#this guy i dated for years but it was basically platonic with some teenage angst thrown in

[tofangirlornottofangirl]

the horrifying realisation of discovering you have *a type* and that type is sagittarius men

[tooruluv]

Tooru Oikawa x F!Reader ( part 4 )

❝ my love for him is much like winter, a skeleton for the world to see. too bad he never liked the cold. ❞

description: being the neighbor and lifelong best friend of tooru oikawa definitely had it’s perks. you were never an outcast, always had a seat at lunch, got into volleyball games for free. the problem was, however, that being in love with him outweighed those perks. you would never tell him that, though, even if it hurt like hell.

genre: best friends to lovers, angst, unrequited love, fluff if you squint hard enough

word count: 2,320

warnings/notes: i’m posting this early because i’m so busy this weekend! hope you enjoy!

tag list: @afuckingunicornn​ @maii-flowers​ @clandestinerays​ @brownandchill​ @readeretal​

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You wanted to hate Sana. You wanted to resent her, wanted her to be a bitch. But she wasn’t. She was beautiful, and kind, and she just wanted to date Tooru Oikawa. Who were you to blame her for that?

“What is your skincare routine?” Sana asked. She pulled you closer, eyeing you as if she could see into your soul. “You have to tell me what you do with your skin.”

“Only if you tell me what hair products you use.” You told her before thinking. Sana also happened to be very easy to talk to.

She turned to Oikawa, smiling with her hand wrapped around yours. “I’ll see you later, babe, but right now I’m going to get some incredible insight. I might steal her from you.”

Oikawa just stood there. You had never seen him more confused in your entire life. He looked out of place. Like he wasn’t expecting things to happen the way they were. “Go for it.” He said. Stoic.

Sana basically dragged you away, arm in arm. She was taller than you, so you had to put in effort to keep up (something you happened to be very good, all your friends were giants). The two of you spoke nonsense about skin and hair and some other things you couldn’t remember.

“You know, I was scared to meet you.” She told you as you stopped in front of her locker. You gaped. “I know, I know. I just didn’t want you to blame Tooru for not telling you about us. I asked him not to.”

“Can I ask why?”

She giggled. It was soft. “I wanted you to like me.” She pulled out a book and shoved it into her bag. “I needed the soulmate stamp of approval.”

“..Soulmate?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Sana turned to you. Her hair flipped over her shoulder as she did, her bangs never leaving the perfect place across her forehead. “You guys are literally inseparable. You and Tooru. A lot of us joke about how the universe put you guys together, platonic soulmates.”

Platonic soulmates, she said.

“I couldn’t possibly let myself be with him if you didn’t like me.” Sana continued, not really gauging how you were responding. “That’s why he hasn’t really talked to you. I’m so sorry for that, I shouldn’t have told him to keep his distance.”

“I guess I just thought he was mad at me.” You told her. Again without thinking. “We’ve never gone this long without talking, ever. And he was…” you paused. “He asked me for his jersey back and I didn’t really..”

“He asked you for his jersey back?” Sana slammed her locker shut. “I swear I’m going to kill him.”

She mumbled something about how he doesn’t listen. You stood beside her, hands at your sides.

“I literally told him not to do that.” She told you. “He offered me the jersey, and I told him that it was not my place as his girlfriend of a god damn week to take a jersey you’ve worn for years. He’s an idiot. Keep it, I’m serious.”

You didn’t know what to say.

You wanted to hate her, you really did. You tried to find a flaw, something to stick to, but nothing came up. God how you wanted her to be a bitch.

“You don’t hang out with girls often, do you?” She asked. You were walking to class now, her arm linked with yours as her bag hung over her other shoulder.

“I only hang out with ‘Kawa and the boys.” You shrugged.

“Well consider me your official girl best friend. Starting now.” Sana stopped, gasping as though she came to a sudden realization. “Oh my god! We should go to the mall together this weekend!”

You shifted your backpack on your shoulders. “I.. I don’t think..”

“Oh, come on! It’ll be super fun.” She continued, her face lighting up. “We can even have a sleepover after! Please!”

“I’ll have to talk to my parents… I..” You gave up trying to make her the Bad Guy. “Yeah. That sounds fun. We can stay at mine, if you don’t care.”

Sana sent you the brightest smile. “I can’t wait. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Your arms were unlinked, you heading down a different hallway to your class. “Oh, and Sana?”

“Yes?”

“You have the soulmate stamp of approval.” You turned around before you could see her response.

“You’re not mad at him?” Iwaizumi asked you. “How are you not livid right now?”

“I am mad.” You twisted a pencil in your hand. “But I’m more mad at him for completely ignoring me than having a girlfriend.”

“If I were you I would beat the shit out of him.” Matsukawa spoke up from beside you. He gasped. “Oh my god, I can beat his ass for you. Do you want me to?”

You chuckled. “I’m flattered, but no. Not worth your time or energy.”

The three of you were in the library during lunch, again. You know you should go back to the cafeteria, find a new spot at the lunch table (your previous spot next to Oikawa, in between him and Iwa at the circle tables). But the three of you liked to have a break and just hang out and talk shit at lunch. It became a thing between you and Iwaizumi, but you were happy to have Matsukawa join.

“Speaking of me being pissed off,” you changed the topic. “I’m pissed off that I’m the only one who knows about you two? Um, hello? When will you guys just say you’re dating and get it over with?”

“Hanamaki knows, though his suspicions are unconfirmed.” Matsukawa said.

They were official, you knew. The two of them never told you “hey we’re dating!” or anything like that, but you knew. The same way Iwaizumi knew you were (are) in love with Oikawa. And, it doesn’t held that both of them call each other nicknames and have each other as “bf” with about three trillion hearts in their phones.

“We’re going to wait.” Iwaizumi said. He wasn’t uncomfortable. “I have to tell my parents first. Then we can tell everyone.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry Iwa I didn’t even think…”

“Seriously, don’t apologize.” He smiled at you. “You just want us to be happy. And right now, we are with what we have.”

Matsu put his arm around your shoulder from beside you. You were happy for them, too. Though the same couldn’t be said the same about your love life.

Tooru Oikawa invented a game when the two of you were kids. It was a stupid game, and you were pretty sure it was just a game he found while playing with other kids, but it was so fun to you.

You would invite kids over, including Iwaizumi, and would play it all the time in your backyard. The game was simple. Someone was the Catcher, and whoever was Catcher had to stand with their back to the players as the players stood against your house. The Catcher would then shout out a color, and if a player was wearing that color, they would have to run to Oikawa’s house (and touch it) before the Catcher caught them. Oikawa called it “Rainbow”.

One day while playing, Oikawa caught you while you were sprinting. He snatched you by the waist and basically bear hugged you. Everyone was a giggling mess, as kids are.

“Got you!” Kid Oikawa exclaimed. “Got you, got you! You’re it!”

Sometimes, you wished you had the ability to see when you grew up.

Sana ended up becoming a pretty decent acquaintance, despite only knowing her for a day. She was very nice, and extremely fun to talk to. Sana just wanted a girl friend; and after talking to her, maybe that’s what you wanted too.

You were walking in the hallway with her, arms linked as Sana preferred, talking nonsense about classes and the game that night. It was the beginning of the day, so the halls were filled with people who weren’t in class still.

“Are we still on for tonight and tomorrow?” she asked you.

“Yeah. If you’re cool with staying at my house, I think my parents were excited to hear me bring a friend whos a girl over.” You said.

“Oh my god, yes. That sounds perfect!” She nudged you with her arm.

“Okay.” You thought for a second. “If you like to drink, we can get some bottles or wine coolers or something before going home. I know a place.”

“That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.”

You stopped in front of your class and she unlinked your arms. “I’m not kidding when I tell you that I’m excited. I’ve told you before that I was nervous about meeting you when I started dating Tooru, but you’re so cool. Thank you.”

“You’re thanking me?” you laughed. “For what?”

“For being the coolest friend to Oikawa.” A bell. “I got to go to class, if I get another tardy my parents will have my head. But I’ll see you at the game! Wear the jersey!”

She sent you a wink before heading to class.

“Thank you!” you called, and she turned around. “For being the coolest girlfriend to Oikawa.”

After school, Iwaizumi came over. They had a bit of time before the game, so most of the guys like to come home to eat a little bit or hype themselves up.

Like most days, you were sprawled out on your floor as he sat up against some random object in your room. That day, it was your dresser. He was exhausted, and you could tell.

“Iwa, can we be serious for a minute?” you asked.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” he said, and you sat up. “You’re in love with him. You’ve been in love with him for years. How did you know?”

Your eyes flickered between his. “What do you mean? I thought you already asked this before.”

“No, no.” he was nervous to ask you. “No, how did you know that you were in love with him? Like what does that feel like?”

You couldn’t hold back a gasp and a smile. “Oh my God! Hajime Iwaizumi, you’re in love!”

“No..”

“Yes you are!”

The teasing went on like that for a while. It went on and on, the both of you giggling and bickering about teenage love. You didn’t remember exactly how it ended up like this, your head resting on his lap and Iwaizumi’s hand in your hair. You felt your friendship with him, in that moment.

“I think I am, in love with Matsu I mean.”

“I think you are too.” You spoke. “I see the way you two are with each other. The glances and feeling. He definitely loves you too.”

“We’ve been together way longer than when you found us in the closet.”

“I know.”

“Are you still in love with him?’

A pause. “Yeah.”

“He’s an idiot.”

“’Kawa may be the stupidest person I know.”

“…but..?”

“No but. He’s just the stupidest person I know.”

A chorus of laughter. You didn’t even hear yourself, didn’t hear Iwa. You missed this.

You also didn’t hear Oikawa come in, and didn’t notice him standing at your doorway.

“Right.” Oikawa said, bringing a silence to the room. He just turned and left.

You stared at the now-empty doorway. You didn’t remember when you sat up.

“Go.” Iwaizumi pushed you at your waist. “Go get him.”

Without thinking, you rushed out of your room and down the stairs. You finally caught up to him outside, in the middle of your houses.

“Are you ever going to talk to me?” You called. You were angry, upset.

Oikawa’s back was toward you. He wasn’t walking, but you didn’t get any closer. It was like talking to a fucking brick wall.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” He said simply.

“We almost kissed, ‘Kawa.” You said. Your hands were in fists at your sides, shaking. “We almost kissed. And you haven’t talked to me, haven’t even looked at me since. You don’t get to be mad at me. You don’t get to be mad I’m hanging out with Iwa when you haven’t talked to him either. And you can’t hide behind Sana asking you to not tell me about you two, not anymore. Please just talk to me.”

“Like I said.” He still had his back toward you. “Nothing to talk about.”

With that, he walked back to his house. You stayed on the sidewalk until you felt Iwaizumi pull you back to reality.

You were pretty sure that anger took over every emotion that night. As you sat at the game, in that stupid fucking jersey you put on as routine, you stared daggers at the floor from the bleachers. You weren’t even in the student section.

You were slouched in the bleacher, arms crossed, when you felt a body sit next to you.

“You seem far too pissed off to be watching a volleyball game.” The boy told you. “A game you’re winning.”

You stole a glance, not leaving your slouched position between the bleachers. He was cute, dark hair and definitely tall (though it could just be because you were sitting). He wasn’t even looking at you, so you turned your eyes back to the court.

He offered you an already open bag of chips, holding them in front of you.

“You don’t go here.” You ignored his offering.

“You’re not wrong.” He looked at you. “I’m here from another school. Trying to see what some friends of mine are up against.” You finally looked up at him. “What’s your name?”

You deadpanned. “What’s yours?”

“I asked you first.”

“Second the best, first the worst. I win.” You said. “What’s your name?”

The boy set his bag of chips down and held out his hand. “I’m Kuroo, Tetsurou Kuroo.”

[angstymarshmallow]

My Two First Loves - How Will it All End? - Part 1 Mason Jennings.

This isn’t necessarily a complaint. I’m genuinely curious as to how long this book will be, especially considering we’re 60+ chapters in. Is this going to end when MC graduates? Will it end when she finally choses between three people? I assume it’s the latter.

But here’s some of my thoughts of what I do know while we’re all waiting. The more I wrote about this series, the more I had to say and if I’ve caught your attention so far, indulge me with another few minutes of your time. 

