#franks always been funny actually

[jimgandolfini]

he did it. he finally did it

#peter friedman low key joke delivery is something that can be so sexy I mean personal #franks always been funny actually #if you know you know #ily frank vernon #youre doing amazing sweetie #peter friedman #frank vernon #succession #succession s4 #connor roy

[rottentiger-art]

Was watching the original iasip pilot comparison on youtube and now whenever i think of a "Donnie was not eaten by Dee and Dennis in the womb AU" I picture Donnie actually being a girl, played by the original Dee and having the original personality

#she wouldve actually been the good one #and wouldve probably ditch the gang to live with Bruce since she was the only one that came out with his personality #idk i thought itd be funny #donnie reynolds #her name would be donnatella ig? #dee reynolds #dennis reynolds #frank reynolds #iasip #its always sunny in philadelphia

[inkskinned]

okay if you're really cool about things, i can be honest with you. before you read further, decide if you're a girl's girl. if you're cool and actually cool or like not cool.

men don't talk in my book because i was fuckken tired of the way they're the center of every fucking story. i was tired of how every story takes a moment to let them talk. men can shut up for literally one fucking book.

unfortunately not everyone is cool. professionally what i usually say is i didn't want to add violence to the world. the only men in my book are abusers, so they don't get to talk. they don't get to take up space. they ruined my life, they don't get to have their words echo anymore.

because like, yeah! you find practically any story about a person surviving trauma and... there's a man at the center. men are often rescuing us from these things. a "good man" is always standing around, being a good man, proving to the victim that good men are the real men. that her experience was unique rather than universal.

the redacted text has not been taken well by all of my early readers. there is this weird, crouching growl that keeps occurring with men-of-a-certain-age. why don't we hear his side of the story?

when i sat down to write everything that happened to me, i couldn't look at the frank brutality of my abuser's words on a page and think to myself: i actually let him speak like that. i had to redact his words from the manuscript. i then left it redacted. no victim is going to read this book and hear the person who hurt them. it is a book for the victims to speak. abusers shut up challenge, forever. for eternity.

my father once told me, chuckling, i should just have a page of redaction where i let the man just finally talk. it is funny to joke about how we should make a whole page in my book about a man that hurt me. this was not the only time someone commented - it feels like you're hiding things. how do i know you're actually a victim if he doesn't get to speak?

there are books where women aren't even present. i even genuinely like some of those books. like, who doesn't like the hobbit?

i keep running into people defending this imaginary man. the default narrative is so true to some people that they will defend any man, just by virtue of the assumption - "if he's acting like that, you had to push him." certain people need definitive proof that you didn't accidentally make your partner into an abuser. they need to decide if you deserved it, because they want to be able to judge you.

which makes sense, i guess, from a hind brain perspective. if you can figure out "why" someone was cruel, you can protect yourself against it. if you defend the bully, the bully might side with you. i don't really know their explanation for feeling this about a character in a book. trust me, i wrote the guy. he is not going to protect you.

i guess i just - there was a time in my life where i desperately wanted anyone to defend me. where i could have really used someone saying holy shit are you okay instead of what did you say to make him act like that to you.

instead, over dinner, a friend-of-a-friend i just met is pouring herself wine. i heard you wrote a book, she says. she gives me the kind of chilly smile i associate with knives. i heard it's unfair to men.

#the author is nonbinary. don't get fucking weird. #btw if ur a woman and u do this u go to advanced special hell. like if u defend ab*sers at all #u dont get to pretend ur protected from being misogynistic. ur not. we all have internal work. #writeblr #i can't write lately wtf

[periwinkla]

I think what I love the most about AA is that characters have a duality to them that I don't see often in media. They have actual flaws and do actual bad things, and it's not glossed over. Phoenix is a fundamentally good person, he helps people at the drop of a hat, risks his life for them. Has a penchant for taking strays under his wing. He believes in people... but also not really. He carries a literal lie detector with him at all times, and only employs people who can also peer into other people's hearts. So is he really that trusting? Sure he trusts his clients are innocent, but he doesn't trust they will tell him the truth at all (there's always something to lie about). He believes himself naive, and that's why he works extra hard not to be. Some people think he changed with his disbarment but I feel like when he actually changed was after Dahlia. He became less and less trusting as time went on. And Phoenix actually does forge evidence and risks his subordinate's career, and he says pretty nasty things sometimes (that one time to Edgeworth had got to hurt, badly, especially if you consider that the note could have been genuine at first, which we don't know for sure), has a pretty tactless and somewhat hurtful sense of humor, brings his daughter to cheat at poker, and doesn't tell said daughter she actually has some family left alive. He's secretive, elusive and cryptic, and masks it under a false pretence of goofiness. Miles is, by contrast, very easy to read. He may appear emotionally stunted but is one of the more emphathetic characters. He realizes when he's wrong and immediately needs to correct those wrongs. He grows uneasy and uncertain and eventually recognizes when he's mistaken. By the end of it he begins to help people naturally, without even thinking about it as much as he would have in the past. He helps so many people, he has basically got Phoenix's savior complex 2.0 but the healthy kind where he doesn't jump off a bridge. But... he was also actually cruel, and did send innocent people to their graves (was he really so naive to believe whichever defendant came his way was guilty?). He feigned his death disregarding other people's feelings, and while you could say he had no obligation towards Phoenix (apart from basic decency and respect towards someone who had turned his life around to save him), he still abandoned Franziska, who was still just a kid and had just discovered her father was a psychopath. She probably thought, at some point, that the apple didn't fall that far from the tree. That's it's somehow her fault as well. He may be rude and antagonistic, frank to a fault. Isn't afraid of telling stuff to your face. But he also cares about the people he loves so much, to the point he doesn't hesitate to risk his career and break the law multiple times. He may appear a pessimist but he's pretty idealistic at heart, it's quite funny that his favourite show is about an hero of justice, isn't it? Godot is... well, we don't know much about it from before his coma, but he definitely shared Mia's sentiments for helping people in their hour of need. But when he wakes from a 6-year coma he's so broken that he just pins the blame on the most absurd person to blame it on, settles on a complicated plan, and also prosecutes on that particular murder he should just confess upon. Iris was sweet, innocent, self-sacrificing. She knew absolutely nothing about the world apart from what Bikini or her sister told her. She was naive and falsely thought she could fix everything, that her sister was salvageable, that she could save Phoenix. But she still ended up lying to the person she loved and abetting a murder. That's why I love these characters so much. They're interesting and their stories make sense. People don't remain unchanged from what happens to them. People are multi-faceted and complex. You can't sum them up in a bunch of characteristics and aspect them to act on every single one of them, always, consistently. Sometimes people break. They make mistakes they regret, ...and some they don't.

#ace attorney #musings #aa musings

[the-meme-monarch]

it may be outdated since it’s from before 2022, but I’ve been thinking abt this post

few days later edit: so a couple people have informed me that frank is actually wrong and that there was nothing grammatically incorrect abt julie saying “me & frank”, i did not know this ! i was always taught to put the other person before yourself, so while it probably could’ve worked as “frank and me” and i guess i just mostly saw people say “(name) and I”. though i do think its funny that frank would try to correct someone but Be Wrong Actually(also correcting her on using “&” instead of “and”) (not that either of them could hear the difference)

if julie had pointed this out this comic would’ve gone a different direction and maybe wally would not have Realized something abt his and his friends existences !

#welcome home #the art gallery

[hotjaneaustenmenpoll]

Quarter-Final Four

Propaganda...

Mr Tilney (2007) :

I do think that Mr Tilney needs to be seen in motion to be appreciated his attractiveness is his personality and just general charisma and he's FUNNY definetly the funniest austen man

Super charming, cute, fun, and handsome. What is not to love?

Mr Knightley (2009) :

GIF by dearemma

I was just going to send in the actual dance but the little panic he has when Emma says she knows his secret is just soo charming. There was some thread on twitter a few years ago about how a romcom man's most important quality is knowing how to look at a woman and JLM is just the master of it in this Emma

I really feel like the pictures say it all. He stands there, head tilted to one side. He is listening to you. His posture is relaxed. His gaze open, frank, candid. He's not trying at all. He just is.And that's why he is Knightley.

Some propaganda, not just for Jonny Lee Miller, but the general interpretation of 09 Knightley. I have some excerpts here from my review of the 09 adaptation:

What I really think is great about the 2009 interpretation of Mr. Knightley is what an easy and comforting presence he is, without being apologetic when he scolds Emma. I think this is communicated especially well by how often we are actually shown Mr. Knightley taking his almost-daily walks to Hartfield, how smoothly he comes and goes, and how happy Emma is every time she sees him coming up the path (usually, just at the perfect moment when she needs something to put her back to rights.)

Here is Emma, feeling lonely after Miss Taylor's wedding. And in the background, walking up to Hartfield--there's Knightley. He's always been there for her, and he always will be.

And also this Mr. Knightley is as understated as ever, but I wanna highlight this outfit and why I love it: This is Knightley’s first appearance in the series and it’s the perfect establishing shot that shows the viewer everything they need to know about Emma and Knightley’s relationship and how it has always been. He sort of materializes, out of focus in the background, but Emma immediately knows he’s there. And to accentuate how much Knightley is part of her home and scenery, his clothes (similar shades of pale tan, white and minty green to the wall behind him) almost camouflage him and make him seem at one with the moulding of her home.

Additionally, Jonny Lee Miller captures Knightley’s playful qualities, and his exasperation is so endearing

I can’t be the only one tickled by this Knightley’s frustration with Emma! JLM FTW!

#hotjaneaustenmenpoll #mr tilney #mr knightley #northanger abbey #Emma #Emma 2009 #jonny lee miller #jj feild #jane austen #quarter-finals

[alittlefanatic]

🍎 Midnight Whispers 🍎 Wally Darling x Reader Oneshot!

Tags: Fluff, Romantic, Established Crush and Friendship! Summary: You and Wally have been close friends for some time now! But when you fall asleep early at a sleepover, who knows what you might hear...

(Lovely Art done by karoochui on Twitter!)

Laughter surrounds you, as Barnaby and Julie are cracking up at their own jokes as everyone around them rolled their eyes and groaned. It was a Friday evening, which meant the neighborhood had their weekly get-togethers to catch up and overall have a joyous time, which Julie hosted, of course!

The scent of warm vanilla and sugar filled the air as Poppy was baking her signature cookies while everyone hung out in the living room. Howdy was helping Poppy in the kitchen, Sally, Julie, and Barnaby were sitting in some beanbags, Eddie and Frank were on the love seat, and where were you? Sitting on the couch with no other than Wally Darling himself. You couldn't help but steal a glance in his direction every once in a while. Whether he had his signature smile or laughing at all the commotion.

You were very close with all the neighbors, being in the neighborhood for months, everyone was so welcoming! But Wally always seemed to catch your eye. No matter where or who you were with, Wally would eventually come along on your adventures and tasks with the other neighbors. You two became close because of it! Most of the neighbors would even say you're best friends. You were that close!

You couldn't help but admit, though, that he does make you feel butterflies. Maybe it was his caring disposition or the way you would catch him staring, but it made your heart soar. But Wally? Liking you? You couldn't even entertain the thought. He's known everyone for so long that him liking you seemed farfetched. It was still a nice thought, though nonetheless.

Barnaby's laugh distracted you from your thoughts. "Ok, ok! I have another," he chuckled. "What should you do when you want to try something different with your baking?"

"Oh, oh! I think I know this one!" Julie spoke, with the biggest grin on her face. You couldn't help but smile along with her, even if you knew what was coming.

"Take a whisk!"

"Ha ha ha... that's a good one, Bud." Wally spoke, as you couldn't help but smile warmly. Seeing Wally smile brought you so much joy.

Poppy couldn't help but sigh, a chuckle escaping her as Barnaby and Julie burst out laughing more. "Oh my, you can't find dad jokes that funny, do you?"

"What's wrong with a good ol' dad joke?

"Everything!" Frank chimed in as Eddie chuckled.

"Oh, Frank, lighten up once in a while!" You spoke, causing Frank to roll his eyes in frustration.

"Says you! If anything came from Mr. Darling over there, you'd be a having a laughing fit. Don't try to deny it!"

A faint blush rose to your cheeks as you flashed an angry glare toward him. "Of course I would. He's actually funny, unlike you spoilsport!" You huffed, crossing your arms. Frank, despite his disposition, was smart. He probably knew about your crush on Wally before you even did! Meaning Julie knew as well since they were best buds.

Julie looked over, a playful smirk on her face as you tried to avoid her gaze. "Oh, what's wrong, neighbor? You look a little red~" She teased, getting up from her bean bag to slide next to you on the couch, or, more so slide into you, causing you to close more of the gap with Wally. You gave her a death glare but couldn't help but notice that Wally was staring at you, which caused that blush to fester more.

"Don't you have a shooting star to wish upon?" You teased back, causing Julie to huff, turning a light shade of pink herself. You knew she had a crush on Sally, so two could play at this game. Sally, though, was oblivious, reading through her scripts to memorize her lines for the next play she was going to produce. Julie was lucky... this time.

"Frank, you're not being very neighborly," Wally spoke up with a soft laugh. "Our dear neighbor is just the absolute most! Not my fault they think I'm funny, I do tell good jokes."

Before Frank could retort, Howdy interjected. "The cookies are done, everyone! Come grab yourselves some!"

With an excuse to remove yourself, you quickly got up from the couch, dusting yourself off before running into the kitchen. The scent of vanilla infects your nose as you let yourself relax. "Poppy, these smell delicious!"

"Why, thank you hon! Howdy here was a big help, don't forget to thank him too." She spoke, as you looked, seeing an embarrassed Howdy rubbing the back of his neck.

"Aw gee, I didn't do that much -"

"You did plenty! Don't sell yourself short!"

The two playfully argued back and forth as you grabbed a warm cookie, taking a small bite into its ooey-gooeyness, not noticing Wally walking up beside you.

"Is it good neighbor?"

You almost choked, startled by the voice, as you swallowed. You tried to give a thumbs-up as you attempted to stop coughing. "Yes, it's great -" you coughed, as Julie walked up next, patting your back. God, you felt like a fool.

"Well don't choke now! How else are you going to enjoy more cookies?" She spoke happily, grabbing two cookies as Sally, Eddie, Frank, and Barnaby walked up.

Sally glanced outside, stifling a yawn. "It is starting to get pretty late though, should we start to head back to our homes?"

Eddie nodded, "I was thinking the same, I have a busy day of delivering plenty of packages tomorrow!"

Julie took a bite of her cookie and nodded, as did Howdy and Poppy.

"That might be the best..but! I know you're trying to practice for your play, if you'd like Sally I wouldn't mind if you wanted to stay over...I could help of course!" Julie spoke, and Sally nodded happily with a smile.

Everyone seemed to mutually agree that it might be best to head home for the night, and after everyone grabbed their cookies, everyone started to make their way out. Eddie and Frank left first, then Barnaby, then Poppy and Howdy, til all that was left was you and Wally, cleaning up the remnants of the cookies, and picking up the mess before you left, it's what good neighbors do after all!

"You're so kind neighbor, thank you for helping me clean up! But I think Sally and I got it covered from here.." Julie spoke sheepishly, and I smirked back, about to speak but Wally did first.

"Julie you can just say you want alone time with Sally!~" Wally teased, causing Julie to get redder, and Sally to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Out out out!" Julie retorted, grabbing both Wally and I and practically shoving us out, slamming the door behind us.

Wally and I looked at each other, and we couldn't help but laugh. It was all so silly!

"You would think with how outgoing Julie is, she'd be brave or even bold in telling someone she likes them!"

Wally just laughed, dusting himself off. He seemed more relaxed now that it was just the two of us. I couldn't blame him, sometimes I get overwhelmed in groups too.

"Julie is an absolute sweetheart, but you'd be surprised. She's as stubborn as can be, especially with her feelings! Though, she loves to tease others about theirs."

'Don't I know it...' I thought to myself, as I looked, noticing the sun was starting to set, and my home was unfortunately the farthest one away. "Well, shall we get going Mr. Darling?"

Wally held his arm out for me to hold. "Whenever you are!"

