#we had a bunch of elementary schools but only one high school.

[basilpaste]

the most accurate part of hatchetfield lore is how many coffee shops and churches there are. like as someone from a relatively small town: by god there are so many coffee shops and also churches.

[aria0fgold]

Still so eepy but I had a rude awakening in the form of a nightmare. Like the beginning of that nightmare is tame in that I was celebrating someone's birthday in a classroom. Then had to go to the bathroom to wash my hands cuz the cake was messy. But the path to the bathroom was like the most inconvenient and tiring thing where the safest route is in the 2nd floor (same floor where the birthday party was at) cuz there's something odd going on outside the school (it was pitch black out and like really haunting).

Anyway the 2nd floor path to the bathroom was like a long balcony. And there are students seated by the edge of it so it's like a tiring process of saying "Excuse me" but it's just so narrow that even if the person moves out the way, you still gotta squeeze between a small space and hug the beam to not fall off the balcony (there's like big stone beams around cuz there's no railing??? and that's all cuz of how narrow the place is so it's like you're expected to hug the beam for support).

So I managed to finally get to the bathroom, washed my hands, then I looked back to the path to get back and was like "I don't wanna do that again..." Cue me going to the 1st floor, walking then slowly speeding up to a run downstairs, in the dark, looking like Mari from OMORI for some reason??? (I was even wearing her uniform) And when I finally got back... No one was in the classroom. Instead there were shadows outside the windows and the context my dream turned nightmare gave me was that those were the teachers that committed suicide.

And I was PANICKING cuz where was everyone and why were shadows there? And then the shadows were getting closer to me and even circling me and I tried to pray in my dream but... I realized... I don't have any prayers memorized. I tried to recited the Lord's Prayer in my mother tongue... I couldn't, tried it in English, I also couldn't and it was that moment that I was like "I'm screwed... Wait, this is a dream. I need to wake up." So I forced myself awake.

[dumb-teambucciarati-headcanons]

Education headcanons:

Although some of these are canon

Giorno: is still in highschool, but stopped showing up for class when he joined passione. He still makes a point to always be learning, but only focuses on subjects he is interested in. He knows lots of information about the biological world, but has no idea what certain historical figures have done, unless they were particularly interesting to him. Also he sucks at spelling words correctly. In elementary school he wrote a research report on different types of bugs and accidentally released a bunch of bugs into the school and that apparently bothered some of the teachers and other students.

Bruno: he has like half of a middle school education, and his grades were never super high because he would spend time helping his dad with work instead of completing his homework. Up until his parents divorce, then his dad wanted him to focus more on school. But that stopped after his dads incident, and he started providing for him and his dad and protecting him. He asked Fugo to teach him some math, and Fugo reluctantly agreed. But Fugo will go out of his way to try to avoid having to tutor the man because Bruno has a rough time understanding simple concepts and it makes Fugo want to resort to violence. But Fugo respects Bruno and doesn’t want to snap at him because he knows he isn’t trying to piss him off, Bruno’s just dumb as fuck sometimes.

Abbacchio: has a highschool education and went to the police academy. He also has a few basic college courses under his belt. He had a “have to learn in order to get the job I want” mentality towards school, opposed to being super interested in it. He failed PE in middle school and was bullied for it so badly that he started working out everyday so that would never happen again. Also I kinda think he has a photographic memory, which his stand reflects well. He went to a Catholic highschool and his parents were upset that he hadn’t met a nice catholic girl by the time he graduated highschool.

Mista: has a highschool education and wasn’t really interested in getting any degrees, kinda just wanted to fuck around in his young adult years. Math made him cry, and not because he didn’t understand it, he was actually good at math. But the number 4 would haunt his papers. Asked a lot of questions during class. were they ever relevant? No. Did he ask them? Yes. “Hey teach, so gravity. Like what if instead of the earth having a gravitational pull some rando named, uh, Seth did. But ONLY Seth, and everyone was constantly being pulled towards Seth and if you jumped you’d land back on Seth. How would we survive as a species if that were the case?”

Narancia: elementary school dropout. Gets distracted super easily. Would rather do anything but school, however he is very sensitive about having not even finished elementary school. He will pep talk himself into wanting to learn math and things, and then he will start again and will remember why he hates school. But it’s worse when he actually goes to school and sees eight year olds that understand things better than him. opposed to Fugo tutoring him and only having to feel stupid in front of the smartest person he has ever met, like everyone else feels stupid around Fugo too so.

Fugo: you know, the gifted child that went to university super early. Smartest one in the group. He was the kid that would use his pencils entirely until they were sharpened into tiny little things you could barely hold. Also he bites his pens and pencils. He thinks the pencils are more flavorful. Oh and erasers, those tasted good too. The other kids never wanted to play with him because of his short temper, but that didn’t matter because his parents told him that only stupid kids use recess time to play. Classrooms were super overstimulating for him, with that stupid LED lighting that made him feel like he needed to blink his eyes a hundred times. And then doing that would make him feel dizzy and irritable. Like the lights were the worst amount of bright and the worst shade of the color white, and if one of the bulbs flickered he would feel like throwing up. His parents thought he had been drinking once after being in a classroom for too long, but no it was the lights.

Trish: she isn’t stupid, but she was definitely the type to get others to do her homework for her. Is in the middle of highschool. she would spend all of study hour planning elaborate schemes to skip class with her and her friends. Wanted to go to college but wasn’t sure how she was going to pay for it, her new plan involves passione money. That or she is going to become famous, if Bruno and co. would actually let her live instead of saying things like “it’s too dangerous with other mafia members knowing your name”.

[sunflowergirl522]

She Moves in Her Own Way

Pairing: Rickstar!Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Eddie gets interviewed and he answers questions about his love life while reminiscing.

Word count: 1932

Eddie Masterlist

“So Eddie,” the interviewer says, crossing her leg over the other where she sits across from the rockstar, “people are dying to know what your mystery girl is like. You’re rarely pictured with her and no one can seem to get you to say who she is.”

Eddie sits up straighter in his seat as you become the topic of conversation. He had been starting to get a little bored, slumping a bit. He didn’t even want to do this interview for some teen magazine he’s never even heard of. He only agreed to it because when he brought it up to you you got all excited because apparently you used to read them throughout high school.

“Yeah, I like to keep her to myself. I don’t want to see a bunch of lies about her in the media, y'know? I’ve seen it happen to enough people in my line of work.”

“Do you think you could tell us what about her caught your eye?” Eddie wants to laugh at the question, he figured this was what whoever was interviewing him would want to talk about, his love life. Why else would he be getting interviewed, surely teen girls don’t care about what got him into music and why it means so much to him. But then again you did, you always did.

“She started as my best friend back in high school. She was always sticking with me and up for me even after she graduated and I failed.” Eddie gets a goofy grin on his face as he starts talking about you. “One thing led to another and she’s been my everything since.”

You and Eddie had been acquaintances in elementary and middle school and became closer in high school when you got paired up for a project freshman year. You claimed him as your best friend after he punched an older kid for making fun of you. You’ve even returned the favor before by getting into a fight with the girl who first started calling Eddie a freak. He had to be the one to break up the fight by pulling you off of her.

You’ve always supported him too both with the club and when he started his band back up with Jeff, Gareth, and Adam. Even though with practices, meetings, and your college classes after you started them the two of your schedules almost never matched up to hang out. You still made it to each and every one of his shows most of the time just to talk to him afterward.

“So you’ve been together since high school?”

“No, it wasn’t until she was almost done with her major that I finally worked up the nerve to say anything. She was helping me get ready to leave for the band's first small tour and I had a feeling of it’s now or never. And then she made me wait until we got back to give me an answer.”

The urge that he had to ask you now before anyone could scoop you up while he’s gone came while he watched you laugh at something Gareth had said while you were saying bye to everyone. The last thing he wanted to happen was that boy from your English class getting to see you laugh like that and falling in love and next thing Eddie knows he’s being invited to your wedding.

“I can’t believe you’re choosing school over us Sweetheart.” He teased while wrapping you up in his arms causing you to laugh.

“Maybe if it was just a week Eds, but I don’t think my teachers will like me being out for a month. I’ll miss you though, it’s gonna be weird not having you around.” You buried your head in his chest squeezing him tighter.

“You’ll get along just fine without me distractin’ you from all your studies. I’ll miss you too though.” He just held you to him for a while before speaking again. “You wanna go out to a movie or get a nice dinner or something when I get back?” You pulled away just enough to look at him and give him a playful smile.

“Edward Munson, are you asking me out?”

“Uh yeah, yeah I am.”

“Well it’s about time.”

“Is that a yes?” Eddie quirked an eyebrow smiling down at you. You hummed and tapped your chin in mock contemplacey.

“Hmm, I’ll let you know when you get back. You gotta go or you’ll be late.” You reached up to kiss his cheek before stepping away completely. “Bye Eds, love ya!” And you waved as Jeff called his name and he had to climb into the bus.

“What’s she like? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” Eddie smiles at her words every other interviewer that has tried asking about you just basically demanded the information and he had immediately shut them down without thinking twice. 

Even if they had asked like this he would’ve said no because he was never sure what you would think of having the world know stuff about you but this time he knew you didn’t care. When he was contemplating doing the interview and you got excited he complained about how the questions would probably mainly be about his love life. You had just shrugged and told him to do it anyway and that you didn’t care about everyone finding out about you as long as he didn’t care.

He did care but this time he was asked so nicely that he would give as much information as he could without giving away any details that would lead people to figure out who you are.

“I love her because she moves in her own way. Her fashion sense is god awful because she dresses like a muppet. Almost all she listens to is disco and she has the most bizarre movies memorized. And she’s probably the kindest person I’ve ever met who’s always watching out for the ones she cares about.” Especially the kids in your life. When you met Dustin and the gang you had immediately hopped into older sister mode and had them imprinting on you like ducklings. 

And you’re one of the best teachers Eddie’s ever seen. He was lucky that you agreed to tutor him that last senior year even though you had your own classes to focus on because without you he probably would’ve failed again and he honestly would’ve just dropped out at that point. And you’re constantly helping the kids with their school work when they need it. When Will and El moved back to Hawkins you had helped catch them up with what was being taught there because their school in Cali had been behind. 

Watching you interact and help El is something else really. You’re so patient with her and constantly helping her catch up to kids her own age since she’s so behind because of being stuck in the lab her whole childhood. She’s made amazing progress thanks to your help. 

And he’s seen how you interact with your students at Hawkins middle school. Each one gets a special form of special treatment and you almost always make yourself easily accessible during school hours, staying late in your classroom during the after school activities in case one of them needs you. Dustin compared you to his old teacher Mr. Clarke and your face lit up like the fourth of July before saying thanks and told him all about how he became your mentor since you started teaching.

“She sounds wonderful! What was it that made you realize you were in love with her?”

“I think I was for a while before I said anything to her. But I realized it myself after a couple months of us dating. Our schedules weren’t really lining up because she was having to study and go to class and at that point the band had started really picking up some traction. So she would come to the shows just to hear about my day or week depending on how long it had been since we were able to see each other.” The goofy smile Eddie’s had the whole time he’s been talking about you gets bigger as he thinks about how he’d see you in the crowd waving at him with a big smile on your face. It makes him want to finally get home to you because even though he’s only been away for a few hours for this interview, it’s a Saturday and he should be enjoying your day off with you. “I’m sorry, is this interview about done?” He didn’t care much if it came out as rude.

“Yeah, thank you for your time and answers today Eddie.”

“Yep, you’re welcome.” He waited as she gathered her things and held the door open for her before rushing out of the building because that was the polite thing to do. But then he was speeding home to you.

A week later the magazine with his interview hit shelves and you came rushing home from the store with it in your hand.

“Eddie, you made the front page!” He looks up at you from his spot on the couch as you excitedly wave it around.

“Cool, do you need help with the groceries?” He starts to get up and you physically pause suddenly remembering why you had been there in the first place.

“No, I forgot about those when I saw this. Whoops. But look at this!” You basically shove the magazine in his face causing him to laugh and take it from you before sitting down and pulling you onto his lap. 

“Alright, let’s see what this is all about.” He holds the magazine out for the two of you to see the front. “Rockstar Eddie Munson opens up to us about his lovely mystery girl. God people actually read this crap?” You giggle at the bewildered look on his face and nod. “Who cares?”

“The entire female population probably. You’re a total babe, babe. Now go to your interview. I wanna read it.” He rolls his eyes but goes to it nonetheless, handing you the mag and resting his chin on your shoulder. “There’s some questions about how you got into music Ed’s what are you complaining about? It’s not all about your love life.”

“They were basically the same questions I’m always asked. I was so bored.”

“Yeah I see that in the notes here. Eddie had begun looking bored until I started asking him about his girlfriend when he sat up straighter and started getting into it.” You read it out loud, eyeing him. You’ve talked to him about faking interest in the past. About how these people are just doing their jobs and asking the questions probably provided to them. Before he can defend himself you read another part out loud. 

“Sorry to say it ladies but the one and only Eddie Munson is so much in love with his girl that you can see it in his eyes when he talks about her. The thought of how he probably looks at her has me swooning and I haven’t even seen it.” You put the mag down before turning so you’re straddling him, his hands wrapping around your back. “You hear that, she’s swooning. I’m shocked you actually answered the questions about me this time.”

“Well she asked so nicely compared to anyone else who asked. And you’re my favorite topic of conversation baby.”

“I love you Eds.” You smile and rest your forehead against his. 

“I love you too Princess.”

