#If you wanna acknowledge history that's cool

[jasontoddsmommyissues]

Let’s Give ‘Em Something to Talk About

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Femme!Henderson!Reader

Summary: Y/N Henderson’s relationship with Eddie puts her at odds with Jason Carver and co.

Warnings: Reader uses she/her pronouns, bullying/harassment, slut shaming, allusions to sexual content (nothing sexual actually happens), Jason being a prick, swearing, Reader is Dustin’s sister but no physical descriptions are used and you can read it as an adopted sibling if you want, I think that’s it but let me know if I missed something

A/N: Alright, this is the first Fic I’ve ever posted on here. I’m honestly a little nervous, but hopefully you enjoy. I’ll probably end up posting this on my Ao3 too so I’ll link that at some point.

My Master List | Ao3

—

“I’m gonna miss you”, Eddie whines as he leans against the locker next to yours.

“It’s one class”, you reply as you swap out your English textbook for history, “that’s, what, an hour?”

“Actually I have Davis’s class next so it feels more like three hours”, Eddie says.

You snort. Mr. Davis has probably been around since the dinosaur era, and if there were to be a competition for most boring teacher at Hawkins High, he would win it hands down.

“It’s not funny”, Eddie teasingly pouts, “I might actually die of boredom.”

“As much as I would hate for that to happen, I’ve got my own class to get to, so unfortunately you’re on your own for now,” you reply.

“Alright well, please tell the rest of Hellfire I’m going to miss them”, he tells you, “and feel free to wear that black skirt of yours to the funeral. The tight one. It’s what I would’ve wanted.”

You roll your eyes affectionately before pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

“You’re so dramatic”, you say, “I’ll see you later.”

“If I survive that long”, he calls. You shake your head before turning the corner and heading into your history classroom.

“Okay, class”, your teacher, Mr. Price announces once the bell rings, “I’ve written some questions on the board. You’ll find the answers in Chapter 5 of your textbook. Write them down and turn them in by the end of class. You may work with a partner if you’d like.”

You pull your textbook out of your bag and flip to a clean sheet in your notebook. You don’t have any friends in this class, so you figure you may as well just do it yourself and get it over with. That is, until a voice startles you as you’re about to start reading the first page of the chapter.

“Hey, Y/N. Do you wanna work together?”

You blink up at the source of the voice and are pretty sure you must be hallucinating. That’s the only explanation you can think of as to why Jason Carver would be asking you to be his partner.

The two of you have been in the same grade since Kindergarten and you can't think of a single time in all those years that he’s directly acknowledged your existence. The closest thing you have to a connection with him is that your little brother is friends with one of his new Basketball recruits, but you kind of doubt he even knows or cares about that. There’s a few members of his little posse he could be asking to work with him, so you have no clue why he’d be asking you of all people. But, you don’t have anyone else, so you shrug.

“Sure, I guess”, you say.

“Great”, he smiles, moving to sit down next to you.

“I’ll get started on number 1”, you suggest, “maybe you can do number 2 and we’ll compare?”

“Sure”, he says sweetly. You’re honestly getting a little freaked out by how friendly he’s being.

You both do your agreed upon work, and then switch off to show each other your answers.

“So?” you ask when he’s finished reading yours, “does that seem right?”

“Yeah”, he replies, “you’re good at this. You ever thought about being a tutor?”

“Oh, no, not really”, you say.

“See, I just ask because our youth group has this program where some of us older members help the younger kids out after school and stuff.”

“Oh, that’s cool”, you tell him, not really engaged the conversation. It all sounds well and good, but you really aren’t interested in being a tutor at the moment.

“You know, the church has a lot of great programs”, Jason continues, and you’re not sure what any of this has to do with the Byzantine empire, which is what you’re supposed to be discussing.

“Okay”, you say.

“They do a lot of outreach, a lot of stuff to help people who have lost their way.”

“Lost their way?” you inquire, a small part of you beginning to understand what’s actually going on.

“Yeah. You know. Made bad choices, got mixed up with the wrong people.”

“Um, I think we should just get back to the assignment”, you suggest, uncomfortable with the discussion and not wanting it to go any further.

“Look”, Jason sighs, “what I’m trying to say is, I don’t know you very well, but you seem like a nice girl. I’d hate to see you go down a bad path.”

Okay. You get it now, and it’s starting to piss you off.

“Thank you, but I’m doing just fine”, you insist.

“You’ve been hanging around with Eddie Munson”, Jason says, as if it’s some scandalous secret and not just you spending time with your boyfriend, “you really shouldn’t do that, you know…”

You stare at him, a little dumbfounded he would just up and say such a thing to you.

“You can’t be serious…”, you say.

Jason leans in to you, a deadly serious expression on his face.

“I’ve heard about guys like him before”, he tells you, “I know the stuff they’re into.”

Yeah, so do you. It’s tabletop role playing games, which is about the least nefarious activity you could possibly think of. Jason clearly doesn’t see it that way, though, because he’s still going on.

“And I know they like to lure innocent people like you into their little organizations. I’m telling you, Munson is bad news. You should stay away before you get hurt.”

You seriously have to hold yourself back from laughing right in Jason’s face. You’re not sure what reality he’s living in, but it clearly isn’t the same one you are. Last weekend, you and Eddie had watched Terms of Endearment and he’d started to cry (well started tearing up at least, even sniffled a little, though he vehemently denied it). There’s not a single situation in which you can ever imagine him causing you intentional harm.

“Okay, you know what”, you say, “I think I’m gonna finish the rest of the assignment alone, thanks.”

Jason grabs your arm gently but firmly. “I’m serious, Y/N. He’s dangerous. Stay away from him before you end up hurt or killed.”

You’re really not sure what the most offensive part of all this is. It’s either that Jason thinks that somehow Eddie Munson, your lovable dork of a boyfriend,is secretly an evil Satanist cult leader, or that you’re apparently too stupid or naive to make that kind of judgment for yourself. Maybe it’s that he volunteered to work with you on an assignment and acted all friendly with you just so he could get this opportunity to preach to you about your supposedly “dangerous” lifestyle. He’s never given you the time of day before, after all.

“I don’t know what it is you think you see in him, but I promise you it’s not going to end well.”

You snort. Is he, what, jealous or something? He’s got a girlfriend, after all, and plenty of other girls who’d be willing to take her place if she were to leave him. It’s kind of sad that he’s apparently so insecure that the mere thought of Eddie Munson getting female attention is enough to have him losing his shit like this.

“Whatever”, you spit, “just leave me alone.”

He glares at you, but ultimately turns his attention to his textbook and doesn’t speak to you for the rest of the class.

-

You happily shove the encounter out of your mind once the bell rings. You’re perfectly content with the social circle you keep, and you’re not going to let some jock with an inflated sense of self importance change that.

Jason apparently doesn’t do the same because he spends lunch glaring at you from his table. Granted, him shooting disgusted looks in the general direction of the Hellfire Club is a regular occurance, but today he’s making it obvious his ire is directed specifically at you.

“What the fuck is his problem?” Eddie asks.

“I dunno”, you shrug, “he’s just an asshole.”

Eddie peers at him for a moment and you can see a familiar glint of mischief twinkle in his eye. Before you can comment, he’s dramatically pushing himself to his feet and sauntering over to Jason and company.

“What do you want?” Jason demands.

“Couldn’t help but notice you staring”, Eddie says, “just wanted to let you know that I’m flattered, but unfortunately you aren’t really my type. Sorry.”

“Fuck off”, Jason barks, “disgusting freak.”

“Don’t take it too hard”, Eddie says, giving him a joking pat on the shoulder before making his way back over to you. You stifle a laugh at the indignant look plastered on Jason’s face. Eddie shoots you a proud grin and you shake your head affectionately. Jason clearly doesn’t know shit about “guys like Eddie.”

-

The next few days pass by uneventfully. Jason doesn’t try talking to you again, which you’re thankful for. Wednesday starts out normally, you go to history, and Jason roundly ignores your presence. Then you have to go to your next class, which is gym.

Definitely not a favorite of yours, and you don’t even have Eddie in your class to ease the pain. You make it through your warm ups, and then the coach has you split up to practice your volleyball serves. Everything’s going well until Andy, one of Jason’s buddies, approaches you out of nowhere.

“Hey, Henderson”, he says, a smirk on his face, “you think you could score me some weed?”

You look at him, confused. You don’t get involved in Eddie’s side hustle, so you’re not sure why he’d ask you.

“What?”

“Oh, I just figured you probably get a good discount”, he goes on, “I mean, that’s why you let Munson fuck you, right?”

You freeze in shock, your cheeks starting to grow hot. You can’t say you’re used to people making comments about your sex life, especially not to your face.

“I mean, I gotta say”, Andy continues, a cruel glint in his eye, “I didn’t take you for a slut. But come on. Spreading your legs for that freak? Jesus, that’s sad. You know, I’d be happy to show you a good time, since you’re so desperate for it.”

You can only stand there, mouth agape. Sure, you’ve gotten a gross comment or two from a male classmate before, but nothing like this. You certainly have never been called a slut before. You try to formulate a response, but you can’t come up with one. It doesn’t matter anyway, because the coach’s whistle rings out, signaling for you all to hit the changing rooms. You dash out of the gym, more than pleased to be away from Andy.

You hop in the shower in the locker room, take a few moments to shake off the discomfort of the interaction. You’re not entirely successful in that endeavor, because it keeps playing in your mind even after you’re dressed and making your way back into the hallways.

You have no idea where the hell Andy came up with all of that. At this point, it’s common knowledge that you and Eddie are dating, but you don’t know where this idea that you’re sleeping with him for drugs came from. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Hey, Beautiful”, you’re distracted from your thoughts by Eddie, who comes happily bounding over to you. His face falls when he sees the look on your face though.

“You okay?” he asks.

“I’m fine”, you say. Something about the idea of telling Eddie about what happened leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It’s embarrassing, and you definitely don’t want him to feel like it’s somehow his fault that Jason and Andy are giving you a hard time.

Besides, it doesn’t matter. Once again, nothing they say about you or Eddie is true. You can’t let some stupid jocks get to you.

-

Honestly, you probably could’ve been okay, if that was the end of it. Unfortunately, things only get worse the next day.

As you make your way to your seat in history, you catch sight of Amber and Samantha, two cheerleaders who like to hang around Jason and the others, whispering as you walk by.

You ignore them, figuring you’re being paranoid and they probably aren’t even talking about you, but when you sit down, Amber turns and looks you right in the eye.

She raises her voice then, clearly intending for you to hear what she’s saying.

