gray was furious, especially when he realized Lyon didn’t look much better.

“I call bluff,” Rogue slurred and swayed a little as he grabbed the pitcher for closer inspection, “there’s no cum in this.”

Gildarts quickly came up next to him to sit him back down on the sofa before he lost his balance. “Don’t spill it, there’s top brand liquor in there,” he scolded, putting the pitcher safely back on the table. “No more for you.”

“Is he right, though?” Lyon wondered, begrudgingly trying to focus on the taste in his mouth to determine if it was off in any way.

“Of course he is!” Sting stated confidently, “There’s no way you would’ve mixed your juices in there…” His confidence faltered as he looked back and forth between Loke and Gildarts. “Right?”

“Nah, we were just fucking with you, there’s no spunk in the drink. Loke found the book at some yard sale, and we thought it would make for a funny prank.”

“Well, it was in terrible taste,” Lyon pointed out, snickering when he realized what he’d said.

“Juices?!” Rogue made fun of his husband, “I swear to God I better never hear you saying those words ever again.”

“There are a lot worse ways to say cum,” Sting shrugged, ready to name a few, but Rogue was quick to pounce on him, starting a wrestling match as he tried to stop Sting from yelling obscenities by clapping a hand over his mouth.

“Seriously, have none of you ever heard of the phrase ‘get a room’?” Lyon rolled his eyes. He glanced at Loke, “Well, at least you haven’t completely fallen out of grace...Yet.”

“I’m sorry, guys,” Loke murmured, directing his apologies to Lyon, and to Natsu specifically. He must’ve noticed his less than enthused reaction as well, and looked genuinely regretful. “When we planned this, I didn’t realize you were coming, and you seemed okay with all the other stuff, so I didn’t think you’d be upset.”

Gray was about to add his opinion when Natsu squeezed his arm, “It’s fine, apology accepted. I’ve actually heard of this book, had an older guy request some drink from it once, to which I replied fuck no. Apparently, age is a factor in the taste.”

“Age of the drink? Or the uh…supplier,” Sting wondered, dreading the answer no matter what it was going to be.

“Supplier. That’s why he asked me instead of doing it himself,” Natsu grabbed the book off the table, skimming through it until he came to the appropriate page and showing it to Sting, who cringed and began flipping pages warily.

“I don’t know if I should be impressed by...whoever the fuck thought all this shit up, or just plain disgusted. But this gives a whole new meaning to the word cocktail.”

Natsu laughed and relaxed again, but Gray knew that despite the way he had acted in front of the others, he was feeling uncomfortable. He hadn’t exactly been looking forward to coming to Loke’s party in the first place, and honestly, neither had Gray. He’d much rather have spent tonight with just the two of them, the ill-advised prank had only reinforced that thought.

“Oh please,” Loke scoffed at Sting, showing his usual mischievous demeanor again. “Don’t tell me you’re not at least a little bit curious as to how it tastes!”

Sting considered it for a moment, chewing at his bottom lip. “Nah, I’m pretty sure those flavors don’t go together.”

“You don’t know that if you don’t try,” Loke challenged, filling another cup with the liquor from the pitcher, raising an eyebrow as he offered it to Sting.

“Why don’t you try it?” Rogue narrowed his eyes at Loke, saving Sting from the potential peer pressure, “It’s your party, your book, and it was your prank.”

Everyone awaited Loke’s response expectantly. Gildarts was practically on the edge of his seat, eyes twinkling with merriment as he watched the situation unfold. Lyon was pressing his lips together to hide a smirk of satisfaction, Sting was holding his breath, stuck between Rogue and Loke’s staredown.

“Fine,” Loke offered a bitter smile, refusing to back down, “be right back,” and he disappeared into the bathroom under the sound of Gildarts’ hysterical laughter.

“Man, did that backfire on him!” he wheezed, slapping his knee in enjoyment. “Nice save, Half Pint! McDreamy owes you a special thank you later!”

Rogue was already flushed from the alcohol intake but turned a shade darker, yelling something about inappropriate comments and family connections to Gildarts, but Gray tuned it out.

This was his cue to leave, he wasn’t about to stick around for more embarrassing conversations and watching Loke drink the cursed mix of liquor and his own bodily fluids, and he doubted that Natsu would want to stay any longer than he already had.

“Oh look, it’s bail ‘o clock,” he quipped, getting up and pulling Natsu along with him as he looked at his wrist. “We really should go.”

Natsu smiled at him gratefully, lacing their fingers together and waving at their friends, “Night guys, get home safely!”

Gray looked at Lyon, raising his eyebrows in question, wanting to know if he was coming or not. Lyon made himself comfortable on the sofa, with his arms and legs crossed. It was clear that he’d be staying a little longer.

“I’ll see you later, there’s no way I’m missing this.” The grin on his face told Gray that he was never going to let Loke live this down.

0-0

“Shall I call you a cab?” Gray asked as they waited for the elevator, “Someone made the drinks too strong, so I can’t drive you home.” He grabbed his phone and noticed the time, it was still early, and he didn’t like the idea of being all by himself in Lyon’s apartment, so he added, “Or we can hang out at my place for a while before you go?”

Once he’d spoken the words, he realized how it must’ve sounded after all the drinking and the sex-related topics, not to mention they’d be having the apartment all to themselves. No kids, no Erza or Lyon. He wanted to set the record straight, tell Natsu that his intentions weren’t anything like that, but to his surprise, Natsu agreed.

“Sure, I wouldn’t have been home yet if I’d been working anyway. And I did call to ask if you wanted to hang out earlier.”

“Right.”

The elevator arrived, and they got in. Gray pressed the button to the correct floor, trying to keep his thoughts from straying in the wrong direction. “Crazy night, huh?” he chuckled, wanting to break the silence between them, “how many cupcakes did you end up eating?”

“Hey, those were good!” Natsu defended himself.

“Really? I wouldn’t know, you and Sting claimed them all.”

Natsu smirked, “You snooze, you lose.”

They arrived at the apartment, stepping into the dark hallway after Gray had overcome his nervous struggle with the keys. He flicked on the lights and took off his shoes, moving out of the way so Natsu could do the same.

“Hey, do you mind if I use the restroom?” Natsu called out from behind him, still taking off his shoes.

“You know where it is,” Gray shrugged, walking into the living room and sitting on the sofa as he waited for Natsu to return.

His thoughts were inevitably moving to how he was going to handle this situation without fucking things up between them. Should they watch TV? That was kind of lame, considering they seldom got to spend any kind of time alone together, but then again, they’d talked about going slow. He could feel his brow furrowing as his thoughts continued to fight between what he would like and what he should do.

“You know if you keep making that face, it might stay that way,” Natsu grinned, plopping himself on the sofa next to him and grabbing his hand.

“Did you manage to have any fun at that party?” Gray wondered, “That was low even for Loke.”

“I did,” Natsu murmured, “I especially liked this part.”

Natsu climbed on Gray’s lap sitting as he had before, and Gray put his arms around him slowly, but unlike at the party, his body was tense.

He could hear Natsu laughing softly, “Hey, moron, stop that.”

Gray turned towards him, wanting to explain himself, but Natsu put a finger on his lips. “I know I’m not ready for a lot, but I like where we are, and if you do something I’m not ready for, I’ll tell you, alright?”

Gray nodded his approval, and he soon felt the soft brush of Natsu’s lips against his. He relaxed, returning the touch until once again, they were immersed in a world of soft sighs and caresses.

It probably wouldn’t be long before Lyon would return and interrupt their moment of bliss, and with Natsu’s words on his mind, Gray wanted to make sure they enjoyed it to the fullest while it lasted.

A/N: In case you were wondering, that book actually exists. We've skimmed it, unfortunately, because we now possess knowledge we cannot unlearn. But hey, to each their own, if you find your alcoholic beverages lacking in protein, it's a natural and somewhat easily accessible option.

[gothpanda]

A Little Bit of Attitude Ch. 12: Groupie

WORD COUNT: 6.4K

A/N: I have no idea how long I’m making this fic

WARNINGS: Domestic assault

Read On Ao3

Previous/Next

SEPTEMBER 1st, 1983

Four months went fast for everyone, right as the new season fell onto everyone. The mall was almost a ghost town due to kids of all ages back at school. Tommy and Vince walked through the mall, each sipping on a soda from the food court. It was a crazy past four months for Motley Crue with finally reaching complete rockstar status. Sadly, making an album on the other side of the country also meant missing out on certain things.

“So T-Bone, what’s been up with Sammi? She’s been super busy the whole time we’ve been gone?” Vince asked, throwing away his empty cup.

“You haven’t talked to her yourself?” Tommy says to Vince, chewing on the red straw with scrunched eyebrows. Vince only shook his head, giving an exaggerated frown. “I mean she started school a week ago, I think, but all of summer she was just working. Athena would take her out sometimes,” said Tommy.

Vince pressed his lips firmly together, shoving his hands in his jean jacket pockets. Walking to Contempo was filled with dread for Vince, not knowing how Sammi was going to react to seeing him since coming home. It was dead silence coming from Sammi, only making Vince think multiple thoughts run in his head.  “I wouldn’t worry about it, Vince. Pretty sure when she sees you, she’ll be happy.” Tommy said, patting Vince on the back. Vince only mustered up a small smile, feeling nerves kick in.

As the duo walked the doorway of the popular store, Vince first noticed Amanda in the front with her back to them. Thankfully with Tommy to his left, he was able to keep his head low and hide next to his tall friend. Tommy quickly noticed Sammi in the very back of the store, hanging up dresses on the sales rack. He grabbed a random red short dress from a rack, picking up the pace on his steps.

“Hello Miss, do you happen to have this in a size 0? I need a dress for a party,” Tommy said, holding up the dress up to him. Sammi slowly turned around, a smile growing as she withheld a laugh. She looked up and down, cracking a chuckle. “No sorry, we don’t have a size 0. That dress isn’t for you anyways,” Sammi said, smiling big at her brother. Sammi wrapped her arms around Tommy’s waist, a bit tighter than usual. Tommy tucked Sammi’s head under his chin, petting her hair. Pulling away, Sammi caught a quick glimpse of Vince behind Tommy.

“Hi, Vince…” Sammi said with a straight face

“Hey, Sam,” Vince said looking at the ground beneath him.

Tommy looked between them, being able to notice the coldness from his sister. “I’m really happy to see you finally, Tommy. It’s been boring without you,” Sammi said

“You mean me and the guys, right?” Tommy said, walking to Vince as he swung an arm around his shorter friend. Sammi gives a repressed smile, “Yeah it was boring without all of you,” Sammi said looking straight in the eye. Vince slightly opened his mouth before closing it fast from the sight of a blonde come behind Sammi.

“Well, what a lovely surprise seeing you two back. Hey Vince,” Amanda said, smirking at the boys. Sammi bit her lip, looking away from everyone around her. Vince stiffened in his stance, clearing his throat glancing at Sammi’s discomfort. “Hey…” Vince mumbled.

