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vee-is-a-clown · 2 years

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I've Got Grilled Cheese And Butterflies In My Stomach

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Keith couldn't believe that he let himself get dragged along to a butterfly garden of all things. Why couldn't it have been anywhere else? It's not like he was afraid of butterflies or anything. He just didn't like how they felt on his skin. He appreciated their beauty but he didn't trust himself not to scream if one happened to land on him.

He was in a hot, bright, colorful place that was filled to the brim with butterflies. Honestly, it was giving him a bit of sensory overload. He didn't know where to look. If he looked ahead of him, he run the risk of stepping on a butterfly or even one of their button pheasants. If he looked at the ground, he risked walking into a flying butterfly. (It's a real concern. Trust me.)

This place was freaking him out and it showed. He walked like he was in enemy territory and risked getting shot down with every step. He was odviously majorly paranoid.

"Could the oh so brave Keith Kogane be afraid of butterflies?"

Why was Lance like this?

"No, I just don't like how they outnumber us. They're unpredict-"

"Woah. Keith's paranoid about butterflies."

Pidge added so beautifully to the conversation. She so tactfully explained Keith's situation in terms both she and Lance could understand. Bravo.

Keith loudly groaned and carefully walked off. He then almost fell over because he didn't see the butterfly two inches from his face. This was torture.

He approached Shiro to ask how long they would be there and was met with the response of, "Just stand by the door." Which wasn't helpful because he still didn't know how long he would be waiting and there was a staff member by the door which he was not going to talk to.

Keith continued to slowly walk around, waiting for everyone to go. He hated waiting for everyone else to be done but he couldn't go alone. He left his phone in Shiro's car and didn't know the surrounding area well.

He sighed. Man, this place would be much better with a bench. His legs hurt. How long had they been there? He asked Adam who was using his phone to take pictures.

15 minutes.

He had been there for 15 minutes.

He wasn't going to survive.

"Hey Shiro, how long are we staying here? It's been 15 minutes."

"Keith, can we stay for 10 more minutes?"

Shiro smiled but Keith could tell that if he asked Shiro another question in the span of 5 minutes, he might explode. Shiro was dealing with everyone's bullshit and he was tired. Shiro's original plan was to take everyone to the butterfly garden and take cute pictures of the gang and some butterflies.

This did not happen.

Everyone had gone their separate ways. Pidge and hunk were doing whatever the hell in the corner (we probably don't want to know), Matt was trying to identify every single butterfly he saw, Adam was taking pictures of the button pheasants, Keith wanted to leave with all his heart, and Lance was flirting with a female employee who was passing out identification sheets for the butterflies. Shiro sighed. He didn't want it to come to this but he walked over to Lance.

"Hey Lance, can you take Keith somewhere to wait for everyone else to finish up here? If he stays with us, we'll have to leave early."

"Why do I have to take Mullet Head?"

"You're the only one here who isn't doing something involving our actual location. Go romance some waitress or something."

Lance groaned and walked over to Keith. He didn't want to play babysitter just because Keith was afraid of butterflies.

"Hey Keith, Shiro wants me to take you away from the scary butterflies."

"Ok then. Get me out of here."

Keith wasn't in the mood for arguing. He didn't care that Lance had insulted him. He just wanted to leave. If Lance was the person taking him, so be it.

Lance escorted Keith to the exit. Lance was odviously very displeased with this arrangement. Keith wasn't an idiot. Lance had to leave his friends (and the girl he was flirting with) to take his "rival" someplace to wait for everyone else to finish with the butterflies. It made Keith feel a little guilty.

They walked through a room to make sure they weren't carrying any butterflies out on accident. It was literally covered in mirrors. Every wall was a mirror. It was weird. After about a minute, a staff member came and let them out.

Keith hatched an idea. He still had his wallet in his pocket.

"Hey Lance, can I use your phone?"

"Why the quiznak would you ask that? Of course the answer is no."

"Well mine is in Shiro's car and I'm hungry. I'm going to try to find a nearby restaurant."

Keith actually wasn't really hungry. He just thought that Lance would cheer up a bit if he had some food. Keith, of course would be paying but he didn't mind.

"I'll find something then."

They went to go sit down on a bench outside the butterfly garden. It was in a larger building which had a small giftshop attached. Lance scrolled on his phone for a bit before putting it down.

"Do you like Applebee's?"

"Oh please don't tell me that you found an Applebee's."

"It's like Applebee's. It looks charming and it's only a few blocks away."

"Fine with me."

Keith got up, out of his seat. He was glad to leave. There were weird butterfly paintings on the wall that looked like they'd been done by children. The colors looked like an aesthetic nightmare. Lance followed suit and they fully left the building.

It was actually a pretty refreshing walk. There was a breeze outside and it wasn't as hot as in the garden. The storefronts were all quaint and pretty. Keith felt relaxed. Shiro should've just taken everyone on a walk instead of the to garden. Keith would definitely be coming back on his own.

They reached their destination. It looked like a faux 90's diner. It had red booths and checked floors. You know the type. The tables were round and metallic looking. Keith wasn't entirely sure if it was actually metal though. It was called something like "Billy Boy's" but Keith didn't really care about the name. He was to preoccupied by taking it all in. It was really pleasant.

They got in and Keith almost immediately decided that he wanted a grilled cheese. Worst case scenario, it was a grilled cheese. It's the kind of thing that you can't really mess up. If you somehow do, you might want to rethink your life choices.

As they moved through the short line, something caught his attention. There were two colorful machines on the counter, churning slushies. One was blue and the other was red. Neither seemed to have labels on them. Keith looked at the menu and there weren't flavors there either.

"Hey Lance, what do you think those slushy flavors are?"

"Blue and red."

"But what do they taste like?"

"One tastes like blue and one tastes like red. I'll let you guess which one tastes like which."

Keith groaned.

"I hate you."

"Haha! Same, Mullet Face."

Keith decided to take the risk and order a red slushy. It was most probably cherry anyway. Lance ordered a cheeseburger and a blue slushy then went to go claim a table. Keith decided to use this as an opportunity.

Keith slightly leaned into the counter. The woman working the counter looked to be about the same age as him.

"Can I also get a small fry? And can you write a note calling the boy in blue cute as well? He's pretty upset and I want to cheer him up."

"Got it. "

The girl smiled. Who was she to refuse such an adorable request?

Keith left to go sit down with Lance and wait for the food to be prepared. He occupied himself with playing with the condiments on the table. It was about 5 minutes until Keith got called up to grab the food. He paid for the meal and brought everything back on a tray.

Lance looked surprised after looking through the food. He looked up at Keith with the small plate of fries.

"Hey Keith did you order fries?"

"No, I didn't."

"Then why do we have fries?"

Just then, Keith picked up his dish with his grilled cheese to reveal a small paper note. Keith frowned and gave the paper to Lance. The note said, "Fries for the cutie in blue"

"Are you serious? How? You didn't even say anything to her other than your order!"

Keith aggressively sipped his slushy like he was annoyed. He, infact, was not annoyed.

"I guess it's just my natural charm. Maybe if you got a haircut, you could get girls too."

Keith took a bite of his grilled cheese. It was pretty good. The cheese was mozzarella and the sandwich was still warm. Definitely higher quality than he expected but he hadn't expected much so that doesn't really mean anything. Keith then turned to Lance. He had an entirely straight (haha) face.

"Lance, I'm gay."

Lance looked up from the note. His facial expression was a mix of surprise and an unreadable emotion. He sipped his slushy.

"Umm, what?"

"I can't 'get girls'."

"Ohh. Anyway, what flavor is that slushy?"

Lance changed the topic. He felt awkward talking about sexuality in public. He especially didn't want to talk about it in front of his fries.

Keith gasped and immediately sipped his slushy again. He had already tasted it, he just wanted to be annoying. He then looked at Lance with a smile. Not a smirk or anything, a giddy smile. He looked like he was about to tell a joke.

"It tastes like red."

Keith honest to god giggled.

Lance might've just died on the spot.

That didn't matter though. He had just been spited. This meant war. Keith had just verbally attacked him. He needed to think of something. What retort could he possibly use?

Nothing. He couldn't think of anything. He wanted to come up with a comeback but Keith's smile was too distracting. Lance picked up a fry and shoved it in his mouth.

"That's my joke, you know."

"Not anymore. It's mine. I did it better."

Keith was still smiling. He needed to stop smiling. Lance couldn't think. Why couldn't he think when Keith was smiling? We'll leave that to next day Lance to realize an 3 AM.

Lance took a bite of his cheeseburger.

"If you don't tell me, I'll have to steal it to find out."

"Nuh uh. I paid for this slushy. You can't have any."

"Now you've made it a quest. I must steal a sip of that slushy at all costs!"

Keith laughed again. He normally wasn't this happy. It definitely wasn't that Lance was funnier today. Something had to be wrong. Was Keith sick?

"Yo buddy, are you sick?"

"No. If I were sick, I would've used it to get out of Shiro's butterfly garden shenanigans. Why are you asking?"

"Well you're- How do I put this? You're happy."

Keith gasped and put his hand over his chest. The audacity! He then folded his arms and turned his head away in a faux aggravation. What a fool. Lance took the opportunity to reach across the table, grab Keith's drink, and take a sip.

"Aha! It tastes like cherry!"

Keith turned his head back to Lance and stole his slushy back. That scoundrel! How dastardly could Lance be? Eyebrows furrowed, Keith pretended to be mad as he slurped his restolen slushy.

Lance just laughed at Keith's very real misery.

"Ok then what does yours taste like?"

"Blue raspberry, of course. What else did you think the electric blue mush was?"

"Well a wise man once told me that it was blue flavored and I've been operating under that assumption ever since."

"You need to find a wiser man then."

Lance sipped his slushy like he had just said something brutally honest. Keith laughed again. At this point, it's a miracle that Lance hasn't melted into a pile of mush.

They continue eating their meal between snarky remarks and witty banter. It feels nice. Unlike their real fights, they're both smiling and laughing. They're having a good time. If Keith could, he would keep it going forever.

Keith had finished his grilled cheese and was three fourths done with his slushy. Lance had eaten his cheeseburger and was a little under half way done with his slushy. Lance wanted to savor the fries. They were a gift from a girl. He couldn't just wolf them down like he normally did. She might be watching.

The banter had died down and Keith had zoned out or was daydreaming maybe. Hard to tell. One thing was for sure though, he was staring at the ceiling, eyes unmoving, and hand in his palm. It was perfect.

Lance got up while holding a fry in his hand. He strutted over to the other side of the table where Keith was sitting and paused for a second before jabbing Keith in the face with the fry.

"AHH! Jeez! Lance, don't do that!"

"Well spacey boy, you were off in daydream land. You left yourself defenseless. I had to take advantage."

"You are despicable."

"I know. I pride myself on that fact."

Keith sighed. What was he thinking about again? Only God knows now. He sipped his slushy. Keith looked up at the dork who was still standing over him with a fry in his hand.

"So are you going to stand over me for-"

Lance poked Keith in the lip with the fry. Keith grabbed it while Lance scurried back to his seat. There was a slight pause.

"Lance, what the hell?"

"It touched your weird edgy self and I don't want it anymore."

"Great logic Lance. I'll be sure to touch all your food in the future."

Keith bit the fry because why not? It's a fry after all. It was actually really good. The salt to fry ratio was just perfect. It was even warm still. They must've been piping hot when they came to the table. Why was Keith even thinking about this? It's a fry. Stop overthinking everything.

Keith turned his attention to Lance to find him looking back at Keith. For a quiet, oh so quick moment, they just looked at eachother. The world seemed to stop for that fraction of a second. Reality then dropkicked both of them and told the police that was self defense.

Lance looked away and the awkward set in. Just then, Lance's phone vibrated in his pocket. Saved by the text from Shiro telling them that the others are out of the garden. Lance whisked his phone out of his pocket faster than you can say, "awww cute waiT DROPKICK? hshsjsgsh-"

"Shiro says that they just got out of the butterfly garden. We should walk back."

"Mk."

Keith picked himself up with and stabilized his body by putting his hands on the table. Sadly, he didn't have to good of a grip and somehow managed to fall sideways onto the checkerboard flooring. Keith just laid there on his back, stunned while Lance burst into laughter. He sat there laughing for a good minute before he got up and extended a helpful hand to Keith.

"No."

"What?"

"I'm one with the floor now. Go tell Shiro I'm dead."

"Come on dude, get up."

"Well apparently I'm funnier on the ground so no."

"Do I need to drag you?"

"Your string bean ass couldn't handle that."

"Well you apparently aren't strong enough to walk so you can't say anything."

"That isn't going to work on me."

Keith got up anyway. That floor was dirty and he probably shouldn't've been laying there for so long anyway. He could feel the dirt in his hair. Definitely not a good decision.

"So it does work on you?"

"Shut."

Keith sighed as he picked up his slushy. It still had a decent amount of substance in it so he decided to take it with him. Lance picked up his slushy as well and took the tray over to the trashcan and put it on top of it.

Lance started towards the door while Keith lingered behind for a few seconds. He then shoved something in his pocket and hurried after Lance, shooting a (kind) look to the girl who had taken their order.

"What were doing back there, slow poke?"

"Just leaving a tip."

"I see.."

"What's so suspicious about a tip?"

"No, the tip isn't suspicious. You are."

"How the heck am I suspicious?"

Keith's face slammed into the door. Jeez, Keith should've been looking. Lance laughed into his hand as he watched Keith stumble backwards. Regaining his balance, Keith flipped him off.

"Oh come on! I'm allowed to laugh at you being a klutz!"

"I am not a klutz!"

"You are! You so are!"

"Shut up!"

Keith pulled the door open like he was opening the fridge at 2:43 for a snack. Lance proceeded to strut through and turn to face Keith for finger gunning purposes, stumbling and making a fool of himself in the process. Luckily, he steadied himself before he fell through. That, of course, did not stop the shit he was going to get from Keith. That shit is including but not limited to some giggles and the dopiest smirk you've ever seen.

"Oh so I'm the klutz?"

"I- Uhh, shut your quiznak!"

"Oh such a well put together response. You're so smart."

"Have I mentioned that I hate you?"

"Same, Prettyboy."

Keith finally got out of the door because he was still standing there like an idiot. He then got this look of realization on his face and took off running. Lance stood there stunned for a second before he heard a shout.

"Last one to get back to the gang is a rotten egg!"

Oh it was on! Lance sprinted after Keith as he thought about how Keith just called him pretty.

And off they went to go tell the gang the story of how Lance was a hypocritical klutz who can effortlessly "get girls".

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@autisticlancemcclain this one's for you because I love your work and you put so much effort into writing a fic every day and you absolutely deserve a break.

And thanks to @klance-daydreams for letting me give them a cameo.

Thank you to my amazing irl bestie who I've been sending clips of this to before I published it. I love her so much. She's great. She also thought that one paragraph was smut because she didn't have the context. I'll let you guys guess which one that is.

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heffrondriving · 2 years

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*inhales*

this is fine

#ANYONE WHO SENT IN ANYTHING I LOVE Y'ALL AND I PROMISE I'M GONNA GET THERE WHATEVER IT TAKES JUST STRESSED BRAIM AND SLOW SYSTEM SJDDICIGKS #i did set myself up for this and it's been fun having even this much interaction so i have no one to curse for such folly but myself #and i've given up on clearing my drafts there is just. no fuxin way. i am a compulsive crow with hoarding tendencies so this is how we do #thanks for being patient despite my random bouts of disappearing acts and inconsistency on this blog <3 sorry i can't provide better stuff #it's a very one step forward ten steps back bc i take so long to finish requests that when i post them a new one spawns to take its place #(yes ik this isn't even *that much* but it's a lot for me esp in this half-dead rusher tumblr day and age so again. kisses if you ever hmu)#(ʃƪ＾3＾)~♡˖ a lil happy mwah from me inb4 our electricity goes out sjsjdhd happy saturday courtesy of our bs electricity provider #also maybe posty stuff today hopefully????? not that anyone want it but i think it's a comfy treat for me if nothing else :">#do pretty girl don't speak #will delete

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everyones-favourite-dentist · 6 months

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Emile!! Favorite tooth perhaps? No real motive behind this, just wondering if you have that kind of weird opinion because of your… Profession, let’s say. It’s kinder than targeting your weirdo status.

And speaking of weirdos, opinions on roommates? I’m sure you’ve had your odd share of those while studying to get your doctorate. I’m sure you’ve met those weirder about teeth in the field

"Uhh... I- I don't, uh, really have one..? They're just - well. I guess the canines are nice? Th- the bicuspids, if I have to give a non-cliche answer... they're, you know, between the molars and canines - you have eight of them, and they're sort of... a blend of molars and canines? Like, they have sharper edges, but they also have more surface area to... sorry. I'm rambling."

(The second question gives them pause, and they frown slightly.)

"As for roommates... I, er, I haven't- well, most of the ones I've had hated or at least disliked me, and the only two who didn't were a professional murderer and some guy who really wanted me to commit murder respectively, s- so... I suppose I can't say I'm too fond of them..?"

("...though, it did feel nice to have friends... of some sort.")

#ask dr emile #anon #[Sorry about the inconsistent posts! School's tiring and also most of y'all are active way past midnight for me.]

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callme-holly · 1 month

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hiii! can u write headcannons for the greasers when you are on your period?

𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 [𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝.]

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 - So sorry for my inconsistency when it comes to requests - I'm not working in any particular order but I will get to them all eventually! Anyway hope y'all enjoy and as always asks are still open for requests

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 - 901 words

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 - none

Darry Curtis -

Darry would be so caring towards you, oh my lord.

If you need something, you best believe he is going to get it for you, among many other things.

If you’re suffering with bad cramps, he will gladly lay with you and hold you for as long as you need him to.