Originally when I read the synopsis of the first chapter, I remembered thinking to myself ‘this looks like angstville and I am soooo ready’. I love angstville, hell I vacation there and if you’ve ever read any of my stories or have been in the choices fandom for a while; you may have stumbled across my blog. You’d notice I’m a complete sucker for this type of pain genre. And in terms of angst, the first few chapters didn’t disappoint. The writing, while it never always felt natural – this kind of style sometimes gave me a familiar heavy feeling in the chest I’ve come to associate as a local in angstville.

From the very beginning, the reader is under the impression that MC has a crush on Mason. It’s a crush that’s spun years and the book keeps up this narrative throughout the entire story. (I’m sure there are people who headcanon this differently, but I’m strictly speaking about the intention of the book and for plot-related reasons, I understand why this makes sense). Then we meet Noah cue bad to the bone song, a secondary character MC starts developing feelings for; soon after MC finds out Mason is dating her best friend Ava. The book basically revolves around these four people - MC, Mason Noah and Ava. It’s not a fair representation all around, but I will say this book does a fairly good job of portraying the woes of being a teenager. To MC and everything she goes through feeling larger than life. To Mason struggling to push himself out of his father’s shadow. To Noah proving he’s a good soul that was dealt a bad hand from the deck of cards we call life. To Ava who was trying desperately to be what she thought she had to be and hiding who she truly was.

First and foremost, I wanted to breakdown a list of all my thoughts, and coordinate them accordingly. I’ll be going through the pros and cons in a series of posts, a lot of which deals with identity and character development. Bare with me if you have the patience, I also wanted to make a TLDR version of everything for people who just want to get to the point.

In any case I wanted to cover the main characters and how they’ve changed over the course of the book through these specific topics.

Mason Jennings Character Development Noah Harris Character Development Ava Lawrence Poor Character Development MC’s Development and Family Dynamic

Since Mason is the first topic I’ve written down, let’s start there.

Mason Jennings: The Childhood Crush

Mason and Parents mostly Mr. Jennings

Mason and MC

Mason and Ava

Mason and Noah

Future Mason: Where Does this Leave Us?

The story does a good job of giving you background information about Mason Jennings almost from the very beginning. Although some of his deeper and more meaningful moments with MC are buried in diamonds scenes - you get a pretty good sense of his character.  Mason is popular, friendly, albeit the rich kid with undertones of short sightedness as well as father-son issues that hugely impact his character over the course of this book. Because of his upbringing, Mason sees himself as the ‘good guy’ and while we can certainly see moments of this in the story, we also see moments where he’s been insensitive and selfish. Ultimately, Mason’s short sightedness is his Achilles heel.

Growing up with a lot handed to you on a silver platter makes it a little difficult for Mason to be open minded. Like most of the students of (whatever the name of their high school is), he’s quick to write Noah off as a bad influence on MC. Granted, he knows more about Noah than MC at the start, his unwillingness to change his perspective is a hindrance to his growth. It is unclear if Mason was always well off - considering his exchange with MC about his house and the jacuzzi (if memory serves me correctly), however what the reader does know; in comparison to Noah Mason’s parents haven’t struggled to make ends meet. In public, it looks as if they are a happy family but behind closed doors, it doesn’t take much to assume Mason’s life in reality is far from perfect.

Regardless, this cookie-cutter presentation makes it hard for the reader to sympathize with him, especially when comparing him to Noah.

Mason’s Parents

It starts with his upbringing. A lot of his life, Mason was groomed to be like his father; he’s supposed to follow in his footsteps by scoring a football scholarship. He’s supposed to have a full ride into the air force academy. He’s supposed to breeze through school, listen to his parents and survive high school. Though his cookie-cutter life starts falling apart during dinner with his parents and MC. His parents make a lot of comparisons about MC and Ava, when they bring up his new relationship ( much to MC’s discomfort and Mason’s). Because of Ava’s accomplishments they think she’s a perfect match for Mason and uses this to discredit and sort of look down upon his friendship with MC. They think Ava is the best and most optimal choice because they’ve always given him the best and expect the same in return. It’s implied during as this happens that their relationship isn’t perfect, Mason’s uncomfortableness isn’t just on behalf of MC, he’s embarrassed despite a part of him thinking he owes them for everything they’ve ever done.

Another and more obvious example stem from the all-important football game everyone was looking forward to. Scouts are visiting and their school wants to showcase the best of the best. This spurs even more competition between Noah and Mason; not only for MC’s affection but to gain the scouts favour. Regardless of the outcome, Mr. Jennings influence as the principal allows him to pull the strings and guarantee approval for Mason over Noah.

Immediately after Noah confronts him about the entire scenario; Mason is quick to defend himself and his dad; saying it was his talent they cared about and not his father’s connections. Mason spends so much time thinking the best of his father that he doesn’t consider any alternative. Despite it being obvious to the reader that there is more going on here than just Mason’s ability to play football; he doesn’t entertain the thought. And from his perspective why should he? We’ve already established his parents try their absolute best to give him the best chance possible, which doesn’t necessarily mean playing by the same rules as everyone else.

It’s these kinds of examples that shows Mason’s short sightedness. This makes him a lot less likable. His unwillingness to see other people’s perspectives outside of his own makes him fall a little short. He’s so averse to the idea that his father could be the reason why because it would undermine his own confidence in himself and ultimately change the way he sees his father.

Recognizing how important character growth is in young adult stories; this reoccurring issue has started to change. With the help of Noah and MC’s influence, Mason is finally staring to realize his father isn’t infallible after all. They get into a full blown argument over spending time with MC where they don’t see eye to eye, and haven’t for a long time. Ultimately, Mason starts questioning his own future. Does he genuinely want to go to air force academy? Or was that just an idea planted in his head from the very beginning? Is that his dream or his dad’s?

In a more recent chapter; it’s again implied how strained Mason’s relationship with not just his father but Mrs. Jennings as well. He makes a comparison between how his family celebrate the holidays different from the Price family. MC’s family has movie night and this time they’re watching Die Hard because Noah hasn’t seen it before and technically it is a Christmas movie. While this is the first time it’s specifically mentioned to the reader, we get the sense that movie night is a common occurrence around the holidays. Mason mentions how much this means to him; especially when his own parents do not celebrate the same way and he’s always invited over. It’s a special moment that feels a little less special when he sees Noah standing at the front door of their house.

Truth be told, I don’t think Mason has any idea what he really wants, since realizing air force academy isn’t as much his dream as it was his father’s. It is another part of his personality that spills over in other parts of his life. He didn’t know what his own feelings for Ava was, and how deep his feelings for MC truly is. This leads me to point number 2 -

Mason and MC

Whether you’re a fan of their friendship/relationship, the book gives you ample background information to outright say Mason is MC’s childhood crush and it’s the same the other way around.

If you’ve played some of the diamonds scenes like I have, their relationship seems a lot more natural than meets the eye. Although without these scenes, their dynamic feels a little more forced and a lot less like MC has any control over her decisions when it comes to him. I wished some of the diamond content was given for free because they show a lot of good Mason and MC moments. Their inside jokes, the little moments of childhood joy they experienced together like tarot readings with MC’s mother, and reminiscing over other old memories. You could argue its platonic, the small touching gestures; even their concern over each other’s behalf – it’s been this way since they’ve been kids. They’ve always been there for each other – no matter what. It’s that kind of friendship which allows them to be comfortable around each other. And it is that comfortableness that could lead to intimacy. It doesn’t take a lot for a reader to think then; they’ve been in love with each other since childhood.

MC’s influence on Mason has changed his behaviour. From the way he perceives Noah, to his relationship with his father – if it wasn’t for her, I daresay some of his growth would never have happened.

The more softer side MC sees when it comes to Noah, the more she implores that on MC. Noah can’t be all bad. That slowly becomes been her mantra and while Mason doesn’t agree outright; his opinion of him does change.

The trouble is, Mason has a secret about Noah that not even MC knows. He uses it as a reminder in justifying every harsh thing he’s ever said about him. Every harsh thing other people say about him in general. In Mason’s mind – Noah is fooling MC the way he fooled him last year when Noah tried robbing his house with his brother Elijah. Again, this is only half the story and it isn’t until later chapters that the reader starts getting the full picture.

Putting that aside for now and to paint an even clearer picture; during the scene where three of our major players were stuck in the gymnasium together; they’re in a situation where they’re forced to talk when they otherwise wouldn’t. As the reader you’re able to discern from their dialogue to their non-verbal cues; this dynamic is changing and for the first time - they were talking, laughing and being simply friends  which before now was unthinkable to Mason.

He did the unthinkable with his father in a much similar manner. Before MC started questioning her own perceptions of what it meant to be a good person and sharing pieces of this would Mason, he would never think to go against his father. At least, not publicly. I think it’s natural for teenagers to disagree and sometimes go against with their parents to some degree, but from MC’s perspective Mason never really did.  It wasn’t until MC and Mason were caught being out very late; Mr. Jennings for the second time tells his son MC is not a good influence on him. This is the nicest way I can put it, but with his growing animosity towards MC, this places a strain on their relationship that is too much for Mason to ignore.

This is a turning point in which Mason starts coming to his own conclusions about his dad. They aren’t in a good place; if Mr. Jennings can’t accept MC in his life, if he can’t accept the decision Mason makes – he’s going to lose him. This short sightedness is starting peel away with more and more layers of Mason realizing nothing is black and white, least of all people.

Even if you aren’t convinced of MC’s feelings about Mason, from Mason perspective he’s absolutely head over heels for her. And it is the same feelings which allows MC to influence him, to change him more than he probably realizes.

Mason and Ava

Oh, boy. This was a recipe for disaster, maybe from the very beginning.

When Mason tells MC they’ve started dating over the course of the summer; I’m sure there must have been some meaningful moments to convince themselves they were right for each other and it wasn’t solely because of MC. In part though, I think some of this had to do with MC, probably more than they both realized. Maybe there was an energy about each other that they’ve only felt when they’ve both been around MC. Maybe they were projecting those feelings onto each other because neither of them wanted to threaten their friendship with her. Regardless, by the time MC knew about it - things have started to become more than a little awkward. Ava was being a little heavy on PDA as if to convince them both that this is what she wants; while trying simultaneously telling MC to back off. Mason was being a little awkward in the sense of still being physically and emotionally connected with MC in ways which confused him. And MC was well, confused (and pinning for Mason secretly during their entire relationship).

From Mason’s perspective, I imagine he’s trying to figure out why it doesn’t feel right between them; why Ava is being more possessive than usual and why his feelings for MC are still there. Maybe in his mind, dating Ava meant getting over whatever feelings he might have had. And to his credit; he tried letting MC know over the summer - as if to ask, is this okay because some part of him must realize this could spell trouble for once the school year started. And MC’s answer was very much yes, even though inner MC’s dialogue never sold anyone on this idea.

In a nutshell, Ava and Mason weren’t a good fit because 1 - Ava was at the time trying to figure out her sexuality and 2 - Mason was trying to develop the same feelings he had for MC, onto her. Who is to say if Mason truly had deep feelings for Ava in the first place? 

A part of dating is figuring things out, especially at such a young age - you won’t have all the answer. As the reader, it never felt clear why Ava and Mason were dating other than being a plot device for MC’s repressed feelings.

As a reader, I do recognize  towards the end things were very bitter between Mason and Ava. After the whole kissing-MC-by-accident fiasco, the energy between them became more strained than ever. This is what I meant by Mason’s short sightedness; he couldn’t see why Ava was so hurt. He couldn’t see how Ava deserved better because from his perspective, he tried everything he could include distancing himself from MC (with mistakes along the way), only to hurt Ava and himself in the end. He doesn’t see himself as the bad guy in this scenario, but his actions had disastrous consequences. Was he the best boyfriend he could be to Ava? Absolutely not. He couldn’t be the person Ava needed him to be, he couldn’t even see how hard it was for her to be what she thought he needed for her to be. What she thought she needed to be to everyone else. Mason was consumed with his own well-being, his own feelings for someone else while juggling what could have been with her. Was he the worst boyfriend? No, he was figuring things out - sorting out his feelings like every other teenager. It was wrong for him to continue dating someone, when he had strong feelings for someone else. It was wrong for him to accidentally but quite publicly admit he had feelings for MC while the kiss was still fresh in everyone’s mind. But most importantly, it was wrong for him not to communicate his feelings with the person who he was with because that’s the number one thing everyone should do in their relationship. But it’s also human nature to not know what you want. 

