#we mostly talk about books and fic exchanges lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fullscoreshenanigans · 2 years

Text

Decided to make this separate post from the Ray as the family memory keeper post.

#I know this memory keeper aspect tends to be used for Emma's sake in fics #But it would definitely add more depth if the other older siblings were mentioned too (via @thathilomgirl)

There definitely is thematic beauty in the boy who remembered everything and the girl who lost her memory that’s just *chef’s kiss*, and I’m not going to chide people for exploring that because I also enjoy that content lol

But something I’ve talked about a bit before is how I think this due to a combination of Shirai purposefully not fleshing out the supporting cast as much as he could have to avoid extraneous narrative branches

(Source: Chapter 2 of the Mystic Code Book translated by @1000sunnygo)

and how fandom in general tends to gravitate toward shipping, so you have the glut of the content centered around the main trio since they’re the ones with the most development and focus across the entire narrative. Something I entirely get and again am not going to chide people over because I also enjoy that content a lot (hence the url).

Yet at the same time, one of the most compelling things about these three for me is how the love they feel for their entire family is so integral to their characters. The entire escape plays out the way it does because Emma vehemently refused to leave any of her family behind from the get-go. Norman’s plan to eradicate the demons was so his family (and all the cattle children) could live freely without the fear of being eaten. One of the most important lessons Ray learns from the escape arc is that it’s okay to hope and see a world outside the scope of just Emma and Norman. Everyone is able to endure Emma’s disappearance instead of succumb to prolonged despair because they have each other. Their family enriches their lives, pushes them to strive for the better, and supports them—the latter point emphasized in the most heartbreaking way via the contrast the series makes with Isabella in chapter 37/S1e12:

Both mediums intentionally choose to incorporate a visual of a lone Isabella standing atop the wall, zoomed out to highlight just how small and alone she is in her realization. Despite loving her fellow orphans at Grace Field, she didn’t have the support network the trio had to resist succumbing to the same system that oppressed countless generations before her, while a then-Mom Sarah essentially offers her the same (non-)choice she offers to Emma.

We don’t get to see as much of this in the anime due to budget and time, but below the cut is a non-exhaustive collection of interactions Demizu incorporated into the manga to help reinforce the importance of the younger kids in the trio’s lives and vice versa (with a couple from the anime that I thought it did better). I wanted to focus mostly on the smaller ones that people might not fully register while reading through the first time; there are a few larger ones that are more likely to stand out in people’s memories, but I love them a lot so I included them (up through chapter 48 because I fought with tumblr for an hour over how many images are in here):

(Chapter 1: Emma wrangling all the kids in her room in the morning.)

(Chapter 1: Norman, Emma, Mike, and an unnamed gray-haired girl helping Isabella with food prep while Ray scolds Lanni in the background.)

(Chapter 8: Ray patting Thoma on the head as he provides pointers for how he can improve playing tag while Mark listens in interest. In the anime, the pat is missing during their brief exchange in S1e03. </3 However, Dalia and Nina are now present.)

(Chapter 9: Phil, Thoma, Lanni, Mike, and other children dragging Ray to play tag with them and Krone.)

(Cropped Chapter 10 chapter art, with which I’m sort of cheating since it didn’t actually happen in canon, but it’s representative of how all three desire to protect their younger siblings from harm, even Ray who is prioritizing Emma and Norman’s survival at this point in the story. One of many symbolic artworks, but this is the only one I’ll include.)

(Chapter 10: Emma giving Phil a piggyback ride as she tries to come to terms with the possibility of one of her dear siblings betraying her, showcasing just how common it is for her siblings to seek her out to interact and play with her. From right to left, top to bottom: Damdin, Lanni, Thoma, Jemima, Mark, Don, Gilda, Charlie, Anna, Phil, Vivian, unnamed gray-haired girl, Eugene, Alicia.)

(Chapter 14: Emma, Carol, Gilda, and Phil greeting Ray after his meeting with Norman about the traitor and how they should proceed with the escape plan.)

(Chapter 15: Norman being awoken from his nightmare by Damdin and Sherry. The hug from their older brother is just as much of a comfort for him as it is for them; another reminder of why he chooses to remain steadfast in supporting Emma’s goal of bringing everyone and the conclusion he reaches for himself in Chapter 14:)

(Chapter 19: another piece of cover art, but unlike the one from chapter 10 this one is of a flashback. Besides the full score trio, it features Don, possibly the boy from the null score trio featured in chapter 181.1, Gilda, and Anna. For a brief overview of specifically the progression of Don and Ray’s relationship, see this post.)

(Chapter 21: Emma pulling Gilda and Don aside while Norman distracts Ray from her implementing their plan to go against his wishes by slowly bringing the younger kids in on it, starting with Anna, Nat, Thoma, and Lanni during the meeting with Krone planned for later that night.)

(Chapter 22: Ray instructing the children around him with a stern look on hi face, meanwhile they’re all giggling in delight. Norman can all be seen instructing some little ones further back.)

(Chapter 28: the children’s reaction to Norman being “adopted.” Thoma and Lanni are aware of how dire the situation is at this point, having listened to the conversation with Krone, and Phil has an inkling something is off, but the rest of the young ones are happy he’s found a home with a new family, though Sherry is taking it rather hard.)

(Chapter 28: Don, Nat, Marnya, and some other children happily playing with Norman on his last day at the house.)

(Chapter 31: Thoma, Lanni, Anna, and Phil trying to comfort a [seemingly] distraught Emma after Norman’s shipment.)

(Chapter 34: Mike hugging Norman during his over voice of his letter to Emma explaining the plan to her.)

(Chapter 34: Yvette happily letting Norman borrow some paper for him to write his letter on during the same flashback. This is expanded to include him interacting with Alicia and Jemima in S1e11 of the anime, who are also happy to see and spend more time with him on his last day there:)

(Chapter 34: Lanni and Thoma guiding Ray to where the rest of the escapees are while he’s disoriented from having his entire plan and worldview flipped on its axis.)

(Chapter 34: Thoma helping Emma with her backpack as she checks in with everyone to make sure they deactivated their tracking devices. Chris and Anna are shown worrying about her ear [since nowhere in the plan does it say she should cut it off. To this day I’m wondering what Norman wrote in the letter for what she’s supposed to do here; have Ray, Thoma, or Lanni cut out her tracker so she could hold it in her pocket until she ditches it to distract Isabella, but they ran out of time?], but Emma asks for her to wait until later.)

(Chapter 35: Gilda, Anna, and Emma helping the younger kids up the wall. Ray, despite still being bewildered by what is happening, spares a moment to pat Alicia’s head, both to steady her if she needs it and to reassure himself he’ll be able to help her if she does.)

(Chapter 35 Side Scene: Emma comforting Phil after he confirms with her that Norman was harvested. He thinks back to his last exchange with Norman where his older brother trusted him to help Emma as best as he could. In the present, he thinks of his five oldest living siblings by name while steeling his resolve to distract Isabella and buy the escapees a few more minutes of time.)

(Chapter 36: Emma encouraging Chris and Mark about ziplining across the canyon. Nat, ever a distinguished lad as he raises his pinky, encourages his older brother in his trademark playful charismatic fashion before he ziplines across.)

(Chapter 36: Ray picking up and comforting a terrified Jemima on top of the wall. He, Jemima, Thoma, Lanni, and Emma are the only ones left on their side of the canyon, so while he leaves it open for them to find an alternative way across in the form of a question [in his lightly teasing older brother way, to not scare them further by panicking or acting radically out of character], he hopes his taking Jemima across will give them enough encouragement to make it themselves.)

(Chapter 36: Ray summing up what he’s learned over the arc—that alone we are near powerless to stop oppressive systems but through collective effort they can be toppled, that it’s okay to hope for a better tomorrow and have faith in the friends and family around you, that his family loves him dearly and believes he’s worth saving, that he can help them more by living rather than dying—with my small alteration of switching “wish” to “hope” in the textbox next to Chris just because I like how that flows more. Fun fact these two pages wreck me.)

(Chapter 38: Ray vowing to protect the family he believed there was no way for him to save if he wanted to ensure Emma and Norman’s survival. While he never acts maliciously or cruelly toward his siblings, he purposely kept a mental distance between them and himself—to strengthen his mental resolve about committing self-immolation and using other children to test how to break the trackers when he knew it would upset Emma and Norman, and so that his death would hurt all his siblings less. He won’t be sacrificing himself needlessly anymore, as evidenced a short while later in chapter 43 where he reaffirms this vow to himself when being pursued by demons:)

(Source: Chapter 2 of the Mystic Code Book)

(Chapter 39: Emma and Ray grabbing Chris and Thoma respectively to protect them from their fall into the den of life-sucking plants, referenced in The Adventures of Ugo as the Snakes of Alvapinera.)

(Chapter 39: Alica and Yvette running to hug Emma and Jemima running to hug Gilda, happy that they’re all reunited and safe. Yvette later goes to Gilda for a second hug. Anna, Lanni, and Nat all move to comfort Thoma and reassure him they’re okay.)

(Chapter 39: Emma making a dive to save Alicia and Jemima from one of the plants.)

(Chapter 46/S2e02: I’m choosing the anime version because they made the correction of having the kids run to Emma and Ray for hugs. And after quickly getting his bearings, Ray smiles back at them?? S2 can have a few rights. The only one of the seven youngest escapees missing is Dominic. </3)

(Chapter 46: While Emma is going over what she learned from her late-night conversation with Sonju about the promise between two worlds with Anna, Don, Gilda and Nat—something important in its own right as it shows she trusts them and wants to keep them in the loop without worrying the younger kids yet—we see Ray watching over the younger children and specifically holding Rossi’s hand as they proceed on their journey.)

(Chapter 48: An absolutely iconic scene reinforcing everything that’s been stressed prior about relying on the people around you who care and that it’s better to share the burden rather than sacrifice yourself. The kids are angry because they love and care so much about their two oldest siblings. Look at Ray tenderly patting Jemima’s head while Mark and Dominic stare up at him with loving eyes. Ends on Sonju and Mujika saying the realest shit.)

(A bonus side comic from chapter 2 of the Mystic Code Book offering a bit more insight into Thoma and Lanni’s thoughts about Ray’s suicidal behaviors. All the escapees knew Ray intended to commit suicide from the point of whenever Norman’s note got to Emma and she brought them up to speed on the finalized plan because Anna cut her braids off and they had to hide away the stuff for the fake Ray corpse kit inconspicuously however many weeks ahead of time, but I’m still unsure how much they knew about his motivation and how much he truly, deep down in his bones believed he deserved to die in order to atone for what he did. Likewise, I still debate just how much of Ray’s speech Thoma and Lanni heard before they decided to knock on the dining hall door, but any rate they’re playing around with the sausage links while Emma’s slapping the lighter fluid off him in the background and yelling at him. They and Emma were the three present to see just how close he’d come to accomplishing his plan, and even if they didn’t know about how deep into despair he had sunk, it still hurt to see their older brother dowsed in gasoline, ready to die for the escape plan to succeed. Bless Shirai for including this.)

Again, far from exhaustive because I’m nearing the limit, but it’s a large part of what endears me to the trio and the series as a whole, and why I have the Big Bro Norman Tag, Big Bro Ray Tag, and Big Sis Emma Tag tags on my blog that I’m always looking to add more content to.

22 notes · View notes

wexpyke · 9 months

Text

this past year has actually been so crazy, like… it started with me taking a long, proper break from my MA thesis, which turned into me finally admitting i shouldn’t have chosen this degree and i’m incapable of finishing it at this current moment in time. maybe (hopefully) i’ll do it at some point in the future, when i feel better, but we’ll see. i just can’t force myself, because that’s only ever had a negative impact.

i’ve also had to come to terms with how much of an impact the crippling loneliness i experienced for the vast majority of 2020, 2021, and 2022 has had on me. i’m not really in a place yet where i can fix it, which is incredibly frustrating because i so badly want to fix it. it still affects me to this day and no one in my environment seems to truly understand it.

tried to get back into my old hobbies, like reading, writing, and messing around in photoshop. mostly succeeded, for about half the year.

in june i lost my dog whom i love(d) more than i can describe. we only had him for a year, but he was my fucking rock. he was the reason i got out of bed in the morning, the reason i managed to drag my ass outside and go for a proper walk in the woods & by the seaside, and the reason i smiled every day. i still miss him so much.

i attended my sister’s wedding, went on a disastrous holiday with my bf, and we chose to adopt a new dog. taking care of him has been a lot. “i love you, but god, at what cost?!” has been my main feeling towards him for the past few months. i’ve had moments where i want to pull my hair out in frustration because of him, but i also love him so much. it’s been confusing.

for the past few months i’ve been half-assing (if not quarter-assing) finding a job, because there’s nothing in our kind of rural, small town i think i’d actually enjoy, and because of my mental health, i know i need to find something i’ll enjoy or i might ***.

had the worst birthday in recent memory. just, god. wish i could forget.

visited dublin with my bf. spent some time with his family. worried about ronan (our puppy) a lot.

oh! had a fucking breast cancer scare. and a terrible experience with the health care system here, again! had one in may too. so that’s great! that’s definitely making me want to reach out to them to try to see if i can get a referral for therapy!

just a week or two ago i got into the biggest fight i’ve ever been in with my sister, which ruined the family holiday and almost could’ve ended our relationship altogether. we talked it out after a few days and we’re all good now, but it was an insanely stressful week that was so incredibly emotionally draining. cannot emphasise enough how tired i still am from it all.

christmas was weird because of it. had some good food and wine, though, and got some nice presents.

finished my theon fic exchange fic, somehow. i hadn’t written anything since my dog died, because i fully lost all of my motivation to write and my enjoyment in writing. i enjoyed writing it. hopefully i’ll be able to get back into writing again.

read 13 books this year. my goal was 15. i really want to get back into reading, but alas. started the wheel of time series, though, so maybe that will help. reading all of those would already almost complete my goal for next year, lol.

i hope next year will be kinder. i really need it to be. i know i’ll try my best to be kinder; to myself and to others.