If the boys are bugging you in any way, shape or form, he is telling them to lay off and keeping you as far away from them as possible. He knows how annoying they can be first hand and the last thing you need right now is them all up in your face.

He will come home from work during his breaks just to check on you and make sure you have everything you need; heat pad, blankets, snacks, entertainment.

Sodapop Curtis -

Much like his brother, Soda is super caring and sweet.

He will go out and buy you everything you could possibly need; chocolate, medicine, you name it, babe, he’s getting it for you.

Will take hot baths and showers with you after work.

This boy will cuddle with you all day if that was what you wanted, hell, he’d take the day off work just to spend time taking care of you.

If you’ve got cramps, he feels super guilty. He hates seeing you in pain and hates knowing that he can’t help you even more.

Strongly believes that kisses will “cure” you and will shower you with attention until you’re feeling slightly better.

Ponyboy Curtis -

Pony doesn’t know much about periods other than the fact that you can get pretty damn moody.

He tries his hardest to understand what you’re going through, but eventually he freaks out and has to ask Darry for help.

If you need him to get you something, he will go into the store with the full intention of buying only the items you requested only to panic and buy almost every single product he could find.

If you’ve got bad cramps, he’ll do his best to make you feel better. He’ll do whatever you need him to do but, in the end, he’ll just lay down and read to you until you fall asleep.

Johnny Cade -

Johnny is the sweetest.

He gets so concerned about you and hates seeing you in any sort of pain/discomfort.

If you’re sad, he’s sad.

You want him to get you something? Medicine, chocolate, blankets? No problem, sweetheart, just sit tight and he’ll get it in no time at all.

If you’ve particularly irritable, he tends to stay out of the way for a little while. He doesn't wanna upset you and he also doesn’t wanna get yelled at by you.

He’ll cuddle with you for ages. When I tell you he isn’t letting go until you do, I mean it.

If you’ve got bad cramps, he’ll lay with you and rub your stomach until they pass.

He’s also not opposed to running you a warm bath if that’s what helps you.

Dallas Winston -

When I tell you this boy knows nothing about periods, I mean it. His knowledge is very limited; he knows you get pretty moody and that’s about it.

He’ll try to stay out of your way the best he can because when you’re on your period you kind of scare him.

Once you snapped at him for being a pain in the ass and he never tried to bug you again. Instead, he went to find the gang and was like “damn, women can be scary sometimes, man.”

He definitely showers with you but for all the wrong reasons.

If your cramps are particularly bad he’ll get you blankets and will sit with you until they pass.

Either that or he’ll panic and call Darry. He does not know how to deal with this shit.

Is definitely the type of person to say “can’t you just hold it?”

Steve Randle -

He’ll either take you to work with him or take the day off so that you’re not alone.

He’ll let you sit in his lap whilst he rubs your back and presses soft kisses to your lips and forehead.

He’s actually so sweet to you.

Will gladly feed you chocolate cake (he might steal a few bites too).

Much like Soda, he has no problem taking hot showers with you if that’s what helps you to relax.

He will bring back whatever you want from the DX, just ask him and he’ll get it for you.

If your cramps are particularly bad, he’ll just hold you until they pass. His comforting skills aren’t the greatest but he tries his best and we love him for it <333

Two-Bit Mathews -

He tries to stay out of your way if you’re particularly irritable. He learnt the hard way not to bug you when you’re on your period and he vowed never to tease you again.

He’ll cuddle up with you on the couch and you two will just watch TV together.

Much like Steve, he has no problem feeding you chocolate cake, although he might end up eating the vast majority of it.

Will pepper your face with kisses, claiming that it’s the only cure to your discomfort.

If your cramps are bad, he’ll get you a heat pack and will do anything in his will to make you feel better. It doesn’t matter how ridiculous your requests may be, he will do it for you.

𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬!!

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imaginespazzi · 2 months

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Part 1: Don't Be A Stranger

Masterlist - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

But if (my) world was ending, you'd come over right?

(In which UCLA anon's roman empire became this writer's roman empire and we've finally reached the beginning)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: Angst, Pining, Hurt/Comfort and a little bit of Fluff

Words: 8.4 K (other parts will be shorter....maybe)

TW: Swearing, Alcohol, Injuries, Alludes to Sexual Content

A/N: Hello my lovelies <3 Gonna keep this as short and sweet as possible but we've finally, finally gotten to the UCLA fic. A huge shout out to UCLA anon, because this is their master idea. Couple of things, I've never been to LA or UCLA and therefore some things are out of whack. The timeline is also a little out of whack but I swear I will try to keep it as consistent as possible. In the mean time, just ignore some of the inconsistencies pretty please. As always, feel free to let me know what's bad, what's good and what else you'd like to see. I hope y'all enjoy this first part and let's get another W today!

August 2021

where are you

i literally have to be at the airport in an hour paige where are you

dude

are you on your way?

you better be driving and that’s why you’re not answering

PAIGE

i’m sorry about last night i shouldn’t have said that

but you said a lot of shit too so call it even?

this isn’t funny where are you?

i have to leave in 15 mins

are you actually not coming?

wtf????

this is actually bullshit

get over yourself bueckers

wow

fuck you

just landed

thought you might like to know

sorry my plane didn’t crash i guess

September 2021

dude enough okay

can you just call me back??

i just wanna talk

i know you're mad i get it but i miss you

November 2021

hi i’mma be in dc over christmas

nvm

idk why i’m trying again

maybe i should block you

this is kinda pathetic of me what the fuck

December 2021

i thought i saw you today but idk

couldn’t have been you cause if it was

would you really not even say hi?

i’m done trying paige

merry christmas i guess

March 2022

i misz you

lyke a wot

love uuuuu pppppp

even if ur a bwtich

pkese pick up

ignore that

people drunk text exes apparently i drunk text you

wait

i don’t need to tell you that

you already ignore it all anyways

August 2022

i heard about the acl

i’m sorry

idk if it means anything, but if you wanna talk

nvm

***

September 2022

When the doorbell rings, on a quiet Thursday afternoon during a rare moment of alone time, Paige expects it to be a lot of people. One of her parents deciding that they actually weren’t going to leave her alone. Someone else in her family showing up out of the blue to provide comfort. Maybe one of her teammates popping up to keep her entertained. She even thinks it might be some random fan who got too invested and figured out the address for her air BnB. It’s the saddest testament to how broken they are, that the idea of it being Azzi Fudd standing outside her door, never once crosses her mind. But there she is, when Paige opens the door, dressed in ripped jean shorts and a light blue tank top, the girl that had been her best friend, and maybe a little bit more.

Silence stretches between them as Azzi fidgets with her hands and Paige continues to stoically stare at her. It’s been almost a year since they’ve seen each other, even longer since they’d last shared a happy smile. And you’d have to go back to before she’d told her about her future plans, to find the last time Azzi had properly looked Paige in the eyes.

“Hi,” Azzi says finally, mustering up a small smile. Paige doesn’t know if hearing that voice, soft and subdued but still so familiar, fixes a crack or breaks her heart even further. She wills herself to be polite in response, to match Azzi’s polite greeting with a greeting of her own. But there’s clear discord between her mouth and her head, because her words are harsh and hollowed.

“What are you doing here?”

Azzi swallows, smile disappearing as she immediately digs her fingernails into her palms and Paige feels the guilt settle into her stomach. It’s like the night before all over again. If she closes her eyes, Paige can still hear her voice loudly echoing in Azzi’s childhood bedroom. She can hear the angry words that she’d hurled at her best friend, each one like a well-aimed arrow piercing the other’s girl's heart and tearing into Paige’s own soul. Some would call what she’d done self-preservation. She’d call it her biggest mistake.

“I um-,” Azzi sucks in her bottom lip, “I was in the area and thought, maybe I’d check in.”

“How did you even know where I was?” Paige hates how cold and accusatory her voice sounds. It’s a version of herself she doesn’t quite know how to deal with, one that hasn’t ever appeared for anyone other than the girl in front of her, “I know I didn’t tell you.”

Any semblance of calm is gone from Azzi’s face, as she seems to realise that she’s not going to be getting any cordiality from her old friend.

“And we’re off to a great start,” she mutters under her breath before replying to Paige’s exact question, “no you didn’t. Your dad-”

“You talked to my dad?”

“Yeah. I mean you know Drew looks up to Jon and José so much and they still talk and stuff and he came over- Drew I mean- and then your dad was there and we just got to talking and you came up and yeah. He told me and well I live here, kinda, so I thought- well I thought maybe you’d like some company?”

As Azzi’s rambling explanation comes to an end, Paige doesn’t miss the tinge of hopefulness in her voice at the last bit. The younger girl shuffles her feet, as she stares at the blonde expectantly.

“I don’t-” Paige struggles to draw in a breath as the voices in her head argue, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Her words are met with silence as Azzi stares at her blankly.

“I- you,” she blinks rapidly, clearly at a loss for what to say at the blatant rejection, “I can’t come in?”

“It’s just- I’ve had a lot of people visit you know,” Paige bullshits, suddenly feeling very exhausted, “and my family were here a couple days and my friends are coming soon and-”

“And I’m neither of those things,” Azzi says, her tone low and breathy.

“That’s not what-”

“It is,” Azzi closes her eyes for a brief second, when she opens them, the flash of hurt in them feels like a dagger through Paige’s chest, “it is like that and it is what you meant and it’s- it’s fine.”

“Az-” Paige chokes out, feeling her lungs collapse when the other girl moves to leave, “please,” and she’s not even sure she’s asking for, but it’s not this. It’s never been this.

Azzi stops and when she turns back around, there’s a determined look on her face.

“I just-” she rubs her face, composing herself before focusing her eyes on Paige, “you’re the strongest person I know. And you’re going to come back from this, better than ever. I know it. The whole world knows it. Because you’re Paige Bueckers. You’re something else. You’re the hardest worker, you’re just- you’re the best.”

“You don’t-”

“Just- just let me finish okay and then, then I’ll go or whatever but Paige, you’re all of those things you know? Strong, brave, the best fucking player- but, it’s also okay if sometimes-, if sometimes you aren’t. It’s okay because this- this is hard, I know it is. So if sometimes you’re not strong or-, or brave- or not feeling like working hard- it’s okay. And if there are moments where you- where you want to give up, that’s okay too. It doesn’t make you- it doesn’t make you any less than what you are. It just makes you human, and it’s okay you know- to be human. It’s okay if- if you hurt and it’s okay if you’re not okay. It’s- it’s okay.”

The two girls stare at each other, eyes shining with tears, as Paige let’s Azzi’s words wash over her. She’s been told a lot of platitudes about her injury, from her coaches to her teammates to her family. And she knows she has plenty of people in her corner, who root for her and who genuinely do believe she’ll have the greatest comeback ever. But the motivational speeches get draining after a while and all she’s wanted to do for the last couple of weeks is wallow. Then she felt guilty about wallowing, that little voice in her head yelling at her to be productive and work on getting back to herself because that’s what everybody expected. Paige hadn’t even realised how badly she needed someone to give her permission to not be okay, not until the only person who’d ever known that part of her, had finally said the words she so desperately needed to hear.

The thing is, when she was younger, Paige used to keep everything bottled inside. She’d always been hyper aware of her privilege and her problems had always just seemed so insignificant in front of her parents’ or her friends. So she’d kept them to herself, trapping herself in a web of her own burdens that sometimes threatened to strangle her. And then she’d met a girl at a USA basketball camp when she was 15, a girl who had gently flicked her fingers and Paige’s walls had fallen like dominoes. She hadn’t even known she was drowning, until Azzi had shown up with a lifeboat.

“I just-,” Azzi breaks Paige out of her trance by breaking the eye contact between them, “I didn’t know if anybody had said that to you yet and I just- I wanted you to hear it.”

In the span of a minute, a thousand and one phrases take birth in Paige’s mind and then die on the tip of her tongue. She opens and closes her mouth, trying to express even one of the myriad of emotions that are swirling like a tornado in her brain. But nothing comes out except a litany of incomprehensible noises. And Azzi seems to find the wrong answer in the silence, giving the blonde a timid nod.

“Take care of yourself P,” her voice catches on the familiar nickname, as she shoots Paige a sad smile, before beginning to walk away. When Azzi chose UCLA, she’d lit Paige's heart on fire. So, Paige had drowned their friendship. And while all this time Azzi has struggled to breathe, Paige has burned but god, is she so fucking tired of it.

“Fuck, Azzi wait,” Paige curses, hobbling to catch up to the brunette, who stops with a sigh but doesn’t make a move to return. Stubborn as always, Paige thinks, continuing her way over. When she does catch up, she’s not fully sure what to say and so, “I uh- I’m out of milk.”

Azzi raises her eyebrows in question, crossing her arms protectively around her chest.

“I can’t drive,” Paige explains slowly, “or walk obviously.”

Realisation dawns on Azzi’s face, “you’re asking me to drive you to the grocery store?”

“I guess,” Paige shrugs, trying to be nonchalant.

“Seems like the kind of favour someone asks of their family, or their friends,” Azzi emphasises bitterly, never one to let go of an opportunity for sarcasm.

Paige flinches, “right, I kinda deserved that one.”

She gets a raised eyebrow in response that very much says “ya think?”

“I’m trying here,” she says quietly, and Azzi’s hard demeanour softens, “I’m raising a white flag Az, calling a truce or whatever but it kinda needs to go both ways.”

“What do you think me coming here was supposed to be?” the younger girl says exasperatedly, but she’s smiling again. It’s the third one Paige has gotten out of her today, and finally, she smiles back. They look a little foolish, standing in the apartment hallway, cheshire-cat-grinning at each other like idiots, but it feels like something has clicked into place again.

“I’ll go grab my wallet, you go heat up the car.”

“It’s like 110 degrees dude.”

“Bro shut up, you know what I mean,” Paige huffs and when it makes Azzi laugh, she feels like she’s floating. It’s not as if she hasn’t been happy in a year because won’t you look at that, her world did keep turning after that one decision. But this is different. She feels airy and light, like she could jump off a cliff and fly instead of fall.

“Well hurry up, I have things to do outside of just being your chauffeur.”

“Poor passenger princess, how the roles have reversed,” Paige mocks and it earns her an ever so familiar fond eye roll and for the first time in a year, she feels free.

***

When she gets downstairs, Azzi’s leaning against her car door, a pair of sunglasses shielding her eyes. The hot California sun shines brightly against her tan skin, and Paige’s heart stutters because fuck, Azzi is golden. She looks every bit reminiscent of the girl Paige still has memorised and yet, every bit the promise of a girl Paige wants to learn by heart.

“Nice car,” Paige smirks, alerting the younger girl of her presence.

“It does the job,” Azzi says, looking up with a smile of her own, opening the passenger door for Paige to get in, “not all of us are raking in NIL deals to get the big guns, but we make do.”

“Steph Curry brand ambassador say what now?” the blonde girl teases as she slides into the car. When she looks up, Azzi’s frozen in place, “what?”

“Nothing I just-” she’s wearing sunglasses, but Paige knows Azzi's trying to avert her gaze, “I’m kinda surprised you know that.”

It’s Paige’s turn to look away, their newfound comfort giving away to that old awkwardness, “I keep up with most basketball news.”

To Azzi’s credit she doesn’t push. Instead, she makes her way into the driver seat without another sound. She’s about to connect her phone to the aux but Paige beats her to it.

“Hey,” Azzi squeals, making grabby hands, “my car, my rules, my music.”

“Nuh-uh injury privileges,” Paige gloats, sticking out her tongue.

“That’s not a thing.”

“Is too.”

“Fine, we’ll listen to your crap music.”

“I resent that,” Paige retorts, as Drake blasts through the speakers. The sound of it makes Azzi groan, and she dramatically bangs her head against the steering wheel. Paige spends the rest of the car ride singing at the top of her lungs. Azzi spends the rest of the car ride alternating between shaking her head and joining in with the singing. It’s like they’re back in 2020 all over again, back before they found themselves in the whirlwind of life, back when they were just Paige and Azzi.

***

Their trip inside the grocery store takes less time than the ride to get there, even if Paige takes her time dilly-dallying in the dairy section, pretending she’s going to get anything other than just regular milk. She’s overly conscious of the fact that their time together might be coming to an end, that this time she might actually have to deal with saying goodbye. But she’s not ready to go back to missing Azzi just yet.

“Maybe you can show me your dorm,” she says quietly, once they're both back in the car, playing with the hem of her shirt. Beside her, Azzi draws in a sharp intake of breath, clearly not having expected Paige to want that of all things. In all honesty, the idea of stepping into the world that had stolen Azzi from her is not all that appealing to Paige but she wants to hold onto this moment just a little bit longer.

“You wanna see my dorm?”

“A chance to see how the non-blue blood peasants live? I’d never pass it up.”

“Non blue blood,” Azzi scoffs, "Ever heard of John Wooden?”

“I was talking about women’s basketball but yeah I have heard of him. I won the award last year. Over you,” Paige smirks, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Not everyone’s a phenom their freshman year,” Azzi retorts fondly, unable to mask the hint of pride in her voice.

“Well we’ll see this year-” Paige stops herself, cold seeping into her lungs, as she remembers why she’s in the stupid state of California in the first place. The lighthearted mood in the car goes tumbling out the window as her words hang like a dagger in the air.

“Paige,” Azzi whispers, trying to wrap that one syllable in comfort. She reaches out to touch the blonde’s shoulder but must think better of it because her hand hovers mid-air for a second, before she pulls it back. Paige is suddenly hyper aware of the fact they haven’t touched yet. It’s a reminder of the fact that whatever progress they’ve made today, there’s still so much they haven’t even begun to unpack.

“It’s fine,” Paige’s voice is steely, “just drive.”