“Hi Amanda, we just came to see my sister,” Tommy said holding onto Vince a bit tighter. Amanda nodded slowly, turning to look at Sammi. “Isn’t that nice, but she’s working so maybe you two should go. Wouldn’t want our manager getting mad,” Amanda said with a smile that made Tommy and Vince begin to feel uncomfortable. Sammi stepped in front of Amanda, arms crossed with a slouch. “I was actually gonna go on my lunch break before they came, Amanda,” Sammi said, forcing a smile.

“Alright then. Enjoy your lunch with these two.” Amanda said pursing her lips and walking away from the trio.

“I’m just gonna go get my bag and I’ll be right back.” Sammi said quietly, walking past Tommy and Vince. When she wasn’t within eyeshot of the boys, Tommy faced Vince, holding onto his shoulders.

“What the fuck was that?” Tommy whispered.

Vince kept his lips shut firmly tight, shrugging his shoulder “I was clueless the whole time,”

Tommy wrinkled his eyebrows, “You were being clueless or acting clueless?”

“I seriously have no idea what was going on with those two I swear,” Vince said holding his hands up in mercy. Tommy let his arms fall to his side with a huff. “M’kay, Vince,”

*

“So Sam, how’ve you been?” Vince asked, grabbing a fry from the shared basket in the middle of the small square table. Sammi pushed around the salad in front of her, keeping her head down but shot a glance up at Vince. Vince could feel his palms become clammy instantly, looking away from the brunette. “I’ve been good. Just working. Being a decent adult,” Sammi says coldly, taking a bit of her food. Tommy sat in between the two, stuffing a cheeseburger in his mouth hoping to have a nice lunch.

Sammi flipped her hair to one side, turning her attention to Tommy. “Anyway, what’s the latest status on your album?” Sammi asks, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. Tommy quickly cleaned his mouth, “It’s gonna be out on the 26th! It sounds sick, Sammi! Nikki did awesome writing the songs. And of course, Vince singing them,” Tommy put a hand on Vince's shoulder, shaking him up a bit.

“That sounds awesome then. Proud you all were able to get it done in New York.” Sammi said sweetly.

“Actually the reason why me and Vince came down here was because we have a music video to shoot,” Tommy said with a proud grin. Sammi’s eyes became wide, looking back at her brother and Vince. “Oookay, and what does that have to do with me?”

“Could you please take Mama and Dad tomorrow to the shoot,” Tommy asked, grinning wide hoping for the best.

Sammi rolled her eyes, “Tommy I’m busy,”

“With what?! You don’t even know what time it’s at!” Tommy said, raising his voice.

“What time is it at?”

“We’re gonna start at 10. It’s gonna be an all-day thing,” Vince said, leaning back in his chair. Sammi looked over at Vince, “I’m still busy,”

Tommy hung his head with a huff, slouching into his seat.  “You seriously can’t skip a class or switch at work or what the hell that’s making you busy?”

“Tommy I don’t want to go to your fucking video shoot. You have another sister you can ask,” Sammi said getting up from her seat as she grabbed her trash. Walking back, Sammi swung her jean jacket on and her cross-body purse onto one shoulder. She looked down at Vince and Tommy, both giving big puppy dog eyes.

“I already asked Athena and she said she really couldn’t. Please Sammi?” Tommy asks softly.

Sammi pursed her lips outwards, thinking for a moment. “You do know other people have normal lives right? Like having a 9 to 5. And not doing stupid shit out of a whim,” Sammi said looking at Vince. Tommy nodded. Vince shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he looked away from everyone.

“In that case, you know our dad has an actual job. I’m not taking Mama and Dad to your fucking video shoot,” Sammi said, grabbing her soda from the table and leaving the guys in the middle of the food court.

Tommy huffs, running a hand through his hair. He turns to Vince, “You fucking sure you’re clueless?”

*

In a small dimly lit bedroom, Sammi sat at her wooden desk with a book in front of her. She mumbled quietly as she read, taking a moment to then write down notes in her notebook next to her. She was in full concentration mode until a knock on her door interrupted her flow. Sammi huffed in annoyance, closing her eyes, “Come in,” she said loud enough.

Britney slowly opened the door, peeking her head behind it. “Hey, Sammi are you hungry?” Sammi turned in her seat, smiling at her friend. She scratched her eyebrow, thinking for a moment. “If you say no I’m going to assume you’re lying,” Britney said with a smile. Sammi gave a chuckle, finally walking over “You’re right I am hungry. Did you make anything?”

Britney nodded gleefully. “Chicken alfredo with mushrooms and spinach! One of your favorites. Come on,” said Britney, grabbing Sammi by the arm, bringing her out of her room for once since the afternoon. Down into the kitchen, Sammi was hit with the aroma of garlic and chicken only to make her more hungry. Sammi was lucky to have a roommate who liked to cook extravagant meals without ever being asked. Britney could be silent as a mouse while all of a sudden she presents a ten-course meal. Sammi sat down on the table, taking a piece of garlic bread from the basket in front of her. Britney placed a full plate down in front of Sammi and another for herself.

“Amanda isn’t gonna eat with us?” Sammi asked, twirling the noodles with her fork.

“She said she had a date tonight. Either way, I doubt she’d want to eat this,” Britney said, taking a bit of her food.

“But speaking of Amanda, she told me you got some visitors at work,” Britney said, glancing up at Sammi. Sammi only looked at her food with a frown on her face. “What was up with that?”

“Tommy wanted me to take our parents to their music video shoot tomorrow. And I boldly said no. Vince was quiet the whole time,” Sammi says looking up at Britney.

Britney gave a sympathetic smile, “Don’t be distant with Tommy, Sammi. You were completely fine talking to him while he was away,”

“I’m not! I have work. My dad has work which Tommy didn’t freaking consider,” Sammi said in a taut voice. “It’s just a little inconvenient and sometimes we all can’t cater to Motley Crue,” Sammi says with a shrug and a pout of sarcasm. Sammi shook her head, returning to the plate of food. Silence came between the two girls as they almost finished their food, Britney thinking on her words. Out of nowhere, the shiny white wall phone began to ring in the living room. Sammi took a look, getting up from her seat as she walked to the front of the condo.

“Hello,” Sammi answered.

“Hello, my lovebug!” Mrs. Bass responded on the other line.

Sammi sat on the arm of the sofa, “Oh hey, Mama. What’s going on?”

“I wanted to call to tell you we’re all going to Tommy’s music video tomorrow!” Mrs. Bass said with enthusiasm.

Sammi's eyes widened as she mentally cursed to herself, “What do you mean we’re going to Tommy’s video shoot? Doesn’t dad have work?” Sammi said, scratching the back of her head.

“He was able to take off for the day. Tommy said we have to be there by 1. We’ll pick you up at 12,” Mrs. Bass said, not seeming to negotiate about whether or not Sammi could get out of this one. Sammi huffed, closing her eyes as she tapped her fingers against the arm of the sofa.

“But Mama I have worked at that time. I can’t switch,” Sammi said with annoyance.

“Samantha, you’ve always been able to work things out at your job. You know you are able to come. It’s good to be present for your brother’s achievements.” Mrs. Bass said, making Sammi roll her eyes in dread.

“Okay Mama, you’re right. I’ll be ready when you guys get here,” Sammi said.

“Wonderful! See you tomorrow, my lovebug,” the line went dead, having Sammi shut the phone back onto the wall. She leaned her head against the wall, lightly tapping her head against it.

“Guess who’s going to see Vince and Nikki against her will!” Sammi yelled sarcastically, sitting back down. “I doubt anything could go wrong. They are gonna have to be professionals for once in their lives,” Britney said, taking the last bite of her food.

“You know what Britney, I hope to god you are right,” said Sammi.

*

SEPTEMBER 2nd 1983

The video set was right in the middle of Hollywood, something no one from the Bass family thought was the case. Mr. Bass spent 15 minutes trying to find the building and an extra 15 on parking alone. Sammi slumped in the backseat of the station wagon, crossing her arms as she looked at the passing building. When Sammi’s dad began to park the car, her habit kicked up again from her nerves. She began biting the brittle nail of her thumb painted purple, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Everything felt like slow motion to Sammi. Getting out of the car into the beige concrete parking lot. Walking toward the black windowless building, then suddenly fast motion when Sammi saw Doc and Tommy walk up to them.

“Mama and Dad! So happy you guys can make it!” Tommy said gleefully, hugging his parents as they both eye their sons' outfits. The red, black, and silver was the first thing they were able to see from Tommy’s outfit. Mr. Bass eyed Tommy’s studded leather pants while also noticing the lipstick and eyeliner his son was wearing. Mrs. Bass tried her hardest not to laugh at Tommy, only remaining silent with a smile by the look of happiness on her son's face. Sammi kept her arms crossed with a blank stare.

“I want you to first meet our manager, Doc! He’s the guy that helped Athena and Sammi come to Portland with us last year!” Tommy said, patting Doc on the back.

“Hello, lovely to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Bass. Also lovely to see you again, Sammi,” Doc said with a polite smile and a nod to the Bass clan. Sammi gave a pressed lip smile while her parents were oblivious to the discomfort from Sammi. “Right now we just got on break so Tommy will be able to show you around,”

“Also I have to introduce you two to the guys! Nikki is the brain behind the video!” Tommy said, slightly jumping on the balls of his feet.

“Well, that’s wonderful, Tom. We’re very proud you finally got to your dream,” Mr. Bass said, patting Tommy on his arm showing true love for his son.

“Tommy, how about you take your parents to the set and I have a word with Sammi,” Doc said, looking at Sammi with a smirk most businessmen had. Sammi raised an eyebrow at Doc, “What the hell? Why me?”

“Samantha language,” Mr. Bass said. Sammi glanced at her dad then back at Doc with scrunched eyebrows. Doc nodded to Sammi, “Come with me to find, Nikki.”

Sammi slowly followed Doc through a white hallway aligned with dressing room doors and set techs walking up and down.

“So Sammi, I wanted to talk to you about a job offer,” Doc said, looking at Sammi.

Once again, Sammi raised an eyebrow to Doc, “I already have a job. I’m perfectly fine,”

“Well what about a job that doesn’t involve standing in a store all day long dealing with rude people,” Doc said stopping in front of a white door. Behind it, Sammi was able to hear light moans coming from a girl. In her head she prayed hoping it wasn’t a repeat of May.

“I need an assistant in January when we tour with Ozzy. From what the guys say, you're highly responsible which is great for dealing with them,” said Doc.

“Then the guys must’ve also told you, I’m in college. No offense but I rather deal with rude people than them,” Sammi said flipping her hair. Doc huffed with a nod, “Very well then,” said Doc, knocking on the door once the moans had stopped.

