#so upset about the difference between vic and g

[grapecaseschoices]

im so mad. im so not well. im so very upset over the orpheus-gate being reopened on infamous.

[maneskinrollercoaster]

~ We’re Everything To Each Other That We Ever Needed 2: Back To Black ~

Pairing: Ethan Torchio x Chiara Russo (fictional character)

Word count: 3313

Warnings: Smut, swearing.

Summary: Innocent theme party turns into something unexpected.

- Guys what’s the theme of the party? - Victoria shouted while standing in front of her wardrobe.

- Back to black - said Chiara, doing her makeup at the couch.

They were all preparing to go out for the party in one of the theme clubs in Rome. The club was unique, every party meant different dress code, different set up and different place. Damiano found it somewhere on Facebook and since Måneskin had a few days break from Europe tour they all decided to go and have some fun.

- Chi, will you do my eyeliner? - Vic asked coming into the living room.

- Of course, I’ll dress up and I’ll take care of you - Chiara winked to Vic and stood up from the couch.

She went upstairs to Ethan’s room. She left all her thing there since they were going out for the whole night. She opened the door and saw Ethan sitting on his bed with Chili - Victoria’s dog - on his lap.

-Chili - Chiara said coming up to them and taking her in her arms. - mi amore - she kissed her head.

Ethan was looking at the two of them lovingly. Since their steamy night in the hotel room, both of them got even closer with each other. They still didn’t know if relationship was exactly what they wanted at the moment but they were all good with the current situation, they were kissing and cuddling on the couch in front of Vic, Thomas and Damiano without any problem and the three of them were really supportive and understanding. Vic was joking around all the time about their friendship and sending them dirty looks but Chiara and Ethan didn’t mind. She was his first real love, his best friend and both of them decided to leave the things they way they are and eventually change something when the time was right.

- Are you gonna dress up now? - he asked pulling her closer to him, closing the gap between them.

She looked at him lovingly and smiled stroking his cheek with her palm, holding Chili with the second arm. He looked really handsome dressed all in black. Chiara leaned in to him.

- Yes, wanna watch? - she said seductively right before she planted a kiss on his warm lips.

Suddenly Chili started licking their faces, jumping in Chiara’s hands and they pulled away laughing.

- You sweet little Chili - Ethan said stroking her head and taking her from Chiara. - We’re gonna sit now and look while Chi is dressing up for the party, okey? - he said looking Chili into her eyes and putting her next to him on the bed. She barked quietly and pulled out her pink little tongue.

Chiara pulled out her black dress out of the bag along with a lace bra, lace thongs and black heels. She stripped down completely in front of Ethan and stood in front of the mirror. In the back she saw him biting his lip and looking at her hungrily. She was stunning and Ethan couldn’t take his eyes off of her beautiful tattooed body. He always wondered how he’s gotten so lucky to have someone so attractive like Chiara. She took the bra and her thongs and put them on. She looked really sexy. She then put on her heels and Ethan smiled at the image of her dressing down and dancing in front of him later when they’re back in the room. She grabbed the dress put it on and turned to Ethan.

- Can u zip it up? - she came up to him, turning around.

He stood up, gently grabbing the zipper and pulling it up. He pressed his chest to her back and planted a wet kiss on her bare neck. She sighed but pulled away, looking at him.

- Let’s go, Mr Needy. I need to do Victoria’s makeup. - Chiara said pulling Ethan towards the door.

- Can’t she do it by herself? - he said frowning - She’s doing her makeup for our every show, what happened that she can’t do it now? - he asked.

- She asked me to do it for her, now let’s go. - she said and they both went out of the room.

***

They were almost ready to go out. Chiara did Victoria’s makeup and helped Thomas with his tie, while Ethan was putting on his shoes.

- Where’s Damiano? Wasn’t he all dressed and ready to go? - Chiara asked looking around.

- He got a phone call and went upstairs. - Vic said, putting on her red lipstick.

- I’ll go get him. - Chiara said and went upstairs.

She stepped inside Damiano’s room and saw him sitting at the door to the balcony with a cigarette. His head resting on the wall, he looked upset.

- Heyyy, what’s going on? - Chiara said sitting next to him.

He looked at her with puffy eyes, messed up mascara running down his cheeks along with the tears. She was shocked.

- Dam, what happened? - she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder, encouraging him to speak to her.

- Giorgia called me, she said she’s leaving Italy and breaking up with me. - Damiano said and let out the smoke from the cigarette. - Do you understand? She broke up with me because she said she’s not able to do long distance and that it’s better for us both to go different ways. - he said with a breaking voice.

- Dami, but.. I don’t get it.. You were both so happy with each other. - Chiara said confused, stroking his back to calm him down.

Damiano and Giorgia were in a relationship for almost 3 years. He always talked about her and was all over her every second. Two weeks ago he told Victoria and Chiara that he’s planning to take her to Florence and propose to her on their three years anniversary. Chiara always thought that nothing will be able to break these two apart. They were inseparable.

- I don’t get it either, I was supposed to take her to Florence next week and propose and she just called me out of nowhere and said that it’s not gonna work between us. - he said looking at Chiara.

- When is she leaving? - she asked

- In 5 days. It’s unbelievable, I didn’t even know about her moving to England. - he said, letting down his head.

- Listen, we have 5 days to fix this. I’ll help you, but now let’s go and have fun. You can’t sit here alone, you’ll dance and party and have fun and tomorrow we will figure everything out. - Chiara said sending Damiano reassuring smile.

- Maybe you’re right, it can’t end like this. Maybe I just need some time out.. - he said slightly smiling back to her.

- Let’s go, they’re all waiting for us. - Chiara stood up and they both went out of Damiano’s room.

***

The music was loud, the lights were going crazy and there were plenty of empty beer bottles and vodka glasses. Chiara ran her hand on Ethan’s back and leaned in to his ear.

- Come dance with me - she said, putting her hand on his thigh.

- Chi, you know I don’t like to dance. - Ethan said politely - Besides, maybe you’ll take a break hm? You look tired. - he said and kissed her cheek.

Chiara was completely stoned. Earlier, she went with Vic and Damiano and they smoked 4 joints together. They went out from the toilet cabin all smiley and laughing and they went to play beer pong. Damiano and Thomas in one team and Vic with Chiara in another. Girls lost and they drank almost all the cups with the bear which made Victoria pass out on the couch next to Ethan.

- Nooo, I don’t want a break, I wanna dance with you. - Chiara said, resting her head on Ethan’s shoulder.

- If you want to dance then go, I’ll gladly watch you move your ass from here - He said laughing.

Ethan wasn’t drunk, but a couple of bears made him more talkative and cheeky.

- Alright, as you wish. - she said standing up, she smiled at him and walked away.

She walked up to dancing people and started moving her body with the rhythm. She was light-headed and she didn’t know what was happening, she wasn’t thinking sober when someone grabbed her hips and started dancing beside her. Chiara turned around to see Damiano completely drunk dancing in the middle of the dance floor.

- Let’s dance together- he shouted into her ear.

Chiara not knowing why started moving her body against his, pulling him closer. He started grinding on her and the desire was clearly seen between them. He touched her thighs and moved his hands up to her hips and her stomach. Chiara didn’t stop him tho. Her body started getting warmer and more tensed. They were both sweaty, enjoying the more and more sexual dance.

- Come with me - he whispered to her ear but loud enough for her to hear him through the music.

- Where? - Chiara asked smiling to him.

- Let’s have some fun - he said winking at her and pulling her after him.

They walked passed all they dancing people and Chiara was excited. Adrenaline rushing in her veins. They reached the toilet. He pulled her inside and closed the door quickly. She didn’t know what was happening. She didn’t protest though, her drunk and stoned mind took the control and a minute later she felt Damiano pushing her on the sink and kissing her. She was overwhelmed and surprised but Ethan was the last person she was thinking about. It sounded bad but at this moment she only focused on Damiano’s hands grabbing her hips and pulling her up so she was sitting on the counter next to the sink. He was kissing her passionately, squeezing her neck firmly and making her moan.

- Dami.. - Chiara sighed and ran her fingers through his hair.

- Do you want to keep going? - he asked kissing her collarbones.

- Ye.. yes.. - she moaned throwing back her head.

He pulled up a bottom of her dress and Chiara found herself unzipping his shorts. He quickly pulled them down and Chiara was surprised when she saw that Damiano wasn’t wearing any boxers. She knew it’s common with him but she was drunk and she completely forgot about everything. A second later she felt his erection inside her, he started off fast and Chiara not expecting such movements grabbed his hair with her one hand and his back with the other. They were making out and Damiano’s pace went faster and faster. She was moaning loud and a warm feeling in her stomach started to build up, letting her now that it won’t take long for her to reach the high.

- Feel good? - Damiano growled with his husky voice and grabbed Chiara’s face to make her look at him.

- Yes.. so good Dami - she moaned, her eyes completely black from desire.

It didn’t take them long until Damiano’s erection started twitching inside her and her walls clenching around him. His moves were sloppy and desperate and they both reached their climax moaning loudly.

Chiara jumped off the counter, breathing heavily. She fixed her dress and brushed her hair with her fingers. Her mascara was a bit messed up but she didn’t care. She turned to Damiano who zipped up his shorts and smirked at her. They both laughed.

- That was good - he said winking at her.

- Yeahhh - she said chuckling.

She opened the door and everything stopped. In front of her she saw Ethan. She turned all read, her mind immediately sobered up and she realized what she’s just done with Damiano. Ethan’s eyes were watery and full of pain. He looked at Damiano with a disgusted face. Chiara turned to him and saw her red lipstick stains on his neck. She didn’t know what to do. She looked at Ethan wanting to say something.

- Save it. You’re both disgusting. - Ethan said and started walking away quickly.

- Ethan, wait! - Chiara chased after him, feeling her cheeks getting wet from the tears.