“I hope she’s gotten tested”, she tells Samantha, “I can’t imagine what nasty shit the Freak is passing on to her.”

You take a deep breath, turning away from her.

It doesn’t matter, you tell yourself, it’s not true.

“I hope the drugs are worth it,” Samantha says.

You clench your jaw as you slip into your seat. It shouldn’t bother you so much. It's not true, and even if it were, who cares what Amber and Samantha have to say about it?

You’re dating Eddie because you like him. You like the way he’s always joking around and making you laugh, you like that he makes a point of looking out for Dustin and his friends, you like the way he looks at you with those big puppy dog eyes and flashes that mischievous grin. Cheap access to his drugs has never even crossed your mind.

You shouldn’t concern yourself with what they say, you know that, but hearing your name in connection with “slut” grinds at you.

-

During gym class, you do your best to avoid Andy, because everytime he notices you looking at him, he’s making some suggestive gesture at you. You don’t bother telling anyone about it, since Andy’s on the basketball team and the coach would probably take his side.

In the hallway, you accidentally bump into Patrick from the basketball team. You mutter an apology, which he accepts, but his girlfriend gives you the dirtiest look you’ve ever seen.

“Don’t talk to her”, you hear her tell him as you walk away, “she’s a slut.”

-

All of the gossip has put you in a foul mood by the time you get to your second to last period of the day, which happens to be study hall.

Like always, it’s in the cafeteria, with you and a bunch of other students of varying grade levels all sitting around doing your homework. Technically, you’re not supposed to talk, but the teacher in charge is way too underpaid to worry about enforcing that, so you can usually get away with conversation as long as things don’t get too rowdy.

You’re not taking advantage of that today, rather trying your best to distract yourself by actually doing your homework. You’re halfway through summarizing Act 3 of Hamlet when you hear someone say your name.

“Hey, Y/N…”

You’re confused when you look up to find Lucas standing there. Technically, you’ve known him for years, but it’s not like you’ve ever associated with him outside the time he spends with Dustin.

“What?” you ask, a little meaner than you mean to.

“I just thought you should know that…well, I think Jason has been going around saying things about you.”

Of course. You should’ve known Jason was behind this. Jason fucking Carver. Captain of the Basketball Team. Active member of the local church. Son of one of the most respected families in Hawkins. He’s clearly used to people listening to whatever he has to say. Apparently, his ego couldn’t handle you dismissing his comments about your relationship with Eddie.

Jesus, you’d always known he was a bit of an asshole, but this is a level of pettiness you’d never expected, even from him.

“Don’t tell him I told you”, Lucas adds, “but I just thought you should know.”

“Thank you”, you say. You’re definitely glad to have that piece of information.

-

The next day, you storm into Mr. Price’s classroom with righteous fury coursing through your veins. You bypass your desk and instead march straight up to Jason.

He pauses his conversation with Andy and Samantha when he sees you approach.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” You demand.

“Excuse me?” Jason asks.

“I know you’ve been starting rumors about me”, you tell him, “what exactly is your problem, Jason?”

“Me? I don’t have a problem”, Jason insists, “I just think it’s fair the men of Hawkins High get a warning about your ‘extracurricular’ activities.”

You can feel heat flood your cheeks.

“You’re a dick, Jason!” you hiss.

“You know, Y/N”, Jason retorts, “I actually feel bad for you. I mean, no decent man is ever going to want you when they find out you’ve been giving it up to some trailer trash freak.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about”, you snap.

“Believe me, I know exactly what happens to girls who hang around with filthy, Satan-worshiping scumbags”, he says, “and you know what? I’m not going to feel sorry for you when they’re finding your body dumped in the woods.”

“Get over yourself!”

“Whatever”, Jason shakes his head, “I’m not gonna take the attitude from some little slut.”

You’re not fully in control of yourself during what happens next. One second you’re standing there listening to Jason degrade you, the next your fist is connecting with his face.

He stands there, stunned for a moment, before opening his mouth to say something. He doesn’t get the chance though, because Mr. Price gets to it first.

“Ms. Henderson”, he gasps, “Mr. Carver, what on earth is going on here?”

“She punched me in the face”, Jason spits accusingly.

“I-I…I’m sorry I…”

“Enough”, Mr. Price sighs, “I want both of you going to the principal’s office right now!”

-

You’re in deep shit. That much is immediately clear. You punched Jason Carver in the face. It’s not like you even claim it was self defense, since he didn’t do anything physical to you.

“So”, Principal Higgins sighs, “tell me what happened again?”

“She punched me in the face”, Jason hisses.

“Is that true?”

“Yes”, you sigh, “but he called me a slut.”

Principal Higgins rubs his temple, processing the information. Meanwhile, Jason’s gaze is fixed firmly on you, his eyes full of hatred.

“Mr. Carver”, Higgins says finally, “that is not appropriate language to use in regards to another student. You may go back to class, but I better not hear about something like this again.”

Jason stands and marches out of the office, as if he has a right to be pissed about Higgins’ scolding. You suppress the urge to roll your eyes. Of course he gets a slap on the wrist. Nobody wants to punish the star basketball player. You’re certain that if it were anyone else, Eddie or Dustin or one of the other Hellfire Club members, they definitely wouldn’t be getting off so easily.

“Now, as for you Ms. Henderson”, Higgins says, “we do not allow for any sort of violence in this school. However, in all your years at this school, you have never had to receive any form of discipline. So I’m willing to be flexible here. Normally, something like this could be grounds for suspension, but since this is your first time, I say it’s two weeks detention after school starting next Monday. Does that sound fair to you?”

Not really, no, but you can’t say that.

“Yes”, you reply instead.

“Alright. Good. Now go back to class. And Ms. Henderson, I sincerely hope I won’t have to see you in my office again.”

-

You’re in a bad mood when Mr. Price’s class finally ends. You’ve gone your entire high school career without getting a detention and now you’ve ruined that over some pompous dick bag. Speaking of, Jason has been staring daggers at you since you returned to class, and is continuing to do so even now as you’re leaving.

There’s a tense, awkward moment where you both stand there in the hallway, glaring at each other, but it’s broken when the force of a body colliding with your back almost takes you off your feet. Jason is forgotten when a pair of arms wrap around your waist from behind.

“Eddie”, you huff playfully.

“How’d you know it was me?” he asks as you turn around to face him.

“Cause you can’t keep your hands to yourself, Munson”, you reply.

“Don’t blame me”, he replies, “you know I’m powerless to resist your charms.”

Before you can reply he’s pulling you close and beginning to press kisses to your cheek. You know the two of you are making a scene, and on any other day you might be a little self conscious about it, but today you’re just glad to have him around.

His kisses stop suddenly and you realize he’s stopped because he’s finally noticed Jason’s hateful glaring. Unfazed as always, he just flashes a cocky smile and gives Jason a mocking impression of a friendly wave. Jason makes a face like he’s wishing for both you and Eddie’s violent deaths.

“Geez”, Eddie comments, “he looks pissed.”

“Um, yeah, probably because I punched him in the face”, you mutter.

Eddie’s eyes widen in obvious surprise.

“He had it coming”, you add, “he was being a Dick.”

You know you don’t have to defend yourself to Eddie. He knows better than anyone how nasty Jason can be.

“My, my, Fair Lady Henderson”, he smiles, “I dare say that was very Metal of you.”

“Yeah, well, Higgins didn’t think so”, you reply, “I got two weeks detention for it.”

“Ol’ Higgins never did have a sense of humor”, Eddie says, “but from where I’m standing, you’re basically a hero.”

“Really?”

“Hell yeah”, Eddie tells you, “Jason and his goons have been making our lives miserable for years.”

You can’t help but smile at that. You’re definitely not happy with the day’s events, but knowing Eddie’s on your side makes it a little more bearable.

-

On Monday you begrudgingly make your way to Mrs. Cline’s room for your first day of detention.

“Ms. Henderson?” she asks when you walk in.

“Yeah”, you say, a little embarrassed.

“Wonderful”, she says, checking your name off of a list in front of her, “please take a seat.”

There’s only two other people in there with you, so you just pick a seat as far from them as possible and sit down.

“Alright”, Mrs. Cline says, “looks like everyone’s here except…”

“I’m here.”

You look up in surprise to see Eddie come walking into the room.

“Ah, yes, Mr. Munson”, Mrs. Cline says dryly, “what a surprise. Please take a seat.”

You know that Eddie isn’t a stranger to detention, but it’s weird that he didn’t mention anything to you when you’d told him about it. He walks over to the desk next to yours, looking way too pleased for someone who’s about to serve a stint in detention.

“What are you doing here?” you ask.

“Oh, you know, got caught vandalizing the boy’s locker room during free period”, he tells you.

“What? When?”

“Friday”, he says with a satisfied smirk.

You frown. This must’ve happened after the whole Jason thing on Friday which means…

Which means Eddie did it knowing that you were also going to be in detention.

“Eddie”, you say, “did you get detention just because I did?”

“I couldn’t let you have all the fun, could I?” he grins.

You can’t help but smile along with him.

“Mr. Munson, Ms. Henderson”, Mrs. Cline calls from her desk, “no talking during detention.”

Eddie mimes zipping his lips and waits until Mrs. Cline looks away before giving you a playful wink. You stifle a giggle.

You don’t know Jason all that well, but you’re pretty sure he would never dream of landing himself in detention just to keep his girlfriend company. You’ve never seen him make a scene in the middle of the hallways to get her to smile. That’s the thing about this that really gets under your skin. Jason and the others don’t know shit. They think that just because Eddie doesn’t fall into their narrow definition of “acceptable”, he must be scary and dangerous. They think that just because you’re not afraid of him, you must be dirty and corrupted. They’re too close-minded to look closer and see that Eddie is the sweetest boyfriend you could ever imagine, that you spend time with him because he makes you happy. They’d rather write him off as a freak and you off as a slut than accept that maybe their perception is wrong.

You’re far from being a violent person, but you can’t say you regret what you did. Jason deserved to be put in his place, and it’s not like you did any serious damage to him anyway. You’re glad you stood up for yourself, for Eddie. You’ve probably tacked “psycho bitch” onto your already unflattering “whore” reputation, but at this point, you’re not sure you care. If being a freak means you get to spend your days with the love of your life, you will gladly accept that label.

-

After the designated two hours are up, Mrs. Cline dismisses you all.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad”, you say as you and Eddie start making your way through the hall.

“Nah”, he replies, “I mean it’s boring but it’s not bad.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not planning on having to do this again”, you continue, “but it’s bearable.”

Eddie nods.

“I’m sorry, by the way”, he adds.

“For what?”