I shyly took his arm, he was such a gentleman. 'It didn't mean anything! He's just being nice!' I thought, shaking my head, as we made our way towards Home. Though, I could have sworn his smile growing wider, wishful thinking I guess.

"I don't know how people can handle long gatherings, my poor social battery is trying its best." I chuckled, starting up a conversation.

Wally glanced over, looking a little concerned that quickly turned to mischief. "Well neighbor, I was going to invite you over for a sleepover, but if you're too tired then I can be all by my lonesome~" He spoke, being rather coy and dramatic, putting his hand to his head as I rolled my eyes.

"I would love to have one! Just because social gatherings get me tired, doesn't mean I'm ever tired of you specifically." I grumbled, glancing over with a smile. Wally looked a little pink, though it was probably the sunset...definitely the sunset.

"Well, I'm glad you think of me in that way neighbor."

It was comfortable silence walking Home, as we saw the familiar red house in the center of town. Making our way up to the door, it creaked as its shutters move.

"Yes home, Neighbor is staying with us tonight! We're having a sleepover!"

Home creaked again, sounding happy as it opened the door for Wally and I. Wally glanced toward me, motioning inside, to which I obliged, letting go of his arm and heading in.

It was quite a bright and colorful home. The walls were bright red, with yellow couches in the living room and colorful portraits of the neighbors all along the wall. Despite its bright colors, home felt cozy. I've been inside before to chat with Wally or to relax with him on days I felt like talking to anyone else would be too much. It was a nice friendship we had.

Friendship...man, those words stung.

The shutting of the door took me out of my thoughts as Wally put his hand to his chin.

"Ok, so what do you think of getting on some pajamas and watching a movie to finish the night off neighbor?"

"I don't have pajamas on me-"

"Silly. Silly. You can borrow mine. That's what neighbors do! Let me go grab some" He cut me off, speaking matter-of-factly as he went down the hallway. Moments later he returned with a blue shirt and some stripped pants, offering them to me.

"That works then, I'll take the couch too, to be polite! Until then, I'll go get changed, and you choose a movie. Thank you again!" I grabbed the clothes, walking down the hallway to the bathroom to get changed and freshen up.

Putting on the clothes, I looked at myself in the mirror, running my hands through my hair to smooth it out and get some of it out of my eyes. The clothes fit somehow, as I folded my other clothes neatly and held them in my hands.

Stepping out, I walk back into the living room with an already-changed Wally. How did he change so fast? He had his stripped pajamas on as well as a blue robe and red house slippers on.

"Oh, neighbor! I found a movie, come and get comfortable, I'll get a blanket!"

Smiling, I went and sat down on the couch, as the movie began to play.

"Is this the Aristocats? I haven't seen this movie in ages I feel." I looked at the familiar animated cats that began to play on the screen. Wally smiled and sat down next to me shortly after, grabbing a blanket and putting it on the both of us.

"Yes! I figured an animated movie might be good to unwind to. As an artist I'm always enthralled with how they animate, it truly is a wonder."

I smiled, watching his eyes seem to dilate at the movie on the screen, as he seemed to absorb every little bit of information he could.

As we watched the movie, I could feel myself getting tired, my eyelids feeling heavy as I leaned my head on Wally's shoulder unapologetically. I yawned, as I felt Wally adjust, as the cats danced and sang on screen, until the tiredness took over, and I shut my eyes.

...

I heard the TV shut off and the room fade to quiet as my eyes were shut. I was too comfortable, I didn't want to move, or open my eyes, this was nice. I could feel Wally shuffle, and I groaned, him moving softly as he gently lifted my head off his shoulder, before putting it back down.

I opened my eyes slightly, I was...horizontal now? I moved my head, only to realize I was laying on Wally's chest, as he laid back on the couch, resting his head on the armrest. My heart began to beat faster before I felt a hand on my head, rubbing it, which calmed me down. I shut my eyes again, feeling comfort at that moment as I heard a soft sigh.

"You're so cute when your sleepy neighbor..." Wally spoke softly, and I could feel him staring at me, rubbing my head. I felt more awake, but I acted like I was asleep, what more could he say?

"I hope your resting well...and having sweet dreams... I'm glad you're here, even if you are sleeping. At least you're sleeping soundly." Another sigh escaped him, he seemed to be deep in thought.

"You always make my days better, from the moment you came into the neighborhood, I knew you were going to be special to me. You had such a kind smile, despite being nervous about meeting us. It..was sweet. You took notice to me immediately it seems, and introduced yourself so quickly."

I couldn't help but smile in my sleep as I listened to him speak, he really thought that way about me?

"I wish I could be braver around you...I guess that's why I'm saying this while you sleep... that makes me a coward huh? But, that's ok. I don't mind watching your beauty from afar. You always seem to brighten up my days, even if you aren't directly in them. Though, I'd always want you to be in them.."

I adjusted myself slightly to get comfortable, Wally halting his words until he could tell I was 'asleep' again. He covered me up more with the blanket before rubbing my head again as he continued.

"I guess you could say...I like you...but I'd want to tell you in a cordial way! You deserve the best..not something bland. Maybe I could get you flowers, or maybe I could paint you...you are one of my biggest muses. Maybe a picnic? I'm unsure...maybe I need to ask Julie.."

Wally yawned, getting more tired by the minute, while I was trying my hardest to hide my smile and act asleep.

"Even tonight you were just, divine...I could feel myself getting nervous. Thankfully everyone was joking, or you might have noticed. You were all I could focus on..."

Silence hung in the air for a moment, as I hung onto every word. It was sweet, he made me feel safe.

"You feel different from the rest of the world, you had...this spark, that no one else did. Something like that can't be ignored...so I..I fell in love with you. I fell in love with the spark you gave me. I fell in love with the way you made me believe that I could feel this way about someone.." I could slowly start to feel my mind slipping again, his loving words making me relaxed and my heart fluttered. I wasn't going to interrupt him, especially now. His voice was becoming softer and softer, as were his head patting motions, as he seemed to become more relaxed. This would be a talk for the morning, for now?

This moment was all I needed.

After some deep breaths, the cozy warmth finally overtook me, as I slipped off into dreamland, the biggest smile on my face. ...

The morning came, almost too quickly, as I yawned, stretching to wake myself up. "Good morning neighbor, did you sleep well?" Wally spoke softly. Did he even sleep? I looked up at him, with a soft smile.

"The best sleep I've had in a long time."

AUTHORS NOTE:

This was honestly SO cute that I thought about making a second part to this where the reader reveals they heard everything…what do you think?

Also this is my first oneshot ever...I hope you enjoyed!! I tried my best!!

#wally darling x reader #wally darling x y/n #wally darling #welcome home requests #welcome home x reader #welcome home #oneshot

[quinton-reviews]

Hi Quinton!! I have been a HUGE fan of your stuff since a friend sent me the Tobuscus Fallen Titans (I used to watch him back in high school and was like "huh, wonder what happened to him after those allegations") and I gotta say, it is REALLY FUNNY every time my fiancé and I watch the iCarly videos again, because when you cover Gibby's stunt double breaking his ribs, you cut to a clip of The Official Podcast. I used to play D&D with one of the main dudes from the podcast, so when he talks during that clip I do a goddamn double take literally every time.

Anyways, I remember an original Patreon stretch goal being a Fallen Titans on Homestuck! I was really big into Homestuck in my early 20s, and was wondering if that's still on the table at some point? If not that's fine, I understand plans change! I just love Fallen Titans lol, the Fred episode and the Neil Cicierega unFallen Titans are some of my favorite videos of yours!

That's a real funny story!

So here's the rundown on the Homestuck video. When I first started making long videos, they were actually inspired by the relationship I had with other YouTubers at the time. I used to watch, like, H3H3 and Filthy Frank, etc; and I'd always see people obsessed with the versions of creators from the past. Like, "Oh 2015 H3 was the best" and "Oh 2012 Frank was peak." So I had this idea that it would be crazy if H3 posted, like, a video he spent a decade on and you got a new video with 2015 H3 10 years on. (I don't watch H3 anymore ironically)

So the original idea for the "long video" format was that it would be cool if, throughout a long, analysis/review/recap video, you kept noticing someone get older. Maybe my months, maybe by years. That's why I always like to get a haircut when I start one of these videos. If you scrub through and you see my hair get longer and messier as it goes on I think that adds something magical you can't fake.

So... My pitch to the Homestuck video was that it would be funny to work on it just once per year. To record one segment, say "That's it for 12 months", and then come back around to it. And when I was making the iCarly and Victorious videos I actually recorded a few minutes of the video! I think it was two segments in total. But then I had a bunch of personal stuff happen and my work drive has been much lower, so any "back burner" video hasn't gotten much attention since then.

Now that the iCarly mini-series is done with, I want to focus on some short one-off videos I can make before April. But once that's done with, I would REALLY love to start work on a few more long-term projects which will take months or years to finish. I think returning to work on the Homestuck video, to at least get the first 20-30 minutes done, would be a great idea this summer.

Now, if you want to know my pitch for that video, here it is. The video is not a recap of the creative history of the franchise. I do not get into drama, community hell, lawsuits, or other YouTubers. My idea is this: you always hear about Homestuck as an outsider but you never hear about the actual content. Most franchises on Earth I know something about, even and especially if I've never been interested in them. I can tell you a bunch of facts about wrestling and MLP and the Fast and the Furious simply through cultural osmosis and having friends who are into those things.

I can't tell you the plot of Homestuck, who the characters are, what the themes are, nothing. I've known a lot of people who were into Homestuck but nothing about the series!

So I thought it would thus be funny to make a video about a bunch of people who know nothing about the series starting from the beginning and giving their reactions, even if it's been years since it all started. I call this part of the video the "Homestuck Book Club." So the next step is me picking out the members (who all have to have no history with it) and making sort of a podcast setup. We'd then read and record every six months or so, IDK.

This is why the video has been stuck in production hell! Everyone who wants to work on it and messages me about it already knows the franchise. I don't want spoilers, I don't want people writing for the video who get it already. I want to capture the "what the fuck is this" energy of three dudes just getting in the middle of it.

Also, I think that I really like the theme of the video capturing our lives as they go by, capturing us aging and changing. If you came back from the future and told me this video comes out in five years, I'd say great. If you told me it comes out in ten years, I'd say awesome. Until then, the latest edit will always be on Patreon, even if you have to dig a little.

#homestuck #quinton reviews #long videos

[spaloonbabooguuscooties]

You could drink your whole life away and still never get that taste out of your mouth.

half commission for @salempie half completely self indulgent dreck pieced together from our insane conversations abt franke and elka. told myself id finally write a big explanation for all of the dum shit between these two for context so Thats Under The Cut.

so I already wrote some stuff about elka and franke's relationship back in whispering rock so feel free to look at that too . it goes over elkas blindness/‘seeing’ with clairvoyance and how her and franke started talking & all that good stuff

SO FOR STARTERS. a lot of thsi wont make sense without a big breakdown of elka herself. because elkas potential as a character is like insane to me. like just the idea of her in the long run of her life reads as something so potentially tragic; a young girl whos plagued with visions of doom and destined to be an outcast even in her own home for things she cant control and clings to the One vision of her wedding that she thinks is 'happy' even despite the fact she doesnt really love the person in it. im choosing to take the li-po doc as canon here because its funny shes the only one with backstory-

but my fucking god even the smallest look into what her parents are like is soo fucked up to me. and i do think elka especially gets a lot of influence from her mother; its funny how easily you can fit mabel doom into a box just from what elka says about her. knees deep in an avon-esque pyramid scheme and leaning into her daughters depressing ass visions & taking her to therapy at age 11 (which would be good if not for the kind of person you can already assume she is & so i doubt the therapist she has really does her any good. i think they share one). she reads as a very I Am My Daughters Best Friend type of mom to me and i can see elka being a centerpiece of the conversation when she has her Amway Girls over for drinks. wine-mom that lets her kid sip from the glass so she can feel like a big girl type deal.

and you can tell that elka is trying to hard to be too mature for her age even in her campster posts. how she writes letters to nils' mom and exchanges baking recipes with her and that feels like she really only interacts with middle aged women and not really many people her own age outside of camp (like her moms friends). which makes sense shed feel the need to ‘grow up’ early when shes probably had to process so many hard things at a young age bc of her visions.

theres a lot of filling the blanks here of course.

elka obsesses over nils to an overbearing degree even despite the fact he treats her like shit ('you promised no talking' and so on) and she treats him bad right back. she leans onto stereotypical heterosexual ideals like taking care of him and overblowing how Manly and Protective JT is and she admires romance stories like pride and prejudice and it feels like she Projects Soooooooo much of what she wants onto boys she barely feels anything for without knowing what its actually supposed to feel like. and clearly she WANTS that ideal future, a happy marriage, an actual romance- but according to nils even when they were dating she ignored him most of the time, which just seems Very Telling

like shes filling a role, overcompensating for emotions and lacktherof she cant digest quite yet, and it only makes more sense when you know shes had visions of their future together. how could that be bad for her? shouldnt it be like the books and movies? but she doesnt really connect the fact that her visions are only for Doomed futures, and if she does she certainly doesnt show it. Doomed relationships. it's been a part of her family for generations and she isn't turning out much different, is she? i dont think she even realizes thats all she ever sees yet, just that its Going to happen. that it's Her future, and it always will be

and like, her only reference for a real marriage so far has been her own parents, and she already Knows they have an affair, and theyre doomed to split, (and i actually like to think they were in rough waters anyway and elka was a child meant to mend a crumbling marriage but thats a whole other thing) and so without a framework for what an actual healthy relationship is supposed to be like she cant really grasp that her relationship with nils Isnt that and isnt ever going to be. she can only cling to this one happy idea of the future, and thats why she keeps chasing him, self fulfilling the actuality of her situation and creating and fostering the unhappy life they will inevitably live together.

and that bleeds into everything else in her life, of course, because as the years go on, as the visions grow in number it just makes sense for her to fall into the predictability of her life. she always knows whats going to happen, her visions are Never wrong- so why try to change things? shes had time to process tragedies days, weeks, months, years before they happen, shes had time to settle into every crack of her life. her parents divorce, her various break ups, her future with the psychonauts.