She just had sex in a club bathroom with his best friend. She felt the guilt taking over her and she felt ashamed of herself. She was chasing after Ethan trying to stop him but he didn’t pay attention to her. And suddenly everything went black. She fell on the floor.

*next morning*

Chiara opened her eyes slightly. Sun was shining through the window and when she pulled herself up on her arms she realized she’s in Ethan’s bed. She grabbed her head trying to remember what happened last night. Suddenly she heard the door opening and second later Ethan entered the room. He looked at her with an emotionless face.

- Ethan - Chiara said and wanted to continue but she was interrupted.

- Don’t fucking talk to me, you’re so pathetic. - Ethan said harshly.

With these words she immediately got a flashback from last night. Dancing, Damiano, bathroom, kissing with Damiano and then having sex with him. She felt so ashamed of herself. Ethan was her everything and she betrayed him just like that with his best friend.

- Ethan.. - she started again.

- I said, don’t say a fucking word - he snapped back to her.

- Please, talk to me .. - she felt tears running down her cheeks.

Ethan was broken. He couldn’t believe that Chiara, his closest person that he opened up to completely, would betray him like that, in a club, in a bathroom, with Damiano. He felt useless at this point, he felt like he wasn’t enough, even for her. He loved her with everything he had and all she did was tear his heart apart.

- Talk about what, Chiara? Huh? You fucked with him! You fucked with Damiano while I was running around the club, worried like an idiot and searching for you! How could you do this to me! How the fuck could you betray me like that! - Ethan shouted to her completely loosing it, tears falling down his face.

- I’m sorry.. I was drunk, and high.. I didn’t know what I was doing.. - she tried to excuse herself. - I really didn’t mean for that to happen.. Please, you have to believe me. I love you and only you.. - she said slowly moving towards the edge of the bed.

- Love me? Don’t be fucking stupid! If you loved me you wouldn’t go with him to this bathroom and let him fuck you, Chiara! If you loved me you would have pushed him away! - he was getting more and more angry.

- Ethan, baby, I was drunk.. I swear I wasn’t thinking straight, I didn’t know what I was doing.. You have to believe me.. - Chiara now stood up and grabbed Ethan’s hand.

- Don’t call me that. - he said harshly throwing back her hand - Tell me, was he better than me? Huh? - he said with venom in his voice.

Chiara stayed silent, she didn’t know, the only thing she remembered was her being pushed on the sink, reaching the orgasm and Ethan’s eyes when he saw her leaving the toilet with Damiano.

- Answer me! - he shouted.

- No.. I don’t know.. I’m sorry.. - she said feeling all the guilt rushing in her veins. She felt disgusting.

Ethan went to the wardrobe, pulled out her dress that she was wearing last night and threw it to her.

- Put this on. - he said without any emotion.

- What? Why? - Chiara was confused, she looked at the dress and then back at Ethan.

- I said put this on. - he said through his teeth.

Chiara stripped down from her oversized T-shirt and put on the dress. Ethan then threw her the heels she was wearing and told her to put them on as well.

- Ethan, what is this all about? - she asked him when he grabbed her arm firmly and pulled her towards the bathroom.

She felt overwhelmed. She didn’t know what he was doing and what was about to happen, she was scared in some way.

Ethan pushed her inside the bathroom and looked at her with his dark, angry eyes.

- You’re gonna tell me every detail, and I will fuck you just the way he did. - Ethan growled and grabbed her face.

- What? But.. - she didn’t know what to say.

- Do as I said.

Chiara was shocked. Ethan never acted like that, she didn’t recognize him at all and she got scared by the way his hands wrapped around her neck.

- You don’t wanna talk now, huh? We’ll se if you’ll moan as loud as you did with him - Ethan pushed her harshly on the counter just the way Damiano did last night and she figured what was happening.

He squeezed her neck, pulled her up on the counter taking off the bottom of her dress and seconds later Chiara felt his tip inside her. She was overwhelmed, scared and ashamed. Ethan was angry, hell.. He was furious, he thrusted inside her harshly making her scream.

- Did he fuck you like this, Chiara? - he said grabbing her face so she was looking at him.

Chiara only moaned and turned all red, embarrassed. Ethan was so much better than Damiano. She knew that from the very first minute she met him. But she was drunk and her stoned mind made her enjoy sex with Damiano which was the worst mistake ever.

- Answer me! - Ethan raised his voice and he started thrusting harder, grabbing Chiara’s hips.

- Yes.. - she moaned loudly.

- Was he better than me? - another question rolled out of Ethan’s mouth.

- No.. no.. he wasn’t - Chiara’s body was sweaty but she felt weird.

Chiara was close to reaching her orgasm and Ethan felt it. He saw guilt and embarrassment on her face and he was proud of himself for making her feel that way. Chiara moaned and her walls started clenching around Ethan’s erection but suddenly he reached his climax thrusting harshly inside her and pulling out before she could reach her high. He did it on purpose.

- What.. what are you doing? - Chiara sighed, her breath heavy.

Ethan looked at her with no emotions. He grabbed her face and right in front of her lips he said:

- I hope you feel as much humiliated as I did when I saw you with him. - he said pushing away her face and looking with her with pure fury and pride in his eyes.

She was sitting at the counter with her dress pulled up, half naked and legs spread apart. She did feel humiliated, she felt betrayed at some point even tho she was the one who cheated and hurt Ethan. Her eyes turned watery and she couldn’t say a word, like a huge stone was stuck in her throat. She was sitting there looking at him shocked, watching his every move. Ethan pulled up his jeans, zipped them up and looked at her one last time.

- Consider us even. - he said.

Chiara could see a rude smirk on his face and tears fell down her cheeks. With that being said, he stepped out of the bathroom, leaving her alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! ❤️

I know It’s long but I hope you got through it.

Do you guys want a 3rd part? Let me know in the comments!

Tag list [ @teenyweenynightghost ]

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Bulgaria brings a mentally reassuring anthem to Rotterdam 2021

I’ve said so that VICTORIA herself sort of agreed to have done “Tears Getting Sober” if she was allowed to, but for one I have to thank that EBU said that the artists can’t have their 2020 songs back? You’ll see why when I get to the review after two boring paragraphs of text with technical info, for the country that is Bulgaria!

ARTIST & ENTRY INFO

Victoria Georgieva (or VICTORIA, but I can’t be arsed to continuously capitalize her name so I’ll just say Victoria from now on) was born a singer, for she started to sing at the age 11, went to a specific school of angel voices (no really that’s what it was called), and tried to go to the X Factor while a liiiiiittle too young until realizing that she needed to wait for a few years, and wait a few years she did, and went on to the X Factor again.

She didn’t win, but she still got to sign a contract and sing some stuff in Bulgarian before she decided to rebrand, started singing in English, and completely decided that ballads is her style. She cannot really do upbeat most of the time. So you can’t really have a bop from her in the future. (Well except that there’s a couple of songs in her discography that I personally classify as “bops” but they’re more like... idek sad bops?? but they can be danced to, but I get her, she doesn’t do anything that’s more loud and upbeat and clubby and summery kind of - in short, nothing you can go “YAAASSSS QUEEEEEN” over to.)

The entry she ended up singing, “Growing Up Is Getting Old”, is what I can describe to be about overcoming the emotional twists and turns inside of you as you grow older, because as it turns out, it ain’t what you thought it would be - but if you push just a little further, you realize that if you’re growing up, maybe the life isn’t so bad, afterall - you are able to get up. Somehow. It was written as part of Boris-Milanov-led songwriting camp held during summer, and a lot of people seemed to be a part of it because multiple different folk have songwriting credits on the potential Bulgarian entries this year.

REVIEW

Let’s get this out of the way immediately. I prefer “Growing Up Is Getting Old” to “Tears Getting Sober”. The former sounds a lot less irritatingly underwhelming and a lot more positively overwhelming you with warm emotions and sunglow. “Tears Getting Sober” was a song I could never really connect with - maaaaybe the last chorus is much better on there, but it doesn’t do much for me either, I guess.

Their 2021 forray however is a much different kind of thing - once again, going for lyrical non-cliches, Victoria tells a tale about her inner turmoils and continuing in life, in a way that’s personal to her and also kind of relatable to all of us. We all have these moments of fear and anxiety and nervous systems aching. If only there was someone who’d tell us that we’re worth saving... thanks a lot Victoria, you’re the MVP. Filling in the void that Netherlands from last year had brought us but not anymore - another personal song about getting old and having those kind of feelings inside - and doing a great job at taking the baton in the right way (even with featuring the word “grow” in both of the titles, neat coincidence).

Not only the lyrics feel like a hug, the song just emulates ray of sunshine and golden glitter coming down from the sky, Molly Sanden style. The violins in the G major key playing so precisely, building up momentum throughout the entire song, slowly but surely - starting with the ticking clock in the first verse that may have subtle violin in there; and the first chorus is just so simple piano, and then the second chorus has a tinge of electronic something, and the last chorus goes full in with the backing vocals boosting the song, after Victoria performs the quite magnificent bridge... now I don’t have synesthesia but I associate music keys with colors, and to me G major would always come across as something yellow or orange - “Growing Up Is Getting Old” is a perfect example of why’s that for me. And obviously, Victoria’s love for harmony-humming (even if there’s just one instance of it after she sings “star crossed soul”) complements the song to a T.

And it turned out to be a much better choice than last year’s. Maybe finally a female ballad I am getting behind.

Now I wanna know why the bookies don’t appreciate THIS entry as much as last year?

Granted, now it’s 2021 and the environment is so much different, and the songs have changed, and the dynamics have changed, and now there’s suddenly more competition at stake. And for Bulgaria it fares quite much more underwhelmingly - well, at this moment they’re like 6th, which isn’t bad, but there’s a lack of sung praises coming its way, not quite a feat that “Tears Getting Sober” actually achieved, being the bookies fave right before the cancellation of last year. In general the year has been pretty dry for the previous winner picks like Iceland, Lithuania and this, but I can’t say that the previous winner bets from 2020 are all that dead either? Though I gotta say that Bulgaria wasn’t gonna win 2020 anyway, so it’s a lose-lose in this case.