Azzi opens and closes her mouth a couple of times, before simply nodding and starting the ignition. She’s clearly holding back and Paige doesn’t know how to feel about it. There’s a part of her that wants Azzi to push her to talk like she would before, but there's another part of her that knows this new rope they’re trying to string between them is fragile.

They ride in silence to Azzi’s apartment, both of them too caught up in their own thoughts to bother with music this time. As the UCLA campus nears, Paige can’t help but hate it just a little bit. She’s aware she’s being petty. Acting like Storrs, Connecticut is some hub of beauty is probably a stretch of the imagination for anyone but she’s determined to dislike this place out of principle.

“Hmm not too shabby but like where’s the fucking cows?” Paige jokes, as the car comes to a stop in front of Azzi’s apartment building. She steps out gingerly, pretending to inspect her surroundings, making tsk-tsk noises at the most random things.

“I’ve seen your apartment Bueckers, don’t even try,” Azzi retorts.

It shouldn’t surprise Paige to see one of Azzi’s teammates when they enter her living room. It’s just like UConn really in the sense that there’s always someone there when you walk in but something about seeing Charisma Osborne just chilling in Azzi’s space suddenly makes it more real that the younger girl is definitely a UCLA Bruin.

“Oh,” Charisma gives Paige a once-over, clearly not having expected to see her, “hi Paige.”

Paige waves, shuffling her weight on her crutches, unsure what to say. It’s not like she doesn’t know Charisma, they’ve literally won a gold medal together for USA basketball. She’s even met the girl a couple of times after and she likes her, she does. But her bitter brain is focused on the fact that this is one of those girls who had gotten Azzi as their teammate, one of the girls who got to see Azzi everyday. All things Paige had not gotten.

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing company Az,” Charisma says pointedly, looking at Azzi and Paige bristles at the use of the nickname. She’s being all sorts of ridiculous but at least she’s self-aware of it.

“Last minute decisions,” Azzi replies airily. The two girls lock eyes and Paige can tell they’re having some sort of unspoken conversation and now the green-eyed envy monster is out in full force.

“I insisted on seeing her dorm,” she says finally, breaking into whatever staring competition the two UCLA guards are having.

“It’s not a problem,” Charisma reassures, standing up from her position on the couch, and coming over to give Paige a tentative hug, “I just didn’t know you were coming. But it’s good to see you, Paige.”

“Yeah,” Paige tries to muster up a proper smile as she leans in to return the hug but it comes out more like a grimace, “you too.”

“We’re gonna go chill in my room,” Azzi says, beckoning to one of the doors in the hallways and Paige obediently follows her, waving a half-hearted goodbye to Charisma. She’s secretly pleased to have Azzi back to herself.

The room is nothing out of the ordinary except it has Azzi all over it. She’s in the pink comforter that is thrown haphazardly over a clearly not made bed. She’s in the unicorn plushies laid delicately over a dark blue couch. She’s in the little flower stickers that outline the mirror on the far side of the room. There’s a wall dedicated solely to pictures and fairy lights on one side and Paige is immediately drawn to it. A familiar ache reverberates in her chest as her eyes flicker over the pictures of Azzi’s family. She’s missed them. Then there’s the photographs of Azzi in her UCLA uniform, her teammates surrounding her and Paige has to resist the dangerous urge to rip those off the wall. Be happy for her happiness, the logical part of her brain yells, not seeming to realise she’d left any chance of that in the dirt a year ago. As she tears her eyes away from those offending pictures, they land instead on a whole other set of photographs and she feels her heart catch in her throat.

It’s a set of three images of her and Azzi, taken at various moments. Paige brushes her thumb against the one of the two of them with their arms around each other at the Minnesota state fair. Azzi’s beaming at the camera and Paige is beaming at Azzi. They look so young, so naive, so happy.

“I’m on your wall,” Paige breathes out, turning to face her best friend, “Fuck, I’m on you wall.”

“Of course you are,” Azzi affirms, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world but she shuffles nervously, giving away the reality behind her stable demeanour.

“I never answered your texts. I didn’t call you back,” Paige lists quietly as the first tear falls from her eyes; she’s been holding them back all day, “and I’m on your fucking wall.”

Azzi looks away, unsure how to deal with the fact that apparently they’re no longer tip-toeing around the past. She doesn’t know how to tell the blonde that there had never really been a second thought about whether or not those photos were going up on the wall.

“Doesn’t matter,” she shrugs finally, “you’re my best friend. You’re always gonna be my best friend. Ride or die right?”

“Ride or die,” Paige repeats in a whisper before she all but throws herself at Azzi, practically moulding herself into the younger girl’s body. Caught off guard, Azzi stiffens for a second, before relaxing into it. It’s late outside and the sun has set, but in this moment, the world shines the brightest it has in a year as two stubborn girls finally find their way home to each other.

***

That night, Azzi asks her tentatively if she wants to stay over and of course Paige agrees. Lying awake next to a familiar stranger, she lets herself finally remember the day things had first started unravelling.

November 2020

“You’ll probably get one of the upstairs apartments, so we probably won’t actually be living together which is good because can you imagine if I had to see your goofy ass 24/7?” Paige puts a dramatic hand to her forehead, as she leads Azzi into her room.

She’s too caught up in her excitement having Azzi at UConn, and planning what’ll happen next year, to notice that the girl in question isn’t participating at all in her enthusiasm. Paige has been waiting for what feels like a year (in reality it’s only been a few months) to finally have her best friend come visit. The minute the car had pulled up, she’d taken it upon herself to start her sales pitch all over again, missing the sympathetic smiles she’d gotten from the rest of the Fudd family as she pulled Azzi away to show her the glories of the campus.

“Did you see my assist to Christyn today?” Paige gloats, falling onto her bed with a smirk.

“It was pretty great,” Azzi concedes.

“It was fucking perfect thank you very much. I set her up perfectly, exactly how she likes it.”

“Right.”

“And then did you see how excited the team was for her? For everyone? Never gonna find a greater group of girls.”

“They seem wonderful P.”

Paige furrows her eyebrows as she catches Azzi still lingering by the door instead of joining her on the bed. The brunette fidgets with the sleeve of her sweater, chewing on her lips.

“Are you allergic to my bed?” Paige waits for some smartass response. When she doesn’t get one, she frowns, instincts going haywire, “Az, you good?”

“I- '' Azzi looks away, swallowing nervously, “I need to tell you something and I- I’m not sure how you’re gonna react.”

“You get a boyfriend or a girlfriend or something in the last few months that I don’t know about?” She says it light-heartedly enough, but the thought of it sends a sharp sting through Paige’s heart. In hindsight, she thinks maybe she could have dealt with it having been that.

“What? No. Just- just don’t- dont take it personally okay. Like you can be upset about it but- but don’t hold it against me yeah? My parents- they said- they said you’d get it. You’d be upset but you’d- you’d get it because you- you get me right?”

Paige’s chest hammers as she watches the younger girl draw in a deep breath, “you’re scaring the shit out of me right now.”

“I’mcommittingtoUCLA” Azzi says all in one breath, the words blending together.

She’s sure she’s heard it wrong. There’s no way. After all this time, after all their conversations, all the pitches, how hard she had worked, there was no way this was going to be the end to all of Paige’s efforts.

“What?” she whispers, crossing her fingers that she has in fact misheard.

When Azzi averts her eyes, she knows she hasn’t, “I’m committing to UCLA.”

The first time Paige and Azzi met was somewhat awkward, what with Azzi’s shyness and Paige being slightly overeager to make a new friend. When they’d become bus buddies, they’d progressed to being casual acquaintances who could small talk and share smiles. And then the flight back to Minnesota happened and everything had changed. Every moment after was filled with conversation or laughs or a comfortable silence. Until this one, where the sudden silence between them foreshadows an ominous future.

“Say something,” Azzi says finally, her voice shaking.

Paige stares at her for a second before, “you named your dog Stewie.”

“What?”

“You named your dog Stewie. After Breanna Stewart who played at UConn. It’s not-” Paige wracks her brain, hands flying animatedly “it’s not Meyers or something, after someone who played at fucking UCLA. You named your dog after a UConn great. How are you going to take him to UCLA with you?”

Azzi stares at her, clearly not having expected that level of questioning of all things. Who could blame her when Paige herself feels a little insane.

“This is a joke right? You’re fucking with me? Ha ha ha very funny,” she claps deliriously, “hilarious prank seriously, like hats off you’ve outdone yourself but enough okay? Say sike right fucking now.”

Azzi makes a strangled noise, “it’s not a joke Paige. That’s- that’s my decision.”

“Then change it,” Paige yells, catapulting off the bed.

“Paige-”

“Have you told UCLA yet?”

“I wanted to tell my family and you first.”

“Oh wow, how kind of you. How fucking generous of you to do that Azzi,” Paige bites back sarcastically and Azzi flinches.

In a flash, Paige’s expression goes from angry to desperate, “you still have time to change your mind . Please just- just think about it again okay? You still have so much time and you know what, stay here for a couple more days. Spend time with the team, with the coaches, with me and you’ll see-. UCLA just sounds nice you know? California, the sun, I get it, of course it’s tempting. But just- just stay here okay? And you’ll see this is where you belong,” she leaves the, with me, unsaid.

“Paige,” Azzi’s voice cracks. She takes a step toward her and then pauses. It’s the first time in a long time that Azzi’s hesitated when it comes to Paige. It won’t be the last. And when she looks at Paige through her long eyelashes, tears threatening to fall from her dark brown eyes, Paige knows she’s lost.

“No,” she’s pacing now, chest heaving up and down in a combination of frustration, anger and misery, “this is not fucking happening. We’re not doing this. I made you a whole recruitment video. Did you watch it? Do you know how long it took me to make it? Has the last year been a fucking joke to you?”

“Of course not-”

“Don’t even. Because clearly- clearly it has. Must’ve been hilarious watching me beg and plead with you when you already fucking knew you were going to committ somewhere else.”

“That’s not fair,” Azzi’s voice rises at the accusation, “I had no idea where I was going until a couple of weeks ago. You can’t seriously think that low of me.”

“Not fair? You know what’s not fair, Azzi? We’ve been talking about playing together, about finally being on the same team, the same fucking state, for years. What’s not fair is you throwing all of that away on a whim.”

“I’m not committing to UCLA on a whim. This is my whole future we’re talking about. You don’t even know how much thought I’ve put into it. And I’m choosing what’s best for me. You can’t hold that against me Paige. You can’t.”

They stand on opposite sides of the room, taking in harsh staggered breaths and glaring at each other. The tension in the room is electric as the string connecting them frays. Paige and Azzi bicker, they don’t argue. Or at least, that’s how it used to be.

“Az?” their stare down is broken by a knock on the door as Katie Fudd lets herself in. Immediately, as she stares between her daughter and the girl who’d become just as important, Katie knows what has happened, “we’re going back to the air BnB, are you staying here?”

The answer should be obvious, like it used to be. Of course she would stay here. It was meant to be a no-brainer. But before Azzi can say that, Paige intervenes and the string snaps.

“She’s going with you,” the blonde says firmly, before turning her back. She won’t let Azzi see the tears, she won’t. For her part, the brunette stares at Paige’s back silently for a couple of seconds, before a mask of determination slips on.

“Fine. If that’s what you fucking want,” Azzi sneers before brushing past her mom, eager to get away and hide her own tears.

When Paige turns back around, Katie is already looking at her. The older woman walks the length of the room and pulls the younger girl into a hug that she readily melts into. Paige sniffles as Azzi’s mom soothingly rubs her back.

“We’re driving back tomorrow morning,” Katie whispers quietly into Paige’s hair, “I know you’re mad sweetheart but come say goodbye okay?”

And she does. She shows up with only half an hour or so remaining before Azzi leaves, but Paige shows up. They hug stiffly, exchanging maybe a sentence or two but in that moment it’s enough. They’ll call later when Azzi gets home and it’ll be awkward for a little bit but they’ll break through. They’ll figure out a way to go on without having to talk about the “big thing”. They’ll hold on as long as they can, until they can’t anymore.

***

September 2022

After the night Paige stays over at Azzi’s apartment, they're attached at the hip for the next few weeks, just like old times. They’ve fallen into a routine of sorts. Azzi shows up without fail every day after practice to pick Paige up from her rehab, and then the rest of the younger girl’s time is Paige’s. The first time she’d seen the brunette leaning casually against her car, Paige had had to stop herself from jumping into her arms. She’d played it as nonchalant as possible, joking about Azzi being stalker, but inside, she could feel it again, the dangerously familiar tap of this is all I’ll ever need.

On days Paige doesn’t have rehab, Azzi still shows up right on time on her doorstep with a board game or food or something. It’s gotten to the point where every time the doorbell rings, Paige opens it expecting Azzi. The couple times it’s not, she tries and fails to hide the disappointment on her face. It earns her an eye roll from the delivery guy but it’s worth it for the laugh it elicits from Azzi when she tells her the story. They fall back together as if they’d never fallen apart. And what’s more terrifying than finding out that she’d never truly gotten over old Azzi, is realising how easy it would be to fall in love with new Azzi.

When Caroline, Nika and Piath come to visit the weekend after, all three of them can immediately tell that something's changed. Their teammate seems lighter, as if she’s finally found a sense of calm. But their incessant prodding and raised eyebrows are only met with shrugs from a tight-lipped Paige. It isn’t until Azzi calls, and Nika snatches the phone out of Paige’s hands, gasping at the callerID, that they finally figure out why their point guard has a new kick in her step.

“You should invite her out with us tonight,” Caroline is the first to speak, giving Paige an encouraging smile.

“Carol,” Nika hisses, “we can’t just invite the enemy.”

“She’s not the enemy,” Paige defends immediately, “we don’t even have a rivalry with UCLA.”

Nika scoffs indignantly, “of course she is. She picked a different school over us. Over UConn! That’s weird. Who even does that?”

“Lots of people do,” Caroline, who occasionally texts Azzi (albeit she’s kept that somewhat of a secret), supplies helpfully, shrugging when the Croatian glares at her.

Piath nudges Paige when she notices the other girl has gone quiet, “ignore Nika. She doesn’t mean it, you know that. If you wanna invite her, invite her.”

And she does, she wants to so badly. It’s insane really because it hasn’t even been a full day since they’d last seen each other but Paige swears something inside her has been missing since. There’s something awfully terrifying about letting Azzi back into the UConn version of her world, the world that the younger girl had once rejected. Still, if they’re going to try this again, she supposes sooner or later, it’ll have to happen.

“Put her on speaker,” Nika orders when Paige grabs her phone back from her.

“Nika,” Caroline, younger only by age, warns, pulling the other girl away, “we’re supposed to be cheering her up, not making life harder.”

Azzi answers on the third ring, her voice teasing “miss me already?”

Yes, Paige thinks, sometimes I think I miss you even when you’re right here next to me, sometimes I think I’ll miss you forever. But she doesn’t say any of that.

“Not a chance,” she scoffs instead, “besides you called me first.”

“Butt dial.”

“Mmmhmm I’m sure.”

“Shut up,” Azzi laughs and Paige is glad her teammates aren’t here to see the goofy grin that appears on her face at the sound of it, “I just wanted to see if we were doing something tonight?”

“Yeah- umm- you remember I told you about the girls coming down this weekend. They- uh- they wanted to go out tonight and uh- you could come along?”

There’s a pause on the other end and Paige knows Azzi’s going through the same thought process as her.

“I don’t wanna intrude on your time with your team P-”

“You wouldn’t be intruding,” Paige cuts in immediately and although she figured her teammates were definitely eavesdropping, Nika cursing about her being “pussywhipped” followed by in-sync shushing from Piath and Caroline, gives them away.

On the other end of the line, Azzi’s quiet again, “it’s okay P, you go have fun with your friends. We don’t have to spend every night together. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

What she doesn’t say is that maybe they need to learn how to live like that again, how to live apart again. Paige is almost done with the LA part of her rehab, something both of them are still in denial about. It’s only a matter of time before they return back to their two separate worlds and neither of them are sure they’ve managed to repair their friendship enough to not slip back into their foolishness again.

“But I wanna see you tonight,” Paige whines, her tone teetering on the edge of sounding like a desperate girlfriend, “please.”

“Paige-”

“Pleaseeeeeee. I’m literally injured and begging Az, it’d be mean to say no.”

“What does your injury even have to do with any of this?” Azzi sighs exasperatedly, “but yeah okay fine calm down Bueckers. Send me an address, I’ll be there.”

“You don’t wanna come pregame here?”

“Dude, let's not push it, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah okay see you,” Paige pauses, “hey Az?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m really happy you’re coming tonight.”

“I’m really happy you’re happy P.”

***

Azzi Fudd is a menace. See, people often get fooled by her soft-spoken nature and shy demeanour, but Paige has been around her long enough to know the truth. In the beginning it was the witty quips the younger girl always had ready whenever they were having some ridiculous argument. After that, it was the direct pranks that wreaked havoc on Paige’s life. But tonight, in Paige’s opinion, tonight is Azzi’s worst offence. She had to have done it on purpose, had to have known the sheer effect it would have on Paige to see her dressed like that. The red criss-cross tank top fits her like a mould and the way her ripped jeans shorts cling to her hips leaves little to the imagination. Her diamond belly button piercing shines against her skin, taunting Paige. She wants to touch, she wants to feel, she wants to do all the unspeakable things in her mind but she’s forced to just watch.

What she hates most though, is that everybody else is watching too. Since Azzi’s walked into the club, Paige has had to fight the urge to strangle every stranger who had given her best friend an appraising once-over. Some of them let their eyes linger long enough to give her time to plot out the perfect murder strategy (it’s the only way she can stop herself from actually committing a crime tonight). And, as Azzi dances with Caroline, hips swaying to the beat and holding the other girl a little closely, Paige has the irrational urge to hit sweet, kind Caroline of all people.