“Jason and the others. They’ve been giving you a hard time, right?”

“Yeah”, you shrug, “it is what it is. Not your fault.”

“I mean it kind of is”, Eddie replies, “they’re only doing it because you’re dating me.”

“Eddie”, you say, “Jason’s an asshole, okay? That’s not on you. If he can’t handle our relationship, then fuck him.”

That gets a grin out of Eddie.

“You know, you’re getting to be quite a rabble rouser, Henderson”, he jokes.

“I’m learning from the best”, you tease back.

Eddie’s smile widens. He follows you out to your car and then presses a soft kiss to your lips.

“See you tomorrow, Sweetheart”, he says and then heads off to his van. You watch him go, butterflies still lingering in your tummy from the contact.

If you’d actually had any doubts about Eddie, they would’ve disappeared in that moment. That feeling, it’s a one of a kind thing. No one’s ever managed to give it to you before, and you’re not sure anyone else ever will. You love Eddie. He loves you. He’s sweet, and silly and he treats you right. If your peers want to believe a bunch of bullshit about you two, then let them. You know what you have, and you’re not going to let them ruin it for you.

Grinning to yourself, you hop in your car, put the Black Sabbath tape you borrowed from Eddie into the player and head home.

#stranger things #eddie munson #feral raccoon boy #nikki’s fic library #nikki writes #eddie x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x henderson!reader #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fluff #henderson!sister #henderson!reader #eddie munson fic #st fanfic #eddie munson fandom #reader x eddie munson #femme!reader x Eddie munson #eddie x you #eddie x y/n #y/n x Eddie munson

[shyphonics]

Salad Days - Chapter 1: I Against I Against I Against I

Rodrick Heffley x Reader

Baby-Punk AU ✨ (part 2 here!)

No use of y/n, no physical description of reader, fem pronouns

Put yourself in the shoes of a snarky, hyper-competent punk bartender with a tragic backstory (but it's totally not a big deal! Who needs therapy?? lol lmao 🤪)

Some loser from the ‘burbs comes into your bar, and against your better judgement, you decide to show him the ropes of the scene. Even though his band name totally sucks.

Rodrick is kind of a sad, insecure boy in this. He's on bad terms with everyone back home, and absolutely refuses to fully acknowledge it. He refuses to acknowledge any of his emotions. And his quickly growing crush on his new bartender friend…

Also it's 2005 because I say so. Flip phones and email babey B)

Lightly angsty. Lightly based on my own experiences bullshitting my way into the bar scene. Lightly based on my hyperfixation on punk history lol.

Songs for this chapter:

(I haven't written anything in YEARS so I'm sorry if this is bad lol. part 2 and 3 are almost finished oops so let me know if you like it)

/////

In a quest for the test to fulfill an achievement

Everybody's only going to pursue themselves

When the fact of the matter is they just don't care

To extend a helping hand to anyone else

“What the fuck are you doing?”

The kid turns around. He looks like a wet rat. His facial expression says he knows he’s in trouble. He's tall and kinda goofy-looking. His dark hair is messy, and his eyes are overlined in black.

“Uh, hi. I'm Rodrick. I'm in a band, I uh, I wanna play a show?” He squeaks out, waving a barely legible flier in the air.

“Have you been in touch with Mike?”

“Mike?”

“You gotta get in touch with Mike.” you cross your arms and lean against the doorframe, one foot kicked over the other.

He stares at you, guilty and confused. Your expression is throwing him off. Raised eyebrow, pursed lips. It’s the face of a disappointed mom, but you’re… young. And pretty?

“Do you want the email, or what?”

You break his thoughts.

“Yes! Email. Mike.”

You retreat to the office, rifling through papers until you retrieve a business card.

“Mike Morello. By the way, you might wanna change that band name.”

He looks at his flier, “Why? What's wrong with it?”

You look at him for a while, raising your eyebrows higher and higher, as high as you can, until he’s frustrated. His lanky figure is bouncing all over the hallway. Like a dog who needs to go outside. A big, dumb dog. You look at him in true disbelief. You can’t believe he doesn’t know. He has to know.

“What? What?! Stop looking at me like that!” His eyes are wide and frantic, begging you to say something.

“It sucks!” you laugh.

“It does not suck!”

“Dude, it totally sucks. It's gross. What kind of music do you even play?”

“Fucking rock n roll, baby!” He’s pissed off. It’s hilarious.

“Uh huh. And what are your influences?”

“Influences?”

“Influences. Motives. Backstory.” You clutch your hand into a self-important fist.

“What's with all the questions?” He nearly screeches.

“I'm preparing you for Mike. He's a cynical old fart who's mentally still in late 70s San Francisco. You need to impress him, get a good story going. He's not gonna put some suburban garage band up there.”

He frowns. That's exactly what they are…

“I-” he starts.

“That's exactly what you are, yeah. I know.” You smile, “I can smell suburbs, dude. You'll figure it out.”

“Can I have your email? Or y'know, your phone number or something?” he looks nervous, “Just for, like, advice.”

You cock an eyebrow, think for a minute, then grab a sticky note. It’s surprising after how riled up you got him, but boys are weird.

“Number’s too risky. What if you're a weirdo or something? Here’s my email.” you finish scribbling down the address and extend your hand.

“Cool. I’ll use it.” He nods, taking it from you very delicately. Weirdly careful not to touch your hand. Again, boys are weird.

“…cool. See you around. Maybe. Diaper boy.” you smirk.

Before he can retort, you shut yourself in the office. He stands there for a while, trying to think of something to say back, but nothing comes to him.

~

I am a patient boy

I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait

My time’s water down a drain

Everybody's moving

Everybody's moving

Everybody's moving, moving, moving, moving

“I think she’s saying we need, like, punk cred. It’s a punk bar, after all.” Rodrick leans back on their crappy couch. It was free on the side of the road when they were moving in.

“Pshh, we are so punk!” Chris chimes in. “Ward has a shaved head!”

He points at Ward's head. Ward crosses his arms and nods approvingly.

“She knew I was from the suburbs just by looking at me.” He puts his head in his hands.

“So what are you gonna say to the guy?” Ben asks.

“I dunno, I kinda wanna email the girl first and ask for advice.” Rodrick mumbles.

“Oh, sure. Advice.” Ben rolls his eyes.

“Yes! Just advice!”

“Is she hot?” Ward giggles.

Silence falls upon the room.

“Whatever! What are our influences? Punk influences!”

“Dude, you're, like, totally wearing a Dead Kennedys shirt!” Chris pipes up.

“Okay, yeah, I like Dead Kennedys.” Rodricks sighs, relieved. He knows ‘Police Truck’. Who doesn’t? It was in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater for fuck’s sake!

“Okay! Uhh, shit, what else did she say… motive!”

“Dude, what?” Ben's eyes go wide, “Like murder?”

“No, dumbass, like why did we start the band?” Ward tosses a crushed beer can at him.

“To get girls? To, uhhh…” Chris trails off.

“To rock and roll! To tell everyone to fuck off and prove them all wrong!” Rodrick yells.

The rest of the guys give a resounding yeah! and raise their beers.

Rodrick opens his laptop, making a big show of stretching his hands. He’s gonna write a masterpiece. Löded Diper is gonna take over this town.

He starts typing furiously, ignoring all the little red squiggles appearing among his words. It doesn't take him long to slow down, though, and he gives up and passes the laptop to Ben. Rodrick’s mind is cloudy. He’s thinking about that girl at the bar. You’d been so… mean. But not? Did you like him? He doesn’t get it.

Heather Hills had made it incredibly clear she did not like him. In fact, she hates him.

He remembers the last day of senior year. He’d handed her a Löded Diper CD, masterfully engineered by the man himself in GarageBand, and asked her to sign his yearbook.

Are you being serious right now? You still owe me for my ice sculpture, pleb!

Oh, uh, right, he’d replied, how much is that again?

Four. Thousand. Dollars. And you’ll never make that much in your life, freak.

He grimaces as the memory infects his brain. Four thousand seemed like a lot for just some ice. He remembers fantasizing, though, about getting signed and nailing down a solid deal. Reimbursing Heather for the sculpture and so much more. Maybe she’d marry him. Hot rockstar with a hot, blonde trophy wife. That had been the dream. Until…

Well. Don’t focus on the past. The past sucks. The future is now.

“Rodrick!” Ben’s hand shakes his shoulder.

“Sorry. Um. I don’t know. I think it’s pretty good!”

Between the bones he had put down, and some additions from the guys, they have what they think is a pretty kickass email.

Rodrick’s mind is still elsewhere, though. The thoughts of Heather had kind of messed with him, and now he’s just thinking about home. He hadn't left on great terms. He really wishes everything could be better. The only support system he has is the band, but they don't talk about that kind of stuff. Not more than once in a blue moon.

He’s where he wants to be and everything. He's living his dream. But something still feels wrong. He feels a little empty.

Your emotions make you a monster

Your emotions make you a monster

Your emotions make you a monster

Your emotions make you a monster

#these boys are dumb and I love them #im having a lot of fun with this #hope u like it mwah #rodrick heffley #rodrick heffley x reader #doawk rodrick #rodrick x reader #punk au #salad days #my stuff

[icanseethefuture333]

could you do a ranking of who in nct 127 is most to least likely to date a woc, similarly to how you did for stray kids 👀

Who in NCT 127 is MTL to date a foreigner?

1. Jaehyun

2. Jungwoo

3. Mark

4. Johnny

5. Taeyong

6. Taeil

7. Yuta

8. WinWin

9. Doyoung

10. Haechan

The ranking is from left to right.

Jaehyun's reason for being most likely to date a foreigner is because he loves them honestly 🤣? He likes the attention and praise he gets ("JAMALLLL" 💀). Jaehyun could also feel more compatible with them. I heard "Idk they just hit differently" help??? He finds them extremely attractive. So the love is mutual lol. Jaehyun is pretty delulu when it comes to his foreign fanbase so he feels more confident dating a foreigner who’s also a poc.

Jungwoo's energy feels more shy? He's the type to stare at someone he'd find attractive and wouldn't want to approach them given his job position and everything. So if Jungwoo had a crush he'd most likely gaze at their beauty or be very respectful with his approach. He could behave like a gentleman and pull out chairs for someone, open doors, etc. "No, no I insist!" Jungwoo would keep his feelings a secret but if he were to see someone he liked more frequently and were possibly friends with them, he'd ask them politely if they'd like to go for coffee or something.