Also I just can’t at that music video being a little dramatic at the beginning, with the cancellation of Eurovision being presented as if it were a worldwide disaster during which we all shall lock ourselves into bunkers and wait until the better days, eventhough the panini is not war and war supplies kit is not just enough to survive it. But it seems like that the world is quite literally falling apart, as evidenced by Victoria going through all kinds of pathways away from her living room, meeting a  (presumably) mini version of her somewhere in between, and literally surrounded by the shaking environment by the last moments of the song

before we realize it was just reality recursing from the TV’s point of view that Victoria was watching all along, and then she leaves the living room again, but in her world, everything is normal and she could just go wherever she wants by car. Even I can’t come up with a storyline ending that’s somewhat intertwined and all plot-twisty and more confusing than that. But props to her team I guess

Approval factor: Let’s say I somewhat approve this message. Follow-up factor: For the sake of argument let me just say that Bulgaria is moving on a great path, eventhough the former entry leaves me cold, at least the current entry keeps me warm at all times, like a cup of cocoa and a good blanket. Please Bulgaria, never run out of sponsors. Qualification factor: I’ve seen one or two people throw around the “surprise NQ” tag for this song and I don’t get why??? There’s no way that the tense atmosphere of semifinal 2 would sure-fire-ly kill Bulgaria, even if they have a lot less chances to win this year than they had the last one. There can be some shock NQs indeed though, and if there are, I am paging... uhhhhh Finland? Idk why but you might see what I mean if I ever get around to reviewing “Dark Side”. Bulgaria? Never. It may not win the semi but it will cradle around the top 7 somehow.

INTERNAL NF CORNER

That’s right, Bulgaria managed to do both.

At the time when one other of Bulgaria’s songs got released, within the *Special* Eurovision September 1st-onwards range, people naturally succumbed to their primal instinct of asking whether that’s her Eurovision song... only for Vic to probably announce this early on that no, it’s just *one* of potential ESC entries she’s harbouring. And the remaining potential ones were all on her debut EP. Who actually got a more well-orchestrated schedule for everyone to follow, and yet, people were much more keen to cling on the first EP song out of the gate, “Imaginary Friend”. Now I get that the fans of that song were super upset at the revelation that IF is not going, but it is a technically strong song for the sake of being a technically strong song, and I don’t want to think that Victoria is only forced to choose the songs that can win for her, so she’s such a sweetheart for gravitating towards a song she could dearly care about. So props to her team saving the initial winner for last to be revealed, lol.

Though wasn’t her personal favourite a Billie-Eilish-lite-upbeat-kinda-track Phantom Pain?

Which was also my personal favourite?

Look, I know that favouring the only non-ballad in the whole lineup (well “Ugly Cry” is also not quite a ballad but its beat is kinda so-so, so I tend to ignore it) is kinda sus, also, y’all are sick to death to Billie Eilish comparisons, but I do believe that Billie would never be able to do an “Imaginary Friend” while Victoria could do a “Lovely”. This makes me remember the cover art of Billie’s debut album where she sits on her bed, dressed in white, and so is Victoria on this very MV, with strange shit going on behind her in the mirror. To the mirror, her reflection acts creepy, back again.

The other 2 I don’t feel like caring about enough, sure they got their cred, sure there’s one entry properly crediting Milanov (who seems to not have an actual entry this year that’s purely attributed to *him*, as opposed to 3 last year, 2 of which were performed by acts that returned this year????), sure there’s the funny thing about having a funeral song where out of this and Finland only Austria managed to send a quote unquote “funeral” song, but I think the funeral song would’ve sounded better if the pre-section of it on the “Phantom Pain” video was THE “funeral” song itself, and not whatever was that other funeral song.

In between there was a public sort of survey where people could submit feedback and positive words to Vic’s choices to help her decide - I didn’t get to vote but I feel fine with the winner eitherway, and that counts for something! And the end result was revealed at the very end of Victoria’s very own rooftop concert.

The colors on the circle thingy of this, they were meant to symbolize all Bulgarian entries up to Victoria’s 2nd one, in pictograms that kind of reminded me of Coldplay attributing every song on ‘Mylo Xyloto’ its own little symbol.

The concert was not only full of music and also adverts for the inaugural sponsor iCard (that also included some element of foreshadow in between the suspense, you’ll see why), but also the Bulgarian folk talking before each song, saying all the positive nice words they can for Vic; that she’s talented, and that they were so excited that Bulgaria was doing well in the odds last year prior to cancellation, bla bla bla... also some people were proud of voting for Bulgaria outside Bulgaia, and they made puns about the forthcoming songs on the concert that they were introducing, and so on, and there was also someone called Dara, whom I really want to be sent by Bulgaria one day to show off that they’re not afraid of doing trashy-esque bops that don’t necessarily win

Also they reminded me that Lucy from No Angels (aka the sole reason Bulgaria 12′d Germany in 2008) still exists.

Also Azis.

There was also an intermission where Eurovision 2021 acts could say all the nice words to Victoria on their own part. And several artists chose to... how shall I put it... use up their several seconds rather interestingly. Like how The Roop would say something real quick only to delve into more of their usual “let’s dance, let’s discoteque! *hand scissors* ;P” self-promo, and Senhit carelessly being allowed to say whatever she wants in Italian without subtitles <3 Sorry sis, they’re only given to people from another white-green-red flag-color country.

About the iCard foreshadow... so there’s their advert about Victoria waiting in the line to get something in the Soft Vocals Store, and people ahead of her giving her money the standard oldfashioned way, and the old lady at the counter is... slow, to say the least. After a good amount of time spent waffling around, Victoria finally pulls out the iCard application and pays for the imaginary items she wants, then narrates some stuff about said application, and a Eurovision entry of hers plays when the old lady is at home, spending time in front of TV enjoying the music. Before the concert, the song that played was “Tears Getting Sober”. The advert played once more before Victoria’s big entry decision and entry MV reveal, and in place of the 2020 entry, “Growing Up Is Getting Old” was the one that sounded out loud... Now you may think that there were attempts at some sort of spoilage here, but after that ad before the concert EP NF result, there was this other advert starring Victoria that played “Imaginary Friend” at the end, a last-ditch effort to trick viewers into going “see? just because that ad played the chosen song doesn’t mean it’s the chosen song!! this song could as well be a chosen song as well!!” yeah no shut up GUIGO IS the chosen song kthxbyebye.

ANY LAST WORDS?

Having said all that praise, I actually have “Growing Up Is Getting Old” fairly low on my ranking. It’s just because the year is so damn good and I have a lot more songs to care about more than this, but I appreciate the gesture that this singer is sending very much. Good luck on your road to conquer Europe, Victory-ia, I’m sure you get the best of the experience and all, because you would deserve it.

[theprodigypenguin]

Memory, Memory

Pairings: minor Jeddy

Rating: G

Warnings/Content: sad :’) angst

Notes: Just a May 2nd anniversary fic I started writing last night at 10pm because it was necessary. Enjoy!

Ao3 Link

Fic and Authors Note Under Cut:

There was a heavy humid feeling in the air around Teddy, the scent of rain on the wind and clouds blotching the sky, but it seemed to be akin to a crime that sections of baby blue could still be seen between the grey of the rain clouds. The weather was cold as the day was cresting past noon, temperatures dropping from the sixties to the high fifties, perfect weather for Teddy to slip on an uncharacteristic sweater.

It was an article of clothing he almost never wore, something he kept folded and tucked into a box he hid under his bed, pulling it out only when he felt at his worst. The color was faded tawny and gray, the sleeves worn and pulled until they're were irreparably stretched out, patches on the elbows and material heavy Welsh wool that fought away the biting chill in the air. Despite the cold, the buttons were undone, but there was a familiar black and yellow scarf wrapped around Teddy's neck, pulled over his chin and hiding his lips from view.

The stone bench he'd sat himself on was even colder than the air around him, but he had no intention of moving as he shoved his hands into the pockets of the sweater. He almost never wore it, never really had to wash it because of that fact, and that was both a blessing and a curse, because it smelt heavy of moth balls and dust, but also held a lingering scent of something that Teddy couldn't quite place.

Something familiar, something he knew for sure he must know. The scent of the earth, of birch bark and leaves, rainfall and the bittersweet of chocolate. It made Teddy squint against stinging eyes and bury his face deeper into the scarf around his neck, trying to breathe in a different scent as he rolled old wrappers around in his pockets, scraps of paper and candy foils that no one had bothered to throw out in over twenty years.

Twenty-one, Teddy reminded himself, it's been twenty-one years.

Somewhere miles away, a brilliant family was hosting a birthday party for a girl named after victory. A family adorned with dominant redheads would be setting out a birthday cake and preparing a large supper to celebrate her twenty years of life. She'd open presents, hug her father and mother, spend time with her sister and brother and their cousins, all her aunts and uncles and friends.

Halfway through the night she may look up, search for blue hair, ask where Teddy is, and maybe the room will get quiet, but someone will make a joke, tease her about her crush, and the night will continue as if Teddy hadn't been remembered at all.

He used to celebrate with them, he used to have fun with them, but the older he got, the meaning of this day started to change. Suddenly he couldn't fake a smile and enjoy himself, he couldn't even pretend he was having a good time. So he stopped trying. The meaning of this day was different to him after all. For them, this day symbolized victory, it symbolized the loss of a loved one and the birth of another. It symbolized the true fluidity of life, how one death always lead to new life.

For Teddy, this day symbolized the empty ache in his chest that had been growing bigger and deeper since the moment he looked from Victoire, Bill, and Fleur and up at Andromeda, asking why he didn't have a mum and dad like Victoire did.

He supposed she wanted to tell him when he was older, but she answered him the best she could considering he'd been six at the time, confused as she explained his mum and dad had to go away. Teddy didn't get why, for the longest time, and it took Harry sitting down with him for the reality and truth to finally settle in.