“Hey, Sixx!” Doc said, knocking a bit harder “Tommy’s looking for you, wants to introduce you to his parents,”

Suddenly, the door opened fast to show a short brunette stumble out of balance. She had a tight red dress you would see at a club and overly teased hair. Almost everything she was wearing was red, making her look tacky in Sammi’s opinion. Sammi curled her upper lip at the young woman, “Who the fuck are you?”

The young woman narrowed her eyes at Sammi, pushing past her as she walked down the hall to the set. Doc only chuckled dryly, turning to see Nikki walkover to them. “Well hello, Sammi. Ain’t this a lovely surprise,” Nikki slurred, wiping away anything from his nose with a smirk.

“Get cleaned up to meet Tommy and Sammi’s parents,” Doc said walking away from Nikki. Sammi switched glance between Doc and Nikki, “Was that your new girlfriend for the week?”

Nikki chuckled, “Wouldn’t you like to know, Princess.”  

Sammi rolled her eyes, “Whatever. Just look fucking decent for my parents,”

Sammi walked away from Nikki, following the sound of equipment being removed or fixed. Stepping onto the set, Sammi was in another world that almost seemed apocalyptic. The girls in the far corner near a chain-link fence resembled lionesses but still with theatrical makeup. Sammi scanned her eyes around the whole set until her eyes fell onto the only person wearing more white than black. Vince smiled sheepishly at Sammi remaining in his spot next to Mick. For a second, he almost began taking steps until he heard the echo of Tommy’s voice travel.

“We got pyrotechnics in the back of my set! And look,” Tommy says, grabbing a rock next to him. He tried his hardest to lift until lifting it with ease, “Fake rocks!”

Sammi walked over to her family, still feeling the pair of eyes burning on her skin. Mr. and Mrs. Bass smiled at the beauty of seeing their two children together. From the corner of the set, Nikki and Doc walked out together while the young woman stayed in the corner.

“Oh, here he is! Meet the Sixxter!” Tommy announced clapping hands with Nikki. Sammi stood in the middle of the tall men, crossing her arms with a blank stare.

“Nice to meet you, Nikki.” Mr. Bass says shaking Nikki’s hand.

“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you,” Mrs. Bass says, going up to hug Nikki. It was foreign for Nikki to hug someone. Sammi could immediately tell the discomfort on Nikki’s face.

“Hey Nikki maybe we can invite your family to the next L.A gig,” said Doc, tapping Nikki on the chest.

“Great idea, Doc,” Nikki said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Babe come here,” Tommy said, motioning the young woman to join the group. Sammi turned around, seeing the woman strut forward while also seeing Nikki's discomfort grow. Sammi scrunched her eyebrows at Nikki, right as Tommy wrapped his arm around the woman’s shoulders.

“Mom, Dad, Sammi, this is Roxie! My fiancee!” Tommy said, having his smile grow bigger than it has all day. “Nice to meet everyone,” Roxie said, extending her hand out for someone to grab it. Sammi's eyes widened, looking at her parents' shock as Nikki matched her expression. His eyes went wide, rapidly looking everywhere that wasn’t a Bass family member. Mr. and Mrs. Bass looked could see the concern on both their faces, unable to use their voices for a moment.

“What’s the rush, Tom? Marriage is- is something serious,” Mr. Bass said, stuffing his hands in his blazer pockets.

“Yeah, I know! Look at you guys! You asked mama to marry you the day you met her and she didn’t even know a word of English! That’s what I want too!” Tommy said happily. Before anyone asked any further questions, Nikki quietly stepped back from everyone to disappear back in his dressing room. Sammi clenched her jaw as she saw Nikki walk away, squeezing the inside of her arm to calm her down.

“So, how did you and Tommy meet?” Mrs. Bass asked.

“Well, I was actually hanging out with this other band, but then I saw Tommy and I knew it was totally meant to be” Roxie said, smiling at Mrs. Bass. Sammi rolled her eyes all the way to the back of her head, sucking her teeth. She turned to see Vince and Mick talk in their own little world, beginning to wish she could join.

“Oh, I think I know the word for this! Let me think,” Mrs. Bass says, gently snapping her fingers as she mumbled words in Greek. Sammi quickly went back to the scene in front of her, her lips slowly parting open.

“Groupie! That’s the word! Is that what they call you?” Mrs. Bass says, a smirk growing on her face. Sammi gasped, covering her mouth to repress the loud laugh that wanted to come out. Sammi shifted her gaze between Roxie and Tommy, seeing the scowl the ‘groupie’ had toward her mom. “Is that the right word, Sammi?” Mrs. Bass asks, looking over Roxie to her daughter.

“Yeah, Mama. You’re 100 perfect correct. The word you’re looking for is groupie,” Sammi said looking up and down at Roxie, giggling at the situation. Roxie stormed off the set, leaving Tommy alone.

“Really?” Tommy asked Sammi and his mother with harshness in his voice.

“Dude you are not marrying that girl. Point blank,” Sammi says, turning on her heels aiming to the dressing rooms. Once she was out of sight from everyone, Sammi sped walked all the way to Nikki’s dressing room. She could feel her ear and cheeks get hot as the puzzle pieces were put together. She couldn’t remember a moment she was ever this angry

Sammi busts the door open, the wooden frame hitting the wall then slamming it shut. Nikki lifted his head up, sitting on the floor in front of three lines of coke. Sammi inhaled deeply, violently flipping the tray of white powder. Nikki shot up from the floor, eyes widening with anger to Sammi. “What the fuck, Sammi?!” Nikki shouted.

“Don’t ‘what the fuck’ me! You fucked my brother’s stupid fiancee!” Sammi yelled, shoving Nikki in the chest making him stumble into the black sofa.

“I didn’t do shit!” Nikki yelled as he tried to get up, only to be pushed by Sammi again.

“Doc and I fucking caught you two, you fucking dumbass!” Sammi shouted, “Oh wait, did you snort too much coke to remember the last 20 minutes?” Sammi said in a high pitched voice filled with sarcasm, closing one nostril. Nikki began grinding his teeth, shaking his leg as he looked up at Sammi.

Sammi lowered her torso to Nikki’s face with an icy stare that could give anyone the chills. “Some best fucking friend you are,” Sammi whispered, “And to think I actually thought you were nicer than everyone said,”

“I didn’t think he was that in love with the chick!” Nikki shouted at Sammi’s face.

“Bullshit. You already know how Tommy is with a girl. To fuck his girl right under his nose as Tommy doesn’t give a shit,”

Nikki looked down at his hands, rubbing them nervously. “So are you going to tell Tommy now or what? You already hate the bitch,” Nikki said, a tremble in his voice.

Sammi chuckled, “No, I’m going to wait to see how long you take to break his heart. I’m not telling him shit.” Sammi said standing up straight, looking down at Nikki.

“Sammi I’m fucking sorry,” Nikki said looking up at Sammi with glossy eyes.

“No, you’re not. Out of all the people you choose to fuck over, you picked my brother. Fuck you,” Sammi says, walking out of the room. She leans against the door, feeling her heartbeat out of her chest as she tried to calm her breathing. Sammi snapped out of her trance when she heard a voice down the hall. Pushing herself off the wall, Sammi followed the sound to find Vince and Tommy talking.

“Let’s just go out tomorrow night, Roxie can cool down with some drinks in her and forget everything,” Vince said, leaning against the wall. Tommy twirled a drumstick between his fingers, pacing back and forth. Sammi walked up right next to Vince, scrunching her eyebrows at her brother. Vince’s eyes glued on Sammi, tapping his fingers against his legs anxiously. He bit his lip, hoping for a good chance. Tommy soon saw Sammi in front of her, pointing his drumstick at her.

“You! Why the hell did you gang up on Roxie with Mama?” Tommy asked. Sammi grabbed Tommy’s drumstick, throwing it aimlessly behind him. Vince snickered under his breath while Tommy gasped.

“Because she’s a bitch, Tommy. You seriously couldn’t do any better?” Sammi asks, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall.

“No, she’s not! She’s a lovely girl! You don’t know her like I do,” Tommy shouted, mimicking Sammi. Sammi rolled her eyes, looking at Vince for any help in her problem.

“How about Sammi comes with us tomorrow,” said Vince, smirking at Sammi. Sammi glared at Vince. “Unless you’re avoiding us again?”

“Fine, if you say Roxie is a lovely person prove it!” Sammi said, flipping her hair. Tommy shocking his head, “Great! We’ll pick you up at 9.”

*

SEPTEMBER 3rd, 1983

8:40 rolled around for Sammi as she finished up ironing her long hair pin-straight in the upstairs hall bathroom. She ran her fingers through her hair, untangling any knots that formed and smoothing any flyaways down. Putting down the flat iron, Sammi inched closer to the mirror to check for any imperfections in her makeup. Her outfit wasn’t out there like Roxie’s might be, but tight white jeans with a red top fit perfectly.

Unplugging the hair tool, Sammi exited the restroom to walk past Amanda’s open bedroom door. Amanda craned her head to catch a glimpse at Sammi, frowning immediately. She jumped out of her bed, making a sharp turn into Sammi’s room.

“And where are you going?” Amanda asks, crossing her arms as she leaned against the door frame. Sammi paid no attention, only carefully debating on a type of shoe to complete her outfit.

Sammi grabbed black leather booties, walking to her bed “I’m gonna go out with Tommy and his new fiancee. Trying to be a nice sister,” Sammi said.

Amanda nodded, “Are Nikki and Vince going to be there?”

“Vince is going but it’s whatever,”

“Be careful,” said Amanda. Sammi stood up, reaching for her jacket that rested on the desk chair. “Remember what I told you, Sam.”

Sammi gave a forced smile, “how could I forget,” She put on her black jacket and grabbed the crossbody bag from the closet door handle.

“And do you like this fiancee of Tommy’s?” Amanda asked.

Sammi blew a raspberry, “No. She’s a fucking groupie, but I’m just going to try like I said,”

Right on cue, the doorbell rang echoed for Sammi. Sammi pushed past Amanda, walking downstairs to the front. Opening the door, Vince and Tommy stood outside with anticipation on their faces Tommy bounced on the balls of his feet while Vince kept his cool demeanor for Sammi. Sammi smiled at them, closing the door behind her.

She looked at the watch on her wrist, “Wow you guys got here on time. Impressive,”

Vince shrugged, “Just want to have peace and fun tonight,”

“Roxie’s waiting in the car. Come on, Sam” Tommy said, walking to where a dark blue four-door Cadillac parked horribly in front of Sammi’s place. Sammi didn't know where exactly this car had come from but knew to hold questions until the end. Vince held out his arm for Sammi like a gentleman, smirk still intact. Sammi only ignored Vince, walking straight to the Cadillac.

“Hey, Roxie,” Sammi said, sliding into the backseat of the car. Roxie turned slightly only giving a small, barely noticeable smile. “Hi.,” Roxie said, crossing her arms in the front seat looking out the window. Sammi only shook her head, turning to see Vince join in the back with her. He kept his distance as much as he could while also keeping his hands to himself. Sammi rested on the side of the door. She began to hope Vince’s words were correct.  