The thing is, Azzi’s been a little too attached to Caroline since she got here in Paige’s opinion. And she gets it. Piath, bless her soul, is trying but has always been a little awkward around new people. Nika is definitely not trying, loyally holding onto a grudge on behalf of Paige. Which leaves Caroline, who’s already familiar territory and the younger girl has grasped onto her like a lifeline. But enough is enough Paige decides, as she slips out of her seat with a determined look. Smoothly, she cuts right in between Caroline and Azzi.

“Nika’s a little wasted and I don’t want to deal with,” it’s a blatant lie but Paige knows appealing to Caroline’s more motherly instincts will get her what she wants. She gets a raised eyebrow in return, her teammate clearly catching her ruse because Nika looks visibly fine. But it works anyway and Paige gets Azzi to herself. She reaches for the other girl’s hand, twirling her just so she can hear that stupid silly laugh, and then pulling her back so she’s facing Paige.

“You having fun?”

“Always have fun with you P,” Azzi replies. She’s clearly tipsy but there’s no hint of insincerity in her voice. It makes Paige’s breath hitch.

“Yeah?” she whispers, taking a step closer, “more than with Carol?”

Azzi giggles, “more than anyone.”

The song in the club changes and as the crowd adjusts to it, someone jostles Azzi and immediately Paige grabs at her hips to steady her. As she finds her balance, Azzi’s giggles subside, realising just how close she is to the blonde now. They’re stuck in slow motion as the world dances around them. The combination of adrenaline and alcohol pumping through her veins is what convinces Paige to test the limits. One hand still squeezing at Azzi’s bare waist, revelling in finally getting to touch, she brings up her thumb to trace around Azzi’s lips. The younger girl gulps, but when she doesn’t try to move away, confidence pulses through Paige. Her heart is beating frantically out of her chest, years and years of want and need that she’d shoved as far away as possible, desperately fighting to get to the surface.

Pushing herself closer, so their chests are now pressed to each other and Azzi’s hands have no choice but to latch onto her biceps, Paige places a delicate, teasing kiss to the corner of Azzi’s lips. She wishes she could record the whine it elicits and listen to it on loop for hours. Smirking, she moves to place another one on the other side, this time pressing her lips a little harder, a little longer. Azzi’s eyes are closed shut, hands gripping onto Paige so tightly, she knows there’ll be a mark on her biceps tomorrow. She cups Azzi’s face with both hands now, her own eyes shutting involuntarily, as she finally, finally brushes their lips together.

This time, the strangled noise that leaves Azzi’s throat, is one Paige wishes she could forget as the younger girl rips herself away from Paige, the force of it creating almost a foot of distance between them. It doesn’t take long for the familiar sting of rejection to make itself home in her heart. Azzi’s eyes are brimming with tears as she manically shakes her head. Without a word, she rushes through the crowd, making a beeline for the exit, leaving Paige confused and craving for another taste.

***

It takes Paige a second to gather her thoughts before following the brunette. She ignores the confused glances from her teammates, making some bullshit excuse about fresh air as she fights her way outside. When she gets there, Azzi’s leaning against the wall, eyes closed as she takes in long deep breaths.

“That’s not usually how girls react when I try to kiss them,” Paige says after a second, trying to make light of the situation, even if her heart is heavy with anxiety.

It’s the wrong thing to say because Azzi scoffs, “you kiss a lot of girls don’t you.”

“Yeah and most of them kiss me back,” Paige bites back.

She’s taken aback by the fire in the darker-skinned girl’s eyes as Azzi finally opens them, heaving herself off the wall.

“I won’t be one of your groupies Paige. I won’t be one of your desperate one night stands. I won’t be just some other hookup. I won’t!”

Frankly she’s a little offended Azzi would even think that of her. She’s aware of her reputation. In fact she’d probably fed into it a little bit, exaggerating her escapades to Azzi on the phone her freshman year, when they had been on the verge of combusing and she’d been desperate to get a rise out of the younger girl. Last year though, last year was different. But Azzi doesn’t know that.

“I don’t want you to be any of that,” she replies feebly.

“Then what, do you want me to be?” Azzi’s voice rises with each syllable.

Paige stutters, the words getting stuck in her throat. The truth is she wants Azzi to be everything. The truth is, Azzi already is everything. Except there’s too much between them and she just can’t say it. They stand in silence until Azzi finally breaks it.

“I think these last few weeks of summer might have been the best of my life,” she says miserably, “and that might be the worst thing ever you know? Because it’s not real. You’re gonna go back to your world and you’ll- you’ll stop replying to my texts and you’ll stop- you’ll stop calling me and I- I don’t know if I can do that again.”

“That’s an awful lot of assumptions you’re making about me,” Paige is on defensive mode now, feeling a fight brewing.

“Because that’s what happened. Go back through your fucking phone Paige. Look at all the times I tried. And all the times you never did. You just- you cut me out Paige.”

“That’s not fair. You chose fucking UCLA. Over me.”

“No,” Azzi corrects immediately, anger seeping into her tone, “I chose UCLA over UConn. You made it about yourself.”

Paige swallows back a bitter response in favour of trying to prevent a full-fledged argument, “okay, okay let’s not- let’s not do this okay. It’ll be better this time- I- I won’t ignore your calls or texts or you okay? Just- can we just go back inside please?”

“That’s the thing,” Azzi’s anger is gone, replaced by a sad wistful smile, “I don’t know if I believe that you will,” a single tear rolls down her cheek, “I- I don’t fully trust you and you haven’t fully forgiven me. So where do we go from here?”

It’s a lie what they say about the truth setting you free, Paige thinks as Azzi’s words squeeze at her heart, because all it’s done is unleash shackles of despair that holds them both hostage. It had been easy the last couple of weeks, to pretend the last year had never happened. It had been easy for Paige to pretend that she was over what happened, to ignore the part of her brain that still felt so utterly betrayed.

“Azzi, what are you saying? You don’t- you don’t wanna be friends?” Paige feels nauseous even saying it.

“No I-” Azzi chews at her bottom lip, “I’m saying this- us- we’re too fragile to complicate even more. I barely- fuck- Paige, I barely survived losing my best friend. I don’t think I could survive losing something more.”

The worst thing about it all, is that it makes sense. And really, Paige doesn’t know what she’d expected to happen if Azzi hadn’t pulled away when she did. They’d kiss, maybe give in and do more and then what? Shake hands and walk away? Or make false promises that would ultimately lead to resentment? No, Years and years of something deserved better than either of those masochistic endings. It makes sense, it does but it doesn’t mean Paige has to like it.

In front of her, all the fight evaporates from Azzi’s body, as the younger girl leans back against the brick wall of the club, sliding down and pulling her knees to her chest. She looks every bit as miserable as Paige feels and all the blonde wants to do is wipe away the stress lines creasing against the younger girl’s beautiful phase. She moves to sit down next to her best friend, shuffling so their shoulders are pressed together and intertwines their fingers together. A sigh of relief escapes her when Azzi doesn’t immediately pull away. Instead, she squeezes their hands tighter, as if she’s scared that if she lets go, Paige will disappear.

“You didn’t lose me you know,” Paige says softly after a second, nudging Azzi’s shoulder when the other girl lets out a noise of protest, “I know, I know it feels like you did. It felt like that to me too except- every time something good or bad happened to me, I heard your voice or- or maybe I just really wanted too. We got lost a little bit but I didn’t- I didn’t lose you and you didn’t lose me. There’s a difference. I don’t think we could ever lose each other like that. Not really.”

When Azzi turns to look at her, the golden glow of the street lights illuminate the emotions in her eyes. She gives Paige a soft smile, “well Bueckers, if basketball doesn’t work out, maybe you have a future in poetry.”

“I could do whatever I wanted,” except what I want to do the most.

It doesn’t take long for the Uber Azzi’s already called to start pulling up and that familiar ache of longing creeps into Paige’s spine. She knows tonight isn’t their final goodbye; they still have a couple more days. But those days will be spent ignoring and pretending, unlike tonight and the firm grip they have on reality. They rise off of the cold pavement together, dusting themselves off. It takes a second of awkward glances before they’re surging into each other’s arms, squeezing each other so tightly that it’s hard to breathe. Paige wills herself not to cry, hiding her face in the crook of Azzi’s neck.

“We’ll be okay,” she whispers, unsure if it’s more for her benefit or Azzi’s.

The unwanted beep of a car is the only reason they reluctantly pull away, hurriedly wiping away unshed tears, they pretend the other can’t see. Azzi musters up a brave smile, before slowly moving away and it takes everything in Paige not to crumble and begs her to stay. Azzi’s halfway to the car when she turns back and it feels like Paige can breathe again. The brunette’s face is conflicted for a second before turning determined, as she starts walking back up.

“Az-”

Paige’s confusion is stifled as Azzi fists her shirt, pulling her into a searing kiss. It’s desperate and needy and it’s only a few seconds before the dark-haired girl is pulling away again, but it sets Paige’s entire world off balance.

“I just-” Azzi’s breathing is rapid and uneven, “I’ve wanted to do that since I was fifteen and- just- fuck- I just-,” she blinks up at Paige, “I hate- I hate leaving things unfinished and for fucks sake if you don’t call me back this time Bueckers- just- don’t be a stranger.”

Paige doesn’t get time to answer, she doesn’t think she could even if she did, because Azzi scurries away almost immediately. She stops when she gets to the car, turning back to give Paige one final look, a look that will haunt Paige forever, before getting into the backseat. As Paige watches the back of Azzi’s uber gets smaller and smaller, her tongue darts across her lips as she tries to memorise the faintest taste of Azzi’s strawberry-flavoured lipstick. And she knows, she’s so utterly and completely and terribly fucked.

#pazzi #paige bueckers #azzi fudd #wcbb

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wings-of-fire-confessions · 2 months

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Sorry but WoF fans who FREAK out over stuff like genetics in the books kind of annoy me 😭 I don't mind people criticizing the science in WoF, but some of y'all gotta realize that Tui probably isn't as interested in biology as you are and make your peace with that. And dragons are fantasy creatures anyways, so trying to connect them to our science is a stretch.

I have to admit that the size inconsistencies in the series can be confusing? But that hardly impacts my reading experience, so I don't really care lmao. It's easy to ignore.

Yeah I just don't get why some people throw tantrums about this. If you're THAT upset, just make up your own rules.

Also, WoF fans who complain about OCs having unrealistic coloring or being AllWings or whatever suck. Let!! People!!! Have!!!! Fun!!!! Getting flashbacks to Warriors fans whining about cats having unrealistic pelt colors omg.

#wings of fire confessions #wof confessions #wof #wings of fire #genetics

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lovingonryles · 4 months

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winter wonderland

wanted to pump out a little gift for y'all before christmas 🫡 also i DESPERATELY needed to write for my girl gwen ugh love her 🫶🏻 (i’m legally married to her in case you’re wondering)

pairing: gwen stacy x fem!reader

summary: headcanons for being gwen's girlfriend during winter <3

warnings: established relationship, cursing, implied girly/femme reader, reader is shorter than gwen, tooth-rotting fluff

word count: 687, should take about five and a half minutes to read

listen to: winter wonderland by beabadoobe

i don’t imagine gwen being a cold weather girl

she would much rather prefer walking in the park with you over trudging through piles upon piles of snow

she definitely has soft hands (calloused from her drumsticks, but soft), so she hates winter because her hands get all dry and cracked

her cuticles also get really bad, girl’s hands look like this:

but no need to worry, because her pretty girlfriend’s to the rescue!!

every day you SLATHER this girl’s hands in lotion and pluck her cuticles

you also paint her nails in her current favorite color and she does yours <3

even with hating winter, she has so many poofy jackets

they surprisingly look so good on her

whenever you see her in one, you always HAVE to go and give her a big bear hug because what else are you supposed to do?? she looks like a fucking marshmallow!!

when you say you’re cold, she always insists on giving you her jacket. of course you protest every time, but it never works

she of course wants her girl to be warm, but she always wants to see how dumb you look in the jacket (girl’s 5’8 and has muscles [you can’t convince me otherwise], of course you’re gonna look like an idiot in it)

she’ll take a picture and post it on her story and you’ll be like “ gwen noooo :((” and she’s all “oh, I’m sorry. can’t help that you’re smaller than me” 😭🫶🏻

sometimes you convince her to go out in the snow with you

it takes a while, but once she’s out there, she won’t go back inside

she is absolutely a BEAST at snowball fights

you’ll be hiding behind a tree holding your snowball, and she’ll come out of nowhere and hit you right in the face

you have to yell at her to stop at some point because it’s just snowball after snowball and you’re starting to get cold

you guys also make snowmen, i don’t make the rules

hers always look kind of demented tho

shit’s looking like this:

“gwen, what the fuck is that 😭”

“that’s harold. what do you have against him?”

“he looks like he got thrown in a blender…”

“your face looks like it got thrown in a blender.”

“you’re so rude!! ☹️ you know what, at least mine looks better.”

christmas is the absolute best with her

you guys would have a tradition of giving each other the most ass gifts ever, like cat socks or shrek earrings

one year she legit gives you coal

the next you get her an empty pringles can, you get the process

sometimes she actually turns up and gets you something good that reminded her of you

one year she literally gave you this amazing dress

satin in your favorite color that came down to your knees with lace on the edges

“where’d you get the money for this?!”

“i have my ways.”

“i swear to god, if you spent all your money on this…” (she did)

needless to say, it’s your new favorite dress

she also loves baking with you, even though she‘s ass at it

you’re trying to make snowflake cookies and they end up looking like a fucking whale

also the dough’s super inconsistent because she poured almost the whole bag of flour in 😭

poor girl cannot follow instructions for the life of her (I don’t believe in consistency LMAOLMAO)

the cookies are so bad you almost gag trying to eat them but at least you spent quality time with your girlfriend!!

if there’s one thing she does know how to make tho, it’s hot chocolate

she has a killer recipe, but she refuses to give it to you

says it’s a family recipe that can absolutely NOT be shared

after a day of her kicking your ass with the snowballs, her hot chocolate’s the best thing to perk you up

your cold hands will graze each other’s as she hands you your mug <3

you’ll cuddle while the snow falls outside, her arm gently around your waist, tons of blankets over you two

#spotify #gwen stacy #gwen stacy x y/n #gwen stacy x you #spider-verse #spider-man: into the spider-verse #itsv #spider-man: across the spider-verse #atsv #reader insert #fluff #tooth-rotting fluff

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taintandviolent · 7 months

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lizzie's kinktober - week one; overstimulation ; James Patrick March.

warnings & a/n: 1k words! overstimulation, mild knife play, mentions of death. // this is short, but at least it's something for kinktober! I hope y'all enjoy it!!! sorry if it feels rushed and/or clunky! also (not) sorry that I always make James kill or hint that he kills reader -- he is a serial killer afterall!!

Conflicted; adjective — having or showing confused and mutually inconsistent feelings. To feel conflicted was to feel confused, lost, torn in two different directions. Something that you were, almost literally. You never orgasmed unless you were really turned on. The kind of turned on that had you writhing on your bed, searching for a pillow to grind your pathetic, dripping cunt on just for some relief.

Something about this uniquely dressed man with a molasses-smooth voice had you that turned on. When he’d invited you upstairs to his hotel room, you’d agreed, thinking that you were going to get off once or twice, and then bid him goodnight and think about him for the rest of your days. The one night stand in that weird old hotel…

You had, in fact, gotten off once or twice, but it hadn’t stopped there. After the fourth orgasm, you had stopped counting and had started crying, embarrassed that your body was convulsing with pleasure. Still, he continued. His fingers were masterful, moved quickly and pleasured you in ways that you had never even fantasised about.

It almost became too much. You were acutely aware of everything you were experiencing, down to the sheen of sweat that covered your entire body, and weighed down your delicate tresses. You’d lost track of how many times this man had made you cum, but you knew that you’d passed the point of pleasure, and were heading full force into the territory of pain. Something that he seemed to enjoy… deeply. Every whimper and mewl from you had him craning his neck in unadulterated pleasure, growling with pursed lips.

“Pl-please…” you begged, senselessly. It wouldn’t matter, not to him.

“Please?” He crooned. “Please what? Stop?”

“Y-yes….. please…. S-stop.”

“Awh, you know I can’t do that. Follow through with everything you do, that’s what my father always said.” His fingers ghosted near your clit again and you desperately wrenched your body forward, quivering as intensely as a woman riddled with fever.

“I can’t.”

“You can,” he said. “I know you can and I plan to make you, my dear.”

With both hands, he forced your legs open at the knees and inserted himself between them. Even if you attempted to close them again, they’d be around him. His hand dropped to your thighs again, delicately stroking them. You lifted your head feebly to look into his eyes. Dark eyes so void of anything remotely nurturing, soulless, black and colder than a mausoleum. As he smiled fluidly, you accepted that there was nothing there for you, no mercy, no understanding. You winced as he made contact. The pad of his finger massaged your swollen clit, circling the sensitive nerves. He dipped down quickly, collecting a fingerful of your ample wetness, and returned to the stimulation. You squeezed your eyes shut, pulling roughly on the restraints. He’d tied your hands tightly, arms stretched outwards and secured on hooks in the wall. The euphoric adrenaline, surely, was helping your body not to ache as much as it should be, given your hanging position. You’d tried, many times, to find some relief from gravity, but your big toe barely touched the floor.

He fingered you with slow, deliberate motions and your cunt felt hot. Again. He picked up speed, rubbing his palm against your clit. Everything was so swollen, so sensitive, and so wet. No friction, only white hot, fiery pleasure coursing through your poor little body.