“and she's already seen so much of a future with [nils] she feels trapped almost. Like she has to be happy in it or else it just means her life is miserable. And it's a mixture of pride and fear of the unknown that keeps her clinging to the One thing she knows. BUT LIKE!!! She knows what's gonna happen! It's easier to grieve when she's been grieving for years... She wants so badly to be happy, But to do that she has to step into the unfamiliar. And that's more terrifying than staying the same miserable person she's always been.”

and thats where franke comes in— and yeah you Do have to take a lot of liberties for frankes character since it’s basically, like, all the info for her is just that shes a Supreme Baby Dyke but thats enough for me. i think she has protective butch itch in her . on campster shes defensive over other women evidenced in the way she keeps watch over the girls cabins for lili when elton is pursuing her . but shes also eager to please and constantly trying to make kitty laugh and also Very naive. but she tries! and i think it only solidifies more as she gets Older and really gets a hold of her feelings & her powers. this is incredibly franke to me

and i think as they grow older together— because i think franke and elka Do stay friends, both because elka is just pathetic and needs that positive connection even if she doesnt realize it and because i think franke is a very Loyal person & annoyingly persistent if you let her be . and i am also a kitty/franke truther. because kittys also important in this web we weave

because i think franke and kitty stay together after camp, to a point— theres a falling out facilitated on kittys end and they break up, but reconnect, and franke kind of... saves kitty from herself a little, from her strict military father whos love only extends thru finances , from her own stifling future , she drives all the way to bakersville in her shitty van handmedowned from her dad and they move in together eventually . they get jobs at the motherlobe , because it’s a pipeline to a decent job, because it’s whats easy, because franke doesn’t really have a future, because she’s never really been good at much, because shes never had much sense, because franke doesnt really care as long as she can live and help, sometimes, if she can, and because kitty’s there, and because elka’s there, and shes so used to being elkas eyes now and shes good at it. shes good at being the muscle of the missions when her colleagues lack it, when hypnosis and predictions arent enough. she likes it that way.

and elka appreciates frankes company. she listens, shes sweet, she does little things for her that no ones ever really put the effort for before; she likes her. franke is strong and bold and makes her laugh and shes always there but god elka cant let go of that future, of that box shes put herself in, that her mothers put her in, of being a Good Wife to a Loving Husband, of getting married normally and falling into unfailing familiarity. thats all shes ever wanted and shes not going to jeopardize that . not for franke, who may not be a boy but is handsome like one, whos always held her after every break up with nils and the men that filled empty days inbetween.

and elka is too stubborn to recognize those feelings anyway. too prideful to accept a way out. too set in her cycle no matter how much she hates it, her little self fulfilling tragedy of her own making, wallowing in her own doom. she struggles for control of her own life when she feels like every choice has been made for her anyway, she puts up her walls and carefully constructs what people see. but franke was always harder to trick, because while empathy isnt a particularly useful psychic power it’s certainly an inconvenient one. all franke has to do is get too close and all those carefully crafted walls fall apart, and elkas control is gone, and thats all she really has. and she tries to distance herself, really she does, but franke is also too persistent. and elka wears gloves, keeps contact that would make her walls crumble from happening as best as she can, but she cant really keep herself from the brief moments where she feels like someone actually fucking cares about her.

and that slightest lack of control, the need to wrestle it back is why she proposes to nils the next time theres a falling out— she knows how it happens, she plans every detail. and he accepts, despite everything. gets her a cheap ring and it feels like lead on her finger and its nothing at all like how shed thought it to be when she was a kid, theres no feather light feeling in her chest, only that dreadful reality that she cant turn this back. BUT WHAT CAN U DO LMAO

elka doesnt tell franke about this engagement until later, on their way back from a mission. late at night when neither of them can sleep, and franke invites elka to smoke in her van, because its been so long since theyve been alone like that, because elkas been so strangely absent lately. and because of everything, because frankes always so damn nice, because elka hates the feel of the ring on her finger, because she let herself get high alone with franke fucking athens whos always been so good at pulling her apart— the truth of it all spills out and its messy and emotional and she hates it, she hates the life shes made for herself, but franke makes it easier to bare and now shes here and shes so close and god she wishes she could see her smile again, she wishes she could see franke, thats all she needs right now and she cant but she can touch her and she can hold her and for tonight, she can be known, she can let those walls crumble, she can be something else just for once here with franke . she can kiss her here in this van, touch that happiness for just a moment, and forget the future that waits for her outside of it. franke begs her to forget the wedding, to just let herself be happy— and god, she wants to, but it means turning her back on everything shes known and everything shes saw to be inevitable, and franke has never been in her future, so if it were supposed to work out why hadnt she seen it and she cant, she cant take that risk but she can have this, even if its temporary, she can have it.

and just as soon as she gets a taste of it, its gone. after that night, after the missions over and theyre back at the motherlobe and have to pretend like nothing happened (franke doesnt, of course she tells kitty about it, she tells kitty about everything.) but that brief moment together haunts elka every time she sees franke, sees herself through frankes eyes, sees herself in her wedding dress because god its all franke can think about! of course it is! she knows how much elkas destroying herself she knows how much misery shes wallowing in that kiss in the van felt like an emotional punch to the teeth and she hasnt ever forgotten it and all she can do is sit and watch while elka throws herself into a loveless marriage. she can come to her wedding and see the way the bride and groom kiss with the emotional weight of a wet towel no matter how hard elka tries to hide it under a pretty dress and bouquets of flowers and meticulous planning.

and elka resents nils but she cant really hate him, its not his fault, not really. he feels trapped just like she does and his feelings of misery only cycle back into hers . they fight and gnash and wear away at each other and its a relationship thats crashed and burned a million times before elka even said i do. and its inevitable that she falls into her mothers habits, a sip of wine here and there to loosen up, until it turns to a glass, until it falls into a bottle on nights when whatever work nils does runs late.

but franke’s still there. shes always been there, hasn’t she? always trying to play knight, always trying to save her, dragging her home when shes stumbling over herself because god who else is going to do it but her? who else is left to care? certainly not nils. never nils. because franke knows her. because franke pities her. shes always pitied her. shes always known. and elka hates it, she resents it, but god in the same breath she’s desperate for it, she envies it to her very bones. elka is a mess but after frankes done with her she has someone to go back to that loves her. and god what elka wouldnt do to have that. to take it and keep it for herself because shes never ever got to have that movie romance shes always wanted.

so now comes this.

because elkas particularly miserable and particularly spiteful and she needs to get franke to understand, just for a moment, drink with her and get on her level and she needs her there with her no matter how her pity makes her feel. no matter how much it makes her shake with anger and envy and desperation, but god the way franke looks at her, the way she still tries to salvage what they have, the soft, slurred way she tells her that it’s okay but its not okay, none of this is okay, it never has been and she just wants franke to shut up and see that, and if she cant then she’ll show her, she’ll show her all the raw angry desperation, with too much teeth and hands that claw and grab and she’ll know why everyones always said she’s too much.

and she knows this puts her on nils’ level too. that this makes her a cheater, that shes no better than he is now. no better than her father and his affair. but god, she wants to be selfish. she wants to be in control. just for once. she wants to feel right and she wants to feel happy and she wants to feel loved. thats all shes ever wanted. and franke will let her have that, just for a little while, at the very least.

anyway. sorry. sorry for being crazy . this isnt even getting into the shit after the comic takes place . elkas stupid brainworld thag she has to overcome in order to finally be allowed in the polycule and live happily ever as worlds first lesbian divorceman

sorry for all the shit i make up instead of caring about actual characters with screentime . bye !

#ive spent months on thsi stupid lesbian toxic yuri slow burn relationship so you all better clap or im blowing this building up #psychonauts #elka doom #franke athens #ill paint the town red

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

Some thoughts while I'm watching Nerdy Prudes Must Die for the first time:

After the Big Game, something that's been itching my brain for a while came back- Clivesdale. Hatchet Town is reinforcing this, but since Black Friday and Honey Queen the Clivesdale hate has really started to stand out to me. Yes it's a funny gag, but the Hatchetfield disdain for Clivesdale is straight-up cultish. Laura Cunningham (I think was her name?) had lived in Hatchetfield for 15 years, but was entirely excommunicated when it came out that she was from Clivesdale. Keep in mind, she was well-liked enough to be a Honey Queen candidate. Two teenagers are brutally murdered and everyone is more focused on the loss against the Chemists. Even people who hate Hatchetfield like Emma and Ziggy hate Clivesdale more. The general population of Hatchetfield is so feverish. I know that the Wiggly doll riots happened all over the world, but holy SHIT it didn't take any time at all for Hatchetfield to totally cave in on itself!

Here's the other thing that gets me- has anyone ever really left Hatchetfield? Anyone who wanted to?

•Emma Perkins has exactly one life goal- not to die in Hatchetfield. Her entire life had been, up until Jane's death, about getting away from Hatchetfield. She is officially pronounced dead after the explosion at Starlight Theatre, though she survived in Clivesdale Hospital. She only lived for a couple weeks after "dying" in Hatchetfield. She also dies almost immediately after returning to her hometown in the events of Forever and Always. She does not die after the fire at her weed farm, but she is arrested and presumably imprisoned in Hatchetfield.

•Frank Pricely is imprisoned by Sherman Young after his attempted escape.

•Alice Woodward dies in The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals before she can leave for college. In fact, she dies after skipping the bus to Clivesdale

•Lex and Hannah Foster (along with Ethan Greene) have plans to escape Hatchetfield and head to California. All of them die before they can even get past Nantucket bridge.

•Zoey Chambers wants to win Honey Queen for the funds to get out of Hatchetfield. In both Honey Queen and The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals she dies before she has the chance to leave.

•Jonathan Brisby attempts to retrieve Lucy Stockworth from Hatchetfield. Brisby dies in the woods, Lucy disappears in the same woods with the Woolyfoot.

•Jenny and Andy planned to move to Clivesdale, but Jenny dies before she can leave, and by the time Andy becomes Andrew Killgore he's back at CCRP in Hatchetfield. Obviously this is wobbly because of timeline shenanigans, but it's implied that Ted didn't actually cross timelines during the events of Time Bastard, just fucked around in his own a lot.

There's just something. There's something about Hatchetfield. It's like a black hole. If it wants you there, and it does, you always end up there, and it's not likely you'll leave a second time.

Something about the ambient affects of the town absolutely fascinates me, I've been thinking about this stuff for like 5 years and it's not gotten old to me yet

#Hatchetfield #nerdy prudes must die #the guy who didn't like musicals #Black Friday #memes #talking for too long about stuff #nightmare time #dont even get me started on the individual lords in black and my theories about them because HOLY FUCK I HAVE A LOT TO SAY #wow there was a lot of jazz hands during that murder

[janovavalen]

✧SOMETHIN STUPID. || percy jackson x fem!reader

summary: percy jackson’s first days on camp were hell to say the least—fist day and he got bullied, but when he sneaks away to be alone he finds an interesting girl in the forest.

part one.

part two.

part three.

part four.

part five.

word count:

warnings: small curses (literally like one word and it’s not really a curse but it’s considered one) reader is daughter of athena, sister of annabeth, horrid flirting, reader lowkey not felling percy for the first half’s of this story line.

when the next morning rolled in, percy was ready for his day to say the least. not even. he thinks for the first time in his entire life he was actually ready and happy to wake up in the morning with the sun shining in his face.

wiping a bit of drool off the corner of his mouth he sat up and stretched. his arms raised up into the sky above his head while he groaned loudly. happy he was the only one in his cabin to do so but not as happy at the fact some people outside probably heard him.

not caring at the moment he bounced up and got on his clothes. his regular shoes and jeans with his curls ready to go thanks to a bit of water, he made his way outside and inhaled the fresh air.

some campers had been with their siblings or just friends as always. when percy walked down the steps of his cabin he heard—‘hey percy!’. looking over to see grover who had a wide smile on his face.

‘hey grover’ he waved back while waking up to him.

‘so; what’s the move for today?’ grover asked as they started to walk.

‘the move…? dude—i don’t want to think about it more than i am already, if i go i will literally go insane because i don’t know how to even speak to her…let alone look cool’ percy helplessly sighed while walking.

‘that’s because your not every cool’ grover teased as percy looked at him with wide eyes before pushing him with a laugh.

‘no but seriously dude, just be yourself! y/n is probably one of the coolest people here, she’s so nice, chill, and funny. just be yourself—‘

‘my awkward, non-funny and embarrassing self? yeah sure we can do that’ percy rolled his eyes as grover stopped walking along with percy as he placed a hand on percy’s shoulder.

‘percy, your not like that at all—well maybe a little bit that’s besides the point. like i said, just open up, be yourself and y/n will totally connect. if anything , the two of you are actually more similar than you think you are. she’s just as corny and weird as you are—‘

‘i’m not corny and weird—‘

‘uhm…well?’

percy let his jaw drop as he laughed a bit along with grover who stayed quiet but nonetheless percy understood what he was saying and he understood what to do.

‘i get it…i just need confidence’ percy shamefully admitted while looking off to the side. grover let the little him in his mind scrape the edges of all his brain before an idea came into mind.

‘percy…i know who we can ask. i know who will help you all that way’ grover confidently admitted with a smile.

ʚ 🌊 ɞ

‘wait…you and y/n are hanging out later tonight and you need my left on what to say and how to act?’ luke asked with frowned eyebrows as percy nodded.

yeah, grover’s amazing idea was to ask luke castellan one of the more wanted boys in camp, not only that but he had seemed to know what to say to y/n to make her laugh. so maybe if percy could pick up some things from him, he could get y/n to laugh too.

‘hm..man i really don’t know—‘

‘luke please! i need this, i need you to know how important this is!—‘

‘okay! okay, let me think’ luke rushed out as he stood up from the chair he was once in. percy tried to calm down a bit as grover stood against the wall with his arms crossed over his figure.

luke had been staring at the wall for a second before he snapped his fingers together—‘i got it’ luke got the two’s attention as they were all ears.

‘when you see her start it smooth, talk to her, walk a bit close but not to close, she doesn’t really like being close to new people but be close enough to where you can feel her, speak smooth, soft—not to jumpy and not to nervous, she will definitely think about that and make fun of you later to me or annabeth. be sarcastic, she is super sarcastic so be sure you know when she’s being serious’ luke listed.

‘okay okay, what do i do about how i act..what do i wear? what would you wear…’ percy asked as he looked luke up and down.

‘what would i wear? dose that matter—‘

‘just tell him’ grover groaned while holding his face.

‘well…if i were you going with y/n i’d totally wear sweats and her f/c jacket with the shoes you have now. make sure your hair is kind of messy but neat at the same time. also make sure your shoes are tied. if you trip in front of her, dude your done for’ luke warned as he looked down at percy’s slightly untied shoe which percy was quick to tie back up.

‘lastly? use some of that poseidon power, maybe make some water move and all and it will be so cool. she will totally dig that, she even likes swimming’ luke told him as percy stood back up and nodded.

‘dude, this is totally it, your going to do so well!’ grover ran over to percy who had been in deep deep thought the whole time.

what would he even talk about? what if he calms up, freezes mid sentence or what if he does end up falling in front of her? he didn’t know, he would have to find out in the next twenty minutes.

in these remaining moments luke and grover did their hardest to boost his confidence. percy would occasionally feel like he had it then remembered how much of a clutz he actually was and how awfully bad he was at speaking to y/n.

‘percy! it’s time, dude don’t be late you can’t be late she hates late—‘

‘well, sometimes she’s late but she doesn't like it when other people are’ grover corrected as luke rolled his eyes at the remembrance on how many times y/n would go off on him for being late to practice to only show up late the next day.

‘i can’t—she will think i’m weird, look what im wearing! my pants don’t even fit over my ankles and my hair is all dried out—‘

‘dude, you look good! you look awesome and your going to kill it’ luke calmed percy down who would have continued to rant for the next thirty minutes if given the chance.

percy sighed and closed his eyes a bit before combing out his hair and dusting his fit. turning to look at grover who gave him a wide smile and thumbs up for good luck.

‘okay…i’m onto my most important quest of my life, see you guys later if i don’t die from embarrassment and rejection’ percy told them as they rolled their eyes whilst percy walked out of the cabin.

looking around to the open view of the camp around this. it wasn’t very dark, the sun was still up and the sky was dimming with a faint color of pink. clouds were moving in small groups as they moved to other places around the world.

percy always found it interesting how the sky looked. let alone how it could change colors every other day. it could look so bright and beautiful with the colors and clouds and when the night fell it showed the stars that aligned with each other and the moon that shined.

getting a bit destructed as he walked slowly but kept his gaze looking at the sky every so often as he walked only to make a grunt as he felt a body hit his own.

‘oh—i’m sorry. i wasn’t paying attention and i didn’t see—‘ looking down to see y/n who had her hands in her pockets and her mouth closed in silence she shook her head lightly giving him a small—very small smile.

‘percy it’s okay, i wasn’t looking either’ she admitted as she pulled her hands out of her pockets to fix the three rings that sat on her fingers, shining in the reflection of the sun that set above the lake.

‘o—oh, okay. okay so i guess we have something in common after all’ he smiled lightly while looking at y/n who tilted her head to the side.

‘and that is…?’ she wondered. percy shrugged as if it was the most simple question asked.

‘not being able to stay in the real world without getting distracted’ he admitted. y/n let herself think about it for a bit before scoffing and looking away before back at him.

‘well, you can say that but i know when to bring myself back to reality’ y/n teased at how percy could stare at a wall and imagine anything and everything for three hours without moving. he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

‘no way you said that, i can do that any day, i can also read a book and finish only one without going into the next that same moment’ he teased back at y/n who rolled her eyes and shook her head.

‘hm, i’m not saying you win but im not saying anything else on this topic as of right now’ y/n said as she walked down the steps to lead to the dock of which was followed with the lake.

‘well then i guess i do win for right now and if you can think of something please do tell and share’ percy walked close next to y/n who shook her head once more.

the two of them walked down to the woody dock with the lake across them as the sun had been setting.

‘so…i kinda don’t know what to talk about—‘

‘i can tell—‘

‘but we can totally make some things up, how was training today?’ percy ignored her insult and kept speaking which y/n noticed.

‘it was okay. i need more training from luke tomorrow i slipped up on my sword today and it was embarrassing’ she revealed as the two of them made it down to the lake.