Teddy didn't cry when he was told his parents were dead. He never knew them, so what he felt wasn't pain exactly. More like an echo that settled in his bones, that feeling you got in the pit of your stomach when you haven't eaten, that sensation that something was so clearly missing. The pain of it all didn't start to seep into the rest of his body until he was a teenager.

Hormones and angst, struggles and identity, through it all the only thing he felt was this anger he hid behind a smile. For a long time he wouldn't talk about his parents, and when Harry tried to bring them up, Teddy would be the one to change the subject, because he didn't want to talk about them. Why should he? They left him.

The professors would talk about them sometimes, they would smile fondly and say he looked like them as if it was a compliment intended to make him smile. All he felt from those words was weight, heaviness he tried to heave from his shoulders by changing his hair blue and his eyes pink. Even then the weight found its way back to him in the form of laughter and a statement of: "You look just like your mother!"

He hated it. For the longest time he hated it. He hated hearing stories, he hated hearing their names, hated when people told him he looked like his parents. Yet he kept smiling, kept laughing, kept agreeing. Teddy didn't cope. He didn't deal with the emotional toxins roiling in his bloodstream and poisoning every inch of him. Until he snapped at sixteen, completely losing it.

Looking back he was grateful it had been with Harry and not his grandmother, who probably would have gotten even more upset with him for the bitter, hateful words that spewed from his mouth, his vision blurred by burning tears and his throat raw from his screams. Harry must have cast a silencing charm around the room to keep others from hearing, merely standing and giving Teddy the opportunity to be angry, to cry and scream and curse, until he'd worn himself ragged and his angry red hair faded to a tawny brown, his screams regressing to hiccups as the tears covered his cheeks.

Deducing the worst of it was over, Harry had approached cautiously, as if coming up on a feral beast, slowly encompassing Teddy into a hug and letting the teen cry into his shoulder.

"You're allowed to be angry," Harry had said. "I was too. It isn't fair what happened and never will be. It isn't fair that they're not here for you, and I am so sorry… so sorry I can't be them. I cannot replace them, but I don't want to." He pulled away to hold Teddy by his face, not laughing at the snot dripping from his nose or his red face. "Your parents were amazing, good, brave people, Teddy. They loved you so much, and I wish you could have seen it in person. They fought a war to ensure that you and countless others would not have to suffer like they did. So you wouldn't have to grown up in a war. They fought to protect you from a mad woman dead set on pruning the half-bloods from her family tree. Every breath they took, it was so you could live a better life than them. You're allowed to be angry they're gone, but you can't be angry forever. Get mad, then let it go, so you can remember how much they loved you, and not how much they've missed."

Harry understood, and maybe that was why Teddy was able to calm down.

"Does it stop hurting?" Teddy asked, and Harry gave him a sad look.

"It still hurts," Harry had answered. "I take the pain differently now though. I change it into pride." Teddy watched him with wide eyes as he tapped the button on his chest, the Auror badge. "Whenever it hurts I consider where I am, what I've been through, how much I accomplished, and I imagine how proud my parents must be of me."

Teddy's shoulder slumped heavily, sniffing. "You're an Auror though. I'm just stupid. I haven't done anything they'd be proud of. I'm not like you."

"That's not true," Harry chided. "They'd be proud of everything you've accomplished, even the little things. They'd be proud of your O.W.L. scores, and they'd be proud you became a Prefect. They'd be proud of you being a Hufflepuff and for generally obeying the rules, and in fact they'd probably be proud of the rules you'd broken as well." He'd squeezed Teddy's shoulder firmly. "It's a bizarre thing, to miss people you've never met, but it's not shameful. Don't dwell forever, and learn to live on how you want. That's what they would be proud of."

Teddy sniffed against the cold air, lifting a hand to pull his scarf over his nose, trying to fight the chill and blaming his watery eyes on the weather. Certainly they weren't from staring pointlessly at a lifeless headstone for the past hour. He didn't know why he did this, it wasn't like anything would have changed from how it was last year. The cold gray of the marble was the same, simple and almost plain compared to the other headstones in the cemetery, but people always said Remus Lupin was a very simple man. He wasn't outgoing or eccentric, he was quiet and classic, gave off a kind of peaceful energy that made people relax around him. The grave seemed to represent that softness, that simplicity that matched the simplicity of a man who had to be simple as a necessity.

His eyes bore into the stone so long he was surprised he hadn't created furrows in it, looking between his father and mother's names, at the pretty bouquet of flowers lying on its side in the grass in front of it, placed there earlier in the day by Andromeda.

Teddy tried to swallow a few breaths before managing to open his mouth and speak. "Hey mum," he greeted, trying not to feel like an idiot. "Hey da… I just wanted to come by, say hello. I'm sorry I haven't come by since… last year. Busy." He took another breath, blinking a few times. "Not much has changed in a year. Broke up with Vic, that's Bill's daughter, you know Bill. I guess I was just too busy, didn't have much time for her, or for friends I suppose. You'd probably be disappointed in me, huh dad? Friendship was really important to you. It's offensive of me to take advantage of my capability to make friends when you struggled with it, with people in general… when the friends you loved were lost one after the other. I'm really sorry, dad… if I'm disappointing you. Or you, mum. I'm trying really hard." He reached back to his chest, but there was no inner pocket in his sweater, so no badge to show off. "I joined the Aurors. Not because you were in it, mum, a lot of people have asked if I'm following you but I'm really not. I just… wanted to give my life meaning. You both died to protect this world, our world, what better way to honor that sacrifice than to protect it in your stead?"

He had to stop, his voice growing high and desperate, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths to calm himself down until he could speak normally again, reopening his eyes to stare at the names on the headstone.

"Uncle King used to say it always surprised him, and still does sometimes, that you fought in the war, dad. You especially. You died for a community that shamed you and asked for nothing in return. I guess because of James Potter and Sirius Black, and because of mum; you fought because you were loyal and wanted to protect your family. Not because you owed anything to these nasty people who hated you pointlessly and saw you as less because you were sick. You completely disregarded them and you still fought. I want to be like that too. Make you proud. I want to protect the people I love like you did, to find something for dying for. I wanna-"

"That's bloody daft ya nutty tosser!"

Teddy jerked upright on the bench and turned sharply at the waist with wide eyes, watching as fifteen year old James Sirius Potter hopped up to stand on the bench beside him, hands shoved into a jean jacket and a Gryffindor scarf hanging unevenly around his neck.

"Jamie what the- How did you get here?" Teddy craned his head over his shoulder to look around the cemetery, expecting to see Harry or Ginny, but James seemed to be alone. "Don't tell me you apparated?"

"Course I didn't, but it's not illegal to use the Knight Bus."

"You took the Knight Bus? Does Harry know?"

"What's he gonna do? Ground me?" James pulled his hands from his pockets and waved them. "Oh no I'm so scared I don't wanna be grounded."

Teddy rolled his eyes and tilted his head with a sigh before focusing back on James. "What are you doing here?"

"Come find you," James answered in a sentence that seemed bizarrely incomplete and broken.

"How did you know I was here?"

James looked down at him. "Bugger, Ted, where else would you be? You always come here."

Teddy was torn between demanding who told him and wondering silently how anyone would even known. Teddy normally just up and vanished around the same time every year, it wasn't like he left a note telling people where he was going. Was he just that predictable.

"You're predictable, Teddy."

Ah.

"What are you doing here? Did you just leave during the party?"

"They were playing a silly game, everyone was blindfolded so I snuck out. Al saw me, he was brooding in the corner as usual, but I told him he could borrow the cloak for a week at school if he shut up about it. Jogged to town and had a neighbor summon the bus, then came here." He hopped off the bench before Teddy could ask anything else, crouching down in front of the Lupin's grave and reaching out to brush away dirt that had gotten stuck to it. "I've never been here before, can you believe that? I've visited my grandma and grandpa tons of times, but I've never come here."

He stuck his hand out towards the stone as if in greeting, and Teddy was left watching silently as the teen introduced himself. "'Ello, we haven't met yet, but I'm James Sirius Potter! You both knew my old man, and my granddad too! That's who I was named after of course. Oh." He stood up, started searching his pockets. "Hold on, I brought something."

"Jamie," Teddy sighed, shoulders sagging and elbows on his knees, hands folded loosely. "You should go home. It's late."

"I'm not going to leave you here alone, idiot."

"What's wrong with it?" Teddy asked. "I'm used to spending time here alone."

"Sure, but that doesn't mean you have to like it." James pulled out a small pellet the size of a tic tac. "And it also doesn't mean you have to be alone. I'm sure you like talking one on one with them, but if you're by yourself for too long, especially in a cemetery, then you'll start hallucinating. Watch this."

He broke the pellet between his fingers, holding his hand out to show off the way it extended into a full bouquet of peonies and gladiolus.

"This is cool right? One of uncle's new creations for the shop, a pocket bouquet for those times you forget to buy your girlfriend or your wife some flowers on your anniversary. Or," he crouched down and laid the flowers out beside the first bouquet, "in case you pass by a grave and want to spice some things up, add some color."

"So you're an interior designer now?" Teddy asked, hoping James hadn't noticed the shake of his voice.

"We're outside, Teddy." He teased. "You're really bad at making jokes when you're sad."

"I'm not really…"

"Hey, come on." James sat down next to Teddy on the bench and held his arms wide towards him. "Come here, I give great hugs."

"Albus says differently," Teddy argued, but inexplicably leaned towards James and laid his head against his shoulder as warm tears cut down his cold cheeks.

He felt pathetic on an entirely new level, letting a fifteen year old comfort him like this, but so long as no one else found out then the humiliation probably wouldn't be that bad.

"You know it's okay, right? Crying? And it's okay to miss your mum and dad." James pet Teddy's hair. "I know I don't really get it, but I also know parents are important. Dad still looks sad sometimes when he looks at the picture of his parents, he keeps it on his bedside table and looks at it every morning, and he's super old now. I think you'll probably always miss them, but that's okay. That just proves your human."