#personal #tbd #.txt

4 notes · View notes

stormblessed95 · 2 years

Note

Hey! I have been a Jikooker for a few years but since the past year, I’ve transitioned into thinking that Jikook are just close friends with no romantic association. During my time as a dedicated Jikook supporter, I’ve found a bunch of lovely Jikook blogs (you included) and I have closely followed and interacted with many of ya’ll for a while. Since my opinions on Jikook have changed and don’t necessarily match the blogs that I still follow, the logical thing for me to do was to move on and stop being so tuned in to Jikook Tumblr right? Wrong! I blame you Jikookers for keeping me coming back by writing a variety of interesting and complex posts based on BTS topics, Kpop-esque topics and random other topics. And Jikook topics too because I still enjoy their bond even though I don’t think they’re dating. I can’t seem to let go of the community aspect y’all have built here. I feel like I’ve gotten to know a lot of you bloggers well (as much as you can know a stranger online lol) so completely leaving this space kinda feels suspiciously like ending a friendship. Not me building a parasocial relationship with Jikook bloggers 😂. No but seriously I still love reading y’all’s thoughts on things even if I might skip past some of the posts that go heavy and deep into Jikook relationship dynamics/analysis. 💟

Here's my thing. You are welcome here on my blog if you just love their friendship. You are welcome here if you enjoy my BTS content and like Jikook, but you ship vmin or taekook, or jinmin, or yoonmin or namkook or whoever. You are welcome here if you just like my timeline posts but aren't as interested in anything else (and if that's you, sorry im always so slow on those lol). You are welcome here if you are just here because I'm really good at getting sent a random screenshot and finding you guys the content it comes from. Lol you are welcome here if you are an anti shipper but still enjoy my posts on all things BTS. You are welcome here if you just like how I organize my thoughts and aren't against shipping or don't think jikook are dating but find them cute regardless. You are welcome here if you just like my bookish posts every once in a blue moon. You are welcome here if you just stick around for my LGBTQ posts too. Lol I'm good if you are here solely because you like me/the way I write and nothing else. As long as you aren't being disrespectful to anyone, people here, me and the members, I don't care if we disagree on things. Even if it's who we think are romantically involved or not involved.

I follow plently of blogs that I don't necessarily agree with their opinions, and I often find some that I think take things too far. And that's fine that I don't agree with them. Just like it's fine if people don't always agree with me. I skip posts over topics im uninterested in or if i think they are taking shipping too far often at this point. The world would be an incredibly uninteresting place if everyone around you agreed all the time. Imagine how boring the conversations would be. Regardless. You are free to bow out if you want or stick around if you want too. I'm friends with someone on here who doesn't ship jikook, isn't even a huge ARMY, we exchange music of theirs occasionally though and mostly talk books/fics in DMs and have a great time and it's fine! So you know, do whatever you want. And if you want to stick around snd just send in asks or DMs about BTS in general or other topics, feel free to do so. I'm in general a pretty friendly person! Lol

I also think it's lowkey funny there is someone on here who had followed/unfollowed then refollowed like 4 times in the past 3 days. I think they can't decide if they like it here or not 🤣 it's kinda cute and funny.

17 notes · View notes

tsukikoayanosuke · 2 years

Note

APPARENTLY THERE'S GONNA BE A NEW CHARACTER???? AND THEYRE GOING TO BE FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCHOOL??? AM I RIGHT ARE WE GONNA GET MORE SCHOOLS FROM TW?????? Y'ALL IM SO EXCITED

Masquerade event my beloved! Anon, I hope you don't mind me rambling because it has been a long time since TWST actually spark my interest.

Hunchback of Notre Dame-based event! I have a soft spot for HoND. I only watch it when I'm older, but I don't regret it at all. It's very mature and I love when "kids" movies explore mature themes, especially religion. The fact that HoND has religion, lust, and prejudice in one movie is honestly impressive. I know it's based on a book, but as someone who never had the money and space to buy books that probably doesn't exist in my country, movie (especially animations) has been the source for me. It's so different and I love it for that. I also watched a- high-quality high school production of it, please watch it.

And the new guy. Roro? Rollo? TWST Frollo. Scaramouche Scaramouche will you do the fandango 2.0. Looks like a very bulliable character XD I'm just gonna call him Rollo for the time being until the official translation comes out in four years lol. I honestly can't wait to see him in action mostly because of his original character. Frollo is a great villain, even in a classic Disney villain standard. He's the OG Mother Gothel and, I dare say, a better version than her. Gothel may be a one gaslighting-mother, but Frollo is a manipulative adoptive father who has a high position in religion, misuses it for his own prejudiced view, and eventually falls because he's way too horny. And what's scarier is that he believes what he's doing is right in the name of religion. I highly suggest to watch this video to compare movie Frollo to musical Frollo.

I really want Rollo to follow in the footsteps of the character they were based on (maybe not the lusting part). And since it seems that he has a beef with Malleus, this might be a great opportunity to explore more about the whole Fae vs Human Lilia once mentioned. I honestly want him to be a fanatic and doesn't like fae or even magic/witchcraft. Heck, Malleus can be the Esmeralda to Rollo's Frollo. I highly doubt Rollo can beat Malleus, but it can be a very interesting dynamic.

New school! Worldbuilding! Noble Bell College? A canonical exchange student program! The first thing I thought of was "is this a catholic private school?" Like if NRC is more like a very expensive public high school, Noble Bell College is a private high school for one specific study (putting my bed on theater or religion). Which, again, worldbuilding material! Though I doubt we'll have an exploration of religion in TWST, I'm excited to see something outside of the NRC vs RSA dynamic.

And I haven't even talked about the cards. They are spot on! I love the gothic masquerade theme. Everyone with their fancy hat and masker. A really prestigious jester. I think this is the Topsy Turvy reference from the movie, which I'm excited about. I really hope we have an equivalent to Esmeralda's dancing scene and even Hellfire.

In conclusion, I can't wait for the fan-translation so I can read it and I need to adapt this event into my fic (year 2 maybe? post-Jonah era)

#the captain is answering!#twisted wonderland

16 notes · View notes

yeonjuns-beanie · 2 years

Text

Hysteria

warnings: nothing really. makeout sesh, mutual pining, fluff, mostly wholesome not what i usually write lol

eddie x female reader

a/n: for sake of plot edward lives to hear this masterpiece of a song. i would also rec listening to hysteria while you read just to set the tone if you haven't heard the song yet. also, i know i started out for this to be a kpop fic blog, but i think imma just make it multifandom now! Might have another eddie fic(smut) in the works… ~nero

It seemed like everyone but you and Eddie knew of your crush on each other. Everyone teased you about it but somehow the both of you were oblivious to it all. Dustin was privy to most of the teasing, although it was harmless coming from him. He was just constantly inquiring about what you were going to do about the situation, seemingly whenever Eddie was in earshot.

You were in the back of the theatre helping them set up for their weekly night of Hellfire. Coming back once a week to the school you had already done your time at, made it feel like you never left. You were painfully close with all the members though, so coming back for a few hours a week wasn’t that big of a deal.

As you and Dustin finished laying out the table, you grabbed your bag searching for the dice bag Eddie always had you bring, claiming that if it was in his hands he would surely lose it. While digging through your bag, you began to panic about not seeing the velvet bag, but before you had the chance to let the panic fully set in Dustin tapped you on your shoulder.

“So when are you gonna tell him y/n?”

He was enthusiastic in his delivery, really cheering you on from the sidelines. Although Eddie wasn’t in the room yet, you motioned for Dustin to quiet down fearful of Eddie popping in out of nowhere.

“You can’t just go around asking that, Dustin.”

You began to hear the chatter of Mike, Gareth, and the other members echo through the halls as Dustin found his words.

“Everyone knows y/n. Not like it’s a secret. Well, not Eddie, maybe. Which I’m not sure how. Maybe he-“

“-Maybe I what?”

A sharp chill ran up your spine and trickled down in your stomach sinking it into the floor. You begged any deity that was listening that Eddie hadn’t heard the previous exchange you and Dustin had. Quickly covering your ass, you spoke up.

“We were talking about how maybe you had taken the dice bag already. I can’t find it in my bag.”

Eddie furrowed his brow trying to figure out for himself if he did take the dice bag.

“I don’t think I did, sweetheart.”

“Damn. Can I have the keys to your van then, I think maybe they fell out while we were driving here.”

Eddie dug in his pocket and tossed you his keys. As you picked yourself up from the floor you quickly walked out of the theatre and all but ran down the halls to get to the parking lot.

Sweetheart. Why does he always have to call me that?

It was just a nickname. One that he used even for his guitar, but you couldn’t help the fuzzy feeling that spread through you when he said it. Once you got to the doors, the cool night air chilled the heat that was growing in your face. You hoped your flustered emotions didn’t bleed through your expression. You unlocked the doors to his van and searched in the front seats, blindly petting the floor until your fingers grazed across a velvet bag.

“There they are!”

Closing the door and locking the car, you walked back into the building. Thinking to yourself about how the dice bag fell out of your bag on the way here. Turning the corner, you heard a cacophony of echoed voices stream out of the theatre hall. Walking back into the room you dangled the bag in the air, shaking it as you spoke.

“Found them!”

A roll of scattered yes’s flowed through the boys' voices as Eddie just smiled at you lightly. His eyes were softer than when you left. In a posh accent you delicately placed the velvet bag into Eddie’s hand.

“For the DM.”

You sat back on the floor and pulled a book out from your bag deciding to catch up on some reading. You loved playing DnD with Hellfire but this specific campaign you decided to sit out, knowing you had class work you needed to catch up on.

You looked at your watch, realizing almost two hours had gone by. With a final roll made by Dustin, he completed the first half of the campaign for the night. The younger boys grabbed their bags while you helped Eddie gather all of his things, taking the bag of dice and his DM binder.

“I have hands, ya know”

“Yes, I can see them, but you have to break down the table so I’m going to hold this while you do so.”

Eddie smiled before wrapping his lips around his teeth, swallowing the toothy grin he was about to give. As Eddie pushed the table back to its resting spot Mike called out to everyone.

“Does anyone wanna grab food after this? I’m starving!”

You looked over at Eddie as he walked over cocking your head slightly alluding to an idea. You said quietly enough just so that he could hear.

“Pizza at your place?”

“Fine with me.”

“Y’all wanna come to Eddie’s and we’ll order pizza?”

A choir of yeses followed suit and you all began to walk out of the building. You still were holding onto Eddie’s binder and he tried to grab it from you but you swiped it away from his reach. He scoffed at you and tried to grab at it again and you dodged just in time.

“At least let me carry the thing that’s mine. If not, let me take your bag.”

“It’s fine we’re almost outside anyway.”

Eddie made a move for your bag again before Gareth called out from behind you.

“Can y’all just tell each other you like each other instead of playing footsie every chance you get?”

It was obviously said in jest, but both you and Eddie pulled away from each other, slightly embarrassed by the comment. As Dustin said, it was obvious to everyone else except you two. Heading to Eddie’s van, everyone climbed in the back and tossed their bikes in as well, leaving the passenger seat upfront for you.

The drive to Eddie’s was loud. It was always loud whenever you were in his van. His music blasted through the speakers of the car and rattled the walls, adding an extra element to the already heavy music. Pulling up in front of his trailer everyone climbed out of his van.

As you opened the passenger door, you bent down to grab his binder and Eddie was quick to grab your bag before you could. You stared at him with an unenthused look dressing your eyes and he made a mocking face back, happy to have gotten your bag. Mike groaned before following you all up the steps.

“God, you guys are like a married couple.”

You laughed off your flustered state, choking out a small “how?”.

“Just the way you guys are with each other it’s like you guys have known each other for years.”

Eddie was silent and you chuckled again, firm in not letting your emotions show.

As Eddie set your bag on the kitchen counter you walked to the phone getting ready to order. The dial tone rang four times before someone picked up and you placed the order. You had missed the dinner rush but it wasn’t exactly late in the night either so the man told you it would be about 30 minutes at most before the pizza would be delivered.

While waiting for the pizza to come you guys all gathered around the main room. Digging in your bag you pulled out a card deck.

“Y’all wanna play Uno?”

Everyone nodded as you handed out the cards. Eddie squeezed in next to you and Dustin wiggled his eyebrows to which you gave him a look telling him to cut it out. After a few rounds of Uno, there was a knock on the door. Both you and Eddie stood up getting ready to battle over who was gonna pay.

“Y/n, sit down. As a guest in my home, you will not be paying.”

You sighed, upset that he saw through your motions that quickly.

“At least lemme cover tip.”

You both looked at each other knowing that neither one was gonna give in so you both settled at the door giving the delivery guy your share. Setting the pizzas on the counter everyone grabbed a few slices. You and Eddie stayed crowded around the kitchen counter while watching the boys mingle and eat with one another in the main room.

“They’re still funny as ever”

Eddie looked towards you, his big brown eyes searching yours.

“I know. I kinda miss seeing them every day. Surprised they still let me run the campaigns.”

You furrowed your brow.

“Why would they not? You are the Hellfire cult leader.”

You joked, getting Eddie to roll his eyes and you pushed his shoulder in response. Turning around to grab another slice of pizza you noticed the rest of the boys standing up and gathering their things.

“Alright, I think we’re gonna start heading out, my mom’s gonna start wondering where I’m at anyway.”

Mike said while strapping his backpack over his shoulders. Eddie looked up at everyone.

“Does anyone need a ride back to their house?”

All of them collectively said ”no” a little too quickly and set a tone of suspicion between everyone. Dustin quickly covered,

“We’ll be alright, we’re not too far anyway.”

You walked over to hug everyone goodbye, Dustin holding onto you a little bit longer to whisper something in your ear.

“Tell him while you’re here and walkie me when you’re home! Tell me everything.”

You gave him a small smile, finding the courage he thought you had endearing. Watching them all file out the door, you shut the door after you saw them all ride away on their bikes. Looking over at Eddie, he was already looking at you as if he was trying to figure out what to say.

“Wanna hang out in my room for a bit?”

“Sure.”

Following Eddie into his room, you sat down on his bed while he shuffled through some of his records, trying to figure out what he should put on for background noise.

“Sooo, what’s your favorite song lately?”

You flopped back on his bed really thinking about your answer.

“Ugh. I don’t know there’s so many…but if I had to choose, probably Hysteria by Def Leppard.”

Eddie whipped his head around to look at you.

“No way.”

“Yes, way. Why?”

“It’s my favorite too right now. Why’s it your favorite?”

You paused. Afraid of saying too much at once and not being able to capture the word vomit. Biting your bottom lip you sat up and looked up at him through your lashes.

“It makes me think of someone. Why’s it yours”

Eddie stopped in his tracks, stopping the record from falling out from its casing.

“I think it’s easier if I show you.”

Sighing, he put the record on the player and let the needle drop. Walking over to you, he sat down making the bed dip with his weight. As you turned your head to look at him the guitar riff to Hysteria started to reverberate through the speakers.

“So who does it make you think of?”

I gotta know tonight

Both of your hearts were pounding but neither one of you was close enough to tell. His question hung in the air without an answer.

Can’t stop this feeling, Can’t stop this fire

Eddie spoke up, his voice pulling you from your thoughts trying to figure out how you were gonna tell him your feelings.

“Wait! This part right here. It just sounds so good. Listen.”

Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria

Oh, can you feel it?

Eddie had his eyes closed trying his best to feel the music and not the plethora of feelings for you. Unintentionally feeling them build up with the essence of the song lyrics bleeding into real life. You were staring at him in awe. He was grungy and pretty, gentle and rough all at once. His passion for the music making you fall just a little bit more in love with him.