Mark I feel is more accustomed to being with just about any type of girl so I don't feel he has a specific preference, but he does have a type. I think out of everyone he is the most confident to ask a foreigner out. Mark is "understanding" of how foreign women are (*nene leakes voice* whatever that means). He could have a belief that: "Don't bother approaching woc if you're broke". 😭 I feel like Mark likes taking on the provider role or being the one who pays for things in a relationship. (Channeled song: Wanna Be A Baller by Lil Troy & Pimpin' All Over by Ludacris). He's immature in some aspects romantically but he'd be a fun fuck buddy basically.

Johnny relates more to foreigners than he does than Korean citizens. So he could date like a foreign poc or other foreign Asians that are similar to him. For example, First generation citizens would peak his interest because it would be a similar background to his. He could date mostly the "Suburban" type of poc. Johnny's dating history isn't as diverse as the others in comparison but he is open to it!

Taeyong is leaning towards the idea but not entirely if it makes sense. The desire is there but he’s also aware that being in a relationship with someone who’s not from the same background as him would be a difficult path to pursue. He could know people who are mixed or in interracial relationships possibly? As in half Korean or friends his age who have a partner who’s not the same race, so hearing their experiences makes him very understanding of that and he would want to approach someone who’s not the same race as him without as much knowledge as possible. I find this response to be the best in my opinion. It seems that Taeyong would want to be educated about his partner and their culture. He isn’t a “I don’t see color” type of person, he acknowledges it and would want to make an effort by doing things right.

Taeil is more of the person who needs to be friends with someone first before entering a relationship. He could be very open with how he communicates and speaks his mind. I don’t feel he would have an issue complimenting someone or telling them he’s attracted to them. I don’t believe he has a preference honestly. It’s whoever he is attracted to at the moment that he’d date.

If the opportunity presented itself then yes, Yuta would date a foreigner. I feel it would be more of a fling though. He’s not interested in settling down at the moment. Yuta prefers to see how things unfold naturally and doesn’t date with the intention of a committed relationship. His mindset is like “If I fall in love, cool, if I don’t, that’s cool too “. He’s more free spirited when it comes to love.

WinWin could be in a relationship with someone already 😭? Or this just means he’s dated a foreigner before? He doesn’t think much of it. He’s romantic so any person who intrigues him, WinWin would be happy regardless. If there’s a connection he’d be willing to explore that dynamic.

Doyoung is too concerned with financial matters to date a foreigner. He believes his fanbase would react negatively to it? His image is more important to him and would feel dating a foreigner would damage that (yikes…). I believe he’d also be worried they’d only want to be with him for his money.

Haechan is more traditional. He’d want to date someone with similar values and from the same background as him. It’s not something that interests him or has ever crossed his mind. His intentions are to marry someone who’s also Korean and plans to pass down family customs.

#nct #nct 127 #nct tarot #kpop tarot #celebrity readings

[chrysanthemumgames]

How do you think the other ROs would have reacted if they had been the ones arranged to marry the MC? (ignoring how unlikely it is that Zeus would even deign to acknowledge them in such a way, this is just hypothetical. for funsies!)

Hermes is like "wtf dad?" More or less. Beyond that it really depends on his existing relationship with the PC. He's not super into the idea of being married at all, but at least with best friend!PC he'd joke about it a lot.

Charon probably wouldn't handle it well, to be honest. They'd be nice, of course, but probably also considerably more avoidant of PC than they are in the case where it's Hades who has the arranged marriage.

Pyri would just be confused as hell. But honestly probably the chillest and most normal about it. "Oh we're married now? Cool. You wanna come climb trees with me?"

Alekto also doesn't handle it well, though in her case it's mostly a lot of negative history coming back because Olympus is interfering with her life at all, rather than marriage specifically. Very awkward, still very gruff and probably quite suspicious of PC to begin with, though oddly a little less so than she is canonically because it's Hades.

Hekate would honestly see something like that as a joke. Like the fact that Zeus thinks he can decide anything for her? Completely ridiculous. Tells PC to just ignore the fact that they're 'married' and enjoy their stay until Demeter gets it all sorted out. The only reason she doesn't go sort it out personally and with vehemence is because she doesn't want to risk escalation.

#ask #characters

[luesmainblog]

for those wondering why i have been mostly quiet regarding israel and palestine: most of the pro-palestine stuff i come across is dismissive of hamas' horrors, blatantly antisemetic in parts, and generally conflates the israeli population with their government. or worse, treats them as a monolith; it is true that there are many israelis mocking the people their soldiers are destroying. it is NOT true that all of israel doesn't care and is just totally cool with what's going on. i will share what i find of israel's atrocities, but i will not make my jewish followers feel unsafe for shit they had nothing to do with. most of the stuff i've seen that *does* acknowledge the horror is jewish bloggers who have spent much of their life advocating for palestine, now having to struggle against antisemetics coming to them, furious that they DARE to be upset at the lost israeli lives. as though they are not allowed to mourn for both sides. as though they are not allowed to be horrified by what has happened; that they can ONLY be worried for palestine and how the attack was the perfect excuse for israel to double down. i refuse to send even more hatred their way by spreading their grief further into the void; you never know Exactly who's following your follower's followers. i am glad, at least, that nobody i follow was outright celebrating. but i know that people WERE, and now they're trying to act like that never happened. so incase this wasn't clear, cheering on the deaths of Israelis does not fucking help palestine.

I am truly disgusted with the blatant racism and colonialism that manifests israel's very core. it is an attempt at a violent ethnostate, intent to not only destroy the people it seeks to replace, but fully erase them from history. i am also disgusted with the way that the left is happy to celebrate genuine terrorism if it's committed "for the right side", as if parading dead bodies and raping people does fucking ANYTHING good. as if that doesn't fuel the israeli government's chances for propoganda. as if it hasn't traumatized your jewish neighbors. there are no fucking winners in war. free palestine and protect your muslim AND jewish friends in this time, they are BOTH getting their shit kicked in by ignorant people who want to take out their anger on some random kid in ohio. we are all posting in anger here. but let's check ourselves before we post; misinformation and antisemitism weakens our voices. Edit for clarity: this post is for my mutuals. I am specifically asking my mutuals to think carefully about what they post; i am aware that i've been too quiet, and i am trying to remedy that. i am also warning my jewish and muslim followers that if you've been using my blog as a safe spot to not think about it for a little bit, you're gonna wanna block the tags below. 'horrible things' will usually do it. i am also venting about how every jew i follow is getting hit with the "die you stupid zionist" shit from coward anons who can't tell the difference between supporting israel and just being fucking concerned for your family over there. it's fucked.

#palestine #israel #nsfc #real death #genocide #rape #horrible things #i'm glad everyone's so concerned but can you PLEASE check yourself for antisemetism here #neither side is a monolith. israel is clearly the one in the wrong here but israelis are not all collectively guilty. #let's not forget some people were born into this cult and fed propoganda to keep them from the truth. #i will continue to post blatant information. i will also continue to TAG THEM and post silly memes and cats as well. #frankly i think our jewish and muslim followers deserve a fucking break here and there. don't you? #rants #edit: if you read this post and somehow got NEUTRALITY out of it i am seriously questioning your critical reading skills. #and if my post doesn't reflect your experience THAT IS PROBABLY A GOOD THING. I AM GLAD YOU'RE NOT SEEING THE SHIT I AM. #i am a LITTLE wired from seeing the shit getting fired at my very pro-palestine jews right now.

[qqueenofhades]

Dream: I can't physically cry but I feel the urge to let the rain cascade down my unnaturally flushed face to cool down and also Hob needs to know precisely how much he hurt me and how much he will miss the glorious contours of my magnificent godly body

They're just /clenches fist/ SO STUPID?

I assume that 1689 was the first meeting where they actually started to like each other (even if Hob was a hot mess, he still wanted to live, and Dream began to see that this might actually be real and might last), since we see both the 1489 and 1589 meetings and they're short (and in 1589, disastrous to the point of Dream ditching the date and leaving with another guy). We only see the start of their meeting in 1689, and it seems as if they talk for a while. Then in 1789, oh my lord. Hob beats the crap out of the two thugs without turning a hair, Dream is all "you didn't have to come to my defense :) :) :)" while simultaneously eyefucking the shit out of him, and then somehow manages to COMPLETELY MISS THE SUBTEXT when Hob is like "you wanna get out of here for somewhere more private???" and gives him serious bedroom eyes. Dream, because he is as dense as a literal meteorite, is like "nope might be dangerous for you." EVEN THOUGH Hob literally just proved that he can take care of himself.

Likewise, I desire to personally question Ferdinand Kingsley about his acting choices with that suggestive little "don't want to be drinking here alone in 100 years" combined with the ear tug. Especially since once you get to 1889, both Hob's insistence that Dream is lonely and needs "companionship," and the strength of Dream's freakout, suggests that a whole lot more than simple friendship is being offered here, if only Dream wants to (ahem) wake up and realize that. Especially since they both proceed to storm dramatically as shit out of the tavern, Hob yelling at him that if he comes back next time than it'll mean they definitely are boyfriends, and then his little heartbroken "Fuck" as Dream completes his huffy homosexual temper tantrum exit into the night. IN THE RAIN. AS THEY BREAK UP. WITHOUT EVER HAVING ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THEY'RE TOGETHER. Wow. They're so fucking stupid. Inject it directly into my veins.

And then 1989?? Where Hob sits there for hours with a Greatest Hits Mix of 80s breakup songs blaring in the background and then is like "guess I've been stood up :(?" BY HIS DATE? And then upon hearing that the White Horse is going to be condemned, buys the pub, builds a new one, spray-paints giant red signs like PUB THIS WAY, HOB THIS WAY, ALL INCREDIBLY STUPID IMMORTAL BEINGS PLEASE GO THIS WAY, and just... hangs out? For another 33 years past their scheduled meeting? And is apparently a history professor now???? (PLEASE, NEIL GAIMAN, DO MORE DONUTS ON MY LAWN SIR!) And then one day Dream actually DOES come in and Hob just grins at him stupidly and is all "you're late :)" and Dream is all "I know boo, ma bad :)" and sits down like nothing has happened and?? AND??? AND WHAT HAPPENED NEXT, I PRITHEE???? WELL????

Outrageous. Terrible. Horrible. Give it all to me now.

