#the first ap exam I had to give up on

[lyss-draws-sometimes]

I have never been so deceived by a test as I was the ap calc ab exam

Raised my hopes, gave me faith that hey, I might actually do well on this!

Then absolutely obliterated them

#the mcq? #completely fine #almost easy #the calculater allowed frqs? #also pretty fine #the noncalulater frqs? #💀 #the first ap exam I had to give up on #of course there’s an frq entirely based on the one lesson we skipped #because ‘it’ll only be on one mc question if it’s there’ #yeah right

[goodbuckcharlie]

Captain’s keeper | Nico Hischier

Summary: Nico surprises his girlfriend at her work much to her and her students’ excitement.

Warnings : I didn’t proof read this and I wrote it fast. Also no use of Y/N instead I use the name Baylee.

Notes : I don’t know how Nico or the devils act irl but this is how I imagine him. Also I know the devils didn’t play tonight ,but let’s say they did.

February 29th, the day that only happens every four years. It also just so happened to be the birthday of Nico Hischier’s lover. Baylee was turning 24 ,well technically 6, but that’s all a technicality. Unfortunately, she still had to teach, and Nico had a game, so the two couldn’t spend a lot of the day together. Nico tried to convince her to take the day off , but she insisted she had to be there for her speech and debate team who had a competition coming up. So, this forced Nico to get a little creative.

The morning started pretty early as normal, with Nico getting ready for practice, and Baylee doing her morning grading, since she refuses to spend her nights grading ,cause that time was reserved for Nico. But this morning, instead of Baylee waking up while Nico was in the shower, she was surprisingly woken up with her handsome boyfriend making breakfast.

“Good morning schatz.” Baylee hugs her boyfriend from behind. She is obviously much shorter than he is, so she has to wiggle her head under his arm to see what he was making. The girl can’t help , but smile like the Cheshire Cat when she sees that Nico had made two instagram worthy, smoothie bowls. Baylee was never a fan of traditional breakfast food like eggs, pancakes, or waffles ,so to see her lover put the extra time and effort into to her breakfast melts her heart. “Happy birthday my love.”

“Awe Neeks, it’s perfect.” Their eyes meet for the first time this morning, and they share a smile, before sharing a quick kiss. Baylee lets go of her hold on Nico, so the two can enjoy their breakfast.

“So, birthday girl, what do you have planned for today?” Nico asks with genuine curiosity.

“Well the first 5 periods are my ap Euro classes , so I was just planning on giving them a free day to catch up on work, and study for the ap exams.” It was only her second year teaching, and the school had already trusted her to teach an ap (advanced placement) class. This was mainly because the past teacher had retired, and she was the only person who was willing to take on this responsibility. “And then a few of the other teachers had planned a mini birthday party during 6th period cause that’s my lunch time. Nothing big. Then of course 7th period, I have to work with the debaters to add the finishing touches to their debates. They are so close to getting it, but they just barely miss the mark.”

“Well, good thing for them. They have the best coach money can buy.” Baylee rolls her eyes and chuckles. It was only her first year as the debate team coach, but the team had already won a few awards at local tournaments. But, in Baylee’s opinion she had nothing to do with the team’s success. It was purely her team’s natural talent.

“Neeks, I love the support, but I am few years out from being the best.”

The two continue to have a conversation as they eat their breakfast as a normal couple does. But sadly they both have to get ready for their day and go to work. Normally they carpool to work, with Nico dropping her off and picking her up, but on game days and during roadies, Nico gets a ride with Jack. They both adore their morning rides together, soft music playing and the loving embrace of the lover before dealing with the reality of work. Sadly, today was not one of those days.

Baylee leaves before Jack gets there (much to Jack’s disapproval) so she can work on some class prep for next week. This way she has more time to spend with Nico on Saturday.

During the school day, Baylee’s students and staff had showered her with love and gifts. They all tried to make this day very special for her. Baylee was over the moon to spend her birthday with her students, she just wishes Nico could be here too.

