#so many caps but like. that one makes my heart fucking BEAT BRO

[faarkas]

5, 64 and 98 >:D

TY BONES <333

5. Nightclub - Bad Suns

64. Did I make you up? - Half Alive

98. Fast Car - Syd

[c-e-d-dreamer]

For AU Day for @nessianweek I thought I’d test out this College AU that’s been bouncing around my brain because I’m College AU trash that I’m considering writing a proper/chaptered fic for. Hope you enjoy! :) 

Most days, University of Prythian feels like every other public college. All brooding brick buildings and precisely placed green spaces and students loudly milling about in droves. A group of frat boys throwing around a frisbee on the common. A group of girls in bikinis tops taking advantage of the late August sun. Shouts of “oh my god, hey” and “how was your summer” just barely drowning out crying parents dropping their kids off. It’s migraine inducing. 

Nesta throws the car into park, the old Chevy only groaning slightly as it settles after the trek up to campus. She hears the doors open and close, but she just grips the wheel and closes her eyes, taking in three steadying breaths and hoping the oxygen can find a way to calm her spiking blood. In through the nose, out through the mouth. It’s a new year. After everything that happened last year, technically up should be the only direction. She hopes. Once Nesta feels like she has a hold of her frayed nerves, she slides out of the driver’s seat to find Feyre already excitedly pulling her bags from the trunk, settling them on the pavement next to the car. Elain comes up beside their youngest sister, pulling her own suitcases out. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you off closer to your dorm, Elain?” 

“I’m in Oakwood this year. It’s not that far a walk.” 

Nesta nods, grabbing the last of Feyre’s bags and closing the trunk. Before Elain can wheel off with her bags, Feyre’s wrapping an arm around each of her sisters’ shoulders, a wide smile plastered across her face under her U of P baseball cap. 

“The Archeron sisters are back together again!” 

“Well, until Nesta graduates,” Elain reminds Feyre. 

“Maybe she’ll do a fifth year, just for us.” 

Nesta just raises an eyebrow at her sisters’ antics. A fifth year? Impossible. Not only because she takes her studies very seriously, keeping her GPA well above the average, but because the idea of spending an extra, unnecessary year in this place sounds like her own personal circle of hell. The sooner she can finish her degree and get on with the rest of her life, the better. 

“Alright,” Feyre concedes. “Bad suggestion.” 

With a wave and a promise to meet up for dinner later, Elain is off towards Oakwood Hall. Nesta hoists one of Feyre’s duffle bags onto her shoulder, following her youngest sister toward her own dorm hall. As she steps up onto the sidewalk, though, her shoulder collides with a firm body, Feyre’s bag almost falling out of her grip. 

“Hey! Watch where you’re going,” Nesta seethes. 

“Sorry, sweetheart,” a voice calls in return, already swallowed up by the groups of students moving in and out of the dorm hall. 

Nesta rolls her eyes at the saccharine nickname, resettling the duffle on her shoulder and catching up to Feyre. Her sister’s dorm reminds Nesta of her own freshmen dorm from back in the day, simple and small, all white walls and plain wood furniture. Despite the things already in the room, Feyre’s roommate is nowhere to be seen. 

“Do you need help with anything else?” Nesta asks, dropping the bag she had been holding onto Feyre’s bed. 

“I should be good. Orientation starts in a few hours.” 

A moment passes as the two sisters stare at one another. They aren’t exactly the most affectionate of families, hugging and that sort of thing. So with a small nod and smile, Nesta is on her way, back out of the dorm hall and to her car. 

Luckily, the off campus apartment she’s staying in this year isn’t that long a drive, and when she walks through the door, Emerie is already inside, leaning against their kitchen counter, a fork poised between her fingers and what looks like a slice of chocolate cake perched on a plate. 

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Emerie drawls, but the smile tugging at the corner of her lips gives away the teasing nature. 

“Hope you brought enough to share,” Nesta replies, eying up Emerie’s plate. 

“Do I look like I’m made of money? Go to the dining hall and get your own.” 

“When’s Gwyn meant to get in?” 

“Not until later this week. I’m surprised you’re on campus this early.” 

“Feyre has orientation this week. Plus I need to hit up the bookstore. I have Williams this semester.” 

“That man seriously needs to get that stick out of his ass when it comes to having the “right edition” for his class.” 

“Tell me about it,” Nesta sighs, sneaking her hand into the utensils drawer and then snagging a bite of Emerie’s cake before the female has a chance to react. 

“Hey!” Emerie calls after Nesta as she retreats to her room. “You’re lucky I like you, Nesta Archeron!” 

~ * * * ~

The campus bookstore is mostly filled with parents and baby-faced freshmen trying to decide which University of Prythian gear to spend all their money on, but once Nesta pushes back to where the shelves of textbooks live, the throngs of bodies thin out. She can’t help but run her finger along the spines of the books, all lined perfectly along the shelves. Each spine is a different color, a different texture, bold or curvy font declaring its title to the world, and while many are textbooks, that feel under her fingers is still a comfort. Like a heartbeat lives between the soft linen pages and beats in time with her own. 

A turn around the corner and Nesta finds the section of books she needs. She scans the different titles, and when her eyes finally land on the one she needs, she can’t help the long sigh that looses from her lungs. Of course, it’s on the very top shelf. Nesta reaches her arm up, stretching up onto her tip-toes until the pads of her fingers just brush the spine of the book, trying to inch the book closer to the edge where she could get it down. 

“Need some help, sweetheart?”

Nesta falls back on her heels in surprise, the voice and nickname snagging on her memory. She whips her head around to find a guy leaning against the shelf, arms crossed casually across his chest and a smug smile plastered across his face. He’s tall with broad shoulders, dark curls pulled into a bun at the back of his head. Nesta’s eyes can’t help but snag on the lines of ink dancing across the skin of his arms and peeking out of the open cuts of his bro-tank. When her eyes dance back to his face, his hazel eyes are alight like he had clocked and was delighted in what she had been doing. It makes her brain crash back into action, a scowl settling easily across her features. 

“You were the one who bumped into me earlier. Outside of Somerset Hall.” 

“That was you?” the guy asks, not even being subtle as he checks Nesta out. “My apologies. Let me make it up to you by taking you out to dinner.” 

Nesta doesn’t even deen that with a response. With a scoff, she turns back toward the front of the bookstore. She can come back later for the book she needs, ideally when this insufferable man with his cocky grins and overconfidence is nowhere to be seen. As she weaves her way through the shelves and toward the exit, she pointedly ignores the heavy set of footsteps she can hear trailing behind her. 

“At least tell me your name.” 

“No.” 

“No? Well that’s definitely an interesting name. My name’s Cassian by the way.” 

“I don’t recall asking.” 

“You didn’t have to. Your eyes were asking for you.” 

That has Nesta halting in her steps. She whirls around and clearly her sudden stop has this Cassian thrown off, his own steps stumbling. Good. She likes having the upperhand. 

“Does that line actually work for you?” 

“Actually, I usually have to use less words. My ruggedly handsome looks do all the talking.” 

“Rugged? Sure. But handsome?” Nesta pointedly rakes her eyes down his figure, and when they meet back with hazel, Cassian’s cock-sure grin slips the barest hint at the corner. “I don’t think so. You looked like you crawled out of a dumpster.” 

Nesta expects his smile to fall fully at the jab, and she hopes it’s enough for him to leave her alone, but instead that smile is still stubbornly there. Even worse, it twists and shifts into a smirk, like this is all some kind of fun game. It makes Nesta’s heart give an extra kick in her chest, and before she can even think about dwelling on what that means, she turns on her heel. 

“Goodbye, Cassian.” 

“Goodbye, sweetheart.” 

~ * * * ~

On Thursday, Nesta finds herself at the dining hall. It’s a little late for breakfast and too early for lunch, so luckily the place is blessedly not too crowded, just a few pockets of students talking and laughing at various tables. She’s standing in front of the pastry display when her phone starts buzzing incessantly, and she slides it out of her pocket to find Feyre going off in their sister group chat. 

I just met the most attractive man I have ever seen

I’m not fucking around. HIS FACE 

And he called me darling

He asked me to drinks tomorrow night!

“I personally prefer the blueberry muffins.” 

Nesta snaps her attention to her left to find Cassian standing there, that same wide and cocky grin from the bookstore settled across his face. His hair is down today, soft curls framing his face and brushing against his cotton tee covered shoulders. 

“You again,” Nesta sighs. 

“Isn’t it funny how we keep meeting?” 

“Funny isn’t the word I would use.”

“It’s almost like the Universe keeps pushing us together.”

“Or you’re stalking me.” 

“Maybe you’re stalking me,” Cassian says, tossing a wink Nesta’s way. 

“And why would I do that?” 

“I thought we already established the fact I’m ruggedly handsome?” 

“Pretty sure the only thing we’ve established is that you’re full of yourself.” 

Nesta turns and snags one of the wrapped chocolate chip muffins out of the display case, fully prepared to end this conversation and enjoy her snack in peace. 

“You forgot something the other day, you know.” 

Nesta looks back toward Cassian where he has an outstretched hand between them. There, clutched between his fingers, is the book she went to the campus bookstore to pick up. She blinks a few times at the wide script proclaiming Art Through the Ages, the cogs in her brain tripping over one another and trying to comprehend the sight before her. Her hand begins to reach out to take the book before she snaps it back to her side, her eyes locking back on Cassian’s face. 

“You got the book I needed?” 

“The perfect excuse to find and talk to you again.” 

“Well, I can’t accept it.” 

“Then you can Venmo me,” Cassian says, leaning into Nesta’s space and pressing the book into her hands. “And your Venmo will have your name, won’t it? So it’s a win-win.” 

This close up, Nesta can see all the green vines and gold flecks that make up his hazel eyes. The way his nose sits just off kilter like it’s been broken and set not quite right and the stubble pushing through along his jawline. She can feel the warmth that seems to radiate off his person in rolling waves. It’s a bit overwhelming. 

“It’s Nesta,” she offers, taking a step back. 

“Nesta,” Cassian says, like he’s testing the weight of her name on his tongue. “Well, Nesta, how about that dinner? The offer still stands. Or we could skip straight to dessert.” 

Nesta lets out a snort at the comment. She’s sure the sound isn’t particularly attractive, but she can’t help it. The audacity of this man. 

“Only in your dreams,” Nesta quips, turning on her heel and heading toward the register to pay for her muffin. 

“Is that a promise?”

She pretends she doesn’t hear him as she swipes her meal card and makes for the dining hall exit. She can feel Cassian’s eyes tracking her the whole way. 

Later, when Nesta gets back to her room and is thumbing through Art Through the Ages, she finds a note folded up between the pages. She opens up the paper to find an unfamiliar scrawl, simple black lines spelling out ‘Cassian’ and ten digits. She hesitates for only a moment before crumbling it up and tossing it in the trash. 

~ * * * ~

Classes start up on Monday, and Nesta is ready to throw herself back into her books, notes, and work. She has a jammed packed schedule this semester, knocking out the rest of her general education credit requirements needed to graduate on time. The perfect distraction to keep her mind busy. At least, she was able to squeeze in enough classes that actually interest her, including a course on Early Women Writers. 

On Tuesday, she walks into the science building and her chemistry class. She finds a lab table a few spots back from the front, settling onto one of the stools. She pulls her textbook and laptop from her bag and is just typing in her laptop password when she feels a presence behind her. 

“I guess I should thank you for coming through on your promise. The best dreams I’ve ever had.” 

Nesta can’t stop the pained sigh that pulls its way out her lungs. She rubs a hand down her face before turning to the right, just in time to find Cassian sliding into the stool beside her. He has another cotton tee on, his hair once again pulled up into a bun style. 

“Please don’t tell me you’re taking this class.” 

Cassian reaches into his backpack and pulls out his own chemistry textbook, holding it up as some sort of proof. 

“The Universe strikes again.” 

“So you keep saying, but clearly the Universe has bad taste.” 

Cassian throws his head back and laughs at the comment, surprising Nesta with his reaction and earning them a few curious looks from the rest of the class. The sound is deep and warm, seeming to radiate from deep within his chest. His shoulders shake like his large frame isn’t enough to contain the sound, and Nesta finds herself staring at the crinkles that appear beside his eyes. 

“Alright, class. Welcome to chemistry.” 

A hush falls over the whole room as the professor strides in the door and to the front of the room. She hands a small stack of syllabus sheets to each person sitting at the front to be passed back and a blank seating chart to fill in is passed between the tables. The professor goes through the syllabus for much of the allotted class time, and Nesta makes notes in the margins of hers about the grading system and circles the important deadlines she’ll need to remember. 

“I hope you’re comfortable with where you’re sitting and who you’re sitting with,” the professor addresses the class an hour later. “They’ll be your lab partner for the rest of the semester.” 

Nesta wants to groan as she buries her face in her hands. How did this become her life? As if simply seeing Cassian’s insufferable face three times a week for this class isn’t enough, now they actually have to interact and work with one another. If Cassian’s theory about this being the Universe's doing is correct, Nesta is pretty sure the Universe is just laughing in her face now. 

“Well, would you look at that, Nes,” Cassian drawls from beside her. “Another point for the Universe.” 

“I’m going to murder you in your sleep,” Nesta mutters from between her fingers. 

“As long as we get to cuddle a little beforehand.” 

“Cute,” Nesta says, putting as much dry sarcasm as she can behind the single word. 

“You know, lab partner,” Cassian offers while he stands up and slings his backpack across his shoulders. “I think it’s going to be a great semester.”

[miss-smutty]

The Destructive Secret

Chapter 4

Summary- You've got a secret to hide and it's going to cause complete and utter devastation. It's only so long until your lies are going to catch up to you.

Pairing- Chris Hems x Reader x Liam Hems

Word count- 2,211

Warnings- Smut, swearing, angst, cheating

18+ Only!!

Disclaimer: This is an entire work of fiction/AU and has no affiliation to real life what so ever! This is a fictional story about fictional characters who happen to share names and faces with some real people.

Posted: 29th June 2021

Taglist:- @innerpaperexpertcloud @pandaxnienke @chickensarentcheap @mostly-marvel-musings @longlostinanotherworld

>The Destructive Secret Masterlist<

"No not married but you do know her. You know her really well actually." Chris says while avoiding your gaze purposefully...

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife, silence so acute you could hear a pin drop. Liam waiting for an answer, Chris looking at his feet and you looking visibly anxious. Chris had drank way too much and now he was about to let all of your secrets loose. This isn't the way you want Liam to find out, surely Chris wouldn't be so cruel.

"I suppose you're not gonna tell me who it is?" 

"Not just yet, see how we go." He looked at you, if he so much as even looked slightly smug you would have slapped him right across his face. Instead you could see the hurt in his eyes, tears welling in the corners. You're both faced with an impossible dilemma, Chris wants you all to himself but doesn't want to lose his brother in the process and you want it all over and done with but don't want to hurt Liam. The latter of both is inevitable but you would take all the blame just so Chris didn't have to lose his brother, given the choice you would lose them both just so that didn't happen.

"Well on that note, I need to go to bed. I've gotta be up early in the morning." You avoid Chris' gaze, you're angry with him but you don't want to cause him more pain. 

"Yeah me too. I better get going. Thank you for dinner Y/N, it was lovely."

You risk a short glance at him, you're eyes softening when they meet. The moment broken when Liam speaks, reminding you where you are and who you're with right at this moment in time.

"Are you for real? You're really going to drop a bombshell like that and then leave? Fuck man." Liam runs his hand through his hair, letting air out of his cheeks exasperatedly.

"Sorry bro, I'll save the excitement for another night. I've said too much already." Chris apologises with his eyes as he passes you, his hands twitching by his side's with the need to touch you.

                             ******************

The next morning when you wake, your heart sinks knowing all the turmoil you're going to have to go through just to make it to the hotel without being spotted. All the messing about and hiding you have to do, checking in under a false name at different times. Making sure nobody follows you to the hotel and especially no one follows Chris. Getting caught checking into the same hotel would be dreadful, it wouldn't take a genius for the press to put two and two together, they wouldn't even care if it was true or not as long as they sold copies.

"Right babe, I'm ready to go." You pull your suitcase towards the door, stopping to wrap your arms around Liam.

"Have a good time, I'll see you soon." Wrapping his arms tightly around your waist and lifting your feet from the ground in a squeezy hug. "I'll miss you." 

"I'll miss you too, bye babe." 

"Bye. Love you. Let me know when you get checked in." He kisses you goodbye before watching you leave.

"Will do, Love you." You say over your shoulder, climbing into your silver, Audi convertible.

This is the part you hate the most, the part that made you question whether it was all worth it. It was, of course or you wouldn't be doing it, you wouldn't put yourself through having to pretend to be somebody else and praying your not caught by anyone. It only takes one person to notice you and Chris in the same hotel and it's over. You imagine having an affair is hard work whatever your circumstances but when your boyfriend and your lover are as famous as they are it becomes impossible. It's terrifying. 

You spent the car journey constantly checking your mirrors and making sure you weren't being followed. A huge sunhat and even bigger sunglasses covering your face as your heart beated faster than you thought was possible. A couple of laps around the hotel, making doubly sure you weren't being followed before you finally pulled into the carpark.

You had to constantly think, you couldn't let your guard drop for even a moment and it was exhausting. You were ready for it to be over and done with now, this just isn't fun anymore. Maybe you could run away together and start a new life somewhere else. Which one would you pick though? Who are you ready to give up? Would there even be an option to choose? Would Liam even be willing to forgive you if he knew you were sleeping with his brother? In love with his brother.

Your heart beating out of your chest, your fight or flight well and truly kicking in now as you walk up to the front desk. If there's any recognition in the receptionists eyes you're ready to turn right around and leave. The girl behind the desk, with long blonde hair has her eyes on the computer In front of her, thankfully not paying you much attention as you stand and wait for her to finish.

"Hi I'd like to book a room for two nights please." You stutter nervously, subconsciously checking over your shoulder while you spoke.

"Of course, is it just for yourself?" 

"Yes please, I'm just here for a work conference. I'd like a double bed if possible though, I haven't been able to sleep in a single since I was young." You giggle nervously, embarrassed that you'd told her information she isn't even slightly interested in.

"No problem, I'll see what I have for you." Her eyes barely left her computer as she spoke, she definitely didn't recognise you. The tension in your muscles relaxed a little as your eyes scanned the lobby.

"What name is it please?" She asked, one of the moments you'd been dreading. You hate lying but luckily you'd already come up with the fake name you were using, one you'd already used many times before in the exact same situation. It never gets any easier.

"Jessica Crawley." The names tumbled from your lips, names that had absolutely no meaning to you. 

"Room 101, floor 5. Is there anything else I can help you with?" 

"No thank you, that's great." The overwhelming feeling of relief at completing step one without any problems, rushes over you. Adrenaline spiking, making your legs feel like jelly.

"You're welcome, enjoy your stay. Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions." The girl says, smiling sweetly at you before going back to her work.

The elevator seemed to take forever to make its way down to you, your feet shuffling as you watched the numbers above the door, counting down. The overwhelming need to get to privacy and away from the many prying eyes of the people in the lobby was severe. Most were business men and women, that were so consumed in themselves they weren't paying special attention to anyone around them. There were also young couples, making their way through the lobby, probably on their way for lunch but the people that worried you the most were the random loners sat in the armchairs scattered around the lobby. They'd chosen the perfect place to watch, some pretending to read newspapers while their eyes discreetly scanned over the top.

They were much more inquisitive, much like yourself they paid more attention to the people around them. People watchers you liked to call them, these are the sorts of people that make you nervous. They see everything, noticing any minor details, you'd spent a lifetime perfecting 'people watching' which is how you knew to be wary. You could pretty much judge a person's personality just by watching them for a couple of minutes. If anyone was to spot you it would be one of these people. You felt thankful you weren't Chris, there is absolutely no way he was going to make it to the elevator without being seen at least once.

                             *******************

Chris didn't feel quite as nervous as you, this was a every day occurance in his life, avoiding paparazzi was near impossible for him. As long as you weren't seen going in to the hotel then it wouldn't matter about him being seen. Still, he'd worn his baseball cap and sunglasses to at least try and hide his identity. He wasn't nervous about being seen but more about having to face you after his fuck up last night. Now that thought was way more intimidating to him.

Casually strolling into the hotel, he tried to ignore the whispers of the people around him. People questioning if it was really him, young girls barely out of high school giggling at the sight of him. Chris quietly prayed that he would make it up to the room without anyone asking for a photo, not that he usually minded but today all he wanted was to spend every possible minute with you as he could.

The receptionist tried to make a fuss when his identity was confirmed during check in. The pale skin of the same blonde girl who'd checked you in, had turned a rather bright shade of red when she heard Chris' sexy Australian accent. You wouldn't blame her, it still makes you swoon whenever you heard him speak.

"I'm fine honestly, I don't want any special treatment. Actually if I could get away with going completely unnoticed during my stay, I will speak to your boss myself and tell them how accomodating you'd been." 

"Oh wow, really? Thank you so much Mr Hemsworth. I will make sure nobody bothers you and if you need anything at all just give me a call, I'll make sure you won't have to leave your room for anything." Chris smiled, pretending not to notice how she seemed to be flirting with him, badly. Tossing her hair over shoulder as she insinuated not so subtly for him to let her know if he wanted any 'special' treatment. Again, you don't blame the girl, infact you would've commended her confidence.

She handed over the keys to the penthouse, watching bright eyed as he walked to the elevator, pulling out his phone as he stepped straight in. 

"Hi babe, I've booked the penthouse suite, meet me up there?" Smiling a tight lipped smile at the girl behind the desk, who was still watching him intently as the elevator doors closed.