When he opened his eyes, he caught your stare and it made him feel all kinds of warm on the inside. He stopped his movement and stared at you, a certain kind of tenderness and fear swimming in his reflection.

“Can I tell you something? I think it…it would be better if you knew.”

You nodded your head lightly, prepared for anything.

Out of me, into you, yeah

“I can’t hide it anymore. If I do, I honestly feel like I’ll suffocate.”

Open wide, that’s right, dream me off my feet. Oh, believe in me

“I like you, y/n. I have for too long now it seems for not having told you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, I just needed to tell you.”

I gotta know tonight

There was a quick silence shared between the two of you before you looked back up into his chocolatey eyes, fear evident in the front of them. You scanned his features, noticing the small smile on his lips, hopeful still that you shared the same feelings.

Can’t stop this feeling

“I do too. I like you too, Eddie.”

You looked at him again, suddenly feeling so small under his gaze while admitting your true feelings. It felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off your shoulders but at the same time, you were more than ecstatic to know that he shared the same emotions as you.

Your heart sped up but now for a different reason. You could feel your chest rising and falling at a faster pace and it felt like the room was closing in on you two. You began to feel the heat radiating off of Eddie as he drew closer to your face.

“Can I try something?”

You nodded, a smile beginning to tug at the corners of your lips. Eddie’s face was now inches from yours and he flickered his eyes one last time before landing his lips on yours.

Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria.

Canons of pent of feelings burst and blossomed into pure adoration as your lips melded with his. His kiss was gentle but wanton. Needy but loving in one take.

It’s such a magical, mysteria

Eddie’s hand found its way to your thigh, slowly trailing up and down your side. He moved his body in a way that allowed you to open yourself up more to him and scoot further back towards the middle of the bed. Your lips were still fervently attached to one another, the pace of the kiss speeding up with each second.

With Eddie now hovering above you, your hands moved to find refuge on his shoulders. Trying to find something to ground you to reality, while the emotions barred through the kiss kept you wading in a moment of magical delirium. Your hand entwined its way into Eddie’s hair, pulling lightly at the hairs near the nape of his neck. Eddie made a small sound into your mouth and you received it with impassioned delight.

Eddie filled the kiss with a bit more lust as he bit your bottom lip and tugged it between his teeth, pulling back to look at you before placing searing and tender kisses on your jaw and down your neck. Pulling away once more, he rested his forehead on yours.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that.”

He panted out his words as if his body wouldn’t let him realize the reality of his world yet. You smiled and placed a quick peck on his lips, bringing your hand up to cup his cheek.

“Wanna show me what else you’ve been holding out on?”

Eddie smirked, knowing where your question was alluding to. Before he could explicitly say yes though, he had one more thing to get off of his chest.

“Sweetheart, you already know what comes next. But first, I gotta ask you something.”

Placing another kiss on your soft lips, he had to remind himself that everything that was happening was real.

“Be mine. From now till whenever the world ends. Will you?”

Instead of answering him directly, you pulled him by the collar of his shirt bringing him to your lips yet again. You smiled into the kiss before pulling away and staring deeply into his puppy-brown eyes.

“Without a doubt. I’m yours from now till whenever you don’t want me to be yours.”

Smiling down at you, he laughed out his next words before continuing his previous assault down your neck.

“Well princess, sounds like forever is in store for us.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson imagine #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fluff #stranger things imagine

153 notes · View notes

wackywheel · 2 years

Text

c!connor fic rec masterpost!

[img id.] a row of melon blocks, filtered with a gradient of pale purple, blue, and green so that they look pastel. in the bottom left, text reads, “please read these fics they’re so good.” in the bottom right, a sign reads, “eat pant conar.” [end id.]

i talked about making one of these a while back and finally got around to combing thru the tags to compile fics for it so, yo! if you're a fan of c!connor, are looking to figure out how best to characterize him for your own works, just wanna read about him, or any combination of the former, you're in luck!

while the main criteria for stuff to make it on here is that it characterizes connor accurately, nearly all of these are also just fics that i personally like LOL so while i'll try to be as objective as i can for the sake of my fellow c!connor enjoyers, i must be entirely transparent w y'all that this is mostly just fics that i, personally, really like. ...which is technically the purpose of fic rec posts anyways, but i digress...

fics are below the readmore! ↴

ok the way ive ordered all of these is both in categories of.. sort of pseudo genres ? basically theyre just paired/grouped up according to their premise, as well as loosely chronological according to ao3's recently updated filter!

(also, fics with an *asterisk before them are ones that i personally am biased about bc of who wrote them LOL)

○○○

"connor is a god" fics

basically, these fics primarily focus on the hc of connor being a god/immortal that was very popular back before we saw much of him, beyond his appearances in his two tales episodes! while i'm not a huuuge fan of this hc, nor do i really have much to say individually about each fic, i still wanna give these fics props for setting the bar very high when it comes to treating c!connor with respect, reverence, and most of all agency, especially so early on during the post-nov16th months!

There Are Answers Here by angeloncewas

the constant by diapason

○○○

connor & some/all of benchtrio fics

exactly what it says on the tin, this group of fics focuses on connor's relationships with other characters, but primarily with one, more, or all of benchtrio!

Stray Italian Greyhound by akuli holy shit this fic is an absolute classic when it comes to early c!connor content... connor confronts glatt in a very unique way that, honestly? i've rarely seen depicted when it comes to the two interacting! following that, though, connor and tubbo sit down and talk about schlatt in a wholly honest and cathartic way.

*Here Comes the Sun by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk here it is! the first of many, many, of beatrix's fics i'm gonna rec to y'all! okay to be honest, clingyduo's inclusion in this fic is very very minor if we're gonna dig into semantics, but i otherwise had no idea where else to put this because of how genuinely unique it was for its time! (its time being pre-s2 finale) an indepth study of connor's hypothetical interactions with ghostbur here, flashbacks explaining schlatt's ties to the revive book there, this oneshot absolutely killed it, especially so early on in the lifespan of connor-centric works!

Ask No Guarantees by angeloncewas another connor & tubbo fic! there's an alternate reality where i became a devout c!tubbling i'm absolutely sure of it. to summarize it shortly, the two bond over their dead best friends! wahoo grief! there's also some very interesting discussion of in-universe religion which is always very fun imo!

*advice you’ve given other people that was really about yourself by antfrost ok here we go, first fic from beloved mutual connor timedeo lets go lets go character study of connor using conversations with benchtrio as a vehicle fuck YES sir this fic is great. i am an absolute sucker for character analysis, even when it's just little exchanges and acts of kindness from one hurt person to another (also in all honesty this fic was the one that made me change the section title to benchtrio instead of just tubbo/clingyduo LMAO)

○○○

"connor showed up too late" fics

angst time bitches! despite how much c!connor's backstory is built upon angst, and how much i love the little guy, i'm honestly not a huge fan? anyways i fucking love these fics regardless so i think that must say something either about me or them. you decide

Brutus Is An Honorable Man by 2point5 if stray italian greyhound was a classic, then this fic is literally a loadbearing pillar of the c!connor fanbase. holy SHIT is she one iconic collection of words. the premise is pretty simple, connor shows up too late after getting a letter from schlatt asking him to come. he and quackity talk about schlatt. it does not go well. i cannot stress enough though. read this fic. like this is required reading this is canon its 100% canon cc!connor called me and said it is (lying) (theres just a lot of headcanons i like in it im biased) (not joking about the required reading part though)

People Die Every Day, I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way by orojiratsu ...and if brutus is an honorable man was required reading, then this fic is extra credit! ...literally! as in it was actually inspired by the last fic! very similar premise, but the author gets much more into detail about the aftermath of nov16th, including tubbo's reaction to connor's past with schlatt, as well as lending connor a bit more agency when it comes to going toe to toe with quackity's reaction to schlatt's death.

Lay here with me until the years go by. by zrkk a very short oneshot, but really impactful all the same! one thing i really commend this oneshot for is that despite its length, the author manages to get connor's verbal reactions to schlatt's death nearly spot on. go give it a read!

○○○

"connor reviving / rescuing schlatt" fics

yessssss we're getting into the good stuff, the struggles that end either happily or bittersweetly all the same. these are fics that i constantly find myself rereading when i'm missing c!connor, and cannot reccomend literally all of them enough!

*The Friends We Refuse to Abandon by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk ok this is what i meant before by many of beatrix's fics lol this fic is like. another one that's literally required reading if u like c!connor bc it has absolutely everything u could ask for. connor reviving and reuniting with his bestie? having agency in the narrative? helping people just for the sake of helping them? you name it, we got it here.

twenty thousand years of this by rosewitchx GOD this fic is so fucking iconic as well. i absolutely consider it required reading as well, bc both this one and the last one fill their niche incredibly well rosewitchx's writing and characterization of connor, as well as basically everyone else they write from what ive seen, is incredibly well researched and true to their characters, so this is definitely not the last fic of theirs im going to be reccing on this post lol similar premise to tfwrta, except connor wasn't the one to revive schlatt. regardless, he's still given the assertiveness and narrative agency when rescuing schlatt that makes this fic super cathartic to reread if you're craving that sort of thing! (also, this specific fic is from a series of the author's that explains certain headcanons much better than if you were to just read the fic in isolation. go give it a read over here!)

I'm Tired by Anonymous another short read, but still a very good one! props to anon! this fic emphasizes the 'bittersweet' point i made in this section's intro. schlatt has been revived, and he and connor have reunited, but at what cost of his own physical health?

○○○

smplive-era connor fics

yessss fuck yes fuck YEESSS you people are NOT immune to me making you remember not only smplive, but that its CANON baybee its 100% CANON TO DSMP LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO

*Far In Time (we've got some catching up to do!) by connor6Silly wait hold on

*What Will Happen Will Happen by connor6Silly wait fuck these are literally all just my fics

bro did all of the good c!connor smplive fics all get purged or something ??? i literally cant find any that i like, let alone think characterized connor well bc they all do him so fucking dirtyyyy y'all its awful 😭 so uhh in lieu of that .. read my fics? pretty please? i have a whole promo post for the first one here if u wanna learn more :)

○○○

syndicate/karl oriented connor fics

ok so if y'all know me, you know im a sucker for literally all of connor's relationships on the server that we never see actually explored canonically (s&c im talking about s&c) so to balance that out, here's his friendships that are like. actually fucking real! and tangible!

*THIS IS A PROTEST FOR YOUR HEART! by antfrost yessss another one of connor timedeo's fics this is sorrrt?? of?? an au? one where everything went a-okay on nov28th, and everyone in the syndicate is happy and alive and glad to be able to spend time together. connor especially! bc he has lots of people that are there to care for him now! very short, sweet, and fluffy!

*The Planet With a Thousand Sunsets by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk another beatrix fic!!! and GOD this one is a lot of fun, as well as a companion fic to tfwrta! this fic goes all in on connor and karls friendship, framing it as if it were an actual tales episode with a cast list and everything! as of me making this post (5/22/22) the fic is not complete, so if y'all want to read more of it, i'd really suggest commenting and sharing what you liked about it! (but Do Not pester beatrix about if/when shes going to complete it bc if i hear that shits happening y'all will have hell to pay >:(((( )

*all the broken can find hope (in the most unexpected places) by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk last fic of beatrix's, as well as another syndicate fic! yipee! now, technically this fic might be better suited to go into the final section of this post, but connor's inclusion is not only accurate enough, but also the setting is very much relevant enough for it to slide into here by means of relating to the syndicate. connor's role in this fic is mostly by means of an exploration of his friendship with schlatt, juxtaposing it with emeraldduo's own close bond. two bad bitches (close friendships that came long before the dsmp ever did) kicking ass together instead of fighting one another for relevancy you love to see it <3

○○○

connor-centric au fics

so technically most of these fics could technically be classified as aus, but thats sort of just the state we're in when it comes to actual canonical content of c!connor. Anyways! here's some straight up 100% aus that very much are either in entire other settings, or diverge early on enough in the timeline that the result is completely unrecognizable from what actually happened in canon

god of arepo (series) by rosewitchx this next rosewitchx fic... isn't technically a fic, but a series! the god of arepo series is very much a product of its time (post-exile, pre-doomsday) but it's still 100% a classic in my eyes basically, this au shows the product of the world being entirely claimed by the egg, and how connor, with ghost sweaterduo in tow, deals with the aftermath. again, very much a product of its time, but i think that makes its state as a sort of fandom-time-capsule all the more appealing <3 break the cycle in half by rosewitchx holy shit this au is an absolute trip in the best way possible??? i've never consumed any of the madoka magica franchise, but you don't really even need to do that to understand the fic tbh after losing all of their loved ones to an unavoidable, inevitable disaster, connor and karl both become magical boys in order to go back in time and save those they lost or die trying

*and the universe said i love you by antfrost if i had a nickel for every c!connor centric meguca au there was on ao3, i would have exactly 2. which isn't a lot, but it's really funny that it's happened twice now! beloved mutual connor timedeo's take on the au is similar, yet still entirely unique on its own! after schlatt gets got during a mission, connor makes his wish to be a magical boy in order to save him. he does not know what he's getting into, to say the least </3

panacea by rosewitchx YESSSSSSS I GET TO TALK ABOUT THIS FIC again, technically it could be classified in the next section of this post, but i feel like the amount of canon divergence it features definitely earns it its place here! while the fic's actual author's notes give a better description of its context, i'll give y'all this quick synopsis- quackity figures out how to revive schlatt right after nov16th, but he comes back... a little different than he left the first time. thus, hijinks ensue.

○○○

fics that aren't fully connor-centric, but still characterize him accurately enough that i'm reccing them

again, exactly what it says on the tin; these fics really don't focus too much on c!connor, so i won't go into much depth about them, but his cameos still pass with flying colors imo, so i'd absolutely reccomend em!

the definition of a dwarf planet by WreakingHavok a short and sweet pre-nov16th sweaterduo fic that recontextualizes a lot of their interactions with smplive as a focal point

when i’d make you oh-so afraid by rosewitchx charlie and connor, but the former especially, both grapple with schlatt’s death and how they feel about it.

I never, never want to go home by rosewitchx a look back at l’manberg, set a year since the 16th.

○○○

aaaand there you have it, folks! a collection of the best of the best when it comes to c!connor! if y’all have other fics you really enjoy centering on mr eatspants, please feel free to send them to me in an ask! i’m sure there’s still just a little bit of gold hiding out in the swathes of badly mistagged fics that are flooding connor’s main tag atm -_-

but yes! i’ll probably update this within the next few months if any new, notable c!connor fics pop up, so keep an eye out!