“Okay students settle down. Nicole please sit down. You can talk to your friends in one moment, if you give me just three minutes of your time.” Luckily, the teenager doesn’t give Baylee any hassle ,and she goes straight to her seat. The best part about being an ap teacher is that the students are more well behaved than normal teenagers. Don’t get me wrong they have their day too, they are still teenagers, but not nearly as bad as normal classes. “For my birthday I decided to give you guys a present, for today and tomorrow, you guys get to have a free day. I do encourage you to study for test next week, I am allowing you guys to do what you like. As long as it’s safe ,not too loud, and you don’t leave the classroom. One last thing, all late penalties have been suspended for the next two days, this means you guys can turn in any late work without a late penalty until the end of the day tomorrow.”

The classroom fills with excitement, which Baylee has to gesture for every one to settle down. This was her last class of the day before her break period and then it was time for debate. Luckily, Baylee only had a few more lesson plans and then she would have a whole weekend of free time to spend with Nico.

Little did she know, Nico was able to convince the team to end practice early and so he could surprise Baylee at work. Not only was he able to end practice early, he also was able to drag along a few of the guys to help surprise his girl.

Nico along with Jack, Luke, Jasper, and Dawson, got into the school with the help of Baylee’s coworkers. The boys had brought a raspberry cheesecake from her favorite cafe, which Luke almost dropped walking up the stairs.

Meanwhile, Baylee was talking to one of her speech and debate students the just so happened to also be in her 5th period class.

“You see that line you wrote right there? I really like how you wrote it down, but your delivery sounds fake,” She was currently coaching over the speech the student had wrote for the next tournament, “You can say the most ridiculous thing in the world with a mountain of confidence, and you would sound more believable than if you said something intelligent with 0 confidence.”

“Thanks Miss. Buck that helps a lot.” The student grabs her things with a smile and head back to her seat. Suddenly there is a knock at the door.

“Micheal can you grab that bud?” The student closest to the door, stands up and opens the door. Just as luck has it, Micheal was on the school’s varsity hockey team and was a huge devils fan. So imagine the boy’s surprise when he sees not one, not two, but five players from his favorite team.

Baylee’s heart drops when she hears Micheal shout “Oh my god, no way.”

With fear and curiosity for her student, she rushes to the door ready to protect the child, but what she was greeted with was no threat. It was her loving boyfriend and his teammates. This also makes Micheal’s reaction make more sense.

“Neeks what are you doing here?!” She pulls her boyfriend into a hug, but not without hearing Luke’s audible scoff.

“What are we? Chopped liver?” Baylee laughs off his sassiness and gives each one of the guys their own hugs. She invites the guys to come into her classroom, which of course causes chaos to consume the teens. Teenage girls giggling about how hot the hockey players were, and other students who were starstruck by the players.

Luke places the cheesecake on her desk where he sees a picture of Baylee and Nico after a game with Jack and him photo bombing in the back.

“I can’t believe you are here!” Baylee pulls Nico into another hug , just to make sure he was really there, and not a figure of her imagination.

“Of course, I have to make sure my girl is having an amazing birthday.”

“You mean our girl.” Jack says while peaking his head out from behind Nico.

“Yeah our girl.” Dawson adds with a teasing smirk.

“Next time you two wait in the car.”

“Miss Buck?” Baylee’s attention is moved to her student. “I hate to interrupt ,but can you help me direct me to the pages in the text book where we will be going over for next week’s test.”

She quickly excuses herself before helping her students quickly before going back to the hockey players. During the 10 minutes she was gone, some of the students had the players hockey related questions.

Nico watches Baylee and basically gawks at her as she teachers with such care and devotion. Of course this doesn’t go unnoticed by the guys, but they decide to chirp their captain later rather than doing it around a bunch of teens.

Suddenly, three students come up to Nico with very serious expressions.

“So Mr Hischier, what are your intentions with our teacher?” Nico is taken back by the teens’ abrupt tone. But his teammates all start laughing to themselves. “Miss. Buck is one of the realest of Jersey and yet you haven’t put a ring on that finger? Ain’t no way.”

“Damn cap, even the kids are wondering.” The team has always chirped Nico for waiting so long to propose to Baylee.

“Miss Baylee deserves, the biggest most beautiful wedding in the world and yet here she is weddingless.” The teenage girl at the end of the group points at Baylee who is distracted helping another student. “Tell me that she wouldn’t absolutely slay in a white wedding dress..”