‘i’m sure it wasn’t as bad as mine’ percy tried to help only for y/n to say—‘it definitely wasn’t but i could’ve done better’ percy decided to keep quiet on the insult once again with a smile as he looked at her as she looked into the distance.

percy faced the water in front of them as he squinted his eyes ever so slightly with the yellow and orange light from the sunset his his eyes making it brighter than ever. turning his head to look at y/n who had her gaze set at the sky he examined her face. he found himself doing this quite often which he didn’t really know why.

he found it calming? interesting, fun, comforting and sweet to watch and draw out her facial features which she probably didn’t even know existed. the small beauty marks that were peppered over her face. the way her hair sat along her shoulders and neck, her face which shined in the light of the sun.

smiling to himself ever so slightly he sighed and found a small idea.

‘wanna swim?’ he casually asked. y/n looked over at him with frowned eyebrows and scoffed a laugh.

‘swim? in this lake? yeah no thanks—‘

‘don’t be lame! come on, when’s the last time you had fun?’ he turned his body to face her own as she did the same with hers to him.

‘the last time i had fun? maybe when i beat you in training the other day?’ she reminded leaving him to roll his eyes and cross his arms over his body.

‘no not that, i mean actual harmless fun? laughing and just hanging out.’ he asked leaving her to sigh and shrug.

‘i don’t know, i’m not a fun person—‘

‘that changes today then, come on!’ grabbing her hand as he tugged she yelped unexpectedly and pulled her arm back before he could jump with her leaving him to be the only one in water.

covering her mouth with both hands cupped she laughed aloud as he moved his way through the warm water around him.

‘percy!’ she yelled out with a smile as he made his way to the top of the water, his hair falling down onto his face and the curls being prominent. scoffing as he looked up at her, y/n had been drying with laughter.

this is the most he’d ever seen her do any emotion other than being cold stone serious.

‘are you serious!?’ he yelled as she laughed more—‘you're just a scary cat, really! the water isn’t even that bad’ he bragged while swimming up to the dock.

‘says the son of poseidon’ she hinted at leaving him to flick some water into her face which she responded with a gasp too.

‘percy jackson!’ she yelled while whipping her face.

‘you don’t need to be a kid of poseidon to have fun in the water, anyone can, that just shows how much fun you can have.’ he teased while moving his arms around in the water.

laughing a bit y/n slowly sat down with her legs beneath her as her arms held her body so she could lean forward.

percy had now been looking up at her as his own body fell hidden under the water. his arms moving to keep him floating.

‘having fun in there?’ she asked with a lifted brow.

‘you could be too your just so lame’ he exaggerated while rolling his eyes leaving her to laugh and shake her head.

‘i’m not getting into the water with you percy, you can have that all to yourself’ she replied with a grin of which he replied with his own smile. noticing the way her face looked with the shimmers of the water and how it shined around her, he smiled and looked over her face once more.

y/n noticed but froze, not knowing what to do, trying to see what he’d do himself. but at the same time she felt herself examining his face.

placing his arms on the low dock to lift himself up the two of them sat face to face which she was nervous about. the water dripping from his face and down his pointed nose. the curls dripping onto the dock below him, the once dry wood absorbing the water from his hair.

looking at her face once more he helplessly admitted—‘your so beautiful.’ his eyebrows frowning as she looked into his eyes she scoffed a bit and shook her head trying to leave only for him to jump into action and take her hand in his.

‘i mean it…i’ve been thinking this since the first time i saw you…your just, different—‘

‘percy…’ she nervously mumbled while her hand became wet with his own.

‘and i’m not afraid to admit that i’ve been waiting to tell you that. it’s like the more i see you the more i want to know? the more i need to know about you. i can’t really explain it but…’

as he stopped talking y/n nervously looked at him with her breath becoming shortened and her lungs screaming. her heart was beating faster than ever right now and she didn’t know what to do at all.

‘percy…please—‘

‘y/n…i like you.’ he admitted. she felt her heart drop down to hades castle .

‘i mean…i think i do? i don’t really know. there’s not much i can say because i don’t even know what the work like is i mean i can say i like blueberry pancakes or i like blueberries and the ocean but that a different type of like…the type i feel for you is different than blueberry pancakes, do you understand—‘

‘i cant…’ she said. his heart stopped.

nervously laughing with his hand slowly gripping and letting go her own he looked into her eyes and over her face—‘you can’t..understand? or you can’t…reciprocate…’

‘i don’t know? i just can’t—i have to go’ she snatched her hand back before leaving percy to stand by himself on the dock. wet, heartbroken and so so confused. was he just rejected?

the worst she could say is no? yeah well the worst she could say is ‘i can’t’

ʚ 🌊 ɞ

‘what’s do you mean she said she can’t—‘

‘that’s all she said! that’s literally all she said before leaving me standing there as i stupidly watched her leave! i thought i had this. i thought we had something going!’ percy embarrassingly whined into his hands as he sat with grover and luke who watched their friend handle the rejection.

‘oh dude…i mean it’s not bad—‘

‘she literally left me there alone and didn’t turn back!’

‘oh..well, there’s always other fish in the sea’ grover tried to calm but only making it worse.

‘but i wanted that fish!’ he exaggerated as luke looked at grover who held his hand over his head while picking his horns.

‘okay…listen we can’t let you act like that—that was far—‘

‘what is far was my heart that was ripped out of my chest and thrown into that lake.’ percy leaned back into the bed while he looked at the wood above him.

luke and grover watched as percy stared into the ceiling while replaying one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. groaning at the replay luke stood up heroically.

‘okay! okay…we can fix this…y/n is not one to leave a question unanswered…we will fix this percy. just give me some time, give me until tomorrow when i train her, i can bring it up and maybe she’ll tell me something i can tell you—‘

‘really! you’ll do that?’ percy jumped up from his sadness and excitingly looked at luke who nodded.

‘i’m ninety-three percent sure she’ll tell me something anyway. while i’m way it, grover can give you a signal when to walk by and you do not look at her okay? don’t look our way so she will turn around and see you and that’s when she’ll tell me’ luke planned as grover nodded and percy as well.

‘dude…you guys are amazing…but if i get rejected again i think im going to take my chances out in the real world and see what monsters come out for me.’ percy told them as they scoffed.

and yet again another plan had been formed.

percy didn’t think to keep a scoreboard anymore but let’s just say embarrassment one and percy zero.

#percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson #percy pjo #grover underwood #percy series #annabeth chase #luke castellan #Spotify

[milesmolasses]

I'm gonna kill you

miles morales x reader

if you don’t know what “throwing franks” means it basically means telling someone to “suck my dick” lmao

which reminds me the setting is nyc (bk)

is this what ppl call crack? idk man

"miles I'm not playin with you right now, put my water bottle down I'm thirsty!"

miles walked around the dingy restaurant, my bottle in his hand, which was waved high in the air. "you gon have to come and get it than miss smart mouth! you keep playin with me like I can't beat you up," he joked.

miles has been my best friend ever since the middle of third grade when he switched his elementary school. i remember when he was this tiny, shy kid who sat at the back of the school basement for lunchtime since our school never had a formal lunchroom. all i wanted was to make a new friend, so i walked up to the shy new boy and ate my lunch with him. we would walk home together, play at the park together, and have cute lil playdates scheduled by our mothers; ah, yes, those were the times; up until now.

"bro, my bad, just give me my water bottle my mouth is on fire, no funny shit," i had my tongue out, breathing heavily. my mom owns this restaurant, where she cooks (insert culture) dishes for the world of Brooklyn to enjoy. this space doubled as our hang-out spot, considering i would stop by every day after school for free food. my mom had served me (insert dish) with extra spice; "try something new," they said. "it'll be delicious," they said. while yes, the food was good, the new added spices had me steaming at the ears, tongue out, huffing and puffing like a damn dog.

now you may be wondering, "who the hell told you to do this?" miles. it was always miles. he knows I don't usually stray from the usual dishes that i get every time we come here, but somehow he convinced me that trying something new would be good for me. so, i let him order on my behalf; this dude ordered me (insert cultural food)… with 3x the amount of hot sauce I usually get. leading us to now...

"'my bad' is not an apology, bozo, i need to hear you say what i want you to say," he said with the biggest smile on his face. all i did was throw a frank at him, and he chose to torment me, saying, "i was disrespectful." he wants a sorry? imma give him a damn sorry.

"ok ok I'm sorry, miles please just give me the bottle," this time, my eyebrows were furrowed and i made sure to put my acting skills to the test. miles gave me a worried look, scared that he actually went too far this time in his games. he gave me back the water bottle and came closer to me, examining my face to see if i was ok.

"yo, you good? I'm sorry i didn't know it was that deep. here you go drink this," he looked so sorry. he looked like he really regretted what he did to me, it almost made me feel bad for what i was about to say to him.

almost...

"yeah, it was that deep... deep in ya momma!" i watched as miles face slowly converted from looking worried to "what did this bitch just say to me?" i started to run out of the store as fast as i could, chugging the water down my throat with my mouth still on fire. miles was definitely faster than me, so i decided to hide somewhere, anywhere.

i turned the corner, body jerking forward so fast i almost fell face first into the concrete. i caught myself on my hands just in time as i kept my momentum and ran down the block. i looked behind me and he was literally right there in arms reach of me literally, reaching his arm out to grab me. i grabbed the door handle of an unknown store and stumbled into it.

there i could see several women and young girls look up from what ever they were doing to look at me. just as they were looking at me, miles ran in the store and came to an abrupt stop. great now even more people were staring; it was then i realized all the assortments of nail polish laid out neatly on different shelves. oh my god it was a nail salon. miles looked down at me with eyes wide open and a look on his face that screamed "oh hell nah." a lady from the front desk with a slim figure and a headwrap, came up to us and pulled us to the side.

"I'm sorry, you cant just run into this store and be rowdy. we have customers to attend to and they don't need disturbances." i looked up at miles to see him already responding to the lady with prayer hands, "I an so sorry about my friend here please forgive them, sometimes they're a bit hard to control. i think we'll be leaving now, once again, so sorry," he responded whilst dragging me by the shirt to leave the salon. once we were on the side walk again, i busted out laughing so hard, i had to hunch over and close my eyes to keep tears from falling out.

miles gave me the biggest side eye known to man as i laughed in the middle of the street, looking around for people possibly staring at us.

"i swear to god I'm gonna kill you when i get to your house."

this was fun to write lmao

I was really just writing anything that came to mind

I did this once after 7th grade in the summer with some friends so that’s what I based this on

#miles morales #miles morales x reader #into the spider verse #across the spiderverse #spiderman #milesmolasses #itsv

[cutemeat]

more Sunny BitterSweet 16 shit...

this whole Four Walls Whiskey train of thought started cuz I was talking to my best friend last night about how I believe Dennis coming out/getting with Mac (so the gay shit of S16.. the Sweet) is low-key dependent on uh... Frank not being around anymore in some capacity (the depressing shit of S16.. the Bitter) ... cuz listen, I knew someone who Dennis reminds me of... like a lot.

The person I’m talkin about was my cousin’s uncle and he was really cagey and angry for a long time whenever he was around visiting with family and everyone was always like ‘why is he so angry all the time?’ and my mother was the only one who ever thought ‘... it’s cuz he’s gay and in the closet.’ (because she had some friends in the 90′s who were gay, so she was more familiar with those experiences than the rest of the family was) but no one believed her at the time... then eventually he moved away to NYC, far farrr away from the family, and finally got to be himself there and felt so much better.. but then he would still feel really on edge when he was at home. Like that super short fuse would come right back... But then his (very conservative and homophobic) mother who lived back home died. And after that, he finally came out to the family and introduced his boyfriend etcetc and he got so much more comfortable in general!... I just feel like something similar is happening with Dennis and Frank. lol.

#if u say this is just abt shipping shit i Will bite u #dennis is clearly gay and closeted like. thats the whole joke. thats been the joke. #again hes just more 'subtle' than Mac unless u are like... gay or have known someone who has experienced that kind of struggle #like of course audiences who arent trained to look for that shit wont see it unless its as obvious as they made it with like.. Mac #thats the whole point of MacDen being FOILs anyway... theyre both having the same struggles but it manifests in different levels of #obvious/subtle 'denial'.. it only got more overt with Dennis in S15 which makes me think.. Smth is coming #like they went thru this messy process of Mac 'coming out' unplanned so now they can do that with Dennis but hopefully more effective #since theyve gotten to learn from writing Mac's arc.. #and now that they know Glenn is uh. gonna be on the show LOLOLOL #anyway back to 'thats always been the joke abt dennis' #but thats been the joke abt Mac/Den since like S5. that theyre clearly gay and in this relationship but cant even see it themselves #like rob n charlie werent joking about that part. again ive seen those tv shows genuinely written to be like 'haha they act gay funny!' and #Macden Break Up is NOT like that dude. all right. #until like... Dee who isnt even SUSPICIOUS that could Actually be happening in Macden Break Up.. she was just lashing out at them cuz they #called her a lonely spinster LOL. but it wasnt until someone pointed it out they both became more hyperaware/paranoid n as weird as they #started getting in like S6 onwards... #and she does the same 'joke' in Dee Day.. she just thinks two guys kissing is funny. but for Dennis its not cuz hes gay. like... #thats the whole fuckin thing #the joke IS that dennis feels like.. to someone like Dee or Frank.. his existence is just a big fucking joke. #thats why hes so eager to push that all onto Mac.. he wants a slice of feeling like a 'normal' like who frank wanted him to be #but it still doesnt fill him up. it doesnt actually make him feel better. it only tarnishes his relationship with mac further. and he looks #like a total ass in the process.. #its fuckin sad dude #Glenn has litrlly said before writing Sunny RCG was not 'comedy ppl' n thats esp gotta be true of Glenn n Charlie.. so no i dont believe #everything they write is 'for the laughs'.. cuz theyre not comedy ppl LOL. in all honesty u dont need to be. n they cant write satire #super effectivley anyway n Thats why. theyre not comedy writers. thats why they need like.. Rob Rosell n Scott Marder. #to make it 'comedy' cuz RCG just writes rlly melodramatic characters. BUT #LIKE MELODRAMATIC PPL *ARE* FUNNY.. THESE PPL WHO TAKE THEMSELVES SO SERIOUSLY THEY NEVER REALIZE HOW CRAZY THEY SOUND #THATS GOOD CRINGE COMEDY DUDE. LIKE THE SINCERITY OF IT... THE SERIOUSNESS... but yea. again is why the show suffered so bad #w/o glenn being in the room...

[minustwofingers]

exoplanet p. 4.5

second half of exoplanet part 4!

pairing: ellie williams x reader

summary: you’ve won the life lottery as one of the few people on earth with parents who gained admittance to the most prestigous safezone in the world after the outbreak. but after a lab accident sends you out to jackson, wyoming, real life hits you fast. it’s a good thing that a hot lesbian finds u. (lol). mean ellie at first, slowburn, enemies to friends to lovers, fem reader asf

warnings: PLEASE READ! mentions of nsfw content (read at your own risk), violence, explicit language. also a lot of angst. ellie is still kind of a dick but not quite as much. 

a/n: haha. isn’t it sooo funny how i said this would come out almost 12 hours later and then i posted it? i need to hit the hay early asf today if im to be frank w you guys so here it is now. i want to thank you all for the sweet and kind messages and comments i’ve been getting—they’ve been fuel for my writing!! also, i’ve got a better idea of how i want to end it now, so i’ve got a pretty good outline for what’s going to happen. expect around 3 more parts (one of which may or may not be an epilogue from ellie’s pov). as always thanks for reading!

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4.0 (first half of this part) 

playlist inspired by exoplanet!!

wc: 6.5k

tags: @prettyplant0 @666findgod @sawaagyapong @rystarkov @buzzybuzzsposts @addisonnie @galacticstxrdust @parkersmyth @pinkazelma @ariianelle @lu002 @blairfox04 @sparkleswonderland @elliesflower​ 

enjoy x 

Dina’s sudden reappearance in your life was turning into one of the best things you had going on. When you were done with work, instead of loitering about Joel’s home and hoping to run into Ellie, you’d knock on Dina’s front door and spend your afternoons gossiping and trading stories. 

She never asked so explicitly about Ellie again, but you could tell that occasionally she wanted to.