#anonymous #ask #dreamling #dreamhob #i'm obsessed y'all #obsessed

[spicybylerpolls]

I don't believe in foah but i do believe in crush culture, especially when it comes to famous people that have a limited dating pool due to their "status as celebs that get creepily irl stalked" (this has happened to an underaged finn and noah before - the noah one even captured on camera that can be found on tiktok during the pandemic quarantine while in the finn one he tells bill hader in an interview about being stalked by a grown man all the way to his house almost that had the audacity to shoulder checked him to get finn's attn). in a vid complitation of finn and noah friendship, it's clear that finn goes out of his way to include noah during s2 promo since will wasnt well known in s1 and there's an old article out there about the 1st time they met during st casting call.

apparently finn tells the interviewer of the article how when casting was officially done, he highlights how when he met noah again as a co-actor that noah forgot about him lol. noah didn't remember finn from the audition but finn remembered noah. finn also said that he was shocked/excited that the voice of charlie brown (noah) was here while noah couldn't recall anything finn's been in. So, to me, when reading that article it felt like finn cared about noah in the beginning as a crush of admiration like "crushing cuz i wanna be successful like this kid already". and finn expressed in another interview how he's afraid to be a washedup child star while playing in both IT and st.

so imo foah is more about the two acknowledging the other's talent, especially since they both tried out for each other's st role (finn went for mike and will same as noah). if anything I thought finn had a crush on caleb cuz multiple instances on vid where finn gushes about caleb's acting skill (when caleb did an excellent billy roleplay during a guess who that character is game and in the s2 promo vid where finn compliments caleb A LOT compared to the other actors, while caleb only complimented gaten but that could be just the netflix editing team cutting n splicing, comment did poke fun at how finn hyped up caleb and how caleb didnt mention finn at all). in one early vid finn had to get caleb to hug him cuz caleb only hugged gaten in greeting as those two met previously on broadway cuz they had a longer history. caleb was going for a handshake/dap but finn had his arms open for a hug like how gaten got one right before finn was noticed by caleb. and in the same interview where finn told how noah forgot they had met already, finn describes caleb as cool and funny from the 1st time he saw him during casting calls. But again that can just be finn being mesmerized by all the talent his peers possess since he is passionate about his craft.

Yeah, these are all valid counterpoints! It's interesting no one has ever really shipped Faleb... or Faten? (I don't know what their ship names would be). But that's maybe partially because people have always subconsciously seen them as straight while subconsciously seeing Finn "his eyes soften" Wolfhard as queer? And also because Finn does seem to be especially close with Noah compared to the others?

Hmm, I've never thought of the idea of Finn having had a crush on Caleb before, but that's an interesting concept. I do think "Foah" could possibly be more about the two acknowledging each other's talent, but who knows? Maybe it's both lol. (And nonny, now you got crush culture by conan gray stuck in my head).

#byler #spicy byler #finn wolfhard #noah schnapp #spicy byler meta #caleb mclaughlin #foah #no poll

[comfymoth]

(duckspiderbit anon) It can be nightmarish... but the hilarity of their dynamics combined and the sudden unexpected sweet moments they share at times make them perfect. Would LOVE to hear your thoughts on them btw, I'm very interested :D

anon i just want you to know that i have been trying to answer this ask since i woke up, i just apparently cannot talk about these fuckers without writing a novel, i am So Sorry.

i’m gonna try to be as short as i possibly can (spoiler warning it’s still not short IM SORRY) but like, basically. basically. in my head, right, in the version of events that lives in my head— roier and quackity already have a history. not exactly dating, just fooling around “as friends”, but it makes their friendship now very overly-familiar. they’re very touchy, very flirty, but at this point it’s all just playful. they’re just very comfortable with each other, you know? they’re best friends! and what best friends Aren’t this close, huh?

and cellbit isn’t fully aware of whatever they had going on before he knew them, but he knows there’s something he missed, like an inside joke he’ll never quite understand. and it’s not like that bothers him, exactly? because him and roier are completely secure, there’s never been a couple more fucking obsessed with each other, he knows he has zero reasons to feel threatened. it’s more like— he knows quackity is always going to special to roier, in this weird way, so they are just stuck with him. for better or worse. me and you and your friend steve, just a little bit, that’s kind of the vibe.

but it’s not like quackity and cellbit don’t also have their own share of familiarity. not nearly to the same extent, obviously, but they are familiar. cellbit gave him partial custody of his child, they’ve taken each others sides in disputes over how to raise said child, richas calls quackity pa, they are very much already stuck with each other anyways.

so like. what do you even do with that. right? what do you call your husband’s not-quite-ex and your co-parent, what does that make him to the two of you. and how is that impacted by the fact that he’s always desperately hitting on you both?

so again, in my head, in my head— i think it Has to be a slow burn with them. because quackity has baggage around relationships, right, he’s had a history of chasing romance just because he thinks it will fix him or make him feel something, and he needs time to cool off on that first. now, he never cools off on the flirting, i don’t think he ever physically could, but he needs to be okay with it not going anywhere. and i think spiderbit needs time to warm up to the opposite idea, that it might actually go somewhere. but over time they do. over time, quackity just worms his way into more and more of their life until they’ve basically made him a part of it without saying. they fall into comfortable routines. cellbit gets used to roier and quackity’s teasing, he starts to join in on it. over time, all the joke flirting just stops really being a joke, and all the friendly affection just escalates and escalates until they finally have to acknowledge what they’re doing.

they’re all very stupid about it. cellbit brings it up to roier first, who is somehow embarrassed because he thought they were all just joking and he was the only one catching feelings which he did NOT wanna think too hard about. they have a talk about what this means for them, come to an agreement, bring it up to quackity— who also somehow thought this was a bit and that they were just doing it all to tease him! and then, somehow, they’re both surprised when he says yes, because they couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. morons all around. they do have braincells, they just short circuit when they’re in a room together, it’s very sad and very comical

i actually…. okay, i Actually might’ve started writing the world’s most self indulgent oneshot about them, like… three or four weeks ago? idk, it was before school started so a bit ago, and i’m just never gonna finish it now i’ve accepted that but i Might just turn part of it into a comic. idk. idk we’ll see ahdkdjd if i don’t get too embarrassed to actually do it

anyways i’m sorry i talked so much i just have demons okay i have demons. and i didn’t even TALK about festa junina or “go take care of him” I MADE SO MANY CUTS GUYS I DID!!!!!

#long post #qsmp #duckspiderbit #sure that’s what we can call them. that works

[fxchild]

The Switch

Miles Fairchild x fem! Reader

Chapter six: change of heart

Your POV

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

I woke up from my sleep pretty early at 5:30 this morning. I remember I didn't really get to plan last night for today's lesson so I decided to spend around an hour doing that. Today we would be doing history so I had to gather a lot of information which took forever. After I decided to get ready because it was almost time for Flora's lesson. I dressed in a long sleeve red shirt with jeans and black shoes. I put my hair up away from my face and headed downstairs.

When I walked into the room I saw Miles reading to Flora. I smiled at how nice it was and put my stuff down on my desk. Miles acknowledged me and tapped Flora's shoulder to point to me. I hugged Flora good morning and walked over to Miles.

"Morning Miles.. what're you reading?" I ask as he turns the cover towards me. "Laura Ingles Wilder? You're into Little House On The Prairie?" I playfully shove his shoulder with a surprised look on my face.

"I mean Flora picked it out, but it's cool." Miles shrugs but smiles at the book.

An hour into Flora's lesson I can tell she's getting restless and needs to get up and move around. Miles is in his room and I decided I wanted to see if he was going to leave or not.

"Hey Flora, let's take a fifteen minute break okay? I'll be back." I say as I go to find Miles letting Flora play with her toys.

"Hey Miles?" I say through the door as I knock on it. I hear a faint 'hm?' "Can I come in? I wanna speak with you." Miles opens the door, nodding his head to the side as a gesture to come in. I walk in and see a small suitcase on his bed. "So..you're leaving again?" I saw looking at the suitcase sadly.

"Actually, no. I was just putting my stuff away." He smiles as he looks at me raising an eyebrow.

"Wait really?" I looked at him with a snap of my neck shocked. "You're staying?!" I let out a happy breath.

"Yeah I mean, I'd feel bad leaving Flora after just coming back. Plus by the time I came back you probably would have been gone. You know, summer." He sighs putting his hands in his pant pockets.

"Why? Do you want me to stay for summer?" I joke looking back at the suitcase.

"I mean..I wouldn't be opposed..?" Miles says shrugging looking at me again with a curved sly smile on his face.

"Oh really now? Thanks for the offer Fairchild, I'll think on it.." I smile at him and walk out of the room closing the door.

'Does he really want me to stay?! Holy shit holy shit!' I yell in my head walking back to Flora's study.

A few hours later I heard the guitar coming from Miles room. The door was already open so I leaned on the door frame waiting for him to notice me. He stops playing when he can't get a chord right. "Fuck.." he whispers in frustration.

"That was really good Miles. You play?" I ask walking into the room. He turns around surprised I was listening in and puts the guitar down.

"Um, yeah..How long were you standing there?" He asks chuckling out his words.

I sit next to him on his bed with my hands on my knees. "Not long. A minute or two maybe?" I saw shrugging trying to act cool. "So, how long you been playing?" I tilt my head to the side trying to start a conversation with him.

"Um for a few- four years." He spurts out quickly figeting with his thumbs.

"Oh that's nice. You know Miles I'm really glad you'd decided to stay. Flora really loves you- of course you already know that but.." I trail off for a moment, "Flora needs a big brother and you're probably the best one I've seen..and I don't know how hard it's been without your parents but when you leave, Flora is stuck with Ms. Grose and she won't live forever. She needs a guardian, not just a nanny or a teacher. She trusts you more than she'll ever trust me or Ms. Grose. And I think that if we work together I can teach you how to take care of her, when Ms. Grose passes?" I say turning towards him nervously pitching her idea for Miles. He turns his head to look at me and slowly nods his head. I smile and hug him while we're still sitting.

"Thank you for understanding Miles, really this means a lot." I give him a more genuine smile. He starts nodding his head a little faster as his eyes dart from my nose to my eyes. I pretend not to notice his breathing getting heavier. I start to admire his features. His nose, half lidded eyes and slight dimples. I stare at his lips and how they are barely parted and a little cracked.

Suddenly we hear someone clear their throat as we turn around suddenly I roll my eyes to see it's Ms. Grose standing behind us. "Um- wash up..f-for dinner." She studders looking around the room before quickly walking out. I sigh as I get up to go to the dining room.

"You coming?" I ask jerking my head smiling.

"Yeah in um- in a minute.." he says rubbing his hands on his jeans nodding his head.

I head out to the dining room and sit down. A few minutes later Miles comes in the room breathing hard like he ran a lap around the house. He sits across from me and we all start to eat. Around 10 minutes into dinner Ms. Grose speaks.

"So Miles, I packed your bag. You're ready to leave tomorrow." She says giving him a smile and me a nasty look. "What?!" Flora cries as she throws a fit in her seat.