Despite not fully understanding the students “hip lingo” ,Nico looks at Baylee and all he sees is her in a floor length dress, nothing too fancy since Baylee wasn’t a flashy girl, with her hair all done and her looking absolutely breathtaking. (An image he has thought of way too often) And he can’t help, but fall in love again.

“Jessie, Tony, and Angela leave Nico alone. You look like you broke the poor boy.” Baylee’s voice broke him from his gaze.

“We’re just standing on business Miss B.” The three kids take their seats.

“Don’t mind them babe, those are some of my debate students, I told them I wanted them to be more intimidating in their speech and clearly that worked too well.” Baylee guides the five men back out to the hallway , so they can have more privacy. “Thank you guys so much.”

“Anything for our captain’s keeper.” Nico groans in annoyance at his teammates nickname for Baylee. The other four guys bid their goodbyes to Baylee before leaving the lovers alone for a second.

“I know it wasn’t much Schatz, but given the circumstances, I hope you enjoyed your surprise.”

“Oh I definitely enjoyed it.” Baylee gives Nico a small kiss while still staying work appropriate since anyone can see her in the hallway. “I mean not as much as Micheal did, you guys totally made his day.”

The two laugh share a laugh for a second. When their laughter died down, their eyes locked again.

“I’ll see you after the game tonight okay Schatz?”

“Of course captain, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” The two share one more kiss before she sends Nico away knowing that the bells is about the ring and that will cause the hallways to fill with students.

When she renters her classroom, her students all look at her blushing face. The students can’t help, but feel happy seeing the teacher that brings them so much joy, be so happy.

End note: so this was just a small little blurb I wrote real quickly just to test the waters on here and see how I feel about posting on here. This is the first ever post I am making on tumblr so feel free to let me know what you think. Constructive criticism only please :) and also let me know if you guys would be interested in reading more about Baylee and Nico in more detailed stories that I put more effort into.

#nhl blurb #nico hischier #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #nico hischier blurb

[diviinaee]

it is 11pm and i cannot sleep so here are some hcs i have of the redacted characters n their listeners

these are really random so bare with me as I fight the urge to sleep on the floor

David : first off. mans is latino. ok moving on. his grito? 10/10. MANS CAN SING

Angel : has cried over their minecraft dog for HOURS (david had no clue what to do)

Asher : is strangely talented at claw machines and every time a restaurant has one, he ends up getting something for everyone

Baaabe : this lovable human is the mom friend. angel needs a tissue? baaabe has it. sweetheart hasn't eaten? baaabe has their favorite fruit snacks. someone has a headache? baaabe is already giving them advil

Milo : has the worst leg cramps ever LIKE THE ONES YOU GET IN YOUR CALVES mf literally almost punched a hole in his headboard once

Sweetheart : made of liquid. this menace quite literally sits in impossible positions, fits in the smallest spaces, and is so slippery. almost like a cat

Sam : smells like coffee 24/7. this mans hugs are legit heaven on earth and i will PREACH THIS TO THE GODS

Darlin : has tried dog food before. out of stupid curiosity. did not enjoy it!

Vincent : lactose intolerant (lol fucking loser) (ps me acting like im not also lactose intolerant)

Lovely : double jointed and occasionally scared Vincent with the ways they can twist their body parts

Fred : can type on a computer blindfolded (my sister can do this and I'm so jealous)

Bright Eyes : very good at stick n pokes. has lots of them on their legs and had developed a high pain tolerance bc of it

Gavin : weirdly in love with the show ancient aliens. loves seeing what explanations humans have for magical occurrences

Freelancer : heavy-weight. this bitch can drink alot before finally crashing but is also victim to the worst hangovers known to man

Lasko : listens to Lizzo. he just does alright.

Damien : is far- sighted but he refuses to wear glasses (same)

Huxley : makes the most amazing shakes known to man LIKE SIR WHAT DO YOU PUT IN THEM

Kody : (im petty but im giving him this) smells like hair gel. AND NOT THE GOOD KIND.