“Guess whose birthday it is this weekend?” asked Dina one day in late April. The Wyoming sun was hung high in the sky, and the weather was steadily becoming warmer. The temperature was stuck at a breezy 60, and a part of you wondered just how hot it would get over the summer. 

Terranova rarely ever got over 70 degrees. Would it be hotter than that? Would you even be here to see it?

“Yours?” you guessed casually, pushing away the ever-present question of how long you’d really be in Jackson.

Dina snorted. “No. Not quite. You just missed mine, actually. I’m a December baby.” 

“Jesse?”

“No.”

“Joel?”

“Nope.” Her mouth popped on the p. 

Your heart thudded. “Uh—Ellie?” 

Her face split into a wide grin. “Yes! It’s her 20th. Isn’t that crazy? She’s ancient.” 

“Wow!” you said, coaxing faux enthusiasm into your voice. 

You and her had kept seeing each other at night, long after Joel had turned in. It always proceeded like clockwork—she’d come knock at your door, you’d fall into her bed, and then you’d leave.

You’d thankfully avoided any of the embarrassing stuff that you’d done the second night—no more unnecessary sensual face touching and whispers of her being a good person. You wanted to, though. There was so much that you ached to tell her, so many words that threatened to spill from your lips that you just barely managed to keep at bay. 

The worst part was the way that nothing had really changed between you two beyond what transpired every few evenings in her room. Each morning, you’d wake up knowing that you were in for another day of pretending like she didn’t know what it sounded like when you whined and begged and told her where to touch you. Like you didn’t know how her mouth tasted.

“I want to get her a present,” Dina was saying. “I do something for her every year, but I want this birthday to be a little different—given that she’s made it two decades and all, you know.” 

“That’s really thoughtful of you.”

Dina’s eyes sparkled. “I know! Do you want to help? If you do, I’ll tell her it’s from you, too.”

“Actually,” you said, wheels in your head turning, “That would be amazing. I have no idea what I’d get her otherwise.”

“Great.” Dina leaned back, nabbing her backpack from the ground and fishing through it until she produced a map. She unfolded it and began gesturing over the marks. “I found an abandoned bookstore in this area outside of the wall.” She tapped on a dot that she’d made, situated a fair ways away from the wall and on the opposite side of the town as the dam. 

“So we’re going shopping?”

Dina laughed. “Yeah. 5 finger discount, too. The only problem is that we might need to kill some baddies to qualify, but once we clear our way, it’s home free.”

“Right,” you said, fear creeping into your bones at the thought of having to fight off the infected. You’d only been on a few patrols since you’d been shot, and each had been totally unnoteworthy. You’d yet to actually shoot your gun at anything. “You—you do know that I’m not actually that good of a patrol partner, right?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Dina, waving her hand dismissively. “I can take care of us. Plus, we haven’t seen infected in this area for a while. This is a pretty remote area—tough to reach unless you know what you’re looking for.”

“So, when are we going?”

A glimmer appeared in her eye. “Now?”

~

“Where are you going?” 

Ellie stood, her arms crossed as she leaned against the opposite wall. You were grabbing your patrol things, slinging your backpack over your shoulders and pulling on the gray sweatshirt she’d given you.

“Out with Dina,” you said, slightly breathless from moving so quickly. You hadn’t been expecting Ellie to be home—normally she was keeping herself busy picking up extra patrol shifts and helping Joel. It had been an unwelcome surprise to run into her, sour faced and serious while you were trying to get ready. 

“Out where?”

You shrugged, trying your best to look nonchalant. “Dina said she wanted to show me something.”

She was silent as you finished lacing up your shoes, but you could see her watching you from the corner of your eyes.

“I’ll be back in time for tonight, if that’s what you’re worried about,” you offered snidely, hardly realizing what you’d said until it had left your lips. It had been a low blow. It had been nasty. You weren’t sure why you’d said it. 

“That’s not—” She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “I didn’t mean it like that.” 

“I know.” You stood up, feeling deflated. “Sorry. I don’t know why I said that.” 

Ellie sent you a tight smile. “It’s fine.”  

You walked back to Dina’s feeling heavy. That was how most of your interactions with Ellie seemed to go nowadays—awkward, stiff, and remarkably unfriendly. You weren’t sure what changed. And she was still fucking you, which didn’t make much sense.

Sometimes it felt like she was distancing herself on purpose. But that had to be wrong, because why would she do that? You obviously liked her. She wasn’t the one at risk of being hurt. 

You and Dina took off by foot as the sun began to set, well-armed with both weapons and navigational equipment. Well—Dina was, at least. All you had was the small gun Ellie had given you. Dina was doing all of the heavy lifting.

The forest was quiet, interrupted only occasionally by songbirds and the sound of wind rustling through the leaves. Spring had hit Jackson suddenly, the underbrush exploding in volume and flowers blooming everywhere.

As you two walked through the woods, chattering mindlessly and generally enjoying each other’s company, you made a mental reminder to return to the forest to pick up a makeshift bouquet of flowers. Ellie didn’t seem like the type to swoon over things like that, but even the most unromantic people could recognize the gesture of flowers. You were sure she’d at least put them in a vase. 

Eventually the path Dina was leading you on opened up to a heavily overgrown street, a small decrepit strip mall hidden away in the shrubbery.

“Here!” said Dina cheerily. She jogged forward, scrubbing the moss off of the door to show a book icon on the filthy glass.

“And you said that there’s no infected here?” you asked, your fingers wrapped nervously around your gun.

“Of course I did,” said Dina. “Do you think I’d take you somewhere that was infested?”

The glass shattered as a body came crashing through the door, thrashing and clicking in a mass of bloody limbs as it took Dina to the ground.

Your finger squeezed the trigger before you could think, sending a spray of gore into the air as Dina forced the thing off of her and stood, panting. 

There wasn’t even a chance to breathe. A piercing shriek cut through the air before three more followed the first, not paying any mind to the jagged edges of the broken door that grabbed at their mutilated skin. 

“Fuck!” Dina’s knife went swinging through the air, slicing and jabbing at the creatures in front of you. They fell in quick succession, but there was more rustling and screaming from inside. Far too much rustling. “Run!”

She didn’t have to tell you twice. Despite the fact that you’d never been a track star in school, you bolted quicker than you’d even known possible. Your backpack banged against your back as you sprinted down the road, ducking into the brush and making a break for it with Dina right on your tail. 

The walk there had taken close to 30 minutes. Your sprint cut that in over half. You and Dina ran in stride, with her lagging behind to send off a few shots to ground the runners that were quick enough to keep up. The clearing you appeared in all the way back in the winter flashed by you in a second, and within another few moments, you were both resting against the wall, chests heaving as you both picked off the stragglers that had come out of the forest to investigate.

By the time the last gunshot rang out and the final infected slumped to the ground, you were shaking uncontrollably, your gun vibrating in your hand. 

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” said Dina, equally breathless though significantly more composed as you two walked through the entrance, getting concerned looks from the people who were manning the gate. “I’ve never seen so many in that store before. I don’t understand. It was clear the last time I went.” 

Before you could respond, someone stepped into your eye line.

“What the fuck did you do,” seethed Ellie. Her eyes were wild, her lip curled in a manner so derisive you began to wonder if you’d ever actually seen her angry before this. 

“Chill, Ellie,” said Dina. “Y/N and I were just going to try and pick something up for your birthday. There were…a few more than what I was expecting. But it’s fine. We handled them. She did great.”

Ellie looked at you then, and you could feel her taking you in. Her eyes rested with accusation at the way that your hands were trembling. “You’re so fucking stupid, Dina. You knew that she’s never done this before. What the fuck is wrong with you, taking her out like that?”

“It was clear the last time I was there!” Dina spoke with her hands, waving them through the air in emphasis.“There wasn’t supposed to be any. I don’t know what to tell you. I didn’t purposefully try to get us killed.” 

Ellie sent her another scathing look before turning her attention to you. “And don’t even get me started with you.”

You blinked. “What?”

“What the fuck were you thinking?!” she snapped. 

Dina sent you a wink and disappeared down the street in the direction of her house. 

“I was thinking of your birthday, actually,” you said delicately. “We were going to get you something from the bookstore.”

“That is not an excuse to go get yourself killed!”

You held up your hands in mock surrender, which looked really stupid considering how hard you were still trembling. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t the original plan. Can we not do this right now? I’m still trying to, uh, process what happened.” 

As if to punctuate your point, the next step you took nearly sent you to the ground, your knees wobbling. 

Ellie’s hands were at your sides in an instant, solid and steadying against you as you regained your balance.

“Sorry,” you said again, lower this time. 

“How many?” Ellie asked. Her voice was softer now, almost resigned. She hadn’t let go yet.

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “After the first three or four, I lost count. They just kept—” You winced at the memory of the wet sound that they made hitting the ground. “They just kept coming.” 

“You did them a favor,” said Ellie, stepping back and to your side as you began to walk forward. Her hand stayed posed on your forearm. “It gets easier.” 

“I don’t know if I want it to get easier,” you confessed. 

“Well, how about you start by never doing something that fucking stupid again.” Her words lacked any venom. “Don’t you ever go out without me again, okay? Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to you?”

You gave your trembling hands a look. “I can take a guess.”

Ellie walked you back to Joel’s house, helping you out of your jacket and unsubtly checking your skin for bites. Or at least that’s what she said she was doing. She couldn’t seem to stop touching you. 

You headed back up to your room to get changed as Ellie shut the front door and was off to finish her work with Tommy. As you leisurely made your way down the hallway, you noticed that something was off—the hallway closet was slightly ajar.

The memories of your first night there came floating back to you, images of Ellie shutting the door before you could see inside emerging to the forefront.

It wouldn’t hurt to look, would it? It was probably nothing. 

Your hand wrapped tentatively around the handle, pulling the door open so slowly that the old, rusty hinge fell silent.

It wasn’t what you were expecting. It wasn’t what you were expecting at all. 

It wasn’t really a closet—there were a few shelves, but no hangers. In their place, there were stacks of textbooks with old, dated covers of the stars, planets, and physics. The back wall was plastered with drawings of constellations and calculations in Ellie’s messy scrawl, reminiscent of the leftover scrap paper from when you sat your physics exams and did your problem sets.

The memory of Ellie staring at your textbook re-emerged to hit you with full force. No wonder she was interested in it. THIS is what she was going to say that she wanted to study when you’d asked her. 

A slow smile crept onto your face as you thought about her upcoming birthday.

You knew what you were getting her now. 

~

Preparing for Ellie’s surprise party was a full day’s worth of work. You and Dina had convinced Maria to give Ellie enough things to do that she’d stay out of the house for the majority of the afternoon. You felt kind of guilty that Ellie was being put to work on her birthday of all days, but Dina just shook her head.

“It’s Ellie,” she said. “She lives to act all macho and patrol and shit. This is probably an extra present to her.” 

You two had located some flour, sugar, eggs, and butter and were hard at work baking a cake. It was tough going without a real recipe, but you’d grown up with a mother who loved baking, so you tried to do it from memory.

The result was a rather lopsided looking monstrosity that you and Dina had attempted to salvage through the liberal application of the thin icing you’d managed to whip up using milk and powdered sugar. It didn’t work, and you two didn’t wait long enough for the cake to cool before frosting it, so it melted in puddles and made the cake soggy.

“Fantastic work,” said Dina, wiping her hands on her front as you two surveyed the final product. “Really incredible, Y/N. You should really consider a career change.”

“Shut up,” you said, snorting. “Ellie’s gonna hate this.”

“She’s going to think it’s hilarious,” Dina corrected. “I’m sure it can’t taste too bad, right?”

You shivered. “Don’t say that.”

The decorations and gathering of presents were thankfully an easier challenge, and before you knew it Joel’s living room was fixed up to look obnoxious as possible, with a tacky “HAPP BIRTHDAE ELLIE” strung up in blood red reflective plastic (you two couldn’t find any Ys) above the fireplace. “Happy 5th Birthday!” balloons filled the ceiling, their gaudy purple color clashing horrifically with the red of the lettering. 

“This is just awful, Dina,” you said. “Ellie’s never going to speak to us again.”

“You need to chill,” Dina responded. “She might act grumpy all of the time, but I know her, and I know she’ll secretly like this.”

7 rolled around quickly, and with it came the guests.

First was the unsurprising Jesse, grinning and carrying a satchel that had a makeshift card attached to the top labeled “Ellie”. 

Next came Astrid, Bonnie, and Greg—all of the patrolmen that were roughly around your age. You hadn’t spent all that much time with them, but they’d always been fun.

Last came a girl you’d never seen before.

“Hi!” she said, extending a hand and looking at you through a fringe of choppy black hair. 

“Hi!” you said, taking her hand and shaking it once. “I’m Y/N.”

“I know,” she said, her eyes crinkling. “I’m Cat.”

“I can’t believe you two haven’t met before,” said Dina, swooping in to stand beside you. There was something written on her face—something that looked kind of like worry.

“I can’t either!” you said good-naturedly. “How do you know Ellie?”

Dina cringed.

Cat just smiled wider. “Oh. Ellie and I go way back.”

“Cat, why don’t you go help me in the kitchen? I need to finish plating some stuff,” said Dina. 

“Sure!” Cat sent you one more winning smile, following Dina with a bounce in her step.

Something felt deeply off about that interaction, but you couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was. You’d never seen Dina so eager to get you away from someone. Maybe it’d just been a coincidence?

You didn’t get a chance to dwell on it further, because Ellie was opening the door. 

“Surprise!” Everyone in the living room yelled upon seeing her. 

Ellie blanched, her eyes landing on you for a moment before she cast her gaze to the rest of the room. “What’s this?”

“Your birthday party,” said Dina, appearing from the kitchen with a plate of crackers and other appetizers, Cat in tow. “You didn’t think we were just going to let you turn 20 without embarrassing you just a little bit?”

“Those are the most hideous balloons I’ve ever seen,” said Ellie, crossing her arms.

“Thanks,” you said, beaming. “I picked them out myself.” 

Much to your surprise, her lips lifted until she was smiling back. “You’re such a loser.”

“Okay!” said Dina, clearing her throat and stepping in between you two. “You two can flirt later. I’ve been slaving away in the kitchen for an entire day. Let’s eat.”

You shut your mouth, blushing uncontrollably as your eyes lifted. Ellie’s cheeks looked uncharacteristically pink and her eyes were fixed on your shoes.

Dinner went by quickly, with everyone trading odd stories about patrolling and their life before Jackson. You learned that Dina had actually been born in New Mexico and that Astrid was from Oregon. You heard all about how Jesse and Greg came across an old mall a few miles out of Jackson that was so full of infected that they could hear them scratching at the doors and clicking even before they were within eyesight of the building. You told some stories about your life in Terranova, about studying and your family. 

“What the fuck is this?” asked Ellie once Dina had reappeared, carrying your sorry excuse of a birthday cake. Time had not treated it well. The first layer was almost entirely slid off, and the cake looked damp from the melted icing.

“It’s your birthday cake,” you said. “We, uh, tried. I don’t have a cake recipe memorized, and it was harder than I expected.”

The candles Dina attempted to stick into the cake kept falling out, the structural integrity so weakened from the melted frosting that chunks were coming off.

“Let’s just pretend that there’s 20 candles,” said Dina finally once the top layer of the cake finally split in half. 

“Right,” said Ellie, snorting. 

Dina led a very enthusiastic rendition of the Happy Birthday song that ended in cheers and hollers as Ellie dramatically lowered her head to the cake and pretended to blow the “candles” out. 

No one touched the cake, but you couldn’t blame them. 

Next came presents. Jesse went first, giving Ellie a satchel that held a bunch of cleaning equipment for her patrol rifles. Dina had found a t-shirt that said “Enemy of the State” in goofy comic sans lettering, and Ellie was unsuccessful in holding back her giggles at seeing it. 

“Dina, this is so stupid,” she said, but there was no venom in her tone, just amusement. 

It was your turn next, so you leaned across the table to place the small box in front of her. 

“Please tell me you didn’t almost die getting this one,” said Ellie, giving you a suspicious look.

“Not at all,” you said. “I accidentally brought it from Terranova.” 

Her nimble fingers untied the flimsy ribbon you’d haphazardly wrapped around the tiny brown box, lifting the lid off and peering inside.