Mason and Noah

During the most recent chapters, Noah’s and Mason’s relationship has become more and more complicated. I actually think this is one of the best relationships in this book. It shows the reader how difficult it is to define their relationship. Something on the surface that seems pretty straight-forward, when in reality it wasn’t.

Take for instance the beginning; it’s very clear they were painting Mason and Noah as total opposites. Mason is the ‘golden boy’ and Noah is ‘the bad boy’ and for MC to ‘choose one’ meant abandoning the other. Mason’s feelings for MC hindered his relationship with Noah, but before her - his father did that all on his own.

Mason and Noah were I daresay friends and even both admitted as much before it all went terribly wrong. They met and stuck together during football, hung out outside of school but Mr. Jennings influence on his son put a dent in their friendship even before things came to a head. During that night -you know the one I briefly mentioned earlier? Yeah, when Noah and Elijah trying to steal from Mason’s house it ruined whatever budding friendship there was between them. Since I’m talking about Mason’s perspective – despite his father’s hindrance, Mason allows his goading for him to make up his mind about Noah. Noah wasn’t his friend, he was just trying to get close to him to steal his stuff. This makes it difficult for Mason to see him as anything else other than a bad person.

In addition this, when you add MC into the mix – it just makes everything worse. Not only is Noah a bad influence – now he’s trying to take MC down with him. To Mason it makes him super protective of her; he has to protect her from how bad he is and even after her insistence – he still has to prove to her that Noah is bad news.

Even now, Mason is still struggling with the idea of Noah being a good person, but at least he is beginning to move past his short sightedness. He’s allowing doubt in his head, because as soon as he stopped placing his father on a pedestal he was able to realize nothing is black and white. People aren’t black and white. Nothing depicts this more than his relationship with Noah.

Future Mason TLDR

Mason Jennings has already started walking along a path of self-improvement. We see bits of this in the latest chapters that we haven’t seen at the start. From sticking up to his father and calling his ideas wrong, to (start) making amends with Noah and MC - he will undoubtedly continue to grow. This isn’t to excuse his past behaviour; (he still hasn’t apologized to Ava when he very much should and I’m still waiting on that ), but its addressing the very real notion that people change. People are always changing. High school is a lot of where that starts, at least it was for me - and at least for  all these characters in My Two First Loves. High school is where we start answering that question who am I and its a journey that continues after which really shapes who we are. Personally, I really can’t see future Mason making the same mistakes as past Mason and if I’m wrong - well pixelberry played me.

[winelover1989]

Originally followed you because of GOT/Dany?Jonerys reasons (lol, rip), but now you've gotten me curious about the Witcher. If you don't mind me asking, how does The Witcher compare to GOT when it comes to it's general story, it's romantic pairings and it's treatment of women. I love a good high fantasy story, but I'm not getting invested in another fantasy world where the female protagonist is basically treated like shit and there are no realistic female relationships. Your thoughts?

Thanks anon. If you're curious, I highly recommend Andrzej Sapkowski's The Last Wish. It's the first in the series but it's a collection of short stories. The audiobook is great. I just casually started listening to it while running one day, it was just so damn good, I was instantly hooked and then I started reading the series.

It's about a monster hunter whose trade is to kill monsters for money, paid by the people haunted by said monsters. Though, the actual story is about him steering away from it as the narrative begins to humanize the monsters. The first book of short story stories draws a lot from fairy tales and its funny. For example, it has the beast from beauty and the beast but dude dates flurries. 😂 As for your three questions:

How it compares with GoT: There's a huge magical world and there's a lot of political unrest, but the story is more focused on Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri who are bound by destiny in a somewhat dad, mom, and kid dynamic. That's the heart of the story. It's hilarious, it's fun, and it has a way more progressive message and a much better moral backbone than GoT. It's not edgy or shock value, it has its twists, but it's mature, subtle, and enjoyable.

Romantic Pairing: So Geralt and Yennefer is my ship, thankfully it's also the canon main couple. Again, it's mature because she's like 100+ year old sorceress who only looks young by magic and Geralt is a pretty old dude too because Witchers age differently. They have a past. It's an on again off again relationship. He's the voice of reason guy who is drinking some serious respect women juice. He's this badass tough guy but a big ol softie when it comes to Yen. She's the more impulsive, morally complex, and lovable jerk character. It's refreshing to watch a female character so cool and layered and yet not villainized or treated like femme fatale (she's also infertile, that's a GoT comparison I guess, and she's actively perusing a cure until they just adopt Ciri)

It's just a really well written established relationship with delicious angst and destiny, but grown up problems and some very impressively mature ways of dealing with conflict at times. They just go from old married couple to angsty teenagers, you never know 😂

Treatment of women: Its VERY progressive in that regard. To give you an example, Geralt is openly pro-choice and is very vocal about it. Yennefer is a very sexually adventurous person and there's not an ounce of slut shaming in the story. This series doesn't use the medieval setting as an excuse for mysogyny. There are queens, female warriors, sorceresses, etc and Geralt isn't the kind of male hero who needs to be propped up by bringing strong women down. In fact, he's totally cool with being Yen's arm candy date at fancy magic events. All his other dynamics with women—other ships and platonic dynamics—are quite refreshing for the fantasy genre. Essentially, it's the kind of books women can read and find several interesting female characters to connect with.

I hope my massive rant answered your question lol. (I'm just in super excited mode right now) And I hope you enjoy the books. And if not, there's the show coming up.

[chantelle-x0x]

Cabin Kisses - Steve Rogers x Reader

Masterlist

A/N: I honestly don’t know how good this is. I tried really hard to make this as fluffy as possible but I also thought I’d add some fluffy-angst at the start just to get it going, but I really hope you enjoy this fic and it wasn’t a complete waste of reading time. But I don’t really know how good this one is given I am really busy with real life and I’m trying so hard to get my writing out still so, enjoy! If you can. Most importantly though, this is my entry for @barnesrogersvstheworld who held a kiss challenge and let me have the prompt ‘At a cabin in the mountains’. Thank you so much for letting me be part of this!

Permanent tag list: @glorious-fandoms, @rousetta, @fuckyourgondola

Steve Rogers tag list: @alepowell @kaitlynw011 @get-loki @i-just-wanna-live-gc Disclaimer: **All characters besides Reader, belongs to Marvel (MCU)**

Word count: 1,543

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader, Platonic!Peter Parker x Reader

MCU Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Peter Parker,  Natasha Romanoff (mentioned), Bucky Barnes (mentioned), Clint Barton (mentioned), Sam Wilson (mentioned

Rating: General (15+ maybe?)

Warnings: A fluffy panic attack (if that’s a thing if not then), Stevie being a giant teddy bear and helping you through a panic attack at 2AM. Also, is HYDRA a warning? Because it’s mentioned. And lastly, implied stuff but nothing happens at all! Clean content xx 

Summery: You have a really bad nightmare and it effects you worse than normal, so Steve has new plans for you instead of going on a mission.

After a mission failed, you went back to the compound with your teammates. Tony and Steve were already talking about going back with more than four people and training even more so you’re all prepared for the worst. You had a gash in your arm but you tied it up with some cloth to prevent bleeding too much. Steve kept checking on you but you promised you were feeling okay and that you’d be alright. As you got to the compound, you went to the med-bay and got stitched up before thanking the nurse and exiting, heading to your room. After changing into your pyjamas, you take your laptop and sit on your bed putting on ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’. You’re about 20 minutes into the movie when there’s a knock on your door.

‘C’mon in.’ You say warmly, sitting up properly. Steve entered your room, closing the door gently behind him. He moved over on your bed smiling at him as he takes place next to you.

‘How are you feeling?’ He asks as you close up your laptop. You shrug in response and sigh.

‘The pain meds are wearing off now so I’m starting to feel the pain, but other than that, I’m doing just fine.’ Your voice was quiet and you looked really tired. Steve cuddled up closer to you and wrapped an arm around your shoulders. Before long, you slumped against him and fell asleep. He places a kiss to your forehead then picks you up bridal style and places you into your bed and covers you up. You sigh but open your eyes a little and pull on his arm gently, whispering, ‘Stay?’ He nods and goes to the other side of the bed pulling the covers over himself.

You and Steve had been dating for a couple of years, you just hadn’t gotten a room together. Sometimes you needed your own space for a little while and Steve understood that, so you both agreed you wouldn’t move in together; anywhere. Not for now anyway. More than space though, you had major trust issues from past relationships, Steve would never hurt you and you knew that, but it wasn’t easy to just pick up and leave with someone especially when you have an ongoing doubt that you might do or say something that’ll cause a problem.

At about 2 AM, Steve wakes up. He feels your non-stop movements, like your feet kicking air and your hands gripping and letting go of the sheets. Your sleeping grunts, as well as your sweating and light shaking. He whispers your name, gently shaking you awake. You wake up and it takes you a moment to realise where you are.

Every time you, Steve or someone else you cared about dearly got hurt during a mission, you'd have either a nightmare where they’d get really injured and end up dying, tearing your heart apart or, you’d die and you’d have to watch the people around you slowly start to forget you and it would get to a point where they didn’t care about or remember you. When you wake up, you cry and basically have a panic attack. And that’s exactly what happened.

Once you adjust to where you are, your eyes well up in tears and you start to cry really hard. Your breath comes short but not for a second were you alone. Steve’s warm arms wrapped around you and he whispered sweet things to help calm you down. He continuously kissed your forehead and rocked you back and forth in his arms. After calming down you realised how bad everything really was today.

‘Everything is okay doll.’ Steve whispered as he wiped your tears away. You sniffled before holding on tightly to your boyfriend. When morning came you found that you were alone in your bed. You knew Steve had probably gone for his morning run so you went down to get some food. Tony called you into a meeting and you found everyone there.

‘The mission from yesterday failed as we all know, thankfully most of us didn’t have anything terrible happen. We need to go in again tonight. Cap, you’ll be paired with Y/N. Help her train and then when we get there, go undercover as HYDRA interns. Barton and Romanoff you guys are together, Barnes and Wilson, you guys pair together and don’t mess this up.’ Tony kept giving out what everyone needed to do, but your head was elsewhere. The meeting ended and you chose to quickly slip into your room, leaving Steve with Tony.

Steve met you near the Quinjet but before you got on, he guided you wordlessly to a small plane. ‘What are we doing Steve? I thought we had to go with them, then we’d split up.’ Steve opened the door letting you in first.

‘That was the plan, but now we have to leave separately.’ He said and you nodded. You two fell into a comfortable silence, but after a while, you started heading towards a runway in a mountain.

‘Steve, where are you going?’ You ask.

‘We’re not doing the mission.’ He informed.

‘Why not!? I’m completely fine!’ You were frustrated. It’s happened before, sure not this badly, but it’s happened.

‘You’re not. It hasn’t happened like it did last night and I don’t want you to get hurt.’ You decided you’d give him the silent treatment for a while. He waited to tell you and you were actually looking forward to being a HYDRA intern for a couple of days. You entered the cabin without a word which made Steve chuckle.

About an hour passed when Steve gave you a cup hot chocolate and wrapped a warm blanket around you. You smiled at him and thanked him. ‘She speaks!’ He said euphorically. You laughed and rested your head on his chest since he took place next to you.

‘I love you Steve. Thank you for taking me away. I guess I never knew how stressed I could actually be.’ Steve smiled and placed two fingers under your chin before pressing his lips to yours. You melted into him almost automatically. You placed your cup down on the floor before wrapping your arms around Steve’s neck. His tongue slid along your bottom lip asking for entrance which you happily gave him. He laid you on the couch. You smiled into the kiss and before pulling away, you pulled on Steve’s bottom lip. You both took a moment to breathe, his eyes no longer bright blue like before. You went to kiss him again when you heard a knock on the door. You both eyed each other, but there was another knock.

‘Stay here.’ Steve said sternly, picking up his shield and heading to the door. You didn’t follow his instructions and quietly followed him taking the gun from the table near the couch. Another knock echoed through the room. Steve opened the door ready to attack when a young Peter Parker was standing outside.

‘Woah. Sorry Captain. I-I uh, I went to help Mr Stark but he sent me here because he said it’s too dangerous. Hi Y/N!’ He said waving to you. You smiled and went to the door and hugged your young friend. Steve shut the door after Peter and you got him a cup of hot chocolate.