Tommy turned the keys to the ignition, “Let’s get the hell out of here!”

*

Just like a normal Saturday night in West Hollywood, the Sunset Strip was filled with nightlife down the whole strip. People could hear the muffled sounds of bands playing at different venues. The neon lights sign cast different colored glows on the street. The California air breezed through Sammi’s hair as the group walked up the street. Tommy and Roxie walked in front of the others, having his arm resting on Roxie’s neck. Sammi hugged her body as she only looked ahead of her, remaining silent. Vince kept giving side glances to Sammi as they walked closer to The Roxy, keeping his hand stuffed in his pockets.

The line for the club had roughly 10 people waiting, but not for Tommy and Vince. Tommy walked upright to the bouncer, getting access right away. Sammi scrunched her eyebrows together as the group walked up the short flight of stairs to the upstairs bar.

“We get treated like kings down here now, Sammi. Doesn’t it feel cool?” Vince whispered to Sammi.

“Great more things to add to your already big ass egos,” Sammi said coldly, sitting down on the bar top next to Roxie. Vince scuffed at Sammi’s remark, sitting down next to her facing his way to the brunette. Tommy grabbed the attention of the bartender, “Can I get a martini for the lady in black and a Budweiser?” The bartender nodded, looking at Sammi and Vince.

“Um… a whiskey sour and a single shot of whiskey,” Sammi said, taking off her jacket and crossing her legs.

“I’ll have the same as the Queen,” Vince said smiling politely at the bartender.

“You drink whiskey?” Roxie asked Sammi, fluffing her hair.

“Yeah, why?” Sammi asked, leaning back in the seat with crossed arms.

“Ladies don’t drink whiskey. That’s only for the men,” said Roxie, glaring at Sammi with an evil smirk. Sammi narrowed her eyes to Roxie, licking the corner of her lip. Tommy shot a look at Vince with wide eyes, praising the bartender for returning with their drinks.

“Can I get a shot too, my dude?” Tommy asked the bartender, getting exactly what he wished for.  Vince grabbed his small shot, raising it up to Sammi. Sammi looked at him for a moment, contemplating any of her actions.

“Cheers,” Sammi mumbled, clanking the glasses together and swinging the alcohol back.

“Me and Roxie are gonna go check out who’s on stage!” Tommy said, taking a hold of Roxie’s hand. Vince gave a nod in response, giving his full attention to Sammi. She looked away from Vince, eyes traveling to any part of the bar that hasn’t to her left. She sipped on her drink then looked at her nails for a moment. The tension was building up with no one thinking on how to end it. No one was having the balls to say a word to one another.

“Are you just gonna continue to ignore me until you stop feeling like it?” Vince asked, bending the thin straw between his fingers.

Sammi looked at Vince with scrunched eyebrows, “I think if I were to ignore you, I wouldn’t have come at all,”

Vince scuffed, “You only came for Tommy. If I asked you to come out tonight, you would’ve said no,”

Sammi scratched her head, “Guess you’re right about that,” she mumbled. Silence came back quickly again, Sammi asking for another drink. Vince chugging the rest of his like a shot, motioning for another one as well.

“You know I always worry about you right” Vince asked, gently tapping his index finger on Sammi’s leg.

She looked at his hand then back up at the blonde. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around? You do everything without thinking, don’t you?”

Vince shrugged, “Still doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about you. I want you to be happy and live life.”

“I’m perfectly happy with my life, thank you very much,”

“Did Doc get a chance to talk to you?”

Sammi nodded, “I’m not going on tour with you guys no matter how much Tommy begs,”

Vince huffed, “Why not, Sam?”

“Same excuse as always. I have school and work,”

Vince shakes his head, “You’re barely going to be 20. College will always be there for you. And Doc is going to fucking pay you! Hell, I’ll be your sugar daddy and pay for your shit so you can come and quit!”

Sammi cracks into a smile, looking away at Vince as she tried to hold in a laugh. Vince chuckled as well, a smile growing from getting through to Sammi. Sammi looked at Vince, smile still visible.

“Just think about it a little bit more, okay? Sometimes you don’t have to always be responsible, Sammi,” Vince said, squeezing Sammi’s thigh.

“Okay, I’ll think about it,” Sammi said smiling weakly at Vince.

*

The four stumbled down the strip as 2 in the morning hit around. Bars were beginning to close while only the Denny’s and other diners started filling up with the intoxicated usuals. Sammi looped her arm around Vince’s, feeling the ground swing from side to side with every step. She noticed Tommy walking ahead of Roxie, seeing the groupie pout with her arms crossed. Sammi yawned, only wanting her bed in a short time.

“Your mom’s a cunt,” Roxie spat out with anger, holting from her spot. Sammi stopped in place, taking a moment to see if she heard right.

Tommy turned around frowning at Roxie, “The fuck? Why would you say that?”

“Because that’s what she is. She’s a cunt,” Roxie said again in a monotone voice, turning back at Sammi. “Your mom is a fucking cunt,”

Sammi pushed herself off Vince, stepping up to her “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

Vince pulled Sammi back gently, wrapping an arm around her “Sammi,”

“Quit it, okay? Let’s just get to the car already,” Tommy said, pulling Roxie by the arm with force.

“Why? And why did you even tell them about us? She has nothing to do with us getting married!” Roxie shouted, pushing Tommy.

“Sorry to break it to you sweetheart, but we actually have parents that give a shit about us. You probably don’t know what that's like,” Sammi said, having her mouth soon get covered by Vince. Roxie looked back at Sammi stepping to her face, as Sammi shoved Vince away from her.

“In that case, you must be just like your mom then. A cunt for a mom and a cunt for a sister,” said Roxie with a smirk. Sammi was only able to see red as she squeezed her fists tight beside her.

 Tommy yanked Roxie away from Sammi to face him, “Stop calling her that! And don’t ever call my sister that again? You hear me?” Tommy said through his teeth. Tommy began walking away right when Roxie pushed him almost to the ground. Vince held Sammi in his arms, knowing how bad everything could get.

“Fuck you! Fuck your sister! And fuck your mother!” Roxie yelled at Tommy, pointing her long manicured finger at him.

“That’s it, we’re leaving this fucking bitch here. Come on, Sammi!” Tommy said pushing Roxie away from him, trying to reach Sammi.

Roxie pushed Tommy once more making him stumble to the ground. “You are fucking spoiled little mama’s boy! ‘Cause you want to crawl back inside her cunt!” Roxie shouted down at Tommy. Then in a blink of an eye, Sammi and Vince saw Tommy spring up from the sidewalk, punching Roxie’s right in the mouth. Roxie fell to the ground, feeling blood drip from her mouth, looking up at everyone.

“Holy shit!” Sammi shouted, covered her mouth with wide eyes, looking at Roxie then to Tommy. Vince let go of Sammi, rushing to Tommy’s side to shake him up. Tommy stood frozen looking at what he just did. “I told you to stop saying that,” Tommy whispered, fully running away to the direction of the car.

“Tommy!” Vince shouted. He looked down at Roxie, who kept wiping away the blood from her mouth. Sammi stood still, beginning to feel her body tremble. She looked through her purse, pulling out a napkin. With a shaky hand, Sammi passed it to Roxie, only getting watery eyes in return. Vince grabbed Sammi by the hand, tugging her to Tommy. She stumbled away from Roxie, eyes glued onto her even as she disappeared into the distance.

“Where the fuck’s the car?” Vince said stopping under a street light. Sammi looked around, knowing they parked still.

“Oh my fucking god,” Sammi said running her hand through her hair, crouching down with her eyes closed. “He fucking ditched us,”

Vince huffed, kicking a nearby metal trash can. “Goddammit, Tommy. Sammi get up, we’re going to my place,” Vince said reaching out a hand for Sammi. Sammi looked up Vince, taking his hand as Vince tried to single a taxi.

*

Vince’s apartment was most certainly an upgrade from the Motley House, having everything look well kept for once. Shoes off with a beer in her hand, Sammi sat against the headboard of Vince’s bed with the singer right next to her. They tried multiple times to call Tommy but got no luck.

“Vince, I need to tell you something, and I’m gonna need you to never tell Tommy,” Sammi whispered looking at Vince. He nodded, wrinkling his eyebrows together.

“I caught Nikki fucking Roxie at the video shoot…” Sammi said softly, biting her lip.

Vince’s eyes grew in shock but then regained to normal size as he thought longer about it. “She would’ve tried it with any of us,” Vince mumbled, taking a sip of his beer. “Just didn’t think Nikki would actually fuck with Tom like that,”

Sammi took the last sip of her beer, “Never been more pissed in my life,”

“Just know I would never hurt your siblings or you like that,”

Sammi looked down at the bottle, pressing her lips together as she nodded.

“Hope you’re right about that,” Sammi said. Vince got up from the bed, pulling out a long t-shirt from his drawers.

“It may be late as fuck but you still need to sleep,” Vince said with a smile. Sammi only gave a forceful smile back at Vince, hoping for the best.

[rainbowserenity]

I finished the FF7 Remake, and oh boy do I have THOUGHTS!!!! It’s been like an hour and a half and I’m still riding that high omg

if this was just the first part, I can only imagine how the rest of the game’s gonna go...

Anyway, rambly thoughts under this beautiful screenshot of Tifa I took:

- This game was seriously SO FUN???? I honestly can’t remember the last time I had so much FUN with a game...they really did so well with all the gameplay mechanics and having a good balance of everything, so A++++ for that!

- They weren’t kidding when they said this would basically be a ~full~ game on its own, despite only being the first episode....I got close to 50 hours of gameply (although a lot of it was just me farting around doing nothing lmao) and nothing felt like it was lacking :D

- I really liked (most) of the new VAs! I was kinda worried about Barrett in the trailers, but he came through for me lolol even the NPCs sounded awesome!

- We all know Don Corneo’s a pig, but I actually really enjoyed his scenes because his VA was clearly having so much fun with it ahaha~ And I LOVE that they kept in the “I’ll cut them off/smash them/rip them off” lines pffft. Too classic!

- I LOOOOVE all the stuff they elaborated on....it was nice to see more of Midgar and hang out with the AVALANCHE nerds. I remember not really giving much of a fuck when they died in the OG, but I was full on sobbing at Jessie’s death scene in this game a;lskjf;laiwjef

- I thought the battle with Rude was kinda clever, that he wouldn’t really hurt Aerith but just kept putting her to sleep when you switched over to her...so RUDE hahahaha B)

- I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO SEE CAIT SITH???!!! It makes me wonder if they’re gonna have a different way of introducing him, or if he’s gonna have a different sort of role...maybe Reeve will finally tell us how he operates a robot cat with a Scottish accent

- I loved the little details in the animation, like how when you climbed all the stairs in the Shinra building (because of course I did that lmao), Cloud gradually got slower and slower...or how when you controlled Tifa, she was naturally faster. And how Barrett sort of ‘limped’ when he climbed the ladders cause he just has one hand......I love tiny details and effort like that ahhh it warms my cold black heart!!!