I dart a look at Miles that says 'what the fuck is she talking about?!' He looks at me nervously, not being able to find words. I scoff as I throw my napkin onto my plate getting out of my chair walking off fast.

Miles chases me down the hall yelling, "Y/n! Y/N! Will you stop for a fucking second and listen to me?!" He shouts as he grabs my wrist turning me around.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You told me you were staying! How selfish are you?" I say angrily in his face.

"Selfish? Do you know how hard it is to be me AND take care of Flora? Plus the house?!" He yells letting go of my wrist now, pointing in the direction of the dining room.

"Flora needs a brother Miles! Not someone who runs off every other week because he can't hold a god damn responsibility!" I point in the same direction he is pointing gritting my teeth.

"It's too complicated for you to understand! You don't know what it's like Y/n!" He says yelling in my face taking a step closer to me.

"Oh yeah, because it's soo complicated to see that Flora needs love from somebody!" I say sarcastically and exaggerate. "You know what? Leave, stay, I don't give two shits! I'm not the one being affected." I shout.

"Yeah well it seems like you are." He snaps at me crossing his arms.

"Flora." I say looking him dead in the eyes. "Flora fucking loves you. But Miles you are cold." I speak quietly on the verge of tears.

"You don't even make sense-" I cut him off.

"You Miles! You are cold! Your shoulder is cold, your heart is cold, your smile is cold! You close everyone out and Flora may be too young to understand now but wait a few years and you'll see a quick change." I say with a tear running down my cheek as I walk away fast to my room slamming my door and crying into my pillow.

I hope he's upset. I hope he hates himself. I hate him.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The next day I woke up in the same outfit from last night. I was angry and didn't want to get up but I knew I had to. I dressed in shorts and a sweatshirt. I decided I didn't want to make the situation worse by ignoring Miles, so I went to his room to apologize. When I walked in I noticed he was not there and neither was his suitcase. "Fuck.." I murmured to myself knowing the things I said last night caused him to leave. As I walk around the rest of the house I realize he's gone and we don't know when he's coming back. It's only February now, I don't leave until the end of June, maybe he'll come back while I'm still here?

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hi guys so I know it's been a lot more than 3-5 days and I apologize for that! I've had work and I jus started school up. Plus I had no ideas for this chapter so I was trying to brainstorm a lot. I hope you guys liked this chapter!!

#miles fairchild #miles fairchild x reader #the turning #finn wolfhard #fanfic #the switch #miles fairchild smut #fxchild

[bi-disaster-yn]

Going Away to College

Pairing: rockstar!Billy Hargrove x fem!Reader

Summary: Billy is scared about his girlfriend leaving him on the road to go to college and can only express this to her through song. (Inspired by Going Away to College by Blink-182)

Or the one where Billy & Eddie live, become best friends and Billy joins Corroded Coffin which becomes super famous and he writes this song for you!

A/N: The Billy sending Max polaroids thing is inspired by the fact Dacre and his sister have twin owls for when he’s away so she feels close to him bc I thought that was fuckin cute.

Billy couldn’t contain you forever.

He knew it even when you told him that you’d come on the road with him as Corroded Coffin was taking off a couple of years ago. It wouldn’t be long before you needed your mind stretched. Sure, tour life was cool and it only improved as the band got more famous but you needed something more substantial.

By the end of two years, you decided it was time for you to get your shit together and finally go to college.

Billy was happy for you, of course. It wasn’t the end of the relationship. It’s just that he had went and chased his dream with your support, now it was time for you to go and chase yours. There were the usual promises of seeing each other on any weekends you could fly out to see him; spring, summer and winter breaks; and he would come back from tour or recording when the schedule permitted.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t terrified of not having you around. Eddie and the guys were fun but they always had their girlfriends with them. Billy was scared of getting lonely out on the road without you there to keep him warm at night.

Part of the enjoyment of touring the world was the making memories with you. Billy would take polaroids of you both at all of the world’s greatest landmarks and would write little notes on them. He sent the goofy ones to Max with postcards so she could feel close to you both and compiled a scrapbook of them all to show you when each tour was over.

He had kept the one of you both outside the Colosseum in Rome in his wallet because you were looking at each other and smiling in it. Rather than looking at the camera or the landmark with ancient prestigious history, you looked at each other with warmth and adoration. Without you, who was he going to share these moments with?

Still, he had to let you go.

He couldn’t get the words out to you about how he felt. It was funny; he could carve your name into his eye-wateringly expensive bass and be physically incapable of being anywhere near you without touching you. But talking to you to express his fear? Fuck, that was hard.

So, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He gathered a pen, a notepad and Eddie and sat down in a hotel room one day while you went sightseeing with Chrissy to write a song about his feelings.

Tonight was to be the night to premiere it, not only to the dedicated fans but to you. It was your last night on tour with them before leaving to start college.

To put it bluntly, Billy’s heart was in his stomach. Everything you did that day attracted his most stern fixation, savouring every moment of your presence before it was to be yanked away from him for months. Yet, he couldn’t find it in him to reveal this to you, despite your many attempts to get through to him.

“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong, baby?” You asked him sweetly as he took his traditional final smoke before the show.

“Positive, princess.” He replied shortly, exhaling an opaque cloud of smoke that almost hid his anxiety-ridden features. Almost.

“You know, if you wanna talk about me leaving, then we can…” You started but Billy cut you off.

“Later. We’ll talk about it later.” He abruptly said, giving you a quick kiss and responding to Eddie hollering at him to move his ass. He brushed past you to join his bandmates, leaving you feeling disheartened.

It was like he didn’t care; never acknowledging your leaving and hardly excited anymore when you brought it up. The closer your leaving date approached, the more apathetic your Billy became. It made you fear the worst, as though your leaving for college was accelerating the inevitable demise of yours and Billy’s relationship.

It was a cruel kick in the teeth when you considered having put your life on hold for 2 years while he rose to his full potential with the band and you merely coasted along. You were certain that Billy had become a better person than that, but maybe you were wrong. Exchanging late night after parties for all night cramming sessions seemed a good idea at the time. Now, the concept of losing Billy made this all seem so bittersweet.

Sighing, you decided to just have one last good night on tour before you had to kiss this life – and Billy – goodbye. You folded your arms and joined Chrissy at your usual spot at the side of the stage to cheer them on.

The concert proceeded as usual; with the same set-list they had every night for this leg of the tour. You could recite the order of songs in your sleep.

Something was different that night. While Eddie would turn every now and then to wink at Chrissy and the others would do the same for their girlfriends, Billy did anything but look at you. It created a thick sensation of bile in your throat as you contemplated that he might be out there scanning the crowd for your potential replacement as his bunk buddy.

Billy was stoic and unlike his usual show-off performer self. Usually him and Eddie exchanged banter on stage or the band would challenge him to prove his status as keg king mid-performance (which he would always do and continue to be note-perfect on the bass afterwards). He was different tonight; he needed to be focussed so that your song would be perfect.

Towards the end of the set, which usually came the fan-favourite song from the debut album, Eddie addressed the crowd.

“Alright Chicago! Because you guys are just the best crowd ever – and no, I don’t say that every night, I really do mean it – we decided to mix it up a bit!” Eddie began.

“You see, Billy here, you guys know Billy, right?” Eddie asked, gesturing over to his blonde bandmate who waved to the crowd currently going crazy for him. It wasn’t a secret to you or Chrissy that Billy and Eddie were the members most popular with the ladies.

“Yeah, Billy’s girlfriend goes off to college tomorrow! Isn’t that sad?” The crowd responded with an overwhelming ‘awwwww’ to Eddie, hung on his every word. You narrowed your eyebrows, only now becoming aware of Chrissie’s sniggering next to you, clearly in on something that you weren’t.

“So, he wrote her a song, and we want to play it for you!” Eddie exclaimed enthusiastically. “Oh! And he’s gonna sing it for you!”

The crowd went wild with excitement as Billy and Eddie exchanged places on stage so that he could be centre stage. Your heart was thumping so hard in your chest that you were scared it might escape and your throat was so dry you couldn’t form a single word.

Not that your brain was doing much better at forming thoughts. It was like being in autopilot, staring at your boyfriend ready to take the lead. Billy never sang in the band – despite his being very good at it, only Eddie had the confidence and showmanship for that role.

Billy had written you songs before which you had always appreciated but singing them was a different ball-game. Clearly, he was about to make a real statement. The whole thing was all very overwhelming and heart-warming and surreal all it once.

“This one is for you, babe.” Billy said in a gruff voice, looking at you for the first time all night. Chrissy grabbed your shoulders, shaking you slightly and squealing eagerly for you. It was the first time since Eddie’s announcement that you actually felt your body move. Feet planted to the spot, you stared at Billy as he turned round to start the song.

It started with a simple guitar melody before exploding into a full band effort with the drums and bass. And then Billy started to sing:

“Please take me by the hand It's so cold out tonight I'll put blankets on the bed I won't turn out the light, just Don't forget to think about me And I won't forget you "I'll write you once a week", she said”

Somewhere in the first verse, although you weren’t quite sure where, tears started to fall from your eyes which blurred your vision. Still, you held Billy in your eyeline, just grateful to find out that you were wrong earlier and in actual fact that boy did care so very much that you were leaving.

“Why does it feel the same to fall in love or break it off? And if young love is just a game, then I must have missed the kick-off Don't depend on me to ever follow through on Anything, but I'd go through hell for you, and

I haven't been this scared in a long time And I'm so unprepared, so here's your valentine Bouquet of clumsy words, a simple melody This world's an ugly place, but you're so beautiful to me.”

Billy’s confidence only increased as the song progressed and when he turned round to see you crying but with the biggest smile on your face, he knew his message was coming across. Swelling inside your chest, your heart felt as though it was about to burst. You knew that if it did then the pieces would be etched with Billy’s name and your love would be evident for all to see.

He had borne his soul for you tonight on that stage and whilst you had been desperate to see this for weeks, it occurred to you that this might just be the way Billy knew how. It made you wonder how he was able to cope with all of this couped up inside him for so long but it was no matter, he was getting his catharsis now.

“I'll think about the times She kissed me after class, and She put up with my friends I acted like an ass, I'd Ditch my lecture to watch the girls play soccer Is my picture still hanging in her locker?

I haven't been this scared in a long time And I'm so unprepared, so here's your valentine Bouquet of clumsy words, a simple melody This world's an ugly place, but you're so beautiful.”

During the instrumental bridge, Billy was quick to run off the stage with his bass slung by his side on its strap. Cupping your face in his big hands, he pulled you in for the most desperate but passionate kiss you two had ever shared. The tears still cascaded from your eyes but neither of you minded.