‘You scared me Peter!’ You exclaimed. He rubbed the back of his neck and apologised.

‘You’re here now kid so you should be safe. We’ll head back in a few days. You can find your room right? With your spidey-sense.’ Steve tried to get the kid out off the room.

‘That’s not how it works but yeah. Thanks for letting me stay here Captain.’ Peter said smiling.

‘I’ve told you before Peter, call me Steve.’ Steve said with a smile, while trying to usher Peter away.

‘Right. Well thanks guys!’ Peter said before leaving to find an empty room.

‘You don’t like to listen to orders when you’re off duty, do you?’ Steve asked, taking you by surprise. You then realised what he meant.

‘Long answer, if something happened to you, I wouldn’t have been safe and if you needed backup, I’d be there to help.’ Steve cocked an eyebrow and had an amused look.

‘And short answer?’ He asked.

You step closer to him, wrapping your arms around his neck, smiling up at him whispering, ’No.’ A slight shake to your head. ‘No, I don’t like orders when I’m off duty, but you should already know that, captain.’ Steve smirked at your words and a slight blush dusted his cheeks. Before anything could progress however, Peter came back into the room with a smile on his face.

‘What’re we watching?’ He asked, you laughed and pulled away from Steve’s embrace.

‘Soon.’ You whispered to Steve, he instantly understood what you meant and smiled. ‘Your choice Peter.’ You smiled at the teenager before sitting next to him on the couch.

You had to admit, although you didn’t want to be away from the “fun” mission, you were quite enjoying the time with Steve and Peter. You were all safe and away from danger. That’s what you always wanted for Steve.

If you’d like to be part of my permanent Marvel tag list or an individual character tag list, let me know!

Constructive criticism and general feedback would be awesome as well! Thanks for reading x

Masterlist

[forestwater87]

Underrated Characters Appreciation Weeks I’m too lazy to set up....

...but I’m proud of myself for having created. So if y’all wanna adopt any of these, you can go wild (please tag me though! I wanna see them!). Otherwise, shower me with praise.

(They’re very writing-heavy and often just a list of questions, so if you borrow anything feel free to tweak as suits your inspiration; the questions/suggestions are really just to get people thinking!)

I’m gonna put them below the cut so it doesn’t get too long, but you have to look forward to:

Jasper Appreciation Week

Cameron Campbell Appreciation Week

Gwen Appreciation Week

Bonquisha Appreciation Week

Dirty Kevin Appreciation Week

QM Appreciation Week

Other Secondary Characters Appreciation Week

Elevated Extras Appreciation Week

Nerris Appreciation Week

Space Kid Appreciation Week

Ered Appreciation Week

Harrison Appreciation Week

Dolph Appreciation Week

Nikki Appreciation Week

Preston Appreciation Week

Nurf Appreciation Week

Flower Scouts Appreciation Week

Woodscouts Appreciation Week

Jasper Appreciation Week

Who doesn’t love this good good ghost boy?

Day 1: 90s Kid -- Depict Jasper doing something radical.

Day 2: Jasper’s Camp -- Show off Jasper’s time as Camp Campbell’s golden boy.

Day 3: David -- It’s the only character he has a real canon relationship with . . .

Day 4: Life After Death -- What does he do with himself on that there island all day?

Day 5: All Grown Up -- We’ve all thought about it.

Day 6: Best Friend to Campers -- Pick a non-David character and develop his relationship with them.

Day 7: Spookily Ever After -- How does Jasper’s story end? On Spooky Island forever? Leaving this realm? Becoming the camp’s new mascot? Or was he somehow alive the whole time? Let your imagination go wild!

Cameron Campbell Appreciation Week

He’s sleazy. He’s morally bankrupt. He’s everyone’s favorite non-blonde-twink villain!

Day 1: Shady Business Dealings -- What’s Campbell up to when he’s not at camp? What does he want with Camp Campbell? Was that Nazi gold in his vault? Something’s fishy here, and I’m curious what everyone thinks is going on.

Day 2: Mysterious Past -- How on earth does someone like Campbell happen, anyway? This could be stuff about his childhood, how he got into . . . whatever illegal nonsense he’s up to, how he met QM, even how he got away with not getting in trouble for what happened to Jasper.

Day 3: Spooky Island -- Seriously, what on earth was going on in that house? Focus on the coolest/creepiest thing in there and go nuts.

Day 4: Fears & Other Random Headcanons -- Basically your Free Space day.

Day 5: Boss Man -- Focusing specifically on his relationships with the counselors.

Day 6: (Relation)Ships -- Yeah, yeah, gotta have it somewhere. This one is pretty open to interpretation, and should be considered platonic or not. Just depict the most interesting/fun relationship you think Campbell has. Is that cold black heart even capable of affection, anyway? (If you think he’s a foxy grandpa, go wild today.)

Day 7: What Happens Next? -- Is he gonna ever leave that cave? Team up with Daniel? Gone for good? What’s up ahead for the most notorious criminal who’s ever run a summer camp?

Gwen Appreciation Week

I mean, come on. You knew I was gonna do it.

Day 1: Background -- There are a lot of interesting headcanons about Gwen’s backstory, cultural heritage, etc. City girl or country bumpkin, Latina or African-American or rich or poor or college dropout or whatever, pick what you think is the most interesting headcanon for Gwen (something that’s related to her time before the show, that is) and go nuts.

Day 2: Favorite Camper -- Pick one of the kiddos and have them bond with their grumpiest caregiver.

Day 3: All Dolled Up -- She’s always in that counselor uniform. What does she look like outside of camp?

Day 4: Ships -- Obviously.

Day 5: That Tragic Plot Twist -- If you have an idea what makes Gwen such a grumpy disaster of panic and unemployment -- or just want to have fun making things unnecessarily dark for such a lighthearted cartoon which I know you do; I’ve read the fanfiction -- it’s time to unleash the angst.

Day 6: Anywhere Else -- AUs! AUs in all directions! Gwen doesn’t want to be at camp, so let’s plop her into another world where she might be happier . . . or might not be.

Day 7: A Campbell Camper? Whether you think Gwen was one of the kids who grew up at Camp Campbell or not, I think we’d all agree it’d be fun to imagine.

Bonquisha Appreciation Week

Because she deserves it and will probably kill you if you don’t appreciate her enough. 

Day 1: Those Wild Shirts -- Draw her in another fantastic outfit, or speculate where her amazing fashion sense (and vanity plates) came from. She has a filthy mouth and a whole lotta confidence, and the first day of this week is to celebrate that!

Day 2: Home Sweet Trailer -- Put her in her house on 69 Dirt Rd. and think about what kinds of things a girl like Bon would call home.

Day 3: Dog -- She has one. Tell us about it!

Day 4: Work/Hometown HCs -- What does someone even do in a town that small? Whether you think she’s a waitress alongside that cute pink-haired gal, or if she lives out of town and drove up to see David, ponder a little bit of what Bonquisha does in or around Sleepy Peak and show it to us.

Day 5: Bonvid -- How did that relationship with David crash and burn so hard, anyway? And what does it look like after that episode?

Day 6: Other Relationships -- Bonquisha vs. Tabii, or Gwenquisha, or bffs with Dirty Kevin, or any sort of connection you’d like to expand upon or forge between Bon-Bon and another character in the show. Hell, draw her and Jacob if you think that’s cute; it’s canon, after all.

Day 7: Muscles to Die For -- She’s big and beautiful and could absolutely murder everyone. Let’s just spend out last day appreciating how very much of a badass Bonquisha is.

Dirty Kevin Appreciation Week

The very goodest alternative Den Mother there ever was.

Day 1: Probably a Real Brat -- What was he like as a kid or teenager?

Day 2: Drugs & More Drugs -- Show us Kevin hard at work or tell us how he got into this crazy business.

Day 3: That Red Hoodie -- It’s kind of his trademark, and this is a day to appreciate it.

Day 4: From Sleepy Peak to Mexico -- Take your favorite part from Kevin’s debut appearance and do something fun with it.

Day 5: Den Mommy -- We’ve all thought about Dirty Kevin as a Flower Scout mother, and if you haven’t, you’re lying.

Day 6: Cleaned Up -- Get him a nice facial grooming and some good clothes, and you could have a handsome gentleman right there. What on earth would that look like? 

Day 7:  Not Such a Lone Wolf -- Whether you have an OTP or just love the idea of Kevin being friends with certain characters, show us who you think he has a soft spot for.

QM Appreciation Week

Listen, we’re all a little afraid of him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve the spotlight for a bit. Even if we know he’ll probably do unspeakable things in and to that spotlight.

Day 1: God or Just Crazy? Whether it’s his apparent inability to age or how he can magically find little woodland paradises in the middle of the camp, there’s a lot of weird going on there. Celebrate the man who may or may not be a murderer and may or may not actually be a literal deity and all his strange, often supernatural weirdness.

Day 2: Hook -- Hey, how’d he lose that hand?

Day 3: Man vs. Squirrels -- He has a blood feud with many woodland creatures.

Day 4: QM Store -- There’s a lot of wacky stuff in there. What did you like best, or what do you think was hidden in the corners that we didn’t get to see?

Day 5: Bonding -- QM’s been there for a long (long long long) time, and he’s clearly known Campbell and David at least for years. Pick a character and explore what their relationship with the Quartermaster might be like.

Day 6: Tontine -- So what on earth was going on there?

Day 7: Camp Specter -- Regardless of how you approached Day 1, the fact remains that for whatever reason, the Quartermaster is at Camp Campbell for good. You can speculate why he’s there or just show us him hard at work doing . . . whatever he does, but today I just wanna see our beloved QM lurking around the camp!

Other Secondary Characters Appreciation Week

To all those characters who hang out in the background, making the campers’ shenanigans more fun.

Day 1: Daniel -- I don’t consider him in any way under-appreciated, but he’s a pretty spectacular way to kick off Season 2, and also this week.

Day 2: Platypus -- Mother of six five four three two one lunch and terror of the camp.

Day 3: Cute Waitress -- Y’all sure do love her. Show your love!

Day 4: Jermy Fartz -- Oh yeah. I went there.

Day 5: Darla & Gregg -- How can anyone who isn’t David be that excited about camping? Were they totally secretly dating? Where are they now, and how did they get there?

Day 6: The Denizens of Sleepy Peak -- Whether your heart belongs to Lester, Fred, the old geezers, or any of the others populating the nearby town, it’s time to show them some love.

Day 7: Parents -- How else would we end this week but with some family bonding?

Elevated Extras Appreciation Week

They’re not as memorable as the secondary characters. They don’t even have lines. But they’re ours and we love them.

Day 1: Former Campbell Campers -- we see in the picture on David’s bulletin board that there were a lot of kids who used to come to the camp. Show or tell us about your favorite!

Day 2: Camp Counselor of the Year Judges -- What was up with those guys? Were they even human?

Day 3: Other Camps -- Lake Lilac is home to Teen Church Camp, Pirate Camp, and who knows how many others? Let’s enjoy them!

Day 4: Larry -- Poor, poor undeserving Larry. RIP, my fuzzy man.

Day 5: Scotty -- Visual comedy camp? Seriously?

Day 6: Chucky -- What happened to him anyway?

Day 7: Your choice! Think I forgot the most important one? Time to correct that mistake! (Listen, if you’re mad I didn’t include Jen, consider this the Jen space.)

Nerris Appreciation Week

Devoted to the real(?) magic kid.

Day 1: The Cute -- Artists, draw how cute she is! Writers, maybe think about how the nickname came about! Or do something completely different! I don’t care!

Day 2: Magic War -- Explore her relationship with Harrison.

Day 3: Elf-kin -- What does that even look like? What does it mean?

Day 4: Bonding with Mere Mortals -- The camp is full of people and animals. Pick one and play with their relationship with Nerris.

Day 5: Dice -- What do they look like? How did she get them?

Day 6: Fandom -- A girl that excited about fantasy has to be quite the fan of a lot of things. Show us her interacting with her favorite stuff.

Day 7: Her Party -- Her relationship with her slightly-clueless mother and extremely-geeky dad.

Space Kid Appreciation Week

The most obvious appreciation week in the entire world.

Day 1: Astronaut -- Whether you want to show him all grown up or as a little kid, give us a glimpse of what Neil the real-life spaceman would be like.

Day 2: Aliens -- Another type of spaceman.

Day 3: Fishbowl -- A day to just appreciate his adorable, impractical costume.