- speaking of which, if you watch Red XIII pull the levers....you can kind of see how he’ll be able to pull off the sailor suit later on lmao I love him

- WALL MARKET!!!!!!! Definitely my favorite chapter omg alskdjflaiwejf The dance sequences were PERFECT!!! When did Cloud learn to dance?! I can’t wait to go back and replay that chapter lmao

- AERITH SMACKING THE GRUNTS AROUND WITH A CHAIR ADDED TEN YEARS TO MY LIFE

- So much of the game gave me XIII trilogy vibes....a lot of it was the music, but the gameplay and some bosses made me feel it too :D

- Am I crazy.......or were practically all the scenes with Sephiroth amazingly gay??? like idk if it’s just Hoech doing that, but........damn

- I officially ship Cloud/Tifa/Aerith as an OT3, but Tifa/Aerith were so cute and gay ahhhhhhhh~ Even if you don’t have shipper goggles, they did amazing at really elaborating their friendship!

- Honestly, all of the relationships between everybody were SO well done without it seeming like they were trying too hard. It felt so natural and easy, even between the NPCs, A++++ to the writers

- Battle-wise, I liked playing as Tifa the best, mostly because I typically enjoy using speedy characters. I actually liked playing as Aerith the least, even though I also enjoy using mages...Barrett took some getting used to, but he grew on me. And of course Cloud was lovely~ It’ll be interesting playing as Red eventually, I think he’ll be really fun to control

- I wonder if Yuffie’s eventual appearance will be handled differently, because they really kept emphasizing the whole “AVALANCHE IS WORKING WITH WUTAI!!!!!!!!” angle....and I doubt Yuffie will be an optional party member, so there might be some more story stuff there. I bet with Vincent they’ll just make waking him up mandatory lmao

- Going back to Wall Market....am I crazy, or was Chocobo Sam the only possible straight one of the trio 8D Madam M was clearly pansexual, don’t @ me

- AERITH SAID SHIT

- tbh I’m still trying to wrap my head around the ending, so there may be rambly tags in gifsets eventually, but....

- ZACK???????????????????? EXCUSE ME I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO SEE MY HUSBAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YA’LL SHOULD’VE HEARD THE NOISES I MADE A;SLKDJF;ALWIEJF;ALWIEJF;ALWIJEF;LAWIJEF

- AND THAT “I’LL GO GET KUNSEL” LINE????? EXCUSE ME???????????????????????????????????????? WHY WOULD THEY PLAY MY HEART LIKE THAT?????????????????????????

- ........................................................I don’t much care for Zack’s new VA :(

- Though I think I’m just biased because Rick Gomez was PERFECT and always how I pictured Zack’s voice....this new one just doesn’t quite do it for me and that makes me sad :( - BUT HE’S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ZACK EXIST AND MARRY ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- seriously, how was it possible for him to get MORE beautiful???!!!?? I’m gonna cry just thinking about it rip

- I was talking to a friend about the ending, and she had what I think is a good theory that the Whispers have seen things play out before and this is just a reoccurring timeline. It would explain why Cloud had visions of Aerith praying for Holy, why Tifa saw Meteor, how they saw Red running around in the future... (plus, this was sort of the plot of Type-0, so it wouldn’t be the first time it’s been done lol)

- tbh though, I’m not sure how the possibility of Zack not going to Hawaii will play into things. Cloud’s cocky personality is a result of his trauma from Zack’s trip to Hawaii....so if that happened differently....

- Maybe Asshole Hojo picked Zack up??? Because he did seem to know who Cloud was and was all interested in furthering his ~experiments~ so it’s entirely possibly he’s a dick and has Zack locked up somewhere again....

- OR maybe Zack’s just in hiding and that’s what the “I’LL GO GET KUNSEL” line was all about, since Kunsel knows all?? IDK MY HEAD HURTS

- That being said, I need to think about things more and as I mentioned, there may be rambles in my tags in the coming weeks ahaha~

OVERALL, this game was a BLAST!!!! I loved it so much, and like I said, I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun playing something. 10000000000/10, highly recommended to the world and I can’t wait for the next part!

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @kevaaronday!

Read on AO3

*****

Heard you were tough (but you don't look it)

1 - That Asshole 0 - Derek 1

Usually Derek got a different response after he’d saved someone’s life.

Depending on if the person was in the know or not, he either got some very surprised screaming about monsters, or a sincere thank you and the occasional offer to be thanked in some other way. Which he always declined, because that would be taking advantage.

This guy, this… asshole. He was different.

“I had that,” he was immediately yelling at Derek.

Different, and clearly delusional.

“You were seconds away from death,” Derek wondered if The Asshole was on something. “The Omega’s fangs were inches from tearing your throat out.”

Derek had jumped in immediately, without a thought for his own safety. As an Alpha, he’d heal pretty damn quickly from anything a crazed Omega could do to him. And the guy almost getting his throat torn out was human - at least at first glance.

“As if,” The Asshole was actually laughing at him.

“I get that you probably have a weapon or two in hand,” Derek did not have the patience to be dealing with a hunter who thought himself invincible. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t be killed.”

Though, he couldn’t smell any wolfsbane on this guy. He couldn’t smell much of anything, which was probably a bad sign. If hunters had somehow learned how to block their chemosignals, that would take away a large part of the advantage the wolves had over them.

They needed that advantage.

His pack was probably going to call him paranoid, since they had very little problems with hunters anymore, now that Chris Argent had turned out to be a decent person. But it wasn’t paranoia if it kept all of them alive.

“I don’t need weapons,” That Asshole rolled his eyes at Derek.

That was a new one. He hadn’t ever heard a hunter say that before. They were always so dependant on their guns and their wolfsbane - or even bows. This guy seemingly carried none of those things. Though he was wearing so many layers it was hard to tell.

“Do you have claws hidden underneath that plaid?” Derek had to ask.

Because that was the only way that The Asshole would have made it out alive. There was no way a human got that close to a rabid Omega without any weapons on him and still lived to tell the tale. Not without some kind of interference. Or someone saving their ungrateful ass.

“Nothing up my sleeves,” the guy pushed up said sleeves.

Nothing to see there. There was nothing special about this guy, until Derek turned to look at the Omega (the corpse) lying on the ground, and then looked up to find that The Asshole was nowhere to be found.

Well, fuck. Clearly this was no random human. The smell of petrichor told him that much - funny how that he could smell, when there was nothing about the magic-user himself that Derek could get a scent on. So he was powerful, and could have probably handled himself against that Omega - but was it worth the risk?

And still, a ‘thank you’ wouldn’t have been out of place here. Derek was just saving a life, it was That Asshole who had to make it into a big fight. Just because Derek hadn’t wanted him to die at the hands of a feral Omega.

That was about as kind as he got.

2 - The best Spark ever 1 - Grumpy Wolf 1

So clearly the Beacon Hills Alpha was a self-righteous ass, but it wasn’t like Stiles could just let him die. That would be… less than ideal for his standing in the local community. Also, he wasn’t actually that much of an asshole. Not usually, not to anyone who didn’t deserve it.

He was just in doubt about how much the Alpha deserved it.

Still, there was a difference between actively being an asshole to someone and letting them die because of a troupe of egomaniac hunters. Beacon Hills needed an Alpha, and Stiles was going to get one over on the asshole Alpha - so clearly two reasons to do the right thing. That and Stiles’ hatred of hunters. That made three.

Ugh, guess he had to show off now. He hated doing that (no he didn’t).

“Hello there fellas,” Stiles did enjoy playing the harmless human card when it gave him an advantage. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but it feels like the start of a bullying PSA.”

That stopped these rednecks in their tracks - and seriously, why were hunters usually rednecks? Was it the racism or the love of guns? Or both? Both.

“You’d best get on your merry way, boy,” the one with the baseball cap started threatening him.

And that meant he really didn’t know what he was up against, which was awesome for Stiles but not so much for these guys. And not so much for the Alpha’s ego, clearly, because he was halfway to growling at Stiles before he even spoke up. Right, because it was perfectly fine for Stiles to be the damsel but this guy is too manly to be put in that position?

Fucking toxic masculinity!

“I’m going to need your pet Alpha for that,” Stiles grinned. “I kinda called dibs.”

That surprised them enough that Stiles could get off the first spell with a quick flick of the wrist - a modification of the mountain ash circle that allowed nothing or no one to enter or exit the circle without Stiles’ permission. And since the asshole Alpha was very much outside that circle…

“You’re welcome,” Stiles cocked his head, waiting for some appreciation from said Alpha.

He got none.

The Alpha was basically growling at him. “You called dibs?”

Maybe that wasn’t the best thing he could have said about an apparently extremely paranoid Alpha. But he’d already said it, and well, he stood by it. Because underneath that anger, and the heavy brow, and the asshole behavior… Well, underneath all of that the Alpha was kind of hot and Stiles would have hate-sexed him in a heartbeat. If, you know, he wasn’t an ungrateful ass. Or if he seemed like the kind of guy who was into hate-sex.  

“I’m sorry, are these rednecks more your type?” Stiles had no trouble keeping the circle intact. “I am not sure you’re kink-compatible.”

The joking just riled the Alpha up even more, which was a whole different level of entertaining. And watching the Alpha’s eyebrows twitch when Stiles easily tightened the circle the hunters were still trapped in, well that was just the icing on the cake, really. The guy was really pissed off that Stiles was powerful enough to save himself and others - such a savior complex.

“Well, I’d best be off,” Stiles wasn’t going to let the Asshole Alpha get another word in. “I have some criminals to hand-deliver to the Sheriff. You’re welcome.”

And with that, he left an Alpha werewolf in the dust. Like a BAMF.

3 - Dangerous magic user 1 - Derek 2

There was no way that Derek was going to let a dangerous magic user run through Beacon Hills unchecked. This was his territory, and it was his job to keep people safe, and therefore it was his job to know when dangerous people were around who risked tipping the balance.

And this guy - there was no way that he wasn’t dangerous. Someone that powerful, who could trap groups of hunters with a flick of his wrist and casually drag a protective circle after him… Maybe Derek had trust issues - and he knew he did - but he couldn’t trust the intentions of anyone that powerful. Especially when this person hadn’t even introduced himself to the pack, which was supposed to be tradition.

It almost made him miss Deaton. At least he remembered how things were supposed to work, enigmatic as he might have been before randomly bailing two months ago. He never even explained why he left or where he’d gone. And he’d left no forwarding address.

The wendigos were a bit more of an urgent issue, though.

Derek’d had to look through his mother’s old journals, the one she always locked up in the vault because she didn’t want the kids to get their hands on them. She’d spoken of the creatures, mentioned how dangerous they were and how imperative it was that they be kept far away from humans - especially those who were born with magic in their blood.