"Ok, it isn't very inconspicuous staying in the penthouse is it?" You shouldn't be surprised, he does it everytime. You remember the first time you ever saw a penthouse and how amazed you were that it was actually bigger than your own home at the time. That was a memory you shared with Liam, all of your first times had been with Liam, the thought made your heart sink.

"I mean they knew who I was as soon as I walked in, I think it would look more suspicious if I didn't stay in a suite." Chris answered, pulling you from your thoughts.

"I suppose that's true, I'll be up soon." You could hear the sadness in your voice, something you had to snap out of before meeting Chris.

"Good because I can't wait to get my hands on you." 

Sinking back onto the spongey mattress of your bed, tiredness washing over you already. The mental exhaustion of constantly having to play games and be on your guard at all times, catching up to you as you're finally alone.

Maybe that's what you need afterall, a chance to be alone to gather your thoughts, to workout your own needs and wants without spreading your attention between the two brothers.

You make a mental list of the pros and cons of both of them knowing deep down if Liam were the one for you, you'd have never have looked twice at Chris. They were so similar in a lot of ways but completely different in others.

Liam was the sweetest man you knew, so gentle and caring, attentive to your every whim and being so young when you first got together he was everything you were looking for.

Now being a woman that has gone through so much trauma in her life that had tainted your soul, darkened it with a lust for more.

Then Chris came along, he was still sweet and caring but less attentive to your needs unless it was in the bedroom. He was cheeky and funny, drop dead gorgeous and oozing manliness effortlessly. He was fire and passion. He was more. 

If you let yourself admit it, you wanted excitement, which is how you ended up here in the first place. You didn't want perfect anymore, you wanted a man who could do wrong and then make up for it in the most fulfilling way he knew how. Just thinking about it made your pulse race, Chris had put you through hell last night and now it was time for payback. You imagined Chris only a couple of floors above you, worried about the way you were going to act when you saw him and lord knows how much you're going to make him sweat.                    

[northlight14]

Gettin’ bi

(Title inspired by the song “Gettin’ bi” from the show “crazy ex girlfriend”)

Description: Really, all Roman wanted was some time to relax after a long week. But, of coarse, his brother Remus has to come and crash his binge watching session. 

TW: caps, cursing, let me know if I need to add anything else

Ships: platonic creativity twins, implied roceit

Genre: human au, high school au (kinda, it’s mentioned they go to high school but that’s it)

Prompt: bisexual (prompt given by @pridewrite2021

(Mild spoilers for the show crazy ex girlfriend!! Also if you haven’t seen it, go watch it because it’s soo good and not as sexist as the title makes it sound! You don’t really need to have seen the show tho to read this)

It had been a long week. Roman had been having to balance home work, art coursework AND practicing for the school show. Not to mention how many arguments he’d gotten into with Virgil about lighting of said show. But now it was finally Friday night and he could breathe. 

Roman went straight to change out of his regular clothes and into his silk red pajamas, the material feeling soft against his skin. He then switched off his bedroom light, making the room as dark as possible, flopped onto his bed and switched on his TV to Netflix. He looked through each of the shows on his list that he’d been meaning to watch before changing to his ‘watch again’ list to binge ‘Crazy Ex Girlfriend’ for the 5th time. What? Roman knew what he liked. 

He clicked onto a random episode before huddling into his white duvet and red and yellow pillows. A few episodes passed, Roman singing along to all the songs having memorised them by now.

‘I really needed this’ Roman thought as the next episode began to play.

Then, as if on que, his brother Remus burst through his door, the light from the hallway blinding Roman.

“Hey dipshit! What we watchin’?” Remus said, jumping onto Romans bed, crushing his legs in the process.

“Ow! Remus!” Roman squawked, pulling his legs away.

“Don’t be a puss.” Remus laughed, nudging his brother in the side and yanking the blanket over towards him.

“Remus!” Roman said, trying and failing to steal his blanket back.

“Sorry Ro-bro, it’s mine now. So, what we watchin?” He asked again.

Resigning himself to the fact that Remus wasn’t going to leave, he answered rather defeatedly, “Crazy Ex Girlfriend.”

“That again? Wait, was that you singing the songs again?! I thought a cat was getting mauled somewhere or something!” Remus laughed as Roman made an offended gasp before hitting his brother in the head with one of his pillows.

“Shut up!”

They were able to get though a few minutes of the episode without too much of an issue. Emphasis on the too much because Roman has a beautiful singing voice thank you very much and those aren’t even the right lyrics Remus and you know it!

That was until a very specific scene started to play.

‘Shit.’ Roman thought. ‘Are we up to this bit already?’

Roman watched very quietly as the character Darryl began to call his co-workers into his office, his back going (ironically) very straight and his discomfort hanging thick in the air.

‘What the heckity heck five abs and one pec am I supposed to do here?’ Roman thought in panic as Darryl began to sing the iconic song ‘Gettin bi’ as he came out to his co-workers. It was one of Romans personal favourites in the series considering he was also bisexual. But also considering no one apart from a few close friends knew that, this was approaching dangerous territory.

‘If I don’t sing this song, that’ll look suspicious!’ Roman thought. ‘But if I do, there’s a very high chance I’ll get too into it and out myself! How the heck to straight people react to this?!’

He eventually opted to humming it slightly, making a comment about how he “doesn’t really know the words to this one,” despite it being on his playlist. Roman then dared a glance at his brother, who was watching the show unbothered. He couldn’t help but wonder what Remus was thinking. Sure, Remus had never said anything homophobic in the past but Roman had met some of his friends and they weren’t exactly the most pleasant of people.

‘Well, most of them.’ Roman thought, blushing slightly as he thought of Janus, Remus’ best friend, before shaking the thought away.

“It’s pretty cool they have so much diversity in this show.” Remus said casually, tossing popcorn into his mouth. (Wait, when did Remus get popcorn?) “I mean, most shows completely ignore bisexual people existing but this guy gets a whole ass song about it.”

Roman couldn’t help the warm, comforting feeling in his chest. “You think?” He said, carefully.

“Well, yeah. Me and one of my friends who’s bi was talking about this yesterday. In shows and movies, they always act like a character can only be either straight or gay but that’s so stupid. They can be bi or pan or poly or omni. They’re just uncreative and erasing a bunch of people.” Remus said, tossing a sweet into his mouth. (Wait, when did Remus get sweets? What the fuck?!)

Roman honestly felt like he could cry. “So you don’t think it’s, like, made up or whatever. Or a phase?” Remus looked at him judgingly.

“Well, obviously not.” He said as if Roman was stupid. “Why, do-oof” Remus was cut off by Roman tackling him into a hug. And yep, Roman was definitely crying now. Remus just seemed to freeze like a deer in headlights.

“Roman, what the hell?” Roman moved away from Remus, frantically whipping tears from his eyes. “Uh...Roman? You alright?”

“I’m...um.” Roman began to choke on the words he was so close to speaking. ‘Am I really about to do this?’ “I’m bisexual.” He quickly said, eyes averting Remus’.

There was a beat.

It surely must have been just a few seconds but God did it feel like an eternity. Roman looked at Remus, waiting for him to say something. Anything.

‘Oh God this was a mistake! He hates you! He’s going to out you to mom and dad and-‘

Remus smirked. “Yeah, and the skys blue, grass is green and snakes have two dicks. What else is new?” Remus laughed.

“I...what?” Roman said, not entirely sure what to say to that, especially that last comment.

“I already knew you weren’t straight, you dork.” Remus smiled, nudging Roman in the shoulder.

“You...what?” Remus just laughed.

“Roman, you��re literally a theatre kid. Plus, anyone with eyes can see you drooling over Janus every time I bring him over.” Roman felt his entire face go red at that. Then he felt a twisting sense of horror in his gut.

“Do mom and dad know?!” He asked, slightly panicked.

“Probably not but I won’t tell them if you’re not ready.” Roman sighed in relief at that.

The two then turned back to the TV. The song had finished and the episode was continuing. Roman felt...strange. Almost as if it wasn’t him who had just come out.

“I’m really proud of you, you know.” Remus said, not taking his eyes off the screen with a small smile on his lips. Roman felt his heart light up, almost like a massive weight had been lifted from his chest.

That was until Remus playfully punched him in the arm.

“Ow! Remus!”

“What? That’s how I show affection!”

This quickly turned into a wrestling match.

Roman was glad things hadn’t changed that much, at least.

————

Reblogs >>> likes

For those who want to listen to the song: here

I’m not saying this was an excuse for me to tell everyone to go watch crazy ex but like...I’m not denying it either😅

[infinitecrime]

Spoiler free TFATWS Episode 5 review:

Another very solid episode. A huge amount of pay off for many of the various subplots at play and a great progression of the overall story. Some conversations that really needed to be had were finally had and it was immensely satisfying. Other than a strong opening action sequence, this episode was mainly character and dialogue focussed, which I think is going to upset some of the fanboys, but for me it might have been the strongest episode yet.

Spoiler heavy review:

Writing/Plot: 

The opening fight was fantastically choreographed and heart breaking in a lot of ways. The acting was noteworthy which is rare for a fight scene where people normally phone it in or we don’t really see much of their expressions because they’re stunt doubles. I’m glad this was the only real action this week - it felt nice to get a break and return to character and plot driven scenes.

Overall this episode was just really satisfying in terms of plot progression and pay off. We resolved Bucky’s beef with Wakanda, Zemo’s fate, Bucky and Sam not seeing eye to eye, Isaiah’s story, Sam’s issues with the shield, and closure for Lemar’s family. We’ve progressed Sam and Sarah’s money/boat issues and whatever the fuck Sharon and Batroc have going on. Next week we’re setting up to give Yori some closure and put an end to John and the Flagsmashers.

Even the Flagsmashers, who we barely saw, got more development than it seems they have for a while - we now know they are all in on criminal behaviour, are willing to kill, have a distinct target (the GRC), and a distinct goal (stop the Patch), and have a mini army to do it with.

The vibe of this episode was just... soft, which is surprising for a hyper masculine superhero bro show. The whole community coming together to help the Wilson’s and Bucky being inducted into the family was just so wholesome. Even the Isaiah scenes, heart wrenching as they were, would have been intercut with violent and graphic torture flashbacks under some other director, but Kari knew that the story was powerful and upsetting enough on it’s own.

Sam:

Sam and Sarah are just amazing. Really really hope we see her in future Marvel properties. It's so nice to see the perspective of someone so grounded in a world of wizards and shit. I love that he seems to tell her everything and values her advice just as much if not more than that of soldiers and superheroes. 

Watching him grapple with Steve and Bucky’s expectations of him vs Isaiah’s expectations of him vs Sarah’s expectations of him vs his own wants and needs was very impactful, and in the end, he’s going to honour them all and pick up the shield, but on his own terms, as his own man, because he wants to, not because some old men told him to/not to.

Sam finally got some of those deeply emotional beats that I have been hoping for this whole time, which gives Anthony a chance to really flex his acting muscles. He’s great at subtlety but he really shines in this episode now the writing has allowed him to. Everything with Isaiah and the scene of him wiping blood off the shield was so raw.

Isaiah, who gets his own section this week:

God, his entire section was so powerful and well done. I’m so glad he came back and we got to learn more about his story and his situation. I’m so glad it was explicitly addressed what was done to him, why it was done, how it affects Sam and his perception of the shield, how it affected his family, and how he still carries all that trauma to this day. I’m so glad it was a one on one between them.

Carl Lumbly was absolutely fantastic and Anthony played off of him wonderfully. The injustice and pain is so stark in this scene. I would love to see more of him in the future but I also want him to be able to finally rest.

Isaiah did exactly what Steve did. Went against express orders to do the right thing and saved a group of POW's that the top brass had written off as expendable. In return, Steve got his fake Captain title made real, a fancy new shield, and was lauded as a hero. Isaiah was imprisoned, tortured, experimented on, and treated as a criminal. For the same. damn. thing.

I was perplexed in previous weeks about people condemning Bucky for not telling anyone about Isaiah, when doing so would have disturbed his well earned peace and put him in extreme danger. In this episode we get the confirmation that Bucky’s choice was right: Isaiah is legally dead and in hiding and the government don't know he's alive. He wants to be left alone ("Leave me dead, my name is buried") and that’s more important than what Sam wants or what you think Bucky should have done. It’s up to Isaiah; and Bucky (and later Sam) respected his wishes.

Bucky:

Ayo calling Bucky White Wolf, telling him to steer clear of Wakanda “for the moment” but not forever, and making Sam a vibranium Cap suit shows he’s fully forgiven. To be honest, they likely don’t have an extradition treaty with Germany so they actually never would have gotten their hands on Zemo if Bucky hadn’t broken him out, so they’re probably happier with him than they let on right now.

The Zemo-Bucky relationship and the grudging respect and understanding they have for each other is so interesting. I honestly don’t believe this is the last we’ll see of Zemo. He’s straddling the anti-hero/villain divide and he’s just so fascinating. Bucky getting his closure with Zemo and showing him that he isn’t the weapon Zemo treated him as was powerful, although I don’t think Zemo actually thought he would kill him. He knows that Bucky wasn’t corrupted by the serum, and even admitted as much.

Fighting John with the shield must have given him flashbacks to the helicarrier fight with Steve which can’t have been pleasant. The pure rage on his face at seeing the shield misused was clear here.

Seeing him helping the Wilson’s and being integrated into the community and the family in a way he hasn’t had since the Howling Commandos (and even then, they were at war) was just so, so sweet and wholesome. And his boat fixing skills corroborated my science nerd/mechanic Bucky headcanons.

Bucky and Sarah lightly flirting is very cute and I would like to see that relationship be developed more. 

It was nice to see him explicitly apologise and recognise why Sam didn’t want the shield, as well as explaining why he reacted the way he did. I don’t understand the people saying it wasn’t good enough at all - it was a clear and sincere apology and completely proportional to the actual offence, which was not quite understanding a perspective that he wasn’t really equipped to immediately understand. He doesn’t need to beg or plead - just acknowledge his ignorance, say sorry, and improve, which he did. Sam was perfectly happy with it and accepted the apology, his gift, and his help on the boat. Drama over nothing as per usual amongst the Bucky antis.

I still wish they would be more explicit about Steve’s fate and how they both feel about it, but I liked the scene we got.

Other characters:

“You built me.” - Wyatt is extremely good at mining sympathy out of an otherwise unsympathetic character. As much as I hate him, I did feel for him in the courthouse scene and with Lemar’s parents. He's an example of the veterans that are exploited until they crack then left in the dust as damaged goods when they do. I’ve been so, so impressed with Wyatt and the nuance and complexity and sympathy he’s managed to inject into the character. In anyone else’s hands he would be a two dimensional power crazed villain, but in Wyatt’s he’s a lot more than that.

Val is intriguing. Skrull? HYDRA? Power Broker? Something new entirely?

I wish John’s wife got a name. This is the second love interest minor female character (after the bartender) without an onscreen name, unless I missed it.

I am still somewhat perplexed by Sharon. Is she a double agent? A triple agent? Is she the Power Broker? Is she against the Flagsmashers, or with them, or only out for herself and against everyone? I’m not sure how this can all be resolved in only one episode but I guess we’ll find out. I wonder if she’s being set up for a future project. Is she a Skrull?

I knew Batroc would be back when we didn’t explicitly see him die - is he being used by Sharon without his knowledge for some other purpose, or does she genuinely not give a fuck if he kills Sam?

Nice to see Torres and to see that he has an obvious crush on both Sam AND Bucky. He’s for sure swooping into the final battle next episode having fixed Sam’s wings.

Is the inclusion of Eli Bradley setting him up for a future Young Avengers series, or is he just a nice comic cameo and nothing more?

Lemar's parents had me tearing up. Fuck Walker for lying to them but at least he gave them some closure I guess? Poor Lemar. He deserved so much more and we deserved more of him.

Fuck John Walker and his fake shield.

[sondepoch]

Chapter 4

Hearts on Three (Satan x Reader)

The athlete and the nerd. The rich kid and the scholarship student. The girl who will constantly joke about breaking your knee caps and the boy who will actually do it. There are so many ways to describe your relationship with Satan. Too many, if you’re being honest. He’s your best friend. The smartest tutor you’ve ever had. He also spends thousands of dollars for you at the drop of a hat and holds your hand when you’re feeling down. And in the beginning, that's okay. Neither of you let yourselves get bogged down by labels, both of you content to just savor this newfound friendship. But deeper feelings always have a way of complicating things. And for better or for worse, you and Satan are no exception.

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | ✎

MASTERLIST

“Bro, you good?”

Satan blinks the sleep from his eyes at the feeling of a pencil tapping against his shoulder, groggily turning to face the owner of the voice that tore him from his precious slumber.

“...bwha?” is the educated response Satan can come up with in his sleep-addled mind.

Solomon snorts.

“Dude, this is the third time you’ve fallen asleep in class this week.” The white-haired athlete grins. “Keep this up and I’m gonna score better than you on tomorrow’s test.”

“We have a…”

Satan groans inwardly. He has a test tomorrow? The blonde blinks up at the board. It takes a second for his vision to clear, but then it registers that he’s in math class, and everything else falls into place. A quick scan over the whiteboard confirms that Satan didn’t miss anything important, that the chapter the teacher is covering is something Satan taught himself roughly two years back, but the boy still groans to himself in frustration. He doesn’t like to sleep through class. Ever.

“Thanks for waking me up,” Satan mumbles to his friend when he glances at the clock. It seems that Solomon let him doze for nearly the entire period, opting to wake him up a mere minute before the bell should ring. 

“No problem. But seriously, I’ve never seen you slack this hard. You good?”

“I’m fine. I’m just tired because…” Satan trails off, hesitant to confess that the reason he’s so exhausted is because of you. No doubt, Solomon would read way too deeply into that—nope, wait, it looks like Solomon figured it out on his own from the shit-eating grin he’s now sporting.

“Ah, your future girlfriend, is it?” Solomon leans back in his chair, grinning. “The love life is rough, buddy. Make sure you’re using protection at night, though.”

Satan has never been more relieved to hear a bell ring.

“Would you lower your voice?” He growls when a couple of kids passing by give him weird looks. Satan glares hard at Solomon, but the latter gives a grand total of zero (0) shits.

“Sorry,” Solomon says in a voice that makes it all too clear that he’s not sorry.

Satan has never hated his schedule more than in the next moment when he realizes that Solomon is in his next class and that they can’t split ways. Worse yet, it’s Physical Education—the stupidest course of all time because all it consists of is kids walking in circles for an entire hour and being “encouraged” to run. And somehow, to top it off, Satan always ends up walking with Solomon. 

“We’re not together,” Satan grunts to his friend when they’re outside doing laps around the track. “It’s just that it’s fucking hard to balance club duties, her volleyball schedule, and my own studies.” 

“I totally get it,” Solomon blurts. “But you’ve gotta get used to it, bro. Imagine how much harder it’s gonna be to when the two of you start dating! You’ll have to take her out on dates, and—fuck—have you ever been to one of her games? She has crazy stamina, man. The two of you’ll be at it all night.”

Satan thinks back to freshman orientation, wondering why, of all the places to sit, he chose the seat next to the most annoying person in the entire academy. 

“Solomon, can you shut the fuck up?”

Solomon, unsurprisingly, does not shut the fuck up.

With enough difficulty, Satan does finally manage to steer the topic away from Solomon’s matchmaking attempts and towards more normal topics. Namely, Satan’s matchmaking attempts. Of course, just as Satan places no weight on Solomon’s opinions on his love life, Solomon completely ignores Satan’s advice to stop beating around the bush and just ask Asmo out, the athlete having the nerve to say “I’ll ask Asmo out when you ask our volleyball captain out”—as if you and Satan have a remotely similar history to Asmo and Solomon, who, as now known by the entire campus, are both desperately pining for each other but are too dumb to see it.

Satan sighs, shaking his head.

Idiots, he thinks. I’m surrounded by idiots.

It’s to this thought that Satan hears someone calling his name in the distance: an extremely familiar voice, almost grating on the ears, but a voice he knows he should not be hearing. 

Satan shakes his head, deciding that he’ll clear up his schedule today so he gets a nap in because surely, surely he must be imagining you calling his voice. Surely you’re not actually on this track field. Surely you’re not cutting English, of all courses, a subject that Satan insists you pay extra attention to because it’s the single course you're most likely to fail.

“Bro,” Solomon whispers, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Satan closes his eyes, trying to see if pretending that he doesn’t hear your footsteps sprinting closer and closer towards him will make it so that they’re not real.

It doesn’t work.

“Satan!” You shriek, now close enough that he can’t pretend you’re a figment of his imagination anymore. “Satan! Satan, Satan, Satan!”

The blonde continues staring resolutely forward, committing himself to the ideology of I do not see it, therefore it is not happening.

Unfortunately, Satan sees it. And so it happens.

Without any warning whatsoever, you lurch forward and grapple on to Satan, wrapping your limbs around him like a literal koala as you yeet yourself onto him with enough force that Satan is just barely able to remain standing when you attach yourself to him while shrieking: ”Satan! Guess what, guess what!”

The blonde is at a loss for words, so dumbfounded and taken aback that it’s all he can do to sputter out a confused “w-what?” 

You grin at him with a smile so wide it looks like it hurts, and Satan can only stare as you reveal what made you so happy.

“I got an 85 on the Shakespeare test!” 

The Shakespeare test, the man thinks, trying to remember.

The Shakespeare test, he repeats in his mind, a vision of you cram-reading the final acts of King Lear flashing through his mind

The Shakespeare test! Satan realizes with a start, suddenly recalling how it was a test he expected you to fail.

Satan’s mouth drops open at that. He had been prepared for you to get a 20, a 30; the highest you told him to expect was a 60, and even that was below the fail margin, but an 85? Holy shit, Satan might cry if he got a grade like that, but for you, it’s a genuine accomplishment, and he’s fucking proud.