Day 4: Punching Bag -- He’s been pushed around and disregarded by Max, Nurf, Max, the counselors, various animals, and Max. This is a day dedicated to his unfortunate luck and indomitable good spirit.

Day 5: Sick -- After that trip he took across the lake to the moon, and barely surviving the flu zombies, Space Kid could probably use some patching up.

Day 6: Science Guys -- The two Neils, bonding.

Day 7: SPACE!!! -- Give us Space Kid interacting with his favorite hobby ever.

Ered Appreciation Week

A very very cool week.

Day 1: Skater -- Even on the camp’s awful cardboard halfpipe, Ered’s still a budding Tony Hawk.

Day 2: Dye -- Dedicated to her awesome -- dare we say cool? -- hair.

Day 3: Camp Kool Kidz -- Celebrate her short-lived tenure as the head of Camp Campbell.

Day 4: Extreme -- What other extreme sports does she like to get up to?

Day 5: Queen Bee -- Her relationship with one or more of the other campers.

Day 6: Wipeout -- She gets injured a lot, doesn’t she?

Day 7: Cool Gay FBI Dads -- They’re the most wholesome family that regularly gets into gunfights.

Harrison Appreciation Week

Devoted to the . . . real(?) magic kid? (Didn’t we already do this?)

Day 1: Harry’s Son -- His outfit is pure Vegas showman, his VA and accent seem to suggest Israeli descent, and he may or may not be a literal wizard. His parents are terrified of him, but his mom says he’ll grow into his looks. Give some backstory to this lovable kid and his love of illusions.

Day 2: Actual, Real, Terrifying Magic -- This kid isn’t messing around. From summoning fireballs to making both objects and living things appear and disappear, he has some serious supernatural chops.

Day 3: Apprenticeship -- He and Nikki’s relationship consists of equal parts mutual admiration and mayhem. What do the two of them get up to behind the scenes?

Day 4: Brother -- Time for theories (and angst, of course angst) about how and why he “made his brother disappear.” 

Day 5: Any Resemblance to Bill Cipher is Pure Coincidence -- . . . probably. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to imagine that crossover!

Day 6: Frenemies -- Harrison has a habit of getting on people’s nerves. Pick at least one character and develop their relationship with the magic kid.

Day 7: Hufflepuff Pride -- Jordan Cwierz confirmed it! This last day is about celebrating all things yellow and black and (mostly) well-intentioned.

Dolph Appreciation Week

I know, he’s controversial. But he’s a kid with a passion for art and no understanding of history, and he could use some love as well.

Day 1: Painting -- Exactly what it says on the tin. While he is clearly skilled at lots of different types of art, this is the one he seems to like the most.

Day 2: Where’s the Yellow? He is the only one who doesn’t wear anything camp-themed. Give us a glimpse of what might’ve happened to that signature yellow clothing.

Day 3: Stage Manager -- Multiple times throughout the series Dolph is shown as Preston’s right-hand man by helping him design sets and acting in his plays; Preston even returns the favor by posing for a painting. Today is dedicated to the strange relationship of the theatre and art kids.

Day 4: Camp Counselor of the Year! Incredibly, Dolph appears to be quite the competent leader for his age, and his one day of running the camp went smoothly for the most part. Maybe he has the makings of a great counselor after all.

Day 5: The Elephant in the Room -- We all knew it was coming. Whether you find the Hitler jokes hilarious or offensive, everyone has an opinion about this particular character choice. Now’s the time to speculate what happens when he gets older, or completely retcon this aspect of his personality, or do whatever you’d like to with his . . . peculiarities.

Day 6: Father Issues -- According to the show’s wiki, “his father is an American lieutenant, who raised him on a German army base where he supposedly gained a love of art and soccer like many Europeans, much to his father's dismay.” Oof, that’s a lot to unpack. Time for backstory!

Day 7: Not Such a Bad Kid -- Despite his . . . controversial elements, Dolph as a character seems fairly sweet and oblivious, and is loved by a significant portion of the fanbase for these qualities. A free day of sorts, this is about accentuating the positive and appreciating the awkward, artistic weirdo underneath the jokes.

Nikki Appreciation Week

I was really close to not including this, because I don’t consider her an underrated character exactly, but Neil has a week and, let’s be honest, it’d be fun.

Day 1: Rough n’ Tumble -- Nikki isn’t afraid of fighting, and she’s no stranger to getting dirty or even hurt. Show the wild child doing something fun, reckless, and probably not very smart.

Day 2: Raised by Wolves -- Imagine an AU where she actually was as much a literal daughter of the forest as she wants to be.

Day 3: Just a Tiny Bit Traditional -- Despite being such a tomboy, there’s a part of Nikki that is deeply romantic and even maternal. Whether through a version of her that’s a bit older or a quiet moment at the camp, show us a little bit more of her gentle side.

Day 4: BFFs, Potential Step Siblings, Sidekicks -- A day to appreciate Neil and Nikki’s relationship, whatever you see that as.

Day 5: Flower Scout Nikki -- What was her time across the lake like?

Day 6: Parent Troubles -- She and her mom have a difficult relationship, and her dad doesn’t seem to be around that much. Show us Nikki and one or more of her guardians, and what that relationship might be like.

Day 7: Holidays! Her first and greatest love is Christmas, but there’s probably not a holiday she wouldn’t throw herself into. Give her a chance to celebrate any holiday you want!

Preston Appreciation Week

Get ready for some high-octane theatrics!

Day 1: A Flair for the Dramatic -- I don’t care what you do with this one, just give it lots of DRAMA!

Day 2: Speak Up -- Preston and his grandmother are really close, but his parents seem to be AWOL. Every Appreciation Week needs a backstory- and/or family-centric day, and that’s what this is.

Day 3: Cosplay -- What’s Preston’s favorite play? Let’s have him dress up like a character in that show.

Day 4: Stage Presence -- Give the boy a spotlight and an audience!

Day 5: The Bard -- He seems to love writing and directing even more than performing. Show him creating the next Hamilton (or more likely, Hamilton’s weird sequel involving pirates and aliens).

Day 6: Theater Nerd -- Either as a high school AU or just some time in the future, image Preston fully engrossed in that drama club life.

Day 7: Tribe -- Every weirdo has their group of friends. Either through OCs or other characters in Camp Camp, give or describe the people that make up the group in which he belongs.

Nurf Appreciation Week

Gaylord Nurfington, much like Shrek, is like an onion: smelly, surprisingly layered, and will probably make you cry.

Day 1: Big N Tough -- He’s built like a brick shithouse and mean as a bear, and that’s part of why we love him. Celebrate the fact that this guy can (and probably will) kick anyone’s ass.

Day 2: Theater Kid? -- We’ve seen Nurf involved in Preston’s productions more than once. Have some fun with his apparent interest in the performing arts.

Day 3: His Mother’s Boy -- Mother and son time!

Day 4: Surprising Depths -- Show Nurf doing something no one would ever have thought he would enjoy and/or be good at.

Day 5: A Thoughtful Bully . . . -- As the self-proclaimed most self-actualized character in the show, Nurf has proven to be remarkably cognizant of his own issues and respectful of others’. Give him a positive-ish interaction with another character.

Day 6: . . . Is Still a Bully -- But let’s be real: Nurf can be a total jerk. Let the kid be mean today!

Day 7: Knives -- Where the hell is he getting all of those, anyway? Regardless, show Nurf with his favorite toys.

Flower Scouts Appreciation Week

They’ll kill you with a smile and fantastic hair, then they’ll use their drug contacts to bury the bodies.

Day 1: Grace & Class -- No one is prettier and daintier than these angels -- and nobody knows it better than them.

Day 2: Nicer than Disneyland -- Whether you’d like to focus on their shady cookie dealings, the washed-up Miss Priss, or even invent your own Scout, give yourself a chance to explore a part of the Flower Scouts that hasn’t been given much screentime yet.

Day 3: Sasha -- A day dedicated to the quintessential Queen Bee. Manipulative, clever, and pretty damn selfish, Sasha is undoubtedly the leader of the Scouts, and you better respect it.

Day 4: Erin -- If your heart hasn’t been captured by this heterochromatic science nerd, this day is not for you. But for the rest of us, grab your pumpkin spice and head off to Fraaaaance to celebrate her!

Day 5: Tabii -- What she lacks in common sense she makes up for with being absolutely terrifying. Tabii-with-two-eyes-with-one-eye is an emotional rollercoaster, and she deserves a little bit of love today.

Day 6: Not-So Delicate Girls -- From drug empires to vats of acid, the Flower Scouts have proven that they can kick a whole lot of ass. Show off how tough these girly-girls can really be!

Day 7: Garden Mother Kevin -- Come on. You knew it was coming.

Woodscouts Appreciation Week

They might be the cartoon answer to what would happen if Stormtroopers were body-swapped with Boy Scouts, but that’s part of their charm.

Day 1: A Shadowy Organization -- No girls are allowed, they don’t appear to have a troop leader, their camp is impenetrable, there seem to be maybe 5 Scouts at most . . . Pick something cool about this creepy camp and play around with it.

Day 2: Bitter Rivalries -- Between risky bets against Camp Campbell and popcorn/cookie sales against the Flower Scouts, it seems like the WS have a problem with basically everyone. Depict one or more interaction between them and their most bitter enemies.

Day 3: A New Recruit -- How on earth does Jermy fit into the Woodscouts’ routine? How has he not accidentally (or not-so accidentally) been incapacitated yet?

Day 4: Fearless Leader -- He’s slimy in more ways than one, but he keeps Troop #818 together and has even managed to snag a few recruits. That alone is worth a day of appreciation.

Day 5: Strong & Silent -- For someone who doesn’t talk much, Petrol has a lot of good advice and personality. Let’s celebrate his bromance with Snake, his willingness to be sacrificed for the WS, or even just his stubborn refusal to try leg day even once.

Day 6: Call him Snake -- Prince Zuko Billy might not be the most dignified character on the show, but he’s certainly the most honorable and is deadly with a candy cane.

Day 7: Like Family -- I just want to see some Woodscouts bonding, with each other or a character of your choice.

[lovinglohst]

I Wanna Dance With Somebody: Chapter 1- The Shittiest Night Of Our Lives

Story Pairings: Boyf riends, Pinkberry, RichJake

Chapter Characters: Michael Mells, Brooke Lohst, Jeremy Heere

Chapter Warnings: Panic Attack (think that's it)

Summary: On the night of the Halloween Party, Michael is about halfway through having his infamous panic attack when Brooke comes tumbling into the bathroom, in the middle of her very own teenage angst. Michael lets her stay and the two sit in the bathtub and bond over their anger at their friends/super-mega-crushes. That’s when they get the idea to start fake dating to both get back at Jeremy and Chloe and win them over. Chaos, bonding, and gay ensue.

Authors’ Note: So we got this idea for a BMC fic and decided why not. To be absolutely clear- Michael and Brooke are not endgame. They’re just cute, platonic chaos gays. Enjoy! - Aly and Nik

AO3 Link 

“He went crazy trying to get it out !”

The air in the bathroom turned ice cold. Michael could feel his heart beating in his chest rapidly as if he’d drank one can too many of Red Bull. It was hard for him to believe that the boy standing in front of him was the same boy who’d been his best friend since pre-school. Because the Jeremy Heere before him was almost unrecognizable.

“Then I have nothing to worry about. Why would I want that?” The words cut into him, and Michael could feel small cracks forming in his heart. Jeremy looked away from him, jaw set as he moved for the door. Michael moved with him, refusing to let this go. Jeremy was going to end up hurt if he didn’t do something. He just had to make him listen . “Move.”

“Or you’ll what?”

“Get out of my way. Loser. ” Michael stared directly into those blue eyes. They were as cold as ice, glaring into Michael’s like he was a bug under his shoe. His chest felt heavy, his heart beginning to ache as it tried to jump from his chest. Holding back thick tears, he moved out of Jeremy’s way silently. The boy brushed past him, purposefully knocking Michael’s shoulder with his own as he left Michael behind. He didn’t even glance back, slamming the door shut. Michael flinched at the sound, letting out a shaky breath. His entire body felt numb as he stared at the wall blankly. He couldn’t think, couldn’t see, hecouldn’tbreathe- whycouldn’thebreathe-

“Hello?!” A sharp knock cut through the air, pulling Michael from his daze. “Some of us have to pee!”