Eddie Taglist(Closed): @sadbitchfangirl @notbeforelong @munsonswhore86 @navs-bhat @emotionaldreamer @magicalchocolatecheesecake @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @fangirling-4-ever  @gaysludge @audhd-dragonaut @eddiethesexy​ @mazerunnerrose @tvserie-s-world @midnightsgetawaycar  @goldylions  @spacedoutdaydreamer @livslifeonline @mushroomelephant @hb8301 @ginnupp @saramelaniemoon @kaylshunter @nojamsonmytoast @vintagehellfire​ @esoltis280​ @cole22ann @spikedhe4rt​ @let-love-bleeds-red​ @siriuslysmoking​ @ladybug0095​ @toobsessedsstuff​ @3rriberri​ @alana4610​ @gretavanfleas​ @sparkletash​ @herejustforjj​ @aactuaaltraash​ @gloryekaterina​ @quixscentsposts​ @wormm-mom​ @eddiemuns0nl0ver​ @spookyemorockbabe​

Everything Taglist: @bejeweledmastermind @matchamunson @bubsonnobx @practicalghost @katsukis1wife @crustyowos @yourfavdummy @protecteddiemunson4vr 

[fizzigigsimmer]

Moonwood: Part 6

<< Part One

Steve is worried Billy Hargrove may be his soulmate. It consumes his thoughts, and yet he still hasn’t figured out a way forward by the time the bonfire starts. He tries to convince himself that his suspicions are wrong - that maybe he's panicking over nothing and the reason he can't stop thinking about Billy is like pink elephants. The harder he tries not to think about Billy the more he's going to.

Maybe they're not soulmates and Steve is just freaking himself out over a few coincidences. They do go to the same school. Of course they bump into each other. It doesn't have to mean there’s some cosmic influence behind it. Right? The trouble is he has no idea how to go about checking either way. 

He can't just go up and ask Billy - Hey are we soulmates? But the bonfire arrives, the streets fill up with parked cars as people from the neighboring towns flood in and join the families from Moonwood as they amble their way up the trail that leads to the old ranger station at the top of the bluff; and that’s still the best plan Steve’s got. 

Steve trails a step behind his family, bracing himself for the night ahead. If he’s wrong about Billy - which he probably is - and Hargrove decks him, there will be plenty of people around to witness his humiliation.

Some of his worry fades to the background as he takes it all in. The fire built high on a pyre behind a large stone slab that reminds him of that rock in the Lion King. The rich smells of roasting meat hanging heavy in the air from people roasting dogs and turning over kabobs. The sound of many voices raised in conversation, pierced by the occasional shriek of laughter from over excited children, their faces painted with half moons and strange symbols.

A little girl runs past them up the hill with big fluffy wolf ears stitched to her headband and a muzzle painted on her face. Colorful banners decorated with stars and moons, along with paper lanterns have been strung between the tree branches in a wide circle around the gathering. Steve’s nose itches the closer they get because there’s a strange smell emanating from them: minty and sort of green.

He stops just before the ring of lights, uneasy, but his family continues on oblivious to the feeling of unease that suddenly grips him. A few strides ahead his mom seems to sense he’s no longer just behind them and looks back, the concern on her brow melting into a teasing smile as she comes back to take his hand and guide him into the circle.

“Wolfsbane: for the humans.” She whispers in his ear with an apologetic smile. He’s still not used to the idea of them not being entirely human. 

“Even just the vapor is enough to drain our strength, but it doesn’t hurt us.”

He relaxes a little after hearing that, the proof of her words all around him. It’s just like Sasha and the girls said it would be. Like a music festival and a county fair had a baby. Everywhere he looks people are clustered together talking, laughing. A large group of elementary school aged kids are engaged in a tug-of-war contest. Everybody’s having a good time so Steve tries to relax and do the same.

There's a band of sorts with a bunch of people playing guitars, handrums, and some weird elongated flute thing that sounds sultry to his ears and makes him want to dance. He settles for sorta swaying a little bit as he shifts his weight around, only half listening to the conversations going on around him as his family chats with their neighbors about mundane things. Steve’s attention keeps drifting back to Billy Hargrove and the possibility that they might be soulmates.

His grandfather said that he’d know his soulmate when he met him. Them. There’s no reason to assume his soulmate is a boy after all but Steve realizes that he has definitely been picturing a guy since the concept became real to him, despite the fact that he’s never even been with one before.  He doesn’t count the sloppy kisses at parties or the handjob that guy from Minnesota gave him on the beach over the summer. That was just fooling around. The kind of shit everyone gets up to sometimes when they’ve had enough drinks and the feeling is right. 

The weird thing is: Steve’s only ever seriously been with girls, yet he can’t drum up the face of a single one just then strong enough to drive out thoughts of Billy Hargrove. Billy’s sharp smile full of teeth, and his even sharper blue eyes. Billy’s freckled cheeks and dark spiky eyelashes. Billy’s long torso and thick legs, body roped with muscle, standing a head taller than all the townie boys - because he’s not like them. Not normal.

But well neither is Steve, and holy shit. Steve wonders when he got so turned on by Billy Hargrove, cause he’s half hard in his jeans and in danger of embarrassing himself in front of his mother’s friends. Like she can read his mind Steve’s mom darts a look at him, and gives him a worried look. He shoots her a reassuring smile before excusing himself to go and find his friends from school.

Despite the fact that people seem to be clumping together in groups and sticking to them there’s still so many people packed onto the hill that it’s difficult to find anyone easily. Steve’s feet carry him through the trees. They carry him around families clustered together on picnic blankets and camp chairs, and through a thick crowd of teens that have gathered around something on the northwest side of the firepit. 

Soulmates can always find each other, which is why Steve’s feet carry him right to where Billy Hargrove sits in the center of the trunk of a massive broken tree, feet dangling above the thick roots tangled at the base with a cigarette in his mouth. 

Billy is the something the other teens have gathered around, and Steve doesn’t blame them one bit. Under the setting sun with the fire’s glow red and gold against his skin Billy looks like something not of this world - a fairy king, watching his subjects as they dance and make fools of themselves for his entertainment.

Steve’s mouth goes dry as two things crystalize in his mind. One: Billy’s unfairly hot. He’s struck by the sudden desire to weave flowers through Billy’s hair, shove his hands down Billy’s pants, his tongue down his throat, and raise his babies - in that order. 

Two: Billy is most definitely his soulmate which probably explains both why Steve feels that way, and why he’s felt that way from the moment he first laid eyes on him. He just didn’t realize it. He feels like a giant idiot now for needing his grandfather to spell it out for him. Because who needs their grandpa to explain what a crush feels like at freaking eighteen?! 

It helps a little when he remembers that it’s not just a crush he feels for Billy - supposedly they’re it for each other. The deepest kind of love there is. And Steve’s never felt the kinda love his grandpa described until now. 

But he wants to. Boy does he want to. Steve’s chest feels tight and it feels like there are hands around his throat as he sucks in a breath, but he starts walking forward again - because there’s something inside of him that wants to be Billy’s everything as much as it wants to give Billy everything. He’s used to giving people his whole heart, but no one has ever given it back. 

He feels a little guilty having such thoughts because he knows his mom loves him, and that she’s always tried her best. It just wasn’t enough…

But all of that is in the past. Where he’s going now - Billy - that’s the future. That’s everything.

Only before Steve can get there, one of the guys hanging around Billy sees him coming and nudges Chet. By the time Steve reaches the stump, half the basketball team has formed a wall in front of it. Steve swallows. He’s already accepted the truth, and he’s pretty used to how much bigger people in Moonwood are, but there’s something about having five guys all over six feet tall leering down at him with teeth filled smiles that drives the point home. These guys are wolves.

“Well look who it is!” one of the guys calls out, and the people who have been dancing and chatting nearby stop what they’re doing to look.

“Uh-hey guys.” Steve greets with a small two fingered wave to break the tension, and also because he’d rather control the conversation than see just what might be inspiring the hungry gleam in the eyes of the literal ‘pack of wolves’ standing between him and his soulmate. They’re Billy’s pack… which on a fundamental level he’s always known, but it certainly brings basketball tryouts into sharper focus now. There’s no getting on the team, no getting close to Billy, without going through them.

“Is that you Harrington?!” Billy calls from his seat up on the stump, grinning over their heads at Steve, which is how Steve knows he’s fucking lying when he says. “I can barely see you. Try standing on something.”

Everyone within hearing distance laughs like his height is just hilarious, way more than the joke actually warrants but Steve blames the red cups in their hands. 

“Very funny asshole,” Steve grumbles. Then realizes he probably shouldn’t call his soulmate an asshole - oops - and moderates his tone to something less pissy. “Listen, I need to talk to you.”

A chorus of ‘oos’ go around the crowd of teens and Billy’s friend Dave leans on Chet’s shoulder and smirks as he taunts, “He can hear you just fine.”

“Where’s your pack Steve?” Chet asks, in a slightly friendlier tone, but it doesn’t sound like a real question. It sounds like he’s asking Steve why he bothered to come at all, which is confusing to say the least. They’re not buddies or anything but Chet has always been cool with him and he stuck up for Steve when those other guys tried to bully him.

“Yeah, pretty sure you can all hear me.” Steve answers Dave before lifting his eyes back up to Billy. He hates that he has to lean forward on his toes a bit to do it, and he can’t quite keep the irritation out of his tone. 

“And my family’s back there.” He jerks his head in the general direction of where he came, “but I need to talk to you alone, Hargrove.”

He tries to impress with his eyes to Billy how important this is. But doubt begins to creep in. Shouldn’t Billy know what they have to talk about? If they’re true mates or whatever, Billy wouldn’t be such a jerk to him all the time. Would he?

Billy doesn’t acknowledge Steve asking to talk to him. He sucks on the cigarette between his teeth and lets the smoke lazyly before he drawls.

“The Dalca’s are good people. Funny they haven’t introduced you yet. I was starting to think I’d never see you at one of these.” 

Steve has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s been in town for months now and met plenty of people. His aunt and his grandparents seem to know everyone and they always stop him to make introductions. 

But clearly Steve’s missing something here because he knows the prying looks and sly smiles that the other teens are suddenly wearing - knows the feeling of being whispered about, and that this time it’s not for a good reason. 

“He’s not talking about saying hi at the grocery store, Steve.” someone comes up and starts to explain gently from behind Steve and he tenses, seeing the dark glare that clouds Billy’s features, before he turns and realizes that it’s just Hank.

“What’s going on? I don’t get it.”

“Of course you don’t.” Billy scoffs, and it stings like a slap. Hank shoots Billy a look that says clearly that Steve’s not the only one who thinks he’s being an asshole for no good reason.

“Bonfire nights have really old traditions. It’s mostly ceremony now but they started in the villages to keep people safe.” Hank goes on explaining. “One of them is that you stick with your people, and you don’t bother any of the other, uh clans,  unless you’ve been introduced to their leader… like officially.”

Now that he knows, Steve realizes how hard the other teen is trying not to say anything too incriminating.

“You mean like in a wolfy way?” Steve asks, and grins when Hank's mouth drops open.

“So you do know.” Billy’s voice growls, almost accusing, tearing Steve’s eyes away from the other boy and he shivers. 

“Hank here thought you were just afraid of moonlight.”

Billy scoffs, and Steve doesn’t know why Billy’s suddenly so angry, but he’s starting to regret not taking his family up on any of their invitations instead of bumming around with tourists all summer. Because he’s betting they would have spilled the truth before now and made all these ‘ceremonial’ introductions; but in his defense he didn’t exactly know what a big deal it was. He wasn’t trying to offend anyone. But it’s in the past now, and Steve’s not willing to give up on the future. Not just yet.

“Yeah. Hi. I’m Steve. I know what you are, and no I’m not afraid of moonlight.” Or anything else, he dares silently, holding Billy’s gaze. “So can we talk now, or what?”

|Part 7|

Friendly tags for those who have asked in the past:

@darleenjade @sweetwaterangel @dragonflylady77 @natchula @tip-tap-tired @sparklingsprinkles @adelacreations @bluetree76 @deadfromtheneckdown @heavensfinest @marklee-blackmore @slightlydepressedmelon @percabeth-trashcan @a-lovely-craziness

[omnomnomdomcaps]

Upstream - Remastered - Pt. IV

Finally reposting here, featuring the work of Bubblybuns, who you can find on JFF.

CHAPTER ONE

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Chapter Four: Placement

Vanessa hadn’t been so excited all year. 

She shimmied and twirled, basking in the flexibility of her new padding, and then lifted the front of her overalls so that she could look at herself one more time in the mirror. 

“All the kids at kindergarten are gonna be so jealous of my pullups,” she began, as her mother entered the room, “I bet they’re all a bunch of dumb diaper-wearing babies, probably never even sawed one of these before!”

“Oh, honey…” her mother tried to interject.

“I wonder how long it’s gonna take me to become their queen,” the girl rambled on, “a minute? A second? What’s faster than a second? A super-second? Ugh, I can’t wait to show them who’s boss.”

“Honey,” Vanessa’s mother finally stopped the girl, “let’s remember to play nice, now. And I got you those pullups to help you for your interview today, but if you’re going to keep wearing them, you need to let me know when you have to use the potty, okay? Do you think you can do that for me?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” the girl rolled her eyes.

Her mother sighed. “You say that, but you’re soaked,” she said, patting the front of Vanessa’s training pants, “when were you planning on telling me?”

The girl’s face reddened, and she coiled up into what her mother termed her grumpy pose. "Well, how was I supposed to know that!?" she exclaimed. 

The girl would maintain her crossed arms and pout as her mother tore off her sopping trainers and began pulling on a fresh pair.