“You’re joking,” he blurts, already calculating how this will affect your average and, holy shit, it’s actually going to pull you up to a passing grade.

“I’m not!” you declare with so much happiness that it’s infectious, and then the two of you are hugging and laughing except that Satan’s literally carrying you so it’s awkward, but neither of you care because this is the highest grade you’ve pulled all year, and Satan is finally beginning to feel like the late hours and the sleepless nights are all worth it.

The two of you are grinning and beaming at each other even when you finally de-koala yourself from Satan and land on the ground; and it’s at this precise moment that Satan realizes just how many people are watching. 

The blonde clears his throat awkwardly. 

It felt so natural when you tackled Satan midair, but he’s now beginning to realize just how intimate that whole scene looked to any onlookers. He stiffens, and you seem to notice, your own demeanor turning sheepish in turn.

A low whistle from next to you diffuses the situation.

“An 85, huh?” Solomon slings an arm around your shoulder, sandwiching you between him and Satan as the three of you continue walking along the track field—effectively sending a message to anyone watching that the show is over. “Not bad, Captain, not bad.”

“It’s amazing, Solomon!” you cry out in turn, grinning as you lean into his shoulder. (Satan doesn’t feel weird when he sees that, he swears he doesn’t.) “I haven’t scored this high since, well, I dunno. I don’t really pay attention to the scores I get because they’re always so low!”

Solomon laughs at that, definitely remembering when he was the same way. 

“It’s all thanks to Satan, no?” Solomon prods, and the blonde shoots a sharp look at his friend. He’s up to something. Satan isn’t sure if he wants to know what.

“Oh, definitely! He literally read every single text out loud to me! I left this one book for the very last day, and he actually stayed with me and—”

“You need to get back to class,” Satan swiftly interrupts, his ears turning red. “You did well on one test, but you need to pay attention if you want to continue.”

“Oh, but—”

Satan practically shoves you away, gesturing wildly the whole time with a vigor that has you confused but compliant as you slowly depart, doubtlessly making your way back to the English building as slowly as you possibly can.

When you’re gone, Solomon snorts.

“You read to her?” He asks, expression brimming with mirth.

“It’s not—it’s an effective studying technique that we use to save time—”

“Oh my god,” Solomon mumbles under his breath, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. “Next thing you know, I’ll find out that she’s sleeping on your shoulder or something. Seriously, Satan, way to make a move early on.”

Satan is incredibly grateful that Solomon doesn’t see how his face changes at that part, a flush rising on his cheeks when he realizes that you’ve fallen asleep on his shoulder not once, now, but several times.��

“Shut up,” Satan grumbles, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

“No way, man!” Solomon cackles with laughter, finding great amusement in his friend’s frustration. “Oh my god, the two of you are so perfect for each other that it hurts! Here, take a look at this—”

Solomon pulls up his phone and opens up his Photo Gallery, swiping twice before handing it over to Satan.

“Just look at that, dude—” he gestures vaguely at the picture. “You two already look like you’re dating.”

Satan stares at the image, his feet slowing down. It’s a picture of you and Satan hugging, taken conveniently when you were still koala-ing Satan with your entire body because of course Solomon was able to get a picture that quickly, and although Satan can’t see either of your faces due to the side angle, even he has to acknowledge that the two of you really do look like a couple.

“It’s not like that,” Satan mumbles, shaking his head as he hands the phone back to Solomon. 

This might be the first time, though, that he actually entertains the thought of what it would be if it was like that.

It’s not a terrible thought.

You hate away-scrimmages for a lot of reasons.

The first reason is that, more often than not, the environment is hostile. The other team is always bound to have more support, more cheering, more motivation powering them forward while yours has nothing more than the girls on the bench and the loud voice of your coach. 

The second reason is that they always feel like a waste of time. Scrimmages, by nature, are meant to be an extension of practice. So what’s the point of a scrimmage if you spend more time driving to the school than you spend playing against the school? It’s totally backwards, in your opinion, and pretty stupid.

The third reason is the most compelling reason, though. And it’s probably because this is the issue you’re dealing with right now: the fact that at away-scrimmages, if there does happen to be someone from your school who puts in the time and effort to come watch, the pressure on your shoulders instantly triples. Scrimmages are supposed to be fun, enjoyable. They’re nothing more than practice matches to collect data and get ready for when you’ll go against the school for real—but when people from your school travel such a long distance to watch you play not even a game but a scrimmage, it feels like you owe it to them to bring home a win, to succeed, to make the match worth their while.

And while Satan doubtlessly had no intentions of adding to your stress when he asked to watch you play at today's scrimmage, that’s exactly what has happened.

“Listen, girls,” your voice is low as your team groups up in what will likely be the last huddle of the match. “I want us to win this. Really badly. Do what it takes, but bring home that victory.” You take a moment to recite the weaknesses of the other team, trying to downplay their skill and build confidence in your own teammates, but ultimately, you all know the truth. “It all comes down to how we play this point, girls, so let’s play our best.”

You glance around at your teammates, stealing a glance at the bleachers where Satan sits, watching the scrimmage.

You want to make him proud.

“Wolves on three: one, two, three—”

“Wolves!” your teammates echo, raising their fists as the lot of you split off into your serve receive positions.

As it stands, match point is weighing against you, and your team is at a heavy disadvantage. From what you’ve gathered on the opposing team, their libero is a literal legend when it comes to front row saves, and they have an amazing right-side hitter, one that easily rivals your own skill. This entire game, their team has been leading, but all your team needs to secure victory is a measly three points, three points that you know you can obtain if you try hard enough.

You crouch low, getting ready for the opposing team’s serve.

The first two points are easy for your team to get: the first point comes when the opposing team’s outside hitter rams the ball into the net, and the second comes when your team's right-side hitter manages a clean hit through a line of defense that jumped a second too late.

The final point, as always, is the hardest to get.

It just so happens that it’s your serve, so you consciously aim at what you think is the weakest link in the opposing team, but they’re able to recover. From then on, it’s an intense volley back and forth until it’s just you versus the right-side hitter, #18, the two of you fighting it out in a rhythmic contest of pass-set-hit that just won’t end.

It’s at this time that you feel the pressure beating down on you heavier than ever before. More than anything, you want to win. Not just because you’re naturally competitive, not just because you really fucking hate #18 right now (seriously, what business does she have being as good as you?), but because you know that Satan is watching. 

You really, really, really want to bring home a win for him.

It’s to this thought that you set the ball over on the first touch, sabotaging the flow of the game and ruining the other team’s momentum. 

It happens in slow motion as the ball falls, slowly, slowly.

The entire room seems to hold its breath as three girls on the opposing team, #18 included, all pancake-dive for the ball. Sensing their success, you bend your knees, preparing for the ball’s return.

It never comes.

The blow of the ref’s whistle is surreal, almost as faraway as the subsequent cheers of your own team, so empty and distant as they instantly group up for a team tackle—but for the first time, you don’t join them. 

Instead, you’re left staring up at Satan who, from his spot on the bleachers, is grinning down at you with a proud look on his face.

You don’t think you’ve ever been so happy to win a scrimmage. 

Everything else passes by in a blur. Your team regroups and changes out of your uniforms, and the lot of you board the bus that’s set to bring you back to the Royal Academy of Barbatos. 

You, however, stay back.

“I’ll get a ride from my tutor,” you tell your coach, bidding farewell to your friends. 

The man arches an eyebrow at you, asking once and then twice if you’re certain you don’t want to stay with the team, but you nod your head. 

Weird, you think as you go to find Satan, who’s waiting for you at his car. This must be the first time I’ve prioritized someone else over the team.

You decide not to dwell on that thought. 

Instead, you choose to think about how sick Satan’s ride is.

“Oh my god,” you mumble, gawking as soon as you see the car. “Satan, I knew you were loaded, but I had no clue you were this loaded.”

Satan laughs at your reaction, grinning when you can do nothing but stand and stare at the sheer beauty of it: a slick, black Bugatti with a single green stripe down the middle. 

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” you coo, marveling at the interior when you slide into the passenger seat and slug your volleyball bag unceremoniously in the back. “Satan, I think I like this car better than I like you.”

The blonde gives a short laugh, rolling his eyes as he gets inside next to you. “I’ll let you drive it someday,” he offers.

You’re quick to decline, shuddering to think about how many more sports scholarships you’d need to ever pay such a thing off if you were to crash it. 

Satan can only smile at that, mumbling something under his breath that you can’t hear.

“Your match was amazing, by the way,” he says before you can probe him about what he said. “It looked really intense. It’s impressive that you were able to keep a level head even at the end.”

You don’t tell Satan that your head wasn’t level, that you were practically dizzy with fear from the possibility of losing in front of him.

“It comes with practice,” you instead choose to say. “Something we’ve gotta do tonight!”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

You shoot Satan an innocent smile in response.

“Your match lasted a good hour, and I saw you practicing with your team before your bus left.” Satan shakes his head, a frown beginning to spread across his lips. “You’re going to destroy your muscles if you try to do any more. Even you need to rest.”

“Yeah, but resting is boring.” You lean back in your seat and stare at your palms. “Besides, that scrimmage was way too close for comfort. Didn’t you see number eighteen? She was, like, really good. If both our teams make it to the state tournament, we’re going to have a lot of trouble dealing with her unless we practice like crazy until then.”

“Exactly,” Satan says. “Your team needs to practice, not you. The best thing you can do for them is relax and make sure you don’t overexert yourself.”

“But don't you want to reward me for getting a good grade on my Shakespeare test?” A smile curls onto your lips because you know that's something Satan has been thinking about. “Come on, just a few balls? It’ll be quick, I promise. I just want to try a few moves out.”

Satan lets out an exasperated sigh that lets you know he’s agreeing.

“Yes!” You exclaim, resisting the urge to jump out of your seat and hug him because he probably won't be as inclined to help you if you make him crash his car. “Thank you so much, Satan! I won’t be long, I promise!”

The blonde doesn’t say anything to that, sighing softly as he switches his destination from the student parking lot to the on-campus gym you usually conduct your practice sessions in. It takes a while, but when the two of you get there, the spot Satan pulls into is far from the doors. It's a necessity since all the other spots are taken, but it makes you raise an eyebrow because this is the first time you’ve seen this gym even remotely filled up.

You nudge Satan out of his car regardless.

“Alright, so today I want you to make my tosses higher than normal. Number eighteen was taller than me, so I’ll need to increase my jump height if I want to be able to break past her defense.” You pull him to the door, wasting no time to get inside. “And don’t worry if your tosses aren’t perfect! It’ll be good practice for...for when…”

Your train of thought is disrupted when you see how packed the gym is.

“Damn,” Satan mumbles next to you, frowning. 

There must be some kind of athletic event coming up. That's the only explanation you can think of for the picture in front of you. As it stands, there are tons of students inside this gym, everyone practicing their own sport. It’s ridiculous, honestly, because even sports that are traditionally outdoors are practicing inside. You can see Solomon leading his soccer team through a few drills on the far side of the court, taking up one half of one of the six nets set up in the gym.

“They must be here because it’s so muddy outside. All the outdoor sports are practicing inside.” Satan crosses his arms. “Let’s come back tomorrow. You’re not going to be able to get an effective practice in.”

“No!” you immediately exclaim, if only because you see a group of people setting up to leave. “Look, we can take that side of the court. Let’s go! I don’t want someone else to get there first.”

It’s a bit harder to find a spare cart of volleyballs than it was to find a spot to practice, but after checking enough supply rooms, you finally find what you’re looking for. After that, it takes you all of two minutes to wheel the cart over to Satan where you present your findings to him proudly.

“Shouldn’t you stretch first?” He frowns. “I don’t want you to get injured.”

“Come on, Satan. I just came back from a match! My muscles are all loosened up, so let’s get straight into it! The faster we can get this done, the faster we can return to the dorm, so let’s hurry!”

The boy doesn’t look wholly convinced, but he acquiesces to your request nonetheless, throwing you a toss higher than usual as you jump to slam it down.

It’s only once the two of you have returned to your usual rhythm that you begin to feel the stretch in your thighs, and for a moment, you stop to consider the fact that it might have been better if you’d stretched after all, but you ultimately decide that you’ve already started so there’s no point in stopping.

The practice whizzes by, as usual. It's almost pitiful how quickly the end of it nears.

“Three more balls,” Satan says, glancing at the number of balls left in the cart. “Then we go back, alright?”

“Sure thing!” you exclaim with pride, the familiar sense of satisfaction after a practice session well-done setting in.

Satan tosses you the third-last ball, and your feet begin following it as soon as it leaves his fingers. Your feet follow a familiar pattern—left, right, left, jump!—and you force yourself to put in a little bit of extra power to increase the height of your jump, letting your palm collide with the ball just a few inches beneath the peak of the arc to let it slam onto the court at an angle so steep that even a reinforced defense wouldn’t have been able to save it.

“Perfect!” you shout the moment your feet land on the floor. “Two more like that, and we’re set!”

Even Satan can’t hold off a smile at that.

Already in-tune with you, he doesn’t bother asking if you’re ready before throwing the next ball into the air. 

Again, you go through the motions that have been ingrained into your muscle memory since you were eight years old. The sting of pain against your palm is familiar, too familiar, and you’re still high in your jump when the ball spikes down onto the floor.

What isn’t familiar is the immediate calls of concern from across the court.

Everything seems to happen in slow motion.

You turn your head to the source of the noise, the loud group of soccer players who are on the far side of the gym and are all shouting to watch out. You stare at them in confusion for a moment, squinting to look for what they're all pointing at, because right now you don’t see anything to watch out for, and why—

Your eyebrows furrow.

Why are they all looking at you?

That thought is the only warning you get before your feet land—and the first thing you realize is that you landed way too early, that you should have been in the air for longer given the height of your jump. That’s when you realize that you haven’t landed, that your foot is instead twisting on top of a soccer ball that’s rolled directly underneath you.

Your hands go out to catch yourself when you fall, but there’s nothing you can do about the swell of pain that bursts from your ankle when the soccer ball pops out from underneath you.

There’s a moment of trepidation, a single second where your body is completely suspended in the air, and the gym is silent.

In that quiet moment, you hear Satan call out your name in a terrified voice.

Then, the ground collides with you and hard, and there’s nothing you can do as the pain you’d been feeling earlier blossoms out from all parts of your body.

MASTERLIST

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | ✎

Word count: 4.2k

Notes: ive returneddd :D this chapter is dedicated to the vball captain who, in my freshman year of high school, injured herself. her injury was more dramatic, given that it was way more severe and it was during an important match, but irene, i carry you in my heart <3

Comment & Like

Thank you for reading <3

I do not own the rights to Obey Me! or any of the characters within it.

[hoodassnerd]

Butterflies

Genre: Erik x oc

Words: a lot (I’m so sorry)

Summary: Joanna is a thug at heart but maybe not all the way through

BEEP BEEP BEEP be-

Erik shut off the alarm and look at the girl in his bed.

‘Seven? Sheela? Something with a s? I don’t fuckin know, she gotta get the fuck up tho’

Erik poked her in the back “Aye shawty, you gotta get up. “ she grunted and readjusted to get comfortable. Erik sighs, “AYO!” He shouted. She jumped up from her spot “What! It’s mad early!” “Exactly, that why you need to getcho ass up. I gotta work and I don’t know you like that so you gotta step” he said getting out of the bed.

She looked at him disappointed “Damn you really just gon kick me out like that?” She asked him. “Yea. Bye Keisha.” Erik walked into the bathroom closing the door. “MY NAME IS TIFFANY!” “Whatever the fuck it is, you gotta go” he said. Erik turned on the water ignoring whatever she was yelling at him and got in the shower so he could start his day.

Around 2:37 pm Joanna Brown woke up from her damn good dream about cheesecake and Captain America. “Shit!” She said as she finished her stretched. A good stretch. The one that makes you shake. “I should have called off today. I hate having to use my customer service voice to all them ugly ass men.” She said to herself. Jo worked at footlocker at the front register. She only kept the job because she was a sneaker head. Jo was very self conscious about her body but the men at her job didn’t give a damn about her feelings because her was shaped like the number 8. Even thought she had many customer complaints, they weren’t gonna fire her. She was the reason for half of their customers.

Jo turned on her music phone and connected it to her tv. “Rob the jewelry sto’ tell ‘em make me a grill”. Joanna milly rocked her way into the bathroom and started her showers he tied up her silver bundles and got in the water.

About 30 seconds later her primary phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw Erik’s name and the ugliest scared face you’ve ever seen. Tapping the screen she picked up the phone and started singing the song. “Got 30 down at the bottom 30 mo’ at the top, all invisible set with little ice cube blocks. If I could call it a dri-“ “I didn’t call you to hear yo fine ass sing nelly in my face” Erik said into the phone. Jo looked offended “So why dafuq did you call me?” “I called you to see if y’all got the new 11’s that just came out.” Jo looked into the phone “nigga I just got in the shower! I don’t even know if the sun is still yellow yet! And stop calling me pretty, you know I don’t like you”

Ever since they were in high school, Erik was sweet on Jo. She transferred from New York during their sophomore year. They eventually became friends after she fist fought the quarterback because he wouldn’t leave her alone. Even though they didn’t have any classes together he would always make sure that he saw her when she was at school. Erik liked Jo and was determined to get her to like him back. He would always compliment her and try to make her feel good about her self but Jo didn’t see it like that. Jo was a hood nigga, so she didn’t really want attention from men. Unless she needed some dick.

“Let me finish washing my ass first. I’ll hit you when I’m at work to let you know if we got em’” Erik smiled showing his caps “Thank you lil’ mama. Let me see ya titties” Jo hung up the phone “Bitch I am not showing you my titties” she said as she put the it back down. Willow Smiths - Wait a minute started to play on her tv “Oh this my shit!” She shouted as she turned up the volume.

‘Wait a minute! I think I left my conscience on your front door step! Woo-oo Woo-oo, Wait a minute I think I let my consciousness in the sixth dimension. But I’m here right now, right now”

Jo got in her navy blue 67’ impala that was given to her by her uncle. She started the car and the radio came on ‘FUCK A FLASH THIS AINT SNAPCHAT! CUZ IVE BEEN GETTIN’ PAID, YELLOW DIAMOND-‘. Jo jumped so high she hit her head on the roof of the car “Ow fuck! Shit” she said turning down the volume and rubbing her head. “Let me turn this shit down. I’m not the Same nigga from last night”

Pulling into the parking lot at the mall she looked at the time on her phone 4:02 ‘shiiiiiiiieeeeeeedddddd I still got 30 minutes’ she thought.

‘ when I get up all in ya’ and we can hear the angels callin us, and we can see the sunrise before us and when I’m in that thang, I make that body sang I make her say🚨🚨🚨’

“nigga this my shit!!” She said turning the up volume. The song turned down and switched to big gangster by Kevin gates. “Scuse me bitch... oh. What you want nigga!” She said to Erik as she got out the car. “Why yo thick ass just getting out the car?” He said staring directly at her . Jo stopped and looked around ‘Did this nigga wait here for me?’ “what kinda stalker shit is you on bruh?” She hung up the phone when she saw him. “Chill lil mama. I’m just trying to make sure my future wife got to work safe.” “Where she at?” Jo said confused. Erik sucked his teeth “Girl stop playin, you know it’s you. Wicho sexy ass, ooooh girl I’d love to see all that ass in a sundress.” He said licking his lips.

“Boy if you don’t get yo ass on somewhere. I wouldn’t dare marry yo ass. All the bitches you be fucking I don’t know where to dick been, nigga” she said grabbing her work bag out her backseat. “Why you ain’t take yo ass in the store? Everybody in there fuck wichu, they would have gave you a discount if you would have asked. Renee prolly would’ve gave you them shits for free, she in love wicho bum ass.” She said reaching for the door. Erik slapped her hand away from the handle. “Why you always do that like I can’t open the door” she said walking pass him. “When a man is present a women shouldn’t touch doorknobs or handles.” He said staring at her ass. “Mmmmhmmmm. Whatever nigga”

“Hi, welcome to footlocker! If you need anything just let me know!” Jo said in her customer service voice. “Fake ass” Erik said walking passed the counter. “Shut up and getcho shoes nigga!” She said back.

As Jo was reluctantly helping Erik, like the good employee she was, the door buzzer went off “Hi welcome to foo- Fuck. Welcome to footlocker if you need help please don’t ask me. “ Erik turned around and saw three men walk in the store and smirk at Jo. One was tall, about 6’4, light skin with a fucked up gumby haircut. The second one was shorter, kinda looked like Boosie with dreads. The third one looked like Dave east.....but dirty.

“Who dat?” He asked watching them walk around the store “Remember I told you about that nigga that keep coming in here bothering me but I can’t do shit cuz he buy ten pair of shoes?” He nodded “That’s his ugly ass. The dinghy one. He get on my fucking nerves. This nigga smoke boggies and think it’s ok to talk directly in my face like boy get the fuck on” she said scanning eriks shoes while he was laughing his ass off “This shit not funny bruh like, I told him I had a boyfriend but he won’t leave me the fuck alone”. Erik looked at her inquisitively “Did you describe ya so called boyfriend” he said putting quotes around boyfriend. She shook her head no. “Bet” he said. “Aye bro where you going?”

Erik walked over to the shoe display and picked up the cement grey 4’s “lil mama, y’all got these in a 12!” He asked. Jo looked up from the register to see Erik across the store “

What’s those?” “Come here and see” she rolled her eyes and put his other shoes under the counter and jogged over. “Oh the cements, let me check in the back” noticing the ‘Dave east’ looking at Jo, Erik slid his hand on her hip as she talked. She looked at him sideways like he was crazy. He lifted his brows as to say ‘play along’ Jo gave him a stink face but nodded slightly “Gimme a kiss ma” “no I’m at work” “you so mean to me” he said pouting.