Teddy winced at his words, wondering in irritation why some kid was telling him that. Clearly someone had to tell him, but why this dumb kid.

"Oh, and you know, that bull you were spouting before I walked up, about wanting someone to die for, you're an idiot."

Teddy tried to pull away. "My dad-"

"Your dad didn't die because he wanted to, you know. He didn't meet your mum and go ah yes, a woman I will die for. People don't work like that." He reached up and flicked Teddy's forehead. "You wanna make them proud, find a reason to live. Don't be stupid about it." Teddy just rubbed his forehead, pouting as James turned to face forward and unceremoniously flopped against Teddy's shoulder. "You smell nice by the way."

Teddy dropped his hand onto his lap and stared at the collection of colors from the flowers now decorating his parents graves. He blinked a few times when he realized that agonizing emptiness wasn't hurting as much as it had been before, slowly lying his head on top of James' and sighing.

"You should go home now," he chided, and James shrugged.

"Nah, I'll stay. We can go home when you're ready, okay?"

Teddy swallowed the knot in his throat and nodded. "Sure," he agreed, feeling feathers beat around his chest at the use of the word we. "Sounds fine."

This was nice. Things didn't feel as lonely, wasn't as cold, and Teddy considered maybe bringing someone along with him next year when he came to visit. Maybe he'd even bring James. Probably James. If he didn't, James would likely come on his own. Best avoid that so they wouldn't get in trouble for James running off and Teddy going along with it. Yeah, that would be nice.

~@~@~@~@~@~@~

Author’s Note: I felt it was necessary to put an author’s note at the end here, this way if no one wants to read it you guys don’t have to. One of the reasons I love Teddy so much is because a part of me really connects with him and empathizes with him. A lot of times when I read about Teddy thinking of his parents, he never goes through a phase of hating them, and in the books Harry doesn’t really go through that phase either. I guess there’s that one part where he’s angry at his dad for being a fuckboy, but that was different, and one may argue there wasn’t enough time to get angry and no reason to, buuuut you’re wrong.

I never got to meet my dad, and he died before I could get the chance, and when I was younger I went through this phase where I was just angry at him for leaving me, abandoning me, because I was a kid and I didn’t understand. Getting angry and being upset because you don’t have what other people have, you don’t have the same family as so many people, is normal.

I’m twenty-two now (well I will be next Wednesday) and I’m not mad anymore, but I still feel sad sometimes, I still cry if it gets really bad, I still feel empty when I look at pictures of my dad and mourn for the relationship I won’t ever be able to have with him, or with my mom, and that’s normal, and I wanted to put my personal anger and growth into this memorial fic as an ode to the kids out there who were ever angry at their parents for dying.

You’re not alone and it’s valid to be angry with them. Just don’t be angry for ever. Things get better, things start to hurt less, and that hollowing pain in your chest will turn into another strength you can utilize into a living a life that would make them proud.

Happy 21st Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts!

[vam9ire]

Falling For You 1/2

Nygmobblepot Week 2017 Fics  - Day 2 - AU ( Roller Skating/High School )

Summary: Oswald works at a rollerskating rink, and Edward starts to show up to watch the roller derby matches every week. 

Rating: G

Words: 5,448

A/N: This ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be, so I’m going to upload it in two parts. I’m really enjoying writing it, and I hope that it is just as enjoyable to read! The next part should hopefully be uploaded on day seven.

Oswald wouldn’t say that he outright hated his job, but there were certainly times when he very greatly disliked it. It wasn’t a very difficult job, the pay was decent enough, and the night hours worked great with school, so he definitely wouldn’t consider quitting for something different, but like any other job, it had it’s ups and it’s downs. Working five nights a week at the rollerskating rink often forced Oswald to endure a lot of annoyances. Specifically, small children related annoyances.

For instance, Oswald, was currently crouched down on his knees in front of one of the various brightly flashing game machines that filled the small arcade area of the building, while a small child stood sobbing no more than a foot away from him. While the child rubbed his eyes and let out another loud cry, directly into his ear, Oswald growled to himself as he vainly attempted to yank out the wad of tickets that the child had somehow managed to shove into the coin slot of the machine. The tickets were too far into the slot for his fingers to grab onto completely, and his frustrations were growing quickly.

“I didn’t mean to break it, I promise,” The child’s words tumbled out unevenly and each one was punctuated by a breathless gasp as he continued to cry, with no sign of stopping anytime soon, “I didn’t mean to! Please don’t tell my mommy, mister!”

Oswald was only half listening to the child, and was instead actually trying to tune him out because he just kept repeating the same combination of phrases, none of which actually mattered to Oswald. The kid hadn’t broken the arcade machine, only jammed it, and even if Oswald had any idea who the kid’s mother was, there was no way he was going to try and get the mom to do anything about it. All that he cared about was getting the kid to stop crying so that he could get off the slightly sticky carpet and go back to doing the things he was actually getting paid to do. As the tickets slipped out of the grip of his fingertips yet again, Oswald’s hands curled into fists and he let out a frustrated groan before he turned to look at the kid.

“Alright, look, how many tickets is that?” He only waited a second for the child to answer, and when he didn’t immediately respond Oswald turned back to the machine, one hand going down to his hip to unclip the ring of keys that were latched to his belt loop. The child continued to mumble and weep, but his loud sobs had subsided slightly as he curiously watched as Oswald hastily unlocked the front panel of the machine.

Once the panel was open, Oswald swung it back and reached into the machine so he could grab onto the end of the roll of tickets inside. He pulled on it so that a sizable length of tickets unraveled onto the floor in front of him, before ripping them away from the rest of the roll. He turned back to the child and thrust the tickets towards him, tone expressing his frustration over the whole ordeal as he stated, “Here, please, just take these and go away. And don’t ever shove tickets where coins go.”

The child’s eyes lit up instantly, and he ceased crying completely as he accepted the gifted tickets. He didn’t say anything else, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, and only nodded at Oswald briefly before he turned away and ran off with the tickets trailing off behind him. Oswald almost let out a relieved sigh, until he heard the sound of clapping behind him.

“Very nicely done, Ozzy! Although, I’m pretty sure that was way more tickets than he had before.” Oswald quickly turned to look over his shoulder, his eyes landing immediately on his coworker, Ivy, standing a few feet away with an amused grin on her face. He glared at her and turned back towards the machine so that he could quickly shut and lock the panel again, as she skated leisurely over to his side. “He didn’t have any more than ten, which is still pretty impressive, considering he managed to get all of them in there, huh?”

“You saw him do this? And you didn’t stop him?” Oswald asked incredulously as he pushed himself up off of the floor, leaning slightly against the machine to steady himself on his skates as he faced Ivy again, still glaring. 

“I saw him in passing, but I had to go take care of the food counter because Vic needed to go take a break.” Ivy replied with a shrug as she crossed her arms casually, before she smirked and jabbed Oswald in the arm with her elbow as she continued teasingly, “Besides, it looks like you managed to sort things out on your own.”

“Of course. The coin slot is still jammed, so I haven’t exactly sorted things out just yet, Ivy, so if you could just tell me what you need that’d be great.” Oswald sighed as he clipped his keyring back onto his pants and his expression softened slightly as he looked at Ivy. She was probably his best friend, no matter how trying she could sometimes be, and he was rarely ever really upset with her. She was also two grades younger than him, and they didn’t have any classes together, meaning the only time they were really ever able to hang out was whenever they were at work together, so he excused most of her antics. 

“I need you to go cover for Vic, because he still hasn’t come back from his break and both of the roller derby groups just showed up.” Ivy replied easily, pointing over her shoulder with one thumb, towards the eating area. As if on cue, Oswald watched a large group of people all begin to accumulate near the food counter, all loudly talking amongst each other and sitting down in clumps at the booths and tables.

“Ugh, where is Fries? And why can’t you go take care of it? You’re way better with them than I am.” Oswald groaned, raising one hand up to brush his bangs away from his eyes while he quickly looked between Ivy and the derby groups. Ivy held her own hand up to Oswald’s face in quick response, twiddling her fingers in front of his eyes before she spoke in a smug tone of voice.

“Because, Ozzy my dear, I have long nails and I can actually get those tickets out of the coin slot! And because I really don’t want to handle all of their orders. The last time I tried, I messed most of it up. They were pretty mad at me.” Ivy smiled as she said this, and Oswald knew that she probably didn’t really care. Ivy could be very hardworking when she felt like it, but if she wasn’t working behind the prize counter or the dj booth, she wasn’t very interested in putting a lot of effort into anything.

“Fine. It’s probably safer for everyone’s jobs if I go take care of it anyways.” Oswald finally sighed and pushed himself away from the edge of the game machine. The derby girls were all reasonably nice, but before matches they were always pretty fired up, and Oswald wasn’t ever very excited for their Friday night appearances, but if Victor wasn’t around he was probably the next best person to serve them.

“Yes! Thanks so much, Ozzy! Don’t worry, I’ll owe you one.” Ivy exclaimed as she clapped her hands together, before she patted his arm gratefully and crouched down in front of the game machine so she could begin unjamming the coin slot. Oswald just nodded in acknowledgement, appreciating her promise for a favor, before he began to skate unenthusiastically over towards the food counter.

Most of the booths and tables were filled up with people, no doubt either girls actually part of the two derby teams that would be competing tonight, or friends who came in order to show their support. If Oswald remembered correctly, this was one of the biggest matches in a while. The Gotham City Sirens were the “home” team for this skating rink, and they came every Friday night, either for some practice or to actually participate in matches. Oswald wasn’t really familiar with any of the other teams in the area, but from what he could gather with his limited roller derby knowledge, the Sirens seemed to be a pretty kickass team.