“That’s it,” he said, feeling the warning clench.

You came again with a scream, gushing out over his hand, filling up the cup of his palm. At that point, you weren’t sure what was coming from you; blood, piss, some euphoric orgasm liquid that spattered his floor… perhaps a combination of the three. You didn’t have it in you to care.

“And now,” he said, wiping his hand on his leather apron. “Now, it’s time for me to have mine.”

Your body was filled with energy, seem to pulsate with trepidation. You didn’t think that your body could handle another one. You’d pass out. Maybe just die right there. You violently kicked your legs, screaming through your teeth. “Are you trying to kill me!?”

“No,” he said, seeming offended that you’d even suggest such an atrocity. “That comes later.”

Oh.

“Tell me you want it.” He ordered, dragging his finger down the front of your torso. With his free hand, he unbutton his trousers, reaching inside them to free his stiff cock. “Tell me.”

Somehow, you knew exactly what it was you were supposed to say. Maybe it was because you really did want it, and deep down, you wanted another one. “I want you to fuck me, Mr. March…” You didn’t know what his first name was. He hadn’t told you. Only insisted that he be referred to as ‘Mr. March’ and nothing else.

“Good, good.” he said, pressing the squishy head of his cock into your folds. It bumped into your clit, sending a violent shudder through your body. The insides of your legs were wet.

“Watch.” He instructed, before gripping your hips with both hands. Your head dropped heavily forward to witness the breach. You had a better visual now, and so did he. He lifted your hips, angling them upwards so he could line up his cock. As he slid himself into your drenched cunt, he let out a deep snarl. He buried himself within you, your walls hugging his cock and surrounding it in slick and warmth. Mr. March quickly found his rhythm, hammering into you with purposeful, deep thrusts. Your eyes rolled back, lids fluttering helplessly. Your body quivered, shuddered, convulsed unwillingly every time he hit a point of pleasure, pounding into you. Every whimper that fell from your lips fuelled in some sick, undisclosed way.

You felt each clench of your pussy, laboured and aching. Exhaustion riddled your system, sending you into a delusional wavelength. As you felt another one rearing, you said his name, begging for relief. Whatever relief that may have been.

Your eyes fluttered open once more, though your lids were unimaginably heavy, and you saw his hand close around the handle of a shimmering blade. You feebly shook your head back and forth. As he came, coating your insides in ropes of white, you felt your consciousness slip between your fingers like sand. And all things considered, that was probably for the best.

t a g l i s t : @kaismanwich / @pursuedbyyogibear / @elsamars / @silverzoomies / @tatesdisasterofalover / @thewolveswithin / @80strashbag / @twinkiemaximoff / @spill-the-t / @stucktothetwo / @evansb1tch / @enchanting-evan / @yesdevineruler / @anonymous0316 / @eventually27 / @violetharmonscupcake / @my-own-walker / @kai-slut / @demxnicprxncess / @fuckedbykai / @iluwmycats / @dewberryobssesed / @the-goblin1 / @dirtyfairy97 / @jellyluvr / @strangerthings420 / @kai-anderson-whore / @piecesofcain / @lilthbunny / @quickandsilvers / @tatelangdonsweater / @ifeeltoofuckingmuch / @howtobesasha / @randodummy / @throwinginmythai / @hyperharlz

#kinktober #ahs smut #ahs hotel smut #james patrick march #james patrick march x reader #james patrick march x you #myfics #lizzieslazykinktober

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demigods-posts · 8 months

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I’ve only read PJO and HoO so idk if this is still the case but I don’t like how the Hypnos cabin replaced the Aphrodite cabin as the butt of the jokes. Does there really have to be ‘that one cabin’ that everyone makes fun of?

Initially in PJO the Aphrodite cabin wasn’t taken very seriously and they were kinda seen as useless in comparison to the others. Obviously Selina disproved the stereotype and getting Piper’s perspective/ journey in HoO further established them as a respectable cabin. But it feels like as soon as that started we got the brand new Hypos cabin to fill the role as the comic relief?

Like sure Clovis tries to help Jason with his amnesia and he helps carry messages but most of the time Clovis is mentioned he’s just falling asleep and waking up at comical times. He doesn’t get a enough recognition imo

And the Hypnos cabin is just sleeping all the time?? I get that they navigate the dream world and stuff, that’s important. But shouldn’t they train as well? In the Lost Hero, Clovis is described as looking ‘like he’d never lifted anything heavier than a pillow’ which is obviously hyperbolic. But still! A huge part of CHB is teaching campers to fight for their lives in case they need to fend off the literal monsters that can smell them and track them down? Seems pretty inconsistent that the Hypnos kids wouldn’t be able to defend themselves

And I want to know more about them! Why are they sleepy all the time? When Percy was about to get the blessing of Achilles, Nico put a bunch of skeletons to sleep which made Nico very tired, is it like that? Are the Hypnos kids using their powers every night to help the insomniac demigods get some rest? Are there other powers they can have besides putting ppl to sleep and navigating the dreamscape? ‘Cause it seems like Nico can sorta do those things a bit as well. Is there anything specific Hypnos kids?

Sorry if I’m going on and on but I’m just so curious about this very underrated and vaguely-described cabin.

You have very valid questions that I don't have the answer to, lol. But I do agree with you that it seems inconsistent that chb is designed to train demigods to fight for their lives, yet some demigods just...don't? why wouldn't they at least train, you know, just in fucking case lmao. and also, i don't see why certain cabins are the butt of the joke either. i'd argue it's for the sake of the plot, something to pace the story by giving the reader a break when the tension is thick. but the demigods making fun of other demigods? like, come on now. y'all's life expectancy is way too low for y'all to make fun of each other :|

#answered

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ms-cartoon · 9 months

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So sorry for the wait! I wanted to take a break from Helluva Boss for a little while because I needed to focus on other things. I feel like I’m a little late for it, but I don’t care all that much. As much as I like to have fun criticizing Helluva Boss, I don’t want my blog to be completely centered around the topic. I mainly signed into this site for my art, despite the lack of attention it gets. So you probably won’t be seeing so much post about the show as much as you used to. It’ll probably only be a once in a while kind of thing. But anyway . . . .

For once, we actually have an episode where the plot is focused on IMP doing their JOBS since the Cherub episode! Bet y'all this won't last long.

Of course, this is another “Let’s shit on Moxxie” episode and it sucked a**. Moxxie was surprisingly annoying this whole episode. I feel like the writers just straight up ruined his character for me. It’s bad enough that his story arc is really repetitive where he’s a scrawny loser that nobody likes to him toughening up at the last minute, but with this episode being the same damn thing only with him being a big crybaby about it and so desperate for attention???? And from some petty teenagers too, like--

Plus, Blitzo stays an asshole to nearly everyone around him like always. And the fact that we’re supposed to sympathize with him this whole time because he’s in his feelings and is all boohoo because his sister don’t like him is even more ridiculous and irritating.

On the plus side, Millie actually has some character development to her, but not even that is satisfying. Actually, I think the writers may have just failed with that one and I’ll explain why later.

So most of this episode is mainly centered around Moxxie and Millie who had to complete a mission for a client while Blitzo is taking care of whatever he has his concerns about, being his sister, Barbie. So, he leaves Moxxie in charge and the two arrive at this summer camp where the client was killed. To disguise themselves, they dress up as the opposite of their genders and they pretend to be brother and sister.

One of the issues I had with this episode is that, like always, there are up to three plots mixed in one pot. We have Blitzo trying to search for his sister, M&M completing their mission without Blitzo, and Moxxie all up in his feelings about his insecurities yet again. Like bro- why can't we just save one of these for ANOTHER EPISODE. Honestly, it’s not like we need a Moxxie episode anyway. We already have enough of that, and lets be real, no lessons are learned. Like this could've been a two-part episode where in the first part Blitzo is looking for his sister and we get a flashback on their childhood and why their relationship is the way it is, and the second part would be focused on Moxxie and Millie on their mission while Blitzo is handling what he's handling. Even then, Moxxie's insecurities could still be a side plot to that second part. But we can't have NONE of that, because the writers just have to rush everything!!

-- So Blitzo is trying to visit Barbie at the rehab center. . . . through a window??? Like, why can’t you check in at the front door? As soon as he sneaks in, he’s caught by one of the workers there who tases him and tells him to go away.

So when Blitzo asks about Barbie before leaving, she tells him,

"She's got a job now. A life."

A "job" that consists of illegal drug dealing? Unless this woman doesn't know what Barbie is really involved in, she shouldn't be vouching for her as if she got her life together. And it's also pretty ironic because this is a REHAB Barbie came from. Either the rehab didn't do a good job of helping Barbie or Barbie is so irresponsible and inconsistent, she just left and is using drugs again. Considering the results of her life now, I'm going for the latter.

-- Also, if Blitzo hasn’t seen Barbie in months, why does he decide now that he wants to visit her?? Why hasn’t he been contacting her until now.

-- So Blitzo shows up at the office while M&M are taking care of a client. Moxxie tries to talk to him about it, but Blitzo keeps brushing him off telling him, “Now’s not the time Moxxie!”

Dude! Just get the stupid mission out the way and you could look for your sister then! You got PLENTY of time right after! I don’t care how frustrated you are, you’re their BOSS! What’s the point in you trusting Moxxie to get anything done if you just end up talking shit to him in the end just to be a jerk??

-- Moxxie: Don't worry sir. We'll find your killer, and give him what's coming to him . . . And/Or her . . . .Or they . . . .

Just say "them". That should've been the first pronoun that comes to mind when you're describing someone you don't know the gender to. I might just be overthinking it, but if this dragged-on line might've been Viv's way of showing everyone that she and the writers are acknowledging the LGBT community, then . . . No shit, ma'am. We get it, more than enough of your characters have a sexuality that is anything but straight. We can't even count!

-- So M&M makes it to the human world in gender switched disguises and this is where Moxxie starts to become a nuisance from now to the rest of this show. They're hiding in the bushes, and they spot an obvious suspect of the murder. Millie correctly assumes he was involved, but Moxxie keeps brushes off her assumptions saying,

"That's all circumstantial at best."

My guy . . . . He has a whole bag of CASH and DRUGZ the client mentioned, he's holding a DRILL he most likely used to sink the boat to drown the client, and he's sneaking in a shed with a cautioned look on his face!! HE’S OBVIOUSLY THE MURDERER!! You're so hellbent on wanting to take charge and here you are already f**king it up!!!

So now Moxxie is wasting his time associating himself with these stupid adolescents to investigate even though the murderer was RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!!! Like, he literally ignores him for the rest of the day, not even suspecting him in the slightest!! Aren't you supposed to be the smart one here???

-- Moxxie tries and fails immediately at this whole roleplaying shtick, lol! Nah cuz first off, how you just gonna barge in on somebody's conversation?? Much less approach these girls as if you know them?? You obviously didn't think things through. Also, seeing Moxxie act like a teenage girl is like watching SpongeBob in a dress with a southern accent.

Freakin' Bugs Bunny can pull off a better female disguise and he can act like ONE HELL OF A WOMAN. He'll make you question your sexuality without even trying.

What I'm trying to say is Moxxie is trying too hard with this roleplay and it's making me cringe.

-- Moxxie with try-hard valley girl accent: “I’m Moxxine and I’m the prettiEst gurl in my school! And all the bois want meee!”

“My favorite coloouur is hot-pink because normal pink is SOOOOoooo basic!”

“I gAt my first periAd last year... and it was sOOo heveey.”

“YEEou wAnnA be FrieeeENDs???”

Moxxine. . . . Do us all a favor and SHUT. UP.

-- Female Camper to Moxxie: “The f**k is wrong with your legs??”

One of the rarest of times in Helluva Boss where a human is actually questioning one of these characters’ very obvious demon features. But it doesn’t matter cuz they continue to act stupid for the sake of the plot throughout the rest of the episode.

-- Y’all see how these girls jump from making fun of Moxxie’s red skin to swooning over Millie and saying this-

“Look at how beautifully tan he is!”

Bish, both of them practically have the same skin!! TF!!!??

Also, I know Millie’s supposed to be a dude right now and the kids are supposed to fall for it and believe that she is a dude, but-

I don’t even understand the point of these gender-swapped disguises aside from them only to add comedy to the plot or something or to make it convenient for everyone.

Okay, let's just say this little shot of Millie turning around right here doesn't help. THIS does NOT convince me that Millie is a boy. Especially with them long AF eyelashes. If anything, she looks more like a tomboy with a pretty face.

-- I’m not gonna jump back and forth to Blitzo and his situation cuz I just don’t care and his little side plot seems unnecessary in this episode (or maybe just the other way around. This episode could’ve been about Blitzo and his sister). But the gist of it is that he’s asking around for Barbie’s whereabouts and he immediately gets violent if anyone even slightly questions him. And there’s even the part where he comes across a succubus (or incubus since he’s male) that has an asmodean crystal and he gets violent with him too, putting him at gunpoint to force him to open the portal to the human world.

First off, I get that he’s desperate to look for Barbie, but is it really necessary for him to hurt people and force questions out of ‘em?? Are we really supposed to be siding with Blitzo here???

Second off, why does Blitzo even bother trying to force a succubus to open a portal with the crystal?? HE ALREADY HAS STOLAS’S GRIMOIRE! He could just go back to the office and use it there! Plus, it’s WAY too much of a coincidence that the portal would immediately take Blitzo where Barbie is, not to mention them being in the same summer camp that Moxxie and Millie are in. It makes more sense for the portal to stop somewhere randomly and Blitzo would have to continue looking for Barbie like he’s been doing.

-- So everybody is just okay with Millie practically killing these children? Like I get its just for comedy, but . . . . they’re still adolescents. These staff members should be fired.

-- Millie is feeling so happy and joy-joy over these kids liking her that she sings a song about it, which bored the hell outta me, so I skipped it. Why is she feeling suddenly ecstatic over this sudden fame?? As if she’s NEVER been acknowledged for her strength and skills before when she already gets enough of that from her husband, Blitzo, and her family. And even then, she wasn’t even that excited over those acknowledgements. Why is it so different with a bunch of random human beings you’re never gonna see again. I don’t even think Millie should be happy over this anyway. It’s not like these kids even like her genuinely. All there is her (or in their eyes, his) pretty face.

-- Why is there suddenly so much merch of Millie?? It hasn’t even been a day yet!!!

-- Moxxie is sitting in the sidelines feeling jealous she’s suddenly gaining all this attention. He even tries to sing a song as Millie suggested that goes along the lines of

“Hey! Pay attention to me! I’m better and prettier than all of you and you should like me! Pay attention to me! ME ME ME ME ME ME--”

Which is so out of character for him, btw. Like- WTF am I watching right now??? It’s just beyond embarrassing! You forget this is CHILDREN you’re singing too! Also, not to disrespect Richard Steven Horvitz. He’s a good voice actor and he played some awesome characters I like, but he is NO singer and he’s not even that good. I mean, he can stay on note, but that’s it. I don’t know what fans are going gaga about. Of course, this stupid song doesn’t work, and everyone continues to put their attention on Millie, so Moxxie walks off and cries like a bitch baby. . . . . No, I’m serious! He’s hiding in a tool shed and balling like a little petty teenager screaming, “Go away! Leave me alone. I wanna go home.”

Like bro- Did you just forget why you and your wife are even here in the first place?? Why are you even feelin all bad about a bunch of kids not liking you?? There not even that likable enough to be gaining attention from. And Millie trying to coax him and get him out of his temper tantrum is honestly stupid and embarrassing cuz first off, she shouldn’t have to and second off, she’s basically giving him the same advice she’s been giving him since the harvest moon festival when she shouldn’t have to. You see what I mean when I say this is another Moxxie episode with the same damn plot??

Viv and the crew are really screwing with Moxxie’s character here, from him being an untalented loser to him crying because he’s an untalented loser and suddenly getting jealous of his own wife (who’s suddenly talented at EVERYTHING for some reason). Like its kinda hard for me to even look at him.

Millie tells him once again to just do what he’s good at and continue to investigate by playing to his strengths, in which he keeps failing at the rest of the week, getting eaten by bears and sharks, hit with by a volleyball, shot with bow and arrows, y’know just constant Moxxie torture porn as if we’ve haven’t had enough of that already.

-- Excited for a concert she’s suddenly getting involved in (okay I thought this was a summer camp. Why is there a concert involved??) Millie shows up and tells Moxxie about it, not even realizing he’s not feeling the best of moods right now. Alright. . . . I know Millie’s having fun here, but she cannot be that unaware that her husband is having a hard time.

Now this where we finally get to see Moxxie and Millie having a serious argument for a change. And it’s pretty interesting to see. I was actually hoping to see the day where we see M&M fighting for once to show they're not always a perfect couple, and now here we are. Still, how the show goes about their argument doesn’t exactly work . . . . for either of them really.

On Moxxie’s end, he’s upset and jealous that Millie is practically a celebrity to these kids and suddenly goes off on her for it. And he had the absolute AUDACITY to say this-

“We have a JOB to do, Millie! Meanwhile, you’re dancing for views!”

Um, EXCUSE YOU SIR- What do you mean, “We have a JOB to do”? You’re the one that wanted to waste your time associating yourself with these kids and investigate THEM instead of the actual murder who was right there under your nose!! You weren’t even worried about the mission this whole damn time! You were so stuck on wanting to get so much attention from these campers, you completely ignored it!

On one hand, you’re like, “HiiEEE! I’m Moxxine!! Everyone pay attention to me!” Not focused on your job AT ALL!

On the other hand, once you see Millie getting so much love, you’re like, “Millie!! We got a job to do! Stop paying attention to these people and focus on the mission!!”