#connoreatspants #c!connor #connor dsmp #dream smp #smplive #mcyt #mcyt fanfic #dream smp fanfic #dsmp fanfic #mcyt fic rec #dream smp fic rec #dsmp fic rec

131 notes · View notes

artino-c · 2 years

Note

Hiii I have a question about The Young and Ancient Light and your headcanons about something specific-- but if you don't want to answer, just ignore it please & sorry ^^

So in Chapter 8, Kamet and Costis have this exchange:

“After the assassination attempt,” said Costis. “When the King was recovering.” He glanced up at Kamet. “My master had nothing to do with that,” said Kamet—answering Costis’ unspoken question. “He was still banished to the family estate. We only learned about the plan after it failed.”

But so, in KoA one of the assassins dies in the Attolian dungeon after naming Nahuseresh and Sounis, and though it isn't stated outright, I always assumed this man was interrogated under torture. We get more confirmation and some motive for Sounis in CoK, but Sophos only talks about the Mede ambassador and doesn't name Nahuseresh.

So is your headcanon that Nahuseresh wasn't actually involved in it, or that Kamet maybe just didn't know? Or did you want the reader to wonder and this doubt is part of the fun? I'm asking because I personally think Nahuseresh's involvement in this plot seems kind of crazy, and I have just taken to a headcanon where the assassin in question either didn't actually imply Nahuseresh by name, or that one of the interrogators prompted him with a name and he just agreed to it... Mostly because I can't imagine the brother to the heir of the Mede empire to be the kind of person who personally introduces himself to assassins... Especially assassins he's recommending for another person's use, idk. But then again maybe it WAS a blunder? I don't know, and I was wondering if you have thoughts!

HAH, well the short answer is that I was basing that theory off of the timeline we have in TAT and my much more recent reread of Conspiracy of Kings, and I forgot to check if Nahuseresh was named specifically in KoA! 😂😂

My response to this got super long so it’s under a cut:

My logic was similar to what you are saying here, though—it didn’t really make sense to me for Nahuseresh to be directly involved in the assassination attempt, particularly in the immediate aftermath of his spectacularly failed invasion, and I didn’t think the logistics worked if he was in exile on the family estate and not even in Ianna-Ir to pull strings! (In my fic specifically I was imagining this as the first sign of the emperor/Naheelid just fully going over his head because they no longer think he’s reliable…) And given that one of the threads throughout KOA is that torture (arguably??) doesn’t work and is bad, I really like your theory that perhaps the assassin who names Nahuseresh isn’t the most reliable source, because we’ve already established from Costis’ POV that people who are being tortured will say whatever they think you want to hear.

But that said, I don’t don’t see other strong evidence that readers are meant to doubt Nahuseresh as the originator of the plot, especially since back in book 3 we had far less worldbuilding about Medea and Mede politics. (Rereading the scene after Gen finds out it’s clear he believes it was Nahuseresh specifically and that is part of what upsets him!) I still don’t really think the logistics make sense, but I guess I can see N funding a half-baked, overreaching assassination plan that fails due to bad intel and underestimating the intended target (all of that screams Nahuseresh, lol)! Maybe this was his first (failed) bid to restore his reputation and get invited back to court? And it’s very, very funny if he followed up his first huge blunder in Attolia with a second, equally embarrassing failed attempt to kill the king.

In terms of Nahuseresh’s willingness to directly, recognizably involve himself in this kind of thing, Kamet talks about having to meet with “criminals” as part of his job executing Nahuseresh’s various sketchy plans in Ianna-Ir, and he is feeling out Erondites’ household in QOA (presumably to figure out how willing Erondites would be to screw over Irene/ally with the Medes), so if Nahuseresh is comfortable sending his personal secretary on that type of errand, maybe he doesn’t cover his tracks very well when he hires assassins, either?? (The part of this that still doesn’t work for me, though, is that while the assassins are hired with Mede and Sounisian gold, we have no reason to think they travelled all the way from Medea…if they were hired by Sejanus (or someone working for him), surely they only know second or third hand who else was behind the plot, no matter how unsubtle Nahuseresh was!)

All of that leaves the question of whether Kamet would have known about this. For purposes of my fic, I’m going with no, he had no idea, even though this is the kind of thing Nahuseresh would have told him about in the past, perhaps for the same (unknown???) reason he doesn’t tell Kamet about Hemsha. In the wake of their narrow escape from Attolia, I do think there was maybe some kind of breakdown in their relationship, from Nahuseresh’s perspective, too, even before the scene that starts the book.

For purposes of more general canon interpretation, tbh I still think Kamet might plausibly not have known and/or not been involved (assassination attempts don’t really seem like his kind of thing, plus he’s isolated and presumably out of the political gossip loop when he’s at Nahuseresh’s estate, so would have less ability to know if Nahuseresh is lying or hiding something). But it would also be very funny if he were involved/aware and just quietly never mentioned it to Relius or Gen, in the same way that he quietly elides other things in TAT.

#my favorite thing about this universe is that there are so many unreliable or variously reliable narrators #that you can make a lot of different interpretations plausible

7 notes · View notes

vidalinav · 3 years

Text

So...

Am I correct to assume that Nesta’s birthday is going to be a bash after ACOSF? Because it should be lol.

Though Headcanon #978: Birthday Edition

Cassian wants to throw her a party because it’s his MATE’s birthday. Their first birthday together. Like hell he’s not going to make a big deal about it. He has the week planned. It’s Nesta’s birthday week.

He has breakfast in bed, a bath run with rose petals, he spent two weeks getting her a gift (not sure what it is yet). He got a giant ass red ribbon because he plans on wrapping himself in it when the night is over.... (wink wink wink lol) I imagine that he actually does try to have every day focused on Nesta, like one gift everyday or something leading up to it. I also imagine things going intensely awry, like he’s called to Illyria. There’s trouble in this place. Yadda Yadda, so all his plans are moot and he’s more upset about it than Nesta is because Nesta didn’t even know. But he’s at least there for the day before and the day of Nesta’s birthday. Nothing is going to stop him for those two days. He’s like die another day, nothing is going to keep him from celebrating the birth of the love of his life.

I still imagine that Nesta likes attention. I feel she would hate her birthday on principle. But she’s very excited this year to be celebrated, because she has best friends and a mate and a magical house and it’s an entire new year when the last few sucked. So, she’s like yesss, celebrate me, love me, feed me cake.

But Nesta is also very adamant that she does not want to make a big deal about it. She wants him to make a big deal about it. But she does not want a huge party (i.e. She does not want a family celebration-group get together-----Still sure they are not friends, her and the IC, Idfc it doesn’t make sense) But Cassian is like “You deserve a big party. After all you’ve done” but that’s precisely why she doesn’t want it. Because they don’t love her, they love what she did for them. So Nesta concedes and tells him fine they can have a party, but she only wants Emerie and Gwyn to be there. Because Gwyn and Emerie have already made plans with her about this day.

They’re going to have another sleep over. They’re going to fill the room with balloons. It’s going to be a giant ball pit filled with sacks of helium. There’s going to be a cake that towers to the ceiling. They’re going all out.

Cassian is like what about Azriel? And Nesta goes fine, if Azriel is here and he wants to come for a bit then he can. Cassian concedes to this.

BUT then they have a family dinner, because those occur weekly, and Feyre brings up her birthday and she’s like uhhh... I already got plans. She tries to use Cassian as an excuse, and he lets her because he knows why, but they’re like nah Cassian you don’t mind do you? And Cassian just looks at Nesta like what do you want me to say? But Nesta doesn’t know how to tell them that she doesn’t really want them to come. Especially to her sister who she’s trying to turn a new leaf towards. The problem though is, it’s not going to be just Feyre and Elain who come, because she doesn’t mind only them. But Feyre comes with the rest of the group and then it becomes huge and she really doesn’t want that. And also her friends are not their friends. She’s lived separate lives, and she doesn’t really want them to mix.

But she can’t necessarily lie. But she can’t tell the truth. So she’s like trying to keep everything separate. So, she’s like well why don’t we have a small outing in the morning or something with just the sisters, but then fucking Rhys is like WE ALL want to celebrate your birthday. He plans on getting her several gifts. He already knows what they are, and Nesta looks at him disturbed because she really does not want to know what they are. But then Azriel is chiming in because he already knows what’s happening and he’s a butt sometimes and he knows Nesta is trying to avoid them, so he’s like yeah Nesta, we ALL want to celebrate. She gives him a mocking look, he smirks. Nesta realizes he’s a lot more annoying than she thought he was... she wanted to have a threesome with this guy. Big mistake ever thinking that. But then Amren chimes in also, and then Mor not really wanting to be left out is like.... I got you a gift already. Nesta is very surprised about that and also horrified. Is Mor lying? Only the fic will tell.

So... this happens in two ways one that is fluffier than the other. Okay?

Option 1: Angst version/Drama version

They show up uninvited after Cassian expressly says that she wants a small birthday party and that they’ll have their own personal one the day of, and then the next day they can have a party with the IC. Two days of parties, which Nesta is fine with.

But they ignore those wishes and end up showing up on the day of and Cassian is upset about that, because this is Nesta’s day. He wants her to be comfortable and happy and no arguments at all or weird feelings. Nothing. Nesta has been through a hard year, this day is just for her. But them showing up uninvited makes it about them.

They bring many gifts that Nesta doesn’t want to open really, because Emerie and Gwyn are there, and she doesn’t want them to see how impersonal the gifts are. Because they’re impersonal. They don’t know Nesta, and they grasping at straws. Nesta knows this. She just wanted one day of not pretending that they’re utterly fantastic. But it’s because Nesta is self-conscious, prideful, and she has tendency towards embarrassment in the book I noticed, where she doesn’t want to be judged or looked at in a way she doesn’t want. And she abhors the idea of Emerie and Gwyn seeing her act differently around her family or seeing her family around her and then deciding that she’s as rotten as she feels. Old insecurities die hard you know. BUT mostly, it’s also because Gwyn and Emerie don’t know them, and Nesta doesn’t want them to be uncomfortable either. She didn’t expect them to come, or she would have asked them if it was okay. I have this hardcore headcanon that Nesta is chill with almost everything as long as you ask her, but I imagine her as a boundaries type of person, that she’s okay as long as you respect her boundaries no matter how odd they may seem to people more open than her.

She spends the night more subdued than Cassian would have liked, kind of smiling shyly but also maybe more apprehensive. Which makes him angrier that they showed up. (I love grumpy Cassian I don’t know why).

But you know she’s polite. It’s just a tad awkward, and the IC start getting pretty defensive, because Cassian gets mad when they’re about to leave. I imagine they start dismissing his feelings, like Nesta seems fine with it. Why do you have a problem? I want the old IC to come back and all of those problems from previous books, because damn do they dismiss Cassian many many times. Bring that shit back, I was entertained.

The sisters exchange parting words, and its civil and nice, but they do note that Gwyn and Emerie are going to stay and Nesta seems excited about it, and when Nesta talks to them, she’s a happier person, and they kind of resent that. More Elain I feel than Feyre. Feyre’s just more sad about it but she understands because she also has friends who she considers closer than her sisters. She’s just content that Nesta has people now who Nesta feels open and happy with. Elain is like straight up annoyed. (Personally if Elain is going to be pitted against Gwyn (I sure hope to god not) I would rather it not be about a man and more about Nesta and her relationships). But Nesta again is like turning a new leaf, so she’s like are we still going out tomorrow for breakfast or whatever? And Feyre’s like yeah! I don’t know I feel she gets more that Nesta is trying than Elain. Elain doesn’t have an arc, so I imagine this would a be a start of an arc, these conflicts.

But yeah, you know that scene in ACOFAS, where it was Nesta looking through the window and seeing all of these happy people who are so together, who left her out even when she was just starting to push them away. I want that again in the opposite direction. Where it’s the IC/sisters who look at Nesta and her group of friends, and Cassian, and Azriel who you know stays because he lives there, and thinks that they are not a part of that happy group and they resent that, because whatever did they do????

Anyhoo.

Option 2: Fluffier version (For Nesta anyways)

Is that Nesta concedes to them coming to her party. Gwyn and Emerie are told that they are coming, but again they are not staying for the night, but Gwyn and Emerie will stayover. So the cots are set up and they’re in the family library. They have a bunch of board games set up, romance novels everywhere.

They’re blowing up balloons when the IC/Sisters come and they have helium, because you know who gives af about rules of this world when SJM doesn’t so, there’s helium. And Nesta is a little tipsy. The House has given her wine, but is monitoring the intake, and Nesta is doing pretty good about it, because addiction wasn’t that big of a deal in this book, so we just gonna trek on. Nesta is a giggly drunk. Who knew? She’s also a flirty drunk so she has clung to Cassian many times. She’s giggly and touchy touchy. Cassian is having the time of his life seeing her this way. It’s cute and he kisses her nose and she wraps her arms around his middle and just hugs him constantly. Like a Koala. You know.

But when the IC/sisters get there, Nesta actually answers the door, and again she’s pretty loose. So she’s smiling and very happy to have her friends, so she’s like okay, come on in. They go to the library and Emerie and Gwyn are inhaling the helium and Nesta laughs at the voices, but they quickly get up when they see their High Lord and Lady, and they try to like say hello, but their voices are still changed, so Nesta laughs again.

And the IC/Sisters note the giant ass cake in the middle of the room. All of the balloons. The streamers. The signs that look so messy. And they’re like this is... not what they were expecting. Because it’s not formal at all. Very casual even and they did not expect that from Nesta.

Emerie and Gwyn give her their gifts early. Not sure what they are, but Nesta absolutely loves them and she shows them off and is just like super proud to have these friends and she’s like bragging about them freely. And Emerie and Gwyn are just kind of like holding her and hugging her and being all fond too about her, because affectionate drunk Nesta, but also because her friend group dynamic is affectionate and loving.

I feel Cassian does actually gift her a weapon, mostly because I want to see it. I feel like Nesta would appreciate that. I know she has her own technically, that are magical. But a women needs more than three weapons ya feel? So the one he gifts her has opal on it, on the hilt and encrusted through the blade. Because it looks like the sky perfectly and it’s gorgeous. Freedom, Flight, and Fight you know. And it’s like the shiniest steel sword with markings engraved, and it’s very thin and light because Cassian made sure that it was suited for Nesta. That it would be comfortable for her height and weight. It’s crafted in the Day Court, because well he gets all his gifts there now. Helion indulges him in hopes that it will somehow make him look more appealing to Nesta Lol.