"Prolly doesn't matter anyway," she grumbled, "not like they're gonna make me go ta school with those dumb babies. I'm just gonna ace today and then they'll send me up to the first grade and then the second grade..."

"And what comes after that?" her mother asked, in the voice of a kindergarten teacher.

The girl blinked a few times, then shrugged. "I dunno, what?"

"Well, that would be third grade," the mother chuckled, "might be good to know that for today." 

Vanessa rolled her eyes again. “Yeah, whatever.”

The girl’s eagerness only built as she entered the elementary complex, holding her mother’s hand. There was her old high school in the distance, where she had ruled so gloriously until this year’s sudden turn. There were the third and fourth- grade classrooms, where she had honed her craft of toying with the other children. There were the first- and second- grade rooms, which brought back memories of first imposing her will in the playground. And finally, in the very back of the building, there was the designated kindergarten, where a small crowd had gathered to await her arrival. 

As she walked in, finally releasing her mother’s hand, Vanessa observed that the desks had been stacked up towards the sides of the room, leaving a wide patch of open carpet in the center. Her friend Fiona was in the corner, giving the girl a wide smile and a thumbs up while holding a phone out in her other hand. A handful of teacher’s aides were standing around, some of whom the girl recognized as old classmates. And there was a cheery-looking twenty-something, with a long, blonde ponytail, sitting at the teacher’s desk. 

“Hello! I’m Ms. Henderson, the teacher here at the kindergarten. And you must be-” 

“I’m wearing pullups!” the girl blurted out, lifting her overalls to show off. 

“That’s… lovely, dear,” the teacher said, trying to shake the twinge of discomfort from her voice, “now I understand that you were at the high school last year?”

 “Yuh-huh! I was the popularest in the whole school! But then some weird stuff happened...” Vanessa drifted off. 

“And now you’d like to enroll in the kindergarten?”

“Yeah…” Vanessa answered, the energy draining from her voice, “I guess.”

“I think she means that she would love to,” her mother chimed in nervously. 

“MOM!” The girl’s face flushed red again.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” the teacher assured them, “we just want to find what level best suits Vanessa.

“With that in mind,” the woman continued, “we want to just make sure you’re kindergarten-ready. Is it alright if we ask you a few questions?”

“Okay,” Vanessa rolled her eyes, “fine.”

“Now then, no need to be grumpy,” Ms. Henderson began, her kindergarten-teacher demeanor coming into view, “why don’t you take a seat on the rug? Just right in the middle of our space here. 

“Yes, right there,” she pointed, “right on your butt. Can you show me your best criss-cross applesauce? Hands in front, back straight, face forward."

Vanessa fuddled around for some time, trying to keep the directions straight, but eventually managed to reach the desired position, taking a cross-legged pose in the center of the room. 

“Wonderful!” the teacher commended, before turning to her aide, “Mr. Thomas, could you please hand Vanessa the shape blocks?”

The man - who Vanessa recognized as a graduate of her old high school, from the class year prior to what used to be hers - did as he was asked, placing a tray of three blocks in front of the girl. 

“Can you show me which one the triangle is?” 

Shapes. Vanessa remembered them being brought up a few times on the shows she watched, but never paid much attention when they were. Still, she thought for a few moments before deciding on one she thought was prettiest. 

“No, I’m afraid that’s the circle, sweetheart.”

“Not quite. That’s the square.”

“No, I’m sorry, that’s the square again.”

“Oh, I'm sorry… why don’t we try something else?”

Vanessa tossed the block in her hand aside, happy to be done with the exercise. 

The teacher tapped her pen on her several times, scratching her head before turning it back up towards the girl. “Vanessa, sweetie, could you count to ten for me?”

“To ten?” Vanessa confirmed, as she tried to think how large ten was, “uhhhh… okay. Umm, one… two…”

The girl paused, looking at the ceiling for several moments. “Third?” she tried, unconvinced by her own answer. 

“That’s very close! But not quite there - would you like to try again?” the teacher offered. 

“Poopy,” Vanessa muttered under her breath, before losing her train of thought completely. 

“Ummm, what was the question again?”

“We just wanted to hear you count to ten, sweetie.”

“Oh, okay okay.” The girl puffed her cheeks out and concentrated as hard as she could. “Ummmm… one… two…”

Vanessa stared once more at the ceiling, trying to think what the next number could possibly be. Was it five? No, that didn’t sound right. Third? No, something about that felt off as well. Eleven?

Eleven. The girl giggled to herself at the silly-sounding word. That’s not a number. How did I even come up with that?

“Uhh, sweetie,” the teacher said uneasily after a few moments of silence, “why don't you draw us a picture?”

“Ooooh, a picture!” Vanessa’s attention jumped over immediately, “Yeah, I draw the bestest pictures, you’ll see!”

Ms. Henderson forced a chuckle. “That’s lovely, dear. Mr. Thomas, could you?”

The aide collected a thick sheet of paper and a box of crayons from the supply bin and carried it over to the girl on the rug. He had a strain on his face from holding back laughter, but Vanessa hadn’t noticed it at all. 

Instead, she was poised downward and hungrily licking her lips, eager to impress with this new activity. Moving quickly, she fixed the sheet of paper in front of her and then poured the box of crayons out onto the floor, grabbing the first black one she saw with such force that she could barely hear the loud rumble that came from her stomach as she did so.

Vanessa clutched the crayon in her fist and began to assemble haphazard shapes on the paper. First, there was a roughly made circle, and then a long line drawn down from it. Next, the girl added two uneven lines jolting out from the bottom of the long stick, and two uneven lines near the top. Finally, she added a makeshift smiley face inside the circle, and several clumsy waves around it to represent her hair. It was her crude self-portrait, but it wasn’t done yet. 

The girl tossed aside the black crayon and reached for a yellow one. After pausing for a few breaths, she began to add the final element, a crown for her stick-figure avatar. She started with a misshapen triangle, pointing far up and to the left from the top of the figure’s head. But as she began to make the motion to draw a second triangle, pointing up and to the middle, she was interrupted by a sudden urge. 

Vanessa scrunched her face, crayon still tightly in her fist, instinctively pushed her bottom upwards, and grunted. All around, there were gasps of shock and muffled bursts of uncomfortable laughter, as well as an audible “oh dear” from the girl's mother. Immediately, everyone in the room knew exactly what was happening. 

Everyone, that is, except for Vanessa. 

Vanessa let out a deep sigh as she thought back to that day at the kindergarten. It had taken several weeks for her mother to finally tell her the school's decision, but when she did, it hit the girl as both a shock and a revelation. Slowly, she began to piece together the mistakes she made, starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, she might have been a little too sure of herself. 

So when word arrived that the town preschool would allow Vanessa to join in the coming year, with no preconditions, she made sure not to take the opportunity for granted. 

The girl began to watch her educational shows more earnestly, trying to pick up all the lessons that she could. Most would still go well over her head, but bits and pieces stuck. At the very least, their frequent singsong and nursery rhyme elements gave her something to exercise her memory, with “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” quickly becoming a favorite tune. 

She also began to pry curiously about the sorts of classmates she could expect to have at the preschool, although her mother was initially hesitant. And when she finally did relent and tell the girl, it became clear why.

Vanessa listened in horror to stories of almost perfectly potty-trained children, capable of counting past ten and reciting their ABC’s, and wondered how she could ever be able to compete with such intellectual heavyweights.

“Just play nice,” her mother would say, “and they’ll play nice with you. Share with them, they’ll share with you, and they’ll help you when you need help. Show them kindness, they’ll be less likely to pick on you, and you’ll have more friends on your side if they do.”

As foreign as the idea seemed at first, it did look to Vanessa like her only real chance to fit in, and so the advice finally began to take. 

And now, at last, the day was upon her. After such a shocking exit from the top of the high school heap, after months and months away in infantile isolation, Vanessa was about to start her first day back at school. She tucked in her white shirt, adjusted her Hello Kitty backpack, and tried her best to get her short plaid skirt to cover her much-needed, thick, pink diaper. 

But there was one more thing left to do. 

“One…”

The girl closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to think back to an episode of Blue’s Clues she had watched the previous day. 

“Two…”

Excitement crept in as she imagined impressing her preschool teachers and classmates, proving to them that she truly belonged. 

“Three…”

The girl concentrated as hard as she could, sweat beginning to form on her furrowed brow. 

“Five.”

Vanessa exhaled and gave a soft fist pump, before opening her eyes and turning them towards her open door.

Briefly, the girl wrinkled her nose, wondering if a new smell in the room had anything to do with the growing feeling at the seat of her pants. But she soon dismissed the thought and strut forward, ready once again to take on the world.  

****

[chickenfriedawesome]

Can I say I just love it every time you post about Monoma, it feels like we share a brainwave

-@smallvictorianchildwhofoundwifi (this is a sideblog so I can't send asks from there)

we truly are the handshake meme and the topic is Loving Monoma Neito. in honor of our shared braincell, please have some headcanons for Pro Hero Phantom Thief (under a read more due to spoiler-adjacent topics)

Deku canonically listed Monoma as someone who was climbing rapidly in the rankings (which kicked my ass, btw), so i like to think that he's currently somewhere around number 7 or 8 on the Hero Billboard Chart

Monoma was the first person in class B to make it to the top 20; Pony saw that he had broken in at number 17, and she was so excited that she blasted the old Class B group chat with a bunch of messages written in English before she realized that only a handful of her friends could understand her

despite ranking well on the Hero Billboard Chart, Monoma still shows up pretty consistently in articles about "heroes with villainous quirks;" it used to sting, but he's always leaned into the "unheroic-hero" archetype, so he's learned to roll with it

Kendo has not learned to roll with it, and she is constantly ready to throw massive, massive hands for him

actually you know what, i'm not done talking about it; after graduating, Monoma was in this weird limbo wherein the public recognized him as an important hero who helped massively during the war, but they also kept drawing comparison's between his quirk and All-for-One; Monoma ended up tipping the public's opinion in his favor when he saved an elementary school by copying quirks from the children that he was protecting

Monoma constantly shows his support for his previous classmates, especially now that he's in the public spotlight. he namedrops them in interviews. he showcases their quirks as often as he can. he wears their merch on casual days out, even when it is sometimes painfully unstylish (i am looking at you, Tetsutetsu)

a few years out of high school, Monoma and Shinso decided to start an agency that specifically scouted for unconventional (read as "useless" or "villainous") quirks like their own. public response was initially mixed, but after a few years, there's no denying the incredible work that they have done

Monoma's social media game is unrivaled. he's active on every platform and routinely posts absolute bangers. there isn't really any bad blood between him and the previous class A students anymore, but sometimes he likes to ratio Bakugo just because he can.

where canon left off (i.e. 6 years post-graduation from UA), Monoma is able to copy up to 5 quirks for 25 minutes a piece, and he's able to store them for later use. the timer only runs when the quirk is active.

Monoma is also able to use two quirks at a time, but at least one of them has to be one that he's very familiar with. (it takes a lot of concentration to juggle multiple quirks, and it can be dangerous to both himself and others if he doesn't do it right).

[mirai-e-jump]

Murakami Erica Photobook: Admiring Erica (select pages and translation below)

Publication: May 29, 2024

Erica's Story

An ordinary high school student who was suddenly scouted one day in Harajuku, won the Grand Prix of an audition, and quickly became a "ViVi" model. After that, she also expanded her activities as an actor, and by taking on the challenge of the Super Sentai series, Erica became the nation's "princess" loved by people of all ages and genders. Including stories about her beloved family and work, this is the beginning of Erica's true story, which can only be told in a photobook.

"Congratulations on the release of your photobook 💛. What were your thoughts when you heard about it?"

Somehow, I always thought about wanting to publish a style book or a book related to beauty someday, but I never considered a photobook at all! I was surprised at first, and I couldn't imagine how it would turn out, but I knew that if I teamed up with ViVi, it would definitely be stylish, so I was really looking forward to it!

"How did it feel to actually shoot?"

The moment we started shooting, I was so excited because the photos were so stylish and had an atmosphere that only ViVi can create!!! The clothes were cute and had alittle bit of an emotional vibe to them but with the lighting that's so ViVi, ViVi is the best~ 💛.

Family Stories

-Talkative and mischievous. I'm a lively girl who grew up carefree in Fukushima-

"Erica is loved by her family, fellow models, staff and co stars. What kind of child were you during your childhood?"

I did things at my own pace from the moment I was born. I wouldn't shout, and was the kind of baby who would look around at the new world with wonder. I've been talkative and mischievous since I was young. I was a lively child, running around at the front while dragging my younger sister, younger brother, and the neighborhood children along with me. I grew up carefree in the rich nature of my hometown, Fukushima, so of course I was good with bugs. I loved to play pranks, and would catch grasshoppers and cicadas and release them at home, where my mother would often become furious with me. In elementary school, I did swimming, karuta, and piano……Since I had plenty of energy, I was able to learn a bunch of different things. From middle school, I started to dress up alittle more, and became interested in fashion and cosmetics. I'd wear the magnetic earrings I bought at the general store, and borrow and try out my mother's eyeliner without permission. In middle school, I joined the Soft Tennis Club, and while leading a club centered life, I became addicted to "Detective Conan." Mori Ran-chan was so cool, that I even tried karate for a brief time (laughs). I fell in love with the scientific field because Haibara Ai-chan was so cool, and she made me aspire to become a science researcher. From that time on, I had an otaku mind set, and would always get completely into whatever I liked.

"You must've been an actively curious child."

I was always active! I was always willing to try anything without hesitating, and even now I'm still the type of person who's curious and quick to act on whatever I want to do.