“I’m having my period!” He called weakly, wanting to slam his face into the wall. Idiot, absolutefuckingidiot .

“...Take your time honey.” The voice answered gently, and Michael let out another ragged breath. He needed to sit down. His legs could barely hold him upright, his knees like jelly. He felt around blindly, his hand curling around the cool, porcelain of the bathtub. He guided himself into it, breath coming in short, rapid gasps.

He felt pathetic -he was pathetic- sitting here all by himself. He was in a fucking bathroom at the biggest party of the year, while Jeremy was out there having the time of his life. He’d probably found someone new to hang out with, someone to replace Michael. Like he was some broken toy.

The thought made him begin to shake uncontrollably, his vision narrowing till all he saw was the smooth bottom of the tub, his ears filled with the loud thumping of his still racing heart and some girl singing to a Whitney Houston song outside the door. The type of girl he and Jeremy would usually make fun of…

Michael pulled his knees to his chest, burrowing his head in between them. He was going to be sick, he just knew it. Everything was so loud, tooloud- ohgoditwastooloudmakeitstopplease-

A sudden, high-pitched shriek made him jump, head snapping up to see-

Oh, you had to be fucking kidding me right now …

Standing in front of him was Brooke Lohst, in all her glory. She was wearing the skimpiest dog costume he’d ever laid eyes on, with almost everything on display. It was everything a teenage boy could’ve wanted. Except for him. Everything he’d ever wanted had just told him he was a loser and then left him without a second glance.

“What are you doing in here?” Brooke questioned, her voice hollow and broken. It was only then that Michael realized that she was crying. Her usually flawless makeup was coming down her cheeks in streaks, face flushed a depressing shade of red as she stared at him with as much poise as a crying girl in a poodle costume could muster. He stared at her for a minute, trying to get his voice box to work.

“Having the shittiest night of my life.” He answered finally, resting his chin on top of his knees. Brooke slowly raised her hand, wiping at the makeup-stained tear marks on her cheeks.

“Same.” They sat there in silence for a moment, Michael silently debating what to do. Sure he kind of hated Brooke- not only because she was a bully but because she stole Jeremy from him- but she looked as shitty as he felt, which was concerning.

“Do you… do you wanna get in the tub with me?” He asked hesitantly, watching Brooke’s face twist in disgust. He quickly realized how that sounded, clearing his throat in embarrassment. “N-Not like that. Just-”

Groaning, he buried his face back in his knees. He wanted the Earth to just open up and swallow him whole, just to get out of this awkward situation. After a few moments, he heard Brooke’s slow footsteps coming closer. Lifting his head, he watched as she lowered herself into the opposite end of the tub carefully. She pulled her almost completely bare legs to her chest, the tags on the collar around her neck jingling quietly as she placed her chin on her knees in a position that mirrored his.

This was officially simultaneously the worst and weirdest night of his life.

“Am I ugly or something?” Brooke asked suddenly, making Michael pause. When he didn’t offer a reply, Brooke gazed directly into his eyes with fresh tears already forming. “No, seriously? Like, am I just hideous to look at?”

Michael’s mouth opened and closed quite a few time before he could force the ‘no’ from his throat. Looking dissatisfied, Brooke wiped at her cheek again.

“Then what is it about me that makes guys want to cheat on me? I don’t get what’s wrong with me.” Her voice broke, fresh tears beginning to fall again. “I try so hard, so fucking hard so that people will like me. I’m beautiful, I’m popular, I’m on the honor roll. But it doesn’t even matter, does it? All anyone is ever going to see me as is ‘Brooke Lohst, second best’. My own supposed ‘best friend’ doesn’t even respect me enough to not screw the guys I’m dating! And I just-”

Brooke let out an ugly sob, placing a hand over her eyes. Tears continue to slide between her fingertips, the small droplets plopping quietly on to the tub’s white floor.

“I’ve had a crush on my best friend for four years,” He admitted quietly, turning away when Brooke’s green eyes found his. “And tonight, he basically told me that I wasn’t good enough for him anymore. E-Even after all the things we’ve been through. Twelve years of him being my friend- my only friend- and he just throws it all away.”

Michael didn’t take his gaze off the sink, though he could feel Brooke watching him still.

“It’s definitely not the same thing, but it sucks just as much,” He let out a hollow laugh, tears coming down his face even quicker. “Pathetic, isn’t it?”

“Then I guess we’re both pretty pathetic.” She answered, and Michael finally turned to look at her. She gave him a sad smile, sticking out her ‘paw-glove’ clad hand. “Brooke Lohst.”

“Nice to meet you, Brooke,” He shook her hand, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips at the absurdity of the situation. He was in a bathtub, at a party with the second most popular girl at school. “I’m Michael Mell.”

“Nice to meet you, Michael.”

“I don’t get how this is supposed to help,” Brooke whined, stabbing her straw into her slushie. She looked completely ridiculous in a poodle costume, sat upon the hood of Michael’s shitty 2007 PT Cruiser and holding a bright blue slushie in the 7-11 parking lot at two o’clock in the morning. Michael sat beside her, slurping on his red one like it was the last one he’d ever have.

“The cold helps to freeze your heart so that you can’t feel any more pain.” Michael joked, shrugging sarcastically. Brooke giggled, taking a hesitant sip of the ice cold drink. “Good?”

“I like Pinkberry better,” She sighed, taking another long sip of the slushie. “But this is okay, for now.”

“Maybe tomorrow.” Michael hummed, fiddling with his straw. Music was coming from his headphone, the faded sound of Bob Marley helping to fill the comfortable silence between the two.

“Tomorrow?” Brooke questioned, turning to look at him.

“O-Oh, I just kinda assumed- I mean-” Brooke giggled at his flustered expression, nudging him with her arm.

“I would love to hang out with you tomorrow. Not like I have anywhere else to be…” She trailed off quietly, staring at the bright neon sign on the store in front of them for a long while. “Do you…”

“Do I…?”

“Do you think that stupid computer made him cheat on me?” She asked, sounding a little hopeful. It had taken a while to convince Brooke about the SQUIP, mostly because of how ridiculous it sounded, but she'd quickly come around at the slight chance that yet another boyfriend cheating on her hadn't actually been her fault. Michael glanced down at her, straw between his teeth.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. That fucking thing is making Jeremy act all kinds of weird.” Michael's leg began to bounce, sitting still becoming to constricting. “Whoever that person is… it’s not Jeremy. Jeremy- the Jeremy I know- is kind, and funny and smart. I mean, yeah, he’s a bit of a tool sometimes- but he cares . He cares so much.”

Brooke blinks at him owlishly.

“You’re so gay it’s not even funny,” Brooke said finally, and Michael couldn’t help the laugh the ripped its way from his throat. Brooke joined in, giggling furiously. And in that moment, they weren’t the school stoner and the second-hottest girl in school. They were just Michael and Brooke, two very gay (bi, in Brooke’s case), very lonely kids who had found someone who understood them just a bit better than everyone else.

“You know what we should do?” Brooke gazed at him mischievously, laughter still bubbling in her throat.

“What?” Michael asked teasingly.

“We should date, just to make them jealous.” Michael looked at her sideways, tilting his head in confusion.

“Brooke, you realize I’m strictly into dudes, right? Like you’re amazing, don’t get me wrong. But you kinda don’t have the right… parts for me.”

Rolling her eyes, the girl slid off the hood of the car, dramatically placing her hands on her hips.

“I know that, silly. I didn’t mean we should actually date .” Brooke wrinkled her nose on the word, her tone suggesting she found the whole idea revolting.

“Feeling really flattered here, Lohst.” He said dryly, slurping his drink.

“You know what I mean! I just mean that we should pretend. Make them think we’re dating. Show them how happy we are without them!” Michael considered her words, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously.

“Do you really think that’ll work?” He asked, considering the girl. She had a determined fire glowing in her green eyes, smirking at him like a wolf closing in on its prey. It was… unsettling to say the least.

“It worked for Chloe and Jake last year. She fake-dated Dustin Kropp to make him jealous, and they got back together the next month. It’s totally fool-proof!”

Despite Brooke’s confidence, Michael couldn’t help but feel a nervous pit in his stomach. It didn’t sound as simple to him as it probably did to Brooke. She’d dated a bunch of guys (and a girl or two) before, but Michael had only ever loved and wanted one person. He wasn’t sure he could do it. Not with Jeremy probably watching his every move.

But why would he watch you? He asked himself, feeling cold. He’s made it very clear that he thinks you’re beneath him. So why not make him regret it?

Looking at Brooke’s expectant face, he nodded firmly.

“I’m in.” He proclaimed determinedly. Brooke squealed loudly, throwing her arms around his neck roughly. Michael paused for a moment, before wrapping his arms around Brooke’s small frame. It felt nice to be hugged like this- like she cared about him. It had been a while since he and Jeremy had done something like that, his heart clenching at the thought. He held onto Brooke tightly for a long while, before pulling back reluctantly.

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” She giggled, pulling back to smile at him brightly. She brandished her slushie at him proudly. “To our new relationship!”

Michael smirked a little, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

“To our new relationship.”

Chapter 2 --->

[i-am-forever--bored]

Jeffmads Head Cannons (I accidentally deleted the request sorry)

JEEEEEEFFFFFMAAAADSSS (Okay so I already have tons of stuff set up so I'm doing this based off of my college AU so this is a story with head cannons and such. You came for cute shit and you got angst™ and cute shit also sorry these are gonna come so late I worked on this one for an hour before falling asleep) Possible trigger warning for slight and quick talk of miscarriages and panic attacks

- they met at kindergarten and somehow are still friends </p>

- when nap time came they slept on the same mat and used James baby blanket (they were basically spooning all the time)

-they were pretty chill with each other until like middle school when they had no classes together

- but Thomas bribed the school to get them the same schedule so that was good

- during sophomore year of school they sorta had a falling out

- Thomas embraced his polyness and was fucking a lot of people and going to a lot of parties

- and so James hung out with his other friend and to anyone they would look like a couple but they weren&rsquo;t just very very platonic bros

- after a couple week Thomas started missing James so they went back to being besties but James did still hang out with Sawney (his other friend) and Thomas never really knew about him (not for any particular reason)

- Also between this time James has found out he's Asexual

- another thing that has been happening between the families is miscarriages which made James terrified at the announcement of his mother announcing she was pregnant (over and over again) and Thomas sorta started growing numb to it but he would be very excited when the baby was born and healthy

- Thomas had to comfort James a lot

- James liked to do Thomas&rsquo; makeup to calm himself down

- He is bomb at it

- anyway FLASH TO AFTER GRADUATION

- they both decide to take skip year before going to college

- after graduating Thomas decides early into this that he wants to go to France

- and so James goes with only their families knowing

- so these mother fuckers meet Lafayette at a party who had been basically disowned from his family (but Laf still had their money, karma's a bitch)

- and so they all share a small flat with a bunk bed and a twin bed

- (they definitely had makeup nights where James does everyone&rsquo;s makeup and they would have themes and it was the best™)

- and them three live happily with some sexual tension™ between James and Thomas

- when the year is almost up they tell Laf they gotta go back to America

- and Laf who was learning English still but was mostly fluent with a thick accent was like hell yeah

- Thomas decided he wanted to be a lawyer because he always had a way with convincing people to do things and to listen to him and agree with his opinion

- James decided to do that to cause he didn&rsquo;t know where he was gonna go otherwise and he got excepted

- Thomas bribed the school so they could be dorm mates

- As the week before school rolled around James had panic attacks nightly

- James was second guessing everything about his major and his choices of school

- he had made a few friends already but was very worried that he wouldn&rsquo;t like it at all

<p>- Thomas didn&rsquo;t know this was happening till the Saturday of that week

- Thomas found James crying and breathing quickly in the bathroom (James didn't want to wake up Thomas so he went in there so Thomas wouldn't be bothered)

- a lot of comforting and reassuring

- a makeup session after

- James felt a lot better after that

- When school did start James enjoyed it a lot

- so skip to SPRING BREAK

- They both had met the squad™ (aka rev set + Aaron + Theo and Schuyler sis's + Maria)

- Thomas had started dating this kid Nathan from their home town

- so they went back to their home town over break so they could see their family (they actually hadn&rsquo;t seen them since they left for France) and Thomas wanted to see Nathan