“It’s a…rock?” Ellie frowned, pulling it out and holding it in her hand.

“You got her a rock for her birthday?” Cat asked you from her position to your right, her eyebrows raised.

“It’s not just a rock,” you said. “It’s a moon rock. Like, from the moon.”

Ellie froze, her eyes saucers as she stared at the rock balanced in her palm. “What?”

“I told you I studied astrophysics,” you said casually. “One of my professors let me borrow it because my research supervisor wanted to take a look at it, so it was in my bag. And I never had the chance to give it to him, obviously. So it’s yours now.” 

“Holy fuck.” She turned in over, her fingers running across the surface. “This is…wow. Oh my god.”

“That’s so cool, dude,” Jesse said. “Like, insane. I didn’t even know that those were a thing.”

“There’s only a couple in the world,” you added. “And even fewer that are still reachable. The rest are…well, out here somewhere. Terranova only has a few from our own expeditions and the professors who managed to grab what they had when they moved.”

“This one’s from me,” said Cat, leaning forward and placing an envelope in front of Ellie. “It’s not as cool as a moon rock, but I thought you’d like it.” 

Her fingers slid under the tongue of the envelope, ripping it open and pulling a piece of paper out. 

“Good for one more free tattoo,” Ellie read out.

Cat sat back, looking awfully pleased with herself. 

“Cat was the one who gave Ellie the one on her arm,” Dina explained to you.

 A memory pricked at your consciousness, dating back to your first patrol with Ellie.

An ex had given her the tattoo on her arm.

The girl who had given her tattoo was Cat.

Cat was her ex.

That makes so much sense you realized with horror as you remembered how Cat had told you so confidently that she and Ellie went way back. Of course they did. They used to date.

“Where’d you go?” asked Dina, bumping your shoulder.

“Sorry,” you said, rubbing the bridge of your nose. “Just, uh, tired.”

When you looked up, Ellie’s eyes were on you, her lips slightly quirked.

You looked away, instead focusing on the placemats that Dina had set out. Cat was so different from you—so peppy, so confident, so loud. No wonder Ellie didn’t want anything more than what you had now. Whatever Ellie had seen in Cat had nothing to do with you. 

The night ended with you all sitting on the couches in the living room with Dina mixing drinks so strong that you were wondering if she was trying to kill you. 

“Jesus Christ, Dina,” you said as you watched her pour. “What is that? 90 percent vodka?” 

“I prefer to call it efficient,” Dina corrected. 

It burned going down your throat and you fought back a cough as you placed your glass back on the coffee table. Ellie was right next to you, her thigh barely brushing against yours as you moved.

Cat was on the other side of the room, seated next to Jesse and Astrid. You were internally very proud that Ellie had chosen to sit next to you instead. Her arm rested on the back of the couch behind you, and even though it couldn’t have meant all that much, you couldn’t help but wonder if it at least meant something. 

You were just halfway through your cup by the time you started to feel really and properly sloshed. Your voice sounded tinny in your ears, and from the way that Ellie was laughing at anything anyone said, you had a sneaking suspicion that she was somewhere around where you were.

It wasn’t long before everyone had excused themselves and wished Ellie a final happy birthday—it was getting late and quite a few had early shifts the next day.

Dina was the last to go, saying goodbye and sending you another look as she pointedly stared at the arm rested behind you.

For a few minutes, you and Ellie just sat in silence, hearing the fire crackle and the sound of her softly breathing.

Then she spoke.

“How did you know that I’d like the moon rock?”

“Oh.” You blushed. “Don’t be mad. You left the closet door open the other day—you know, the one with all your space textbooks and everything. It was an educated guess.” 

“So nosy,” she tutted. 

“But you do like the rock?” 

She smiled. “Yes. Thank you.”

You reached forward and polished off the rest of the drink that Dina had made you, feeling the liquid fire slide down your throat and settle in your stomach. 

When you turned back, you could see Ellie staring at you, her auburn hair glowing in the firelight, her pupils blown wide, and her eyes slightly unfocused. She’d had more than one of the drinks that Dina had made, and it was really showing. 

“You’re so pretty.”

You froze. Out of all the things you expected her to say, that was nowhere on the list. The words had left Ellie’s lips like a compulsion, raw and honest. 

She hadn’t stopped looking at you, but her eyes were wider, her cheeks red. She hadn’t meant to say it, you realized. Now she was embarrassed and flustered, and it was all because of you. 

It was the boldness of being tipsy that made you move towards her, pulling your legs up until you were seated on your knees in front of her.

Ellie didn’t move apart from wetting her lips, her eyes darting from your eyes to your mouth. 

When you kissed her, she melted into you. The arm that had been draped over the couch behind you dropped to your back, your own hands sliding into her hair and tightening at the back of her neck.

She gasped as she felt your nails scrape against her, and you took the opportunity to lick into her open mouth, tasting the vodka on her tongue as it slid against yours.

To your surprise, her hands didn’t creep up your shirt or dip below the waist of your pants. They stayed static, one glommed onto your back while the other clutched your jaw as she let you kiss her, over and over again. 

You couldn’t quite put your finger on it, but there was something about it that felt different than your usual nighttime meetups. It felt more—vulnerable, almost, that Ellie was kissing you just to kiss you, not with some other agenda. 

The grandfather clock chimed, indicating that it was almost midnight. You pulled away from her for a second, panting as you caught your breath. A string of saliva suspended between your lips, snapping as you waved a hand through it and flushed.

“Sorry,” you whispered.

She just smiled.

“Is Joel going to be back soon?”

As if to punctuate your point, the front door banged open, the man in question pulling his jacket off and turning to see you both. You’d thankfully managed to get off her lap before he saw. 

“Oh!” he said, his eyebrows nearly touching his hairline. “I wasn’t expecting you two to still be awake.”

“Uh, yeah,” said Ellie, scratching the back of her neck. “We’ve just been…talking.”

“Good party?”

“Yeah.” 

“I’m glad. Tommy and Maria wish you a happy birthday, by the way. Though I’m sure you knew that.” 

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Well,” said Joel, giving a sigh that only old men could recreate, “I’m off to bed. You two don’t stay up too late, huh? You’ve still got work tomorrow.” 

“Goodnight,” you two chorused. 

Once Joel had disappeared into his room, you turned to look at her.

“That was close.” 

“Yeah.” Ellie laughed nervously, picking at her cuticles. “Um—do you want to move somewhere else?”

Something deep in your chest ached. Sure, you’d be okay with spending another hour or so feeling her hands on you as she made you finish, but a part of you had really liked just touching her for the sake of touching her—kissing her just because you could.

“Sure,” you said. “Just give me a chance to change.”

When you knocked after switching into more comfortable clothes, the door swung open to reveal a significantly more nervous looking Ellie than you’d seen in a while.

“Hi,” you said shyly.

“Hi.” 

You stepped into her, pressing a tentative kiss to the corner of her mouth. When she didn’t react, you pulled back.

“Is everything okay?”

“Do you want to stay over?” Ellie blurted out, her eyes wide and afraid. 

You balked. “Uh, what?”

“You don’t have to,” she said, her eyes dropping to the ground. “I’m sorry. I know we’re not like that. I just thought that—maybe, I dunno, just this once—”

“Yes,” you interrupted. “Please. I’d really like that.” 

“Right. Good. Okay.” She took a deep breath, then laced her fingers through yours to lead you to her bed.

When your mouth found hers again, it was just like on the couch—no intentionally rough or overtly sexual touches, just gentle brushes against your skin and the weight of fingers tangled in your hair as she pulled you further into her.

For the first time since you confessed, you didn’t sleep together. When you two finally tired out, you flopping down on the pillow first, Ellie’s head came to rest on the expanse of skin between your shoulder and your neck, your arms coming around her.

It was strange. For someone so deadly and tough, Ellie suddenly looked so small and fragile curled against you, the rise and fall of her chest synchronized with your breathing. 

“I’m sorry Cat was invited,” Ellie said, her voice muffled from where her face was pressed into your neck.

“What do you mean?”

“I should have told you what her name was. That must’ve been a nasty surprise.”

Her foresight and understanding made your heart ache, deeply. How was it that she could say all these things but not want anything more with you?

“It was alright,” you said. There was no conviction in your tone. “I wouldn’t have expected you to tell me.”

Ellie was silent for a few beats. You knew she was thinking, though; you could feel the flutter of her lashes against you as she blinked.

“How long do you think it’ll take for you to forget me?”

You paused. “What? What do you mean?”

Ellie shifted against you, one of her arms draped over your chest. “I mean, when you go back.”

“Ellie,” you chided, bringing your hand up so you could run your fingers through her hair. “Don’t be ridiculous. As if I’d ever just leave you behind. If I go back there, I’m finding some way to bring you with me. So, no. That’s not even a valid question. I’m never forgetting you.” 

In truth, you hadn’t even begun to consider what you’d do if—when—you were found. You’d been so focused on trying to fit into your new life here that your past had largely just faded into the back, shrinking in the horizon. What you did know, at least, was that even in some dystopian future without Ellie, she’d never be off of your mind.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” 

“I’m not,” you replied, tapping her shoulder. “I mean it. You’re stuck with me.” 

Her diaphragm vibrated as she let out a short laugh. “Oh, the horrors.” 

She fell silent as you kept threading your fingers through her hair, letting your nails scrape against her scalp. The hand that wasn’t draped over your chest had crept up, her thumb rubbing back and forth as she traced the outline of your jaw.

“I’m sorry,” she said suddenly. “I can be such a sad drunk sometimes. It’s pathetic.”

“It’s okay,” you soothed, your other hand lightly dancing up and down her back. “I think it’s sweet.”

She snorted. “You would.” 

Then, after a few more seconds of silence: “You really weren’t jealous?”

“I never said that.” 

“So she did make you jealous?”

You flicked her shoulder. “Fuck off. Of course she did. Happy?”

“Thrilled.” 

A few moments later, she spoke up again. 

“Can you promise me something?” Her voice was deceptively casual.

“Anything.” You’d give her anything she wanted.

“Promise me that you’ll take the first opportunity to go home,” she said softly. “Promise you won’t do anything stupid.”

“I’ll take the first opportunity to go home as long as I get to have you around, too.” 

You couldn’t see it, but you knew she was rolling her eyes. “Not good enough.”

“You want me to leave that badly?” You weren’t sure if you should be hurt.

“Of course not,” she responded. “I just...I don’t expect you to wait around here for me. I don’t want you to. I want you to be safe.”

“I feel safe with you.”

“Will you just—fucking—say you’ll go?” Her voice sounded raw, tired. 

“Fine,” you said. “I promise.” 

Your words were empty. You couldn’t promise her that. She had to know that. But would it matter? If you never had to make that choice?

In retrospect, you weren’t sure when you drifted off. All you remembered was the warmth of Ellie gathered up in your arms, her measured breath blowing across your exposed neck as you felt the slow, marching rhythm of her heart.

~

When you awoke to the early morning sunbeams streaming in through the window and warming your face, Ellie was passed out cold on top of you. A few unruly strands of her auburn hair had ruffled upwards overnight, sticking to your cheek and threatening the seams of your lips. 

You’d never been happier.

As you thought, running your hand gently up and down the length of her spine, Ellie’s breath hitched.

You froze, thinking you must have woken her.

Then she made a quiet snort. She took another deep breath in, whistling as it went. Her next exhale was louder and caught in her nose. 

You did your best not to laugh enough to wake her.

Ellie snored, even though she wasn’t that loud. The part of you that was still intimidated by her was shrinking by the minute. If only you had known in the beginning that after a long day of bullying you she went back to her room to honk shoo the night away, you never would’ve let it bother you.

She jolted awake, blinking rapidly as she pulled away and looked up at you.

“What the fuck are you laughing about?” she said groggily. “It’s—” She twisted in your arms, squinting at her desk. “It’s 6 in the fucking morning. Shut up.” With that, she flopped back down on top of you, laying one arm over your torso so she could shove it the space under the pillow beside your head. 

“You shut up,” you heard yourself say. 

Ellie smacked your shoulder, not even bothering to lift her head. 

“You snore,” you said, quieter this time. 

“I don’t.”

“You literally do. I was there when it happened.” 

She was silent for a few moments. “Really?”

You pressed your lips to her forehead instead as you trembled from the laugh you were doing your best to rein in.

“Oh, god,” groaned Ellie. “That’s so embarrassing.” 

“I thought it was cute.”

“You think everything I do is cute.” 

“And what about it?”

You settled back in, wrapping your arms around Ellie as you tried to drift back off.

“Do you hear that?” 

Her voice was whispered.

“Hear what?”

“That sound.” 

You let go of her and sat up, your eyes unfocused as you tried your best to tune into whatever Ellie was talking about. Out of the corner of your vision you could see her staring at you with big, nervous eyes.

It took you a moment to notice it. No one could blame you, really. It was hardly a rarity to hear the sound of a plane when you grew up in Terranova. 

“That’s a plane, Ellie,” you said, reaching out to cup her face. “It’s fine.” 

“A plane?” She frowned, still blinking bleariness out of her eyes. “I’ve never heard one before. Joel told me that they stopped being used after the government officially fell.”

“That’s not true,” you corrected. “There’s some in—”

A puzzle piece clicked into place, and with it came a sense of underlying dread. But you shouldn’t be dreading it. It’s what you were hoping for after all, weren’t you? What you’d been praying for since you’d arrived?

“Let’s go outside and look,” you said, nudging her side. “I’m sure it’s nothing.” You were hoping it was nothing. 

Ellie followed you, pulling a throw blanket from her bed and draping it around her shoulders like a cape. She looked so cute like that. You wanted to bite her. Not, like, in a weird blood kink way. Just in a…you didn’t know how to describe it. Better leave it there. 

A lump formed in your throat.

Maybe you were wrong. Maybe this had nothing to do with you.

The air was tepid and pleasant against your bare skin as you two quietly opened the front door and crept onto the porch. The town was quiet. No one was awake at this hour, not unless they were down by the stables or doing night watch. 

There was a sliver of pink and orange hanging over the tops of the mountains, no doubt remnants of what had been a spectacular sunrise. There were still snowy caps on the highest peaks. You hadn’t known that mountains could stay so cold for so long until you’d come to Jackson.

The lump in your throat grew larger.

“Shit,” said Ellie, leaping down from the porch and onto the road. “Do you see this?”

The plane was no longer in sight, but the swirling papers that hadn’t been on the road the night before were left as evidence.

“They must’ve dropped them,” said Ellie excitedly, snatching one from the ground and bounding back up the steps so she was next to you. “What do you think this says?”

You smiled sadly. “Why don’t you read it?”

She unfolded the envelope, ripping open the top and dumping the contents out in her hand. 

“Oh.” 

It was a picture of you. It’d been taken months prior at your family’s Christmas party. You’d worn glittery silver eyeliner and curled your hair. The upper half of your body was in view, clad in a rich red fabric that landed right below your collarbones. A string of creamy white pearls were clasped around your neck, matching the teardrop pearls that hung delicately from your ears. 

HAVE YOU SEEN HER?

There was no other text, but you did notice a divet at the top right corner in the shape of a small oval. 

Terranovan security. Of course. 

Wordlessly, you pressed your thumb into the mold, holding it there for a second as the parchment recorded your print.

Then a paragraph formed at the bottom, ink slowly leaking into the paper.

COME TO THE COORDINATES LISTED BELOW AT EXACTLY NOON, MAY 15TH. A LIFT WILL BE WAITING TO ESCORT YOU.

You’d been found. 

final a/n: sorry not sorry this was the original cliffhanger that i was planning for part 4 all along. you guys are incredible for still sticking around and reading even though this is getting lengthy as hell. anyway i hope you guys enjoyed this sort of different side of ellie before we reach the final act. the plot is abt to reach its peak and i’m hellaaa excited to share it with you. okok let me know what you think! it might take me around the same time it took me to finish part 4 to get part 5 out considering how sick i am/how much i have on my plate, but i promise it’s coming :))

#ellie williams x reader #ellie williams imagine #ellie williams self insert #ellie williams x you #ellie williams x y/n #ellie williams x oc

[d0youc0py]

Prompt: no way… you’re actually jealous?