"Your father is originally from Canada. Did you go to Canada often?"

My grandfather and grandmother lived there, so I used to go there often when I was younger. When I was in middle school, me and my younger sister would spend our Summer vacations in Canada. I'd speak English together with my father, so I was able to speak it when I was a child, but I regret that I gradually became less interested in English. Now, I think I want to study English again.

"Being blunt, were you popular?"

Eh, not really (laughs). The only story I can tell you that made me alittle bit excited was when I was in high school, a friend told me that a boy from another school wanted to know my contact info. Unfortunately, I don't have that many stories of bittersweet love 💛, as I tend to become friends with the opposite sex pretty quickly.

"What kind of girl were you in high school?"

I decided to seriously pursue a career in science when I was in my first year of high school, so I went to cram school and studied hard in order to focus on entrance exams. I was involved in club activities, such as baking sweets in the laid back Family Life Club. If I got a job, I'd probably return to my hometown, so I wanted to go somewhere where I could do what I loved while being a college student, I even though, "Maybe I can study abroad!" So, I guess leaving Fukushima was the image I had in mind for my life plans. Rather than saying, "I definitely want to go to Tokyo!" I just felt like college in a city would be more exciting. I hoped that in the future I'd be able to work for a company involved in the development and research of cosmetics.

-I can be my most relaxed self when I spend time with my siblings 💛-

"Are you close with your siblings?"

My younger sister is 1 year, and younger brother is 5 years apart from me, and the three of us used to play together when we were in elementary school. When I started to enjoy fashion in high school, I lent and borrowed clothes with my sister. Since moving to the capital, I've been spending more time with my sister and brother whenever they come to Tokyo, and we often play together. It's probably because I'm the eldest daughter, but I have a strong desire to do things for my younger sister and brother. I lived with my sister when I was in college, so we were together alot. My brother's a spoiled brat and would call me to say, "I'm going to Chiba tomorrow, let's go to Disney together!" or "I want to eat sushi," and so I'll go with him. My brother has been in Tokyo since April, so I'm planning to take him to lots of places. I can be my most relaxed self when I'm spending time with my siblings.

"Do you ever fight with your siblings?"

When I lived with my sister, she often scolded me about not doing housework. My sister got angry with me when I was too busy and put off doing the laundry or dishes (laughs). Even now, I feel really bad about that. My sister was the kindest, cooking dinner for me when I worked late at night and prepping my bath. When I complained about how tired I was from work, she just let it slide in a nice way. I appreciated that as well. She knows how to treat me. Of course, when I was really having a hard time, she'd be there for me and listen to me seriously at dinner. She's my younger sister, but she's become like an older sister to me and supports me emotionally. My sister is the one who gives me the most objective opinion. She's the only one who'll say, "Onee-san, you don't look good in that outfit."

-I'm working hard at my job to show my family good things!-

"Erica loves her family."

I think my family is really close. I didn't have much of a rebellious phase, but when I was in middle school, I would pretend to be abit cool and listen to music by myself with earphones. My parents were the type to let me do what I wanted, so I was free to do whatever. On Friday nights, when my father came home alittle early, I'd fill a big bowl with my favorite snack, order pizza, and watch a movie together. My grandmother and grandfather took care of me when I was a child because both my parents worked, so I'm also very close with my grandparents. Even now, if I have two or three days off, I go back to my parents house and tell my family everything about work. I feel refreshed when I have conversations with them because I can talk with them while organizing my thoughts. They're so positive about everything I do, so if I feel like I'm lacking energy, or my self esteem is alittle low, I'll just video call them. No matter which one I call, they always come up on the screen, they're both adorable parents, always wanting to talk to me before anyone else (laughs). Once I've reached the point where I can put a pause on work, I'd like to take a family trip while my grandfather and grandmother are still healthy. The world is changing rapidly, even in just one year, so I'd like to give back alot while I can.

"What does family mean to Erica?"

It's healing. Part of me works hard because I want to show my family good things. Because I grew up in a close family, I long for marriage and want to start a family myself. I hear that many people don't want to get married these days, but I really do! (laughs), I feel like, "If you want to get married, come to my house." If there's anyone out there who's a good person, I'd like them to come and join my family.

Beauty Stories

-My private time is devoted entirely to beauty. "Erica's method" is to make a plan and keep at it for a long time-

"What's the number one thing you're interested in right now?"

It's beauty! I actually really love beauty. I love skin care and cosmetics, but I'm also interested in pilates, moxibustion, acupuncture, nutrition, diet, and anything related to health in general. I love it so much, that I now spend most of my private time on beauty.

"How long have you been into beauty?"

When I was in high school, my father had an opportunity to reevaluate his diet, and since I also had a weak stomach, we started together. The first thing I took care of was my eating habits. I started eating less additives and prioritized the vegetables from my grandparents garden. From there, I became interested in intestinal health, and since I like to do research, I got more and more into it. Since then, food and health have always been on my mind. I think that my family created the base for my healthy diet. When I was in college, I cooked for myself with vegetables from Fukushima that were sent to me, and even now I still cook for myself. Just recently, during the filming of "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger," I brought my own bento to keep myself healthy, including onigiri for breakfast and fruit for a snack. Food is important to maintain my figure, especially during busy times. But, when I go out to eat together with everyone, I don't worry about it and put priority on having a good time. I do care about it when I eat alone, so I like to find the right balance. Instead of making everything perfect, I try to be more flexible and make the best of what I have. The important thing is the long term, so I think it's those small steps and accumulations that have led me to where I am today.

-Occasional treats are OK! If I eat, I'll cover for it the next day with adjustments and exercise-

"How do you stay in shape?"

Honestly, when I first started modeling, I thought that if I gained weight, I wouldn't get any work. Currently I don't think it's enough to be thin, and I know that it's not everything, but when I was 18 or 19 years old, I was absolutely convinced that, "I should never be fat!" The idea of exercising never came up when I thought about eating less. I went without meals for about two days for my first swimsuit shoot, which was a complete disaster as I got heat stroke and felt sick. I learned to reflect on why I needed to be thin even though I was ruining my physical condition. Now, I think it's more beautiful to have abs rather than just being thin, and I've started to take up pilates not just to keep thin, but to improve my posture. I like pilates because it builds more flexible muscles than weight training. Exercise makes you more positive, and it's good for your mental health. When I have time, I sometimes go swimming. Now, I go to do pilates 2-3 times a week, and have incorporated walking. I love walking, so I wear comfortable shoes and try to walk around as much as possible when I can.

"What are you conscious of in your daily diet?"

I eat three well balanced and proper meals. If I don't take in enough nutritions, my complexion will be ruined. Now, because of the action in King-Ohger's stage play, I have to use alot of energy, so I eat sweets every time I take a break. So, I make sure to bring dried sweet potatoes, chocolate with at least 70% cacao, and fruit for snacking. I think it's important to know what to eat, not to refrain from eating. When I occasionally receive sweets as gifts, I enjoy them and try to move my body as much as possible. In my refrigerator is natto, mozuku, mekabu, and also dried wakame and koya dofu. The freezer is always stocked with burdock and beans. When taking meals on location, I just put bonito flakes and miso in a soup jar, add hot water, and I'm good to go. Miso soup is truly great. Speaking of, the miso by my grandmother is homemade. I heard that bacteria is important, so for awhile, I'd mix my grandmother's homemade amazake with yogurt.

"What's important in maintaining your figure?"

Of course, I don't always follow a stoic diet, if there's something I'm concerned about, I eat it, but I try not to do it continuously. People don't gain that much weight if they overeat for a day or two, but if you reward yourself every day and continue to do so for a week or more, it becomes a habit and will absolutely affect your figure. Swelling is a habit after all, so I'll take care of it on that day. Of course, not eating is also stressful, so when I eat, I try to exercise as much as I can. I used to worry about swelling, but now I don't. I'm more concerned about what kind of condition I want to be in on a regular basis. Rather than cramming everything together and doing alot of different things, I'd rather be in a state where I can make consistent progress every day and not have to do anything special. That's what motivates me, and when I want to have fun, I enjoy myself to the fullest and then make adjustments the next day. I guess that's the most like me.

-Always checking beauty care info while taking a long bath!-

"Tell us your at home beauty routine!"

At home, I use a foam roller to stretch and loosen up my muscles. I also use an easy to apply sticker type of moxibustion to warm up pressure points on my feet and improve blood circulation. When I'm tired, I love to use "Kyusoku Jikan Pressure Point Stimulating Gel Sheets" and going to bed because it makes my legs feel lighter 💛 also, it's important to take a long bath. I add bath salts like epsom salt and himalayan salt, and while soaking in the tub for 40 to 50 minutes, I'll search for beauty care info. When I want to warm myself up, I sometimes add sake. When I sleep, sometimes I'll wear medical compression socks. Also, I heard that it's good to sleep with a warm body, so until Winter ends, I put disposable hand warmers on my futon and wear "Nightmin Warming Earplugs" when I sleep. Recently, I bought a Zojirushi humidifier and it works great! It's good for my health and makes my skin feel soft.

"Do you take supplements?"

Honestly, I don't think anything can compete with food, but for this photobook, I also took extra of my favorite supplements. Recently, I've been taking Lypo-C in the morning and Lypo-CC+D at night. When I was alittle concerned about the condition of my skin, I got a prescription for coix seed from my hospital. I started taking it to treat water warts, but at the time, I got compliments on my skin, so I only take it before important events. Plus, I take Vitamin B for skin and fatigue, and glutathione for when I'm drinking alcohol. I heard that glutathione improves liver metabolism, and since I also like to drink, I always keep some handy. I'm currently interested in collagen supplements. As I get older, my problems will also change, so I'm always exchanging information with hair and makeup artists and beauty authors, and I actively try out new things that interest me. By the way, if I'm really busy, I can also rely on nutritional supplements. I use Chocola BB and Alinamin, and also the Orthomol that I bought from Korea, as they give me energy.

-I love acupuncture 💛 I also incorporate beauty clinics for skin care-

"Tell us what beauty places Erica goes to!"

I've been going for acupuncture once a month for about 3 years. I started going to improve my poor circulation, sensitivity to cold, and stiff shoulders, and I became addicted to how good I felt when waking up the next day. It seems to have a detoxifying effect that makes my body feel refreshed. The doctor is very knowledgeable about beauty and taught me some basics, like because I have a weak stomach, eating too many raw vegetables isn't good for my digestion, and that I should avoid coffee as the first thing I have in the morning.

"Do you go to beauty clinics?"

I go! Basically, my main focus is skin care, as I had rough skin around the time I moved to Tokyo, so I started looking for a beauty clinic to fix it, and then I started going to different ones. Laser toning treatments had visible results, and that's how I became hooked. Currently, I use a proper amount of both aesthetic and beauty clinics. I regularly go to "Aesthetic Salon CIEL" for facial contouring, where even sensitive skin can be managed. I don't do strong procedures that require downtime, but when I want to feel the power of medical treatments, such as toning or making acne scars less visible, I sometimes turn to cosmetic medicine. Recently, I heard that titanium lifting is a good thing, so I immediately made an appointment. I'm also interested in skin boosters. The idea is to not just slim down facial lines, but to have skin that looks healthy and tight.

-Beauty is my hobby. I always want to improve myself-

"What skincare regimen are you into lately?"

Since the beauty clinic will be thorough, my skin care regimen is basically protective. Currently, I love carbonated beauty. I like carbonated face washes, and use things like suisai's "Beauty Clear Fizzy Powder Wash," which I think as a side effect feels like it refreshes the area around my face! For a period of time, I was so addicted to it, that I used to make carbonated water with a "Soda Stream" and wash my face with it. I'll often use foam carbonation packs on my scalp. I also like fermented ingredients and will try out various kinds.

"What is Erica's goal with beauty?"

Smooth and soft skin! And above all else, health. Rather than wanting to be like someone else, I always want to better my image. Beauty for me is a hobby. It lifts my spirits and helps me "reset." It's my precious time 💛.

Work Stories

-I want to try something new! I dove into this world out of curiosity 💛-

"Now then, let's look back at Erica's work. When was the turning point?"

I participated in "High School Quiz" when I was in my second year of high school. I won the competition and was going on to compete in the national level, and while I was walking around Harajuku, excited to be in Tokyo for the first time, I was scouted by my current agency. I had previously been scouted in my hometown, but I turned them all down because I was preparing for exams. However, they asked for my contact info since I wasn't affiliated with an agency, and so we exchanged info. About six months later, I was recommended to audition for ViVi by the agency, and thankfully, I won the Grand Prix and became a ViVi model.

"Why did you decide to audition?"

I'm not swayed by trends, I'm just an ordinary girl. I had read ViVi before, but I was just a high school student who thought that the entertainment industry was a world I had no connection to, and that I'd just go on to higher education and find a job. Still, I like to try new things, and I thought it'd be simple and interesting, so I dove into this world out of curiosity.

"You auditioned as part of the experience and it changed your life."

I had a simple feeling about the audition, thinking, "I get to go to Tokyo, it's like a trip, it's going to be fun 💛." That's why I was really surprised when I passed. More than anything, my mother was happy. My mother's a huge fan of Hasegawa Jun-san, so when I told her about the ViVi audition, she was excited and said, "I think Erica will definitely become a ViVi model!" and I think she was more excited than I was when I passed. I was also happy to win the Grand Prix, but it was memorable to see how the many people around me, including my family and grandparents, were happy for me.

"Was there ever a moment during an audition when you thought you'd be accepted?"