“Oswald? I had no idea you worked here!” Oswald hadn’t been paying too much attention to the people who were currently lined up to order food as he skated behind the food counter, focusing first on checking that the ovens were on, so he was surprised when he heard a familiar voice call out to him. When he looked up and met eyes with Edward Nygma, his own eyes widened slightly, and if he hadn’t already been leaning against the counter, he would have stumbled on his skates.

“Edward? What are you doing here?” Oswald’s voice was unsteady when he spoke, almost stuttering, as he stood up slightly straighter and he ran a hand absent-mindedly through his hair. Oswald had certainly expected to see people he knew from school at the skating rink, and almost every day he did see familiar faces skating past him, but he had never even considered that he might run into Edward.

They were both seniors, and they had occasionally shared classes as they went through high school, but Oswald liked to believe that they were pretty good friends, though they hadn’t ever hung out together outside of school hours since their sophomore year. Whenever they spoke now, it usually wasn’t any more personal than conversations about homework were. Most of this was probably thanks to the fact that Oswald had developed a crush on Edward sometime over the last few years, and he was too scared of ruining their casual friendship by acting on it.

“Barbara convinced me to come watch the roller derby match. Apparently this one’s a pretty big deal,” Edward explained quickly, grinning happily at Oswald as he continued in a sincere, friendly tone, “But it’s a really nice surprise to see you here! Barbara didn’t even mention that you worked here.”

Oswald smiled back at Edward, shifting slightly on his skates and still trying to recollect himself. He wasn’t really surprised that Barbara hadn’t said anything, seeing as they didn’t really talk a lot whenever she came in with the rest of the derby team. They had sort of had a falling out a while ago, but Oswald wasn’t particularly bothered by it. Before he could respond to Edward again, Barbara herself came rolling over to his side, already in her skates, and she steadied herself by grabbing onto Ed’s shoulder.

“Hey Eddie, Ozzy,” Barbara smiled as she greeted the two of them, though she quickly turned her attention away from Oswald to instead look at Edward, “If you haven’t ordered yet, would you get Tabby and I some pizza? We’re gonna go warm up on the rink, so just put it on our table, please.” Edward nodded and agreed to her request quickly, and Barbara thanked him before skating over towards the rink without a second glance back towards them.

“Alright, well it looks like I’ll definitely order two slices of pizza,” Edward stated after he watched Barbara skate away, and he turned back to Oswald, who nodded quickly in acknowledgement before Ed continued, eyes moving up to scan the brightly lit menu sign above Oswald, “And I’m not really sure what else. Mm… What would you suggest?”

“Oh, well, besides flavor, most of this stuff is pretty much the same in terms of heartburn.” Oswald joked good-naturedly, and he felt his cheeks heat up slightly as Edward laughed at his joke, before he drummed his fingers on the countertop and continued, more seriously, “The nachos are alright if you eat them quick enough, but if you wait too long the cheese just turns into plastic, and the pizza is pretty much just grease soaked bread. So, that being said, maybe a hotdog?”

“A hotdog it is, then. And drinks; three cokes, one for me, two for Barbara and Tabitha.” Edward confidently agreed to Oswald’s suggestion and as he finished placing his order. Oswald nodded and while Edward pulled some money out of his pocket to pay for everything, Oswald quickly plated everything and put together the drinks. Once everything had been exchanged, Ed managed to carefully pick up everything so that he wouldn’t accidentally drop anything, and he grinned at Oswald again. “Thanks, Oswald. I plan on coming back for the next match, so I hope to see you again next week.”

“That’s great, I’ll definitely be here.” Oswald replied genially, smiling uncontrollably at the prospect of Ed wanting to talk to him more often, and he waved quickly towards him as Edward turned away so he could walk over towards a booth. He continued staring after Edward for a few more moments of silence, his lips pulled into a grin as he lost himself in his thoughts, before the next person in line coughed to get his attention again.

…

Four weeks later, the final matches of the roller derby season were quickly approaching, with the Sirens proudly leading in wins. Oswald wasn’t completely sure if the matches were becoming more and more tense as the last few came around, or if they had always been this way and he was only just noticing now that he had a reason to pay attention to them, with Edward showing up to watch them every week. Regardless of whichever it was, Oswald was surprised by how entertaining he actually found the sport, and every Friday he found himself not only eager to see Edward again, but also interested in the derby matches.

At the moment, that’s exactly what he was doing while he was stuck standing behind the prize counter located between the arcade area and the skating floor. His job for the next hour or so was to take tickets from children, in exchange for tiny plastic skateboards, sticky hand things, or festively shaped pencil erasers. It wasn’t at all very exciting, but he still immensely preferred it to working behind the food counter. The arcade was a very well lit area, and  the skating rink was normally pretty dark, besides the various multicolored light fixtures above it, so the prize counter being positioned right between the two made for some very comfortably dim atmospheric lighting. His shift was made even more comfortable by how slow things had been so far, with the number of children who had come to exchange tickets remaining low enough to count on his fingers.

It was sort of out of place, considering Fridays were usually one of the busiest nights of the week, and it left Oswald with nothing to do but waste time until the derby groups showed up. He could potentially go see what his other coworkers were doing and if they needed any help, but he decided to instead sit down against the wall behind the counter and idly check his phone. Unfortunately, this didn’t serve as a very good distraction, as Oswald had systematically gone through all of his social media accounts to check for any important updates or messages in about ten minutes, only to find out that there wasn’t anything new or interesting going on with any of his friends. When a distraction to his boredom finally came, he was about halfway through reading a lengthy Wikipedia page.

“Hey, Oz.” As Victor Fries spoke, he leaned over the prize counter and pounded his fist a couple of times on the glass in order to get Oswald’s attention. His tone was as unenthused as it normally was, and his expression successfully portrayed this, even as he obnoxiously sucked on the straw of his slushee. Oswald reluctantly put his phone in his pocket before he looked up at him expectantly, silently waiting for him to continue. Victor stared right back at him while he continued to loudly drink his blue slush for a few more seconds, until he finally let the straw fall from his mouth so he could talk again. “Someone’s looking for you.”

“Shouldn’t you be working the food counter? Or are you on another one of your impossibly long breaks again, Victor?” Oswald asked in a slightly taunting tone, mostly just to try to get some sort of emotional reaction out of the other boy, and he sighed when Victor’s only immediate response was to shrug his shoulders. “Whatever. Who’s looking for me? Did Ivy lose her keys to the skate closet again?”

“Nope. Some guy in glasses.Tall,” Victor took a moment to pause as he used his free hand to gesture about the person’s height, just shorter than his own height, “He said you guys were friends.” As Victor vaguely described the person, Oswald’s eyes widened as he instantly pictured Edward, and he pushed himself forwards so that he was on his knees and moving closer to the prize counter while Victor watched him with mild interest, idly drinking more of his slushee again.

“Wait, what’s his name? Edward? Why didn’t you just say that, where is—?” Oswald began talking quickly as he leaned against the prize counter, being just tall enough to but his arms and his chin up on top of the glass right beside the still visibly disinterested Victor, until he noticed Edward standing a few feet away from the corner of his eye, silently watching them talk with an amused expression. Oswald immediately felt his face heat up in embarrassment and he scrambled to pull himself up into a standing position. Once he wasn’t on his knees behind the counter, he forced a smile and waved politely at Edward, before he turned his attention back to Victor. Oswald glared and leaned into him so that he could try to hide what he was saying to his coworker as he spoke to him in a hushed, annoyed tone. ��Victor, go back to work, please.”

Victor continued to very obnoxiously suck on his straw as Oswald spoke to him again, and his lips curled up into an entertained smirk as he shrugged his shoulders, before he pushed himself away from the counter and turned around to walk past Edward and back towards the food counter. Oswald had finally managed to get an expressive reaction from the cold boy, and he couldn’t even feel satisfied with it because of the circumstances. He took a deep breath as he watched Victor walk away, which he exhaled slowly through his nose, before he made eye contact with Edward again as the boy approached the prize counter.

“Hello, Oswald! I hope that I didn’t interrupt you, if you’re busy with work.” Edward grinned as he greeted him, coming to a stop just in front of Oswald so that he could comfortably rest his hands on top of the counter. He drummed his fingertips gently against the glass while he spoke, and Oswald couldn’t help but smile as he looked at the other boy. The bright green LED lights that were inside of the counter, to illuminate the prizes inside, reflected on the lenses of his glasses and lit him from beneath, the color very nicely suiting Edward and momentarily captivating Oswald.

“Busy?” Oswald repeated the word, his tone slightly incredulous, before he laughed lightly and continued. “Oh, no, I’ve just been sitting here waiting for the derby groups to show up. Are the Sirens here already? I thought it was still awhile until the match time, usually someone comes to get me when everyone gets here.” While he explained, he leaned forwards enough to place his own hands on the counter, almost between Edward’s, while still being careful to not place them too close to them. His eyes remained down on their hands as he waited for Edward to respond, nonchalantly picking at the black nail polish that was beginning to chip on a few of his fingernails.

“Well, as far as I know, none of The Sirens are here yet, so I hope it’s okay if I hang out with you until Barbara arrives. I think she’s carpooling with Tabitha and Butch.” Edward continued to softly tap his fingers in a simple rhythmic pattern atop the glass of the prize counter as he informed Oswald of the situation. Oswald closely watched their hands for another second, before his gaze quickly moved up to the other boy’s face, and he saw that Edward’s own eyes were also focused down at their hands, and his smile grew.

“Of course! Right now, all I have to do is exchange tickets for prizes, but if things continue to be as slow as they’ve been, I don’t think I’ll have much to do. I’ll appreciate the company.” His tone clearly expressed his happiness at the prospect of being able to spend more time with Edward. While the derby matches were happening they got to talk for a little bit, but Oswald was usually pretty busy with helping his coworkers take care of all of the other people that arrived to spectate, so having the time to actually interact with Edward while things were slow was pretty exciting, and he was even more excited that Edward seemed to want to hang out with him just as much.