Jo rolled her eyes and walked to the back room. “Aye bro. Why you pushing up on ole girl like that?” Erik turned around to see ‘Dave east’ looking like he wanted to fight. “And who the fuck is you to be asking about my girl?” He said as he squared his shoulders. ‘Dave east’ backed up a little “oh shit bro my bad I didn’t know that shorty was yours.” Erik clenched his jaw a little “ stop staring at my girl. And If she tell me you keep harassing her imma beat the shit outchu” Erik said slightly walking toward him. ‘Dave east’ turned around and walked away. “All we got is 11 and 13. “ Erik looked at jo “that’s fine mamas, I got some already. Thank you tho” jo looked at him “ so you telling me that you made me walk all the way ova he fah some shoes you already got? You deadass? Your total is $557.82” Erik smirked at her “I can’t get a thank you?” “Fah what?” Erik smiled real big “you see ya mans?” Jo looked around “what you say to him?” She said as her eyes lit up “I told him to stop talking to you and he left” jo raised an eyebrow “I know you lying but thank you” she held her hand out, Erik looked her up and down “ what?” He asked “give me yo money, hoe” jo said with an attitude. Erik sucked his teeth and gave her his card. “Declined” “WHAT!” “I’m just fucking witchu. Enjoy your day, sir!” “You play to fucking much” Erik mumbled as he walked out the store.

[angst-fairygodmother]

Til Death Do Us Part (A Light Fingers AU)

A/N: I’ve had flash-images of Elena and Diego’s second wedding in my head since before I wrote the first one. I wrote part of this up back in October, but never finished it because “it’s not going to be what happens, so what’s the point?” But now I’ve decided the point is because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, so I made a few tweaks and finished it off.  If anyone’s interested in their first dance song it’s this one. Because I choose to live in a fantasy wonderland and not overanalyze any lyrics.  Rating: G. Other than a few swears, this one is nothing but wholesome fluffiness. Word Count: 3294 (oops, that got away from me) Cross-posted to AO3.

Diego fidgeted nervously, buttoning and unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt, not wanting to put on the suit jacket until the last possible moment for fear of sweating through it.

He started to pace the small room. Duncan picked his head up from the floor where he’d sprawled and whined, watching him. Diego leaned down to scratch him, ruffling his ears.

There was a knock on the door. He froze.

“Diego,” his mother’s voice called softly. “They wanted me to tell you they’re ready for you.”

He slid his arms one at a time into the smooth black sleeves, hands shaking. With a white-knuckled grip on the knob, he opened the door. Grace’s smile being the first thing he saw made him feel instantly calmer, though for once in his life, it didn’t completely quell his jitters.

“Oh Diego,” she said, touch cool as she stroked his cheek lovingly. “I’m so happy for you. And you look so handsome.”

“Thanks, Mom,” he said, smiling. “You should go find your seat.”

~

His siblings all smiled brightly at him as he walked toward them – except Five who still wore a much more peaceful and pleasant expression than his usual scowl – all resplendent in black and azure. Klaus flashed him a thumbs up. He turned and took his place, eyes fixed on the door. 

“Nervous bro?” Klaus leaned in to whisper.

“No,” he lied with a chuckle. “I mean, we already did this once.”

“It’s still not too late to run.” Klaus gestured with his head toward the small door behind the altar.

Slowly, like a rolling wave, the assembled crowd turned and stood.

“Not a chance.”

Before his brother could say anything else, the music swelled and the doors creaked open one last time, and the rest of the world fell away until only Elena remained. 

Her blonde curls were swept back from her face on one side, pinned in place by a simple comb and a posy of forget-me-nots, forget-me-nots that matched the ones in her hand mixed with the white carnations and roses and broad green ferns. Her long white gown clung to all of those wonderful curves that he loved so much before flaring out at her waist like a shining lace-capped cloud. She had chosen to forego a veil (or the “jaunty little top hat” she had joked about), so as she drew closer, he could see tears sparkling in her hazel eyes, joyful ones based on the dazzling smile on her wine-red lips, and he felt thankful that he wasn’t the only one feeling so much emotion.

As they reached the front of the hall, Daniel turned to look at her instead of standing beside and studied her face intently for a moment. Then he patted her hand lightly and turned back, smiling broadly, handing her up the steps and taking his place to her left. 

Diego was sure the entire room could hear the heart beating out of his chest. 

“Hey there stranger,” Elena mouthed, lacing her fingers through his. 

He smiled at her, knees weak. 

“Hi,” he murmured.

“Dearly beloved we are gathered here today…” the justice began, and Diego felt his heart leap into his throat. Hearing those words made it all seem so much more real. The rest of the words seemed a hazy buzz, he was too focused on her, on the way she looked, the way she smelled, the smile on her face, that perfect moment. 

“…if anyone here can show cause why these two people should not be joined in matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace…”

Elena glared out at the crowd, and Diego couldn’t help but grin. It had been hard enough to get here, neither of them was going to really allow anyone to object, not without a fight. No one spoke and the officiant quickly moved on, and before he knew it, they were at the vows. Suddenly, nerves twisted his stomach and found himself forcing steadying breaths, just hoping he could get through a simple sentence without a stutter.

“Do you, Elena Pryce, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, honor and obey, til death do you part?”

“No,” she said bluntly with a shrug as the gathered audience gasped. “We talked about this. I mean I’m totally here for the whole love and cherish, share and support deal. Honor’s fine even, for the most part. But the ‘obey’ thing is some selfish buuullshiiit and I’m not doing that.”

“If anything, he’s probably the one obeying her,” Luther muttered, causing Klaus to giggle at his brother’s accidental innuendo and Elena to flash them a wink. 

“But I do. I promise the rest of it. And more. My heart is yours, my soul is yours. We’re equals. Partners. No matter what. Until the end of the world, and probably beyond. I know I fucked that up the last time around, but I’m not going to make that mistake again. I’m in this, one hundred percent. I love you.”

Several of the audience gasped, scandalized that she had sworn. He grinned at her, rolling his eyes fondly. 

The officiant stood, gaping, for a moment, and Diego turned to him with a half-shrug, as if to say ‘we did talk vows ahead of time, you knew this was coming.’ 

“Um. Right then...do you, Diego Hargreeves, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, honor, til death do you part?”

Elena raised her eyebrows at the absent word in his version of the vow. 

“I do,” his words were slow, and she squeezed his fingers comfortingly. “I promise everything, and more, that I promised you the first time around, Elena. To see you as an equal and a partner, to take your needs and wants into every consideration, to support you and love you even when I don’t understand you. No matter what we’re going through or how things are between us, I’ll be there. Apocalypses couldn’t keep us apart.”

Klaus sniffled dramatically from behind him; one of the bridesmaids tossed a handkerchief over their heads to him and he hopped in the air to catch it. The officiant scowled at the antics. Diego and Elena just smiled. 

“If we could now have the rings?” the officiant asked.

Luther stepped forward, pulling the two little velvet boxes out of his pocket, nearly dropping them in his fumble to deliver them, completely unsure anymore which was which. 

“He’s going to quit before we’re through,” Elena mouthed, trying not to giggle at the officiant’s increasing annoyance.

“We’re almost there, I think he can make it,” Diego joked back. 

“Repeat after me. With this ring, I, Diego Hargreeves,” the officiant started.

“Seal my promise, binding me to my word and vow. Let it be a physical token of all that I am and all I give to you. I now take thee, Elena Pryce, as my wife and the love of my life.” He finished, adding in the last bit as he slipped the familiar silver band back onto her finger where it belonged.

Tears welled up in her eyes again and she tried to surreptitiously brush them away before anyone noticed, and this time it was his turn to squeeze her fingers gently.

“And now you,” the officiant gestured to her. “Repeat after me…”

“With this ring, I, Elena Pryce, seal my promise, binding me to my word and vow. Let it be a physical token of all that I am and all I give to you. I now take thee, Diego Hargreeves,” she felt herself choking up, struggling to get the words out around everything she was feeling, “as my husband, again.” 

Slowly, with shaking hands, she slid his ring onto his finger, and it was all he could do to wait for his cue of “you may now kiss the bride” before he pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. Her arms circled his neck as his wrapped tightly around her waist, and for not the first time that day, the rest of the world disappeared. He’d never bothered to try to count how many times they’d kissed, but this was the most perfect one, he was sure of it. He felt like the entire world was in his arms, and he never wanted it to end. 

Someone cleared their throat, and the pair slowly separated, lingering as if there was some magnetic pull keeping them together. When they finally turned to the crowd, neither of them could stop grinning, faces wide and bright. 

“Shall we?” he leaned in to whisper before offering her an arm.

“I think we shall, husband,” she answered, hooking her hand through. “After all, the snacks wait for no man.”

He laughed, head thrown back in delight as they led the processional out of the hall and across the lawn to the tent where the reception was being held. 

~

Toward the end of dinner, Klaus stood up from his seat dramatically, holding his champagne flute aloft and tapping it with his fork.

“As the Best Man, I’ve decided, it’s probably time for my speech,” he called, voice carrying through the tent without need for amplification. 

“Please tell me you cleared his speech ahead of time,” Diego muttered into Elena’s ear as they both watched his brother with wide eyes.

“He’s your best man,” she hissed back. “Besides, it’s Klaus. There’s no way he’d stick to a script even if he’d bothered with one.”

“Now, I’ve known Diego longer because he’s my brother, but I’ve known both halves of the happy couple for most of our lives. I’m sad it wasn’t me that introduced them, honestly. They just had to go and meet by random chance, without me.” He struck a dramatic pout for a moment before continuing. “I don’t know how they do it. Elena’s lovely, flawless, but Diego. Impossible to live with. So broody and stubborn. And the knives. Raise your hands if you think he’s brought at least one to his own wedding?”

Again he paused, and this time, hands went up all around the tent, probably at least half the attendees either agreeing or playing along with the joke, including, much to Diego’s shock and betrayal, Elena. Klaus caught onto it, and her grin, immediately and pointed. 

“I’m taking that as he definitely has one, and I don’t want to know what you’re planning for it. Keep your wedding night shenanigans private.” 

He threw a mock scolding glare, before he grew serious.

“You two are so good for each other, and you deserve this happiness. You’ve been through so much shit — am I allowed to say shit? Who am I kidding, her vows contained the words ‘fucked up’? — both together and apart. And no one should have to earn a happy ending, you should just automatically get one, but you two...definitely have. And if anyone ever ties to mess that up, I’ll...probably just let Five handle it actually. He’s so bored these days now that he’s retired from the apocalypse and assassination businesses. I love you both.”

He swept his arm outward, nearly splashing the champagne onto his aforementioned brother’s head. “To the bride and groom and happily ever after!”

The crowd cheered, raising their glasses and voices in answer. 

“That was surprisingly heartfelt,” Elena whispered, and Diego nodded.

“Five’s still probably going to smother him with a pillow for that ending though.”

“Not our problem.” She laughed. Diego’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he joined her, heart swelling. He could listen to that sound forever.

As the crowd settled and Klaus retook his seat, Daniel stood. 

“I suppose I should follow that then, as the bride’s Man of Honor, and as her brother,” he chuckled. “But I’m not sure how I can compete. That was...quite a speech. Still, it can't hurt to try I suppose.”

He cleared his throat awkwardly. 

“My little sister is a pain in the ass. Stubborn, reckless, impulsive, short-tempered. But underneath that is a heart of gold. I have never known anyone who cares so much. Until I met Diego. I don’t think there could be a more perfect match than the two of them. There’s really nothing else to say. They’re cut from the same cloth, exactly alike and clearly meant for one another. I’m not usually one to credit fate, but these two might make a believer out of me. I have never seen Elena look like that, glowing with happiness like she does when she’s with him. And that alone is enough for me. To bless this marriage, and their lives together. To wish them, as Klaus did, a happily ever after.” He raised his glass in salute. “Elena and Diego!” 

Elena blushed as the crowd once again cheered, ducking her head to bury it against the crook of Diego’s neck. Daniel’s speech left her full of emotion that she was almost embarrassed to show. He turned his head to kiss her, letting his lips linger on her hair for a moment. 

~

Before long, it was time for the official first dance, and Diego felt nervous again. He had taken ballroom lessons as a child, and they had practiced together, not planning anything fancy, but his legs felt leaden as he walked to the center of the open space they’d reserved for dancing. He didn’t even care about himself, just worried that he would embarrass Elena somehow, or ruin things. He tried to squash down the feeling, knowing it was lingering self-hate from the way he was raised, but he couldn’t.

As the first humming cords of the song played, Elena walked through the parted crowd to join him. Their hands fit naturally together and he wrapped his other arm around her waist, holding her close. She rested her forehead against his as they swayed, and he felt sure for a moment that his heart was going to beat out of his chest. 

“How are you doing?” she asked, a feather-light whisper. 

The entire day had been a whirlwind, never stopping for a moment to give him time to process it all. And part of him was glad of it, sure that he’d be overwhelmed and exhausted if he did. But of course, here she was, checking in with him. And he could only guess that she was in much the same boat. Neither of them were exactly the most gregarious of people, and there were so many people and so much being asked of them.

“I’m fine,” he lied, knowing she’d pick up on his true meaning anyway, she knew him too well not to.

“Me too,” she murmured.

He leaned in a little further, nuzzling his nose against hers. 

“We can bail.”

“On our own wedding?”

“If you want to.”

She chuckled, her eyes sparkling, head shaking just slightly. 

They continued to spin around the floor, heedless of the eyes on them. He became aware that she was singing, soft and under her breath, eyes locked with his as if trying to bore the words into him with her gaze. Time seemed to be slowed down as they danced. Softly he brushed his lips against hers, the pair of them sinking into the kiss like they were falling. 

She would happily die here in his arms, kissing him like this, she thought, her final moment trapped in such perfection, preserved like amber. She had no need of air or space or anything else but him. 

Dimly the sound of applause tickled her awareness. Reluctantly she drew away, her eyes closed a moment longer before they fluttered open to meet his warm gaze. 

“I love you,” he whispered for possibly the hundredth time that day alone. But she could never tire of hearing it, or saying it right back. 

~

An hour later, she collapsed into a chair, leaning heavily against his side, after being dragged and paraded about the dancefloor by Klaus for several songs, and Amelia for several more without stopping. Meanwhile, he had been cutting a rug of his own, but managed to detangle himself sooner to take a break. 

“How serious were you about cutting and running?” she asked, trying to catch her breath. 

“Vanya moved a car as close as possible for us while we were serving the cake,” he replied casually, pouring a glass of icy water for her. 

“Have I mentioned lately that you’re perfect?” she joked, taking a grateful sip. “I’m thinking I chuck these flowers so everyone’s nice and distracted and we make a break for it.”

“Not as perfect as you are.” 

“Lies.” She stuck her tongue out at him with a giggle.

With a sigh, she dragged herself back to her feet, reluctant to leave him, again, feeling like they’d been separated by every ritual of a wedding and whim of their guests, even when they managed a dance together or a moment to sit side by side and hand in hand. His fingers lingered on her wrist, brushing against her skin as she stepped away, not holding her back but coaxing her to return to him. 

Rather than raise her own voice, she shook the flowers in Allison’s direction, letting her claim a microphone from the band and make the call for all the interested single people to gather around. Realizing she was shorter than a good percentage of the crowd, she pulled over a chair, surprised to find Luther offering her a hand to climb up onto it. 

“Alright, here it goes,” she called over her shoulder at the crowd. “Hope this doesn’t take any eyes out!”

The gathered group chuckled, though she was pretty sure she heard several people shuffle out and away from the likely throw-zone. She took a deep breath and several practice swings of her arms before finally letting the bouquet go, curving a graceful arc over her head, straight into Klaus’s arms. 

“Hah!” he crowed, making her giggle and nearly fall from the chair. 

Luckily, a firm, gentle arm caught her, helping her back to the ground safely, and she looked over to see Grace smiling at her. 

“You and Diego should get going,” her melodic voice was nearly hypnotic in its comforting. “Klaus will keep their attention for a few minutes.”

“How did you…” she trailed off, puzzled by Grace’s seeming omniscience. 

“Diego’s always been a little shy,” Grace explained, eyes soft and fond. “And I heard him ask Vanya about the car. It wasn’t hard to guess.”

Suddenly, Elena found herself being pulled into a tight hug.

“Welcome to the family, dear. I’m so happy for you two.”

After a split second of hesitation, mostly as she tried to process the strange emotion she was feeling, she returned the hug fiercely.

“Th-thanks,” she whispered, fighting back more tears. “You have no idea what that means.”

“Now go, and enjoy your honeymoon.” Grace stepped back, ushering Elena away as Klaus continued to brag and celebrate behind them, offering to let practically anyone in the crowd be the other half of ‘the next greatest newlyweds.’ 

Diego squeezed tightly, grinning, as she slipped her hand into his.

“Powers or no?” he asked. 

“Where’s the fun in cheating?” she teased, answering his squeeze with her own and casting a glance behind her. “Now or never, let’s go.”

The two of them were laughing as they took off running, out of the tent, across the lawn, and into the night.

[rimaiahwrites]

FIRST TIME —

Chapter three

Israel and Erik sat on the patio

Chairs, nodding their heads to the mumbled beat of the music playing inside. The way he stared at her and the way he touched her...god it was driving her crazy. "You look chill as hell." Erik chuckled taking a sip from his cup.

"Whatever you give me got me feeling myself," she replied with a loud laugh following behind finally feeling the Hennessy hit her slowly but surely. She was tippy and felt a bit hazy with her motions. She actually like being tippy it made her feel free and mellow.

Erik licked his lips slowly as he stared at her legs. He swiftly scooted closer to her brushing his thigh against her exposed one, playfully. She smiled and nudged his knee back. Giggling as she did so. "You cute as hell girl." Erik confessed drooping his arms over her bare shoulders. She blushed, turning her head the other way so he couldn't see, even though he wouldn't be able to see her flash red because of the dark pigment of her skin. She let out a quick 'thank you' glancing at him for a spit second. Her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest with how close he was to her. "Why you so shy? It's like one second you confident as hell then the next you look like you wanna hide under a rock." He said nudging her again. Israel shrugged taking her bottom lip into her mouth.

Erik straighten his leg out to the last step so he could dig in his front pocket, he pulled out a tiny bag of weed, a lighter and blunt papers.

Israel eyebrows raised as she intensity watch him put the green crummy substance in the middle of the brown floppy paper and rolling licking and running the flame over the blunt to keep it together. He felt her eyes stare holes into his head but, he ignored her as he put the blunt into his mouth. lighting it and taking a drag from it. The smoke fulled his lungs and he became more relaxed.

He almost forgot the young girl was even there until his heard her sniffing the air. He choked out a laugh that made his shoulders bounce as he watched her, with her nose in the air sniffing the smoke almost as if her life depended on it. "Why are you laughing? It smells so good..." She hummed while she closed her eyes, letting the smoke hug around her as he blow it in her face. "You might wanna slow down baby, or you gon' be high as hell and I ain't finna Carry yo ass to the car and shit." He chuckled softly rubbing the ashes from the blunt on the side of the wooden bar. She laughed along with him.  "What's it like being high?" She asked innocently, looking at him through her eyelashes. He smiled at that and asked "You never been high? Damn how old are you?" She was slightly taken back by his tone but nonetheless answered. "What does that how to do with my age? You can be 45 and still never smoked weed before." She argued back.

He leaned back onto the chair making it hit the house. "You never answered my question...how old are you again?" He asked yet again wanting to make sure she wasn't underage.

"You never answered mine but...I'm 18..." she said looking down at her feet. That's damn near underage he thought. But She on the other hand obviously knew that he was way older then her because he looked grown, grown. He had a Mustache and a beard, he was very muscular, bulky and tall. He just didn't look 'boyish' and his attitude was very mature.

"Shit I thought a nigga was bout to catch a case wit' the way yo ass was talking." He shook his head letting out yet another chuckle. She mumbled a Ha before saying "knowing my dad he wouldn't even go to the police, he'll probably kill You himself," he Raised his eyebrows telling her to elaborate a little.

"my dad is very overprotective plus he was in the military so he a little crazy now- which just isn't a good mix..."

"I remember when I was younger I lived next to this cute little boy name Tyler, I used to play with him all day every day until my dad found out, he scared the little boy by showing him his gun and telling him that "if you play with my little girl again, I'll kill you." The little boy cried his eyes out and never spoke to me again." She chuckled softly while kicking a pebble off the stair.

"yo dad sound like a crazy ass nigga damn, low key Sound like some shit I would do, I actually not to many years ago I beat my ex- hoe side nigga unconscious" He evilly grin at her before Continuing his rent.

"Ion play around wit that shit if you my bitch you ain't finna have a thousands of other niggas in yo phone ion care if they just your friends. If I'm fuckin' you then I'm the only nigga fucking You. Period. Ain't no side niggas." He hissed at her almost like they was fucking and he found her 'side niggas' in her contacts.

She stared at him while taking her lip in between her teeth. He grinned, showing off the golden caps he had on his bottom set of teeth. They shined in the moon light almost making her melt into her seat.

He so fine. She thought as she examined his Whole body from head to toe. "You like being spoken to like that don't you?" She raised her eyebrows. "I saw the way you bite your lip when I spoke to you harshly, you like that shit don't you?" He asked her, taking her chin in his hand, Pulling her face to his, their lips just almost touching.

She rolled her eyes pushing his head away from her slightly. "No, get out my face boy." She mumbled feeling herself get really shy and awkward all of a sudden. She was doing so good with not doing that, but of course he had to fuck it up for her.

"Nah don't pretend, you like that shit." he whispered against her lips with humor but she couldn't figure out what was so funny.

her eyes moved up to his with nothing but pare innocence in them. He moved in closer to her face pressing his lips against hers. She gasped but didn't pull away. "follow my lead princess," she melted at the pet name and tried to do exactly what he was doing. His lips moved in a slow pace so she could keep up, his hands ran up her back and right back down to her ass.