Did he mention that wendigos had an immunity to most spells?

Clearly the pain in the ass magic user hadn’t done the research, because he was still out there, in the Preserve in the middle of the night, flinging spells at an advancing wendigo. Derek knew his pack was dealing with the rest of the family, but they’d left the most dangerous one to him - as they should. Derek healed faster than they did.

“Get out of the way,” he threw himself into battle without another thought. “They’re mostly immune to magic. You need to get to safety.”

The magic user didn’t listen, not right away. But Derek couldn’t spend too much energy keeping track on him, not when he had a cannibalistic creature to get rid of. Looking back once already earned him a slash across the ribs, and he was lucky it wasn’t worse.

“What the hell is that thing?”

So clearly the magic user wasn’t leaving.

“Wendigo,” Derek shouted at him. “Now leave. Please. I’ve got this.”

The please just… came out. It was completely unlike their previous interactions, but Derek had said it and now he had to deal with it. Or he could just pretend he’d never said it and deal with a dangerous monster instead. That sounded like the better option.

Sometimes he wished there was another way to deal with a wendigo. But there wasn’t. His mother had tried, several times even, and if Talia Hale couldn’t do it… It had to be impossible.

He took a deep breath, trying to center himself, trying to anchor himself to his pack as he let the wolf into the driver’s seat. Against a creature like this, it is best to shift completely. Like his mother had.

It hurt to have his bones completely rearrange themselves, but he was used to pain. It helped him heal the scratches from the wendigo a bit quicker too.

“Holy shit, did you just?” Mage was still there.

Derek-wolf growled at him. Not safe for Mage with nice scent .

Not until after he shifted back, his body too tired to maintain the shift after he’d managed to defeat the angry wendigo singlehanded, did he realize that the magic user had never left. That he’d stuck around to watch Derek save his stupid life, for some reason.

Though he disappeared as soon as Derek’s pack came to find him.

He didn’t say thank you. Not surprising.

4 - The Amazing Mischief 2 - Sexy Wolf 2

So apparently the Alpha could actually turn into a wolf. Stiles was reluctantly impressed. Reluctantly, because the guy was still an asshole who thought Stiles couldn’t handle himself against one single wendigo - and yeah, okay, maybe he was right about the whole immunity to magic thing, but still.

But the full shift? Impressive. Saying please? Heartbreaking. Protecting Stiles even in full wolf form? Confusing. Stupid. Weird.

Grudging acceptance was not the way he wanted to go with this guy.

And so, when he saw another chance to piss the Alpha off by saving his ass, even though he had a whole pack he could call in for backup instead… Stiles just had to take it.

And yeah, technically he was the protector of the town now, after that vet had just disappeared and his Dad had dragged him back from Poland because they really needed the help. And after the weeks he’s had, with the Omega and the hunters and a family of wendigos - well, Stiles is never dismissing the Hellmouth-like quality of Beacon Hills ever again. So technically it was now his job to protect idiot martyr Alphas - even though his job description just said “consultant”.

Ugh, damn Alpha werewolf and his martyr complex.

“We have got to stop meeting like this, Sourwolf,” Stiles leaps in front of the monster with a smug grin on his face.

Is that actually a fucking kanima? He’s never seen one of those in the flesh before.

“Of course you’re here,” the Alpha is not amused.

“Danger’s calling,” Stiles shrugged as he erected a magical shield. “Did you murder anyone recently? Other than the wendigo? Because he shouldn’t be after you like this, sexy wolf.”

That one just kind of slipped out, but Stiles was certainly not going to walk it back. No, he was totally going to own it - he’d hit on Alpha werewolves before. Sure, those were probably less hot - and less of an asshole. Infuriatingly, that made this guy just Stiles’ type.

Which was something he’d have to contemplate after he saved him from the kanima.

“Please just call me Derek,” the Alpha hid his face.

Because he was actually… blushing? That was awesome. Even the kanima seemed to think it was funny, which was just…

“Is he our new Daddy?”

Where the kanima had just stood, a smug douche-looking guy had taken his place. There was still a slimy quality about him, but it didn’t seem like they were in any kind of real danger, so Stiles figured he could drop the shield.

“You interrupted our sparring session,” Alpha Derek had crossed his arms over his solid chest.

And no, Stiles, that was a terrible road to go down.

Best to focus on the fact that there was a fucking kanima in the pack, and no one had bothered to inform him of that. He was going to have to have words with his Dad about this. Yes, his father would hear about this.

“Still saved your wolfy butt,” Stiles had to argue.

“I was in no danger whatsoever,” Derek rolled his eyes.

Ugh, the sass was a great look on him, and that was just unfair. He was just glad he was good at masking scent, because he did not want the wolf to have that kind of advantage.

“Still counts.”

Figuring that was a decent enough exit line, Stiles made a magical escape. Sure, it was a waste of his power, but he was trying to make a good impression here. Sort of.

5 - Mr. Stilinski if you’re nasty 3 - Derek freaking Hale 2

Research was key, especially when dealing with a pack that he was going to be having dealings with for a long time, if his Dad had his way. Dad was so happy to finally have Stiles close again, that he was about five seconds away from setting up a play-date with Alpha Hale and his pack. He only dropped it when Stiles assured him that he had it handled.

Sure, his Dad only dropped it long enough to seriously laugh at him, but it worked.

So the next time he approached the Hale pack, he followed the protocol that Babcia had drummed into him. Which was all well and good, until they got attacked like ten seconds after Stiles had finally properly introduced himself to Derek.

“Chimeras,” the blonde girl cursed. “Fucking chimeras.”

Oh, his Dad had filled him in on those, and Stiles was not in any way looking forward to this, but he was prepared to handle them. If he had to, because those kids had probably not asked to be turned into this, had not asked to be made feral.

“We just have to hold them off long enough for Lydia to get the cure,” Derek showed why he was actually a good Alpha. “Stay safe. Be careful. Don’t go after them alone. You know Theo and his traps.”

Fucking Theo was still around? Of course he was. He was never happy until he was making everyone in this town miserable. Sucked for him that Stiles was back now, because Stiles had never had any patience for his brand of dangerous bullshit. Also, Stiles was way more powerful than he was, and he was going to enjoy rubbing that in Theo’s face.

Just, well, he still didn’t want to hurt any innocent people.

“There’s a cure?” Stiles turned to Derek. “I can hold them for a while. How long do you need?”

The look on Derek’s face was just unfair. It was grateful, warm, pleased - Derek trusted him, trusted Stiles with his life and his pack’s lives. And that was… stupid of him. Sure, Stiles had saved his life… well this would be the third time’s charm.

Okay maybe it wasn’t stupid.

And maybe they made it work, with the girl named Lydia - he vaguely remembered her from elementary school, before his Mom died and he went to live with Babcia to get a handle on his abilities - and all of Derek’s pack. But Stiles’ powers were the only reason no one was harmed while they waited for the cure to work.

That wasn’t arrogance, that was the painful truth.

“Thank you,” Derek looked at him way too sincerely.

“Yeah, had to save that hot ass,” Stiles was babbling, he knew he was. “Disregard that. I’m just going to go. Because well, it’s your turn next. Or whatever.”

It was. Stiles was in the lead now, and it wasn’t like Stiles wanted to be saved… He just wanted to be chased, a little. Maybe wanted Derek to like him. He wanted this not to be the last of this thing they were doing. He didn’t want to go back to the politics of it, the usual business of the pack and the protector.

He kinda just… wanted Derek. Which was stupid, but it was what is was.

6 - Stiles 3 - Derek 3

It took Jackson about fifteen jokes about getting a new daddy to get Derek moving. Yeah, he was disappointed in himself too.

But Stiles - and what even was that name - was different. He was the Sheriff’s son, a good old boy from Beacon Hills, but he was also a powerful mage and the most immature asshole Derek knew outside of his own pack. Derek was drawn in by him, like magic, but it was also terrifying.

But when he saw those hunters, those very same hunters that Stiles had chased off a few weeks ago, trying to move in for some revenge… Well, he didn’t even think. He just leapt, growled at them like they couldn’t just put him down with a single bullet.

“Stay away from him,” he growled out from a suddenly fanged mouth.

So much for his fabled control. Because they were threatening Stiles, and Stiles was…

Not his. Not like pack, no matter how badly Derek wanted just that. Because Stiles had proven himself worthy, putting himself out there for Derek, risking himself to keep Derek’s pack safe. It made him special, made him worth taking note of as a potential ally. It was the humor, the flirting, the seeming fearlessness that made Stiles worth taking note of as a potential partner.

“Did the beast find himself a pet human?” Hunters were never original.

“A friend,” Derek growled. “A mage. A powerful mage. And the son of the Sheriff.”

Maybe he thought of Stiles as just another harmless human at first, as someone who needed protecting. He knew better now, knew just how dangerous Stiles could be to people who meant harm. Staying back and letting Stiles handle things was never going to be his first instinct, but having Stiles and his bag of tricks around could make such a difference in this dangerous town. They could really make a difference here.

“Skip the mating rituals,” the hunters were not impressed.

“I have Chris Argent on speed dial,” Derek warned, and somehow that worked.

Derek kept his claws out, kept up the beta shift just to be sure, but the hunters backed off Stiles and walked away. Sure, they’d be back, but Derek could handle it. Or he could let Chris do it.

“Guess we’re tied now,” Stiles turned to him, impish grin on his face.

“I’m sure we’ll have more opportunities,” Derek responded, because he knew exactly what this was. “But I’m not just going to let you win.”

This was actually a mating ritual - it was courting in the most roundabout way. And he didn’t have to doubt Stiles’ interest, because he was right there with him. They could bicker and get to know each other later, but the interest was obvious from both sides.

“Good,” Stiles stepped in closer.

“How about we go on a date that doesn’t involve violence?” Derek found himself making the first move. “Tomorrow night?”

That put him in the lead in another competition, and Stiles was already getting pouty that he hadn’t been the first to score. It was childish and overly competitive and perfect for Derek.

“I had that,” Stiles huffed. “I was going to ask you.”

Good, so at least they were definitely on the same page. And Stiles was going to say yes when he got over not being the one to ask.

“You snooze, you lose,” Derek pointed out.

“You’re terrible and I can’t believe I’m dating you,” Stiles rolled his eyes.

Okay, so maybe Stiles wasn’t over it yet, but he could work on it. His pack was going to mock him for all eternity, but Derek kind of couldn’t wait for Stiles to be a real part of his pack.

“I’m assuming that’s a yes,” Derek grinned. “Pick you up at seven.”

As Stiles huffed and puffed and groaned, Derek was the one making a perfectly-timed exit this time.

Score for Hale.

[venus-says]

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Episodes 16-30

Insert COIN to Continue.

If Ex-Aid hadn't clicked with me in its first 15 episodes, it's with much joy that I come here to say that I think I finally get this show and I'm here for it!