He was a man of many emotions. Yet he was also a man of self restraint- only letting himself fly off the handle when he felt it was necessary.

All of that flew out of the window with you.

Was this a necessary time? Absolutely not. In fact it was admittedly childish and embarrassing that he felt such angst rising in his chest.

It was time for the weekly Price family dinner. His older siblings Phoebe and Frank, his younger brother Ralph and of course his parents- Mr. and Mrs. Price all drove an exhausting ten minutes to your house for dinner. Normally he didn’t mind having his family close by especially while he was away, but right now he was one more wine pour away from kicking all of them to the curb.

He had just gotten back this morning from a month long mission and he still hadn’t gotten his you fix. The two of you should be curled up, you mumbling about all the things you did while he was away against his skin. God he could practically smell your shampoo. He wanted your cold hands to crawl up under his shirt searching for the warmth you’ve been denied for far too long.

Instead he was pressed against the firm wood of the dining room chair watching as your attention was constantly being caught by different stories. Something about Phoebe’s car, Frank’s kid is doing shite in school, and Ralph discovered he quite likes golf. He didn’t have the mental power to keep up, his ears only perking up when he heard you speak.

His arm was draped over the back of your chair and it took every ounce of strength to not tug you closer. He couldn’t stop his fingers from reaching out and brushing your cheek though. He almost purred when your soft skin tickled his fingers. Your eyes flickered up sending him a soft sleepy smile.

That’s all it took.

“Goodnight everyone.” John nearly demanded standing up abruptly. The conversation halted everyone looking at you for confirmation that they were really getting kicked out of your house. You looked up at your husband with wide eyes before sending a sheepish smile to your family.

“Johnathan?” His mother questioned. You always giggled when she used his full name.

“I’m tired, alright? I’ll buy us all dinner next week, yeah? For cutting this one short.” That seemed to satisfy them enough. Each of them gave you a kiss goodbye- sending him a glare in the process. “I’ll clean up, love.” He insisted taking the dishware out of your hands.

“It’ll go faster if we both do it.” You yawned pecking his cheek. “You alright? You were quiet all night. Still have some battle skits?” You hummed, causing a small chuckle to escape him. He was always skittish a few days after a mission- understandably- so you had affectionately named it battle skits.

“I missed you.” He whispered. You didn’t know if you wanted to giggle like a child or cry.

“Oh, John.” You sighed, waving him off. You tucked yourself under his arm and he reciprocated by holding you tight against him.

“Everyone was hogging you.” He grunted, inhaling your scent. “Didn’t get enough time with you before the circus rolled in.”

“Someone’s jealous.” You teased, wrapping your arms around his neck. The Captain never got jealous. He was fiercely protective, but he loved to show you off- always being so proud of you.

“Yeah.” He agreed, making your mouth to fall open. His brows furrowed at your reaction. “What?”

“No way! You’re actually jealous?” You sputtered. A cheeky grin spread across his face and he quickly captured you in a kiss.

“Don’t get cocky on me now sweetheart.”

Prompt: do you ever ask why I get this way? Maybe it’s because- Y’know what, nevermind

You hadn’t meant for things to escalate to this level. You had noticed he was a little jealous after your office party, a few of your coworkers getting a little mouthy from the drinks. You thought it was funny. Your devastatingly attractive boyfriend flushed in the face at the thought of someone like your dim witted coworkers having a shot with you.

“Si, you’re powering down again.” You sighed, tracing over his knuckles. He looked around the almost empty tram, his body pointed away from you. “You still upset?” You hummed, resting your chin on his shoulder. “You know they were just being aholes.”

“But they felt comfortable enough around you to do it.” He snarled. The warmth left your body and you pulled yourself away from his shaky form.

“What do you mean by that? You’re blaming me for the way they were acting?” You moved to the edge of your seat so you could face him.

“Have you ever asked yourself why I get this way? Maybe it’s because”- he cut himself off when he heard your breath hitch. He knew that if he caught sight of those teary eyes he would never say what he wanted to say. You sniffled. “Nevermind.” He grumbled, rubbing his jaw.

“No.” You pressed. “You obviously have something on your mind so say it.”

“Y/N-”

“Simon.”

Using your formal names made both of you sick. You were always sweetheart and he was always Si.

“You have a habit of being overly friendly.” He stated finally. His eyes were trained on the aisle.

“Overly friendly?” You emphasized. He shut his eyes tightly, but slowly nodded his head, agreeing. A light chuckle left you. It wasn’t one of humor, but one of utter shock. Shock that this was even a conversation. “Well not everyone finds a smile as offensive as you do, Simon.” You growled slouching back in your seat.

He didn’t say anything.

Without warning you stood up at the next stop, brushing past him.

“Y/N.” He huffed. His heart pinched at the way you so coldly moved away from him. “Y/N.” He repeated, following you down the aisle.

“I want to be alone.” You didn’t mean for your voice to hit the level it did. People on the tram peered up at you from their phones. Without waiting for a response you hopped off the tram.

He followed.

“I want to be alone.” You affirmed. He slowed his footsteps, but kept you in reach. His towering frame lurked over you like a rain cloud. You turned abruptly on your heels.

“Not lettin’ you walk home by yourself.” He explained.

“I want to be alone.” You growled.

“Well I don’t want anything to happen to you.” He growled back. Only Simon could pull off aggressive affection. “You can be alone a few paces ahead of me.” He nodded his head forward.

“Fuck you, Simon.” You hissed. The way his face fell made you freeze. “I’m sorry.” You said quickly. He waved you off.

“I deserve that.”

“No you don’t.” You insisted. “You hurt my feelings but I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.”

“Fuck off Y/N.” He teased airily. “I don’t know why I snap like that.” He admitted, shoving his hands in his front pockets.

“You don’t trust me.” You stated. He disagreed with you.

“I think it’s other people I don’t trust. I mean what if I wasn’t there tonight, yeah?” He questioned, his face curling. You hadn’t thought about that. Your co workers were so free with their flirting even with Simon there.

“I understand that.” You sighed, bringing a hand up to rub your headache away. His hand reached up wrapping around your wrist, giving it a soft squeeze.

“I shouldn’t have blamed you sweetheart, I’m sorry.” He molten eyes were nothing but sincere. Your bottom lip jutted out slightly at his apology, and you moved forward wrapping your arms around his middle. Usually public affection embarrassed him, but the way his body craved you outweighed any embarrassment he felt. Plus he obviously needed to do a better job at showing people who you belong to.

Prompt: What is your problem?

He had no right to feel this way. Yet his stomach was burning so hot the steam was clouding his judgement.

He thought he had made it clear. His silent claim on you since the very moment you had stepped foot on base. He knew it was a horrible and outdated way of thinking, yet the way your eyes sparkled when you met him for the first time- or the way your hand fit so perfectly in his when you introduced yourself was all the proof he needed to justify his feelings.

Obviously the new recruits didn’t get the memo. Being the nicest person on the Task Force caused everyone to flock to you if they needed something making you build relationships fast.

Too fast.

They didn’t know you well enough to wrap an arm around your shoulder, or put a hand on your waist to move past you. They definitely didn’t know you well enough to make you laugh so hard. The huff and grumbles that escaped him gave the rest of the team so much free entertainment, their eyes darting between you and the nearly seething man like it was some kind of soap opera.

“Think we should get the hose ready?” Soap snickered, taking in Gaz’s flushed appearance. Ghost hushed him, something inside him telling him Gaz was about to snap- and he wasn’t going to miss it.

The bomb finally went off when someone’s hand extended towards you in a fit of laughter, their palms spreading wide across your arm. “That’s not fucking happening.” He spat. Gaz’s chair flung back and if it wasn’t for Price it would’ve screeched against the floor.

“What is your problem?” They gasped, his broad strides quickly catching everyones attention.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you to keep your bloody hands to yourself?” Kyle snarled. Going against his own words he wrapped an arm around you, practically dragging you back to the teams table. “Kindergarten drop outs.” He huffed, holding out a chair for you to sit in, pushing it in for you. Even in his anger he always managed to be a gentleman.

Prompt: woah, where are we going?

He had sucked down three shots trying his hardest not to loose his cool. He knew he was reactive and the last thing he wanted to do was say something to hurt or embarrass you. Yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t push down those feelings. The feeling of jealousy that he couldn’t be the man you obviously wanted. He watched as your pretty eyes sparkled at the other guests of the dinner party he had begged to come to. He should’ve stayed home. He remembers the look on your face when he basically invited himself.

“Jo, I don’t think you’ll like these people.” You winced, giving his hand a squeeze.

You were right.

He didn’t like these people in the slightest. They absorbed all your attention and made him feel like a brute. He had lost track of the conversation when it turned over to politics, even though he probably knew more about what goes on in the world than anyone sitting at that table.

Once dinner was finally over everyone was invited into the living area for tea- how formal. You had turned to him in that moment ready to tease him about what type of tea he was going to choke down, but his hardened face stopped you. He had never been the best at hiding his feelings and you resisted the urge to lean over and kiss him so hard he would have no choice but to smile.

“Actually Johnny and I have plans after this.” You offered a polite smile. His ears perked up, looking at you like a savior.

“That’s too bad.” Your friend sighed giving you a quick hug goodbye. You repressed a giggle when you heard Johnny growl after someone had kissed you on the cheek as a farewell.

“Dinner was lovely.” You smiled over your shoulder, heading out the door. Johnny grabbed your coats sending a quiet thank you their way.

“Thank you.” You whispered, as Johnny wrapped your coat around you.

“No, thank you.” He huffed, tugging you against his side. You wrapped an arm around his waist your other hand tangling itself with his as you walked down the dim streets.

“Woah.” He gasped, when you began pulling him past the car. “Where are we going?”

“I could tell you were upset.” You hummed, your footsteps naturally syncing with his. His nose scrunched.

“Sorry”-

“You don’t need to apologize Jo.” You assured, pressing yourself closer. He gave your hand a squeeze.

“I didn’t have anything to add to the conversation. Felt like I was a wee one listening to my parents talk about shite I couldn’t understand.” He sighed. “I’m not daft.”

“I know.” You said quickly. “They’re all just repeating things they’ve seen on TikTok anyways. Doubt any of it was original.”

“You enjoyed it though?” He half asked. You looked up at him with curious eyes.

“I had a good time tonight if that’s what you’re asking.” You said. His baby blue eyes searched around your face like you had the words he was looking for written on it.

“No. I mean you wish you had someone to talk like that with more?” He said slowly. Your face fell in realization.

“You mean, do I wish you talked like that? No Tavish.” You smiled at him. “Plus you’re talking like we haven’t had deep conversations. You know more about me than anyone- and I’ve told you things I’ve never told anyone. That’s worth more than anything.”

He pepped up, his shoulders broadening once again.

“You don’t mind that I can’t quote poems off the top of my head?” He questioned, raising a playful brow at you.

You rolled your eyes, nodding your head in a agreement.

“You never told me where we’re going.” He reminded.

“I know you Jo and I also know a salad is not going to keep you full.” You snickered patting at his stomach.

“It was hell tryin to choke that things down.”

Check out katz-chows page right: here

If anyone else wants to join in this little collab or you just need some writing ideas here’s the prompt list:

#d0youc0py #doyoucopy #cod #cod men #cod mw2 #cod x reader #cod mwf2 #fluff #sfw #simon ghost riley #johnny soap mactavish #captain John price #Kyle Gaz Garrick #ghost x reader #soap x reader #captain price x reader #gaz x reader #gn reader #collab

[auteurdelabre]

Something to fight for (series) (PART EIGHT)

Word Count: 4.5

Pairing: Dad!Joel Miller x f!reader (no use of y/n, no age or physical descriptions)

WARNINGS: None for this chapter unless you wanna be warned about adorable mother hen Joel Miller.

A/N: This is part of a series (lots of angst, pining and smut ahead) Also despite Sarah's young age Joel is early 40's in this because slightly grey babygirl DILF Joel is the best Joel.

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

"Whadda you mean you ran?"

"As in I yelled I was leaving and then took off into the night."

Frank sits across from you at his table with an intense look of shock. It's the next morning after 'the touch'. Bill had listened to the start of your story but had grown weary midway through and excused himself to the basement. Frank had been only too eager to listen. Practically skipping in excitement when you'd ask if you could talk to him about something important involving Joel. 

You'd needed to talk to someone about what had happened, but Maria was off the table. You can't confess this to her, you couldn't do anything that would put her in Tommy's relationship at risk. You'd never seen your friend so happy and so in love. And you can't be the one that jeopardizes that with your actions. 

"Did you like it?"

"Huh?"

Frank rolls his eyes as you stare at him. "Did you like him touching you?" 

Should you tell the truth? Tell Frank that your dangerously close to falling hard for Joel Miller? That there's a strong possibility that you already have? That you wake up from filthy dreams slick between your thighs and calling out his name?

No. You want to keep that secret to yourself. 

"He's not unattractive," you offer after a beat. "Just not my type."

Frank stares at you for a long while with a face that clearly reads he doesn't believe you. And yet he doesn't press you on it. 

"Are you gonna call him?"

"And say what?" You defend. "Hi Joel, sorry I took off after you touched my mouth?" 

"Well you can't just not say anything," Frank reasons. 

"Sure I can," you insist confidently. "I'm just gonna pretend it never happened."

///

That was your great plan. Pretending.

At least that was the plan.

But then later that day you'd seen Joel's number pop up on your phone and you'd panicked. For three days this happened. Every time his name lit up your phone the same rush of emotions overtook you. 

A feeling of elation because you really, really like Joel. 

A deep sense of dread because you really, really like Joel. 

Do you want Joel? Fuck yeah you do. You can admit that to yourself now without denial. It's not just a silly crush borne of carnal need. You actually care for him.  You like making him laugh. You like doing stupid domestic things like straightening his tie and cleaning his dishes (sometimes).

He's caring and sweet and funny and he loves his daughter so much. When you're with him the world seems better and brighter. And when he touches you, a hand hold, a side hug, an accidental graze of his knuckles, you feel like you're on fire from the inside. 

But this is exactly what happened with Paul. A friendship completely decimated by a romantic relationship. Joel and Sarah mean too much to you, you can't imagine a world in which they are not part of your life. 

The fact of the matter is if you start a relationship with Joel there is always the chance of it ending. That's how relationships work. When you care for things they shatter. Things you love don't tend to stick around. You know this from experience.

Not that you love Joel or anything. You just really, really like him. 

It doesn't help that you've had a brutal headache since that night you ran away. And an ache in your bones that makes you feel tired all the time. 

Your head is still pounding on Tuesday when you walk into work feeling irritable. You don't expect to see Joel at your work moments later. He greets Alex politely and then walks quickly over to your desk without pause. 

"Your phone broken or somethin'?"

You stare up the length of him, your throat going dry.

"Huh? No."

He nods when you don't offer anything else. You see how his mouth thins and his eyes narrow. He looks like he's going to say something but then he just sighs, shakes his head and moves from you, bypassing your desk to go into the green space behind the building. Alex observes this but never mentions it. 

He works diligently and you don't watch him once. You don't peek through the blinds even though everything in you is roaring at you to do so. 

After going back and forth about it for an hour you decide that you need to talk to him. You need to clear the air. If not for you then for Sarah. You won't take the chance of not seeing her again because you fucked up things with her dad. 

You pour water into one of those cheap waxy cups you have and saunter out into the back. The weather is mild yet joel is wearing his favorite jeans and a tight green t-shirt with the logo of a band you've never heard of. 

Joel’s working quickly. You can tell it's because he wants to get away from you and this job. 

"Thank you for coming out to finish," you say, your head swimming as you hold the cup. He's standing not that far from you, tightening the beams that lay parallel over the top of the cages and yet it feels are oceans apart. 

He's not looking at you; his attention is completely invested in what he's doing. You lower the cup to your side. You survey the work he’s done, knowing that before Christmas arrives there will be a home for at least 8 dogs in need of rescue.

"You've done an amazing job," you offer awkwardly. 

"Thanks."  

"You and Sarah have a good weekend?"

"Yep."

“Go to the park?”

“Nope.”

He's hammering quickly, too quickly in an effort to get done faster. And when you step a little nearer he sees it out the corner of his vision. Distracted by this, the front of his hammer smashes brutally into his thumb. 