Bro, this has NOTHING to do with Millie not being focused! You’re just jealous she’s getting the attention that you want. Like seriously- This is unrealistically so out of character for Moxxie! Why is he being such a hypocritical dick here???

On Millie’s end? She pretty much has every right to be upset with Moxxie because he was being unreasonably mad at her. But what she says here was completely out of nowhere!!

Millie: "For once, I feel like I . . . like I'm important!"

Frikin WHAT Millie!!??

What do you mean?? Since WHEN have you ever felt unimportant to anything?? Literally, WHEN was there a time when you felt inferior or second-best to ANYONE!! This entire show, you've been shown already to be much more stronger and talented than your freakin husband!! With looks, your fighting skills, and precisely everything else you've shown off this entire episode!! The only one who should be feeling unimportant, who HAS been feeling unimportant is MOXXIE!! From Blitzo whose been treating him like crap, to Loona whose also treating him like crap, to Millie's parents and everyone else in her family who don't even like him, to Striker showing off and trying to be better than him, his own damn FATHER, his ex-boyfriend, a ton of kids at a stupid camp-- Freakin EVERYONE is always shitting on Moxxie while Millie is getting the most acknowledgment. Are we sure Moxxie is the only one being selfish here??

Also, I can get that Viv, Adam, and the writers FINALLY gave Millie a certain character and development to her here, but it still doesn't work and they failed! Know why? Cuz once again, where did this sudden inferiority come from??!! Since when has Millie felt she was unimportant to anyone or unworthy of praise? She already gets enough love and praise from her parents. Blitzo always acknowledged her and is hardly mean to her at all. And of course she get's enough support from her husband who loves her more than anything and he always notices her. So honestly, she shouldn't be feeling unimportant to anything.

Y’know, Millie’s side of the argument here would’ve made sense had there already been an episode just about HER! It would’ve made sense if we we’re shown that Millie had once felt unimportant and that she was no one to be proud of. Then we would’ve understood her side of the argument. But instead, the writers suddenly just drops some angst onto Millie out of nowhere with no kind of depth or build-up. We don’t even know why Millie is feeling the way she never felt before because it was never acknowledged.

And what’s worse is that this is another MOXXIE episode where we’re meant to pay more attention to Moxxie and his little insecurities for the FIFTH DAMN TIME! Where Millie’s feelings and development are only used as a tool for Moxxie to make up his development. Similar to Octavia or Stella who are used as underdeveloped tools for us to sympathize with Stolas and make him out to be a good person when he’s actually pretty selfish and terrible.

Lemme just jump to the next topic before I get off track here.

-- Moxxie finally continues with the mission like he should’ve done already, and he bumps into Blitzo. Realizing Moxxie is still getting the mission complete after a week, Blitzo replies with-

“THIS is why I don’t trust you with dick, Moxx.”

Bro stfu! The first time Moxxie brought it up to you in the office, you told him to get out and handle it on his own. You probably should’ve expected something like this. Also, how did you not realize Moxxie and Millie have been gone for a week??? You couldn’t have been that hellbent on finding your sister the entire time you couldn’t notice anything!!

-- Moxxie (about Barbie): Do you know her?”

Blitzo: Do I know her- That’s my SISTER, f*ckface!”

Ay man! Dial it back with the name-calling!! How was Moxxie supposed to know that’s your sister, especially with the human disguise?

-- OH!! So Barbie can have a human disguise while being an imp, but with Blitzo, Moxxie, and Millie, Viv or any of the artist working on this show won’t take the time of day to come up with their human disguise!!?

Not that her human disguise is all that great anyway. Like, why are her arms and hands still the same, but with different skin.

-- As expected, Barbie turns out to be a bitch and unlikable. Like if you just take away her human form, you’d see a gender swapped version of Blitzo, and I’m not just saying that cuz they’re twins. It’s honestly disappointing, cuz I was actually looking foward to seeing her and was at least hoping there would be something good about her only for me to see her shaking her stuff to this minor. I mean- what the hell?? And NO Viv! It doesn’t matter if this boy is 18. Barbie is Blitzo’s age (around 30) with a huge age gap and it’s freaking wrong!! She even acknowledged that he was way younger than her when she confessed to manipulating him. She’s literally grooming this kid!!

-- How many times is Moxxie gonna fall in and out of being a great fighter!? He’ll be weakling at one point, to being strong the next, right back to being a weakling the next episode, being strong the next, and repeat. CAN HE FIGHT OR NOT??

-- I don’t like how we’re jumping back n forth to Millie wowing these campers. Can’t we just focus on the fight? How is she doing all these tricks while playing music at the same time? That’s tiring as hell! Since WHEN was she a musician!! And did this bitch just swallow a whole literal SWORD!!!!

-- Okay, I’ll give it to ya . . . I laughed at that one.

-- Blitzo: Barbie wait! Let me help you. . . . . you’re clean now.”

No, no she isn’t.

-- As stated above, Blitzo wants to reconcile with Barbie, begging her to let him help her and even suggested they eat somewhere, but she immediately turns him down, telling him she never wants to see him again and to never look for her. But WHY though!!? What happened between these two? What did Blitzo do that was so bad, she ended up hating him?? How’re y’all gonna keep introducing characters that have bad blood with another and NEVER explore it the rest of the episode?? You see what I mean when I say this episode could’ve been about Blitzo and Barbie and what went on with the two??? But instead what we get is Barbie just being on screen for less than 4 minutes!!

-- HOLY MOLY SHIT, VIV AND ADAM!!! What the hell is it with y’all and these incest jokes!!!

Yeah, I know they’re not actually brother and sister, but to everybody else they are! If they were just gonna end up getting it on in the end, why didn't they just pretend they were boyfriend and girlfriend or something?? And y’all really couldn’t wait until you were in private where nobody is around.

How y’all like Millerd now?

-- Blitzo: “Gotta be honest Moxxie . . . . not to bad for your first solo mission.”

Moxxie: *Gasp* Really sir?

Blitzo: “Nah. . . . You’re a f*cking disgrace.”

Says the guy whose sister can’t even stand him!!?

And why is Moxxie sittin there and on the verge of tears? Usually if Blitzo is talking shit to him, he would talk back. If not that, he would glare and growl at him. And Millie! Why is it that every time your husband is getting shat on, you just sit there??!! Actually stand up for him instead of just sitting and glaring.

-- These animators really can’t keep up with where to draw Millie’s beauty mark. It’s underneath her corner of her eye in one shot to it being on her cheek in the next. Sometimes, it right beside her lip.

So yeah, this was just plain DUMB! To Moxxie’s character turning into shit, to Millie’s character development making no sense, to Blitzo’s being an unsympathetic jerk, to Barbie being a groomer and a jerk.

*Sigh* I need a nap.

#helluva rant #helluva boss blitzo #Helluva Boss #criticism #Critical #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #moxxie #unhappy campers

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covencupid · 1 year

Text

I Want You (or The Cabin Story)

Fair warning, I wrote this on discord and then copy pasted it onto docs, so if there are some inconsistencies I apologize, but maybe I just like to keep ya on your toes.

BIG THANKS to @mamamemequeen because I pretty much wrote this in the DMs oopsi.

Danny's had his eye on you. He's been finding himself enjoying the times he interacts with you a little too much. He's got to get you out of his system. A little house call. Once that's done it'll be easier for him to go for the kill. Right?

Pairing: Danny Johnson X Fem!Reader. Use of gendered language.

TW/CW: The usual (stalking, manipulation, threats of violence, actual violence) gore, descriptions of torture, corpses, and murder. Psychological horror, child murder (imma need you to hold your judgement on this one, it's not what you think, but it's also not good), hallucinations, descriptions of visual hallucinations.

Tags will be updated as needed, but to be honest I kinda forgot what I put in this.

I will be posting as much as I can in one go, but it's long, so I might have to upload in parts. Yeah, I'm definitely posting it in parts. This is chapter one.

Word Count is 15k+, this was supposed to be a one-shot about y'all fuckin at the drive-in, I don't know how it happened.

Oh one last thing, there is kinda a prequel/backstory part I haven't finished about Danny and "prom". Whatever you think it is, it's probably not gonna be like that.

Sorry one last last thing that I'm seeing now reformatting this from discord to the docs to here is that I kinda wrote Danny and Reader's POV back and forth but a little inconsistent. I will try to make the changes in POV a little clearer with spacing, but I apologize for any confusion!

Your Place // The Cabin // The Woods

~I Want You~

~Chapter One - Your Place~

Danny waited for the perfect night. A storm was coming. The whole neighborhood was snuggled up tight in their big warm beds and you? You were painting your nails while a gorey Japanese B-Movie played on the small tv in your bedroom. You had no idea you were being stalked, hunted like a deer in the forest.

Danny had to stop and take a look at you first, before he went in. He saw you, legs bent to give you a place to rest your hands while you painted them. God, your legs. He watched the light of the film dance off your legs, following the glow that reached your thighs. How it faded as it dipped to the little peek of your ass from the bottom of your shorts where you sat. He swallowed harder than he meant to. He’d have to readjust himself before he continued inside.

Danny waltzed into your home from the back patio door. Unlocked? Baby there’s a killer on the loose. He stepped into the dark entry way, noting how little the sound from your room carried. That would be useful. He eased into your hallway hearing the lovely lilt of your laughter as he neared your door. The sound made him salivate. He plucked a delicate metal frame of a vintage botanical illustration and let it fall to the floor as he swiftly crossed past your door to the opposite end of the hallway. In a second you were out and making your way for the pesky little frame.

“God you little shit!” you scolded the picture. You had complained to your friend about the framed piece you had been gifted that had a nasty little habit of slipping off it’s nail. Always a bit too heavy. Danny breezed into your room while you degraded the drawing of little flowers. Too easy. You’re just letting me right in, huh?

“And you better keep it down out there!” you called out to the frame as you shut your door on the way back. When your head whipped back to your bed your heart jumped to your throat and fell back down to your gut. A howling ghost stared back at you, reclined in your bed, your nail polish in hand.

“H-how did y-you-” you struggled to find your words and he, seemingly mercifully, cut you off.

“Get in? You let me in, sweetheart. Thanks by the way, really saved me time.” You could feel his smug smile radiating from underneath his mask. Dread chilled your veins. You were frozen by the door. As much as Danny enjoyed the doe-eyed look of fear you were giving him, you were too far for his liking. He pat the bed beside him. “Come on, don’t be shy.”

For a moment it felt like you lost all ability to move. You lifted your right foot to take a step forward but your leg unexpectedly shook. Before you could process your involuntary movement you heard a laugh from the hooded figure lounging in your bed. “How can I have your legs shaking when I haven’t even touched you?”

Heat spread across your cheeks, breaking through the ice in your veins. Indignation rising in your chest.

“You- You’re a murderer! Showing up here in my bed, I’m gonna be scared! It has nothing to do with- I am not-” The words flowed out from your mouth faster than you could string them together cohesively. The sound of his rippling laughter cut you off. You wanted to slap him and wipe off the smug look you knew he was wearing. He crossed his arms

“Hey! Do I look like a threat to you? I’m just hanging out here. Lookin for a manicure, and maybe a better movie.”

You scoffed. “I can see your knife holster from here, not exactly “hanging out” gear. And for the record Blossom of Blood is a cult classic, not that you would know anything about it.”

Danny leaned forward. “First of all, how do you know I’m not just happy to see you? Second, no. You’re thinking of Bloody Blossom, what you’ve got is the cheap knock off made ten years later. Get your facts straight before trying to get all snobby with me.”

You mouth gaped open and closed like a fish. The nerve of this psycho to break into your home and lecture you about your movie choices.

“Hey” The aforementioned psycho snapped at you. Patting the bed next to him more aggressively. You inched your way closer to him. You felt uneasy looking down at him the moment you reached the bed. He sat comfortably nestled in your plush pillows, using a stuffed animal to prop up his arm. You wanted to beat him over the head with it. It would likely be your final act on this earth, but you felt you would feel at peace. “Sit.” There was no space for argument in his tone. Not exactly a command, but still decidedly firm. You sat where he told you to and began to look intently at your hands, gripping each other tight. From your periphery you could see the black mass of his form lean in to loom over you. You felt him delicately take your chin between his thumb and forefinger with his gloved hand. The skin on your arms pricked up with goosebumps. He’s turning your head to look at him as he’s telling you in a sing-song tone “look at me”.

You stare, wide eyes welling up with tears you wanted to keep hidden, into the black holes of his mask. You wish to look so far into them to reach the eyes you felt boring into you. As your eyes remained locked on him, he plucked your hand from your own grip to place the bottle of nail polish in your palm.

“Go on.” he said as he reclined back into your bed, crossing his feet as he extended a gloved hand out at you.

“Uh- you want me to-?” you looked between the bottle of polish and the masked man before you.

“I said I’m here for a manicure, sweets. Come on and make it nice or ya know…” he wiggled the hunting knife in your face. You gasped and grabbed his other hand in an instant. He chuckled as you held his large gloved hand with your comparatively small one. You held the polish right next to it. Does he want me to take off his glove? Paint the fingers? No, right?

Sensing your conflict, he wiggled his fingers in your face. “You can take it off.” He teased.

You put the polish down beside you as you worked the glove off his hand. You placed it on your lap. You felt hot, feeling his eyes rake over you as you gently held his hand, surprisingly warm. The tips of your fingers lightly grazed over his and felt the callouses there. You felt flushed. A killer walks into your room at night… and he tells you to paint his nails? He’s insane. You laid his hand on your lap as you picked the bottle of black nail polish back up and twisted the top off. You held the bottle between your thighs and picked his hand back up slightly. Your hands shook slightly as the applicator neared his nail bed. When you finally laid the first coat down you felt like you could breathe a sigh of relief.

Danny, feeling your unsteady breath reach the top of his hand, blurted out “Don’t fuck up!” quick enough to make your heart jump.

“Fuck! Don’t do that, that’s gonna make me fuck up!” You gripped his hand a little tighter. The feeling of your soft, warm hands on his sent a wave of heat course through him. He chuckled. As you were about to paint the next nail he quickly pulled his hand back and held it in front of you. A small sound of annoyance got caught in your throat. He reached his hand back out to you but pulled it back when you reached for it. You were getting flustered. The way your brows knotted together as the speckles of blush played on your cheeks was just delightful. It was so easy to work you up. He extended his hand out to you again. You stared at him for a second before going to reach back out for him. You looked between his hand and himself in rapid fire succession until you went to get his hand. In an instant he went to whip back his hand but you slammed your free palm into his and gripped his hand firmly until his fingers softly folded over yours. His fingertips rested on the back of your hand. A soft, self satisfied smile danced on your lips as you plucked the applicator back up to paint the next nail. Danny felt the grip you maintained on him. Firm, warm, tender. As you painted the rest of his nails, his thumb slowly ran along the side of your hand, down to graze your wrist. You just needed his thumb, but it continued it’s slow glide along your skin. What were you feeling? Annoyance for sure, he wants something done and won’t even stop moving to let you do it. But the way his thumb caressed the stretch of skin he was able to reach, you felt a flutter in your belly. Stop, what are you even thinking. His hunting knife is dangerously close to his free hand. But should you tell him to stop? Should you try painting it as it teases the delicate flesh of your wrist? Should you tell him he has to stop, so you can paint his nail. And then? Let him continue? Let him run the freshly painted hand up your arm, up to your neck, down to your- Stop. Just. Stop, what are you thinking? This is a monster, in your bed, in your grasp. Think like you want to make it out alive.

Danny can see the muscles of your throat straining as his thumb stroked up and down. It was getting harder to just have you there sitting in front of him. He was beginning to need to close the distance between you. He noted how intently your eyes watched his thumb dance over your skin. You looked entranced, he wanted to see that pretty face up close. Danny thought about his options. The pros and cons flittered about his head but the most overwhelming image was of you, those pretty legs straddling him as his freshly painted hand gripped the creamy flesh of your thigh. Feeling your palm turn clammy, his grip on your hand turned into a vice as he pulled you down to him with a force that wrenched a yelp from your lips. That was nice. He thought. Oh the sounds you could make for him. His other hand went to grip your waist. Your left leg sat between his as the sudden movement had jerked you haphazardly over him.

“What the fuck?” you managed out as you tried to pull yourself up from the place on his chest where your head landed. He smelled like leather and oak. Something else too, slightly sweet mixed with something metallic. Your free hand helped you gain some leverage on the bed. His hand on your waist went down to pat the side of your thigh.

“Move this over, straddle me.” the words made you blush, this time obvious and bright.

You sat uneasily on his lap, scared to put your full weight on him. Modesty? How cute. Danny mused as he grabbed you by your hips and forced you to sit on him. A little gasp escaped you from the force. Danny was drinking you up. The incredulous look on your face, the way your hands fell to his chest for stability. Fuck. Restraint was going to prove much more difficult.

You felt frozen in place. What the fuck. What in the actual ever loving fuck? The screams coming from the movie on your left made it feel all the more surreal. They were pitched up and down and underscored by a synth that harmonized with the wails. Normally this would be your favorite part to point out to the people who you would (force to) watch this with. Usually met with strained smiles and equally strained eyebrows raised to the hairline. You forgave the expression on account of the dizzying fifteen minute chase scene that preceded it. You acquiesced that it was "a bit much" for the casual viewer, but damn was it beautifully shot. God, you wanted to feel normal again. Movies, and painting your nails, your nails. Not the nails of some psycho freak that is making himself comfortable on your bed. He got mud on your sheets. You wanted to reach your hands just a bit forward, just enough to reach his neck and strangle him. But his chest felt broad, sturdy, and his grip felt strong. You didn't like your odds in that fights. He didn't feel threatening though, hunting knife aside. He felt like a boyfriend trying to turn a movie date frisky. God, what are you even thinking. Be normal for the love of everything good.