He smacked it making she gasped. he added his tongue in the mix while His other hand gripped her neck slightly applying pressure. She moaned and throw her head back and he quickly traveled his slow wet kisses down to her neck, he bit, suck and licked her coco butter scented skin while gripping her thighs and ass tightly in his rough, vain covered hands. She squealed when he found her sweet-spot and he sucked leaving a red-ish mark on the Front of her neck.

Her core wept and screamed for him to touch her but Israel was to afraid to tell him or even hint at him that she was tingling down there. It was starting to become wet and uncomfortable in her underwear so she squirmed in her seat letting out a another Soft "oh my gosh Erik-" he smirked against her neck and peck her lips a few times before backing away from her. She could still feel his lips on her and the taste of his tongue Lingered in her mouth. "You so fucking pretty you know that?" He asked pulling her up onto his lap so she was straddling his legs. her dress raised up and her light pink panties showed from underneath. "Yeah I know but thank you." She said giving him a teasingly smile. She wasn't nervous anymore, she was too far gone to care and far to lost in his lustful eyes. Erik grabbed her drink that sat on the side of her and brought it to her lips. "chug it," he demanded and she did as she was told. Chugging the rest of the dark sweetness that hide inside her cup.

"Good girl," He pecked her lips taking a liking to the taste of Hennessy and pineapple on them. She blushed at the praise. "That's gonna get you loosened up, I can tell you ain't done nun like this you all awkward and shit." She bite her lip as Her cheeks grow hot. Embarrassment washed over her and she screamed at herself to 'act normal'.

He chuckled to himself taking a drag from his blunt. "It's alright baby girl don't start overthinking shit." He said as if reading her mind, He stared into the dark sky only glaring at her for a second before going back to the blunt that was almost gone. His eyes hung low, his breathing calm and his dick hard from the Hennessy. "You trying to leave? I ain't really feeling this whole party thing, to be honest one of my niggas made me come, and a nigga hungry as fuck." she nodded. Just wanting to be around him for as long as she could. she felt desperate for male attention from someone other then her brothers and father, this was different, this was something she has never had before. All in one night she's gotten tippy, kissed and let a grown man grip and grind on her. She was excited for what was going to happen next. it was like she was in a crazy teen flick. "Yeah i wasn't really ether, my cousin dragged me here."

Erik grabbed her hand and pulled her back in the house and towards the front door but she stopped him once she realized that she came here with her cousin. "Wait I gotta tell my cousin I'm leaving." She said pulling away from him to walk towards jasmine who was now sitting on the dark-skinned-bright-white-smile man's lap.

Israel smiled knowingly at her cousin before bending down to whispered in her ear. "Is it ok if I leave? I'm gonna go with Erik." she beamed pointing at him from across the room. He nodded at them before walking over to them. Erik shook up with his friend Byron that jasmine was sitting on. "Wassup bro," he mumbled to the man that was now leaning against the wall. He replied with a noting much.

"Yeah it's ok, I know him plus-" Jasmine leaned in Israel's ear and whispered "I think he trying to dick me down tonight" she squealed and Israel laughed and rolled her eyes. "Ok call me tomorrow and tell how that goes." Israel wink as Erik said his good byes to his friend and started pulling her towards the front door. She stumbled a few times trying to keep up with Erik but it was a little hard with the tall heels she had on. He stopped and looked back at her, he could tell by the look of her face her feet Hurt. He didn't think twice before lifting the girl up bridal style,and resting her arms around his neck. She gasped and hit his chest while giggling. "Oh my gosh put me down, you don't have to carry me!" He chuckled. She hide in the crack of his neck as he unlocked the door to the passenger seat. She finally took her head from his neck when he sat her down on his black lather seat. She didn't noticed until now that the whole car was a shiny golden Jeep.

She gasped and ran her hands across the nice dash bored and seats. "Wow this car is so nice can I have it?" She joked playfully at him. He smirked at her before tossing the keys her way. "Sure if you really want it, I don't drive this one that much," he shrugged. "But In all honestly I would rather like to see yo sexy ass in my all black Lamborghini with the red detailing." He grinned showing off his gold caps.

She rolled her eyes and hummed a 'Mmhm'. She tossed him back his keys and put her seat belt on. He chuckled at her and shut her door before getting in the drivers seat.

"You hungry?" She nodded, Not really listening to what he just said because she was to busy playing with the thingy that she found on the side of her seat. He glanced over to her and grabbed it from her hands. "Why you touching shit?" She pouted but still asked "what is that?"

"You love asking questions huh?" She nodded and as seconds passed she was still looking at the side of his face. "What?" He growled at her. "What is that? A electric pen?" He chuckled.

"That's basically what it is. It's CBD you wanna try it?" He said playfully with a big grin spread across his face. She shook her head, now looking around the ear trying to find something new to mess with.

Erik raised his eyebrow as he watched her go through his stuff on the side of her seat. "Aye cut that shit out ma, damn sit still." He hissed. He grabbed her hands and sat them on her lap and she sat still, doing as she was told. "You seem like the boring meanie type." She snorted. He shrugged while taking a hit from his pen. "And you seem like the bratty 'gets whatever she wants' type." She pouted and crossed her arms very definitely And huffed out a "I'm not but go off." Under her breath, looking out of her window. He heard but decided to ignore her, for her own sake.

They pulled up to a house that looked old and beaten down. Her face scrunch up as her belly growled. "I thought we were going to get something to eat?"

"We are. But imma get my weed first then we came go get whatever you want." He stated before shutting and locking her inside the car for safety reasons. Erik was in and out in less than 10 minutes With a big bag pf weed. Israel was shocked at how much he had chuckled at her and put the bag in his back seat.

"Alright what what you trying to eat?" He asked once they were back in the car and on the road, the radio was on blast with drakes album scorpio, and it was a whole vibe to say the less. The smoke that flow through the air made them both smooth and mellowed out. "Let's get Wendy's! They got the spicy chicken nuggets back." He nodded and turn into the dive through to Wendy's. "What you want? Just the nuggets or a foe for foe?" He asked making her chuckling at the way he said it. "Yeah I want a four for four." She said playfully teasing him. He crack a smile at her before ordering her food.

He grabbed the bag and immediately dug in it grabbed a hand full of fries.

"Hey those are mine you have two burgers." Israel whines trying to reach for the bag that was in his lap. "I bought them tho." He mumbled with a mouth full of fries. Israel rolled her eyes, giggling before snatching the bag of food out of his lap and stuffing the burger in her mouth. "Damn you that hungry?"

"Shut up I told you I was that hungry." He snickered at her before relighting his blunt and taking a drag. "You mean as hell when you hungry you know that? You not you when you're hungry neckass." He said making her spit out her food a little from laughing. "Oh my gush Shut up!" He turn into a Hotel parking lot that was filled with empty cars so that they could eat, twenty minutes after they got done eating they were just talking, Erik sat with a blunt in his hand while he leaned all the back in his seat and Israel sat cross legged with her dress rising a bit up her thighs. Erik couldn't help but to wonder what juiciness laid in between her legs. The weed and sexual music that played In the background was definitely getting to him and he was ready to risk it all.

"Oh my gosh this is my song!" She squealed turning up the radio when one of her favorite artist voice ring through the speaker of Erik's car. BMO by ari Lennox. She began move her hips in a sensual manner while closing her eyes, lip singing along to the song. She couldn't help but to move with the smooth beat.

Erik's hungry eyes couldn't stop watching her in Amazement, he loved the way her brown skin glow from the moon light and the thick shea butter that costed her skin. She turned to face him and sang the words to him softly, with a big goofy smile on her face.

"That bodies on fire

Ooh love me long, 'til you get tired

Ooh baby you got what I (want)

You's a real one, I'm inspired"

Erik shook his head at her before laughing while She kept singing and dancing to the song, paying him no attention.

He dug his phone out of his pocket to check the time.

3:45

"Your parents don't be tripping when you out this late?" She shook her head curling up in her seat. "They don't know I'm out, they really strict And don't be letting me out the house so I snuck out."

"What if you get caught?" She shrugged eating a cold fry from her Wendy's bag. "My dad probably going to beat my ass." His eyebrows raised. "Hell nah you to damn old to still be getting ass whoopings."

"You should tell my dad that." She mumbled. Erik's mind went to the worst but he didn't ask any questions.

"Well we should get you home then."

-

"When can I see you again?" She asked pouting slightly, not wanting to leave him so soon.

"Ion know but imma text you, alright princess?" She nodded. "Alright go get yo pretty ass in the house before yo daddy come out here swinging." He said jokingly, smacking her ass.

"Ok bye Erik." She whined before walking up to the tree to climb up to her bedroom window. Erik chuckled as he watched her struggle climbing to the tree. When she finally made it up and fall inside to her room she quickly popped up and waved at him. He chucked the deuces up before pulling off.

[sanchoyo]

danny phantom, season 3, episodes 7-13 thoughts! cannot believe im finishing this series so fast. ...cannot believe it ended like that...uh. one of the weirdest finales to a show I think I've seen, it really stood out against the rest of the series, and not in a good way, in my opinion. I paused to yell in caps lock...several times, I think, out of anger... BUT. ANYWAY, HERE WE GO.

see prev episode thoughts in this tag <3

-the fentons putting the kids to Work in the lab, with NO SAFETY GEAR. AT ALL. THEY JUST GOT BACK FROM SCHOOL AND ARE TIRED!!! and when jack asked how danny his day was and danny tried to say it was bad jack cut him off :( for the 400th time, i am stealing these kids.

-maddie and jack IMMEDIATELY SELLING THEIR LAB AND WORK FOR A LOT OF MONEY. and danny cant get into the portal anymore, oh no!!! he could always just steal vlads I Guess.

-THEY ARE VLADS NEW NEIGHBOR. OH MY GOD. this is a sitcom format. a butler came with the new mansion. i would absolutely try a kiwi fudge milkshake, why is the butler disgusted.

-the..guys in white bought the lab to shoot a missile. into the ghost zone thru the portal. bro i hate these guys

-jazz straight up setting her new bedroom up in the library. i am very very jealous

-"RATED E, FOR ENTRAILS"

-I like how the 14 year olds very quickly realize if the giw destroy the ghost zone itll destroy OUR ZONE because its just. like. the other side of the quarter so to speak. and the giw, a fully funded government agency, didnt consider that...(or worse, are willing to risk that anyway...)

-a...graphic novel version of the constitution? what in the world have you been READING SAM

-'cool, I always wanted to be called a meddling kid!' scooby doo reference...

-can they keep the butler. I love him.

-ecto latte....I also want to try that. is ectoplasm edible...

-YESS I KNEW DANNY WOULD USE VLAD'S PORTAL. vindicated.

-DANNY WHY DIDNT YOU JUST ASK JOHNNY NICELY. STEALING HIS BIKE IS SO SO RUDE.

-youngblood is also into astronaut stuff, thats really cute. and him being like 'phantom, dude!! :D' ALL EXCITED. THATS ADORABLE.

-the slapstick comedy of the giw slipping and falling and running into shit in the lab. is funny, but also, because this lab has NOOO safety codes in practice. god its a wonder dannys the only one to have died here...

-JOHNNY, SKULKER AND YOUNGBLOOD HELPING DANNY!!! I keep saying it but the other ghosts helping him. is my fav thing in the world. and, it's a really good thing the missile in the real world was harmless...otherwise the fentons wouldn't have had a home/lab to come back to...

-WULF WANTED POSTER!!! we havent seen wulfy in so long :( very funny the box ghost is offended by how much these ghosts are wanted for. first off, what do ghosts even DO WITH MONEY. does the ghost zone have its own currency??? what are ghosts BUYING

-the box ghost is So Funny, im so glad hes still got his bubble wrap. u are VERY wanted in THIS house box ghost. you are SO scary king. dont give up on ur dreams

-this needs to be a meme format. I made a transparent version, very very messily, for future use.

-this is a Fellow and a Friend

-box ghost accidentally bringing lunch for everyone, and giving people at the mall free shoes. SHOES ARE SO EXPENSIVE, ID BE SO GRATEFUL. helpful king. i feel SO bad for him lmao, he's putting in SO much effort. he wants the evil aesthetic So bad but hes Just Too Silly. I understand your plight, box ghost....

-oh my god. pandoras BOX. 'THOSE OF US IN THE BOX TRADE' HOW MANY ARE IN THIS BOX TRADE. I WANT IN. pandora is a multi-armed ghost goddess and i love her.

-SKULKER WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FROM THE EVIL UNICORN?? YOURE A HUNTER!! JUST SHOOT IT!!!!!!! JUST HUNT IT!!!

-box ghost...where did you get the cowboy hat. I respect it, i just want to know

-JAZZ COMING IN WITH THE BAZOOKA TO FIGHT THE 10 HEADED DRAGON!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! and the rest of the fentons I Guess

-ignoring the sam/danny moments. I simple do not see them.

-...why doesnt danny just fly over the maze. or do the whole 'real world people act as ghosts in the ghost zone' and turn back!!! I know its just to show off the ghost greek monster designs. but STILL.

-danny being like. um. hi pandora. i found your box. >< polite...PANDORA IS SO GIANT. GIANT GHOST WOMAN. SHES GOING TO BEAT BOX GHOSTS ASS. another ghost thats nice to danny to add to the list :) and HER FORCING BOX GHOST TO APOLOGIZE. and having sandwiches with danny after making box ghost clean up. I LOVE HER.

-DANNYS 'BEWARE' AT THE END JAKHDJFKN

-okay, when dash pulled out danny's seat and was calling him buddy, for half a second I was like 'this is a prank, hes gonna pull it back' BUT THEN FRIGHT KNIGHT MY BELOVED IS BACK. AND EVERYONE STARTS CHANTING FOR DANNY TO BEAT HIS ASS WITH GHOST POWERS AND DANNY DOES WAY TOO EASILY, and im like, yup, this is a dream LMAO

-danny is getting an A+ in science :) my smart son

-DANNY WAKING UP FROM THE DREAM RIGHT BEFORE KISSING SAM AND BEING LIKE 'that was a dream...no, a NIGHTMARE!' same. not to be a hater but, shouldve been val. maybe I am a hater

-...danny running and checking the 'tapes'...why is his whole house constantly being recorded. hes been in ghost form/fights plenty of times in his house. does he have to run and wipe the tapes after?? every single time?? god

-letting this image speak for itself

-this is SO cursed

-NOCTURN'S DESIGN FUCKS SO HARD. the Venice mask vibes. also his space pattern not moving while the rest of his animation does is big chowder vibes. but this guy is basically the sandman but Evil, huh. I love dream plots. also, nocturn's design feels very similar to clockwork, like, red eyes and a scar over the same eye, but also just the purple, and the Cosmic Vibes. I want to see them fight. anyway nocturn's va was also avatar roku AND alfred in several batman cartoons.

-the 'sleepwalkers' designs were super cute in shape (kinda remind me of oogie boogie! pillow-cased shaped, which is appropriate for the 'king of dreams's minions) until I looked closer at their eyes. why do they look sewn shut!! (they open their eyes a few times, so they aren't, but they look like it...)

-I like how this show has been pretty consistent (with a few exceptions) about a Ghost Being Huge (or getting larger) = Very Powerful

-2 months of summer camping??? wtf, do camping things usually take that long?? I've never been to a camping...thing like that. but isnt that basically their entire summer??

-'the entirety of nature is your bathroom!' and thats why I do no camping despite loving nature LMAO.

-sam, at least TRY TO BE NICE TO THE OTHER GIRLS YOU'RE GOING TO BE SHARING A CABIN WITH. also, the amount of times people in this show have their SHOES ON THE BED!!! IM DISGUSTED

-swamp creature Is A Ghost. Big Foot is a Ghost. starting to think in this universe, every single cryptid or legend is a Ghost Actually

-paulina crying not only because star is missing, but because SHE FORGOT HER SUNBLOCK AND SHE BURNS SO EASILY!!!! okay girlfriends

-ghost cops are the real monsters at the camp. i.......I mean. fair. no one missed you walker

-WULF!!!!!!!!!!! WULF IS BACK!!!!!!!! MY FRIEND WULF :D MI AMAS VIN!!!!! kaj danny lernis Esperanto :)

-'relax kid, we arent here to do any harm' *immediately shoots danny* yeah. ghost cops. and also danny bringing walker 'wulf' and walker IMMEDIATELY SUCKING DANNY IN A THERMOS. FUCK OFF

-haha walker Bald. and haha walker Frozen Now

-the fenton thermos can...reverse its polarity to close portals? okay

-LIBERA MIA AMIKO. :")

-ohhh they end the ep with them star gazing, thats pretty cute...

-dani is back! ...with a new voice actress? wiki says AnnaSophia was in 3 diff movies in 2007 when this aired, so she was probably too busy... (including, bridge to terabithia aka the movie that ripped my heart out that I mentioned in the first ep Dani was in...kinda wanna rewatch it now)

-shes still scared of vlad, who's still being creepy and spying on her. 'shes hardly going to come home to daddy!' I WONDER WHY. also does vlad's cat look more evil than last time? love the concept of him going shopping for cats and being like 'give me your most EVILEST looking cat, please, so I can pet it in my spinny chair dramatically!' ...oh god white cat hair on his black suit. I have a black cat and her hair is still way too noticeable..

-vlad has a big 'valerie' button in his office. can he be pressing that button every episode, thanks

-'theres a GIRL called dani phantom?' yeah valerie. no relation, obviously, even with her looking EXACTLY like danny. so sad valerie just wants to help her dad and her get out of the place theyre in now and vlad using her. ill MAUL HIM

-dani having to STEAL FOOD. :( and valerie immediately being like oh poor kid :(( and trying to help her!!! and then dani immediately helping valerie!! this episode is starting SO well

-...and then valerie catching her. DAMN IT. and being surprised dani knew danny?? HELLO VALERIE I KNOW YOURE SMARTER THAN THIS. I AM SO SORRY THEY WROTE YOU THIS WAY. I STILL LOVE AND BELIEVE IN U !!!

-valerie lying her ASS off for a chance at gettin danny. ok <3 also 'they couldnt catch a ghost if it was living under their own roof' JSDHKJHNK

-danny. why dont you just tell valerie!! this would be so much easier if he was direct. there is NO way valerie would hurt danny (fenton) she'd be HORRIFIED. esp since she got on board helping dani!!

*is held* :)

-look at valerie and danny. flying together. about to go beat vlads ass together <333

-DANI SCREAMING AS VLAD IS MELTING HER. WHAT THE FUCCCK

-...fucking vlad convincing valerie hes a good dude with his stupid duplication. FUCK. DANNY JUST TELL H E R

-jesus christ how many times has danny had to watch loved ones die. even if she didnt stay perma-dead. glad they fixed her...

-valerie and dani pranking danny when he came out, oh :( cute...them havin fun and laughing together...babies

-BUT THEYRE JUST LETTING DANI LEAVE, AGAIN??? SHE WAS PREVIOUSLY STEALING FOOD. CHRIST GIVE HER A PLACE TO LIVE. OR A FAMILY. actually, I think it'd be really cute if, since danny isnt ready to out himself, dani went and lived with valerie?? dunno if her dad would have the money but,, it'd be a cute concept. big sis valerie...

-'tomorrow, it's game on!' 'and ill be ready to play!' THE FLIRTING....DANNY/VALERIE REAL

-oh my god,, valerie found out about vlad in the end. But he doesn’t know she knows!!! the DRAMA!!! HOLY SHIT THAT ENDING.

-this episode was. SO Much and probably one of my favorites out of s3. (I mean, there has been a gross lack of valerie this whole season, so thats not a hard choice to make...)

-FINALE EPISODE TIME.

-the title screen looks different! so no title card...

-vlad has his own fucked up satellite that looks like him?? okay. why does the animation look so different?? are they mixing cg in?? for what. anyway, vlad and the gang in SPACE. danny is 100% living his astronaut dreams rn

-'defeating frostbite' YOU BETTER NOT HAVE. YOU STOLE HIS COOL MAP. FUCK YOU VLAD

-wait oh my god. vlad is the final series boss, isn't he. I half expected a fake out, for another boss to show up midway, and for him to finally have to have a real truce with danny for this ep. ITS THE FINALE. VLAD FEELS SO UNDERWHELMING.

-And it's like-- his character isn't bad, i just feel like..he has more potential! they WANT him to seem like some smart super evil genius, but the way he's written makes that SO hard to believe...but the solid backstory and design is THERE and its FRUSTRATING.

-...DANNY CALLING VLAD OUT SAYING HE NEEDS THERAPY LMAOO THATS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING.

-my grandpa technus is in the finale too :) 'well look on the bright side, at least im not downloading them illegally!' he says while stealing dvds. feels like hes calling me out. im watching this series on a bootleg website lmao. anyway, him turning the tech into a transformer. love that

-mASters BLASters sTOp diSAsterS shut the fuck up. you will never be valerie or danny. bite chomp kill. violence

-like this if u crie everytiem

-my god the 3d/cgi mixed in looks SO BAD IT DIDNT AGE WELL AT ALL

-the white stripe in dannys hair kinda rules tho. did he just KILL HIS GHOST HALF??? 'revert his human half back to normal' UM. you ever unkill yourself. why are his friends/jazz so mad about it, he'll be in a lot less danger!! christ. they can still hunt ghosts!! as humans!! if they want to!! hes 14 if he wanted to be normal. let him. vlads stupid little team has things COVERED apparently. why are they acting like this. jazz would never act like this. is this fake whats going ON

-oh my god jack was in a college band. vlad was also in the band. what did instruments they play. i didnt need that headline to tell me they sucked, but i want to KNOW MORE REGARDLESS

-valerie was here for 0.3 seconds.