Not at all. For the second round of selection, we were allowed to wear casual clothes, but I was told by my agency to "wear a white T shirt and shorts!" and I went to the venue as instructed, but everyone there was very fashionable. I thought, "Ah, I look completely out of place. This is the end." But, on the other hand, I think I stood out (laughs). Until the end, it never once crossed my mind that, "Maybe I'll be accepted?!" I felt like I'd just be lucky if I made it to the final round.

"The final selection was on the runway at the "Girls Award." Were you nervous about walking in front of an audience?"

To be honest, at the time I had no idea how enormous the "Girls Award" was. I was nervous, but I didn't really feel like I was standing on a big stage. It felt like, "There are so many famous people here!" If I failed here, I wouldn't have been able to study for entrance exams, and I wouldn't know what to do about going on to college.

"Tell us how you felt when you passed!"

Simply put, I was shocked. I received a bouquet of flowers from Yamashita Tomohisa-san and thought, "Ah, so this is Tokyo. I'm standing in the same place as a celebrity." I think I was rather calm.

"When did you finally realize that you had become a model?"

I commuted from Fukushima during high school, but at first I didn't get much work, and I guess I didn't really feel like a model. During my first year in college, I was so focused on my schoolwork to earn credits that I had very few jobs outside of ViVi. Toward the end of my first year, the amount of work gradually expanded, and I felt that my modeling work was becoming more and more fulfilling.

-Balancing schoolwork and being a ViVi model. My friends were there to help me get through it-

"Did you decide not to apply for college after being accepted as a ViVi model?"

I had always wanted to go to college, and I thought it'd be more fun to try different things and absorb different things than to follow one path. Since I suddenly became a model, I think I had the sense that college was my base, and I just happened to be lucky enough to be able to model. Since the path of modeling is a narrow one, I was determined to try to find a job if I were to stop modeling. I went on to study business administration at a science college, and what I studied has led me to where I am today, and as a result, many things have turned out well. The biggest change since becoming a ViVi model is that it's become easier to try new things. I think I've become more willing to try anything and everything without being afraid.

"Was it difficult to balance college with your career?"

In my first and second year, I prioritized my studies, and I didn't feel like I was doing that much work, so it wasn't hard. I was also living on my own for the first time and enjoying college life. In fact, I even talked to my agency about wanting to work more. But, it wasn't easy getting work, so I was prepared to do my best for when the opportunity arose. Around the beginning of my second year, I started taking more online classes due to the covid pandemic, which led to more jobs outside of ViVi, so I started to enjoy modeling more. Since that time, I've been trying my hand at acting during long vacations. The end of my fourth year (second semester) was honestly a tough time for me because I was balancing modeling, acting, and schoolwork. However, I think I was able to overcome these challenges due to having friendly competition with my college friends.

"What inspired you to start acting?"

It all started when I was asked if I wanted to audition for the drama "Black Cinderella." Everything was new to me, so I didn't know right from left, and it all happened so fast~. I did the best I could everyday, and afterwards I'd feel like I was burnt out. My first acting job was a bigger role than I expected, and the pressure was also intense. I had to memorize my lines and act. I started it casually, wanting to take on a new challenge, but it was harder than I imagined. I felt so tense for so long, that when the drama ended and I went to a ViVi photo shoot, I couldn't help but cry because I felt so relieved. I think I was able to overcome a large part of it because I was blessed with the right people. I'm still good friends with the Black Cinderella members, and my connection with its staff led me to my current job with King-Ohger. I'd like to help others someday myself, but I can't afford to do so yet. I'd like to return the favor someday.

"Did Black Cinderella inspire you to become an actor?"

Honestly, I felt I had to work harder because I couldn't do anything. I didn't have anything in mind for my next project, but I started attending private lessons that I found on my own, preparing for the day that would someday come.

-If I'm going to do the same thing for a year, I want to spend a year different from the one before. With this in mind, I challenged myself to Super Sentai-

"Erica's popularity has grown dramatically with King-Ohger, but how did it feel to take on the challenge of joining Super Sentai?"

When I was in my fourth year of college, I was asked to audition. But, to be honest, I wasn't sure if I'd accept the role at first. It isn't often you get approached for an offer for Super Sentai, so I think it was fate that I was asked. However, I talked to my parents about what to do since it was too different from the career I had been doing up to that point. At that time, my parents told me that I had once said, "If I'm going to do the same thing for a year, I want to spend a year different from the one before." I had forgotten those words, but when I heard them, I thought that was the way I wanted to live my life, so I made the decision to take it.

"What worried you the most?"

Honestly, Super Sentai has a tighter schedule than regular dramas, and you have to focus on your role for a year and a half, so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to work as a model. I thought that if I left for a year and a half, alot of new kids would come in during that time, and that once I went, I might not be able to come back. As you can imagine, I was hardly able to shoot for ViVi when filming for Super Sentai began. The number of projects decreased all at once, and there were months where I had no shoots at all, which made me feel very lonely. I couldn't wait to appear in ViVi.

"That was the most difficult time for you to balance both."

When the number of projects decreased, I wondered if ViVi no longer needed me. I wanted to spend more time modeling, but I also had to make sure I was doing my acting work, so I was really stressed out. I wanted to make ViVi my top priority in the past and still do. But, I didn't want to give up the acting career that I've secured. I was conflicted and thought, "I want to do both!" Moreover, I also had to give up modeling to take on Super Sentai, but my acting wasn't perfect, and it was really hard to keep up with everyone. I was also writing my college thesis at that time, so I was full of energy both physically and mentally. In my spare time between filming, I communicated with my professor and worked with all my might to finish my thesis.

"If you had to give yourself a score as an actor, what would it be?"

It'd still be a minus. However, I think it's a huge plus in my life. My values ​​have changed in alot of ways. At first, I thought I was a model and not suited for acting, but recently, I've come around to where I think acting might be kind of fun.

"What did you gain from working hard in modeling, schoolwork, and acting?"

It all comes down to experience and time, doesn't it? In both modeling and acting, you learn by doing things over and over again, so in that sense, I think the past year and a half has been really important. I tried to pick up everything I could, and absorbed lots of different things. Also, by trying to do many things and working hard, I don't focus too much on one thing, so I don't have to think about unnecessary things. Besides, people I've worked with in the past say they want to work with me again. In the entertainment world, you don't have a job unless someone needs you, so I feel like I'm able to work thanks to people like that. All of my work comes about through fortunate connections, so I want to cherish each and every one of those connections.

-Modeling and acting, I want to do it all. That's because I love it all!-

Please give a message for those who are struggling to balance multiple things they want to do!

If you have alot of things you want to do right now, I think it's okay to try doing both. Of course, there'll be hardships, but sometimes you'll find help from places you least expect. It's important to have goals in life, as it'd be a waste to spend time doing nothing. In my case, both modeling and my acting jobs have had a big impact on my private life. I feel that we can learn alot about how to live from our work.

"From now on, you'll work hard to balance being both a model and an actor."

Currently, I really enjoy working as a model as I did before. It's like I'm back 💛. I've had very little time off this year, but it's been so fulfilling that I don't find it tiring at all. I think it's best to have a job while you still can. Some models focus on acting, but I want to keep being a model and actor at the same time because I love it all. I love ViVi, and I'd like to increase what I can do based on that, and give back to ViVi what I've gained in other fields. Some people leave a group or graduate from a magazine to take the next step, but I think it's good to try a variety of things while staying in the same place, and I think studying and trying different things at the same time, rather than just one thing, fits my way of life.

"Since overcoming the challenges of balancing studies and a job, has your attitude toward work changed?"

In the past, I used to think that I had to be cool or be nice to get a job, but now I think I've become able to prioritize being myself. Even with ViVi, I used to follow the backs of my seniors, but before I knew it, I became a senior myself, and I felt I had to stand tall. Sometimes I think I need to be more firm with my juniors and show them that I'm good at what I do. However, I think it'd be better to be friendly and expose my faults, because then people would talk to me openly. Of course I do it when I need to, but I think that maybe it's more like me not to try too hard. I can't "graduate" when I haven't done anything yet. I feel like I want to be spoiled even more.

"What kind of place is ViVi to Erica?"

ViVi has a very strong sense of camaraderie, and I feel like we all look out for each other and help each other improve. ViVi is my home, my family, and a place that inspires me. Modeling is also where my roots are, so I'd like to challenge myself to various things without losing sight of my role as a model.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Yknow I’m really disappointed we didn’t get more on Perry Porter because from what we do see of him, he seems like such a cool character and I’m really disappointed we didn’t get even a single proper scene with him.

Like!! Just the facts we have about him are seemingly so random - he’s in the Oracle Coven, he used to be friends with Eda and her gang but was, interestingly, shown to be pulling away about the same time Darius and Alador - both implied to have chosen status or power of their friends - did. He seems to be Gus’s only parent given his mom is literally never mentioned, yet he’s also a high profile (given he was the only shown person reporting on Eda’s Petrification) reporter. He’s clearly willing to turn his morals and feelings off when needed given how little emotion he shows while one of his old friends - however old he must have some feelings about it - is basically about to be executed, yet he raised an incredibly kind kid who sticks to his morals no matter what.

Like how did he feel when on the Day of Unity, his twelve year old son was unable to be found - hell, we know he reports on high profile events like this, could he have been so busy he didn’t even realize Gus had snuck out until after the Collector stopped the Day of Unity and he had to realize no one knew where he was? How come we never see him interact with any of his old friends, even when Alador and Darius are eventually pulled back with them? I can understand why Odalia wasn’t reconnected with them but it does seem like if nothing else Perry was a decent parent, so why is he never shown interacting with the others?

It also seems like he puts quite a bit of pressure on Gus at least - I don’t think he’s like Odalia ofc, but Gus does say that his dad wants him to be a Master Illusionist (though that’s not what Gus wants), so it’s clear he does expect a lot from him. Did Gus being a prodigy from a young age impact this? Did he encourage Gus to move up two grades or was he against it? Given what we know of him - high profile Coven job, seems to have drifted away from his friends for status like Darius and Alador, wants his kid to be a Master Illusionist - I’m inclined to think he encouraged it and at least didn’t think much about the social implications. What did he think about Gus’s loneliness and lack of friends - did he even notice? I’m saying this as a former gifted kid who’s parents are, still to this day, surprised when I mention how bad my peers and teachers treated me in elementary/middle school - even caring parents can be unaware of just how bad things are in school. Was Perry like that? Or did he notice but feel helpless to do anything?

What about Gus’s illusion maze thing? How long has he been able to do that - since he was a kid? What was it like to raise a kid who could do something like that? Did Perry try and each Gus some tricks to get rid of it - given Willow was the one to teach him the breathing technique and that’s what he uses, it doesn’t seem like he did. Why? Did he just not know what to do? Did the Emperor’s Coven ever seem interested in Gus, who was clearly a whole lot more than just a gifted kid (this kid took down the Illusion Coven Head and a whole bunch of scouts at age 12 and he wasn’t even trying)? How did he respond to that?

Idk, I really want to see more about who Perry Porter is and Gus’s childhood. It’s so interesting to think about.

I have my own image of him as a somewhat neglectful parent who, while he does care about his son a lot, treats him as a lot older than he is sometimes. Like Gus is a very mature kid but he’s still a kid and I think Perry could follow the rest of the world in forgetting that a lot. Maybe talk to him about things he’s not old enough to understand, put responsibilities and pressure on him he might find hard even being a prodigy and get angry when he can’t do it, etc. I don’t think he’s abusive or anything but I definitely want to see how he is because as a former gifted kid absolutely all of these have happened to me and I’m betting you Perry also does this to Gus. And that’s not even getting into Perry’s morality and character, how that impacts Gus, and Perry’s backstory.

[samgirl98]

Wail of the Silent 6/?

Prev | Next

TW: Mention of Suicide

Spectra smiled as her latest victim patient left her office. She had only been in Gotham for ten days, but she already had a job in Arkham Asylum thanks to overshadowing and fake credentials. The whole place was a pit of misery.

So far, seven patients have killed themselves due to her feeding off them. Oh well, as the saying goes, you have to crack a few eggs to make omelets and all that. It’s not Spectra’s fault they were weak.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t get to the main rogues. They weren’t filled with misery, just madness. They gave her no nutrients, so she avoided them and went for the weaker ones.

Still, the patients in the asylum were nothing compared to the young man she had found the night before. She had left a piece of herself (a new development as her powers grew.) to feed off him when he felt miserable. It had already happened once that day, but he got over it quickly. The bite size snack left her craving more.

Spectra smiled as her next patient entered her room.

____

“You said you had an idea,” Danny asked as Jason led him into a room with three computer screens, some weapons lying around, and a bunch of wooden boxes.

Jason nodded; he had put his red helmet on again.

“Yeah. You know Arkham Asylum?”

“My sister has mentioned it once or twice, but I don’t know much about it. She wants to work there ultimately.”

Danny couldn’t see Jason’s expression but knew Jason was feeling judgmental.

“What? What’s wrong with that?”

“Casper—”

“Casper, wow, so original. I’m nicknamed after my high school.”

“Your high school is called Casper? What the fuck?”

“The elementary school is named Poltergeist elementary school.”

“Poltergeist elementary? No, you know what? That doesn’t matter. Arkham is where the criminally insane end up. I mean, these are people who have little chance of integrating into society, and those who do become ‘better’ usually end up reoffending again. I know of three psychiatrists who worked there who ended up being patients there. Your sister must be a special person to want to work there willingly.”

Hmm, it seemed Danny had to have a word with Jazz.

“You think Spectra is there?”

“There is no other place in Gotham that has as much misery as Arkham Asylum.”