Yes, I still have quite a few of problems, and a lot of the complaints I had in my previous post are still present in here, but my enjoyment of the show has only been growing more and more with each new episode I watch to the point where now only very few aspects of it still annoy me really hard and I can let go of things more easily like, for example, the weird dialogue and the comedy style that while are still aspects that I don't like but that now I can get past that without being bothered.

Honestly, what bothers me the most is that I didn't know the show had such a clear break into two parts and that I divided the episodes for the reviews in a way that will make a bit weird to talk about, especially in this post. I didn't expect episodes 1 through 23 would end up being a big arc, with episodes 24 onward being kind of a different thing, a step-up from the previous arc. But oh well...

Since these episodes were clearly divided into two separate arcs I'll do the same here and comment on them separately.

This first part, going from episodes 16 to 23, are a bit weird to comment on because even inside them there's also a mini division we can make, episodes 16, 18, 19 and 20 are like a mini-arc to give Brave and Snipe power-ups while 21, 22, and 23 have more like an end game plot going on, and episode 17 is kinda just hanging around there, a bit out of place that usually would be considered a filler but that introduces a character that is used later on so while we can't completely disregard that episode we also can't really put it in the same basket as the others.

The first portion is the weakest of this whole section, being completely honest I don't remember much about it, I know Brave and Snipe get their asses kicked and they lose his gashats and that was pretty cathartic, but then Genm did his thing again and gave them Level 50 power-ups and I was a bit disappointed, not really in aesthetic levels or powers, like I don't care for Snipe's but I love how Brave looks and I think is really cool that he can command a troop of minions, my biggest problem is that the power-up is in one of those double gashats with that ugly circle thing and they have to share it but the division isn't really fair since Snipe has been keeping it for way more time than Brave did. But oh well.

Oh also during this part my hate for Kuroto was constantly raising, I really despise this man and whenever someone wipes the floor with him is like I'm having an overdose of serotonin because he's an awful human being and that's what he deserves and seeing him being fucked up brings me a lot of joy.

The mini-arc of episodes 21 to 23 is when things start to get interesting as we see the plot unveiling mysteries and the gears grinding in incredible speed making these three episodes feel like the end of a season. Now, as interesting and exciting that it was to watch this climax payout I do have some problems here. My biggest one is that, once again, they made Emu WAY too special, now he's not just a doctor, a genius gamer, and patient 0 from the game illness, but he's also the reason why Kuroto is like this nowadays, and different from what we thought he's been incubating this virus since he was a little kid because Kuroto is such a shit human being that he sent an infected game to a kid because apparently, he thinks only him can be a game developer in this world and come up with ideas for games. And yes, this is very in-character, Dan Kuroto would really do stuff like this, is the fact that they make so many things focused on a single person that bothers me.

Another thing I have a problem here, although it's a much smaller one if compared to my previous point is just how convenient it was for the show to put a way to reprogram the virus in Kiriya's computer. I think my problem here is just how easy they got the information, you know? They knew from that detective that Kiriya was digging up something and Hiiro decides to look for information and in the first place he looks he just happens to find his computer and the files in his research were there. Again, it's a minor thing, but I felt like I had to comment on this.

One thing that I really enjoyed in this mini-arc was Kuroto's plan to avoid the Ministry and still get data in his hands by infecting himself with the virus to appeal to Emu's emotions. Again, a very in-character decision and the way it played out was very fun even though it was pretty clear he allowed himself to be caught seeing how easy it was for them. The way things escalated leading to his death was also pretty good, it's a bit annoying that his death gets reverted only a few episodes later, for a show that is constantly talking about doctors dealing with death having a death be reversed is a bit counter-intuitive.

As a result of this conflict, we get Ex-Aid's Level 99 power-up, and while it's cool that is a gashat he made it himself and that he used Kiriya's driver after his was fried up by Genm, holy jesus how ugly is this thing. It's so huge and bulky most of the scenes with him moving have to be done in CGI because that looks like hell to walk on wearing it. This just isn't the ugliest power-up of this season because Snipe still has the worst designs, but oh gosh.

After episode 23 we enter in the Kamen Rider Chronicle arc, where being led by Parad they gather data from the missing games by reviving Graphite and brainwashing Poppy, and Ex-Aid becomes a light novel with a battle royale/survival game that actually kills people when they get a game over (or upload them to the cloud and erase their physical bodies apparently because now they're saying those people can be revived).

Attempts of joke aside, while it's not anything new that they're doing here I do like how they implemented the concept in the story. It's pretty cool having regular people acting up as the players while the Riders we follow are like special NPCs that drop rare items when defeated, it's a fun gimmick and it's also a way to the villains to put another obstacle to the riders without having to do much.

I think what I liked the most in this plot was the mini-arc they had for Poppy, up until this point I didn't really have a strong opinion on her but what they had with her in these episodes was pretty cool. To begin they gave her a pretty dope song, at first I questioned what they were trying to do there but when we get to know that her whole singing scene was part of a brainwashing process it turns things really interesting. But is the journey of her freeing herself from this brainwash that really does it for me, when she starts remembering memories from the person that she took over she gets in this existential crisis and it gave us some great moments, I really like that scene in episode 28 when she's there trying to tell everyone AND herself that humans and bugsters are enemies and Emu puts himself in the line kinda with a wake-up call for her, it was pretty awesome. I feel like she also got way more agency after the events in that episode and I hope they keep that with her. Oh, we also got Kamen Rider Poppy which wasn't a thing I necessarily needed, but that was still pretty cool.

But because not everything can be flowers I have two major issues for this part as well, the two are things that I already mentioned so I won't take too long with them. The first one is obviously the "making Emu too special" thing since it gets established that Parad is the bugster that Emu incubated for all those years and that Parad is actually Emu's "second personality". Again, it's a cool concept, and there's one episode in which Parad gets control of Emu's body and they have a fight between each other while in Ex-Aid's Level 20 form and it was cool as heck, is just the fact that they keep adding layers to Emu like he's the center of the entire universe that makes me feel kinda iffy about it.

The second aspect I don't like is the reversibility of death. I get that this is a show for kids so they would come up with a way to bring everyone that died in Kamen Rider Chronicle because this doesn't seem like the type of show that would just obliterate a lot of people out of existence like that, my problem is with bringing back characters that have some sort of impact with the characters. Yeah, so far we only had Kuroto and he's back but not really since now he's a bugster and Poppy can keep him under control with her drive, though let's be honest this won't last too long, but they're raising the possibility of bringing Hiiro's girlfriend back and I'm sure they would try to bring Kiriya back too and is this thing that I feel like it goes against some of the messages this show is trying to pass to his main character. Emu is constantly facing death and as a Doctor he will face it many times in different contexts and part of the process for him to learn how to deal with this he needs to feel the effects of mourning for those who passed away, but when you bring people back from that while it doesn't revert what he went through makes it feel like death isn't as serious. This is a thing Rider likes to do a lot honestly, I mean look at Ghost, and it never sat with me well, but I feel like in this season in especial, as I mentioned, it's very counter-intuitive.

And I believe that's all I have to say for now. I feel like I'm way too repetitive, and that's a problem I should work on, but I have to say this again, I'm still having my problems with Ex-Aid but these problems aren't cutting down my enjoyment of the show and I'm really excited to see how all of this will come up together in the end. If you have anything to say about my comments or these episodes please let me know in the comments, I'll be very happy to have other people insight into this show. Stay healthy, stay safe, never stop resisting, thank you so so much for reading and until the next time. See you in the next game!

[antman-56]

The Long Night Pt. 14

When STRQ entered the peanut gallery, the moment they were visible a large number of students surrounded them.

“THAT WAS AWESOME!!”

“THAT’S A COOL SWORD!”

““HOW ARE YOU STILL HOT?!”

“ARE YOU DATING?”

It all came to a halt as soon as Scarlet walked up to them.

Scarlet : Mr. Xiao Long

Tai froze in place. 

Scarlet : Your team 2 weeks detention starting tomorrow. Report to my classroom 7-B building 2A at 15:00.

Tai : Why?

 Scarlet : 3 weeks and for the reason, the destruction of school property, I am not adding the fact that you continued to beat Theodore due to his semblance.

Jaden : THAT’S BULLSHIT!! HE SHOULD BE SENT BACK TO BEACON.

The room suddenly felt heavy. A sudden pressure was now on everyone shoulders as if all their guilty was making it hard to breathe and stand up right, a few people fell to the floor. 

Scarlet : Are you telling me what to do? Because if I remember correctly (walks up to Jaden who can’t do anything) I am the teacher, not you. 2 weeks detention for your whole team along with team STRQ. 

Jaden : But that’s 

Scarlet : 3.

Jaden stayed quiet.

Scarlet : Now since the Combat Room’s ceiling is destroyed and the glass needs to be replaced, class will resume tomorrow.

 A mix of cheers and groans were made.

Scarlet : That doesn’t mean you will get off easy. I want a 5,000 word essay about the use of Aura with a cited page, otherwise you don’t participate tomorrow  and get a 0. And it will be increased into a 10,000 word essay. NOW DISMISSED!

***Dorms***

STRQ hurried their way to their dorms after Scarlet dismissed them.

It was now group study time.

Raven and Summer were on the computers they checked out from the library, Tai was on his text book to see if they could use some articles, and Qrow was doing a mix of looking through Summer’s notes and throwing spitballs at Tai. 

Tai : Hey babe, any articles about Aura.

Raven : Never call me that and ask Summer, it’s her job. Mine is checking the syllabus. 

Qrow (making a new spit ball) : To find a loophole or something..

Raven : Maybe, I want to pull a Summer.

Qrow fired another spit ball.

Tai then threw the textbook at Qrow. 

Raven : That reminds me, we need to see Willow.

The boys fighting in the background.

Summer : Why?

Raven : To upgrade our gear. I want new dust blades.

Tai (on top of Qrow, about to punch him) : Yeah I want my claws resharpened.

Qrow : Yeah, and Harbinger to.

Summer (groans) : Fine, but after we finish homework and get through tomorrow. Now you two stop fighting, I have the articles and the battle plan.

*** The Next Day***

 Scarlet : Well class, I am glad that the majority of you turned in your papers. However one team is disqualified from the tournament. (she turns to team TRBO). Now team BLAD and team SLVR. go your assigned corner and prepare for combat.

Ben : We’ve chosen our two representatives.

Scarlet : (whispers) Oh, shit (normal) I forgot to mention we are now doing 4 on 4 matches now. The reason being is that the Headmaster wants to see the “Next Generation”.

Both teams didn’t argue and walked to their corners. 

Tai : Well that blows. I wanted to kick ass just by being on my own again.

Raven ( flicking his head ) : Stop being stupid.

Tai : You love it when I am.

Qrow : Gross.

As the team starts chatting, Qrow gets a message on his scroll from an unknown number.