You defaulted to your brand of normalcy. "The screams in this scene were pitched up and down according to their tone. If you pay attention you can hear that they added a synth to subtly harmonize with the screaming." The words just tumbled out of your mouth thoughtlessly. You weren't even looking at him. Your eyes were locked on the screen glowing bright with scenes of carnage.

For all of the cruelties Danny had doled out, this was true torture. With the glow of the television illuminating her, she looked absolutely divine astride him. He wanted to see those pretty lips part and recite his name like a prayer, instead he heard her mumble out a little fun fact about the movie he was currently ignoring. He wanted to see those lips move again, closer this time. Danny grabbed at her wrists and pulled her down to be inches away from the mask that hid his cheeky grin. Her forearms were resting on his chest, her hands gripped in fists under his chin. "Tell me again, about your movie."

No, no, no. This is not normal, we are actively walking far, far away from normal. Fuck, he's got my hands restrained. His grip is so strong. The angle he had brought you down to made you arch your hips down. Is that? Oh. You felt him. You wanted to ignore it, to ignore him. The masked killer that was terrorizing your town, a man reacting to you atop him. Your body reacting to being on top of him. What are we doing here? What are you even thinking right now. This is not the time for biological responses, he's a killer! He's not a regular guy.

He pat your thigh at your lack of response. "Hello? Movie? Synths and screams?" You felt his fingers flutter at your hip. You tried to collect yourself.

"Right they- uh the director had them mix in synths kind of like a vocoder to play ben-" a sudden movement jolted you out of your train of thought. He had rolled his hips up as he lifted his legs up. The movement, deliberate and drawn out, elicited a yelp in response from you. With the way it had pressed against your most sensitive spot, the squeak you let out had been dangerously close to a moan. A fact that Danny noted instantly.

"Just trying to get comfortable, sorry go on." he acknowledged as he adjusted his grip on your wrists with his left hand while giving your hip a reassuring pat with the other.

Danny's game with his little pet was having an unexpected effect on him. He had anticipated getting a bit worked up with you. A little edging, if you will. Just playing with his food, nothing serious. But the more Danny played this game, the more he felt he didn't want it to end. Looking at her struggling to form words, he wanted to watch her forget the entire English language underneath him. He let his right hand meander back up to her waist, the glove that remained encompassing the last of his strength of will to not flip her onto her back and fuck her right there. No, no, Danny. Let her talk, or at least try to.

What were you talking about? Right, the fucking movie. "The...movie vi- the cinematographer on this... he only made car commercials before this." You felt him chuckle. A rumble you felt pass through your own chest, down to your belly, down further.

"That's not what we were talking about." You could hear his smile through the mask. You were stumped. You felt trapped in his gaze. Your mind felt like it was turning to mush by the second. "The synths? The vocoder...?"

Right, fuck. What was I thinking? You wanted to disappear. You wanted to this all to be some sort of nightmare. Or wet dream. You felt your legs turn to jelly.

"The vocoder, yeah. It was added in underneath the actor's lines because he wanted to make the dialogue sound like it was coming from hell." Your hips ached to move ever so slightly, to tease him back. Getting comfortable, my ass. Nothing about this felt innocent, of course it wasn't. He broke into your home and made you straddle him. What exactly did you think this was going to be?

Focus on her words, Danny. What's she saying? She could be speaking in tongues by now for all he cared. All that mattered was the way he felt her belly press down on him as she breathed and how her legs had splayed further to accommodate him. Danny didn't exactly have an end goal for this night, but when he felt her hips rock a bit her fate was sealed in stone. This night would end, but their game wouldn't. Besides he still had another hand she needed to paint. He met the movement of her hips by using the hand at his waist to help prop both of them up. The hand that held her wrists now supporting her back. The space between them smaller than ever before. He could almost taste her. He had to. He used the thumb of his gloved hand to hike up his mask up to reveal his jaw. Without a second thought, he held the back of her head and pulled her into an all consuming kiss.

You had thought you made a mistake, trying to match him. You went to far, goaded the bull. Now he was going to kill you. When he hoisted the both of you up you thought he was about to deal his killing blow, maybe slash your throat as you sat upright. The strike never came. Instead, he stopped your heart another way. It had barely registered in your mind that you were actually seeing his lips, seeing a part of his face, before they came crashing down on you. He had taken advantage of the way your mouth gaped open in shock when he had lifted you up to let his tongue explore the inside of your mouth. It was far more pleasant than death. He was kissing you like he wanted to devour you whole but had to restrain himself. It would be easier to just let him, and just sit there numbly in his hands. But the way his tongue darted in your mouth you felt compelled to chase after him. Your tongue met his with an equal measure of primal instinct. You wanted to familiarize yourself with the taste of his mouth.

Damn this girl. Danny wanted her to fight him on this. Not for the sake of having her struggle, though there was a measure of thrill in that. He wanted an excuse to be annoyed with her. To want to be done with her. Instead she paid him back in kind, her hands resting on his chest inching up to his shoulders. This night was supposed to make it easier for him to kill her off later. Get his rocks off a bit without leaving evidence to find later. Instead that raw, needy feeling that built up inside him when he saw her only continued to grow. This hunger would not be sated, could not be. It would only continue to fester the more he was apart from her. The only way to keep it under control would be to keep her within arms reach. No distance to make the heart grow fonder, only tight, close proximity to make the crushing feeling turn suffocating. Then he would be tired of her, then he could be rid of her. But for now he had to get her out of here, back somewhere he could really stretch his legs. It almost pained him to break from a kiss so decadent. She wore a dreamy, almost dumbstruck expression, with a flushed face and plush, swollen pink lips to match. He wanted to drink her up.

"After all that you're gonna think I'm a real dick for this, but you'll learn to forgive me." Her drowsy expression gave way to a look of confusion. A silent question answered by an equally wordless blow to the side of her head. Light's out. "Sorry, doll. Gotta move the sleepover to my place."

#ghostface x you #ghostface x reader #dbd ghostface x reader #ghostface dbd #danny johnson x y/n #danny johnson smut #danny johnson x reader #danny johnson #danny jed olsen johnson #dbd ghostface #dead by daylight #Spotify

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nobodysdaydreams · 3 months

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OH AM I GONNA HAVE SOME FUN WITH THIS IF I EVER HAVE THE TIME TO WRITE FANFIC

(Or my reaction to Episode 61 of Wolf359: Brave New World).

Well gang, we did it. We've reach the end. Sorry for how my reactions went from super spaced out to speed running the finale in a number of days, but I did warn you that I'm just sporadic like that. Though I have been semi-putting Brave New World off, because as much as I want to know how Wolf359 ends, I don't want it to end. I love these characters. I want good things for them. As much as I hate what they did, I wish that Hilbert and Maxwell had gotten the chance to get the redemption arc that Jacobi got. Hilbert had plenty of opportunities, but Maxwell was young and its not fair. I don't know how much more sadness they are gonna throw at me, but I'm guessing its a lot and I can't listen to it all in one sitting, so I'm just mentally preparing myself.

I also don't want this to end because I've loved giving you guys these reactions. Thank you all for reading my rambles and enjoying them. It means a lot to me, and I hope you were entertained. Thanks for coming on this journey with me, and please know that the second this is over, I am gonna figure out how to unblock the wolf359 tags (I did it so long ago I forgot how I did it, oopsie-daisy), and I am am gonna be reblogging and going crazy over all your posts and fanart and stuff so I hope you're ready for that.

Plus finishing the podcast also means it's time for me to deliver on those fics I promised y'all, which have been very carefully written (in my head). I will write them out eventually, but if there is anything my tmbs mutuals will tell you, my wolf359 mutuals, it's that my ideas tend to lead to other ideas, which means my fics do tend to be a little long, but (based on the reviews I've gotten) worth the read. So it might take a while to get them on AO3, but when I do, I hope you enjoy them!

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that and for any spelling/grammar mistakes in my posts.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs @herawell @commsroom @lovelyladylavie

Episode 61: Brave New World

The fact that Brave New World was written in 1932 and Cutter and Pryce are old and the fact that the message of Brave New World is about humans losing their humanity...already we're setting the stage.

And based on Kepler's earlier declaration, why do I suspect that this is the part where Doug's daughter's life and Minkowski's husband's life are finally on the line. I know Cutter and Pryce won't hesitate to aim their guns at them (and probably the rest of the planet too).

That moment when you can't tell if Wolf359 starts with sad piano music, or if this is just an ad for another podcast.

Oh it's the intro. Hi Hera! Or Miranda...oh wait I genuinely can't tell if this is Miranda talking about herself or Hera talking about her.

Clouded eyes, weak heart, child genius, orphan, no friends...I see. Obsessed with making things stronger and better. Yeah, except for herself I bet. Oh. She made her friends. Because she could control them. "Never left her behind, never talked back, never were afraid of her...except when she wanted them to be." "The one thing she couldn't fix was herself" see I called it!

Until? Oh no. Marcus.

And Old Man? Almost as clever as her? "Hello little girl. I want you to make a doll for me. You're very best doll. It must look like a real person, and sound like a real person, and be a real person." "And if I can?" "Then you and I will fix the world. I will be young and you will be whole and the world will finally be everything it could be. Everything it should be."

Okay. Thoughts.

When I made my jokes about Pryce being Cutter's evil science girlfriend, I was not assuming a romantic relationship, I was trying to use that language to insult Pryce and Cutter by making them sound like the kids they hate so much in a frivolous, juvenile and toxic relationship. Then, I was told by a few of you that given this assumption, it’s important that I know that I shouldn't assume that Pryce met Cutter when she was young based on this story and it was meant to be "fairytale language", which does make sense given that Cutter being willing to call Miranda his "work wife" when he's known her since she was young enough to be his granddaughter is incredibly creepy.

I appreciate the clarification, but also, I really don't think it matters whether this is hyperbole or not. If it is, then okay. Pryce and Cutter's relationship is still weird. If it's not, then Cutter's a creep, what a surprise. Tell me something I don't know.

"And so they did. And everyone lived happily ever after. The end."

The fact that it's Cutter that interrupts Miranda's story to give that closing line and declare this the end adds to the creepiness. Miranda says what Marcus's promise to her was, but never says whether she agreed before Marcus jumps in with "and so they did". Also, if Miranda was dying, Cutter was her only chance at survival. It also sounds like she was a kid with a pretty messed up view of the world. Doesn't excuse anything she did, but see Cutter? THAT is how you give a good sad backstory, and she did it in five minutes. You spent a whole hour with Nash just so you could cry that the government took your precious telescope.

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

"THAT'S the evil plan?" Care to fill us in Doug?

"That's THE plan, yes." Shut it Rachel. It's evil and you know it.

It's...so evil. And so...planned. Doug's words might be simple, Rachel, but sometimes simple is better. It gets to the point and cuts through the BS.

"It's real and it's happening" And ARE you happy about this Kepler? And why tell them?

Good question Kepler, why are you here? Please tell me you're going to take Rachel away.

"You're going to help" "of course I am" Are you Kepler? Oh please tell me he gets a redemption arc and betrays Cutter.

Does anyone want to fill ME in on the plan? No one? Okay. :(

"Where's the trust?" That's not for you, Rachel.

"I really don't like her" I don't either, Doug.

"What about Cutter's plan?" WHAT IS THE PLAN? WILL BOB AGREE TO IT? WHAT WILL WORK? WHAT WILL THEY DO?

We can't stop them, so let's see our families again. No, Minkowski, you can do this! I believe in you! You can't just go home, we have two hours left! That's plenty of time to stop them.

It's been a long...years.

I forget how long they've been up there. And that everyone on Earth believes they're dead.

And not do anything about WHAT? WHAT IS THE PLAN PLEASE FILL ME IN.

What was that sound?

-----------

Oh Doug is in the comms room. Oh yikes. It's okay, Doug. We've all broken very expensive lab equipment before.

"Living in a cuckoo clock" you have no idea, Doug.

"I wouldn't do that." Is that Pryce or Hera? And yeah why is there gas?

"Good boy" oh good it's Hera. Hera calls him good boy, Pryce just calls him boy.

"Who are you?" OH THIS IS DOUG MEETING HERA FOR THE FIRST TIME. At first I thought that Doug...forgot her? Or something? I was confused.

Ultraviolet halo? Contraband cigarettes. 😂

"Just ask. I'm here to help." Aw that was sweet.

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

Ew Rachel. I'm gonna start using "----" breaks to cut off sections.

"Actually he's in quite a lot of pain. Back to work." Always charming, Rachel.

"Thanks for saving our lives-" Kepler, that's a great question. What IS this? Where was the concern for brainwashed Jacobi or better still, WHERE WAS YOU CONCERN FOR MAXWELL? Or Jacobi dealing with her death?

"And do what? Get myself shot? Get you shot? No. I played the game." Was it worth it, Kepler?

"That's the lie you tell yourself. The truth? The truth is that you were afraid. And the only thing YOU did was try to save YOUR hide?"

Dang this dialogue is amazing.

"You're not wrong." "Which one?" "Both of you." This isn't YOUR conversation Rachel.

-----------

Momentary weakness?

Oh my gosh, the good food too? Why does Cutter hit so many show Curtain parallels? He might torture, enslave, and kill people, but he's gonna get them a good meal first.

Good for you Doug, turning down the wine. I'm proud of him.

This is a sweet moment between Doug and Lovelace. I gotta say, since I'll be reacting to this section by section, it's nice that they have it broken up a little like this so I can reach a section and then get to a stopping point if I need to.

I'm just worried about who is going to die. These conversations feel like goodbyes.

----------

Minkowski. I know you miss your husband. But...yeah, ARE you ready to go back?

YEAH WE'RE DOING THIS! To borrow from Eris's words: "Let's beat the bad guys 🥳"

----------

Quiet Rachel.

LET'S GO MINKOWSKI. WHO CARES WHAT CUTTER AND PRYCE WANT?

Wait. Destroy a whole species?

Are they talking about humans?

...are they ecofascists? Eugenicists? Pryce is literally disabled, how the heck...

"Only stay if you have to." Well, it sounds like you all have to.

"Hera what did you say to her" "Something a friend once said to me" 🥰🥰🥰

"I'm starting to think these guys are my kind of stupid" GO JACOBI!

"Adorable corpses 🥰" Rachel you suck!

"Come with us. You're still people, you're still on our side, even if you don't think you are." Very true. What do you think Pryce and Cutter will do to YOU when they have what they want? They'll dispose of you too.

"You're allowed to make mistakes as long as at some point you admit that they're mistakes!" "I was wrong and people died. All I can do is not be wrong again" "You knew what you were getting into" "No I didn't. I didn't know I was getting into mind control and reducing people to nothing. There's a line. And you're almost out of chances to get on the right side of it." PREACH!

"There is no line. Forwards. Always forwards." FORWARDS TO WHAT RACHEL? WHY HAS NO ONE SHOT HER YET?

"Thank you, Daniel, and goodbye." Oh so that's how it is. Goodbye Kepler. I look forward to your last minute sacrifice.

Character arcs woven like a quilt.

"We're going to crush them" Yeah, let's do it!

A full reboot? Worth the risk? That kind of stuff always worries me.

Is this Maxwell's notes? It's hard to recognize the voice on the recording. "She really was something special" Oh it is Maxwell.

----------

Ah. Another flashback! Jacobi meeting Maxwell.

Looks like Kepler got an important text.

"Cool stuff with robots" good work Maxwell. The best scientists can always dumb it down.

"The Whiskey speech" 😂

"You're one of the best. You're gonna do great things. It's the last nice thing you'll ever hear from me. Except: you need anything I got you're back. No matter what happens, I've got your back. I'll take you up on that." 😭💔

Oh it's okay. Take my heart. I didn't need it.

----------

"Are they going to do the smart thing?" "Well who are we to deny them an agonizing death?" Shut it Cutter.

They put a tracker on Jacobi? See I knew Rachel was a snake. So is Kepler, but at least he's gonna take a bullet for someone or something. My money's on Jacobi, but I could be wrong.

----------

Yep. Eiffel logs everything.

"I never got the chance to say I'm sorry. YOUR DAD LOVES YOU, YOUR DAD LOVES YOU SO MUCH." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

"Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something. You can go so far. I wish I could be there to see it. I love you Ann. Always and forever."

AKJLS;DJFKL;SJF;ALSKDJFA;KD

Time to go? Oh. The comms room? Oh, right. Poor Doug.

"One more day, and then we're done." This is so sad.

Wait...what is happening? OH SHE LIED. SHE'S TAKING EIFFEL HOME TO PROTECT HIM. SO HE CAN SEE HIS DAUGHTER? DON'T DO THIS TO DOUG! DON'T DO THIS TO ME.

"Go home Eiffel, hug your daughter" OH HE CALLED HER RENEE!

This leaves me with so much feeling.

Eiffel can't leave he's the main character. Who will make pop culture references? Who will save the day through the power of random associations, luck, and good intentions?😭😭😭

I hate that they the bad guys know exactly what happened too.

"I'm so sick of this happening!" Use too Doug.

Oh "For god's sake just let me change the flight plan!" So that's what the F stands for. The lore I've been waiting for.

"People need to know what's coming?" Minkowski...I get why you did what you did, but HERA DIDN'T GET TO SAY GOODBYE.

----------

Is this Minkowski's flashback?

Oh when Minkowski met Hera.

"I heard units prefer to go by their serial numbers..." "I don't" Good for you Hera!

I love this. I love these flashbacks, but they just make everything so much more sad!

----------

Ah. More piano music. Does this mean we're back to the bad guys, or...?

Is this Cutter playing the piano?

"The Tempest. Do read a book sometime. Is this the best use of our time?" Pryce and Cutter are really the most toxic people.