-sam calling danny selfish. the audacity. no one is stopping YOU from hunting ghosts, girl. valerie does it!!

-I'm halfway through the episode and incredibly underwhelmed so far.

-why would they send jack and 3 teens to space to destroy the asteroid. why not professional astronauts. not even the 3 teens that have already been to space this episode...

-jack getting beat up by teenagers. ON TV. IN SPACE. I GUESS. I GUESS EVERYONE AGREED TO SEND JACK BECAUSE..VLAD SAID SO? we know it was to embarrass jack, but why would everyone agree. why didnt any other space program Do More or whatever, they sent like, 3 rockets/missiles tops?? no way

-danny attempting to punch vlad in the face. i WISH HE WOULDVE LANDED THAT HIT.

-vlad outed himself on live tv, on purpose? and BLASTED AT THE TEENAGERS HE HIRED. LMAO. HES HOLDING THE WORLD HOSTAGE, MAKING THEM PAY HIM BILLIONS TO STOP THE STUPID ASTROID. THATS YOUR GRAND PLAN??? REALLY. REALLY. im like. lmfao

-jack just now, on the last episode GETTING TOLD HE MADE VLAD A GHOST. THIS SHOULDVE HAPPENED WAY SOONER. jack's reaction was one of the only times in this entire show hes seemed human. 'an old friend? no. you? yes.' GET HIS ASSSS ACTUALLY. HE STRAIGHT UP LEFT VLAD IN SPACE. GOD DAMN. that is a Murder! I mean, I guess vlad could fly back to earth, but...I mean, he'll have to, right? no food in space. (that we KNOW of...)

-'thE WHolE EArtH, INTangiBLe?!' oh my god.

-...the white strand of hair somehow still had ghost dna, I guess, and getting blasted turned him back into phantom. I GUESS. I GUESS.

-the fentons being the first to clap for danny despite not knowing hes phantom...that was sweet. and very sudden character development, not at all gradual over the course of time or episodes like it probably should have been...

-sam and danny kissing. IT SHOULDVE BEEN VALERIE, BUT OKAY, I GUESS. also, its a little underwhelming, considering theyve kissed already...

-ALL of the ghosts being ready to beat danny's ass? really. no they wouldn't, they've worked together before, and some of those ghosts are friendly!! cringe. why is the last ep written like this. I mean they came thru at the last minute but. was really cringing for a minute there, why did they write it like that

-valerie is there for another 0.3 seconds! ....she should've been more involved. dani is also there! for also like 0.3 seconds. almost fast enough to miss. (btw, I think shes still homeless at this point, are, we going to...do ANYTHING ABOUT THAT IN THE LAST 5 MINS OF THE SHOW)

-the cgi smoke or whatever it is. this whole post is me saying the cgi is bad, but IT IS.

-'danny or should we say. DAAANNNNY.' this is like the 3rd or 4th time hes been outed damn, but to the whole world, again. and valerie saw, and is just. an extra in the bg clapping. bro im so mad.

-TUCKER IS THE NEW MAYOR? WHAT THE FUCK?? HES 14.

-i think. this is still linked to the dream ep a few times ago. hes still dreaming. this is a plot a 14 year old would write. this feels like a bad fanfic. so much got rushed, and not tied up. vlad wasnt really even the villain this episode, a fucking. non-being asteroid was.

-they kiss again. ok. sure. whatever at this point.

-VLAD IS NOW A FREE-ROAMING SPACE NOMAD. I GUESS. THATS. SURE. WHATEVER. THE END, I GUESS. cannot believe I'm saying this, but: they did vlad dirty.

-IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE HIM A VILLAIN, MAKE HIM A VILLAIN!!! DON'T MAKE IT A METEOR!!! STOP BEING WISHY WASHY WHO WANTS TO SEE DANNY VS ASTEROID!!! I didnt even WANT vlad to be the final villain because his character is SO back and forth (esp this season.) but he has done some FUCKED UP SHIT AND I WANTED THE WRITERS TO DOUBLE DOWN, PERSONALLY, IF THEY HAD TO MAKE HIM THE FINAL BOSS. the cabin ep where he basically held danny and maddie hostage? FUCKED. THE DANI THING? FUCKED. FUCKING COMMIT AND MAKE HIM ACTUALLY SCARY OR HAVE HIM FUCK OFF AND AGREE TO A TRUCE!! WHAT IS THIS DYING IN SPACE NONSENSE. (and, he will (fully) die out there, right? still half human, still needs food and water. I imagine he'll like, slowly half-die but this time his human side is dying. will he come back 100% ghost? we dONT KNOW. WE DONT GET TO SEE, ITS PLAYED LIKE SOME FUNNY THING AT THE END, THEN THATS IT!!! WHAT!!!)

-I don't know how to articulate how FRUSTRATING THAT IS. having him basically out himself and ''hold the world hostage'' does not track at all in my brain. like. he's always been scary because he is HUMAN, TOO. like, if he was 100% ghost, he'd be LESS scary, but vlad MASTERS has more power and influence than vlad PLASMIUS because of his position as mayor, his money, too, and his (supposed, s3 made me doubt it) intelligence/manipulation skills, and his being in good graces with jack made it HARD FOR DANNY. him outing himself for,, money and to 'control the world' i guess?? MONEY WAS NEVER HIS LIKE, MAIN GOAL. yeah obv he likes money and is materialistic and values his Rich Life, but hes got billions, the end goal? 1. getting maddie (and or danny as his son, but to me he always treated that as secondary) 2. ruining jack. this feels like they wanted to say 'oh he just wants POWER' which is. HMM?? OKAY?? obv he /does/ want power (usually over certain ppl, tho), but seeing him try to get it like this FELT WEIRD SOMEHOW. weird like the ep where he tried and failed to take over various historical civilizations, because like,, how is that realistically going to do anything for him?? just, being in that time forever and never seeing maddie aka Goal #1 again?? HELLO??? this was like that, but worse

-this was such a weird ending to an entire show. why did season 3 only have 13 episodes?? why did it feel so weirdly paced?? WHY WAS THE ENDING LIKE THAT. I think. I am going to pretend I did not see that. fucked up, dudes. I'm like...hm. I shouldn't have watched that because now I'm mad. valerie sweetie im SO sorry you shouldve been more present. it felt like..if they knew this season was going to be short, and the last season, they should've spent more time wrapping up EVERYONE'S plot lines for the entire season. imagine how cool it wouldve been if every single ep of season 3 was working towards something, a big, nice wrap up at the end, with nothing feeling TOO rushed because they'd been heading towards the End for the whole season....

I will probably end up writing a follow up full series thoughts post. In a couple of days so I can sit with my thoughts. BUT. overall, I really liked the show! (ignoring the finale and some of the moments that aged pretty poorly...) it was charming and a fun concept and very fun to watch in general :) and I am pretending the finale didnt happen <3 and I’m gonna dive RIGHT into the dp tags and mix fanart and posts in my queue, very excited to run and look at that 🏃🏻 (and, of course, make more fanart myself hehe >:3)

[h2omyeon]

You Were Beautiful (KJM x Reader)

Summary: You had been in love with your classmate Kim Junmyeon for the last year and a half. You finally find the guts to tell him the truth about how you feel, but at the wrong time. (PS: Chanyeol makes a cameo in this story and Junmyeon is an Art History major!)

Pairing: Junmyeon x Female Reader

Tags: College Student Junmyeon, Art Hoe Junmyeon, bittersweet stuff

Warnings: Mentions of suicide towards the end of the story (not in this chapter)

Word Count (in total): 8.5k

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is my first ever story I wrote and published on here. Feel free to leave comments and I will try to publish each chapter weekly! This story is based off of a combination of dreams that I had which included people who weren’t Junmyeon and Junmyeon himself during the beginning of this whole COVID pandemic (AKA: when things began to fall apart). Like the world that I was living in at that time, this story/dream is just as (I hope to believe) chaotic. I also apologize if there are a ton of plot holes in the story because it was based on a dream and I could not think of any filler parts. Enjoy!- PS

Read the previous parts here: Part 1 Part 2

Chapter 2: Starry Night

The rest of the semester and graduation week came and went like a breeze. While you and your friends went crazy on your graduation caps and dresses, Junmyeon went shopping to buy stuff for his family and friends in South Korea. Despite his time being spent more on shopping, his cap came out the best and won 1st place in the cap decorating contest at graduation. 

You and Angela decided to throw him a surprise goodbye party on his last day, which was the day after graduation, at your place. There was predominately Korean music playing and people were happily dancing along to it despite not understanding what was being sung. Junmyeon, despite wearing a sweater vest on a warm May evening, danced like a pro to literally every song that played. You had no idea he could dance so well. There was also food that would have lasted your family a week and a half that was finished in less than three hours, mostly by Junmyeon’s bar musician friend Chanyeol and Angela. 

The party went successfully and those who were not able to see him off the next day gave their little goodbye gifts. Chanyeol was eating the remaining chips and looked at the clock; it was 9:30pm. “Shit! I have a date. Thanks for the party, Y/N.” He gave you and Angela quick hugs and walked to Junmyeon, who was packing his stuff in his bags. 

“I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you in the future, man,” Chanyeol said as he gave Junmyeon one last bro hug and handed him his gift, then left the house and into the night.

Once Chanyeol left, it was only the three of you.  “That was fun,” Junmyeon said. “Thank you, Y/N. Thank you, Angela. I’m really gonna miss all those people, even Chanyeol.” 

“Anything for you, Junmyeon.” you and Angela replied back in unison while you and Angela had cleaned up the cups and plates left on the table. Junmyeon helped tidy up the sofa and swept the dining table floor. 

Music played in the background loud enough for you all to not realize that your parents and sisters had come back. Junmyeon went to lower the music as he greeted your parents in the process. 

While you went to throw out the last of the plates, Angela began to follow you into the kitchen. 

“When are you gonna tell him?” she hissed softly. Junmyeon was happily looking at the gifts he got in the living room, silently observing them. 

“Never at this point,” you replied a little too loudly. Luckily he was in the middle of a conversation with your parents and younger sisters, so he didn’t hear you. “Maybe later,” you softly replied. 

“You’ve been saying that for two years, Y/N. The man is leaving TOMORROW,” she clapped back. “It’s now or never.” 

“I thought he was gonna stay in New York like he had planned. I was gonna tell him sometime after college, but I didn’t think he was gonna leave tomorrow,” you snapped. 

“Come on, Y/N, go tell him after he’s done with your family,” she suggested while watching your 12 and 18 year old sisters talk to him endlessly about some random stuff. After inserting the final dishes into the washer and wiping the counter, you guys danced and sang along to “Rough” by GFriend as it played from a faint distance at your speakers and laughed when you both messed up on a few steps. 

“Junmyeon, don’t leave yet. We have a gift for you,” your mother could be heard saying to your friend who was about to leave. You and Angela had walked out of the kitchen and into the living room by the time your mother walked out with a red box. 

“It’s a deity for good luck while you are in the military and for your wonderful future ahead as a future curator,” she explained. Your father handed him an envelope. “Here’s $200 that you can use for your future education after the military,” he added. Junmyeon added the gifts into the bag. 

“Thank you all for the gifts,” Junmyeon said humbly. “I have so many I don’t know how they will all fit in my luggages!” he exclaimed, showing off the bags of gifts he got. Everyone began to laugh. 

After a few minutes of small talk, Junmyeon and Angela wished everyone a good night. Your parents wished them a good night in return, while your sisters went to get ready for bed. 

“Y/N, go walk Junmyeon home,” your mother suggested with a smile. “It’s so late at night, I don’t want him to get into any issues right before he leaves.” You immediately agreed. Your sisters made kissy noises; “Shut up!” you snapped at them. They laughed when you realized you had turned red. You then left the house with Angela and Junmyeon, who were waiting at the front door. 

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Right when you three reached the crosswalk, Angela gave Junmyeon one last hug; she let go of the embrace as she started to silently cry. You felt tears form in your eyes. “I’ll miss you, Jun,” she tearfully stated.

“Thank you for everything and making college the best three years of my life. I joked around with you a lot, but I really liked you. You made both my best friend and myself really happy. Let me give you my gift,” Angela ruffled through her bag and took out a purple box. She handed the box to Junmyeon; he thanked her. She began to cry even more. 

“Angela, I will miss you too and thank you for the gift,” Junmyeon replied to the heavily upset Angela, holding her hand for a brief second. “We have each other’s contact information. I’ll try to text and email all of you when I can. The military is strict and oftentimes we’re not going to be allowed to go on our phones, so I’ll try my best. Don’t worry, Angela, we’ll see each other in the future. Once I’m done with my military service, I’ll come and visit New York before I go on and do my masters.” he explained while wiping her tears. They hugged one last time while you watched in silence. 

“What if you die?” she joked after letting go of the embrace. You all laughed.

“I really wanted to send you off tomorrow, but I have work. Serve well, okay?” Angela declared

“Angela, he’s going for training, not fighting in a war. Although with Trump as president I won’t be surprised if there was a Third World War,” you sarcastically remarked. 

“I know, but-,” a car honk interrupted her sentence. Her hipster vegan boyfriend, Nicholas, had come to pick her up in his car. 

“Goodbye, Junmyeon,” Angela said. 

“Goodbye, Angela.” he said back. 

She gave him one last hug and waved at the both of you before crossing the street. You both observed the couple drive off into the night, living a life of their own. 

“I’ll really miss that girl,” he sighed, while you two walked. “She reminds me of my friend’s sister in Korea. Funny and naive.” 

You were silent the whole walk. Now was your chance to tell him, you didn’t know the next time you would see him again to tell him. Junmyeon began to notice you were unusually silent. 

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” he asked as you both finally reached the front porch of his house. You both sat on the bench and looked at one another. Now is the time to do it, you thought to yourself. You felt your heart beat out of your chest, but it was now or never. 

“Junmyeon, I-I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while. It’s something you probably wouldn’t expect from me, but if I don’t say it, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I don’t know when I’ll ever see you again, so… ah, fuck it!” you nervously began.

“What do you want to say?” He curiously asked. You must have looked like a fool because he then began to say: “Why are you so nervous? Let me get a bucket-,”

“There’s no need. I’m not going to throw up; I wanted to tell you that…” you continued, trying to avoid his gaze. 

“That what, Y/N?” he proceeded to ask. You then made eye contact with him. God he has pretty eyes, you thought a little too loudly. He began to giggle. 

“Are you okay? What’s up? We’re friends, you can tell me anything.” 

You took a breath. “Junmyeon, I realized as time passed that I really started to like you. Not in the friendly way, but in-,”

“I actually wanted to tell you the same thing,” he confessed with a chuckle. “I was going to tell you tonight, but you beat me to it. That’s very brave of you.” 

You had a surprised look on your face; he began to laugh. 

“Really?”

“I’m serious,” he began. 

“Y/N, in the years that I got to know you,” he continued, holding your right hand. “You’ve grown to be a beautiful person inside and out and I want you to know that. I know self deprecation is your signature suit, but hear me out. You are kinder, more loving, sweeter and funnier than you think you are. I have always loved you because of who you were and I want you to know I will never let you go, even if we will be 14 hours away from another. You will always be a huge part of my life. You were friends with me at a time when I was starting to miss home and spending time with you and Angela made me realize that New York will always be my second home. That is the best thing anyone could have ever done,” he admitted. 

The two of you smiled at one another. Immediately, you looked up at the sky, silently observing the moon and its surrounding stars. 

“Those stars are very beautiful, like you,” he gushed. You scoffed then looked back at Junmyeon, who was smiling at you; the glow of the moon went onto his face and he became even more beautiful than he was before. 

“Thank you for being a part of my life, Junmyeon. I know it was too late now for me to tell you that I loved you, but I’ve accepted that we can’t be together because duty calls. I will always love you as my best friend,” you began. “You taught me how to live life in ways I didn’t consider before. I grew to love art in a weird way and I became happier. I was at my worst when I met you. I was confused, lost and didn’t want to be on this planet at all, but the more I got to know you and be around you, I realized that you were the reason I stayed,” you revealed. 

“Hey, I’m sorry that we can’t be together because of me. I know we will both be living different lives, but I will always think of you when I think of New York. For god’s sake, you were the first girl I ever fell in love with this seriously. I know you will be a wonderful teacher and if I ever get assigned to curate a whole Picasso exhibition, I will invite you first so you can make fun of my tastes in art,” he stated, jokingly implying that you won the Picasso had shitty art debate.

“Well, I have to pack these things and some rest so I can fly safely tomorrow.” you got up to leave and so did he. You hugged him and let go of the embrace and walked away to go back home. 

“I love you,” he called out.

“I love you too, Junmyeon. I’ll see you tomorrow,” you waved.

Just as you were about to go back to your house, you heard footsteps and he grabbed your arm. You turned around and he stroked your cheek, then leaned in closer to your face until there was almost no space between the two of you to breathe; “I love you,” he whispered and then closed his eyes. You knew what was happening; what had happened to the main characters in all those rom coms you watched was happening to you at that moment.

Like the characters, you too began to lean in and close your eyes as your lips touched his. “I love you too,” you whispered between kisses. The butterflies grew in your stomach and your heart began to beat faster. It didn’t help that his Dior cologne smelled really good at the moment. The kiss was deep, but quick because you could hear the door begin to open. You opened your eyes and moved back when you saw Mrs Kim watching through the next door with a smile. Junmyeon turned around and became flustered like a child in the spotlight for the first time.

“Goodnight again.” you said. “Goodnight Mrs Kim!” you waved at the woman at the net door; she called out goodnight as well. 

“Goodnight, Y/N. You’re a good kisser for someone who claimed they’re an old lady,” he stated just before he walked into the house with his gifts. Once he entered the house, you watched him until he turned into a shadow; you then walked back to your own house in silence.

You smiled knowing you finally kissed the man of your dreams, but it felt bittersweet at the same time because he was going to leave the next day. You finally reached your own house and walked into it with a smile, your mother watching with a smile on her face as well. The TV was blasting as your father watched it like a zombie. Your father then looked up from the TV and watched the two of you in slight confusion, then smiled knowing what had happened. 

“I always knew he liked you, but I’m so sorry he had to leave you so early.” she sympathetically stated when you walked in. You smiled, then went to get ready for bed while texting Angela what had happened on the Kims’ magical porch.

Part 4

[viggwigg]

Pretty Faces |  Chapter 1

Pairings: Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: You are a rising makeup artist whose talent is quickly taking off.  When one of your closest friends happens to be a big-shot director, you get the gig of a lifetime working next to him and his crew. No one could ask for a better workspace when surrounded by people you already love. Just what happens when the biggest crush of your life walks onto the set, ready for his close up?

Disclaimer: Cursing

A/N: OOPSIES totally my bad. Got kinda busy and put this off until now. But here it is! 🤩

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SFX, beauty, costume, you name it. You had done it all. No makeup challenge had ever held you back from a 110% attempt on your part. 

Even if you didn’t do so hot on your first try, you continued to perfect your technique with every opportunity you got. You had the kind of drive that inspired other artists to pull out their own strengths in their work. To take pride in their profession. 

Not to mention your humble personality about your talent. In your eyes, your abilities were earned through blood, sweat, and tears.

With how much fun you had playing around with it, it just made sense to enter into entertainment. You didn’t mind using crappy written tv shows to jumpstart your career. Nothing really slowed you down in your mind.

From weddings to the Halloween photoshoots, your name circulated around L.A. in a slow burn. And then an all at once fire.

Your credibility doubled as multiple directors could vouch for your performance. It took a load off their shoulders seeing their actor’s bloody lip look completely real.

You were called on last-minute set emergencies with how reliable your skills were.

And when your buddy Jesse came to you with a job offer, you knew that you were at least somewhat qualified for what he would throw at you.

It’s not to say you weren’t shitting bricks, no, of course you were. However, you would have to admit to yourself that you were doing significantly better than when you started out.

Due to how highly acclaimed Jesse’s movies were, he never offered you a spot on his team in the past. It’s not to say that he wasn’t impressed in your work; he definitely believed you would become great. But he didn’t want to hand you a job without you having earned it first.  

And with the last production you were a part of wrapped up, Jesse thought the timing couldn’t have been better.

He invited you to be an artist in his upcoming movie. Casting for the roles had just been finished and filming would commence within the month. 

He had a devilish laugh when you curiously asked about the casting list, yet he wouldn’t budge and insisted that you had to wait like everyone else to find out.

Being the director’s best friend seemed to have little benefit at this point.

You rolled your eyes as you thought back to your conversation with him. If he was gonna be stingy with his information, you were going to be stingy with your kindness.

Currently, you were walking with a multitude of bagels and coffee in your arms, on your way to the meeting point. The makeup artists usually weren’t invited to the production meetings but today they were assigning departments and groups to certain divisions.

This was the first day that all crews and actors would see each other. 

The treats you were bringing were for your fellow artists who you have met a couple times before today. You guys went over your individual techniques so that you could have a consistent result when the time came around.

Had Jesse not been selfish with his list, an everything bagel (bro I love these bagels so much) would have been delivered to him as well.

But alas, he would have to suffer.

Your arms were starting to cramp up at the odd angles you were holding everything at. The short walk from the cafe to the set proved a harder trek with the extra baggage. 

Although, thankfully, the doors to the right place were insight. Today’s meeting would be held at a regular building and later in the week you would move to the actual set.

Your heart was beating a little faster than usual. Your fellow beauty gurus were nice for sure, but who could tell how these next few months would go.

Still, working with your best friend was gonna be awesome.

You walked in and flashed your ID badge to the receptionist, quickly greeting her. It was surprisingly quiet in the building considering the whole place was rented out. 

However, as you neared hall doors, you could hear the muffled voices of everyone behind them.