- After a party Sawney (that dude from earlier) and James met up again and James basically started staying with Sawney cause Thomas was completely ignoring him (not on purpose just was focusing on his bf and parties)

- and then Thomas started worrying a lot about James and basically after a party at Nathan&rsquo;s house and James had accidentally passed out and Nathan and his buds beat up James

- soon Thomas found out and a lot of tears were shed and a lot of sadness (it was all very emotional I cried when I wrote it) there was a lot of marks and bruises

- so Thomas took James to Sawney&rsquo;s and they hung out for like five seconds before Thomas left and beat the living shIT OUT OF NATHAN CAUSE NO ONE HURTS HIS JEMMY

- Thomas came back and they had another make up session

- when they got back to their dorm there was way more sexual tension since they had both realized that they had crushes on each other

- (cause beating up a guy and breaking some of his ribs can make you do some self reflection)

- so the night they came back there was snuggles and they had their first kiss

- but basically the same thing happened from the school panic attack cause James was scared of their status and if it might ruin their relationship

- but Thomas reassured him with more snuggles and happiness

- after a few day they started officially dating (everyone was like “finally!” Cause everyone saw their sexual tension)

- after that they finished school together they moved in with each other right away

- a year after that when they were all financially stable and all that jazz Thomas proposed

- he was being super romantic too

- James knew something was up but he actually started crying when Thomas pulled out the ring

- it was a beautiful night

- the

- once they got married Thomas convinced James to go to makeup school

- so from that point Thomas was the one working while James actually did what he loved

- cause James liked learning about the lawyer stuff in school but hated the actual working part of it

- so they were just liven off of that for awhile

- they never really thought about kids honestly

- especially with them living off of only Thomas’ paycheck but Thomas’ sister (Anna) got pregnant as a late teenager

- and she told Thomas and James first and she was babbling about how she couldn’t take care of it since she was too young (17)

- she really didn’t tell many until she had to and so for awhile James and Thomas had to figure out what to do

- and James at his second year of makeup school (idk if there is a correct term for that) wasn’t just learning regular make up it was some special affect stuff

- and James was like fuck it we can take the kid

- and Thomas was pretty iffy about it but James convinced him

- and Anna was very very thankful about it cause they just saved a lot of complication for her

- and these boys are like 31 now so they were more or less ready relationship wise to take care of a kid

- skips a couple years of this baby girl being 3

- Dash is super energetic, like they just let Anna choose the name cause it’s her kid but she lived up to that name

- that child always ran around

- they found it hard to keep up with her

- They had a system that worked pretty smoothly

- weirdly unlike James’ job Thomas had quite flexible hours

- so they didn’t need a babysitter to much

- Thomas had to take Dash to her first day of preschool without James cause James knew that he would cry to much

- Thomas was pretty emotional too but he kept himself together

- James would actually take Dash to his work sometimes when she got a little older if he was doing regular makeup

- she found it really cool and James liked that he knew how to make her stop jumping around so much

- but they never let her where make up out side of the house until she was at least in 8th grade

- but when she was 9 on Halloween she was a zombie and James went full on special effects on her

- she was actually a little scared when she saw the make up on her

- but they both showed her that they could take it off easily

- she never really liked wearing make up but she let James use her for little projects and such

- middle school she joined track and these little shits got so excited

- cause they could cheer on their baby girl

- they had family movie night with tons of chocolate and candy and popcorn

- they turned off all of the lights so it was like the movies

- aka family cuddling time

- and Anna would visit and such but she wasn’t stable (she was in college and had money problems) until Dash has been older so Anna would just hang out with them when she could

- After Anna finished school she actually lived an hour away so Dash stayed there for a couple week in the summer

- they hated how quite the house was

- Thomas was usually the one to take Dash shopping

- James never really liked shopping but Thomas got that shit done

- Dash also had some abandonment issues cause she was scared that one of the times she would go to Anna (who was definitely like a cool aunt to her) that her dad’s would just leave her there

- since Anna had already given her up (even though she understood those circumstances she was still scared about it)

- they were the best dad’s to help her when she had a break up

- they would dedicate a day for her if it was a super bad break up

- they let her practice track first and would time her

- then she could have James do any make up on her or Thomas that she wanted

- then a movie marathon of her favorite movies with popcorn and candy, she would usually fall asleep during the movies

- it was nicely domestic

- okay but when she graduated there was endless tears

- they were so proud

- she got a scholarship for track for college too

- they were just very very proud

- plus they weren’t ready to let go of their baby girl

- they just sorta grew old together after that

- soon retirement came for them

- and a couple of grandkids

- James died first (hA I’m not crying you’re crying) he had a weak immune system which was his downfall

- after year or two Thomas died

THAT WAS A LOT LONGER THEN ORIGINALLY INTENDED BUT MY GOD IT WAS WORTH IT

[violetemerald]

List of queerplatonic level relationships people can choose from for my two birthday collabs this year:

For my birthday I usually host either 1 or 2 fanvideo collabs. This year is the first year that I’m actually happily in a queerplatonic partnership myself while my birthday has come around. The first birthday after I figured out I was asexual I hosted family&friendships, platonic relationships, birthday collabs. Then I hosted multi-characters, then a more typical multi-couples one for romantic & sexual ships. This year, as I turn 27 years old, I’m excited to finally host two collabs where I focus on as many queerplatonic level relationships as possible.

There are many ways to define queerplatonic, but the “queer” in the word refers not to the people in the relationship, but rather to the relationship itself - queering the norms of what non-romantic relationships can be.

Not all queerplatonic relationships are alike. My queerplatonic partner & I feel the same amount of attraction toward one another as family members or close friends might feel, which is absolutely nothing sexual or romantic. We also don’t cuddle or hold hands or touch much at all, nothing like that. We’re queerplatonic because we, by nature of both being aromantic-spectrum and asexual-spectrum, aren’t dating or looking for anyone else to fill a lot of roles in our lives, and end up as each other’s de-facto plus one’s to events. We are adults with a level of “being best friends” that most adults we know don’t have. We also have a level of commitment to one another that we’ve agreed upon, where we intend to one day build a life together that involves probably foster parenting and later adopting children, and for now includes the idea that we are officially “together”, that we might meet each other’s families and be each other’s “most significant person” in life, etc. You basically feel like family, like an old married couple where the passion is gone but the deep love and affection is still there except you never had any of the passion in the first place.

For me, when watching TV shows, it’s much harder for high school based characters to feel queerplatonic to me. To feel queerplatonic to me, really significant behaviors like living together, deciding to open a business together, using words like “Family” or “brother” rather than friend because they feel so bonded, using words like “love” despite being friends, touching each other so much that half of fandom is shipping them, or going through tragedies together can all help make their friendship feel like it is a stronger type of friendship. Queerplatonic relationships ARE friendships, in my opinion, they aren’t something different, just a different TYPE of friendship. An intense one that other people won’t understand, or might be likely to mistake as romantic.

Here is a nice article I found on queerplatonic relationships:

http://www.therivetermagazine.com/queering-the-relationship/

  It explains it pretty well.

Let me know if you think I’ve forgotten a queerplatonic level pairing from a series or even just film that you know I like:

Now for all 33 of the pairings below, I want to explain why I consider them queerplatonic. A few of these I can ship romantically as well but I especially love categorizing them as queerplatonic, because queerplatonic representation FTW!

1. Cory & Shawn (Boy Meets World/Girl Meets World) - I wouldn’t have thought to include these two, but that article cites them, and I couldn’t resist. I fell so hard for Shawn Hunter and his angst filled life and related to too much of it when I watched the entire original series in record time via ABC Family reruns as a young teenager, but I also fell for the deep Cory/Shawn friendship, which was stronger than their romantic relationships ever were, and which never grew weaker as they became adults. I especially like what I’ve heard about Girl Meets World’s portrayal, even though I’ve never seen the series. I feel their friendship is respected for the queerplatonic level bond it is.

2. Sara & Oliver (Arrow & also DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) - for these two, I count them as queerplatonic because that’s the real way I ship them. I don’t actually think they are the best romantic pairing. I think the one-sided romantic attraction from Sara toward Oliver faded with time but instead these two developed a deep platonic bond over sharing experiences of going through hell on Lian-Yu (the island) and over both being vigilante superheroes later on. Sex doesn’t equal romance and this relationship feels best categorized to me as queerplatonic. They aren’t “just” typical friends for an array of reasons, but they also aren’t a simple romantic ship.

3. John & Sherlock (Sherlock, BBC) - for Sherlock/John… quite frankly, they may be THE SINLGE MOST OBVIOUS EXAMPLE of a queerplatonic life partnership to me because Sherlock actually seems completely aromantic asexual to me, at least in the same way I am aro ace - read this to get where those of us who interpret him this way are coming from: http://anagnori.tumblr.com/post/70661417641/sherlock-holmes-as-an-asexual-character and John actually seems straight in my opinion, yet Sherlock is somehow the most important person to John, more so than any of the women he’s attracted to in sexual and/or romantic ways. Even if John can be argued to be bi, please don’t take ace Sherlock from me, he is so ace… XD That being said, although I don’t see it, even if Sherlock was gay, then maybe John is straight and they still have incompatible orientations yet somehow have this amazing bond and that is what… I think of when I think of queerplatonic. I actually just thought of John being homoromantic&heterosexual as a possibility, meaning he can’t fall in love with women even though that’s the only gender he’s sexually attracted to, but he can fall in a non-sexual kind of love with Sherlock… :P https://asexualcensus.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/cross-orientations-among-non-aces/ So many possibile reasons why they are the way they are, but regardless, because their friendship is the most intense possible friendship possible, they count as queerplatonic.

4. House & Wilson (House M.D.) - House is obviously much more heterosexual than BBC’s Sherlock character but House & Wilson were based on the original Holmes and Watson in many ways, and their relationship with each other is one of the ways you can see that inspiration. They love each other so much. Wilson tells House in the final season that he needs him to tell him he loves him, actually using that word. They live together at times, etc etc. But it doesn’t mean they actually have any sexual attraction toward one another. (Nor romantic attraction, necessarily, albeit that is more complicated). This may be biphobic writing/queerbaiting OR it might be a reflection of a real queerplatonic kind of bond that could be possible between straight men… and I personally prefer to think of it as the latter.

5. Shawn & Gus (Psych) - there is so much that’s kinda obvious with this one. They are beyond just best friends. They are the emotional core of each other’s lives, they chose to build their lives together as (business) “partners”, and they are exactly what queerplatonic partners mean to me in many ways, because however much Shawn loved Juliet O’Hara, he always loved Gus at least equally, if not more. Gus was his chosen family for his entire life. For ages Gus was literally the only person in on a secret, other than the father who built him to have this superpower. There are touching emotional moments between them and it wouldn’t be hard to vid them in these collabs. 6. JD & Turk (Scrubs) - it’s just guy love between two (completely heterosexual) guys, right? That’s how THEIR SONG goes in the musical ep? XD There’s nothing gay about it in their eyes, and therefore… they are the epitome of queerplatonic. The beginning of this following thread actually has some people discussing JD/Turk as queerplatonic… http://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/118560-list-of-queerplatonic-relationships-in-showsbookscelebrities/

7. Chandler & Joey - in a similar vein, these two were the one friendship on all of Friends that was “Weirdly close” (see the thread above on asexuality.org), that had lots of gay innuendo and stuff… basically they weren’t typical friends, they were hyper close friends who lived together, just the two of them, for pretty much the majority of a decade as adults with no other significant romances in their lives most of that time, and at the end of the series Joey still had no one but his friends and felt closest to Chandler in a very queerplatonic kind of way even if Chandler did have Monica. A deep love that was truly not romantic nor sexual.

8. Morgan & Reid (Criminal Minds) - many people ship these two, because their friendship got so close, because they touch each other a lot, etc. Their final scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST8CdeMRhEw includes actual I love yous, naming a child after the other, references to being a “brother” because of how close they feel… and tears over just the simple separation of not working together anymore. They have so many amazing moments throughout the series that I can find myself shipping them too, but mainly I prefer to ship them in a queerplatonic way, partially because I see too much of my aromantic ace tendencies in Reid: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7566307/chapters/17212351 and idk. They are not queerplatonic “partners” to me, they just have a queerplatonic level of feelings for one another. I believe Garcia/Morgan should also count as queerplatonic on this show. It’s fine for Morgan to have two queerplatonic bonds. She felt sexual attraction toward him but they both felt only platonic love. I just prefer Morgan/Reid much more than Morgan/Garcia, and the sexual innuendo in Morcia tends to make me uncomfortable as a sex-averse ace perhaps, and idk, I just don’t want Morgan/Garcia in my collab. But Morgan/Reid mean the world to me, ESPECIALLY platonically. I actually have a list with timecodes of many of Morgan & Reid’s moments in the first 7 or so seasons, if you want it.