“I love you so fucking much, okay? Don’t you ever forget that.” He said to you when he finally pulled back, staring into your pretty crying eyes.

“I love you too.” You choked out.

“Okay, well, I gotta finish this song, I just needed you to know that. And, fuck! Promise me we’ll be okay? Like really promise it! We’re gonna survive this and we’re gonna be so happy, me and you. Right, princess?” Billy frantically asked, his nerves forcing his thoughts to come out all at once and unfiltered.

“We’re gonna be more than okay, baby.” You smiled widely at him and placed another soft peck on his lips with a giggle before pushing his chest away. “Now go! Finish this fucking beautiful song!”

Billy chuckled cheekily walking backwards out onto the stage and blowing you one last kiss which you caught with your hand. You kept it closed in your palm so that you might keep it forever.

Turning to the crowd with a victorious smile on his face, Billy got back into show-man mode and finished off his gorgeous love song.

“I haven't been this scared in a long time And I'm so unprepared, so here's your valentine Bouquet of clumsy words, a simple melody This world's an ugly place, but you're so beautiful.”

#Spotify #billy stranger things #Billy hargrove #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove x female reader #Billy hargrove x fem!reader #rockstar!billy hargrove #billy hargrove x you #Billy hargrove one shot #Billy hargrove fanfiction #Billy hargrove fluff #Billy hargrove imagine #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #Billy hargrove reader insert #Eddie munson #dacre montgomery x reader #Dacre Montgomery x fem!reader #Dacre Montgomery x female reader #Billy hargrove x yn #platonic!eddie munson #platonic!chrissy Cunningham #bassist!Billy hargrove

[thelreads]

As someone who was utterly obsessed with the devil's a part timer but cannot remember a single thing about it, may I know why you hate it? Like, I genuinely wanna know, it seems to be the most common opinion but nobody ever gets into specifics and I'd love to know how shit my taste is/was

Oh I actually don't hate it, I just dislike the ending. It was going cool for a long time, even though there was some weird plot twists midway through that could be part of History Channel's regular schedule, but it was being a cool series.

Then the ending fumbled around and crashed, blowing up in a nuclear fireball.

Sorry, that's my opinion, if you out there think the ending was fine, that's okay, I just didn't liked it and because of it I refuse to acknowledge the rest of the story, which, as I said, was actually cool

#theLreads #inbetween #RA #random assortment #ask #the devil is a part timer

[coeluvr]

I was going for the ultimate agitation in a new playthrough and I wanted to create an MC that is basically a split image of the late Queen Farah, down to her name. But I was kinda disappointed the game didn't acknowledge neither the name nor the appearance. The appearance, I get it, you didn't put it in the story itself. But the name, I feel like should get some sort of reaction.

Basically, I think it would be cool and very creepy if MC was a carbon copy of her (except for eyes), because just the idea of the near physical facsimile of everything Luceris is doing for staring at him every single moment of his life, haunting him, judging him, maybe even hating him, is so delicious. 👀

No, I'm not saying Luceris should get creepy about it, but I really do wanna creep him, Helios and everyone out there with it.

Plus, MC apparently looks like their allegedly murderous sister, and said sister was abandoned for Farah, which opens a whole new can of squirmy worms. 💕

And if you pursue Helios while looking like his late mother, well, the downside is Freud gets powerful beyond the grave. The upside is I get to enjoy seeing the history repeat itself. <3

Oh, I didn't realize that I didn't block the usage of that name, oops 😭

Since you're using the name, I won't block it but I don't think I'll include the characters acknowledging it.

Oh, Farah and Catalina looked nothing alike btw.

#coe answers #crown of ashes and flames #crownofashesandflames #crownofashesandflames if

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals: In The Air Tonight

Now this is a song that many people know, at least partially! Even if the name doesn't ring a bell for you, you almost definitely know the part that some people call "one of the most iconic drumlines in music", so really it's no surprise that this was an arrangement from The Human Drumkit himself, Mr Layne Stein! Voiceplay's cover of In The Air Tonight premiered on YouTube on the 17th of June, 2023, and features J None, back again! I will of course say more about the video when we actually get into it, so let's go!

Apparently the style/aesthetics of this video plays homage to a classic 80s cop show called Miami Vice, which used the song "In The Air Tonight" in its pilot episode, in a scene which (so I've heard) has been referred to by some as one of the most iconic in the history of television.

(Also the car belongs to Layne's dad, and likely would have been sitting in the garage since the early days of 4:2:Five, at least)

J looking very cool and fresh in that red blazer! (Reminds me of the Walk Like A Man section of the Boy Band Medley!)

Geoff is, once again, the only bare-shouldered/sleeveless one of the group! (A back-to-back occurrence if you don't count the Peaches video!) (Also peep the necklace!)

A cool audiovisual effect thing to transition into the "modern-day" filming style!

Cesar is vibing, and Eli is back at it again with the unworn-sunglasses-as-accessory!

Cool necklace! And he's got earrings, too!

I won't lie, this may be one of my favourite Geoff Looks of 2023. It's not even anything particular about the outfit, he just looks so pretty in this one! (And his hair is looking very nice here, too 👀😁)

"Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand"

Of course I had to acknowledge Cesar's powerful side-eye here! Like seriously, if anyone ever asks you what a side-eye is, just show them this moment! 👌

Group shot!

I believe I read a comment somewhere saying this was filmed outside PattyCake Productions or something, like outdoors? And apparently it was a bit warm outside, especially with the lighting rigs, but if they were sweating/partially melting at all during this, you really can't tell! They did great!

(And shoutout to both Layne and Tony for set design and direction!)

Cesar never fails to put his whole self into his performances, and I love it every time

Voiceplay love adding brief little moments like this into their videos sometimes, just to keep things interesting and/or keep viewers on their toes 😄

Get it, Layne! Go off!

I wanna post screencaps from Geoff's little vocal solo and/or Layne's epic drumline-recreation immediately after, but still images don't do either justice! Go (re)watch it yourself!

"I been waiting for this moment, for ALL my liiife!"

The retro filming style/aesthetic is back! Happening so quickly and smoothly that you would be forgiven if you didn't immediately pick up on it! (*cough*)

Sure, why not?

"Well I been waiting for this moment, for all my life, oh loooooo o r r r d d"

(Pretty Boy!!!!!)

J None is freaking amazing, and I really hope he becomes a permanent Voiceplay member again someday; both he and Cesar are fantastice vocalists and performers, and they both have vocal ranges wide enough that they can both easily take the role of baritone and/or tenor!

In my opinion, the original song does not really start getting interesting until the "bass drop" drumline like 3 minutes into the song, but Voiceplay's cover is not even close to dull for a single moment! We get incredible vocals from everyone in this one (and I didn't talk about Eli much at all here, but vocally he was of course phenomenal), and the arrangement has a fair few complexities and interesting stuff to it, like the stomp-clap-click percussion moment which I still struggle to actually keep in time/on beat with! Definitely a very strong cover from Voiceplay, and frankly it's a crime that it "only" has 500k views on YouTube! It deserves a million! At least!

#voiceplay #acapella #In the air tonight #geoff castellucci #eli jacobson #layne stein #cesar de la rosa #j none #acaplaya analysis #voiceplay visuals

[jillepathy]

5.1.23

My partner ask me to please process day 1 of code camp so I can tell them about it over dinner (without my many tangents into the mildly interesting but ultimately unnecessary details).

So this is the version with the tangents.

Initial thoughts > way newer than I thought it was with the first code camp taking place in 2018 for a primarily cust ops branch in Portland, Oregon that wanted to expand into software development after hiring a few engineers

^ literally me the first time I met a software engineer I was like huh cool and now I’m like oooohhhhh cooooolllllll the internet ! I wanna do that too

…

Anyways week 1 guy is a systems engineer (not a software engineer) seems like a fancy title for like building manager ? But specifically involving storing data… it’s kind of giving Big Query a little bit but also physical (kind of giving librarian?! )

The focus seems to be on building and maintaining relationships (my greatest struggle as an autistic person) and the idea that learning is nonlinear (knew this already!)

The learning curve is steep and you don’t need to know computer science to learn programming (I’m pretty lucky already having general knowledge of how the internet works bc of the info sci and data science classes I took)

Luckily, a lot of Barb’s friends already do programming … Henri said they know how to GitHub if I need help but the pace of the class seems kind of slow compared to grad school -not sure if I’ll need to ask them since all the instructors are very approachable plus I’m learning together with Su so I’ll probably try and brainstorm with them first before branching out

It’s all other employees volunteering to share their knowledge (it’s low key giving libraries ?! )

I feel like everyone is pretty nice. I forgot to say my pronouns I was so nervous 😩 but seems like quite a few queer people involved

We’re going to be working on a project (not sure if it’s a team project or we each have individual projects )

One of the instructors (hes giving autism for sure) said they sunsetted his hack week project but that he really valued it

We’re creating something but it’s not from nothing (history degree jumping out), it’s from the work of many many contributors who came before us

I would love to see more of an app focused on the physical experience of people especially as remote work kind of removes us from physical space (not really though since we all physical beings)

Ugh this is me going off on my many processing tangents

I Guess i would say it actually seems easier than I thought it would be (shoutout to Dr Oakleaf for giving me the WORST 2 classes of my life the bar is literally in hell thanks to you, appreciate you)

It’s like way more diverse than grad school too which is a big reflection on SQSP that I’m into

It’s way smaller than I thought which is honestly really nice I feel like it won’t be toooooo hard to remember everyone after 5 weeks working together

Yeah this is just a jumping off point

A lot of review, some bad jokes / programming humor and introductions

Me and Su are the only people from Tock but there is one guy from Acuity

Can’t believe Isa called me a nerd for this! The whole reason I wanted to break into tech was to get into software development

And they said themselves this is forging a path for a career in software development

My dreams are really coming true 🥲

It’s hard for me to acknowledge and accept

The hw for week 1 was to ask for help. I definitely already did that since I was having access issues.

For week 2…? Is it the Read Me? Idk how to GitHub … yet…but I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow

Yeah so it was nice, it was about 20 people, about 6 of them instructors/TAs but all of them other employees

Everyone seems pretty excited and it definitely FEELS pretty exciting to me.

Im excited and nervous and scared but also really happy and really proud of myself.

I am learning what i want to learn and I feel like I can be my whole self doing it.

Pretty neat!!!

I’ll tell Barb the first day was pretty abstract but overall there is a feeling of genuine care and excitement for the whole program - it’s literally run by volunteers. The instructors are senior employees who value mentorship and have been both mentor and mentee. There’s an emphasis in collaboration and partnership.