Mor actually does give her a gift, because if this is the fluffy version than Mor and Nesta have had a moment before this dealing with Keir in which Nesta is a bit of a confidant and someone who sides with Mor which validates Mor’s feelings because Keir visits, which maybe I will make a post about later. But they’re... frenemies. Not enemies anyways. They understand each other a bit more. SO she gifts Nesta a music box, the one with a little ballerina that dances. It was actually hers when she was young. She explains that she tried to find a new one but all of them just didn’t seem like her and the one she had had more sentimental value that she felt Nesta should have. This makes entirely more sense if you know the context. But Nesta just stares in awe at this present. It’s gold and images are carved out on the lid and sides and the music I imagine sounds like Once upon a December from Anastasia. It’s very magical. And Nesta is extremely surprised. Everyone is because Mor’s presents suck. But this present doesn’t suck at all. Nesta’s touched, but Mor kind of brushes it away, she’s kind of embarrassed about the reaction.

But eventually everyone leaves and it still ends on a somber note, because her sisters and even the rest of the IC, really do notice that they are not completely a part of Nesta’s life. They come and they go. She doesn’t ask them to stay, which may be overreaching since they haven’t done anything to warrant the closeness, but they do start realizing that they may have caused some things that are not fixable because Nesta is civil but she’s not close with them. And they almost want to be close to her, because of how warm and comfortable the home she created is. They don’t understand how that could have happened without them. But it does end up being something that everyone doesn’t know whether they should resent, or decide that they just need to try harder to be a part of Nesta’s life, not so much Nesta fitting in with theirs. I like to think that they don’t know the extent of the ramifications that they caused by being bitchy to Nesta when she was not in a good place. You can’t necessarily ask to be loved when you are not so lovable, since that’s essentially what they put on Nesta.

Oh how the turn tables.

#nessian #nesta archeron #cassian #long post #nessian headcanon #nessian hc #vidalinav

121 notes · View notes

an-absolute-travesty · 4 years

Text

Secret Santa fic!

Heya @all-eternity it was me all along! I hope you enjoy this :) very much looking foward to actually being able to follow you after this without looking sketchy lmao

Also shoutout to my lovely beta reader @keepersandqueens as if I don’t talk about Salas enough here lol

Warnings: underage drinking, drinking in general, hangover, drugs/medication mention (not abused, basic over the counter stuff dw), mentions of vomit (not described)

Pairings: Kam, background marelinh, ex titz

About: Kam coffee shop college au

Word count: 5,205

Tag list (tell me if you want to be added or removed): @cadence-talle @ruewen-and-rising @lemontarto @a-lonely-tatertot @clearlyvacksen @percabetn @sewersewersewercouch @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @enbies-and-felonies @blxckh0les42 @rainbowtay-11 @callas-starkflower-stew @impostertamsong @appalyneinstitute1 @stars-and-splendor @anna-without-an-e @mistythegenderqueermess @we-have-no-bananas-today @we-wont-dissapear @jadenightthewriter

Tam stumbled into his first 8 am class, anxiety making his heart feel like it was pounding out of his chest and stomach doing backflips.

If he could survive bouncing between foster homes, a short stint at juvie, and worst of all high school, he could survive college.

Well he thought he could until he saw a familiar person right next to the only available chair in the room.

God fucking damn it.

"Hey Bangs Boy!" Keefe waved him down, causing a scene. Tam had no option but to sit beside him, both because of the lack of chairs and the fact that everyone was now staring at him.

Not a great start.

"What a coincidence! I notice you still haven't taken my suggestions on your hair, I'm telling ya' you'd get all the girls and or guys and nonbinary pals with a man bun." Keefe looked smug at the fact he'd be able to taunt Tam for another semester, minimum. Tam was already making a mental note to check when he could swap out of classes.

"Keefe, if I knew you were going here I would've just gotten myself back in jail, oh wait, you were the one who got me in there in the first place." Tam shot him a look, praying that he'd suddenly develop superpowers and shoot lasers from his eyes.

"Hey, just because I came up with the idea...and helped with some of the execution, doesn't mean I'm responsible for you trashing your parents house. Besides, you were only in there for like 3 days max before you got out," Keefe said, shrugging as if 3 days in jail was no biggie.

"Most peaceful 3 days of my life," Tam sneered, turning back to the front of the room as the professor walked in.

"Good morning class!" the prof turned to the white board, writing his name. "I am Dr. Harding," he tapped it for emphasis.

The class was silent.

"And you say good mor..."

"Good morning Dr. Harding," The class said in unison, they all sounded tired and bored.

This wasn't going to be fun.

~*~

"Grande ice vanilla latte for...Hen-are-y?"

The man shot Keefe a look as he grabbed his coffee.

"Henry." He dropped a tip in the jar, fifty cents. How generous.

He had come in before, and never left good tips. Keefe made it a game to pronounce the names of anyone who wasn't a college student and left bad tips wrong, no matter how much they came in. It was a wonder he hadn't been fired yet.

As he turned preparing another drink, the bell at the top of the door rang. He ignored it at first until he heard a quiet, "Fuck," come from behind.

"Bangs boy!"

"Why are you here?"

"I work here obviously," Keefe walked up to the counter. "Now, what'll it be?"

Tam sighed. "Iced caramel macchiato with two extra shots of espresso."

"Size?"

"Venti."

Keefe whistled thinking about how much caffeine that was as he wrote down "Bangs Boy" on the cup.

"Alright, that'll be 5.75, may I ask why the insane amount of coffee? I believe I remember you saying caffeine makes you anxious in high school."

"Yes, but it also helps me focus, and I have a quiz tomorrow I haven't studied for."

"Fair enough," Keefe said, going to prepare the drink. "It'll be ready in five."

Tam nodded, walking off to the side and scrolling on his phone. Keefe made the drink, occasionally sneaking looks over at Tam. He didn't seem to notice, thank God.

Soon after, they finished the transaction.

"See you at class," Keefe said, he was trying to be genuine, but it came across more taunting.

Tam grimaced, muttered "Thanks for the coffee," and walked out the door.

~*~

The class fell silent as a disheveled Dr. Harding walked in, a pack of gatorade in one hand and bottle of tylenol in the other. He popped one as he sat down.

"Hello class it seems today I have the worst headache imaginable, just give me about 5 minutes of silence and we will go over your assignments."

Keefe leaned over to Tam's desk.

"Well, we know what he got into last night," he whispered. "Heard the bar on the corner of 5th was giving out two for ones for professors."

"Isn't that place run by the alumni?"

"Exactly. Gotta thank Alvar tomorrow, Fitz said it was his idea."

"Wait Fitz goes here too? Why did I not-"

"Boys!" Dr. Harding practically yelled. "I am tired of the racket." He put his face in his hands where his elbows rested on the desk, bald spot showing to the world.

"We were whispering!" Keefe made a 'what the hell' sort of gesture. Tam glared at him, hoping he could communicate 'I will kill you myself if you say another word' with just his eyes.

"Sencen, do I look like I care?"

Keefe winced a bit at the use of his last name. That was something Tam could understand.

"Look, boys," Dr. Harding stood up and turned to the chalkboard, writing something down. "If you all like talking so much, you'll love this next project."

He walked to the side, revealing the board, that read '10 page essay, due the 25th'

"With the person next to you, you'll be writing a 10 page essay on um...the importance of keeping your oil changed in your car. You'll then present it to the class. It's worth 25 points."

A student raised their hand.

"Luka?"

"Sir, I thought this was a psychology course?"

"It is. You are all excused."

With that, he left the room with his tylenol and gatorade in his arms. The students glared at Keefe and Tam as they all got up, muttering amongst themselves about the pure bullshittery of it all.

"So..." Keefe said, slowly standing. "Does the library tomorrow at 3 work? I have work until then, so it can't be any earlier."

"Yeah, sure." Tam promptly walked out of the classroom as fast as possible, he didn't know why but his anxiety was spiking. He tried to tell himself it was just because he was a useless gay that didn't know jackshit about cars, yeah, surely that was it.

Just a useless gay.

~*~

Tam waited at a table in the library, it was 3:05, Keefe was late.

He didn't know what else he expected from him, he always seemed to do stuff like this. At the same time, Tam didn't have the energy to be particularly mad at him. This was going to be the stupidest essay ever written in the history of man, might as well put it off.

The library door slammed open, and in came Keefe. He balanced a large stack of papers and books along with four drinks. He stumbled over to Tam and practically threw them down on the table.

"Sorry I'm late, I thought it would be nice to, like, get you a coffee, but I didn't know how much caffeine you wanted, so I got one decaf caramel macchiato, one normal, and one with an extra shot, and also hot chocolate for me."

He sat down in the chair by Tam, as if getting three different coffees for someone you were forced to do a project with was totally normal.

"Um...thanks, I-I can pay you back-"

"Don't worry about it." Keefe turned to him and smiled, bright and friendly. Tam was frozen. "Okay, now it's car time." Keefe turned back to the desk.

"Yeah."

They were silent for a while as they researched, Keefe going through his piles of papers and books and Tam on his laptop like any sane person would.

Tam finally worked up the nerve to talk.

"So um...this is out of nowhere, but I think you mentioned Fitz went here?"

"Oh, yeah." Keefe put down the absurdly large textbook that was set up in front of him. "He's my roommate, he uh thought it would be best not to tell you after everything, I guess."

"That's fine," Tam shrugged like he didn't care. "I'm over it."

He was, really. They only dated like 2 weeks, sure it ended with a...pretty big fight after Fitz claimed he wouldn't be able to date someone who had gone to jail and Tam reminded him it was his best friend that got him in there in the first place, but he was still over it. There was still something bothering him, nothing to do with Fitz himself but...something. He just couldn't put his finger on what.

"Alright, I'll take your word." Keefe shrugged, setting his giant book back up in front of him.

Tam felt the need to start talking again, but didn't. They were mostly silent for the next 40 minutes or so, just researching and the occasional word exchanged between them.

Keefe checked his phone.

"Shit," He got up. "Work emergency, I gotta go. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah that works."

"Chill, see ya' later."

"Bye."

Keefe waved (with a wide grin Tam would've called idiotic in high school) as he went out the door.

Tam found himself with a smile on his own face, he quickly stopped, hoping no one saw.

~*~

Keefe hurried into work, pulling his apron on as he saw the absurdly long line and a panicked Marella frantically making coffees behind the counter. She sighed with relief when she saw him.

"Thank God," She said as he stepped behind the counter with her. "There was a scheduling error, Forkle's useless at that stuff."

Mr. Forkle, their well-meaning but often mistaken manager, was out of town at the moment. The fate of the Starbucks rested on two college kids, what could go wrong.

And so they went, Keefe taking orders and Marella fulfilling them until there were no more to serve.

Marella, quite literally, threw in a towel she had wiped her face with. Promptly going to the back, presumably for her break. Keefe followed her.

"Alright, I think you can probably go back to whatever you were doing before this now if you'd like," said Marella, inspecting the small braids in her hair in the nearest shiny surface.

"Nah I was just doing a project with Tam for Harding's stupid class, he's probably left by now, I might as well rack up some overtime."

Marella turned back at him, clearly caught off guard at the name.

"Tam? As in my-girlfriend's-brother Tam? As in you-had-a-massive-crush-on-in-highschool Tam? As in dated-Fitz Tam? As in you-got-him-in-jail-"

"Yes! Yes! Why does everyone remind me of that, it was one time."

"When you get someone in jail, people tend to remember," Marella went silent for a second, thinking, before looking Keefe in the eye. "Wow, that must be awkward as hell, I mean seriously, if I were you I'd straight up file a restraining order just to avoid him. Maybe move to another country. I hear Estonia is lovely this time of year."

"Eh, it's not as bad as it seems. I mean it was awful at first, mostly because I tried to resume right where we left it on the taunting front, but I think it's ok now."

"Hm. Well good luck with that," Marella turned back to go to the front, but Keefe grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Uh, actually I need your advice on something. It has to do with Tam."

"Shoot."

"Well I was thinking of maybe, I don't know, asking him out or something? Look, yeah, it's an awful idea but is it 'he never wants to talk to me again' awful or 'he attempts to strangle me' awful?"

Marella looked him up and down, eyes uncomfortably cold, as usual.

"I mean, no hetero, but despite your annoying qualities you're a decent looking guy. Plus Tam's, like, super anxious according to Linh, so maybe he'll be too awkward to say no. You can probably squeeze at least one date in there."

"Wow, thanks Mare," Keefe mumbled, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes, I try. Also don't call me Mare."

"Alright Ella!" Keefe called as the front door's bell rang, signalling a new customer. Marella went off to take care of it, unable to respond she growled back at him.

~*~

Tap tap tap tap tap.

Tam glared from across the table.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

Keefe looked up, muttered a simple "Fidgety" and went right back to it, tapping his pen against the table. Tam said nothing more.

Keefe had been quiet for this entire meeting, something highly unusual for him.

"Ok, seriously dude, what's up? I haven't seen you this quiet literally ever."

He only seemed to get more fidgety at this question, his bouncing leg shaking the library table.

"I...um..." he looked down, running a hand through his hair "I have a test I need to cram for and no one to study with and keep me accountable. Y'know, ADHD issues."

Tam didn't overthink for once in his life but the moment the sentence was out of his mouth he regretted it.

"I have a test too, maybe we could study together?"

Keefe smiled his annoyingly charming smile.

"Sounds good."

"Good."

Tam quickly looked back down at his computer, trying to look like he was still doing car research when in actuality he was processing he just actively offered to spend more time with Keefe Sencen.

If Linh found out about this he'd never live it down.

He didn't think he cared.

~*~

Dr. Harding walked through the classroom door, clearly much less hungover than his last appearance.

The students waited, would they get an apology? Any sort of remorse?

"Alright, who wants to read first?"

Apparently not.

Keefe raised his hand with too much confidence for what their essay looked like. Tam gave him a confused look. He had his scheming face on, never good.

"Mr. Sencen!" Keefe winced at the use of his last name by the doctor. "What an amazing start, it's only appropriate. One of you boys come up and present."

Tam gave Keefe a look of 'do you want me to do it?' Keefe just smiled and got up from his chair. This would either be really good or really, really bad. Tam was all too familiar with the scheme face.

"Doc, I did depart from the source material a bit here, hope you don't mind. And I use 'I' because Tam had no involvement in this, he deserves full points for his essay."

Keefe cleared his throat, the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

"Doctor Harding deserves to get fired: an essay. (And it's only been a week!) Paragraph one, his drinking problem-"

"Sencen! Back to your seat now. I will see you after class, or I will not see you in my next class, understand?"

Keefe gave a thumbs up as he sat back on his chair with a thud.

A few minutes later, in the middle of another student's essay, he passed Tam a note with his loopy handwriting.

"The amount of comebacks I had for 'see me after class' is absurd but if I get kicked out there's no way Elwin is helping me pay tuition a second time."

Tam tried not to smile, certainly failing, as he wrote his response.

"Yeah I think the time you talked back to Miss Cadence she wanted to expel you. Lucky Principal Alina had a thing for pseudo-dad Alden."

"Oh God I haven't talked to him in a whiiiiiile."

"?"

"You haven't heard? Yeah, he sorta found out like ALL his kids were ell gee bee tees and freaked out. Della found herself a new gf though!"