9. Emily & JJ (Criminal Minds) - another queerplatonic bond on Criminal Minds, and it’s rare for me to find two women who I can think of as queerplatonic. I also definitely can ship them, see both women as queer enough for an actual romantic/sexual relationship between them to have potential, but as the show stands, they could certainly both be straight. That’s the narrative the show pushes. And yet their bond is particularly deep due to especially the circumstances of being each other’s only contact at times while on classified missions/undercover, and they are overly touchy even very early on. I actually have a list with timecodes of many of Emily & JJ’s moments in the first 6 or so seasons they share, if you want it. Possibly some from the new season too.

10. Mozzie & Neal (White Collar) - I actually think these two are more queerplatonic partners than Neal/Peter. Neal/Peter are the obvious heart of the show but Mozzie is not “just” a best friend. Neal is Mozzie’s entire life, so much so that when Peter becomes so important to Neal, Peter  (a suit type of person Mozzie is frightened by) becomes important to Mozzie too. Neal and Mozzie are fugitives TOGETHER, basically build their lives together, and it causes MAJOR PROBLEMS for their friendship when Mozzie wants to leave New York but Neal doesn’t. Mozzie & Neal are the ultimate partners in crime, and basically seem like they could be roommates to a casual viewer of the show, even though they don’t actually live together, because Mozzie is over Neal’s apartment SO OFTEN. When Mozzie is hurt, Neal cries, and vice versa. They are adults, and Mozzie never has a significant romance that comes close to paralleling his feelings for Neal.

11. Neal & Peter (White Collar) - these two have such a deep bond that fuels the show, but I don’t see them as having romantic nor sexual feelings at all for one another. They are very close both outside and at work, to the point of Peter naming his child after Neal. They spend so much time together and their lives revolve around one another, especially Peter’s around Neal, even when they don’t see each other for long stretches of time. They both admire each other and it’s just not a typical friendship, yet it is purely platonic. Neal can have two queerplatonic relationships in his life, and he does.

12. Foss & Kyle (Kyle XY) - this relationship could barely be called a friendship, and that is why it feels queerplatonic to me. It’s kind of like they skipped straight to found family or skipped straight to platonic love. There is an age difference which adds to how atypical it is to be that devoted to one another.  Kyle has close friendships with people like Declan. But with Foss, his relationship is more complicated. Tom Foss would do literally anything for Kyle and… some people do ship these two because of how intense their platonic love is. But it is just platonic, don’t try to tell me it’s anything different.

13. Nikita & Alex (Nikita) - there aren’t enough bonds like this between women on television, which is what makes this pairing so special. Despite each having some really passionate romantic entanglements, these two have such a significant place in each other’s lives, so much so that Nikita/Michael scenes often include lots of talk of Alex and stuff. They are basically self-explanatory in my mind so if you need more justification, let me know.

14. Hiro & Ando (Heroes) - this show mainly has really deep family bonds, but Hiro/Ando break that mold by being a ridiculously deep friendship bond, especially circa seasons 3 & 4. Ando is betrayed in season 3 to learn Hiro didn’t tell him about a significant emotional event in his life, and Hiro says “don’t cry because I’ll cry”, like this is 3x20… there’s so much there to unpack about how much they care for one another. Even in season 2 though, Hiro is far back in the past and hides a secret note for Ando. They are on each other’s minds whenever they are apart, they are really platonic life partners in so many ways, traveling a foreign country together, presumably living together for a long time as adults, etc.

15. Alec & Kiera (Continuum) - they are queerplatonic by nature of being in a sci-fi show’s extremely atypical premise - no other relationship ever is like theirs. The main reasons they tic queerplatonic boxes for me are a) Alec is Kiera’s ONLY confidant who knows the truth of her life other than the people who want to kill her for a while. Alec’s life starts to revolve around her in a similar way and he can’t tell anyone else in his life anything about her. b) age differences make shipping them more than skeevy, because he’s either so much older than her or so much younger than her. But having platonic relationships at any age works… C) Alec is THE PERSON who shaped Kiera’s entire future by sending her to the past and he will always be that significant mark on her life. d) Alec/Kiera have to learn to forgive each other and are at the emotional core of the entire series, share many really significant hugs and moments and basically they are maybe not queerplatonic “partners” in a typical sense, but they are in some kind of queerplatonic relationship. I’d argue that Carlos/Kiera might be queerplatonic too, but I feel more shippy things for them personally so I’m leaving them out of my collab.

16. Dr. Tom & Erica (Being Erica) - call them father/daughter ish if you want, but some people think they’re more husband/wife ish (like the commenter on my video for them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_F3MwwEqHo ), and isn’t that the epitome of what queerplatonic is, can’t tell if they seem more like family or like a romance? Tom has an unhealthily close relationship with her, since she’s just one of his patients. Erica feels a deep love for Tom. They know each other particularly intimately because of the nature of the magic on this series. They are not what people would ever just call “best friends” despite that literally being what they are to each other, because best friends has a certain connotation and they are barely even “Friends”. They are people who share a deep kind of platonic relationship, and friendship isn’t really the best word to describe it.

17. Meredith & Cristina (Grey’s Anatomy) - because “you’re my person” even after marriages and stuff. Originally “You’re my person” was about being the one person Cristina confided in about her pregnancy and abortion because she needed a significant friend/family member/romantic partner to drive her home (if that had worked out and the appointment had been needed), and that is a very typical kind of practical commitment queerplatonic partners could make in each other’s lives. Feeling not just happy for the person if they move away for a job but also heartbroken like it’s a breakup is typical of queerplatonic level friendships, too…

18. Caitlin & Cisco (The Flash) - I don’t quite know how to explain why they seem so queerplatonic to me but I really love them as an example of queerplatonic bonding. They care so much about each other, they’re like the first thing each other thinks about, they spend every waking moment together, they confide in each other first, they knew each other before the show when no one else did, they are a ying and yang kind of deal when they are Killer Frost and Vibe, they just are such a TEAM in everything in life. They are adults, so they don’t seem like they’re just super close because they’re in the same high school. It seems like a life thing where even if a romantic partner became a part of their lives, this friendship would still probably be a slightly MORE significant relationship in their life.

19. Scott & Stiles (Teen Wolf) - this one I wasn’t so sure about, but the intensity of what they’ve each been through together has made their bond stronger than any other relationship on the show, probably. They have no secrets, and Stiles literally can’t bear the thought at the beginning of season 5 or whenever it was of Scott not being his best friend for life. Stiles uses the word “brother” because friend doesn’t describe it well enough. That kind of thing.

20. Rachel & Kurt (Glee) - I’m also not so sure about this one, but Rachel ultimately being a surrogate who carries Kurt’s child seals the deal for me on this, as well as the way Kurt/Rachel both are the potentially most affected by Finn’s death (however I may be biased a bit by fanfiction and fanon version of their lives…). They are best friends in a way that seems much closer than some of the other roommates and close friends, idk.

21. Maxine & Sean (Judging Amy) - I feel a lot of things about their friendship but don’t ship them in the slightest nor think they are “just” close friends. The age difference is part of it, and the unconventional nature of how close they managed to get despite “only” being coworkers. Watch the first four clips that come up on YouTube for them to get the gist of their relationship. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sean+maxine They might fight at times but when times get hard, they share hugs and forehead kisses and platonic physical touch and well, especially Sean toward Maxine seems very queerplatonic. She’s not even “like a mother” to him, she’s just a friend he cares for deeply, partially by nature of the TV show revolving around her life and not his, where we see no other aspect of Sean’s life at all except his feelings for her.

22. Jesse & Walter (Breaking Bad) - by nature of their criminal lives, you may notice a theme here with a few criminal partners, but I think they become each other’s whole worlds, for better or worse. It’s not romantic by any means. But it is a partnership and a deep kind of psuedo-familial love that develops.

23. Angus & Mario (Code Black) - ah I ship them in a pretty slashy way, but I’m too sex-averse and even kissing averse to really be rooting for that to actually happen. I can’t decide what I feel. They just have such an amazing friendship in such a high stakes kind of show that it makes the level of friendship feel like it shoots up to queerplatonic.

24. Emily/Aria/Hanna/Spencer (Pretty Little Liars), just the four of them, no Alison, no boys, that core group seems like queerplatonic level friendship to me because of what they’ve been through. Try to vid voiceovers about how what they’ve been through has bonded them, try to vid moments where no other characters are on screen and at least a few group moments, what I love about this is it’s not a queerplatonic duo/partnership but rather a queerplatonic level group friendship of 4. There is no “just” friends about these girls, especially given the time jump into the future in the most recent two half seasons.

25. Chloe & Clark (Smallville) - They may have been romantic for about 1 to 2 episodes, and Chloe had one-sided romance feelings for seasons 1-5, but this friendship lasted 10 seasons and even when she had romantic feelings, the relationship remained non romantic. In fact, that can be one thing I think that makes a friendship queerplatonic. The fact that one person feels “more than” friendship, romantic feelings, but the friendship is still “just” a friendship. The bond becomes more complicated and intense. Especially for a while, Chloe knowing Clark’s secret became a huge part of why they weren’t “just” friends.

26. Dwight & Michael (The Office) - basically, these two didn’t have other people they were as close to, for much of the show. Dwight might be borderline aromantic because he tends to act like friendships more important to him, desire how much he cares for Angela too. Michael loves everyone his, platonic or not, so hard. So they become, kind of by default, queerplatonic level kind of friends at first and then even after they have romantic partners it doesn’t fade. Dwight prided himself on being given a special status by Michael (in the office, but still), and they have some emotionally touching scenes.

27. Marcel & Davina (The Originals) - These two aren’t family but sort of serve that role in each other’s lives, which is basically the only reason I’m counting them as queerplatonic. They love each other in a way that is nonromantic and nonsexual and also not typical of what you’d normally see in a friendship.

28. Casey & Ashleigh (Greek) - I wasn’t sure if I should do any relationship from Greek, and if so who to do, but I think these two are nice to consider including because there aren’t enough girls who feel queerplatonic on TV but these two are super-best-friends to a degree that could be queerplatonic, mainly because they could not be any closer as friends? Like idk, especially at the end of the series, they have a lot of feelings about one another…

29. Leonard Snart & Mick Rory (The Flash & DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) - ah, Captain Cold & Heatwave, totally queerplatonic partners. Snart’s death hurts the most because that pairing can’t be broken up! What are they doing!! I mean I care about them ruining Sara/Leonard as a ship too but I care more about this friendship between Mick & Leonard. I care about how much they care about each other and how much they are always on the same team. The third “partners in crime” on this list.

30. Michael & Brian (Queer as Folk) - see what I said about Chloe/Clark, basically one-sided feelings and maybe a couple kisses in their lives but never really being anything other than friends makes their friendship atypical, queerplatonic because of all it involves. They weren’t “just” friends, they were in many ways the main rock in each other’s lives.

31. Karma & Amy (Faking It) - I never saw the final season of this show, but hopefully eventually. Basically, I heard they don’t end up together and essentially Karma never returns Amy’s feelings enough, so… while I can ship them romantically, I can also just see them as a queerplatonic relationship for the reasons described directly above in Michael/Brian (and in Clark/Chloe, and Sara/Oliver). Amy learns to suppress her sexual and romantic feelings for her friend in favor of preserving the deep friendship bond. They are atypically close as friends.

32. Arthur & Merlin (Merlin, BBC) - I’ve never seen the show but I plan to watch it eventually and already know they count as queerplatonic in my eyes. The creator said they are a love story as do the actors but the guys never kiss and a lot of people interpret it as gay but thwarted by network television, but from the fanvideo things I’ve seen… I prefer to think of them as Sherlock/John level queerplatonic.

33. Lux & Tasha (Life Unexpected) - they didn’t have anyone else growing up, no parents or family at all, so they became way more than friends and as close as sisters in some ways, and their friendship seems queerplatonic to me, despite their young age. They would risk so much for the other. They need each other in their lives.