“Okay, I believe you, but how will we know if Spectra is there.”

Amusement. Mischief.

“I can tap into the security camera and database.”

____

Bruce Wayne stared into his cup of coffee. There was guano floating in it. He sighed and looked back at the reports.

Something was wrong in the asylum.

An hour ago, he had gotten a ping of someone who had committed suicide in Arkham; the death had marked the eighth one in ten days, and no one else was worried or investigating it. He knew most people and law enforcement didn’t care for those who resided in Arkham, but to ignore something clearly wrong…well, Bruce wouldn’t be complacent.

He hacked into Arkham’s systems. Batman would get to the bottom of this.

____

Lady Gotham felt her being boiling with anger. Another one of her citizens had ended up dead by their own hands due to the interloper.

She sent the newly formed shade toward her favored knight and the ghost child. She knew they would help her lost ones. For now, she let her rage be known through the thunder and lightning in the sky.

____

“Eight suicides in ten days, and no one has reported on this?” Danny asked incredulously.

Jason shrugged; he knew how little people cared for the patients in Arkham. The only ones who probably noticed and cared were his family the bats. However, they wouldn’t know what could be happening, so it would take them longer to solve the problem.

For half a second, Jason thought about asking for their help but felt phantom pains in his throat.

He felt sadness and regret deep in his chest. (His core was humming out his emotions.)

Soon, he felt an overwhelming misery. It felt as if it was suffocating him!

“Jason! Jason, calm down!”

Calm. I’m here—calm, calm.

It took a moment, but Jason came back to himself. What the fuck was that?

“Spectra has found a way to feed off you even while far away. We need to find her and stop her.”

Anger, anger. I will stop her. Anger—she must be stopped.

Danny touched Jason’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, we’ll find her.”

Jason nodded, already feeling better. A part of him was dreading Danny’s departure, and it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since he met the guy.

Danny kept his hand on Jason’s shoulder, grounding him, while he looked through Arkham’s security camera.

“There! That’s her.”

Jason watched the camera as a red-haired woman left an office. She had on glasses and a red suit.

Jason looked into the records.

“Penelope Spectra. She started ten days ago, the same time the suicides started.”

“I bet if we look around, we’d find suicide rates have gone up in other places.”

Jason nodded and started looking into it. He wouldn’t let the bitch get away with it.

[imjustdreamingig]

Run Away

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Summary: You were never a shy person, until it came to talking to the boy you liked.

A/N: Well, this is my first time writing something like this so... please be nice. I was kinda tired of only seeing shy!reader stuff so I decided to base this on my personality. So yeah, kind of based on a true story. What reader does in this story I've actually done in real life which is mortifying. Anyways!!! This is just edited by me so lmk how I can improve and if I should write a part 2??? Maybe?? Idk. Enjoy!

PS: Robin and Steve work together, nothing monstery has happened, they're all in the same grade. It's a bunch of dumb teenagers together battling high school.

Warnings: sfw, cursing, fluff? people being dumb?? idk what else tbh

You've never considered yourself to be a shy person. In fact, you were very much so extroverted, never finding qualms in chatting to your classmates or asking you're teacher questions in class that some may think are stupid. You didn't care.

Aside from being a little nervous back in elementary school, that trait had dissolved as you got older, and it definitely wasn't present at the moment during your senior year at Hawkins High.

However. As much as you liked to claim to be unbothered with public speaking and your ability to make friends easily, there was one thing that you couldn't just quite get over, no matter how hard you tried. And quite frankly, it was getting old and ridiculous.

"Fuck, Robin he's coming down the hall," you exclaimed, "move, move, move, move!"

You didn't bother checking if she was behind you, already knowing she would be as you practically ran to your second period class. It was the first day of the new semester anyways, you could use the excuse of wanting to get good seats to justify your cowardice to yourself later tonight.

"Jesus Christ," you heard Robin mutter as she finally caught up to you, "You know I have asthma, I cannot keep doing this every time you so much catch a glimpse of Steve."

You slowed down your pace, your heart not feeling as though it would burst out of your chest anymore. You still sported a slight flush on your face from the thought of the almost encounter you had with the jock.

"I know, I know, this is getting so stupid. I promise next time I'll talk to him, I swear," you said as you sighed forlornly.

Robin turned to you with an unimpressed stare. "That's what you said last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, and yet here we are," she waved her hands dramatically.

Here's your problem. An issue that is a complete juxtaposition of your usual personality. The moment you've ever realized you have a crush on someone, you would run away from them anytime you saw them. Literally. You would full on sprint away in the opposite direction.

You've never really understood why this happens, only knowing that the second you saw your current crush, you're usual non existent nerves would make a prevalent appearance. You'd freeze and your eyes would widen as your brain chose the flight response when confronted with a potential dangerous situation.

"Look dingus, I love you and I think you're awesome and all that, blah blah blah, but this has got to stop," Robin stated as you both took your seats in your English class. "You're embarrassing me just as much as you're embarrassing yourself and our social status cannot take that much more of a beating."

You knew she was joking but just grunted in response, having buried your face in the crook of your elbow, not even bothering to open up your notebook. You heard Robin sigh and could tell she was rolling her eyes at you.

"You know..." Robin started, "I could always just...talk to him for you? Give him you're number or something during our shift at-"

Your raised your head immediately, almost giving yourself whiplash. "Robs, no way. We've talked about this before! I just - this situation is already awkward as it is, that would just make it worse."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help, but if you wanna suffer some more that's totally your choice." Robin says as she shrugs her shoulders. "Besides, with all that running your doing, at least you're getting some cardio in."

You let out as surprised squawk. "Robin come on! Not funny!" She doesn't reply, merely continuing to laugh at you. All you did was just groan in response again, settling your head in your arms once more.

A few weeks ago, you had been walking to your locker whilst attempting to shove a bunch of textbooks into your bag at the same time. Obviously, everything fell and it just so happened that Steve was nearby and helped you out.

"Oh my God, you don't have to, it's totally fine," you'd stammered, just the tiniest bit embarrassed of dropping your books in the middle of the crowded hallway.

"Don't sweat it, it happens to the best of us." Steve chuckled as he handed you your notebook.

And then it happened. The event that you frequently replay over and over in your mind, the event that kickstarted the affections you had for the boy.

Once everything was stored safely in your bag, Steve stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans. He then turned his attention to you and simply offered you his hand to help you up.

You stared into his big, brown eyes, completely dumbfounded. Here he was, an average man doing the absolute bare minimum and yet you still found yourself practically falling at his feet, your heart feeling as thought it was going to beat out of your chest.

"I- uh, I mean, thanks for the hand Steve," you stammered as you tentatively took his hand and pulled yourself off the floor. You cringed when you felt that it was sort of shaking and kind of clammy, hoping Steve wouldn't notice. "Both literally and figuratively."

You wanted nothing more than the ground to swallow you up after you blurted out those words. To your surprise, Steve let out a laugh, a genuine laugh. His eyes sort of crinkled and you could see the slight indent of a dimple. As if the man needed to get any more attractive in your eyes.

"It's no problem at all," he reassured you. "I'll be seeing you." He gave a quick wave and then turned in the direction of the cafeteria. Your hands tightened on the straps of your backpack as you watched him walk away, admiring the view.

Oh ew, you suddenly thought to yourself, now that was just pathetic.

Ever since that moment, you couldn't give yourself that last push you needed to talk to him. Even after the multitude of pep talks you give yourself in the mirror, including the ones from Robin, you still always ran away whenever you saw him.

You'd be a fool to think he didn't notice it and prayed he didn't mistake it for you hating him or something.

The sound of the bell signaling the start of class pulled you from your misery, forcing you to pay attention to your teacher so you didn't face the consequences of falling behind so early in the term.

Amidst your groveling, you'd failed to notice a particular brunet enter the class and take a seat at a desk a few rows behind you. Who knows what your reaction would have been if you did. Robin just kept her mouth shut, simply winking in Steve's direction when she caught his eye.

"Alright class, settle down and listen up," your teacher began. "I know it's the first day of the semester, but I wanted to introduce an assignment before anything else to make sure you have enough time to complete it and do an excellent job."

The entire class let out a collective groan, yourself included. How could she already be giving out assignments when she hasn't even properly introduced herself?

You turned to Robin, brows furrowed in annoyance. "I think she's got her agenda mixed up, she's introducing things in the wrong order."

"Fuck this, I should've taken Eddie's warning more seriously. Now I understand why everyone hates her," Robin gripped, running a hand through her cropped hair, already looking a little stressed.

You nodded in agreement and added, "I think I get why people hate English so much too."

Robin laughed. "But you'll still love it anyways, won't you?" she chided. Before you had a chance to reply, your teacher began speaking again.

"Settle down, please! If you listen, you'd hear that this not due until the last month of the semester and you'll be working in partners," she stated, "so not only will you have plenty of time to work on it, but you'll also have some help." You and Robin glanced at each other, hopefully smiles tugging at both of your faces.

"Your partners will be assigned by me," the whole class collectively groaned again, "which is what I'll be doing as we get through attendance. I'll explain the criteria before moving on."

"Yep, I think I hate this class at least a little bit now," you complained to Robin, already making a mental checklist of what school stuff you should at least start on later in the afternoon.

"-ohn Gilmore, Phoebe Burton, partners. Steve Harrington, Y/N Y/L/N, partners. Billy Holden, Rob-"

You froze for a second, as if you were glitching. Steve was in... this class? There was no way, you would have absolutely noticed him. But as you snuck a glance behind you, sure enough there he was, sitting in his chair, mindlessly twirling a pencil through his fingers. To your surprise, he was actually looking back at you too and- wait hold up, was he smirking?

You immediately spun back around, hand lurching to grip onto the sides of your desk. You then blinked a couple of time, praying your face wasn't as red as you felt like it was.

"Nope, nope, absolutely not. No thank you," you said as you shook your head from side to side. "Miss, this is a joke right?" you inquired out loud.

You were eventually going to talk to Steve, you were sure of it. The day was coming where you could have some sort of a conversation with him without running away, you could feel it. The moment was almost here.

Today, however, was absolutely not that day.

Just when you were about to complain to you teacher out loud again, you feel a presence behind you.

"Oh come on, you're already dismissing me as a terrible English partner? I'm wounded, seriously." The voice was laced in amusement. You did not need to turn around to know who it belonged to.

Before you could even think of a response, Robin turns to you, clearly finding your horror to the situation hilarious, and says, "Well, I think you're going to hate this class a little bit too."

Well fuck.

[holyshonks]

I just finished the Halo YA series. @bloodgulchblog already warned that the ending is bad (in an ethically dubious way, not in quality--the series is good as far as Halo novels go) but it was even more unsettling than I thought. Some snippets that stood out to me:

Dorian is one of the kids who joins up with the UNSC. A bunch of his friends died during the initial attack on their town. Here, he finds out that the attack on the planet started six months prior and the UNSC didn't sound the alarm to "prevent panic". This triggers his distrust for towards UNSC, ONI, and Owen because he believes his friends could have survived if they had been warned.

Dorian's distrust also spreads to Evie, who starts to question ONI's motives. One of the details that I feel like we weren't supposed to read into is that ONI promised the kids a scholarship to college if they agreed to join the militia, which, considering how the books ends is just.......so disturbing.

"They're clearly okay with lying when it suits them." "Evie stop."

LET HER SPEAK!!!

(As an aside, I did like that one of Saskia's primary motives is she's trying to get on the UNSC's good side because her parents sold illegal arms and she doesn't want to be held accountable.)

And then of course, the most horrifying detail:

Victor has completely bought into the UNSC and is the most excited to have joined up. He gets injured and the kids are brought into a room and told that he's not recovering because of an ONI artifact they were all exposed to.

After """"""""getting his parent's permission"""""" they begin the still-experimental Spartan-IV augmentations on him and tell the kids that they will also die if they don't undergo the process. It is a doozy.

"You really think we're boogeymen, don't you?" Yes. Yes, I do.

Dorian is one of those characters that gets written off by the others as being paranoid while saying the exactly correct thing the entire time.

"I was a child soldier like my father before me and it was no big deal, god."

I feel like Dorian is supposed to be a stand-in for the reader because my immediate first thought when I read that Victor was sick is that ONI not only didn't get his parent's permission, but that they made up the disease whole-cloth. Like, with the context of everything ONI has ever done, this is elementary.

I truly can't tell if the intent was for this to be as sinister as it comes off? Because by the end they all "agree" to undergo the augmentations together because found family, greater good, ect ect and I'm left alone in the room like um......they're in high school??

Ultimately, I am interested to see how four teenagers with wildly different motives would make out as Spartans, but I would be pretty sad to see Dorian as a Spartan because it means they beat the healthy (and very accurate!!!!) suspicion out of him. But Dorian the insurrectionist? Yes please.

[a-hundred-jewels]

ptsd made me a hardcore marauders fan for seven months

Ao3

content warning: the following contains discussions of school violence, teen violence, (briefly) domestic violence, mental health issues, depression, and trauma. if any of these are sensitive topics for you, please proceed with caution. in addition, if you feel i've missed a warning, please nicely let me know in the comments.

I don't like Harry Potter. 

Sure, I binge-read the entire series in a bored, undiagnosed-ADHD-induced haze at the age of thirteen, have spent countless hours reading and even writing fanfiction for the series, have followed tumblr tags, listened to playlists, watched youtube videos, and am in the process of very slowly hand-binding myself a copy of A Black Mass Over Highway Ninety, but—

I don't like it, but nevertheless, I was sucked in. 

~

"Some kid overdosed," one of my classmates said. 

"What?" 