"Sounds like a lovely extra punch in the gut for a queerphobe."

"Yep. Honestly I recommend looking through his Facebook sometime. Just a million rants about how the gays destroy everything, great entertainment."

"Duly noted."

At that point it seemed like the doctor started to take notice of their note passing, and they stopped quickly. Tam wouldn't be surprised if he did the whole high school read in front of the class thing with the way he had been acting so far.

Tam was 100% sure tenure was the only thing keeping this guy's job intact. Apparently being a drunk asshole wasn't near enough to get a person out of their position. He tried to ignore the professor's annoyingly smug face for the rest of the class.

~*~

Keefe sat in his usual spot at the library, Tam sitting across from him, his brown eyes dancing across the textbook page and lips mumbling along the words. He didn't have much to do, often finding himself just staring at Tam, quickly looking away if he seemed to notice.

Eventually he sighed, sitting back.

"Ugh, this test is in a week and I have so much other crap to do, I'll never get this all memorized by Friday."

Keefe silently thanked his brain for managing to get around the having to study thing. Yay, photographic memory!

"Oh, uh, well I'm free to study more tomorrow if that would help? We could do, like, flashcards or something."

Tam seemed to repress a smile. He did that a lot. Keefe always noticed.

"That's okay, I'm sure you have better things to do. The Starbucks is always pretty packed."

"Eh, sometimes you have to get away from Marella. She's mean to me."

"Not just you, once she told me if I ever made fun of Linh's cat's name again she'd make me cut off my own bangs."

Keefe nodded sagely. "The shorter you are the closer to hell. That's why you're worse than her."

"Hey!"

Tam flicked a stray rubber band at Keefe.

"I'm at least 2 inches taller than Marella...we measured."

Keefe thought up about 12 inappropriate jokes he couldn't make before flicking the rubber band back.

"Two inches only counts in roller coasters, none of which you can ride."

Tam stuck his tongue out before returning to his studies. Unlike Tam, Keefe didn't hide his smile.

~*~

Tam strolled into the Starbucks that Friday morning, no longer surprised to see Keefe working the counter. He could barely hold still in line as he thought about the amount of cramming he'd have to do in the next few hours.

When he reached the counter, Keefe said nothing, just busily worked making a drink.

He stuck it right out at Tam.

"One venti iced caramel macchiato with 2 extra shots of espresso because you have a test today in political science and still haven't studied everything and also a muffin because you probably haven't eaten today. On the house. Good luck with the studying."

Tam froze.

"I- um- th-thaks. Y-you too...sport."

Oh, you fucking idiot.

He quickly scurried out of the Starbucks with drink and muffin in hand. Wow, he had screwed that up.

But...

Keefe...

He...

He remembered his order and that he had a test and that he forgot to eat when he was stressed holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit-

Okay, deep breaths Tam, you got this. You can totally handle a frustratingly cute guy showing care for you this is fine...

Not fine, not fine, gotta tell Linh.

He called Linh with no forewarning. Despite the fact that she was currently across the country at a different university, and it was about 3 am for her, she picked up. He barely let her get out a groggy "Hello?" before explaining everything. She only seemed to think a moment before responding.

"Hm. Well it's good to know that college is going good for you. Do you need advice or comfort?"

"Yes."

"Well, first of all, everything's gonna be okay. And I know that doesn't help much but just try to remember we're eighteen, and it's not the end of the world. Second of all, try to ask him out or something. It doesn't have to be framed as a date, like Marella and I got together on a walk in the park, seriously it can be anything."

"Thanks Linh."

"No problem, also can you hug Marella for me?"

"If she doesn't try to kill me first, yes."

"Nice. Okay go do what you gotta do, also don't wake me up at 3 am again or else I'll sic Purryfins on you, I had just gone to bed."

With that she hung up and Tam continued on his way, still trying to not completely freak out.

~*~

Keefe stared blankly as Tam walked right out of the door. Marella appeared by his arm.

"So, how'd it go?"

"Well, he called me 'sport'."

Marella inhaled through her teeth.

"Yikes. Comfort, advice, or distraction?"

"Distraction, please." Keefe replied, absent-mindedly preparing a cup for the next customer.

"Uh, well I meant to ask you what ended up happening with that ass of a teacher, but I got a bit distracted at your attempt to woo Tam-"

"Hey I said distraction not reminder. But basically I just got a slap on the wrist because, and I quote, 'Your father is Cassius Sencen! He wrote half the books we use in this class, I'm sure he can straighten you out!'"

"There's absolutely nothing papa Sencen could do to make you straight, I'm pretty sure he tried that, and it obviously didn't work."

"He actually tried a few times and it most definitely did not. Lucky he doesn't have my number anymore or else I assure you he'd keep trying."

Marella laughed.

"Well, moving on from grade A assholes, I'm supposed to tell you there's a party tonight. I'll have to send you the address later, I have it on my phone though, I am told there's gonna be booze, so I'm going."

"Eh, I'll probably go. Just to get my mind off everything."

"Thata boy." She lifted her phone. "And my shifts over in three, two, one, and I am out of here! See ya' tonight Hunkyhair."

"That's Lord Hunkyhair to you."

She just rolled her eyes and clocked out, leaving Keefe to deal with both the customers and his own thoughts.

~*~

Tam sat in his dorm room alone, constantly refreshing his grades for the possibility that his 70-year-old professor would post the test results at 1:30 am.

His roommate was gone for the weekend, actually he was gone most of the time. Tam didn't think they'd even had a full conversation before.

He jumped as his phone began to ring, a call from Keefe of all people. He hesitantly picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Tam! Tam Tam Tam Tam Tam" Keefe's slurred speech was too loud for a phone call, Tam held his phone a bit away from his ear. "...fuck wait why did I call you..."

There was a long pause, neither said anything.

"Oh yeah! I needed to tell you something...but uh I uhm I forgot what it was."

"Keefe, where are you?"

"At a paaaaaarty, well, actually just outside a party because it was hot in there, but now it's cold out here so uh yeah."

Tam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, send me the address, I'm coming to pick you up. Wait right there and don't move."

"Okie dokie."

Tam heard a thud sort of sound and the rustling of grass from the other line before Keefe hung up and soon after got a message of his location.

After 20 minutes of walking in the cold, Tam came up to what seemed to be a frat house with Keefe sitting on the lawn in criss-cross, patiently waiting in short sleeves and basketball shorts, way too little clothing for the weather. His ruddy face smiled as he saw Tam approach.

"Tam! I remembered what I was going to tell you." He stood up, face falling right after. "Oh no wait I forgot again. Ooh! You need a drink."

Keefe grabbed Tam's hand, pulling him towards the house. Tam stayed in place.

"Hey, let's get you home dude."

Keefe pouted.

"I don't wannaaaa."

He slouched down, pulling on Tam's arm like a child having a tantrum.

Tam pulled him back up to his feet.

"C'mon, if you go to your dorm without fuss I'll buy you ice cream tomorrow."

Keefe seemed much more ok with going along with Tam with the ice cream deal. He pulled off his own coat and placed it around the very drunk boy, he didn't complain.

Keefe began humming some annoying song from the early 2000s that was playing from the house earlier as they walked back in the direction of the dorms.

Suddenly, Tam remembered something.

Fitz was Keefe's roommate.

Shit.

"Hey uh do you think Fitz is at your dorm?"

Keefe nodded confidently.

"Yep! Said he was gon' study. Wouldn't come to the party because of his 'reputation' or whatever."

Around reputation he did exaggerated finger quotes, nearly knocking Tam's jacket off his shoulders.

"Hm...in that case let's go to my dorm, ok?"

Keefe shrugged, apparently willing to go along with most things in his current state. Thank goodness Linh had made Tam bring extra pillows and blankets to college, he could sleep on the floor and just hope Keefe didn't get sick on him in the night.

It was ridiculously hard to lead Keefe back to his dorm. He tried to pull down his pants halfway there and Tam almost had to carry him up the stairs but soon enough they got there. He sighed with relief as he led his inebriated friend into the room.

"Okay, you can stay here for the night. I'll sleep on the floor."

Keefe plopped himself down on Tam's bed laying flat for only a moment before sitting up with a snap and a look of realization in his eyes.

"OOH! I remember what I was gonna tell you again!"

"Oh?" Tam said playing along, expecting him to forget again.

He patted the spot next to him on the bed, Tam continued to play along, sitting next to him.

"So Marella said that I should just tell you this, and it worked for her, so I'm gonna. And uh and you have to promise to listen 'cause I'm not sayin' it again."

At this point Keefe grabbed his face with both hands, staring right in Tam's eyes and squishing his cheeks.

"You're listening right?"

Tam nodded, mostly to shake Keefe's hands off his face.

"Okay."

Keefe took in an over dramatic breath as if he was preparing to preform in the Olympics before getting another grin on his face.

"I really like you."

"You really like me?"

He nodded mumbling "mhm".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I like you. Like, like like you."

"Like...as a friend?"

"I said I wasn't gonna repeat myself. As a booooyfriend." At this point Keefe fell back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Tam's cheeks were burning.

"How long have you liked me like that?"

"Mmmm..." Keefe seemed to ponder for a moment, "Prolly high school."

"Oh um...good to know. You should get some rest. I'll be down here if you need me."

"Alrighty."

Tam shut off the lights and Keefe started snoring quick. Tam could only stare up in the darkness, unable to sleep.

~*~

Keefe woke up that morning in a room he didn't recognize to a killer headache and dead phone.

He turned to the side, seeing a pile of blankets and pillows with a large gatorade, bottle of tylenol, and a note next to it. Suddenly last nights memories came flooding back.

Oh, shit.

He scrambled out of bed, headache and nausea hitting him harder as he stood up.

Despite the fact his head was spinning, he picked up the note from the ground and read it.

Hey, meet me at the reservoir around 6, we need to talk -Tam

F. U. C. K.

Had he really said all that stuff last night? Surely it was a dream, right?

Oh God.

He gathered his few belongings, plus the things to help the hangover, and left the dorms as fast as possible. Only having to stop once along the way to throw up in one of the campus trash cans, hopefully no one would notice.

Keefe didn't have anything to do and he really didn't want to face Fitz so he went about his day in last nights clothing. Then again, it was a college campus. Someone walking around with rumpled clothes carrying a gatorade probably wasn't that big of a deal for most people. By 5:30 he sat impatiently in the empty park where the reservoir was located, it was colder closer to the water.

Just as promised, at 6 o'clock he saw Tam approaching on the horizon.

~*~

Tam was damn near a panic attack as he walked around the park attempting to find Keefe. Eventually he found him, sitting on a bench still in his clothes from last night, face once again ruddy from the cold. He sat next to him wordlessly.

"So," Keefe started.

"So," Tam replied, looking down at his lap.

"Tam I-" Keefe turned to face him. "I'm sorry about everything last night, I probably just made everything super awkward. Not to mention it's a giant violation of the friend code to even have a crush on your best friend's ex-"

"Yeah, about that."

"What?"

"You're gonna maybe kill me for this but uh," Tam pulled on his bangs. "I sorta talked to Fitz about it, I figured you wouldn't and apparently I was right. He said he was okay with it as long as we were ok with it."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Tam sighed, "Perhaps."

Keefe once again wore that shit-eating grin of his.

"Can I hear you say it?"

"Why don't you have to say it?"

"Already said it last night! Your turn now. Why did you take care of me while I was drunk?"

Keefe stared at Tam excitedly waiting for the answer. Tam sighed.

"Because I love you, little shit."

"Ooh you said it-"

Tam smashed his lips against Keefe's, both quickly melting into it. After only a moment they pulled away.

"Agh, you taste like gatorade and vomit."

"Well you taste like salt so really what's worse."

"Definitely the vomit."

Despite this, Tam leaned back in. This kiss was a moment longer than the last, and when Tam pulled away Keefe chased it.

"Ok, look I'm sorry but you look like shit Keefe you have to go change." Tam removed his jacket, throwing it around Keefe once again and helping him up from the bench. Keefe laughed.

"Yeah, you're right. Ooh now that we're a thing you need a new nickname!"

"I do?"

"You do, how about 'Bangs Boyf' ooh or maybe you can be my 'provoked partner' or my 'snappy spouse' my 'agitated accomplice' perhaps."

"Do you just have these ready and prepared for any situation?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

"You aren't Houdini, you're an 18-year-old boy that currently reeks of frat party."

"Eh that's basically the same thing. I've seen some 18-year-olds at frat parties preform tricks Houdini could never dream of."

Tam sighed dramatically. "It's a good thing you're pretty, you know."

"Hey!" Keefe jokingly shoved him.

For the first time Tam's smile wasn't repressed.

#hope you like this elliot!#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kam #keefe sencen #tam song #kotlc fic #scheduled to post at 9 am and ill reblog once i get back to my phone because ill be doing x-mas stuff

60 notes · View notes

aerynwrites · 4 years

Text

Reputation

Javier Peña x Reader

Author’s Note: I didn’t intend this to be almost 2k but...here we are. Hope y’all enjoy lol. This is different than any Javi fic I’ve done and i actually kind of enjoyed it!

Request: Maybe for a request what about one with Javier where the reader is Steve's sister. She comes to Columbia to visit and Steve tries to keep Javi away from her. Then while Javi and Steve are out one night at a bar Steve's sister walks in not knowing there and Javi sees her and doesn't know she's Steve's sister. Sorry for long explanation. (Requested by @dizzydazed)

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: hints of future sexual encounters? Cursing, fluff?

////

You were beyond excited when the apartment door opened to reveal Steve’s face. You called out his name and launched yourself into his arms as he engulfed you in an equally fierce embrace.

“Oh man!” he said holding you at arm’s length and looking you over, “I haven’t seen you in ages! How have you been?” he asks genuinely, pulling you into another, gentler, hug.

You laughed, “I’ve been good Steve, but I’m just finally happy to be visiting! Mom was practically begging me to come down here and make sure you were still alive,” you tease your brother.

Yes, you were Steve Murphy’s younger sister, only by a few years, but he still took on the protective big brother role. You and Steve continue to catch up well into the afternoon, and until Connie came home from work. Steve had taken the day off, wanting to spend as much time with you as he could while you were visiting. Just as you, Connie and Steve had sat down at the table to eat dinner, there a knock at the door. You looked questioningly to Steve, who just rolled his eyes and held up his finger, telling you to give him a minute as he went to answer the door. You and Connie waited patiently for Steve to return, and in the silence, you couldn’t help but overhear the conversation Steve was having with whoever was at the door.

“Why weren’t you at work today?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

Steve sighed, “I told you a few days ago Javier, my sister is visiting from the states, I’m taking a few days off.”

“Your sister?” the man you now knew as Javier spoke, “you never told me you had a sister,” he observed.