I guess at the end of the day it’s kind of like how the number one indicator for longevity in your career is having friends to work with.

Yeah basically it seems more chill somehow than I thought. There’s hw but it’s like “ask for help” like ? I can do that.

I e been so nervous since this is the first class I’m doing since I dropped out of grad school.

But I’m in a way better position than I was.

I Can do this.

Let’s gooooo!!!!!

#jill’s journal #personal #code camp

[bigskydreaming]

So I’m literally on my way to bed because I’ve been up for like two days cuz of work and I’m largely incoherent right now......

But trust me, I will have WORDS about the Nightwing #96 cover later.

Hoo boy, do I have ALL THE FUCKING WORDS about that, and the artist (Bruno Redondo)’s response to someone on twitter about it, and Taylor’s response to that response.

You wanna do a fucking Brady Bunch style cover for an issue about a family reunion?

Okay, cool, fine.

But when someone asks ‘hey where’s Duke Thomas’ - someone who LITERALLY is either a foster son of Bruce’s, or an official Wayne adoptee, writers have always been inconsistent as fuck about how they view his place in the Batfam - like, how are you going to respond “oh the cover just includes ‘core family’” when you’ve got Stephanie in one of the boxes, and also, the fucking DOG Taylor created for his run?

And also, on top of Duke not being there, because maybe you can say ‘well Dick and Duke haven’t even had the OPPORTUNITY to interact much since Duke’s creation, given Dick’s distance from the Batfam throughout the Grayson title, and then his couple years of amnesia’......

Like MAYBE you could sell that response, instead of the ‘core family’ cop-out, but then I’d still be asking, okay but WHERE’S CASS THEN?

Cuz she’s only in the BACKGROUND of Stephanie’s box, not even obvious on first glance. Treated as the afterthought there, instead of the clearly emphasized Stephanie. And unlike Dick and Duke, Dick and Cass most definitely DO have history.

And given how much of Taylor’s run has been straight up mimicking every major story or character beat of the 90s Nightwing comics, there’s no WAY that man isn’t aware of stories that feature a lot of Dick and Cass bonding, like Bruce Wayne/Murderer? and Bruce Wayne/Fugitive.....but didn’t prioritize Cass either, hmmm.

So if you’re going to make a Brady Bunch homage cover for an issue that’s about a Batfamily reunion, and you don’t include Duke and BARELY include Cass, but you include Stephanie and the freaking DOG in full display?

Not to mention, Damian’s blatantly whitewashed on that cover - and except for a throwaway acknowledgment of Dick’s Romani heritage in one panel at the start of Taylor’s run, which also made it explicitly clear that this current interpretation of Dick is absolutely supposed to be regarded as a character of color, not that the art or the story ever reflects that in any other way - its a painfully oblivious look to just so happen to sideline the only other two PoC in the entire damn Batfamily.

And look, I love Stephanie, you guys KNOW I do. But if you’re going to cite ‘core family’ as the basis of your Brady Bunch homage, there is ZERO reason for her to be on that cover in place of either Duke or Cass, let alone BOTH. Steph and Dick’s only real interactions stem from the period he was Batman and she was Batgirl, but outside of that, they don’t have any more history than he shares with either of the other two, and UNLIKE the other two, Dick and Stephanie have NEVER regarded each other as family in that way. 

Stephanie is CLOSE with the Batfam, and makes sense to be included as part of the extended Batfam, same as Barbara, but she and Barbara have always been distinct from the other kids due to the fact that there has never been any point in time when the two of them have looked to Bruce as any kind of parental figure, or even WANTED to. Steph has her mom, Barbara has her dad. Even when both have admittedly had issues with their parent in the past, neither EVER looked to Bruce as either a replacement or even a SUPPLEMENTAL parent figure at those times either.

Stephanie is absolutely a close FRIEND of the family, a very very close one, and good one, and Barbara of course is Dick’s girlfriend or at least love interest in Taylor’s run, but aside from that, but neither of them have ever been connected to Dick in the same way that both Duke and Cass are.....in that particular way that could be described as, oh idk....’core family.’

So if you’re going to cite that as your reason for your choices to include in the eight slots on the cover, and you’re going to have the writer, Taylor, ‘weigh in’ on the criticism of those choices (especially as I’m fairly certain that as the writer of that issue, HE picked which characters were meant to be included there, but I can’t be sure about that) but if Taylor’s response is going to be to mock the person asking ‘where’s Duke’ by listing off a whole bunch of other supporting Batfam cast, say shit like ‘why do you hate Ace the Bathound, Bruno’.....

Then you should be embarrassed as fuck to have decided that cover really needed to have Dick’s PET in place of BOTH Duke AND Cass.

Like really, if they’d just left off Bite-wing and Steph, they’d have had room for both Duke and Cass, and there would have been NO issue. Or even just switch Steph’s box around so its Cass in the foreground there and Steph peeking out behind her. And both Duke and Cass are literal adoptees or fostered by Bruce, so they INARGUABLY fit the bill of ‘core family,’ even if people happened to ask ‘where’s Steph’ in that case. Which tbh, I don’t think anyone really would have done, because it would have been OBVIOUS why she wasn’t included in one of the eight spaces available, given the other inclusions, and again, Dick and Steph have never been close enough that her inclusion would have been some kind of glaring omission, and unlike with Duke and Dick, where their lack of much interaction aside from Robin War is largely logistical, given Dick’s been infamously unavailable for like, five of the seven or so years Duke’s existed....Steph and Dick’s lack of frequent interaction spans a good two decades.

In conclusion, apparently I did have the words already anyway, and I haven’t been a fan of Taylor’s from the start obviously, but doing a family reunion issue and a Brady Bunch homage for a cover, and choosing to include or emphasize Steph and Dick’s pet of less than a year, that Taylor himself created, over Duke and Cass - again, the literal ONLY other two characters of color in Dick’s entire family, aside from the blatantly whitewashed Damian - 

And your first instinct is to mock people asking hey where’s one of the other two people who absolutely have reason to be counted among Dick’s core family?

*claps hands slowly*

Bravo, Taylor. Bra - fucking - vo.

You’ve outdone yourself once again, I see.

And now I’m going the fuck to sleep.

[yioh]

I'm south asian and it infuriates me that I actually like the sumeru characters 😭 I feel like I'm betraying my own identity and it genuinely pains me to think abt their designs for too long

Tighnari is the worst for me bc he became my favorite character in the whole game personality-of and I've grown to love his design because of it but???? I just feel so guilty for it bc I know it's just not. Correct???? And on top of that the english voice actors being told to pronounce the characters names wrong deliberately to make it easier is just so gross ughhhh. And I feel like I'm a bad person for continuing to play the game and indirectly supporting hyv's colorism as a result but I'm so attached to this game and these characters and im :'(((

omg bro don’t worry at all askdbdjdb ur absolutely allowed to enjoy the game, that’s exactly why we play it in the first place right🥺 like sure genshin gets a lot of stuff wrong but there’s also a lot that it does beautifully e.g. the entire world building in sumeru and the environment design is one of my favourites in the whole game !! for me, i just have lower tolerance and can’t stand hyv’s colourism as well as orientalism

but like… as long as you can acknowledge that the issues exists and don’t pretend like sumeru is just some cutesy exotic place (as i’ve seen a lot of people do 😭) it’s really honestly fine imo

like i agree that tighnari has a very interesting personality, also i’ve seen a lot of people complain abt his design but honestly i think the amazigh inspiration is one of the most obvious in the game and think it’s so wonderful that amazigh people get to be represented through such a cool character🥺 not to mention how much i myself learned abt all these cultures that are usually never talked about in other media, it’s really really cool !!! i also think his design in general is actually very pretty lol i really adore the mesh of colours and how it’s an obvious reference to amazigh clothing,

there’s really no correct and incorrect way to think about it because everything is so meshed together and weirdly structured, we can definitely agree that the colourism and orientalism is very much an issue (as seen with dori and nahida mostly), treating many brown cultures as interchangeable is also really annoying in general because of how much it already has been done in mainstream western media and the effect it already has is amplified, (abt the english translation i don’t even play in english because 💀 i never liked how they translated stuff in general to english tbh even before sumeru)

but at the same time, hyv brought light to so so many under represented cultures and stories, even the music !!! them using actual instruments we hear in our own music like the sitar is so amazing !!!!

don’t feel bad at all for enjoying the game, i always play it to destress and will continue in the future, it’s not like the company will ever listen to complaints or critisisms by boycotting the game anyways so there’s rly no point and u might as well enjoy what u like yknow😭 i only rly have a bone to pick when people are able to just . mindlessly enjoy the game as if it doesn’t have valid issues (which clearly does not apply to you hdfjbdkdf)

i talk too much but also i just wanna mention that… as a southasian the colourism bothers me the most but i feel like a lot of my disappointment in sumeru mostly comes from an aesthetics pov😭 i think in general i just had a different vision for the type of characters we’d be seeing, seeing cultural references in clothing has always w spiked specific joy in me because the history behind all the clothing just makes everything feel much more real and impactful ??? whereas other then tighnari, nilou, kind of layla, candace and maybe cyno (i haven’t read much on his design) everything just looks as if it’s been inspired by some generic anime rpg isekai fantasy game🥲 like kaveh, nahida, dori etc etc ,,, so rather then sumeru being ‘wrong’ moreso what hurts me is the potential is what it could’ve been ?? i think that’s why it bothers me when everyone gets so excited abt kaveh’s design or whatever when i’m just here like wow… another blonde white boy with a feather in his hair 😭😭😭😭 they can use sanskrit language and panipuri as food but not have the southasian inspired archon with hindu motifs wear cultural clothing or have even slightly darker skin as a lot of southasian people do 🤨 ok this is just me venting again LOL but basically . don’t stress at all it’s really really fine to like the characters you do (i can’t support positive opinions abt nahida and dori tho MDBSKXND i may be petty) but u Defo don’t have to feel guilty abt enjoying the game 🥺 most of sumeru characters aren’t even southasian so you’re not betraying ur identity at all !! merely enjoying new cultures :’) just make sure to remain critical and be observant of how the people of those cultures being shown feel abt these things and don’t let your opinions be dictated by whether it’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ often times in these situations it’s never that clear cut 😭

#i’m just very negative so when i don’t like something it often overpowers my view 😭 so i can’t seem to enjoy sumeru much but that’s just a #me problem #everyone will experience and enjoy the game differently in the end #i just hope other people have some empathy and understanding abt the uh……. bad stuff lol #talk to me! #THIS WAS SO LONG IM SO SORRY 😭😭