You took a quick breath and turned the door handle.

The room was fairly large with little decoration. An elongated table sat in the middle of the room with many people around it. Some were sitting in the various chairs scattered about, but most just stood in a group of their respective departments.

First impressions were positive. Many smiling faces, a few dead stares, and a single person completely asleep on the table.

You could make out some well-known faces in the quick scan through you made.

Jesse looked away from the production manager he was talking to and caught eyes with you. 

“Y/n!!” His eyes lit up.

 The production manager was cut off mid-sentence. Jesse hit him on the chest playfully and excitedly in happiness. 

“Dude, this is who I was telling you about,” he said as he dragged you towards them.”She’s the leech that always hangs around me and my sister.”

“Ouch-and here I thought we had something special,” you said dramatically. 

The two of you paused and stared at each other before bursting into a fit of giggles. The excitement of working together seemed to hit both of you simultaneously.

The production manager just stared at you both before moving to introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Justin. It’s nice to meet you…”

You shushed Jesse and offered your hand, “Y/n. It’s nice to meet you too-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll get through intros later,” Jesse interrupted. “Right now there are much more important matters to attend to.”

He guided you both to some seats and began.

“Okay, so we’re just waiting on a few people before we begin. We should start- wait what’s with all the stuff?” Jesse gestured at the coffee and bags in your arms. His mouth began to water.

You made eye contact with the group in the back of the room and smiled, “Oh these are for the other artists actually.”

“Aw, how sweet of you! Where’s mine?” 

You moved your arms away just in time to miss his grabbing hands at the bags.

“Hands off, Jess! I didn’t get any for you.”

“Yo, what hell, y/n,” he whined. The sense of betrayal he went through could not be described in any other words than unforgivable. You knew this place had his favorite danish. 

You had to be the devil.

“I invite you to be on my crew, MINE, and this is the thanks I get? That’s it, we’re through. I mean it.” 

He huffed and turned away from you.

Justin looked at you with entertained admiration and chuckled to himself.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry,” you picked up the coffee and pastries.”Just let me hand these out and then I’ll figure out how to make it up to you.”

“Whatever”

However, just as you began to stand from the chair, the doors to the room swung open yet again. 

A man tall man with glasses walked into the room. He nodded at the various people in the room and moved along.

A shorter man with chocolate brown eyes trailed behind. He wore some comfy joggers and had a cap covering much of his hair.

All eyes shot to the second newcomer, everyone unanimously recognizing the familiar face.

Jesse recovered from his depressive state and replaced it with a shit-eating grin.

Justin rose to greet the man and give him the rundown.

You paused mid-air from your seat with wide eyes.

Tom Holland stood before all of you with a friendly smile and wave, “Hey, guys, I'm happy to finally meet you all. Sorry I’m a bit late.” 

...What the actual fuck.

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A/N: My god this is so unrealistic. I literally don’t know anything about where they do all their meeting and how they film so that’s why its so vague. I am so uneducated on this 🤦‍♀️ Lol thanks for the love on the prologue though! 💌🥰

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Tag list: @greenarrowhead @diamonddia-mond @jackiehollanderr

[dreadnought-dear-captain]

‘Til the End of the Line (or Not) OR: See? We TOLD You “No Homo.” Love, Markus and McFeely

*****WARNING: 99.9% SALT!! Contains spoilers for Avengers Endgame!!****

I guess this is part two of my personal processing of Endgame. @pitchforkcentral86 was not satisfied by my timey-wimey Endgame post, which centered on Steve’s choice to go back in time to be with Peggy and the implications of that choice. She remarked that yeah, it’s great that Steve might not be a total piece of crap, Pym particles, yada yada, whatever, but it still didn’t make her feel any less despair over this ending.

The source of her agony: Steve and Bucky’s relationship and its utter lack of satisfying resolution. So I shall address that now, because I think I feel worse about that than anything, and I can’t explain it away with Pym particles.

Anyone who has any investment at all in the relationship between Bucky and Steve — whether you are a Stucky person or whether you view them as platonic but deeply connected best friends — has probably had to spend the last two movies scraping around the floor, searching for crumbs, signs, any hints that these two people care about each other. We have been begging the Russos, the screenwriters Markus and McFeely, anyone who would listen, for anything to suggest that they are even on the barest of speaking terms, let alone that they have the intensity of relationship that the MCU spent 3+ movies explicitly convincing us that they have. I’ll even come out and say that although I ship Stucky in fandom and fic hardcore, I am not an MCU canon Stucky person per se. I’m 100% fine if the MCU wants to treat this as a deep, fraternal friendship. In fact, I see some benefits to this interpretation. How wonderful if men could love each other so deeply and have it NOT be sexual or romantic. But I’m also 100% fine with people interpreting this as romantic love, and there were times throughout this franchise where the actors, various parties in production, and Marvel itself has been agnostic on the subject, if not encouraging of gay interpretations of their relationship. Let it be what you want, fans have been told. Or just flat out post a pic of Steve and Bucky on #National Boyfriend Day like Civil War comic writer Mark Millar. Sure. At times, it almost felt safe to ship them. As soon as Civil War drew to a close, however, it started becoming... inconvenient for Bucky and Steve to be together. Steve needs to go to the Raft. Bucky needs to go into cryo. Steve needs to become Nomad and go secret avenging. Bucky needs to do his Vibranium Brain Magic (TM)/goat herding complex PTSD recovery program. Side note: Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) is my provisional diagnosis based on virtually nothing, because Bucky’s character has gotten so little substantive screen time that we can only guess at his psychological state, save what can be conveyed through glistening eyes and woobieface and “... but I did it.” Wow. Bowl me over, you really got me right in the McFeelys. Though +1000 to SebStan for working what he got to work with to the max. That motherfucker can act. We know for certain approximately jack shit about Bucky’s internal experience post-Winter Soldier. And so, like pretty much everything with Bucky and this friendship/ship arc, I will just guess at what is actually wrong with him. But after 70 years as a POW being tortured and possibly gaslit and definitely brainwashed, that is almost the textbook recipe for complex PTSD, so imma go with that. Returning to this distance. Now, it first appears to be largely logistical in nature. Steve is over here, Bucky is over there. Golly, just too busy to hang these days. All this secret avenging without you. And when we pine — pine — for the meaningful reunion of these two in IW, instead we got a “Hey brah, how's it hanging?” “You know, old and traumatized lol” exchange and a “let’s make sure our dicks don’t touch” back-slappy hug that lasted two seconds. This is without any hint as to whether these two have seen each other yet after Bucky’s de-thawing, leaving us to wonder whether this is really the big reunion we have been waiting for. 

(If we had audio, the sound would be 70% slapping.)

I’m going to pause here, because for many of us, this was devastating. After all, we were left with this shot of Steve as Bucky made the choice to go into cryo, a choice that seemed only somewhat justifiable on the vague grounds of “I can’t trust my own mind.” (Me either, pal.)

Ugh.

Perhaps this was also an avoidance strategy — easier to go back on ice than deal with the emotional fallout of what just happened. And who could blame him? He is probably still relearning how to cope effectively with things after his entire coping system was destroyed by his time with Hydra. But Steve was clearly disappointed or, at the very least, saddened by this. He gets something back just to lose it again. Enter distance. He leaves and goes avenging. Emotionally, perhaps this move to cryo created distance as well. Their relationship was on such fragile ground at this point, mostly an artifact from the ‘40s, and their chance to deepen it was taken away by the writers because Bucky wanted to go on ice for reasons and Steve needed to do Steve things. And so when IW rolled around, oh, did we want them to have a substantive reunion. But alas, we did not get that. We saw equally substantive exchanges between Bucky and Sam or Rocket and far more substantive exchanges between Steve and pretty much anyone else. And then we got the ultimate separation — (fake) death. Again. A traumatic, unplanned loss that costs another five years from their timeline, all before they even got the chance to properly re-establish a friendship. Again, I’m going off of what we actually see portrayed, not off of what we assume or would like to see. We have absolutely no idea how much Steve and Bucky interacted in Wakanda. But Steve busted Sam out of the Raft quite early, early enough that he still had a messed up face from the time Tony went in (unless he was getting beatings on the reg, which is possible). So if he was hanging with Sam since before Bucky went on ice, and Sam just visited Wakanda for the first time in IW, either Steve was borrowing the Quinjet to secretly visit Wakanda on his own to hang with Bucky, or he hadn’t been back to Wakanda since he left the first time. 

Regarding Steve visiting Wakanda between CW and IW — I found this bullshit from Markus and McFeely on the subject of whether Steve and Bucky met or talked prior to IW. The writers could not even agree about their own characters, with one saying that Steve and his crew probably visited Wakanda and hung out with Bucky and the other saying, eh, the two of them “maybe Skyped.” As to the former, this is not at all supported by the narrative or by logic. Infinity War is clearly Sam’s first time in Wakanda, with all that drama about “zomg you’re gonna hit those trees, bro!” as they are flying into the city. And why would Steve  leave his team alone and vulnerable, probably taking the Quinjet, their only form of reliable and safe transportation, so he could go visit Bucky alone? He’s not there for a booty call, y’all, because these guys have barely even rekindled their friendship. Moreover, the other secret avengers know how important Bucky is to Steve. This isn’t a secret. There would be no reason to go alone and no reason for T’Challa to forbid Nat, Sam, and Wanda from coming to Wakanda. So it makes no sense that Steve has visited Wakanda prior to IW, and thus, that would make IW their first meeting, which is… utter and heartbreaking garbage. But at least they had motherfucking SKYPE. MAYBE. Fuck. You. Very. Much. 

So, in the face of this shit reunion and Bucky’s subsequent dusting, some of us kindled hope for the upcoming Endgame. Perhaps we would get flashbacks. We knew there would be flashbacks or time travel because we saw stuff in the trailers and sneak peeks from the set. So maybe there would be something there to account for the utter lack of attention to their relationship in Infinity War. Again, this was the mere request that Markus and McFeely and the directors acknowledge wholeheartedly what they have been building for these characters since the beginning of their time in the MCU. This was not even strictly about Stucky. This was about doing justice for these characters as humans. But there were no flashbacks. Who knows what happened in Wakanda. We will have to fill in the blanks on our own. Not a single comment could be spared to even signal whether the IW Wakanda scene was their first time seeing each other since cryo.  “How’s that new arm treating you?” or “God, it’s been so long”/deep emotion would be all it would have taken to not keep us wondering one way or the other. This suggests a lack of consideration to the fans of these characters and this relationship — which, again, Markus and McFeely slaved to get us to pour our hearts into. So… Endgame. What was that? Bucky and Steve didn’t stand next to each other at Tony’s funeral. Okay. Bucky is not an A-list Avenger. He did kill Tony’s parents. Awkward. Bucky was comforted by Sam, his… guy he sat behind in the Volkswagen in Civil War and fought next to in IW, and he needed comfort apparently (?) because he… killed Martha and Howard Stark (??), which was sweet, and much more spontaneous affection than we’ve seen from Steve in an age, but what the actual fuck??? Was that Mickey Mouse standing behind the Iron Man 3 kid wearing a “Falcon and Winter Soldier” miniseries t-shirt?

And that ending. This was maybe the one implied nugget of friendship between them visible with an electron microscope. They obviously had at least one deep conversation about Steve deviating from the plan to go have a life, and they obviously had a discussion about who would succeed him as Cap. My dreams of Bucky Cap were dashed into dust, but as @pitchforkcentral86 said, it would have been cruel to give it to Bucky. Bucky would possibly have taken it if Steve kicked the bucket in EG, but it makes the most sense to be passed along in a planned way to Sam. So maybe they had at least one good conversation. Way, way off camera. Bucky said he would miss him. Recycled TFA line. Thank God it was not involving the words “jerk” and “punk.” Glistening woobie eyes. Steve leaving to go be with the one person who can make him feel like a whole human being, apparently, because there is nothing and nobody tethering him to this time in history anymore.

Whoa— wait— WHAT??? These are the moments where I literally double check the credits for the Cap movies to make sure that it says “Markus and McFeely.” Then I check the latest Avengers movies to make sure they also say “Markus and McFeely.” And they ALL DO!! The same two men painstakingly crafted the story of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, two men who — let’s be literal in the narrative here, for the sake of making a conservative argument — are best friends from childhood. They hammered on this story HARD, making sure that their relationship was so strong that by the time 2016 rolled around, the depth and intensity of their friendship and Steve’s commitment to it would tear the Avengers apart. And along the way, something else happened.

When you put two people in relationship like this, you have to know that there will be consequences. People will grow very emotionally invested in their relationship, because that is exactly what the writers were asking the audience to do. These dudes did their job, all right! And then something else happened, quite easily, even though these things will also happen under much harsher conditions: Stucky. Winter Soldier alone probably launched a hundred thousand ships for these two — gay, gay ships, so very gay, the glitteriest, gayest of cruise liners — from a hundred thousand ports around the globe. This ship has permeated pop culture even outside the fandom (some dumb gross man jokes from Screen Junkies within, but the Stucky shenanigans start at around 3:15).

And perhaps that’s when Markus and McFeely realized what a monster they created, one that would clash in ugly ways with their forthcoming (heterosexual) narrative, — their endgame for Steve. And so what did they do? Overcorrect. Wildly. Pull the plug. Bucky and Steve can’t fall out as friends completely, but what’s the next best thing? Give them almost zero screen time together, lest anyone be tempted to think they have a serious relationship — and again, I’m just talking friendship at this point, let alone anything else. Make their lines devoid of substance. Keep us wondering about the nature of their dynamic. Did the distance grow too great? Is Bucky not able to reconnect with anyone? Is Steve too busy? Too salty?? Who knows! These are possibilities, but none are explained. Then just poof Bucky off the face of the earth for 5 years to create existential distance. And in the meantime, ensure that Bucky is shown as not even a passing thought for Steve Rogers. Ensure that his name is never once uttered by Steve until he is about to leave him to go be with Peggy — oh except when, in a real dick move, when he emotionally whumps his past self with the news that Bucky is alive for the sole purpose of getting out of a stranglehold. At the same time, ensure that Steve is seen becoming single-mindedly fixated on Peggy Carter, and make sure the audience — including all those pesky Stucky shippers — knows that he considers her the “love of his life.” Ensure we see the compass with increasing frequency and with maximum longing. Insert Steve finding the absurd photograph of himself on the Director of SHIELD’s desk, facing the door for any junior colleague to see her pining over him like a schoolgirl long after he died, which is just about the least Peggy Carter thing I can ever imagine (and these people created and wrote for the Agent Carter TV series!!!).

Then give us our first openly gay person in the MCU. And drop him in the same scene that you confirm once and for all that Peggy Carter is the love of Steve Rogers’ life. Have Steve be so fucking cool with it that he makes us proud and relieved that he’s not a homophobe. Whew! Only… it makes us feel kind of gross, and maybe we can’t quite figure out why at first. But maybe it’s because it feels  personal, like a concession, like the writers and director knew exactly what they were doing to a lot of people who feel a very specific way about Steve’s sexuality and about his relationship with Bucky Barnes. It feels like a tone deaf nod to the fandom. Sorry, guys. No homo. We really did try to warn you with the whole Sharon Carter thing. (Sharon Carter, in an act of gross and misogynistic misuse, remains one of the most criminally mistreated characters in the entire MCU, arguably serving almost entirely as a “no homo” device before being completely discarded, never to be heard from again.)

Which got me thinking — was this move to distance Steve and Bucky so abruptly a reactive move? The divide between Steve and Bucky that happens in IW and EG feels so cold and inorganic. It does not feel at all driven by the natural arc of the characters as established by the creators themselves. It feels rushed and confusing, like it just needed to happen for plot convenience (though not even clearly that), and once again, we are left trying to figure out what the fuck is actually going on.

Part of that is probably needing to lay the groundwork for Steve’s feelings of alienation, which lead him to his ultimate choice to go back in time. He can’t feel too connected to Bucky or he won’t want to go back to be with Peggy. But could part of this also possibly be a reaction to how strongly Stucky was adopted by the public? Did Markus and McFeely realize how much more strongly we love the idea of Steve and Bucky — as friends or lovers, who cares? — rather than Steve and Peggy, which was probably their ending for Steve all along? Did they realize their terrible mistake of bringing them so close, endearing them to us so much, and then realize “OH SHIT,” and then slam on the brakes? Is that why IW and EG felt like absolute shit for their relationship, even for those who are not total endgame Stucky people?

Okay, but what if their friendship just ran its course? Friendships do that, even really deep ones. These two have had a huge chronological and experiential rift that never was really healed (thanks to our dear writers). Steve saved Bucky’s life thrice but they never really reconnected. Presumably. As far as we know in the narrative we are given by the writers. Okay. Let’s say you need to get Steve back with Peggy and for Bucky to become pals with Sam instead because contracts and actors. Whatever. Fine. But if you are going to play the “our friendship has come and gone” card, you need to fully PLAY IT. You can’t make it some vague option that might be true because we can’t figure out what the hell is going on. They need to have an actual conversation. For fuck’s sake, if we have time to fuck around with Korg and Miek on the couch and time to have Banner take selfies with kids and do stupid time gags and a bunch of other little shit, there is enough time to have a brief conversation somewhere to imply that “things have changed” or “people change” or something to imply that the writers were even thinking about the course of Bucky and Steve’s relationship as more than just a platform to launch Steve back to Peggy and launch Bucky toward Sam for their spinoff series.

There was just no depth. How can they give us three movies composed almost entirely of Mariana Trench levels of depth between these two men and then give us virtually nothing in IW and then next to nothing in EG to “round out” their entire storyline? The shape of the emotional momentum in this relationship is so wonky and dissatisfying, and the lack of comment on the dissolution of their friendship in the narrative, the fact that it isn’t even being acknowledged, is one of the worst parts. This relationship died without being honored or even attended to at the most basic level, after being told that it is perhaps the most important relationship in Steve and Bucky’s lifetimes and being shown evidence of that fact.

Moreover, let’s get real — calling Peggy the love of Steve’s life should do nothing to diminish his friendship with Bucky Barnes. That’s not how love works. You don’t just get one person. You can have a best friend — hell, you can have two best friends — and a woman you love. (And even moreover, you don’t have to leap back through time to find closeness just because you can. But that’s another matter with Steve’s character that I will address in a future speculative character analysis on Steve in an effort to explain how he got to this point, because I have a super depressing head canon about it involving traumatic grief and loss.) 

But just like comic book science, perhaps there are comic book rules about love and affinity. You only get one person, and Steve gets Peggy. And apparently Bucky gets Sam. Because contracts. But as I said before, I would have been okay if they had a dissolution of their friendship because that was the course of their friendship. Just tell us what is happening. Have the decency to respect your characters by giving their relationship a true arc, whatever it is. You can’t just recycle a TFA line and call it an arc. That is not an arc. Markus and McFeely goddamn know better and we know they know better, because we just saw a beautiful relationship arc closing with Tony and Pepper and, on a smaller scale, with Tony and Peter fucking Parker.

By the way, the small in-person and symbolic interactions between Tony and Peter in EG? Those are what high quality, emotionally salient, brief interactions between people who care about each other look like.

1. Tony’s picture of Peter in his kitchen: He can see from where he does his dishes. He looks at it meaningfully and thoughtfully before making a major plot-essential decision that risks his way of life.

2. Tony and Peter’s reunion hug: It starts off with some humor and classic Peter rambling. Becomes a full-ass, real hug. Nobody slaps the other’s back. Peter remarks, very sincerely, “oh, this is nice.”  <3

3. Tony’s death scene: Peter is visibly and truly wrecked. Tony looks at him in a heartfelt way. Words are unnecessary. It is perfect.

Bonus IW moment, because it is one of the most moving images I have seen in the MCU: Tony has Peter’s ashes in his goddamn mouth, eyes closed. Defeated.

Jesus Christ. Don’t tell me Markus and McFeely don’t know how to write characters and brief, powerful interactions, even when the characters are not together. They most certainly are very, very capable of this.

So why did we get the lifeless, quippy drivel and lame physical contact they gave Bucky and Steve in IW and EG? Which, regarding their last convo, was Bucky spilling his guts and Steve being like “Yeah brah, you’ll be fine, don’t be a fucking idiot while I’m off being happy with the only person in the universe who can make me complete #surprisesoulmates.” Bucky offers his quippy mandatory TFA callback retort so that the audience remembers that these two once gave an actual fuck about each other at one point in the narrative.  Cue slappy-back-no-dick-touch hug. And please don’t tell me that this is just how men from the ‘40s hug. I would buy that for TFA, but after everything they’ve been through in Winter Soldier and Civil War? I am not buying it.

**Slap-slap**

So we get a Steve Rogers who exits the MCU permanently by making a contentious, questionable final choice with questionable implications that take a graduate degree and/or a hive mind to questionably figure out (or else I’m just a fucking idiot and I’m the only one who needed those things). And we also get the profoundly dissatisfying demise of a relationship that we invested a tremendous amount of emotional energy in because that is what the screenwriters and directors asked us to do. 

I am not writing this as a diehard Stucky shipper. I love Stucky, don’t get me wrong. It’s all I read and write in fandom. And I can certainly buy a world (at least, in Caps 1-3) where canon Steve’s love for Bucky is the gay kind and vice versa. Sure. But I am writing this as a person who loves good characters and good story, and this is such a hard fail that even if I had no emotional investment in these two characters, I would wonder what Markus and McFeely had against Steve and Bucky that they let their garden succumb to drought while they tended so considerately to Tony and Peter and Tony and Pepper and Steve and Natasha and Steve and a dead woman and Thor and Bruce and Thor and fucking Rocket, pretty much all of whom (with the exception of Tony and Pepper) have had so much less at stake, so much less time invested, and so much less of a reason for the audience to give a fuck.