“It wasn’t really important, now if you don’t mind, we area out to have dinner, can we talk later?” Steve basically pleaded.

Connie chose this moment to speak up, “We have an extra plate!” she called, talking to Steve, “He can have dinner with us honey.”

You couldn’t see them, but they must have been exchanging looks or doing something nonverbal because after a long and awkward silence, Javier finally spoke up, “No, no it’s fine. I just wanted to check in, have a nice night,” Javier said, before you heard the door click shut and Steve walked back into the room taking his seat at the table.

You looked at him questioningly, “Why didn’t invite him in Steve? You always mention him on out phones calls…I thought you guys were friends?”

He sighs before picking up his fork and digging into his food, “I just-“ he pauses, glancing over to Connie, “Javier has a bit of a reputation…and I’d rather him not be around you is all,” he says cautiously.

You felt irritation build up inside you as you too began eating, “So you didn’t let your partner, who has, from what you told me, risked his life for you – have dinner with us because you’re worried he would try to get into my pants?” you ask, bewildered.

Steve choked slightly as the words left your mouth, and Connie tried to stifle a laugh as she rubbed his back. Steve took a large gulp of water before he spoke again, “well when you put it like that-“

You shake your head, “How else would you put it?” you ask, “I’m not a little girl Steve, I can take care of myself. You don’t have to protect me.”

Steve sighed, “I know that (y/n), I just…I’m sorry,” he apologizes, what seems like true regret evident in his voice.

You give him a small nod seemingly satisfied, “it’s fine Steve, I get that you’re just trying to look out for me. But before I leave, you’re inviting him over for dinner, I need to meet the guy who saved my brother’s ass,” you smirk.

Steve spluttered, “Hey-“ he jabs his fork in your direction, “I saved him too you know!”

----

The next few days were mostly uneventful, Connie and Steve had taken you around to see what they could of Colombia, but most of your visit was just catching up with Steve. You had pretty much been attached at the hip since you arrived, so you didn’t question it when Steve had told you he was going to hang out with Javier for a few hours one evening. You simply waved him goodbye and continued reading a book you had been working on since Connie would be working late.

Eventually, however, you got bored of your book and decided you wanted a drink. You remembered a bar you say down the street and decided to go there, grabbing your jacket and the spare key to the apartment Steve had given you. When you make it to the small building, you head immediately to the bar and flag the bartender down to order a drink, giving him a small smile as he finally brings you your drink. you sit, sipping your drink slowly for a few moments, before you feel a new presence take a seat at the bar next to you.

“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?” an oddly familiar voice meets your ears.

You turn to face the man who has occupied the neighboring seat and are pleasantly surprised to find a dashingly handsome man. Dark hair, dark eyes, and a leather jacket to match. Just your type.

You give him a coy smile, “You say that to all the girls you meet in a bar?”

The man lets out a rich laugh, one that sends butterflies straight to your tummy, and then he gives you a smile, “only the pretty ones,” he begins, “plus, you’re not from around here so I figured you might be lonely,” he says simply, his eyes leaving you and hand raising as he flags down the barkeep.

You raise your brows slightly, “And how do you know I’m not from around here?” you question teasingly.

Javier settles in his seat once more, “Well without hearing you talk, you just look like an American,” he says simply.

You scoff, “Well you’re not from around here either, you have just as much of an accent as I do,” you point out defensively.

The man holds his hands up in mock surrender, “You’re got me,” he holds out one hand, “Names Javier. I’m just down here for work.”

The minute the words leave his mouth your eyes widen in surprise as your brain finally places where you know his voice from, “You’re Steve’s partner!”

Now it’s Javier’s turn to look surprised, “How did you-“

You chuckle, “I heard you and Steve talking the other day when you came over,” you begin, “I knew you sounded familiar just now but it didn’t click until you said your name,” you finally take his hand in yours, “My name’s (y/n) Murphy, Steve’s sister.”

Javier’s eyes flood with recognition, and he hums, “I knew you looked familiar. A little older than the picture I’ve seen, but Steve had a picture of you, him and Connie on his desk.”

You smile at the information, “Sounds like something he’d do –“

“Hey Javi!” an all too familiar voice cuts you off, “What the hell is taking so long-“

Steve stops short when he sees you and Javier sitting a little to close for comfort. His jaw sets and he looks from Javier to you, and you just hold up your hands in defense.

“Hey, I did not know this is where you were going when you said you were going out,” you defend, “I just wanted a drink.”

Javier looks confusedly between you and Steve, “Is there a problem?”

Steve opens his mouth to speak but you cut him off, “Stevie here” you pat his back, “didn’t want me around you because you have,” you cover your mouth in a mock attempt to be secretive and whisper yell, “a reputation,” a smirk settling on your face.

Javier scoffs and downs his drink the bartender had set down moments earlier before setting the glass down again, “Really man? You wouldn’t let me have dinner with you guys because you were worried I’d fuck your sister?” disbelief, and what sounded like hurt, filled his voice.

Steve just sighs and shakes his head, “I don’t – I don’t want to deal with this right now. Javi – “ he puts his hands on his shoulder, “you’re welcome to dinner tomorrow night, but can we please go back to what we were talking about before?” he asks jutting his thumb back towards the table they were occupying before you and shown up, and starts to walk that way.

Javier rolls his eyes and stands up, not taking his eyes of you as he does, “It was nice meeting you (y/n),” he says kindly.

You nod, “Likewise Javi.”

Javier shivers as his nickname leaves your lips, and all he can manage to do is nod curtly before turning to walk away. However, a small hand on his wrist stops him in his tracks and he turns slightly before he jolts when your breath fans over his ear, “If you want to make good on Steve’s assumption…Him and Connie have plans tomorrow evening,” you say softly, hand squeezing his wrist slightly, before turning and placing some money on the bar before brushing past him and towards the door, “You know where to find me,” you say finally, sending him a wink as you exit the bar.

Javier could do nothing but started after you, shocked to his core for the first time in years.

“Javier!”

Javi jolted and turned to walk back to your brother, “Coming!”

As Javier slid into the booth and tried to listen to Steve, all that he could manage to think of was you. And he wondered what the hell he had gotten himself into.

////

Permanent Taglist: @lord-wolfgen @petalduck @sebastianstanslefteyebrow @stillreadingfantasy @pedrosdoll @simonsbluee @justlovetoreadfics@discogrrl @maryan028 @asaucecoveredsomething @hiscyarika @theforceofdisney @hail-doodles

Pedro Tag: @fleurdemiel145 @lustriix @yeah-boiiiiiiiiiii @longitud-de-onda @jellyfishpoptart @ah-callie @mutantsandproud @pascalisthepunkest @24kgolden @kaelyn-lobrutto24

#Javier pena x reader #pedro pascal x reader #Steve murphy x reader #steve murphy #narcos x reader #narcos

258 notes · View notes

yougoodfahm · 4 years

Text

Ch. 1 - Move-In Day

Chapter 1 of the ‘And They Were Roommates (Oh My God They Were Roommates)’ fic lol

Pairing: Logicality (Logan x Patton), possibly Prinxiety (Roman x Virgil) but not sure yet

Wordcount: 1708 words

Warnings: Logan overworking himself, Logan being not the most nice in the first couple chapters but I promise he’s still a good and sympathetic character in the end!

Summary: Logan and Patton are college roommates and although they don't get along at first, they're able to see eye to eye after a certain incident at a party

Read it on ao3!

"I think it's this way," Patton said as he lugged one of his duffel bags down the hallway on the right side of the second floor. Room 217, perfect. Patton grinned and set the bag on the ground and pulled his key out from the lanyard around his neck.

As he pushed the metal key into the lock, his mom came up beside him, breathing heavily. "What do you even have in this thing, Pat?" she asked him as she caught her breath. He grinned at her and turned the key.

"Just stuff for school, Ma— Oh! Hi!" Patton leapt back slightly, not expecting his roommate to be inside just yet. They hadn't coordinated anything, but the door had been closed and locked so Patton figured that his roommate wouldn't have been there already. Yet there he was, sitting at his seemingly-perfect desk, hunched over a textbook already.

The roommate glanced up, a slightly annoyed look on his face at the interruption. He gave a curt nod to the pair standing in the doorway and pushed his glasses further up his nose.

Patton tried to muster up the friendliest of smiles and held out his hand as he said, "Hi! I'm Patton, and you must be my new roomie!" He chuckled half-heartedly but then stopped as he quickly realized that the boy in front of him was not laughing along.

The boy reached out and firmly shook Patton's hand. "I am Logan. And yes, I suppose we are to be roommates." The boy, Logan, said in response.

"Well it's great to meet you, Logan!" Patton's mom replied as cheerfully as she could as she set the duffle bag down just inside the doorway. She reached her hand out and shook Logan's hand as well.

Logan tried to give a polite smile. "Please be quiet as you bring your belongings inside, I am trying to focus." He turned back towards his textbook, clearly ending the conversation.

Patton and his mom exchanged a glance, silently saying Oh no, this one will be tough, huh? Patton hoped that maybe he had just caught Logan on a bad day, or perhaps his mom being there was making him nervous.

They got to work bringing the two bags inside, putting one on the empty desk that was apparently Patton's and placing the other bag on the floor in front of the open and empty closet. The other one was shut, so Patton figured that Logan's belongings were inside it and definitely were not to be touched.

Patton's mom motioned to him that she was going to run downstairs to where the rest of the stuff was waiting —safely guarded by Patton's dad. Once she left the room, leaving the door slightly propped open, he decided to start unpacking his bags.

Patton's breath hitched slightly as he slowly unzipped the first bag that was on the floor, the zipper seemed way too loud and out of place in this completely silent room. But he needed to get his stuff out eventually, so after a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Logan wasn't about to rip his head off, he just quickly unzipped it so it would be over with.

Logan seemed to not be too bothered by the sound, although Patton did notice that his shoulders looked more tensed up than before. Patton breathed a tiny sigh of relief and then started taking out some of his clothes from the bag as quietly as he could possibly manage.

After a few minutes of shoving his clothes into the closet, the door slowly opened and both of his parents came in silently, each carrying a duffel bag plus a backpack. Patton grinned at them and motioned for them to set the bags down onto the floor beside him.

When Patton stood and unzipped the bag that was sitting on his desk, he saw Logan sigh and put on some headphones. Patton felt a pit of guilt settle into his stomach, not knowing what more he could do to help the situation.

He realized that this bag was the one that held his bedding, so he grabbed it, slung it over his shoulder and awkwardly clambered up to the top bunk, since Logan had already claimed the lower bunk. The bed frame groaned and creaked, and Patton winced each time he moved, knowing that he was probably annoying Logan to no ends.

Once he got onto the bed and got all his bedding unpacked, he climbed back down the ladder and onto non-squeaky ground.

Patton's parents soon had to leave once things were mostly unpacked. They still had a three hour drive ahead of them and they wanted to make it back home before it got too late, so the three of them stepped over the couple of things laying on the floor and shuffled into the hallway.

Patton double checked that he had his key with him before closing the door behind him. The three of them gave a collective deep sigh once they were out of earshot.

"Well, that will certainly be one tough cookie, honey, but I know you'll be able to get through to him," his mom said with a smile.

Patton nodded and gave both of them a huge hug. They said their goodbyes and their I-love-you's, only shedding a few tears and only hugging a handful more times before Patton was waving to a closing door. He smiled to himself, wiped his face and took a few deep breaths.

He decided to try and break the ice now that his parents were gone, at the very least try to extend an olive branch to Logan. He certainly didn't want to start out on the wrong foot so he might as well try to be friendly.

Patton mentally readied himself and slipped a smile onto his face before returning to the silent room. He walked over to the side of the room where both of their desks faced and plopped down into his chair, looking over at the book Logan was reading.

Logan glanced over towards him and raised an eyebrow. "Do you need something?"

Patton blinked, not expecting such a blunt question. He responded, "Oh, nothing, I was just curious what you're reading."

Logan replied, “Ah, it’s the textbook for my Calculus III class." He then ducked his head back down and continued studying it. From what Patton could tell, he was about halfway through it.

Patton added, “Woah, that’s really advanced!” Logan nodded curtly, and continued reading.

After a momentary pause, Patton asked, “Why are you studying it already? Classes don’t start for another three days.”

Logan sat up and looked over at Patton again. Patton noticed that his eyes were a deep blue, much less stern than the rest of him. Kind of... pretty.

Logan said, “I prefer to set myself up for success. Going through the textbook ahead of time helps to familiarize myself with the content, so then when we are going through it in class I already understand entirely and can get as high a score as possible in every assignment and assessment. Now, do you need anything else or may I resume my studying? I’m trying to finish this before Monday.”

Patton glanced down at his hands and said quietly, “I was going to ask if you wanted to go into the common room and try to meet some of our neighbors.”

Just for a moment, so fleeting that Patton wasn't entirely sure if he had imagined it or not, Logan seemed to hesitate. He shook his head and replied, “No, thank you. I don’t need distractions like that.”

“Like, making friends?”

Logan responded “Yes, I need to just focus on school and any other people in my life are just going to complicate that and distract me.”

Patton deflated a bit, his efforts to befriend Logan clearly being shut down. He had hoped to become best friends with whoever his roommate turned out to be, but already his plan was not going well. He chewed on his lip, considering his options.

Patton decided that he'll try to slowly get Logan to open up. Maybe he'd eventually be able to convince him to take some breaks since he certainly seemed like the type to overwork himself. Patton resolved to not push things too much right away since it seemed to be not his place just yet.

After a pause, Patton said, “Well, I’ll be in the common room if you need anything. I'll be back before midnight” as he stood.

Logan nodded and said quietly, “Alright, I go to sleep at 11:30 so please try to be quiet when you return.” The softness of his voice caused Patton to pause, since it was such a contrast to how he had been talking earlier that afternoon. Patton glanced back at the boy sitting at the desk, chewing on the tip of his pen. Huh.

Patton matched the softness that Logan had used and replied, “Of course, see you in the morning then,” as he grabbed his wallet, keys, phone and water bottle. He then headed out the door, closing it quietly behind himself.

As he stepped out into the hallway, he realized that his heart was beating pretty fast. He grinned slightly to himself and thought, Well, I'm sure we'll be friends soon enough.

He walked down the hall towards the common room and opened the door to reveal a dozen or so people gathered around the two long tables and sprawled across a big sofa.

He noticed a guy sitting on the sofa, with dark red hair and wearing a shirt that read "Hakuna Matata." Patton didn't recognize anybody in the room so he decided to go up and try to talk with the guy about Disney.

Luckily, there was a spot open next to the guy on the sofa so Patton walked up to him and asked if it was free. The guy nodded and patted the seat, proclaiming with a grin, "Not anymore! The seat is yours."

Patton smiled and sat down, extending his hand and saying, "I'm Patton Heart!"