"They're clearing the hallways."

Our principal had just come on the loudspeakers to issue a "shelter in place" order, telling us to ignore all bells and stay in our current classroom until he came back on and told us otherwise. I was actually glad, hoping the extra time would allow me to finish my Spanish homework before second period, since I'd spent most of the weekend thinking about the Strictly Come Dancing finals and my King Lear presentation in English class. 

I hardly thought about the order itself—they're extremely common in United State schools, both as drills and as actual occurences. "Shelter in place" originated as a milder verison of going into lockdown where, instead of hiding from a potential shooter, students and teachers must simply not leave the room. In any case, I saw no reason to worry, and set about doing my homework. 

~

In fall of 2022, I started my senior year of high school at the age of seventeen. I was having a rough year—my younger sister's depression was at an all-time high and my mother was recovering from a health scare—but, fandomwise, I was doing great. After all, Our Flag Means Death had come out that spring and I was in love. All I wanted to talk about were the gay pirates, and I even bought myself a "Team Edward" t-shirt with Taika Waititi's face smack in the middle as a "back to school" present. Everything was supposed to get better. 

School sucked, because I went to a big public high school that looked like a prison and had equally-shitty Wifi, my (still undiagnosed) ADHD was worsening, and my grades were getting kind of bad. Even so, for a couple of months, I remained confident that my senior year would be my best one yet.

~

Third period was gym class, meaning I was only about an hour and a half away from the King Lear presentation. Senior year was actually one of the few years where I liked gym, which was awesome. It was just me and six boys, all of whom were nice to me, and our teacher was great. I think we were playing badminton that day, when our principal came on the loudspeakers to say that we were, once again, under a "shelter in place" order. 

We were nonchalant about this, just as we had been in the morning. I cannot stress how desensitized children in the U.S. are to things like this, these days. When my little sister was in elementary school, there was a day when the whole school was put in a "shelter in place" because a man was walking around outside with a bunch of knives. When I was a junior, a boy severely beat up his girlfriend in the school hallway, giving her a concussion and leading to two mass protests. There were violent fights at my town's public schools almost weekly—and all of this is very, very normal. I would go so far as to say that my situation was pretty mild. 

So we sat on the floor and did homework as time crept on, wondering vaguely what was going on, but no moreso than that. Third period ended, and we stayed. It should have been lunch time—we were getting hungry—but there was still no word about the lockdown ending. We stayed. Surely, it could only be another ten minutes or so?

And then, one of my classmates looked up from his phone screen, which was displaying a chat on Discord. 

"Oh my god—someone was stabbed."

~

Before, I get properly started, I'd like to be totally clear: the point of this essay isn't to bash the Harry Potter fandom, not as a whole, and certainly not the sections of it I've been in. I met some incredible people while in my period of rabidly consuming Marauders content, and I don't want to put them down or dishonor the beautiful things they've created with my attitude. I loved my time in the Marauders fandom as much as I could love anything at that point in my life and have nothing but respect for the writers, artists, and tumblrinas who welcomed me into their space. 

All of that being said, I think it's fascinating that I fell into a fandom like this one, particularly when I was doing so badly mentally. My dislike of Harry Potter only increases as I grow, as does my indifference, and, while I understand that's a fairly common sentiment shared among Marauders fans, I also get the impression that nostalgia plays a big part in their participation in the fandom. A Harry Potter- loving, bookworm child grows into a cynical teen, and then into a kind, brilliant adult with a "well, fuck it" attitude towards the world, using their limited free time to take that nostalgia from a childhood book series and write the kind of queer narratives they wish they'd had in adolescence. I could, of course, be wrong, but that's more-or-less how I understood the specific parts of the fandom I was in. (I know pretty much nothing about the tik tok side of the Marauders fandom, so we're just not factoring that in at all). Also, note that I said "adult" before, because the majority of people I interacted with were in their twenties and thirties. Being eighteen at the time and still in highschool, they all seemed at least moderately grown-up and untouchable to me. 

All this to say, once again, that I literally didn't care about Harry Potter until I was almost fourteen and, even then, I only started reading it out of sheer boredom. I have pretty much no nostalgia or happy childhood memories associated with the series—I even skipped large sections of the fourth and seventh books because it irritated me whenever the main characters were fighting with each other. I was, at best, a casual fan. 

There's something comforting, though, about being in such a big fandom, especially when your bad habit of choice is binge-reading smutty fanfiction in order to feel less dead. And, regardless of how I actually felt about Harry Potter , the concrete safety of a completed, unchanging series of books and movies where the author was already widely disliked definitely appealed tome and my less-than-stable life. You don't need to worry about a scandal if they've all already happened and, no matter how hard she tried to on Twitter, Joanne can't actually change the contents of the books. In my world of current fandoms and kind writers and actors all accessible on social media, the fuck-ass Harry Potter fandom was a bit of a refuge. 

So that's why I think it was specifically the Marauders that I got into.

~

I don't actually remember how long we were in that gym. It must have been at least two hours, including the class time beforehand, but I barely remember any of it. I texted my friends, frantically trying to determine that everyone I knew was okay, and I told my parents what was going on. To this day, the thing I am most thankful for is that my sister, who we'll call Tabitha, wasn't there. I don't know what I would have done if she'd been in school that day. The other main thing I remember thinking about was my King Lear presentation, which was supposed to happen right after lunch, and, as the time stretched on, I became more and more worried that I wouldn't get to do it that day. 

Shortly after my classmate saw the Discord messages about the stabbing, a video of the fight was leaked across Snapchat, as well as an image of the wound. We all looked on in horror, including my teacher (who we'll call Mr. Blake). It's objectively horrible to watch footage of a child being stabbed, no matter how grainy the video is, but, so far, we'd received no official information from the school, so this was literally all we had, and it had happened in the same building. Our principal wasn't allowed to make any statements (at least to my understanding) without it going through our superintendant and, for whatever reason, she didn't feel it necessary to get ahead of social media on this. 

I was trapped in a school with thousands of other people, one of whom had just assaulted someone. 

~

The night before my second semester of senior year began, I stayed up past midnight reading Dear Your Holiness by @mollymarymarie fleabag AU where Remus is a priest by day and a local rock musician by night, and Sirius has a popular music magazine. I had also spent much of my winter break listening to a podfic of All The Young Dudes (made it to sixth year) and generally rooting around people's bookmarks and gifts to get out of my head, so it's safe to say that, by the time I got to school in January, my brain was practially deep-fried in this new fandom, and it would only get moreso. 

~

Mr. Blake felt, after an hour or so, that we'd be safer in the boys' locker room. He brought us down through a stairwell I'd never seen before, tucked away in corner of a closet in the gymnasium. I was thrilled by the opportunity to explore and filmed the journey on my phone. It's a weird, haunting video, not just for the grim situation and shadowy rooms, but because I'm so lively behind the camera. We're all fairly upbeat, joking about how big the school is and what things must have been like when it opened. I won't share the video here, as I don't feel like doxing myself, but I did rewatch it in preparation for writing this and it's truly disconcerting to look at the inside of a building I haven't been in for over a year, to hear the voice of a past version of myself and know I'm seeing snapshots of a day that changed me forever. 

All there was to eat in the locker room were these Gatorade protein bars—mine was supposedly cookies and cream flavoured. I still remember the taste, sickly sweet and artificial. On an empty stomach, particularly an overly sensitive autistic one like mine, it was a horrible idea, and I felt sick afterwards, but god, I was so hungry. 

I sent a selfie to my parents and Tabitha, then tried to read fanfiction while listening to one of my classmates talk in what sounded like Hatian Creole with his family on the phone. Boys were constantly being paraded in to use the urinals. The walls were painted concrete blocks, the benches were narrow and hard, and so I sat there. 

~

In February, I spend a weekend binge-reading A Black Mass Over Highway Ninety, which kickstarted an obsession with seventies music and fashion. I read and reread the sex scenes during my final few months of highschool, trying desperately to shut my brain up and keep me from feeling so trapped in my daily life and the school I still attended. I got into the works of @spookymoonie, who was incredibly kind to me, and used to visit and refresh their blog every day to see if they'd (sigh) written more porn. Look, man, it was really good porn. 

On the day of my high school graduation, I got dressed in pants that were too small for me, a shirt that was too big, and a cap and gown that made me look like a walking body bag. I mingled with my friends beforehand, taking pictures with people who I now haven't spoken to in months. The ceremony was long and boring but I'm a sucker for that kind of symbolic stuff, so I kind of liked it. I did say for weeks afterwards, though, that I didn't feel like I'd really graduated until I was cycling home, listening to "Telephone Line" on my tinny iPhone speaker. That was my graduation. 

And I only knew that song from the official Black Mass playlist. 

~

By the time we were finally released from the "shelter in place" and sent for lunch, it had been about three hours since our principal's initial announcement back in third period. There was little fanfare to the whole ordeal, and I don't recall any actual information being given to our parents from the school at this point, either, though I could be misremembering. Our principal simply came on the speakers and told us that the lockdown was up and we were to go for lunch. I had a pre-packaged turkey wrap that day—my mum got them from the store sometimes as a special lunch for me. I'm a vegetarian these days, so I wouldn't eat it regardless, but, even if I weren't, I don't think I could bring myself to eat one of those wraps again, not without remembering. 

We'd only been in lunch for about ten minutes when somebody pulled the fire alarm. I don't know who did it, only that it was a student and there was no fire. I hate the fire alarm for the same reasons I hate all sudden, loud noises, and I was so overwhelmed already that I remember crying as we were paraded out into the parking lots, shivering in the cold, late-December air. I sat on a curb and ate my sandwich, wishing I had left when some of my classmates had, as soon as the "shelter in place" was lifted, or at least that I had my jacket and keys with me so I could get my bike and leave right then. 

The fire drill was over as quickly as it had started and, god, I wish I'd left right then. Just grabbed my shit and got the hell out of there. But, well…my English presentation. 

To anyone with rational mind capabilities, it would be incredibly obvious by now that said English presentation was absolutely not happening. A child had been stabbed, we'd all seen it on video and then been trapped for three hours— King Lear was far from a pressing concern. But I was traumatized and one of my groupmates was leaving the next day, so it felt like an emergency. So long as I was focused on my presentation and the soap opera-like melodrama of the play, I didn't have to think about what was happening around me. 

Anyway, we did nothing English related fourth period, instead sitting in a circle and letting our teacher talk us through how we were feeling. I'm very grateful to her for giving us the space she did to feel our fear and anger without judgement, and I will never forget her telling us that we were to use the teachers' bathrooms for the rest of the day, and if any administrators had a problem with it, they could take things up with her. It might not seem like much, but when the stabbing had occured in a student bathroom, it was really nice for someone to acknowledge that we might be scared. 

Another hour, or so, and the day was over. 

~

I also want to get ahead and make sure I'm not framing my leaving of the Marauders fandom as a particularly good thing, or a good time in my life. I was still depressed and unemployed and, even after I finally got a job in August, I managed to hit several more crushing lows before the end of 2023—I was just reading different fanfiction to cope. At the very least, though, I was reading fic for stuff I was actually a fan of, which is typically a good place to start. 

The feeling reminded me a bit of the one I used to get after I'd finished writing and posting a piece of puppet erotica—just this overwhelming sensation of "Wait, what was that?" It's like post-nut clarity, except clearly not. My time as a Marauders fan feels, in retrospect, like a bastardization, an appropriation. I was not a real fan because I didn't really care—I just needed something safe to numb my pain and confusion. That's why it feels so important to make sure I'm not trying to represent or bash the fandom in any way. It wouldn't be fair, because I wasn't really, genuinely a part of it. 

~

When I finally had cycled home and let myself in the back door, I only remember collapsing. My mum was in the living room and I just stood there, I think. All I really remember is this image of how I think I looked, as though my mind had floated out of my head and taken a photograph. My face is very pale and completely blank, my bag somewhere on the floor next to me, and I'm staring at nothing, the performance of being okay just…evaporating. I know my mum told me she'd been facetiming my grandparents and aunt throughout the day and they were worried as well. 

One thing I often forget about that day is that, barely an hour after coming home, I had a violin lesson over zoom. I assume it must have been a similar situation to the King Lear presentation, where I had to act as normal as possible in order to not completely freak out. I told myself that I couldn't cancel, because then I'd have to pay the fee, but, like. I'm pretty sure he would have made an exception. I remember telling him "oh, by the way, I'm a little out of it because someone got stabbed at school today," and seeing the utterly baffled look on his face. He offered to postpone, and I declined. I was not a very good student that day—I think I'd forgotten what we did in the lesson before the hour was even finished. 

I went downstairs afterward and told my mum everything—I think. Either that or I lay in bed. The next thing I remember is going to school the next day, because I was still clinging to that King Lear presentation. Or maybe it was just because I didn't know what to do with myself? No idea. The next night, I was feeling sick and tested positive for Covid. 

So that was nice. 

~

My high school was never the same after the stabbing. Rules got stricter, a mass of teachers quit or transfered, the classes graduated and moved on, and I truly think something died that day. No matter how bad things were beforehand, there was always this hope I felt—this optimism. Even if I'd been cynical for weeks, all it took to love that shitty old building was an orchestra concert or a school play. It was trash, but it was home. That love didn't come back. 

My love for the Marauders proved to be just as fleeting. I literally woke up one day last July with a craving for this Good Omens/Buzzfeed Unsolved crossover fanfiction (called video appeal by ravel_aorla) and that was the end of my phase. Poof! Avada Kadavra! 