"A storm is coming. And on the other side..." "Oh Brave New World." "That has such people in it."

Yes, Pryce and Cutter. People. As in humans. As in: NOT YOU.

"How have they decided to throw their lives away?" "By destroying the device"

WHAT DEVICE? What are you talking about?

Heck yeah a harpoon! I hope Cutter gets it.

----------

"This is Minkowski. I love schedules and musicals and that man who I married." 😂 1-2-3-4-5? It was a good guess Doug. Would have worked in my fanfic.

Okay here comes Victor...

...um what is happening? What is this?

...a surprise party? Sounds fun! 🪩🥳

Oh right, the bio tracker. I'm happy to see Jacobi pulled one over on him. Now shoot him! Please tell me that was Victor that got shot.

They...they trapped him in the room. "Tell me this before I kick your ass" Why on Earth would he ever tell you anything Victor?

----------

Okay, so they are blowing up Pryce and Cutter's evil device, but...what is the device? What ARE they doing? Did I miss it? I'm sure they're doing something to enslave or kill all of humanity, but I'd like the specifics.

"The Hephaestus has almost fallen out of the sky so many times, it's hard to believe it's happening." Well...the show isn't over until it's over.

Is this a Lovelace flashback? A date? A date with who? Oh, Hilbert. Not that kind of date then. Oh, this is her introducing Hilbert to the crew he's going to betray.

"Prudent to keep things formal" to avoid the guilt.

Selburg. Once again with the constant fake names. Dmitri. Matthew.

Though I think Miranda has always had hers.

----------

Yeah Doug. You've listened to her say it so many times. This is like me trying to drive in my hometown. No, I wasn't paying attention in the car as a kid, I was not the one doing the driving. I just zoned out and we got from point A to point B by magic.

Oh, Minkowski. "Get up and do it already. You can do it."

Yes you can Doug. You are the main character. You are the guy that's gonna swoop in at the last second when Cutter pulls one over one them. So you CAN do it. I believe in you, Eiffel.

"Victor Uniform Lemma Charlie Alpha November VULCAN" I knew it must stand for something! Good work Doug!

----------

Oh dear. More of Pryce and Cutter's marriage falling apart.

"Time to change the world." Or you could not. Maybe you could just not.

WHY IS THE DEVICE RUNNING? WHAT DEVICE? WHY DOES HE NEED TWO MINUTES?

Please explain this? Oh of course he has a speech.

Oh he's talking to the dear listeners, not the Hephaestus crew.

Ah. The Decima virus. Thanks a lot Hilbert. DEPLOY THROUGHOUT THE EARTH? He wants to cause a pandemic????

Automatic, can't be stopped, destruction of human race? But why would the aliens care? Oh because Cutter wants them to talk to HIM? But the aliens prefer Doug.

As do most others it would seem. Hurts, doesn't it, Cutter? All those years of experience and work, and yet, you still just can't have what he has, can you?

Ah. It's Bob. Did he just shock Bob? No temporal jumps, no disintegration?

"Remarkable and cold" No Bob, you saw Doug! It's just them. They don't need to be cold.

Willing to disrupt species survival??? What piece of tech do they want? Surrogates?

They want to fill the world with people they can control?

"You can't make duplicates of our species." Bob, they are worst than you can ever imagine.

"We're going to make better humans." "That is not the way that-" "Random part out of the equation" That's a bad idea. Do you know how evolution works? Do you know the negative side effects that have come out of selective breeding of animals? The unintended consequences? To quote Miranda from earlier in the episode: READ. A. BOOK.

"Our Humanity" Gross.

HOW ARE THEY ACCEPTABLE? IT'S MUSIC. WHY ARE YOU THAT DESPERATE FOR MUSIC?

Oh here is comes. Betraying Rachel and Warren.

OH TELL HIM BOB.

"Your brains can't handle it without modification. I cannot with my limitations. Do you have Doug Eiffel?"

Hahaha...hahahahahahaha....HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA..... 😂😂😂😂

Oh boy...oh Cutter is gonna snap. If only Doug had just kept going...

Oh wow okay Cutter has lost it. What happened to emotionally playing the piano and giving speeches about how the time had come?

oh geez no, Doug is back. Doug, no, they need you for the evil plans. This is a good idea, but very bad timing.

"He wouldn't" Oh he WOULD. He really really would.

Show 'em how it's done Dougie Boy!

"I'll get it" No you will NOT Miranda.

Kepler, now is a great time to betray Cutter and Rachel. A really good time.

Also is Victor dead? I'm trying to keep track of how many bad guys are gone.

----------

"You're the only person who can receive the data Pryce and Cutter want" Oh dear.

"With my life darling, with my life" 🥹💕

So what is Hera going to do?

"Lets make sure at least someone makes it through this" YOU ALL NEED TO MAKE IT.

"Let's go get our idiot back" That's the spirit baby!

----------

Oh dear. Jacobi. "Terrific for an SI-5." Wow.

"I'm gonna win!" I hope so Jacobi. But it sounds very not good.

Oh and here's Doug. And um...other Doug. Aka Bob.

Bob. Do not do this.

That was it? "You shall not call me again" "No Bob. I shall not."

THEY KILLED BOB.

"I hate loose ends"

I mean, I saw that coming, but dumb idea. I'm SURE Bob's family will be cool with that! Oh right, he just...recreates himself. But this has got to be trippy for Doug because Bob takes his form. Imagine watching a clone of yourself die.

"Pryce is not right?" DANG IT DOUG, I WAS GONNA USE THAT PUN IN MY FANFICTION AND NOW I CAN'T (WELL MAYBE I STILL WILL WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS HERE).

"Let's make a deal 🥰" Wow Pryce is the worst. Again, very trippy how much she sounds like Doug.

Wait. GOING IN? What does. What does "going in" mean? Don't go in, I don't like going in?

Ah yes. Going into someone's mind. I've done that in my fics before too. Fun stuff. And um...it's because you're disorganized Doug, I hate to tell you.

"That was...that was...that was..." OH SHE DESTROYED THE MEMORY. OH SHE TOOK THE MEMORY?

This is...horrifying. She could take his daughter away. She could take Hera, Minkowski, and everyone and everything away.

HERA! HECK YEAH!

Oh my gosh is she actually here? Like as a person?

This is everything.

----------

Ah yes, confrontation with Cutter.

Cutter has modified his body or he has a magic shield.

He can catch bullets? Of course he can.

I wouldn't try hand to hand combat either. I bet he gave himself super strength.

There has to be a weak spot. He has to have a weakness. But what could it be...

...what is the opposite of a chai latte?

----------

Ah. Back to Jacobi.

Kepler this would be a GREAT TIME to come in and get your arc. "I'm not a good guy" oh Jacobi. What's happening now? Oh has he been pretending to lose this fight to buy them time? What is happening? It's hard to tell.

----------

She's always been interesting, Pryce! You’re just noticing now.

"You don't look like me." Disappointed, Pryce? Sad that she’s better than you?

And the fact that all these AI want human forms...this is so sad. They structured them based on human consciousness so of course they want human bodies and experiences, that's just cruel.

Wait Doug got beat up in the 2nd grade? The Star Wars Prequels? "I might be okay without that one" No one tell him about the sequels 😂😂😂

"Of course you can. You can do anything." 💕

"You and what army, 214?" The sounds in this really makes the fight sound super epic. One of my favorite parts of the whole thing.

----------

Oh gross not Rachel again. Why is she still here?

And Kepler. Dude, you wanna hurry it up? Grab your arc or go, the clock is a-ticking.

"We're changing what humanity can be." you suck Rachel.

Pulse beacon, half power? What does that mean? The signal wouldn't have made it back to Earth?

"We have tell Mr. Cutter." "Do we?" KEPLER THIS IS IT!

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!

He gave you a chance, Rachel. He gave you a chance. "After all, I am still a person. I'm on Jacobi and Minkowski's side. Even if they don't think I am"

And even if they never know you were.

Is she gonna blast him out the airlock? Rachel, you're dying, it's over! You were wrong! The best thing to do is let him live!

He's literally drinking as he goes out the airlock. My...my wish came true. But this isn't how I wanted it to... why now? Why like this? 💔

It's a true sacrifice though. Because even though no one will ever know, he still did the right thing.

You became more than just a Whiskey Boy in the end Kepler. You became so much more.

Rachel, no so much. You were never anything. It doesn't matter if Warren was not as good as you. Because now you're both dead. And your life, well...you were never anyone. Or at least, you haven't been anything or anyone for a long, long, time. So be quiet now.

Silence at last.

----------

HOW CAN CUTTER GET HER TO POINT HER GUN AT MINKOWSKI? WHAT...WHAT DID THEY DO?

Well this isn't good.

Ah yes. Back to Jacobi. Looks like Kepler's not coming to save him. But at least he took care of Rachel.

Explosives? Fireworks? Oh this is a party! 🎆🎇🧨

Well that was a grand surprise party! But um...does this mean Victor and Jacobi are dead now?

Ah back to Lovelace and Minkowski!

"It's...side wave radiation!" Okay, thank you Cutter, now we know what we need to shut down.

"Humans who do exactly what we tell them to do" "You're crazy"

Yeah. He is literally crazy.

OH SHE SHOT HER??? Oh no....Oh no please tell me SOMEONE makes it out of this.

What really did happen the night of Doug's junior prom? Sounds interesting.

Fishing with Dad? Okay these memories are getting personal.

Wait, what did Doug do?

What are they going to do? Oh they could delete the memories Bob put in there. But they need to find them before Pryce.

----------

Shut up about the stomach wound Cutter. No one cares. This isn't rewriting a person. And THAT'S NOT WHY PEOPLE CARED ABOUT HER YOU IDIOT. And without your intelligence and tech, who. are. YOU, CUTTER?

Renee Minkowski! YES! Tell him!

Lovelace you can fight this. I know you can.

Shut it Cutter. No one cares.

"Sooner or later, you're gonna do as your told" And sooner or later, you are gonna lose everything, Cutter.

"You really think I'm afraid of you?" "THE BEAUTIFUL THING IS I DON'T NEED YOU TO BE"

Please tell me they have the harpoon gun.

IT WAS THE HARPOON GUN? OH HECK YEAH!

"That's...not...how...this is suppose to..."

Yes, it is Cutter. Like you said. You know how these stories end. The good guys win. They might lose a lot in the process, but, they win.

Is he dead now, like, for real dead? I don't want to celebrate too early but MAN what a way to go.

He and Rachel even died in similar ways to. It's like they short circuited when they realized they didn't win.

----------

Ah Pryce. "I don't need to beat you. No matter how much I want to, no matter how much you deserve it, it wouldn't change anything. What I need to do is make sure you're not going to hurt anyone else again ever." That's right!

"I'm not going to hurt you." OH SAY THE CLIP YOUR WINGS LINE COME ON COME ON COME ON.

"Clip your wings a little. Goodbye Dr. Pryce."

So...Hera's gone now. So what is about to happen?

Oh no. Is she...is she gonna delete both their memories?

"Bye bye to my memories?" Oh Doug, oh poor Doug. His daughter, everything...oh Doug this sacrifice will not be forgotten. 🫡 This is so Milligan coded of him (@/tmbs mutuals).

"You can't. Don't do this." "Oooo...sorry buddy, we gotta" YEAH THROW IT BACK AT HER EIFFEL!

And goodbye. I hope you have a second chance with your daughter. I hope you never remember the trauma. All a bad dream. All a bad dream.

"Do you have any idea what you've...I'm sorry...what was I saying...where...where am I?" Oh my gosh the way her voice changed...and she apologized. Oh my gosh. She's literally a new person.

So...memories gone? Where does this leave her? Oh this will be fun in fanfics. Imagine having no memories, and people are weird about it, and then finding out that before you were basically the worst person to ever exist. How would you even mentally cope with that?

"Yeah commander, it's going." No, Doug! Doug!

"It was an honor, sir" Oh this is so sad.

"Hera...Hera I...I..." You know Hera. You were in his mind. Please tell me you know.

Oh. He's gone. 💔

----------

WHY IS RACHEL BACK I THOUGHT WE TOOK CARE OF THAT?

Oh it's her and Eiffel meeting, okay.

"Are you just asking if I'm the commander? Yes." I love Minkowski and Doug's friendship.

"Never use one word when ten will do" oh Doug...never change. Even if your memories are gone, I hope you find yourself again.

He didn't know you couldn't smoke in space? Oh Doug...at least now you can quit.

----------

"Do I know you?" Yes Doug. Yes you do.

She's briefing him. He...he doesn't remember Star Wars???

Well. At least he gets to watch it all again!

Wait. What's happening to the station? Are they...are they going into the star?

Oh no. So it's up to the dear listeners to save them, or...they just die here. Heroes. Heroes that everyone on Earth thought were dead already.

Oh she's rebooting now.

"Should we be doing something?" Oh did Renee pass out?

So...is Doug on the ship alone without his memories? What's happening?

----------

Where is Renee now? Lovelace? Where? What? The Urania? How?

Did they leave Pryce on board? Did Jacobi get out?

Oh good Hera, Minkowksi, and Lovelace made it. Jacobi did it! Nice work, Jacobi. Oh gosh he's so dramatic 😂

So I assume Doug made it too?

"What about Kepler" "No." Oh so, they must have found Rachel and discovered what he did. "You can't save everyone I suppose"

But you did save him, Jacobi. You did save Whiskey Boy.

And then where is Doug?

Oh he's listening to himself.

"I was a jerk" There's a lot worse things you can be, Doug.

It does make you wonder. If you looked at your life with a blank slate, what would you think? How would you be kinder to yourself? How would you be more critical?

"Am I still that same person?" If you want to be, Doug. If you want to be.

And what happened to Pryce? Please tell me you did not give her to the dear listeners.

IS THIS PRYCE?

Oh Hera and Pryce. "Your voice is like mine, isn't it?" "Nice to meet you, Hera." Oh. Oh my gosh. Pryce calling her Hera.

"And I'm...I'm going to tell you a very, very long story about the two of us, okay?"

I hope this ends well...

...please be a good guy, Pryce.

----------

Hey guys. Guys. Quick question.

Why are there 10 minutes left?

I um...I like this ending. They're going back to Earth, all is well. Please tell me nothing bad happens.

What happened with Pryce? Hera hasn't glitched at all? She did it. She conquered her fear. GO HERA! But um...what about Pryce? Is she...is she good?

Minkowski needs to find her husband. And yeah...you guys have a lot to figure out.

Lovelace...yep. Take Goddard down. Good idea. Explain to your friends you're an alien with extended lifespan...might want to break that gently.

Take who out?

Oh the ship. Is this it? They're going home? Please tell me they're actually going home. Don't tease me like this.

Oh right, what will Hera do now? I'm sure you'll find something.

And yeah. Doug might not know who he is, but he knows there are people he should see. And then...he'll figure it out. They'll all figure it out. "Am I still Doug Eiffel? I'm not sure. Want to find out together?"

Yes. I love this. 🥰

I also love how it connects to "will I miss you, when you go away forever Doug?" Yes, but he's not gone Hera. He's not gone.

----------

Five minutes left. So...what is that for? Do we finally get to meet Doug's daughter and Minkowski's husband...or…

That was wolf359! Oh it’s just the credits!

Great ending. But...wait. No wait. I'm confused hang on.

How did Jacobi escape from Victor to get the Urania? How is Hera going to survive on Earth? How did they fix those wounds? If the Hephaestus went into the star...

Wait. These aren't more alien copies are they? Oh wait, no Hera's here, sorry y'all I panicked for a moment. They duplicate human lives, but as far as I know, not AI. Also, if this was a happy dream sequence, why would Pryce be there? Okay, phew, we're good. We're...finally good.

And even if they are alien copies...the process will take 14,000 years. So. For the rest of their lives, at least. Especially since...they're still using Lovelace to spy on Earth. For the next 14,000 years. But I guess that’s a problem for future generations.

Okay. Great ending. Thoughts:

Cutter got what he deserved. So did Rachel, but I feel a bit sadder that she never realized the pointlessness of her life until it was too late (and really not even then). Also love that Cutter's original last name was "Newman" since he keeps making himself into "new men".

Kepler's sacrifice was great no notes. I hope he enjoyed the Whiskey.

Blessie should have come back, and in fanfic, I will find a way to make this happen.

Eris should have come back, and in fanfic, I will find a way to make this happen.

Are the Dear Listeners just going to leave Earth alone now? If the Hephaestus went into the star...does that mean they can make Rachel and Cutter copies? Because I don't like that...

I love that the aliens weren't the biggest threat in the end and Cutter was always the real monster.

Is Pryce cool now? She doesn't want revenge, does she? Like what do you even do with her at that point? (I have plans for this, don't worry).

How do they dismantle or repurpose Goddard? Cutter probably has guys still loyal to him on Earth or people who are gonna try to be the next Cutter now that he's out of the picture. How do you deal with them?

Okay...so the decima virus can be used for great good and great evil. Cutter apparently had stations with it set up all over the Earth. I hope no one stumble across one of those anytime soon. What exactly are they going to do about decima? It's still swimming about in Eiffel's blood.

Is Minkowski's journalist husband going to blow this case wide open? I hope that after her brief phone call with his secretary, Cutter didn't kill him to keep the rumors from spreading.

Will the families of all the other astronauts that died ever get closure? I know we don't want this getting out and causing panic, but they deserve answers too.

When. Is. The. Empty. Man. Going. To. Show. Up???? /j /It was Cutter the whole time because he has no humanity

Well that was fun. Again, the fanfic will probably take a good long while (I put off a lot in order to listen to this ending), but I look forward to mapping it out.

Once again, thank you all for listening along with me. This has been fun.

Now, to figure out how to unblock those pesky tags...

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