"Fuck!"

Joel growls, holding his hand and curving at the waist. He hisses lowly as his hammer is dropped to the ground. You act immediately, running back into the office and putting some ice from the freezer into a small plastic bag you'd been holding batteries in. 

You rush back out, stumbling over your feet before handing the bag to him. He's straightened, looking at the bag you offer with derision. After a moment's hesitation he takes it, pressing it to his throbbing hand. 

"You okay?"

"Its fine," Joel grouses looking irritated at you. "Can you just leave? I'm-"

"No." You hold the word in your mouth even after it's said. "I want to talk to you about ... The night I was over."

His eyes dart to your office window and his voice drops, obviously concerned that you'll be overheard by Alex.

"Don't need to," Joel says surprising you. He doesn't look angry anymore. If anything he looks panicked. 

"But we should, shouldn't we?" 

"I made you uncomfortable," Joel reasons with a heavy sigh. "Shouldn't have touched you like that."

I wanted you to touch me like that.

How can you possibly explain that to him? That liking him so much makes it so frightening? That you want him to touch you everywhere but that will mean huge changes that scare you? 

You have to. He needs to know. 

"Joel-" you begin, but he doesn't hear you, he's so caught up in what he's about to say next.  

"It was stupid and I won't do it again. Can we just let it go? Not mention it again and pretend it never happened?" 

Your entire midsection is squeezed painfully at his declaration. But you're so tired, so overwhelmingly exhausted in both body and mind.

"I know it was fucking weird of me to do," Joel continues on in a murmur, rubbing at the back of his neck in an action of shy embarrassment. "And I don't want this to fuck up what you have with Sarah. She's wild about you."

And there's the crux of it: Sarah. 

The girl that brought you together and is now ultimately keeping you apart. She doesn't know this of course and she never will. But her mere existence complicates things in a way that terrifies you both.

You give a shaky nod. And while you hate what he said, you can't deny the honesty of it. He's right; you would never do anything to jeopardize that.

"Yeah, of course."

"Great." 

A wobbly smile comes to his face and satisfied that things have now been cleared, Joel thanks you for the ice and says that he's going to get back to work. 

You leave him on trembling legs.

Your headache worsens as the day goes on. Only now it's accompanied by what feels like a fever even though your body is shivering cold. You pull on one of the disposable masks the veterinarians use when they visit here. You don't want to risk getting Alex sick.

By lunchtime you don't even have enough energy to answer Alex when she asks you about the adoption papers for Fairfax.

You need to go home. Now. 

The bus seems impossible and a taxi will take too long to get to you. You want to leave right now and it seems you only have one option. Alex needs to stay here to keep the place open. So it's a hastily working Joel Miller that you approach for the second time that day. 

He's facing away from you, clearly intent on his work. You have the passing devastation that once he's done you'll have even less opportunities to see him.

But that's for the best, remember?

You're swaying slightly and your hand trembles as you tap his shoulder

"Joel, could drive me home?"

Joel twists around, immediately on edge and his eyes dip to the mask you're wearing. "What's wrong?"

"I think I caught a bug," you explain from behind the mask. "I'm so tired and I gotta go home but the thought of taking the bus just seems so. . ."

You can't even find the word to describe it. You just want to sleep. You feel sluggish and Joel begins to pack up his tools as you watch from under heavy lids. 

The animosity from this morning has fled from Joel's features. He stands and is about to reach out and grab your hand to steady you when he stops himself. You only see the indecision cross his features before his free hand is shoved into his jeans pocket. 

"Let's go."

The truck jostles you more than you recall in previous trips. It makes your stomach jump and your head pound. Joel keeps sporadically glancing over at you with worry etched in his features. 

"You look awful," he tells you suddenly. 

"Thanks," you reply with a half-hearted sneer he can't see under your mask. You're too tired to find a witty comeback.

"I meant you should go right to the doctor," Joel explains. "I'll take you."

"No!" You almost shout this with a deep frown. "I don't- just take me home please." 

Joel is surprised by your reaction. He can't stop noticing the waxy look to your skin, or the sweat that's dotting your hairline. You're breathing shallowly and he's concerned that he can hear the start of a wheeze. He wants to reach over and take your hand in his. He wants to bring you comfort. He wants to hold you. He just wants you.

Even after how things ended a few nights ago. Even after he told himself that you were a tease. Even after he realized it wasn't true and that you simply didn't want him. He still wants you. But you'll never know that. 

Sarah will always come first for him and you are someone she loves so much. He can't risk losing you over his own desire for you. Especially when it was clear that how he felt was not completely reciprocated.

There's a part of him that knows you must be attracted to him. The part that remembers the way you'd looked at him that night. The way your eyes had shuttered as his finger traced your warm lips.

But that doesn't matter. Attraction isn't enough. 

Your reaction had shown him that you weren't ready for him anyway. Running away like you had? Not talking to him for days? As much as this hurts it shows him he can't put his trust in you like he wants to. 

When the truck arrives at your place he considers if he should just let you walk to the door yourself. 

"Thanks Joel."

Your voice is a rasp, your cheeks flushed. You groan as you take your seat belt off and before he can stop himself he's launched out of the truck, pulling your door open and helping you down.

Normally you wouldn't let him; you'd cite that you can get down perfectly fine yourself. But today you lean heavily into his arms, your forehead briefly touching his chest as you come to stand. 

"Sorry," you mumble. "I'm so fucking out of it."

Joel hates himself for how much he relishes that you coil your arm around his bicep, leaning your head against him as he guides you to your place. 

He hates it more though when you stumble across the threshold of your home and out of his touch. 

"Do you never lock your door?" he marvels, standing at your doorstep and watching you. 

"Uh, sometimes I forget," you admit sleepily. 

Joel enters your suite with the same trepidation of a man hunting flesh eating zombies in those movies he hates. He hangs back by the door, as if tethered to it. You don’t know why but you don’t mind him entering into your home. It doesn’t feel strange or even unsafe.

"You can come in all the way if you want."

He scans the perimeter, moving his boots quietly across your floor. It's a studio and he can see your bed with its hastily made sheets from where he stands. He swallows the knot that forms at his throat at he sees this. This is where you sleep. It smells of you, he's certain of it. Sweet and warm. Do you sleep naked? He’ll never know. Joel glances around the space as you go to your dresser and gather your pyjamas.

He’d only gotten a glimpse of your place when he’d dropped off flowers that day and now being entered into your brightly colored sanctum has him strangely elated It feels like he's crawled into your brain. Bright vintage movie posters hang on the walls. A pile of yarn sits on the coffee table beside your record player. He's intrigued to see what’s in your vinyl collection but he holds himself still, his fingertips rubbing against one another nervously. 

A navy sofa with striped black and white pillows adorn a navy chair by the fireplace catches his eye. The rug is multi-colored and done in some Scandinavian style. He's surprised that in all of this, there are no personal photos he can see. 

"Feels like it should be bigger judging by the footprint," Joel frowns, instantly in contractor mode. 

He catches you rolling your eyes at him before you move to the bathroom to change. You need to get out of your restrictive clothes and into something soft and cool.

"It's nice," Joel offers awkwardly. He internally chastises himself.

I didn't used to be this fucking awkward, did I?

Nope. Not until you touched her and she ran.

"You have any Tylenol?" Joel bellows to be heard through your closed door. 

"Yeah," you shout back before popping a few into your mouth and running your mouth under the tap. 

You exit, surprised to see Joel still standing in your kitchen awkwardly, as if he's waiting for permission to leave. You're so tired that you're wobbling, your eyes barely open.  He scans your body openly, his focus on the soft grey shirt you’re wearing and something niggles in his brain. He pushes it out, motioning to your bed.

"You should lie down."

Joel looks so concerned you want to laugh. He's such a girl dad sometimes. 

"Yeah, was gonna do that. Thanks for the ride." 

Joel is still standing there watching you, looking so tall and out of place in your studio suite with its low ceilings and cheap furniture.

Why does he have to look like that? So big and beautiful? He smells so good and you just want to kiss him so badly.

Maybe you could just kiss him right now, a thank you for driving you home?

No. Wait. That might be the fever talking. 

"You want soup or somethin'?" Joel's voice is tinged with concern and his hands keep twitching at his sides. You frown because the thought of food right now upsets you before drawing over to your hastily made bed. 

"No," you yawn pulling yourself under the covers and nestling into the pillows. "I just need ... some... sleep."

You're out cold before the sentence leaves your mouth.

///

You feel like absolute shit. 

Maria keeps popping in to drop off food and take your temperature even after you shout that it's unnecessary. 

She encourages you to go to the doctor, but you know it's just a cold. You just have to wait it out. You're not going to the doctor. 

After not eating, sleeping most of the day and just aching all over, a cough develops. It makes it hard to do things like walk or breathe. 

After three days Maria forces you into the shower, scrubbing you clean and changing you into new pyjamas. She changes your bed sheets all the while threatening that she's going to call an ambulance soon if you don't get better.

You promise her that you'll look into a doctor's visit tomorrow but you have no intention of doing so. You just want to sleep. 

You receive a knock on your front door that you're too tired to answer so you just shout, praying that the person on the other side isn't a murderer. 

"Come in!" 

The unlocked door is pushed open with a creak and Joel is standing there holding a brown paper bag from the deli. It smells like turkey soup and it makes you want to heave.

"Thought you'd like this," Joel explains watching you wince at him from your bed. He enters into your home, placing the bag on your table before looking over at you. 

You're curled in your bed shivering. You just want him to go away. You want everyone to just leave you alone so you can sleep. You're so fatigued you don't even flinch when the back of his wide hand rests against your forehead. 

"You're still burnin' up."

"It'll go away," you murmur, your eyes still closed languidly. 

"No it won't," Joel says sternly from above you. Your eyes are closed so you can't tell but you can only assume he's giving you his trademark grumpy frown. 

"I've survived a long time on this earth, Miller."

"It's been four days and you're getting worse."

Has it really been that long? Fuck, you had a feeling it had been a bit but four whole days of steadily getting worse? But now you're embarrassed to admit to Joel that maybe you were wrong. 

"I don't need your help," you grouse with no power behind it. 

Stop being so stubborn. Just let me take care of you.

The desire to do so is killing Joel. But he holds his tongue.                                         

You're not his. 

You can hear him moving things in your kitchen before shuffling over to your bed. 

"Take these."

He shoves the Tylenol into your palm, forcing you to sit up as you throw them back. In his other hand is a glass of water he insists you finish before he allows you to lay down again. 

"I sure hope you're not wearing your boots in my place," you grumble. Joel doesn't reply but you're pretty sure you hear him toe off his boots by the front door. 

When you wake up an hour later with a sputtering cough and heaviness in your chest that won't let up, Joel slaps the side of your sofa that he's been sitting on and announces its time.

"For what?"

"A doctor."

///

You're wearing mismatched pyjamas under an oversized sweater. Your shoes are half on as you hadn't even bothered putting them on all the way. You'd just slid your feet in before trudging alongside Joel to his truck.

It's late in the day so your only option is the emergency room. You tried to fight him on it, insisting tomorrow was better. But he’d gripped you gently by the waist, shoving you towards the door and you found yourself too exhausted to deny him.

His muscled arm around you the whole time you sit in the waiting room is not how you had envisioned being held by Joel Miller. Your vision had tangled limbs and a lot of dirty talk.  

This version is you pulling down your mask and coughing into your elbow between fits of lolling back against his shoulder wheezing as fatigue and a mighty headache overwhelms you. You still wear the mask, terrified of passing on what you have to Sarah who Joel tells you is staying with Tommy while he sits here with you.

"You're gonna be okay," Joel murmurs to you over and over, holding you upright against him. You wonder if he's saying it more for you or for him. 

After all, with you dead he'll be out a very good babysitter.

"Troy Johnson?" 

The nurse is calling up the older man to your right. He's holding his arm tightly to him, probably nursing a sprain. Joel watches him leave, a tic starting in his cheek. 

"Doesn't even seem that sick," Joel mutters. 

"I'm sure he is," you defend instinctively through shallow panting. It's natural; you always feel the need to defend others. 

"It's bullshit."

Another half hour passes with Joel growing increasingly agitated. He still holds you to him, but with his free hand he's tapping his knee. 

It's only when you burst out into another wet hacking cough that he seems to be at his limit. Urging you to lay back he removes his arm from around you and stalks to the nurses’ station. 

An older Filipino woman is writing something hurriedly between talking to her co-worker about a patient upstairs. 

"We've been here over two hours," Joel says, not even bothering to be polite. 

"I'm sorry but you need to be patient," the frazzled nurse says. "We have a lot of people waiting to be seen."

"But she's really sick. Her fever is-"

"Joel!" You croak from your position hunched over the chair. "Just stop. It's fine."

People who are waiting to be seen are looking between you two. Some of them are sneering others are rolling their eyes at the display. In your already fatigued state it makes you feel much worse. 

"It's not fine," Joel insists and now his voice is picking up in volume as he speaks to the nurse while pointing at you. "She's really fucking sick and-"

You jump to a stand, impossibly humiliated by his behavior. 

"Joel!"

He stops at your shout, turning to face you. You're about to shrilly tell him to shut the fuck up and sit back down when sparkly dots pop into your vision and then suddenly the world goes black.

////

Joel has always had something of an irritability problem when he’s stressed. He knows this about himself, he tries to keep calm in situations and most of the time he's successful. 

But you pale and sweaty and wheezing in his arms has him furious. Furious at the people who sit around you looking much less sick than you are. Furious at the medical staff who don't seem to care. And if he's honest a bit furious at you for not taking this more seriously at the beginning.

But when he sees you crumple to the waiting room floor, his fury is replaced with an almost debilitating panic. He dashes over, pulling you into his lap with trembling hands. You're out cold, your body limp and heavy.

"Wake up," he urges, pushing your hair back from your sweaty face. He doesn't think, can only feel the bubbling chill of panic going through his veins. He presses his forehead to yours, his eyes shut. 

"Fuck, hun, please wake up."

"Sir," the nurse is there pushing him back from you. "Sir, give us room so we can help your wife."

All of a sudden there are voices and people and they're putting you onto a stretcher. Your face is so placid, your mouth slack. 

And then suddenly you're gone. 

///

No, you're not dead. 

'Gone' as in you left the waiting room.

You think I'd be telling this story if you were dead?

///

You wake up much later, your mouth surprisingly not dry given the circumstances. You realize this is due to the IV in your left arm pumping in fluids and antibiotics. 

You feel a hammer of dread hit you as the familiar sights of a hospital room come into view. You want to rip the IV from your arm and you want to run from this place but something stops you. 

A sight that brings you immediate peace. 

Joel is there dressed in new clothes and sitting in a chair at the side of your bed. He's looking out the small window of the hospital room, sighing heavily. 

A feeling of serenity flows through your body. A silent confirmation that when Joel is here everything is okay. 

"Joel?" Your voice is crackly from disuse. His head snaps to face you and a relieved smile hitches the corner of his mouth. He stands, curving beside your head next to the bed. 

"About time. Thought you were gonna go into a coma."

"Why is my throat so sore?"

"Oxygen thing," Joel says tapping the tube You hadn't realized was resting against your nose. "Went in through your trachea first."

"Thanks for the update Doctor Miller," you say with a smirk. 

He's about to reply when the real doctor enters the room. An older man with a gleaming bald head and glasses that perch high upon his narrow nose. Joel gets out of his way going back to sit in the seat. 

"Pneumonia," the doctor informs you sternly after introductions. "Left far too long by the looks of it."

You duck your head a bit embarrassed. "I just thought it was a bad cold."

Joel gives a mighty eye roll from his seat as the doctor nods at you.

"Are you aware if untreated it can be fatal?"

No. You didn't know that.

You can see Joel shooting you a supercilious look from behind the doctor and can almost hear his inevitable twangy "told you so."

"Lucky he brought you in when he did," the doctor says as he motions at Joel before tapping on his pager. He has so many patients to see in so little time. "Any longer and you might have been put on a ventilator. Next time listen to your husband."

He exits the room with promises that you'll be able to return home before the end of the week.

You don't bother telling him that Joel isn't your husband. You feel hazy and still quite out of it. 

You’re asleep before you realize that Joel doesn't correct him either.

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