??? : *“We need to talk”

Qrow (texting) : *“Wrong number”

??? : *“It’s Willow”

Qrow : *“Proof, put a spoon on your head”

??? : (Selfie of her with a spoon on her head and glaring at the camera, she has a slight blush on her face for doing something stupid ) * “There”

Qrow : *“Saving this and send the time and place”

Qrow was snickering, saving the scroll number and using the picture as a thumbnail for the number.

Tai : What are you laughing at?

Qrow (looking around to see if Summer was near by) : A way to explain the USB to Summer.

Tai : Willow?

Qrow : Willow.

Both men got up and went to see the next battle.

***10 minutes later***

Team BLAD won, but they cut it real close.

They tried to do the same thing as yesterday, but team SLVR anticipated it.

It was Ben vs Sam. Leader vs leader.

Ben’s Aura was 28% and Sam’s Aura was 25%. Sword on sword action.

Everything seemed to be going good for Sam until the last 10 seconds. For some reason Sam fell to her knees and covered her ears. Ben struck her down, winning the match for team BLAD.

Now it was STRQ’s match against JACB.

Some members of team JACB apeared more anxious than others.

***Red Corner***

Summer : Alright team ready!

Raven : Hell Yeah.

Tai : Do you need to ask Sum.

Qrow : Let’s do it.

Summer : Alright, Phoenix.

*** Blue Corner***

Chip : I want the emo fuck!

Chip was wearing a light blue leather armor, similar to what a soldier would wear in the Atlas infantry.

Blif : No, I get him. You can get the silver eyed bitch. 

Blif wore the same thing as his brother the only thing different instead of the armor being blue it was yellow.   

Jaden : You both can take him. I’ll take the Blond and his girlfriend.

Jaden had dawned a mix of a monk’s attire and Viking. He had a opened robe with the designs of some dead language, the shoulder pads had small spikes surrounding it , he tore off the sleeves and had boxing tape around his fore arm and hands, he wore heavy black boots, his forearms had armor, and he had a headband.

Adam : So, I go for the girl who started it all.

Adam wore a trench coat over reinforced leather armor. His family crest on the back of both the trench coat and armor.

Jaden : Yes and No. Lead her away from her team. Only fight her to repel, well leave her for the end. Now on 3. 1. . . 2. . . 3  URAH!!!

JACB : URAH !!!

The doors opened, the battle has now started.

Tai and Raven were up front, with Qrow and Summer behind them..

Blif and Chip were going to meet them first and Adan and Jaden following.

Tai clashed with chip and Raven with Blif.

Qrow grabbed onto Tai’s shoulders to use as a platform, jumped up into the air, and kicked Jaden.

When Jaden got up he and Qrow began to fight. Adam was about to help Jaden, but was stopped by Summer.

He had his back towards her and she used her crossbow to get his attention. She showed him she was the one that shot him with her weapon, Moonlight.

She ran and Adam followed her all the while yelling, “I got this!!”. 

Raven : Aren’t you the guys that my baby brother beat up?

Blif activated the dust canisters in his shield to push  Raven back, Chip copied his brother.

They looked at each other and smiled.

Chip : Well then,

Blif : That changes things.

They ran at the couple with a new determination.

***Qrow’s Fight ***

Jaden and Qrow were now in an area that resembled a beach.

Jaden was using his batons against Qrow’s sword.

That’s when his foot slipped when he went for a strike.

Qrow took advantage and kicked him to the sidewalk.

Jaden got up just in time to block Qrow’s blade.

Jaden (grunting) : So, your better with a weapon then with your hands.

Qrow (grunting) : I could say the same.

They pushed off each other to gain some distance.

Jaded : Y’know, all of this couldn’t have to be personal, if you kept to yourself, but no you just had to save your girlfriend.

Qrow : She’s not my . . .

Jaden ran up to Qrow , jumped over him and in mid air touched his head.

Jaden (internally) : Nothing’s happening. Maybe if I force it.

Little did they both know, the waves were growing.

***Summer’s Fight***

Summer lead Adam to a forest area. 

She was on a tree top and had a clear view of Adam. She was invisible and had a weapon that made little to no noise.

She fired a bolt and it hit. Adam’s Aura was now 84%.

He took cover behind the closest “Tree” and waited.

Adam : You know hiding isn’t going to . . .

A bolt was next to his head.

Adam : HA. You mis . . . 

The bolt exploded.

*** Raven’s and Tai’s Fight***

The twins were keeping the couple busy.

They made sure not to separate the couple. If Tai activated his semblance they were done, but since he was near Raven she would take a hit of friendly fire.

Chip decided it was time. 

He activated his dust weapons. His sword became longer with an outer layer of ice. The hilt transformed to have a hilt of a snowflake and was now emitting a light blue gas, while his shield started to glow blue.

When Tai blocked the new weapon his eyes went wide, jumped back, and gasped. His Aura dropped to 95%. 

Chip : Freezing isn’t it. That’s a new dust to simulate dried ice. It’s so cold it burns.

He went for the offensive and all Tai could to do was dodge.

His brother followed his example. He activated his dust weapons, his weapon started to glow yellow as well as his shield. Little bits of electricity sparked off of his as a intimidation tactic

Blif threw his shield at Raven, who ducked only to be struck by Blif’s blade. Her Aura dropped to 78%.

She dropped to her knees and was panting heavily. Her muscles were tense, all she could was look up and glare at Blif.

Blif : What’s wrong sweet heart, are you a mute now.

Raven slowly got up, using her blade as a crutch. She then put her blade in her sheath and pulled out a yellow blade. She got into her battle stance and gave the the trademark Branwen smirk.

She was going to enjoy this.

***Qrow’s Fight***

Both fighter were now on the pier of the beach.

Jaden combined his two batons to make a bo staff against Qrow.

Jaden’s Aura was from 87% to 62% and Qrow’s Aura was from 100% to 54%.

Qrow noticed that his bad luck was doubling down. It was like he broke six mirrors, let a family of black cats cross him, and stepped on a crack all at once times 5.

Jaden felt the same. He was making rookie mistakes and hating himself for it. 

The pier they were both on was now was creaking. Any one of their steps could mean their lasts.

Jaden : You just couldn’t have picked another person. I wanted the blonde.

Qrow ignored him and continued to fight.

Jaden’s time for using Qrow’s semblance was almost over, but what was it.

He didn’t get faster, stronger, anything. Hell one semblance let him spit acid, this one didn’t do anything. Nothing!!!

That was when the plank Qrow was standing on broke. 

Jaden went to jab him with his bo staff. He pushed Qrow back to the beginning of the pier.

Jaden : What the hell! What is your semblance?! 

Qrow smirked.

Jaden : My semblance lets me copy the semblances of anyone I touch for a short time. But yours nothing. NOTHING!!!

Qrow chuckled.

Qrow : That explains it. 

Jaden : Explain what?

Qrow just pointed behind them.

Jaden turned around to only see a Tsunami coming. He saw Qrow running away to the buildings and he soon followed.

As he ran, he heard the pier being decimated behind him. Unfortunately, for him the plank he just stepped on just broke. He caught himself only to feel the force of the tsunami.  

“JADEN INGENUUS ELIMINATED”

***Raven’s and Tai’s Fight***

Raven and Tai were now separated. Chip lead Tai into a a frozen tundra area and Raven and Blif stayed in a the middle area.

Blif and Raven were exchanging blades, blow for blow. It was like the both of them knew what the other was going to do.  It was then that Blif parried her oncoming attack that he punched her.

Raven backed away from him to gain distance and got into a new stance. She then noticed he copied her. 

She had a plan.

She ran away, while flipping the bird at Blif. He in turn ran towards her.

Tai was not having the same luck. He has been evading and dodging most of Chip’s attacks. He couldn’t find any openings with the dust shield blocking anything he threw at it. He had his Aura drop to 65% from just doing what he could do. He couldn’t even use his semblance since they were on top of a ice berg. Intense heat and ice don’t exactly go together.

He was now on a thin ice bridge, on top of a raging ice river. If someone drops Aura goes away instantly.

Chip : Hey Blondie, how come your doing nothing? 

Tai exhaled, he really didn’t like being called “Blondie”.

Chip : Doesn't matter. When I’m done here i’ll help my brother. Tag team the emo’s sister. 

He gave Tai a disgusting smile and that broke his thin ice.

Tai had a nerve that he didn’t know he developed. Whenever, anyone talked about his girlfriend like she’s a piece of meat  he would lose his patience faster.

Chip’s smile grew wider. He had the advantage over Tai. He blocked the closest exit off the bridge if it melts, and if he somehow didn’t fall onto the water and make it to the other side then he would have enough time to help Blif with Raven and then Tai.

Tai activated his semblance and ran towards Chip. When he was closer to Chip he let his semblance cut loose. All the ice under the both of them started to melt, along with the dust on Chip’s sword and shield. 

Chip went to defend with his shield to cover his face from the fist that Tai had made. Big mistake. He left himself open and Tai went for a stomach punch. 

Tai ran towards the other side, the bridge finally gave out and was falling. He was at the end of the bridge till he felt a hand grab his leg. Tai fell onto the floor to see Chip.

Chip jumped to grab his leg after he recovered and smiled at the sight of Tai’s shocked face.

“TAIYANG XIAO LONG ELIMINATED”

“CHIP NAVIS ELIMINATED”

***Raven’s Fight***

When the announcement finished, she was pissed off. 

She stopped running and was now in the middle of a dark swamp.

Blif : Give up.

Raven activated her sheath to launch out a blade.

Blif naturally dodged the attack. When he turned to look at Raven she was gone.

“ADAM  DROOM ELIMINATED”

Blif : WHAT?!?! (internally) How was Adam out.

He looked up to see the Aura display. Adam’s Aura was at 15%

The silver eyed bitch was 67% and the emo fuck was at 32%.

When he was done looking at the board, he dodged a Sythe aimed for his head. In that moment he was hit with a series of smoke dust bolts.

His Aura was now at 57% in an instant.

He was panicking. He was alone against three pissed off enemies.

A bolt hit his hand, dropping his sword. He dropped to his knees and rushed to pick it up, when his hand touched the hilt, a foot crushed it.

He looked up and saw Raven with a scowl on her face.

He smiled weakly and got a kick to the face as a reward.

Raven : Get up.

Blif : Hey come on. Make this fair.

Raven responded by striking him across the chest with Omen, dropping his Aura to 39%.

Blif got up from the attack and ran away from her.

When he got to the edge of the swamp forest and into the lava zone. he saw her waiting for him.

Raven : Why are you running? You were talking big just a few minutes ago.

He ran back into the swamp, just to stop when she was a few feet in front of him.

He did this 4 more time till he was tired and he was in the middle of the swamp. 

Raven (walking up to him ) : Give up.

Blif ( close to an anxiety attack ) : How do you even-

He never got his answer, Raven went for him.

She started by striking him 8 times and ended it with a swift kick to the abdomen.

When he hit the closest tree his back was turned to his Aura broke.

“TEAM STRQ VICTORIOUS”