I'm proud to say, though, that I'm doing much better now. I'm writing and editing this in my college dorm room, which I moved into just yesterday. I'm also very into My Chemical Romance now, and am able to share that interest (and a long furby) with one of my best friends, @vriska-serketboard. It's been a year and a half since my high school has darkened the door of my feet and I am worlds better for it. 

Call it instinct as a former GSA leader, but that's how I want to end this. It get's better. I got better, and you can too. 

Thank you.

[silyabeeodess]

What headcannons do you have on Derrick Arden? I saw your post while back. What would've happened in an AU, everything is the same, except Derrick lives? What would he do after graduation? Both as a job and in private?

Been a long time since I've talked about anything Kuroshitsuji related! Sadly, with the amount of pull Derrick has at school, I just don't see him changing if he survived. More than likely, he'll follow a victim mentality where he'd think he's completely innocent and would ignore all the abuse he himself has done to other students leading up to Greenhill attacking him and the vice headmaster. The reason Derrick was able to get away with everything he has throughout his life is because he's never had to face any true consequences for his actions up until that point. His only consequences prior were responsibilities he did not earn and then just passed on to other people. Moreover, however strict his family his, they've apparently never caught Derrick in his lies, so not even his parents will punish him properly. They'll more than likely just back Derrick as "their poor son attacked by four prefects gone mad."

The thing is though, despite what all of these students, and people like them in the real world, think... School isn't everything. It's a closed environment that means absolutely nothing except what you take with you once you step out of it. I once had bully who ruled over my first elementary school because her mom was a teacher. Everyone followed her like a bunch of mindless sheep, but the instant we got to high school, those connections broke. At this same school, I had a lunch monitor that was so vile she wouldn't let anyone, not even a student with Down Syndrome, get up from their table to get a fork if they forgot it: We were basically told to eat with our hands or starve. She was eventually fired, not for those actions, but (according to rumor anyway) because she refused to help a student who needed to use a urinary catheter (which she legally could not do). She had to work at a gas station after that, along with receiving some other karma that is so dark a fate that I don't feel comfortable sharing it online. In a school's hierarchy, people like those two women, or Derrick and the vice headmaster, get on a power trip, but the instant they step away from that environment... they're nobody.

What would Derrick take with him when he'd graduate? Knowledge? He never put any effort into his studies. Connections? He's got his small circle of nobles, but the prefects and Derrick's victims are a much bigger one--not to mention they're a part of other powerful families like the Druitts that could both figuratively and literally bury him without anyone batting an eye. The prefects would more than likely end up expelled after the event, but all that free time would just give them plenty of opportunities to build up a grudge and cook up revenge. And when things get tough, chances are, those so-called friends of Derrick's that are just as morally bankrupt and follow him around for money are going to kick him to the side.

Derrick's a noble and the family heir at that, so it's unlikely he'd go for a traditional job. More than likely, as soon as he got out of Weston, his family would start pushing him into more adult social circles and prepare him to take over as the next Marques. Here though is where the true consequences of his actions would take over. Because with the prefects expelled, they'll have likely already been in those same circles. Even if his social standing wasn't destroyed, barring him and potentially his family as a whole from things like business deals or marriages... Derrick would by no means be fit to run his family's household. He'd either drag his entire family to ruin; end up revealing his lies to his parents, who'd then strip him of his status as the heir; or both. Even if his family still keeps him afloat with their wealth, if he doesn't know how to manage it, he'll still end up destitute or dead.

Could he grow after that? Maybe. People can change. However, given how many people he's hurt and the severity of his actions, it's not easy to say that others would be willing to give him a second chance.

[im-not-a-l0ser]

Hi! I do have a question or two about the American public school system (as a Canadian). First of all, are football and cheerleading really that big? No school I’ve gone to has ever had football. I don’t think I’ve ever played football. Second, how many periods are in a day and how long? For us it’s four 1h20m blocks, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. And what is a passing period? And are your bells really like the brrriiing! that we see? ok thanks :)

Firstly- I mean, sort of? At my school, we have numerous sports posters in the hallways, and then we have banners of senior (final year) athletes there too, but those are for all sports, and the marching band. And usually the jags in class are football players. Cheerleading is a bit more neutral. I know people on the cheer squad who I get along with and others who I really don't. In reality, the athletes generally are the worst. I guess that's not really what you were asking, uhhh. Okay, in regards to NPMD specifically, the big game, people being very into that? It's very likely. While my school doesn't have like 'rivals,' in the soap operatic universe, it makes perfect sense to me that they'd get more into the Clivesdale game than into the HoCo game, which we don't even get to see the prior of. Most schools have pep rallies for the HoCo and final games, I believe. I'd say the first game too, but I actually think football games start before a lot of school years. The biggest sports, at least at my school, are Football and Basketball. I hear a little bit about soccer and swim too, but barely. I believe that Football, Basketball and Soccer are generally the only ones with cheerleaders, while Football and Basketball usually have both cheerleaders and the band.

Secondly, the periods here are about 45 minutes. At both of my high schools, we've had three different lunch periods, A, B and C. So, for example, I had A lunch for my freshman year at my homeschool, and my junior year at my vocational school. At my home school, during my B and C periods, I'd spend the entire time, and hour and a half, in a single class. At my vocational school, you just keep switching classes like normal. I believe that both my home and vocational school have 9 periods, although it's technically 8 at my home school since it goest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5A, 5B, 5C, 6, 7, 8, while at my vocational school it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

Third, Passing Period. This one is quite simple. Most schools have 3-5 minutes to move from class to class. A bell goes off signifying the end of your current period, and then after a few minutes, a second bell goes off signifying the beginning of the next class. That's when teachers take attendance, and that bell it what let's teachers know when a student is tardy. This is a special case, so I don't think it's super common, but during my freshman year, the pandemic was still a pretty big concern, so we technically had a 6 minute passing period. Bell one: Freshmen and Sophomores (9-10) would go to their next class; Bell two: that's when 9 and 10 classes should be in their next period, and when Juniors and Seniors (11-12) left the classroom. Bell three signified the end of passing period, and when Juniors and Seniors had to be in class. It was to avoid so many people in the halls at once.

Fourth, the school bell: it depends on the school to every degree. At my elementary school (kindergarten-6th grade) there was no bell at all. In my middle school (7-8), it literally sounded like a hockey buzzer when I went, but is much more calm now, just a prolonged key. At my home high school (9-10) it is like four or five quarter notes of the same key. At my vocational school (11-12), it's much more... inconsistent? The building is quite new, so things are still shifting. Last year it was just a prolonged key as well, but most days this year it's been like a bunch of sixteenth notes? It sounds like you shoved the speaker for the bell underwater and it's just bubbling out in chunks. I am very sure that there are still schools with the classic briiing bell sound. My first couple visits to the high school in my town (my home high school) there were still the bells on the wall, they just weren't active.

(PS: A vocational school is a school that you attend specifically to study a specific career path during your high school years, usually to avoid the need for college.)

[thisismysecondrodeo]

thinking about ted holding something out of y/n’s reach to tease her, so she tickles him and he starts giggling and blushing

AN: I based this one very loosely off of this scene in Abbott Elementary because I am obsessed lol if you haven’t watched it you should its SO good.

Rating: Teen

Tags: Fluff, One Shot, Flirting, Getting Together, Making Out

Fic masterlist

You walked into the coaches’ office to find Ted and Beard in the middle of their paper ball game. You leaned against the door, always amused at their antics and not wanting to interrupt, but after a few rounds the ball skittered to a stop at your feet and the men noticed your presence. 

“Well hey there, Y/N,” Ted smiled at you broadly which always sent a rush of butterflies through your stomach. You had only been working at AFC Richmond for a couple of months and you had to remind yourself that he was that nice to everyone, even if it only made your crush harder to manage. “Sorry about our little game there, something we can do for you?”

“Just need you actually, Ted,” you responded and Beard wasted no time in grabbing his backpack and heading towards the door. 

“Y/N,” he said in passing, feigning seriousness but he was betrayed by the small smirk on his face. 

“Jethro,” you returned and he did a double-take and then shook his head with a chuckle. It had become a running game between the two of you for you to try to guess his name, but really you just tried to make him laugh. Apparently, Jethro wasn’t it. Ted chuckled as well and you winked at him before picking up the paper ball and tossing it up and down as you entered the office, leaning your hip against the side of Beard’s desk to face Ted. 

If you didn’t know better, and of course you knew better, Ted looked like he might be checking you out. His eyes lingered on where your hip jutted out, making their way slowly up your body—or maybe it was just a trick of the light. 

“I was coming to ask if you’d be willing to do an Instagram takeover from training one day next week. Richmond fans love when you’re on.” 

“Really,” Ted leaned back in his chair, a quizzical look on his face, “Keeley told me she used to just get a bunch of messages that said ‘wanker.’” 

“Oh yeah, there’s a lot of that,” you nodded seriously, “but our female fans feel VERY strongly that you be featured in every post. And I’d have to agree. Hence, the takeover.”

Ted blushed and adjusted his sweater. It brought you an inordinate amount of joy to catch him off guard with a compliment. It only took a second for him to recover and a mischievous look crossed his face.

“Tell ya what,” Ted suddenly leaned forward and caught the paper ball you’d been tossing in your hand, “you play me in a game of paper horse. You win and I’ll do the Instagram takeover.”

“And if you win?”

“If I win,” Ted was suddenly not meeting your eye, looking around the room as if he could find the answer somewhere on the walls, “then you’ll come to the Crown & Anchor with me for dinner, tonight?” Your eyes widened, but you could see that in the split second that you didn’t answer, Ted was second-guessing himself—you couldn’t have that. 

You didn’t want him to doubt asking you to dinner, you just couldn’t believe it had happened. You leaned into Ted’s space, your faces inches apart as you took the paper ball back from him, “You’re on.” 

You turned around and took an easy shot at the trash can, leaning on your muscle memory from playing high school basketball. Ted whistled behind you as the paper landed neatly in the basket. He took off his sweater and you tried to contain your enthusiasm at seeing him in one less layer. “Well now, I believe I might have just been hustled,” you laughed as Ted stepped around you to retrieve the paper and you took Ted’s seat, watching as he positioned himself in the same spot as you, and the ball sunk in neatly. 

“Uh-huh, sure you are. I know you played college ball, Coach, I do my research. I think you may have been trying to hustle me,” you smiled as he stepped into Roy’s office to try for the equivalent of a paper ball 3-pointer that bounced off the rim. Both of you walked towards the trash to retrieve it, but Ted beat you to it.

“Woah, woah, woah what are you doing? You missed, it's my turn.” 

“I missed it but I didn’t get a letter! There’s no shot for you to match,” Ted tried to explain but you were still trying to get the paper ball back from him and he lifted his hand above his head while he was talking to keep it out of your grasp. 

Ted was so fastidious about making eye contact when you spoke, it never felt like he was as tall as he really was. It was silly, but the height difference he had on you was more than a little attractive. You stretched as if you had a chance of reaching his hand but you only managed to bump your chest against his, and you could feel his sharp intake of breath at the contact. You looked down from the paper ball your eyes met,  the tension between you two nearly overwhelming. It suddenly struck you how empty the stadium was now that it was after hours, how close you were to Ted’s lips, and how much you wanted to wrap a hand behind his head and bring those lips to yours. 

The two of you stood unmoving and silent for a solid 15 seconds before you smirked, and brought your hands quickly to Ted’s sides catching him off guard with a tickle. Ted brought his arm down sharply and all out giggled, his chin tucking to his chest and his dimple appearing deeper than ever out in pure mirth. It was adorable, and it made you never want to stop tickling him, but you could see the pink blush creeping up from under his shirt color and up his cheeks. You took pity on him and stopped, but it took a moment for his breathing to calm. He didn’t even notice you had slipped the paper ball from his grasp and hopped up to sit on the desk as he was too busy taking a deep breath a few steps away. 

“Now I see why you wear all those layers, you’re a downright Tickle-Me-Elmo…a tickle-me-Ted if you will,” you teased and Ted smiled back, a little bashful. 

“I can’t remember the last time someone tickled me. I mean probably Henry but kids are no good at it,” he smiled, “I was always embarrassed at how ticklish I was as a kid.” 

“You shouldn’t be,” you shook your head sincerely, “it’s adorable. It only makes me want to touch you more.” You ducked your head as soon as the words left your mouth, but Ted just stepped closer forcing you to lift your chin to meet his gaze. 

“Is that right,” Ted said, an undercurrent of flirtation in his tone. You smiled, setting the paper ball aside and gripping the edge of the desk with both hands leaning towards Ted to speak quietly.

“That’s right. What do you say we call this game of HORSE a draw? You still do the Instagram takeover, and I still take you out to dinner.” You lifted a hand, fit your finger playfully between two of the buttons of his dress shirt and he grinned. 

“I’d say that’s an offer I can’t refuse. But since you did make the first shot, I think it's only right you get a little something extra.” 

“Extra, huh?” You were trying to sound flirty but it came out so breathy you just sounded eager—which you couldn’t deny you were. 

Ted leaned down and you wasted no time meeting his lips, kissing him softly and sweetly before he licked against your bottom lip and the kiss turned heated. 

You broke away, regretfully, and whispered, “if we don’t stop now neither one of us is going to dinner.” 

“Is that a threat or a promise,” Ted said, his voice low and seductive. You groaned, your desire to go on a date with Ted warring with your desire to jump his bones then and there. You put your hands on his waist and backed him up as you slid off the desk. 

“Come on Elmo,” you held out a hand to him to lead him out of the office, pleased that he only grabbed his backpack and not his sweater. “Dinner first and then I’ll find all the other places that make you giggle like that.”