“Oh good,” Edward let out one short, breathy laugh and his grin widened as he continued, “Now then, Mr. Prize Man, what can you give me for these?” He slid one of his hands off off the glass as he asked the question, and he took a moment to dig something out of his pocket. When his hand returned to the counter, he was holding a very large stack of arcade tickets between his thumb and forefinger. The stack was two tickets wide and probably a few inches tall if you were to stand it up, though Edward was firmly holding it in order to keep the stack tightly together. “Before I started looking for you, I decided ti play a game of skeeball.”

Oswald looked at the tickets incredulously, in disbelief that Edward had somehow gotten them all with just one game of skeeball, and he eagerly took them as the boy offered them to him, interested to see the exact number. Once he had the stack, he let it unfold into one very long chain of tickets before he inserted the end into the ticket counting machine beside the counter. As the machine steadily pulled in each ticket, the number displayed on the digital counter continued to rise, and Oswald turned to look at Edward again, his wide eyed expression portraying his surprise. “You said you played just one game? You’ve got almost fifty tickets here, Ed.”

“I don’t know, I guess I’m pretty good at skee ball.” Upon being questioned about it, Edward looked both smug and slightly sheepish but his grin remained on his features. His hand moved up instinctively so that he could fiddle with his glasses for a second while he spoke, and Oswald thought it was incredibly endearing. Edward eventually cleared his throat before he let his hand fall back down to the counter, quickly followed by his gaze as he crouched down in front of it so that he could look at all of the prizes hidden behind the glass. “So, Oswald, what are my options?”

“Oh, right. Well, fifty tickets can get you pretty much everything down here,” Oswald leaned further forwards over the counter so that he was on his toes and bent over enough to comfortably point out some of the items, “There’s some pens that are kind of cool.” None of the prizes were particularly amazing, and all of them were just cheap toys and trinkets, but Edward didn’t seem to care about their quality as Oswald watched the other boy’s eyes skim over each and every option with considerable interest.

After a few minutes, Edward had picked out a pretty varied selection of prizes. A couple glowstick bracelets, a mood ring, some erasers shaped like flowers, and a few different pieces of candy all sat in a pile atop the glass countertop beside Oswald as the boy watched Edward continue to debate over what he wanted to spend his remaining tickets on. Eventually, Edward pointed at the glass excitedly and he announced loudly, “Oh, I definitely want some of those dinosaurs. As many as I can get with the rest of my tickets.”

Oswald laughed, good naturedly, at how excited Edward seemed to be about the little plastic dinosaurs while he reached down under the glass of the counter so that he could grab the container that the dinosaurs were stored in and place it on the countertop. Edward took another second to look at all of the prizes displayed, before he stood up straight again to watch as Oswald picked out five plastic dinosaurs, making sure that they were all different. Once he was done, Oswald put the container back onto it’s shelf inside of the counter before he smirked at Edward and spoke in a slightly teasing tone, “Technically, you only had enough for four dinosaurs, but I gave you an extra one because we’re friends.”

“Oswald, that’s just criminal.” Edward laughed as he replied while he looked at all of the prizes that he’d chosen. He slipped the mood ring onto the ring finger of his right hand, and it fit pretty well, before he picked up the erasers and candy so that he could put them into one of his pants pockets. He picked up the plastic dinosaurs next, and he grinned to himself as he took a few seconds to examine the not very anatomically accurate toys, before he put them away into a different pocket. As he did, he leaned forwards towards Oswald a little bit and winked playfully at him as he added, “Though, I guess that makes us partners in crime, right?”

Oswald was pretty sure that Edward had just flirted with him, and he felt his face begin to heat up with flush as he tried to come up with what to say in response. He was thankful that the only lighting provided at the counter was from the bright green LEDs, hopefully masking his blush. After a few seconds of stammering awkwardly, Oswald just nodded his head in agreement and let out a brief laugh. Edward continued to smile at him without any judgement, before he glanced down towards the counter once again. He fiddled with the two glowstick bracelets for a second, before he cracked both of them and they immediately began to glow.

“Here, this one’s purple,” Edward waved the bracelets around for a moment to further activate and distribute the glowing liquid inside, before he handed one of them to Oswald, his tone still playful and his expression amused, “Now everyone will know we’re partners because we’ll both be wearing these.” Oswald grinned back and he held out his hand in order to take the offered bracelet, though before he could actually take it, Edward wrapped it around his left wrist and fastened it with the small plastic piece for him.

“Thanks. I can put yours on for you, if you want me to.” Oswald shook his wrist gently once Edward had secured the bracelet around it, just to momentarily admire it’s bright purple glow. When Edward nodded in response to his offer, Oswald’s grin widened slightly and he took Edward’s bracelet, a very bright, vivid green, so that he could wrap it similarly around Edward’s right wrist once the other boy had held it out towards him. As he finished securing the glow stick bracelet around his wrist, Oswald’s hands lingered momentarily in their place, his fingertips gently resting against Edward’s arm, and he was about to say something before he was interrupted.

“Eddie! Ozzy!” Barbara called from the entrance, which was practically on the other side of the skating rink. Her voice was easily recognizable, even over all of the people talking and the music playing from the rink, and both boys immediately turned their heads to look at her. She was quickly walking towards them, with Tabitha and Butch trailing along behind her, looking far less enthusiastic about talking with them, as the three approached the prize counter. Oswald had pulled his hands away from Edward’s arm almost immediately after Barbara had called out to them, but as she came to a stop beside them, leaning her hip against the glass of the counter, her eyes flashed between the two of them and she gave them a knowing smirk and a slightly cocked brow. “Mm, I’m glad you two get to hang out together more often now. I didn’t interrupt anything important, did I?”

“Not at all, we were just talking. About nothing.” Oswald answered Barbara hurriedly, without really thinking about his response, and his words came across as pretty obviously flustered. As he finished his vague reply, he glanced over towards Edward, who made brief eye contact with him as he nodded in agreement with his explanation. It was reassuring, and Oswald wasn’t even sure why he was so nervous right now in the first place. Barbara wouldn’t have had any way to know that they had sort of been flirting, and even if she did somehow figure out that he liked Edward in a more than platonic way, he didn’t think she would have any reason to tell Edward about it. If anything, Oswald was pretty hopeful that Edward felt similarly, and he smiled softly to himself as he turned his attention back towards Barbara.

“Well, anyways, Tabby and I are going to go get our skates on. I’m pretty sure everyone is just starting to show up if you want to come mingle, Eddie.” Barbara pursed her lips slightly, in an expression of thought, but she quickly replaced it with her more familiar smug grin as she gestured behind her towards Tabitha and Butch while she spoke. Butch looked exceptionally bored with the situation, and Oswald was actually mildly surprised that the girls had even managed to get him to come, considering he usually opted out of spectating the derby matches. Meanwhile, Tabitha had been staring at Oswald for most of the conversation with an expression that was nearly unreadable, though it didn’t really bother him.

“The match starts in about twenty minutes and I reserved us a table to put all of our stuff at when I got here, so we should probably go take care of that.” Edward replied to Barbara’s suggestion with a casual tone and he pointed off towards the food counter where all of the booths and tables were as he spoke, still smiling politely. Barbara nodded curtly and after a second she turned around to begin walking towards that general direction, with Tabitha and Butch following cooperatively. Edward turned back to face Oswald fully again and his smile widened slightly, his expression more genuinely happy as he waved at the other boy. “Oswald, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you later.”

“Right. See you later, Ed.” Oswald returned the jovial smile and he raised his hand up to wave back at Edward, his bracelet shifting around his wrist as he did. When Edward turned around after another moment so that he could catch up to Barbara and the others, Oswald leaned forwards onto the counter, supporting himself on his elbows and resting his chin atop his palms, and he watched Edward leave with a soft grin still playing at the corners of his lips. Once they had disappeared around the corner by the food counter, Oswald took notice of the growing number of people hanging around that area and he recognized that Barbara had been right about the rest of the derby team groups showing up.

After a few more drawn out seconds of wistfully staring off towards the crowd that had formed at the food counter, no doubt beginning to overwhelm Victor with their orders, Oswald sighed and stood back up from the prize counter. Without really thinking about it, Oswald used his opposite hand to spin his bracelet a few times, smiling to himself. He supposed it was time to go help out his coworkers, and as he moved out from behind the counter, he held onto the idea of possibly getting to hang out with Edward again after the match.

[banshee-cheekbones]

and we’re back with round two! like it says on the tin, this is a complete list of what I’ve written between the beginning of April and the end of June!

some statistics:

total number of fics: 67

total number of fandoms: 12

total word count: 75,925

most common pairing: Malia/Kira and Betty/Veronica are both tied with four fics a piece!

and now, for the fics!

American Gods

a conversation long overdue. Audrey/Laura. 1615 words. Rated T. ao3. “You know, it didn’t have to be Robbie. It could have been you, just as easily, if you’d been the one to pick up the phone. If you’d been the one to come over and deal with the fucking cat.”

energetic praise you wanted. Bilquis/Media. 250 words. Rated M. ao3. "Oh, honey," she says, words ghosting over Bilquis' swollen flesh. "I'm afraid that isn't going to work on me."

rage looks good on you. Audrey/Laura. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. "You are the most selfish bitch in the entire universe."

Borderlands

a high degree of caution. Lilith/Mad Moxxi. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. "You know, this is definitely on the list of things most people don't screw around with."  

Crossover

Intermission. Allison Argent (Teen Wolf) / Jo Harvelle (Supernatural). 250 words. Rated T. ao3. "You know, I could have taken that vamp on my own."

Gotham

a little healthy competition. Barbara/Tabitha. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. "I bet that I can make you come before they finish their set."

Hannibal

Decoy. Alana/Margot. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. For the time being, using Will as a decoy is the best option available to them.

once, twice, three times. Beverly/Molly. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. Beverly has never been much of a believer in the concept of soulmates.