The guy shook his hand and announced, "My name is Roman Prince, but you may just call me Roman."

If anyone wants to be on a taglist, let me know! :D

#sanders sides #tss #ts sides #thomas sanders #fic #fanfic #logicality #logan sanders #patton sanders #my fic #my writing #and they were roommates (oh my god they were roommates)#ship #colle #human au

32 notes · View notes

wintersilentdinners · 4 years

Text

fic writer interview

thank you @ninemagicks and @snowybank for tagging me!

name: calli

fandoms: mostly carry on. i still have a marvel blog, but i’m not very active on it anymore. i used to write a ton of captain america stuff, but that time has passed. i do have an indie/alt music sideblog which is a fun time, but i mostly chill here.

where you post: on AO3 (where you will see the remnants of my captain america days)

most popular one-shot: my little halloween fic that was basically me dipping my toes into this fandom is currently the most popular. although, i haven’t written that much yet. despite loving this book for the last five years (i feel old), i never really engaged in the fandom until this past october.

most popular multi-chapter: seeing as i have only one multi-chapter for carry on right now, that would be Sing Me to Sleep. if we consider all my work on ao3, then it would be Pictures of People Taking Pictures, a stucky (steve rogers/bucky barnes) fic i wrote in 2017 for a reverse big bang. it was loads of fun to write, and the artist i was paired with is so talented!

fic you were nervous to post: definitely the halloween fic i was talking about earlier. i hadn’t read carry on in a few months or read a lot of fic at that point, so i was really worried about getting the characters right (and even remembering important plot points).

how do you choose your titles: almost always song lyrics. partly because i suck at titles, but also partly because i love finding ties between music and books. it’s always been one of my favorite things to do, so i really enjoy finding a song with lyrics or a mood that fit the fic.

do you outline: sometimes. usually my outlines are a very long run on sentence about what i want to happen, which gets abandoned once i actually start writing. whenever i stop writing, i leave a rambling comment on my document about where i want it to go next, and refer to that.

complete: if we count each of my countdown prompts as separate works, then 15.

do you take prompts: i haven’t yet, but i’d certainly like to! i am horrible at having original ideas, so drop an ask if you want me to write something lol

in progress: my last few days of the carry on countdown. i’m also about to start a songfic based on taylor swift’s “ivy,” which will be a victorian au.

coming soon: my snowflake exchange fic, which i’m both nervous and excited to share! i also have two more countdown entries coming.

i’m sorry if any of you have already been tagged, but here we go: @sharing-a-room-with-an-open-fire @seducing-a-vampire @mageicalwishes @nightimedreamersworld

#it me #tag games #not carry on #writing #breaking the fourth wall

7 notes · View notes

unsettledink · 4 years

Text

Back in the days of LJ, I used to try and do a post at the end of each year, looking back primarily at fandom and fic. I fell out of the habit when everything moved to tumblr, and then it seemed like I didn’t have anything to say since I wasn’t writing or really participating any.

But I always liked the idea of it, because I love to be overly reflective on stuff. And talk about my fic. Any excuse! I shuffled around some of the topics I used back then and added a few I’ve seen around that I liked. It got… long, because I TALK, so I split into two sections.

Your main fandom of the year?

Marvel (MCU) for sure. Primarily with characters from Spider-Man and Iron Man movies.

Your favorite film watched this year?

The Old Guard - I saw a couple trailers and everything about it looked like catnip. ‘It’s probably going to be so dumb, but I don’t even care,’ I thought. And then it was so good. It was so much fun and so much smarter than I expected and I loved each and every character and it just made me happy in so many ways.

Your favorite book read this year?

Red, White, and Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston - I read it twice this year actually. It’s so… cute isn’t the right world. Sweet and hopeful and soft and comforting and intense. I liked every single character which is pretty rare. I cried during the sad parts and then again at the happy ending, like straight up sobbed - both times. I already want to read it again.

Your favorite tv show watched this year?

Schitt’s Creek - I started it on a whim and because a lot of people had said it was good. The episodes were short so it wasn’t a huge time investment. The first season was a little rough, but there were enough funny moments that I hung on, and then… I kept getting fonder and fonder of these idiots as they grew. And THEN… it kept not disappointing me?

You grow to expect certain scripts, twists, jokes, especially in queer story lines. To wait for the bad thing to happen, because it always does. Instead, Schitt’s Creek kept going, ‘hey, here’s the set up for that! Guess what? We’re not doing it. Here’s the happy version instead.’ The relief of having that happen again and again - the last season I’ve watched (I’m sort of saving 6) I cried a bunch but it was always because I was happy.

Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?

1896 - I’ve been waiting for the new Steam Powered Giraffe album so eagerly for aaaaaages. Finally getting recordings of Zero’s songs! Lying Awake remains my favorite off the album, with Eat Your Heart and Bad Days on the Horizon high up there as well. I’m loving what Zero brings to the band.

Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

I don’t know if I really did discover that much? I stuck pretty closely to old fandoms and the ones I picked up in 2019. Maybe Zodiac? It was definitely inspiring, and I want to write and read more in it.

Maybe the couple discords I joined? I still really dislike discord and am not on there much, and mostly lurk when I am, but having somewhere vaguely like the comms I remember makes me feel a little less isolated. It’s the potential, that maybe if I said something I might make a friend, or someone might actually want to hear what I say.

Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

The Watch - I mean, I knew it was going to be a disaster with every word said during pre production. I wasn’t ever going to be happy with it. And then it came out and was even worse and uglier and … disrespectful not just of the source material but of actual people connected to Terry. I’m beyond disappointed that this is what we got, and it’s probably going to be a long time before we get anything else.

Devil All the Time was terrible, but I didn’t have especially high hopes. It still didn’t manage to meet them. Yikes.

The most missed of your old fandoms?

Maybe MASH? Someone I follow started talking about it and I was reminded all over again of the wonderful fics in that fandom. I went looking and a lot are gone (still on my computer, lol, but not online), but rereading was such a trip. A slightly depressing trip, but still.

The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?

Hmm. I’ve kind of not had the energy to invest in other fandoms at the moment? When The Witcher was having it’s big moment back in January, I had a feeling I might enjoy it enough to fall headfirst into the fandom, so I avoided watching it. Ikr? I don’t have the time or the energy to actively seek anything out.

Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?

SO EXCITED about Winter’s Orbit. I mean, the third Spider-Man movie for sure, with worry. The second Venom movie, ugh yes. I have tentative hopes for Jungle Cruise? Jumanji was stellar and I always enjoy Dwayne. I have both hope and dread for the new Suicide Squad - I did love Birds of Prey, so if it’s along those lines, yay. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard because it should be some fun garbage, my favorite kind. I don’t know how I feel about Dune, but, uh, I’m anticipating it. It seems highly unlikely it will actually happen, but The Wheel of Time TV series.

I want to be excited about Black Widow but it’s hard. It’s not the story I’ve been wanting to see, and I’m angry about Natasha not getting a movie until she’s dead.

You know. If any of it is released for real.

The Good:

I moved to a better place. I got a better paying, better benefits, better environment job that lets me work from home. The house acquired 3-7 more cats depending on the month. I was able to get some serious problems on my car fixed. I have insurance and was able to start on some health stuff. No one I know got sick or died. I wrote a LOT.

The Bad:

Aside from the obvious? Depression hitting extra hard during the winter. Having to put two kittens to sleep. Have my car be hit three times in our parking lot. Being driven INSANE by one of the cats for months while the vets were all closed. Kidney stone. Dealing with several health problems. Stalling for months on Gotcha.

The Indifferent:

Not leaving the house often or easily. Enjoying a new fandom but not doing great at making connections (still real awkward, bud). Raising kittens and saying goodbye. Need new tires. Reading a lot of fic but not a lot of books. Having more pay but more expenses as well (wth insurance??).

2020 fic stats

Number of stories: 39

Number of fandoms: 6? Or 2, if you cluster the others under mcu

Total number of words: 152049

Average word count per story: 4kish

Longest fic: Causality (18k, P/Q)

Shortest fic: Can’t, Won’t (1k, P/Q)

Most comments received: Sieche (49, T/P)

Fandom you wrote the most of: MCU Spider-Man - I only wrote TWO fics that didn’t feature that fandom, wow. And one of those was still MCU.

Fandom you wrote the least of: Zodiac (1!)

Events you participated in: Marvel Trumps Hate, Kinktober, IornspidersGeorg Exchange, Starker Festivals Exchange, MCU Secret Santa, Spiderio Big Bang

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?

SO MUCH MORE OMG. I mean, even just counting posted stuff! (I probably wrote a solid 300k of Gotcha this year.) I did not expect or plan on doing Kinktober, so that’s a whole 31 fics right there. I also wasn’t planning on doing any exchanges - I have a History - but then I did three? And beyond that, I did not expect for everything to get so LONG.

Topic you wrote that you would never have predicted in January:

Tony/Quentin. Goddammit @the-me09 They were like hey, they could be interesting! And while I agreed, I had no ideas for them. THEN they had to go and write Just Bodies That Collide and next thing I know, I’ve got ten fics featuring them and two-six series focused on them or Peter/Quentin/Tony. What the fuck.

Leitmotif of the year:

Vulnerability, I think. I had a bunch of things typed up and they all circle back to vulnerability in the end; sex, being seen, being wanted, sharing trauma, asking for help, trying something new. Offering a soft spot in the hopes it won’t be hurt.

Favorite character to write about:

Tony Stark, for sure. There are just a bunch of slightly different takes, and a lot of canon to work with (kind of frustrating too though). And I’m a sucker for emotionally damaged snarky traumatized characters that are viewed poorly both in universe and out.

Favorite kind of fic to write:

This year? Fluff and smut combined. Maybe that’s not the right term really. I keep looking for and writing, even in the angstiest fics, for those soft moments. Sure, maybe it’s a super smutty kink scene, but I want the affection to be obvious. Maybe everyone is consumed by guilt, but I want it to be based in caring too much. Maybe there’s no real love, just sex and even that’s messed up, but I want to find that tiny bit of fondness.

And I want happy endings. Or endings that look like they’re going to be happy, at least, even if there’s all the angst first. I don’t think I’ve killed anyone this year? Who AM I?

Biggest disappointment:

Not finishing the rough draft of Gotcha. I was making such good progress in 2019, from August to December. Even after the move, I basically finished part 6 in January. I fumbled around and fussed with 1 a lot, but that had already been given one draft, really, and I got through half of 4 before I slowed to a stop. I’ve barely gotten anything accomplished on it since June. Bits and pieces here and there, but nothing significant, not like I was doing. I can excuse October, due to 80k invested in Kinktober (yikes!), but aside from that… I’m sad. I’ll finish it eventually, but I really thought I could have the first draft done in a year. I’m sitting at about 480k out of what I’m almost certain will be 700k.

Biggest surprise:

Kinktober! It was kind of spur of the moment, decided just a week in advance. I’ve tried month long or even like, 20-25 day long challenges and I don’t think I’ve ever completed one. I thought there was a good chance I’d do so again, so I gave myself a little help and made my own list of prompts, things I knew I liked and hadn’t done much of yet. And it worked? I actually completed it, what the hell? Despite spending five days travelling near the end! Despite falling behind in getting ahead and writing a bunch of stories the day they were to be posted! Despite apparently forgetting how to do short form!

I, uh, could have done without the spawning of eleven series or sequels or continuations jfc WHY SELF.

Something you learned this year:

Ideas breed ideas. I swear to god, the second I sit down to think through a current idea, I wake up the next morning with three more.

Words need to be restocked. I need to consume new - not rereads, not fic - content every so often to refresh my word bank. It is astonishing how quickly writing goes again after I’ve done so.

I can write so much more than I thought I could. I can do so much more than I thought I could. Yes, I can complete challenges without dropping out early. Yes, I can do exchanges and not regret it. Yes, I can write more than 100k, more than 200k, more and more - and I can write 10k+ easily too. Though I wouldn’t mind if I could once again write less than 10k without feeling like I’ve cut off in the middle.

My time is shrinking, and if I want to write as much, I’m going to have to make the time. I can’t rely on three days off a week, on seven hours of uninterrupted overnight shifts, on hyper focused writing binges that leave everything else around me on fire.

Most memorable comment:

So, so many! I can’t pick one. I’ve been really lucky to get a bunch of really detailed, enthusiastic, analyzing comments across all different fics. One of the types that always sticks with me are the ones like ‘I didn’t think/know I liked this ship/kink/twist, but fuck, apparently I do? You made me, what the hell?’.

What, if anything, are you going to try to do differently in your writing in the new year?

So with writing Gotcha but not posting until it’s done, my view of what I’ve written vs anyone else’s is extremely skewed. I’m sitting here thinking, hey I’m 400k in and got another 10k done today, so much writing! While anyone looking at my AO3 account (for most of the year) is like, you’re averaging three months between fics :(

All that to say I want to try and get something posted more frequently while I’m working on Gotcha.

Also, writing for kinktober was really interesting - pushing myself to write every single day, often for that day’s post, forced me to get back into shorter form fic. Which used to be all I did? But it was surprisingly hard to just stop and not write more. So I’d like to challenge myself to write more fics under 10k at least. Maybe even under 5k though that might be asking a lot lol. I might get there with the many continuations of those fics I’d like to do. Does that count?

Goals:

I want to hit 365 fics. :) I’m only 32 away!

Aside from writing -

I’ve really enjoyed the reading record sideblog I started this year. I’ve let it lapse a little the past month or so, but I’d like to keep it going strong.

I’d like to leave a lot more comments. I want to get better about allowing imperfection - I want to write The Best Comment, but in the end? Probably 90% of fic writers are going to be happier with a comment expressing enjoyment in any way over no comment at all.

And not just on fics, but on general posts as well. It’s hard not to feel… weird and stupid and invasive and rude leaving any sort of comment on someone’s post if I don’t know them at least a little. I have godawful rejection sensitive dysphoria and a lot of interactions that ended poorly; I’m really not good at people. But as dumb as it feels to say those things, I know I am thrilled and warmed and happier when there’s a reblog with tags or a note or a comment or an ask or just, any small interaction that shows someone out there notices and cares, at least a little. There’s no reason I can’t at least try to offer that to other people.

I’d like to make/run a couple challenges of my own, later in the year. I’m still figuring out what I want to do and what I could do. I’m really interested in doing something that’s not focused on creators, but the readers; some sort of comment or rec challenge maybe.

I want to find a cheerleader for Gotcha. I’m struggling to keep up my motivation to write it when it’s already in my head, where I can ‘read’ it any time. There’s a line between depending too much on external validation and trying to generate all your validation yourself, and I’m getting to a point where I think I need to ask for help (gasp! The hardest thing EVER).

(Part Two: Pick Some Fics)

#end of year #unsettled rambles

4 notes · View notes