But more importantly, I am writing this as a lover of Steve and Bucky, two people who have a well-established, rock-solid, indisputable human relationship that deserves so much more than what it got, especially given all of the unspeakable suffering these men have experienced separately and as a byproduct of their separation. Canonically. This is not made up fandom shippery superimposed upon Markus and McFeely’s precious creation. This is the truth of these two men as determined by the hands of the creators who also neglected them into nothingness, which is arguably a fate far worse than one or both of them dying an actual, final death.

I am left feeling disappointed and betrayed as a fan, wishing, as others have confided in me, that I was more of a Tony person and had been all along. Because then I would be walking away from this still grief-stricken, but at least it would be for the right reasons.

--

--

I will leave you with this, arguably one of the last in-character moments for Bucky and Steve in the MCU. 

[thirsttrapholland]

Red Cups (College Au)

Pairing: Fratboy! Tom Holland x Black Reader

Summary:  You’ve been tutoring Tom all semester.  Despite his reputation around campus, he’s never tried anything with you.  Then he invites you to the end of semester party at his frat.

Warnings: One f bomb.  That’s about it.

Words: 1015

The table shook slightly as someone flopped down in the chair across from you. “Hey.”

You looked up to find Tom.  He was in his typical uniform; backwards baseball cap, hooded sweatshirt and a pair of joggers.  “Hey, what are you doing here?  We don’t have a session today.”

“I know.  I just wanted to show you this.”  He slid a sheath of papers across the table.  “It’s the history paper you helped me work on.”

“You got a B.  Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”  A wide smile spread across his face.  “I couldn’t have done it without you though.”

“I just guided you in the right direction.  You put in the work, that’s what made the real difference.”

“Still I just wanted to thank you.  I also wanted to ask why you haven’t responded to the text I sent you about the end of semester party at my house.”

“How many parties have you invited me to this semester?”

“I don’t know,” Tom shrugged his shoulders.  “A bunch, I guess.”

“And how many of those parties have I actually gone to?”

“None.”

“Well, there’s your response.”

“Those other parties were whatever.  But this is the end of semester party.  You have to go to at least one end of semester party.”

“I have to?  Says who?”

“Says me.  Besides don’t you want an opportunity to watch the master at work?”

“And what exactly do you think you’re the master of?”

He wiggled his janky looking eyebrows suggestively. “You know what.”

“Right.  Maybe if you spent as much time studying as you do mastering the art of picking up girls with low self-esteem and poor decision-making skills, you wouldn’t have needed a tutor this semester.”

“But if I hadn’t needed a tutor you and I would probably have never met, babe.”

“How many times have I asked you not to call me babe?”

“Lots probably.  If you didn’t make that adorably annoyed face every single time, I might actually stop.”

“Jackass.”

He reached across the table and gently rested his hand on top of yours.  “You know you love me.” You quickly removed your hand from under his hoping that he didn’t notice the slight tremble in your fingers.

“Get over yourself.” You started gathering your things and shoving them back into your backpack.  “I appreciate the invite, but I don’t go to frat parties.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t like them.”

“How do you know you don’t like them if you’ve never been to one?”

“I’ve never been shot before either, but I can pretty confidently say I wouldn’t enjoy the experience.”

“Not even remotely the same thing.  Tell me what you think goes on at frat parties.”

“I think it’s standing around watching a bunch of drunk, sweaty bros do keg stands, try to get quarters in red cups and hit on everything moving all while listening to Post Malone.  Sounds heavenly but I’ll pass.”

Tom was quiet for a moment.  “Parties at my house aren’t like that at all.  We fucking hate Post Malone.”

“Hard pass.”  You stood up and grabbed your bag.  “I’ve gotta go.  If I don’t see you again, have a good break.”

“Wait.”  Tom stood up and came around to your side of the table.  He rested a hand on the column behind you and stood close enough for you to smell his cologne.  You didn’t know the name of his cologne and would have drawn a blank if anyone had asked you to describe the smell.  You just knew it was soft, warm, comforting and inviting; just like the guy that wore it.   While you weren’t physically boxed in, you still felt unable to move.  “So, you’re gonna make me say it, huh?”

“Make you say what?”

“That I’m gonna miss you.”

You wondered if he was close enough to hear your heart trying to beat its way out of your chest.  “Miss me? It’s just winter break.  We’ll be right back here in January.”

“I’m still gonna miss you.”  You tried to speak but he laid a slender finger against your lips, effectively silencing you.  “And just once I would like to spend time with you that doesn’t revolve around you yelling at me about my shitty comma usage.”

“You do like to throw those things around pretty recklessly.”

“Come on.  I’m not even asking you to stay for the whole thing.  Just one drink.”

You could feel yourself starting to give in.  “I don’t know, Tom.”

“Do you want me to beg?  Please?”  You wondered if he even knew he was doing it; the way he’d lean in close, soften his voice and widen his eyes to puppy dog like dimensions when he was trying to talk you into something.  You wondered if this was how he got all those other girls to go back to his room.  You wondered if he understood the way it affected people; if he knew how much it was starting to affect you.  “Pretty please.”

“Okay.  I can drop by for one drink.  I’ve heard how parties get at your house, though.  You might want to let your horndog frat bros know that I carry pepper spray and a taser at all times and I’m not afraid to use either one.”

“Who knew you were such a dangerous woman?  I kinda like it.”

“Do not make me regret this, Tom.”

“I will totally watch your back and I promise to scare off anybody that looks like they’re even thinking about hitting on you.”

“Fine.”

“We’ll have a drink.  Maybe you’ll let me talk you into a dance or two.  If you stick around long enough, I might even dazzle you with my rapping skills.”

“I’m telling you right now, if you start rapping, not only will I leave the party immediately, I might never speak to you again.”

“But I go off to King Kunta.”

“Do you actually want me to come to this party or not?”

“Okay, okay.  No rapping this time.”

“Then I’ll be there.”

“I promise you’re gonna have a good time.  Besides, you, me and and a couple of drinks; what’s the worst that could happen?”

[athletiger]

Bro Code: Cap Hack edition

So you know how MIT put a Cap shield on its dome? Discord kept prompting it, and I thought it would be a perfect addition to my bro code series that I started writing last year (which is now on Ao3 here, please show it some love <3). Anyway, hope you enjoy!

“Rhodey, Rhodey, wake up.”

“What, man?” Rhodey grumbled, pushing away the hands that shook him awake. He turned his head slightly so that he could observe the figure above him, but his other side of his face was still stubbornly mashed into the pillow.

For dead o’clock, Tony sure was chipper, perhaps even too hyper.

“How many coffees did you have, oh my God,” he grumbled. He didn’t want to be awake. He had an eight a.m. for God’s sake. He buried his face back into his pillow.

(Why the fuck did he even register for an eight a.m.? Oh, that’s right, it was the only time they offered for the class he needed. God, it should be illegal for a senior to take an eight a.m.)

“Two…pots, but that’s not the issue here.”

“Really Tony? Two pots? Don’t even. I’m not awake enough to deal with this shit.”

“No, no, no,” Tony said, pouncing on top of him. At the ripe age of eighteen, he’s a happier camper than when he was a young and impressionable freshman. He’s done some amazing stuff at the lab, creating revolutionary bots and projects that were out of this world, and they worked.

As he grew older though, he also gave into his insomnia and went on engineering binges. Rhodey didn’t approve, but he can only do so much to prevent it.

God, he wanted his beauty sleep.

Tony jostled Rhodey’s body, limbs lanky and hard joints digging into his back. “The government found Captain America.”

Instantly Rhodey snapped awake and sat up. Tony yelped as he was thrown off, and he pouted. But he was having none of that. “Come again?”

“The government – technically SHIELD – found Cap,” Tony repeated. “All-American World War II hero?”

“Yea, I got that part, but how do you know about this? Did you hack into the Pentagon again?”

Tony’s silence was all he needed to know. Rhodey rubbed a hand over his face, still exhausted. Really he was too tired to deal with this shit. “Jesus, Tony. One day you’re gonna get arrested and I’m not going to bail you out of Federal prison.”

Tony simply brushed it off. “Their firewalls are so bad a child could hack into them. Don’t worry, I left no trace behind. But that still leaves us with the knowledge that Cap is back!”

“And why am I awake for this?”

“Because you’re going to help me decorate the Great Dome.” Tony looked like he was going to vibrate out of his skin.

Rhodey knew he was going to regret it when he asked, “With?”

“It’s down by DUM-E, but I got ten yards of fabric I’ve got folded up. It’s too heavy for me to carry by myself, but I’ve seen you bench 500 pounds.”

Rhodey groaned. “Tell me you didn’t clean out the fabric store with red and white fabric.”

“Okay I won’t.” Tony looked so unashamed about it too, and he grinned widely. “Come on! I’ve always wanted to do a hack.”

“Fine.”

To be honest though, Rhodey secretly agreed. It would be cool to be part of the infamous club of hackers who managed to prank the school. He picked up the large bundle of fabric and nearly dropped it in surprise.

“Oh my God, how did you manage to carry this home?” he asked, shifting it so that he could hold onto it better.

Tony laughed nervously, carding his fingers through his hair. “Had to make four round trips, and I sewed the thing myself.”

“I can’t believe I’m helping you at three in the morning,” Rhodey grumbled, even as he followed Tony back to the campus in the middle of the night.

Normal people were dead asleep in their dorms at this time of night – thank God they didn’t see anyone wandering about on campus on an early Tuesday morning, and Rhodey didn’t miss the way they seemed to avoid all the patrol cars supervising the area. Still, it didn’t stop his heart from beating hard in his chest, adrenaline sending him into overtime.

“I can’t believe we’re really doing this,” Rhodey whispered, and he watched Tony picked the lock with ease in the dark, tumblers clicking into place before the door opened. He looked out at the courtyard before he slipped inside after Tony. “And you need to stop getting into trouble.”

“Haven’t yet,” Tony replies softly, quietly closing the door behind them closely. He couldn’t see it, but Rhodey just knew that he was grinning.

“When you do, I won’t be there to bail you out.”

Tony laughed. “You won’t because you’ll be right there in jail with me.”

…he’s not wrong.

The dim light of a flashlight appeared at the end of the corridor, prompting them to move away from the entrance to the staircase.

Breaking and entering was so illegal, and Rhodey was sure that he was going to lose his commission if he got caught. Another picked door, and Tony led them through the service door which took them to the roof. Rhodey stepped through out into the cold night air, and his breath caught.

The skyline up ahead was absolutely breathtaking, lights glittering in the night sky. It was a sight that he could never otherwise see down five floors below.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

Rhodey nodded. “Yeah.”

“I come here sometimes when I can’t sleep to look at it,” Tony said softly. Out here, no one was listening, but it seemed terrible to break the silence with loud voices, and they looked for a few moments longer until Rhodey’s arms began to ache.

“Let’s do this,” he said, handing the fabric to Tony, which he promptly dropped to the floor.

“That’s heavy,” Tony whined, plucking an edge from the pile and beginning to climb the dome.

Rhodey snorted. “You’re telling me? I was the one who had to carry it from our place!” He took another edge of the piece of fabric and climbed up after Tony.

“You’re supposed to be the strong future Air Force Officer. Strength is a prerequisite!”

“I don’t think they commissioned me for that.”

Tony scoffed, and they finished dragging the fabric over the dome.

-

Rhodey was cursing his life’s existence when he trudged out of his eight a.m. (remind him, why did he take it again? It’s too early) when Tony bounded up beside him, thrumming with excitement.

“We made the news!” Tony whispered excitedly.

The front cover of MIT’s The Tech proclaimed, “HACKED! The Great Dome is covered with Captain America’s shield.”

All in all, the general public seemed confused at the appearance of the shield and the significance behind it, but five miles away, an artist picked up a stray newspaper clipping from the gutter, saw the shield covering the Dome, and his mouth dropped in shock and horror.

“Buck!”

“What?”

He threw the clipping at his friend’s face. “How did they know?”

Bucky pulled it off his face and read the article, reluctantly impressed by the prank. “Dunno man, but I wanna meet whoever did that.”

“I thought I was classified material!”

“You are,” Fury said behind them. “Go find out who learned of this and bring them to SHIELD.”

“Yes, sir.”

[avengers-nextgen]

AU Propositions

So, I have been thinking about doing an AU along with the main series. Below are the theee options I’m willing to write! Each has a snippet or sample of material for that given AU. Please vote on which one you’d like to see based off of wha I’ve written.

— — —

Apocalypse

Factions, were all that remained. Years ago the government was overthrown, the world dissolved into chaos, and loyalty became an illusion. Patriotism no longer existed, one governing body was replaced with many, maps were re-made, and alliances dictated territory.

Ram shackled buildings made up towns, and once superior technology was now lost. The wars had ravaged scientific advancement putting the world’s technological timeline in reverse.

Enemies lurked at every corner as nations tried to re-establish themselves. Safety didn’t exist.

The only hope anyone had was the next generation-the offspring of surviving fighters. Tides were beginning to shift, and alliances were converging to form four powerful states. Keeping peace was increasingly difficult, but the few unattached townships were looking to restore America. If one nation could rebuild itself, then others could too.

— — —

A bullet ridden sign held a few straggling letters naming the town NEW O, also known as ground Zero.

Smoke wafted into the sky, streaming up in plumes from piped chimneys.

“The stables aren’t far,” James assured, stepping aside as a barefoot kid ran past, “we take a ride down south and check on Havoc Sector.”

“Right, my favorite place to be,” Piper sighed, adjusting her backpack.

“It’s just a quick round up,” Alex tried to brighten the mood, “nothing major. Get the medicine, distribute it, and head home.”

“Last time we sent someone to distribute supplies they were killed.” Piper reminded the two siblings.

“Which is why there’s three of us.” James pressed his lips into a thin line.

— — —

Havoc Sector was a shit hole. The only reason none of the states wanted its service was because of its poverty. They had nothing to offer anyone. In fact, Havoc Sector was lucky they even had support from New 0.

“It’s infected,” The Doctor pursed his lips, “I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.”

“There has to be something,” Bianca insisted, looking at her discolored arm. The large cut from a work related accident had become severely infected.

“I’m sorry, no medicine can treat this-let alone if we had any.” Part of Bianca wanted to kill the man. He claimed to be medically certified, and maybe he was once upon a time, but the equipment now just wasn’t the same. His abilities were limited.

“I’ll go somewhere else then,” Bianca decided.

“And where will that be?” The doctor frowned.

“The Skids,” Bianca’s assertive tone surprised the doctor, but he was more surprised by the selected location.

“If you go to the Skids you’ll die for certain.” He made no move to stop Bianca from stumbling to her feet.

“So be it.”

— — —

A fist rocked into her face pushing her back against the dusty wall. All around people crowded and yelled at the scene before them. Just beige her opponent could take the advantage, Sage slammed her foot down against their knee.

With a sickening pop the other girl dropped with a cry of pain. Using the back of her arm, Sage wiped the blood from her face, and grasped the unfortunate competitor by the front of her tank top, “Yield.”

“Not a chance.”

“You know what happens if you don’t.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

The crowd roared angrily and slammed their hands down upon rickety wood tables.

Kill

Kill

KILL

KILL!

“You heard them,” The girl smiled thinly. Sage nodded and quick as a wink she snapped the other girl’s neck letting her drop to the ground. With the thud of the body the room dissolved into complete chaos.

Sage scampered from the ring and snatched up her winnings before heading off.

She’d changed quickly, and was now pedaling swiftly towards home. Her mother was sick and dying, if she’d gathered enough money there was a chance she could afford a hospital room. The Skids was a cutthroat place. A place for criminals, but because of that-they had the best health care possible.

80s

“Throw the ball!” Piper yelled, tapping the bat on the base outlined in the dirt. James brought his leg up slow, making the movements grander than they needed to be, before throwing the mall. It whistled through the air in a perfect spin as Piper swung the wooden bat.

A loud crack resounded signaling a solid hit. James glanced at the sky trying to follow the ball as Piper took off to where Scout stood prepped at first base. Orion charged in from the outfield sprawling out flat in an attempt to catch the ball. Recovering he slung it towards second base forcing Piper into a dive.

Nathaniel snagged the ball from the air, stopped over to tap Piper, and cursed when she beat him. “Safe.”

“Yes!” Thalia clapped. Piper stood to dust herself off, all the while taking a bow.

With a sigh James took his place on the mound once more. Adjusting the cap on his head he wiped at the glistening sweat with the back of his arm.

“Hold up,” Scout called, checking his watch, “shit. We gotta go! School is soon.”

Nothing else was said as they all picked up the baseball equipment. An onlooker would have laughed watching a bunch of teens scramble across the dusty field, up and over the hill, down the other side, and disappear in the neighborhood.

— — —

“You have to work on your pitching,” Nathaniel joked accompanying his younger friends to school. College had yet to start for him so he enjoyed the morning cycle to school without the anxiety of having to do any learning.

“You pitch next time,” James huffed, taking the corner sharp into the parking lot. Kids were scrambling out of cars and racing up the steps to meet friends.

“That hit though,” Alex winked at Piper who puffed her chest out in pride. They rode past a car blasting U2 and shortly after another playing ABBA.

“The music tastes of some of these people,” Orion shook his head in dismay.

The conversation was interrupted as an engine came screaming by, a motorcycle sped past sliding into a parking space with ease.

“Hey! Watch it!” James yelled, “You yield to us.”

“Says who? It’s a parking lot. Everyone yields to everyone dip shit,” James’ brows arched in surprise as the biker jerked off their helmet to reveal an intimidating girl with short choppy black hair.

“Attitude,” Alex hummed earning a snicker from Piper. Shaking his head James lead the group to the bike rack.

“Some people have serious nerve,” Scout frowned.

“You get used to it,” Orion assured him hopping up onto the nearby wall, “see you all later.”

— — —

“Glad to see you decided to turn up,” Bianca turned to see her friend climbing the steps to the front of the school.

“I’m still a bit nervous,” Bianca admitted. She’d managed to snag a prosthetic but it wasn’t exactly the most function-able or attractive device.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sage promised holding the door open for her, “I’ll kill anyone who says anything about it.”

“Murder on the first day seems a bit excessive,” Bianca laughed.

“So does getting math homework,” Sage countered.

— — —

“This place is ghastly,” Penny frowned.

“Why? Because you learn stuff?” Chloe asked, arching a brow.

“It’s a prison.” Penny insisted.

“Thanks for that, I can finally cross going to jail off of my bucket list.” Penny rolled her eyes at Chloe before turning her attention to Arthur.

“How’re you holding up?”

“Honestly I am terrified,” Arthur mumbled. The news was all over the place with people who’d been beat up or killed for being gay, lesbian, and trans.

“Just remember to be careful,” Chloe warned.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I be?” Arthur glowered.

“I’m just saying-“

“Yeah, you don’t want to move schools again I know.”

“Arthur, I’m not mad at you.” Chloe looked a bit offended, “but not everyone is like us. Some people are cruel.”

“The newspapers made me well aware of that,” Arthur swallowed hard, his heart hammering in his chest at too fast of a pace. He was pretty sure he was already sweating.

Demigod

Capture the flag was the olympics of camp half blood. The winner didn’t earn a week of chores, gained honor, and best of all-bragging rights. There was nothing worse than watching people fume over defeat.

Even the campfires were fun if the participation was high enough. Maybe the music wasn’t the best but it got the job done. If anything, it allowed people to be completely unhinged.

Dinner was wonderful too, there were people to laugh with, tell stories with, and simple talk too. It was a vibrant atmosphere meant to be welcoming, but it was also a lonely type of place. There were those who felt confined, restricted, and unwanted.

Chloe hated her cabin. The perfume gave her a headache, the gossip was annoying, and they didn’t value a whole lot. Of course, not every child of Aphrodite was like that, but stigmas existed for a reason. The only one who’d gotten anything good out of the deal was Arthur. A perfect body, the one he always wanted, and with none of the pain.

Even Piper was dissatisfied. There was only so much a person could do with the limited equipment. She had big plans, big desires, and being confined to share a forge was infuriating. Her only solace was Siyanda who seemed to understand the struggle.

As for Scout, there was more to being smart than knowing facts. He was stuck in a cabin full of one uppers. Nothing anyone did was good enough, and someone always came up with something better. He was sick of it. Not to mention everyone’s ideas seemed to follow the same pattern. Originality didn’t seem to be valued as much as tradition did.

Penny and Orion were stuck in the most crowded cabin where something was always missing because someone always took something. You could barely even trust your own siblings with objects for fear they’d take it or sell it for something better. Personal possessions weren’t much of a privilege for them.

James and Alex had a relatively empty cabin. Everyone was pretty alright until it came to intense competitions, then all hell broke loose. People would argue over athletes about who was better or not, and it could go on for days. No one ever admitted defeat, that they were wrong, or that they weren’t as good as their ego said they were.

Violence was quite the go to response for people in the Ares cabin, but it didn’t come naturally to some. Thalia refrained from unseeded conflict at all costs, and instead advocated for peace more often than not. Bianca just wanted to be left alone. She barely spoke to anyone, and they all assumed it had to do with the age old incident.

Being a child of Nemesis meant no one wanted to befriend you. Not to mention the history of Nemesis children at camp. Fox found herself trying to be as detached as possible, but it was hard when people tried to piss you off to see what would happen.

As for Nathaniel, the poor boy didn’t catch a break. He taught archery every chance he got or helped out in the medical wing, but there was one cot that no one touched. It was practically forbidden, but that almost made it worse.

Enzo fit right in with the other peppy magic kids. He went about practicing his powers all day, loved to participate in group activities, and cabin bonding moments. Sage, however, kept to herself on the top bunk in the dark back corner of the rather unpopulated cabin. She found their happiness sickening, and spent most of her time curled up staring at the wall. No one bothered to drag her into activities anymore.