Jane Got A Gun (2016)

weak spot (everybody has one). John Bishop/Vic Owen. 1248 words. Rated M. ao3. “If you cannot hold your tongue, I will cut it out of your head.”

Logan (2017)

change of plans. Donald Pierce/Logan. 3655 words. Rated T. ao3. When Logan refuses to give Pierce the girl, Pierce decides to tell him a secret.

how to fall through the cracks. Donald Pierce/Logan. 3245 words. Rated M. ao3. Pierce and Logan have met before, in an El Paso bar in the early hours of the morning. Logan just doesn't remember.

threat assessment. Donald Pierce/Logan. 5268 words. Rated M. ao3. Pierce and Logan have met before, in an El Paso bar in the early hours of the morning. Logan just doesn't remember.

Pierce, on the other hand, remembers everything.

Power Rangers (2017)

comfort above all else. Kimberly/Trini. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. "Are any of those clothes yours?"

no sign of movement.  Kimberly/Trini. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. "Trini," she says for the eighth time, "we're going to be late if you don't move."

the thing that lives in the dark. Rita Repulsa/Trini. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. All small towns have their own sets of tales, their own legends passed down through generations. Angel Grove is no different.

Wrong Number. Kimberly/Trini. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. A little miscommunication with the boys means that Trini and Kim have half an hour to themselves.

Preacher

Sacrilegious. Emily/Tulip. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. Emily is fairly certain that what she's doing counts as an act of sacrilege.

Riverdale

an unspoken promise. Betty/Veronica. Rated G. ao3. Veronica has been given enough jewelry in her life to recognize a necklace box when she sees it.

Betrothal. Cheryl/Polly. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. The footsteps stop on her left, and when she glances left through the netting of her veil, she's met with a glimpse of vivid red hair. It belongs to a Blossom, there's no doubt about that, but it's the wrong Blossom.

do you do more than dance? Betty/Cheryl. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. Cheryl Blossom is dancing on a table in a fire-red bralette and pleated skirt, and she won't stop staring at Betty.

feels like the first time. Alice/FP. 3380 words. Rated E. ao3. On a hot summer night by the shores of Sweetwater River, after senior year comes to an end, Alice and FP find a moment of bliss.  

find a home for your love (home isn’t always a place). Alice/FP/Fred. 5407 words. Rated E. ao3. Sometimes, a threesome isn't just a threesome. Sometimes, it's a plea for something more

hit me (where you want it). Betty/Cheryl. 250 words. Rated E. ao3. Cheryl doesn't know where the cane originally came from, but she does know that Betty knows how to use it.

Hitch. Betty/Cheryl/Veronica. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. "Let Veronica eat you out."

how to keep a secret. Alice/Hermione. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. Hal has no idea that she's been intermittently fantasizing about Hermione Lodge since high school.

just keep your eyes on me. Betty/Veronica. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. It's not that Betty is afraid of heights. Really. She's not.

one day (i’ll kiss it all away). Betty/Veronica. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. Veronica is thirteen when she starts feeling her soulmate's pain.

peel it all back. Alice/Hermione. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. At initial glance, Alice Cooper's entire life is the definition of neat.

running interference. Alice/Hermione. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. The supply closet of the White Wyrm is not made for make-out sessions.

somewhere in her smile. Hermione/Mary. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. "We could be like them," she says, lowering her gaze to where Mary's fingers are clasped in her lap. "Like FP and Fred. If you wanted to."

stages of healing. FP/Fred. 1509 words. Rated T. ao3. FP’s hands have been scarred for as long as Fred can remember.

vow of silence. Betty/Veronica. 250 words. Rated E. ao3. "We have to be quiet."

Supernatural

savor the present. Anna/Jo. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. The last time Jo saw her, Anna was 19. The time before that, she was 32. Next time, she might be 70 or 4. There's no way to predict.

Stress Relief. Meg 2.0/Ruby 1.0. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. "Get yourself a new meatsuit?"

swallow it down. Meg 2.0/Ruby 1.0. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. "Sex pollen? Are you kidding me?"

Vacation Plans. Castiel/Dean. 965 words. Rated M. ao3. Written for the prompt “cas/dean - cas walks in on dean jerking off OR vice versa :D."

Teen Wolf

a day in the sun. Peter/Stiles. 494 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. Peter can think of about a dozen different places that he'd rather be off the top of his head, but it was Stiles' turn to pick where they went for their weekly Saturday date, and as much as Peter likes upsetting traditions, there are some things that he simply can't be bothered to go against.

all the amenities of home. Allison/Kira/Lydia. 1879 words. Rated E. ao3 & tumblr. Established polyamory, sex tapes, masturbation and facesitting.

any way you want it (that’s the way you need it). Malia/Kira. 2429 words. Rated E. ao3 & tumblr. Malia wants to know how to make Kira feel good. The obvious solution is to watch her masturbate.

Begin Transmission. Derek/Stiles & Isaac/Scott. Completed WIP. 26 chapters, 11 added since first quarter. 55,178 words total, 19,346 added since last quarter. Rated E. ao3. After the events with the alpha pack and the darach, Stiles is thrust into his new role as the emissary for Scott’s pack. It’s a demanding position, one that requires years and years of study.

bite down, bite down (into me). Allison/Stiles. 1036 words. Rated E. ao3 & tumblr. Allison Argent is the furthest thing from a werewolf, but you wouldn’t know that from how eagerly she sinks her teeth into Stiles’ flesh.

Cold Comfort. Laura/Lydia. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. The scream tears Lydia out of sleep, rips her out of a dream that she immediately forgets.

Comfort Food. Malia/Kira. 414 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. Malia is standing in front of her locker, one hand crumpled into a fist at her side, the other clutching a sheet of paper that's nearly torn in half. There's a deep dent in the door of the locker, so deep that Kira is surprised the metal didn't completely break. Malia's breathing is loud and uneven, and Kira approaches her slowly, not wanting to surprise her.

Contentment. Braeden/Kira. 544 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. Braeden's never been particularly fond of sharing her things with others, but for almost five years, Kira has been the exception, particularly when it comes to clothes.

Exchange. Braeden/Laura. 500 words. Rated G. ao3. Breaking into Hale Industries is a cakewalk.

Firelight. Kira/Lydia. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. The slur in Kira's voice is soft but distinct, and Lydia glances down at her tipsy girlfriend, who is stretched out with her head in Lydia's lap.

hiding in plain sight. Erica/Kali. 500 words. Rated T. ao3. "Should have left town when you had the chance, Kali."

it comes seeping in (when you close your eyes). Allison/Nogitsune. 1328 words. ao3. The other girl’s eyes, her eyes, are very black, impossibly black, and when Allison stares at them, she has the distinct feeling that the ground underneath her feet is tilting, that she’s about to fall into a deep hole that she’ll never be able to claw her way out of.

just the two of us. Boyd/Erica. 2431 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. The one where Erica gets a cold at college, Boyd comes to take care of her, and love confessions happen.

make some noise. Laura/Stiles. 527 words. Rated E. ao3 & tumblr. The real reason she'd opted out of the trip was because of Stiles, because she wanted to be loud in her own bedroom for once.

Nightcall. Parrish/Stiles. 1680 words. Rated T. ao3 & tumblr. Jordan can count on one hand the number of times he’s worked a quiet night shift since moving to Beacon Hills.

(Or, the one where on-duty phone sex is almost a thing, but a collapsing shelf gets in the way.)

nothing but sun and sand. Malia/Kira. 1210 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. On the first day of their week-long vacation, Kira and Malia share a moment of quiet down by the ocean.

only oceans can separate us. Cora/Lydia. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. "You should get to bed soon, babe."

put the past behind you. Lydia/Malia. 250 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. "I know this is weird for both of us, and I know you don't wanna talk about it. Do you wanna get drunk and make out in the bathroom instead?"

rate your pain. Allison/Stiles. 438 words. Rated T. ao3 & tumblr. "On a scale of one to ten, how much do you think this is going to hurt?"

ripped to shreds. Laura/Stiles. 386 words. Rated T. ao3 & tumblr. And, also like her, he wants to rip off Kate Argent's head.

sands of time. Noshiko/Marie-Jeanne & Allison/Kira. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. In the 900 years of her life, Noshiko has had relationships with more people than she can count.

seasons change (but people don’t). Malia/Kira. 2340 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. The one where Malia hates airports but is willing to brave the chaos so that she can finally meet Kira in person.

sway. Allison/Malia. 250 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. Malia is never drinking again.

sync up the cuts (to the bass drum kick). Laura/Stiles. 581 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. Watching Laura perform is like watching a tornado decimate a town.

Territorial. Laura/Kali. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. “I thought I told you to get out of my territory.”

the best girlfriend ever. Allison/Stiles. 636 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. “I really hope this doesn’t look as ridiculous as it feels.”

Tighten Up. Allison/Erica. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. "How much time do we have until the game is over?"

Total Control. Allison/Scott/Stiles. 312 words. Rated T. ao3 & tumblr. Allison takes his left wrist, while Stiles' thicker fingers take his right, and as they start winding the scarves (or at least that's what they feel like) around his wrists and the headboard, it becomes clear just how flimsy the fabric is, how easy it would be to tear through it.

The Walking Dead

a loud awakening. Daryl/Jesus. 453 words. Rated G. ao3 & tumblr. His fingers skim over a sun-warmed hip, and he cracks open one eye just long to see Jesus looking down at him with an amused smile on his face, hair loose around his shoulders, bare-chested with a mug of coffee in his hand.

a steady decline. Andrea/Michonne. 250 words. Rated G. ao3. Andrea is getting sicker.

getting caught (ain’t always a bad thing). Daryl/Jesus. 918 words. Rated M. ao3 & tumblr. When Jesus wakes up to an empty apartment on his day off, he decides to use his time in the shower for other purposes.

Proximity. Beth/Carol. 250 words. Rated T. ao3. While the days are growing longer and warmer, the interior of the prison is still cold, especially at night.