Xavier : has sung let it go at practice to many times (he really let his life go tho) (im so funny 🤭)

Elliot : had too many beanies that are the same color/design but strangely knows the difference between all of them

Sunshine : a major bookworm. passed AP Literature with an A and got a 5 on the exam (prayin i got that luck 🙏)

Avior : the type of mf to go into a starbucks and order a tea. AND DOESN'T SPECIFY WHICH TEA.

Starlight : opposite of Avior. has the most detailed orders for EVERYTHING.

OK THATS ALL CAUSE NOW IM FINALLY SLEEPY i got 2 finals due tmrw so im gonna get a good night sleep so enjoy these!!

mwahmwah goodnight ♡♡

#redacted asmr #redacted audio #redactedverse #redacted david #redacted angel #redacted asher #redacted baabe #redacted milo #redacted sweetheart #redacted sam #redacted darlin #redacted vincent #redacted lovely #redacted frederick #redacted bright eyes #redacted gavin #redacted freelancer #redacted lasko #redacted damien #redacted huxley #redacted kody #redacted xavier #redacted elliot #redacted sunshine #redacted avior #redacted starlight #redacted shaw pack #redacted damn #redacted solaire clan

[skytellar]

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author note: hiiiii, this is my first postttt and i hope y’all like it and tell me how i diddd. i’ve never posted anything on this app so idrk how to do it very well…. 😟😟😟… anyway this is something i scrapped a few moths ago. okay i’ve been yapping for a while adios.

warnings: not much it’s fluff, OCD, body insecurity, skin color insecurity, academic validation, cussing (duh) (i think that’s all teehee)

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Could life get any worse god. This essay was actually going to be the fucking death of her. 10 pages, 10 pages of nothingness as it felt. She couldn’t help but repeat the same words, was she dumb? Why was this so hard, this normally comes easy, school is supposed to be easy, the one thing she holds on to. How can school be the one thing shes good at, and I still manages to fuck it all up. 2 pages in, and its due in 2 days, what the actual fuck.

All she feel next to her is humming next to her ear as she tries to continue working, as if her brain is short-circuiting or something. She manages to type maybe 2 sentences more, before she bashes her head into her hand out of frustration, she couldn’t possibly get angrier. The hand around her waist squeezes and she turns around. “Baby, please don’t stress. And please don’t do that.” Rafe commented. He put both hands on her hips and pulls her forward to him, he looks at her forehead that she just hit. He kisses her forehead 3 times, he knows that how she likes it. 3 times.

“Maybe take a break hun, you’ve been overworking yourself for probably four hours now.” He pointed out as he rubbed her temple, knowing it would ease her temper and stress. “No, I can’t take another goddamn break. I’m being so fucking lazy. God.” She snaps. She felt as though she had accomplished nothing, this essay was her semester exam and she had a 5.0 GPA because of all of her AP’s.

She would absolutely wreck it if she didn’t get an A+ on her exam for AP Lit. “Baby, you’re the most hardworking person I know. Farthest from lazy, you’ve been working far too long. How about we go for dinner, grab a Baha-Blast from Taco bell on the way back, and you can write 2 more pages when we get back? Okay?” He said it as though it was a demand rather than a question.

She thought for a moment. It made her feel bad rather than better. He was too good for her, he did too much. She didn’t deserve him. He saw her lack of a response, knowing she was probably overthinking it. He looked her dead in the eyes, giving her a “please-i-love-you-so-much-baby” look. “Get dressed okay? Please bug?” He asks, knowing she can’t possibly say no.

“You’re impossible,” she scoffs jokingly as she gets up to get dressed. Rafe does his little victory dance and goes to the closet to pick out clothes. She’s on the opposite side of the closet, picking her dress from her side of the closet. She goes through probably 10 dresses and sighs. She felt like she wouldn’t look good in any of them. She was nothing like the girls he’d had before. She wasn’t blonde. Her eyes weren’t blue. She didn’t have that perfect hourglass figure. And she wasn’t white.

How could she possibly compare? She didn’t even believe he was ever attracted to her, even though he makes sure to let her know probably every hour of the day. Why couldn’t her stomach just be flat. She wasn’t overweight, but she wasn’t the skinniest either. Her body had always been a sore subject, barely wearing any revealing clothing. Hoping no one would notice that Rafe’s perfect girlfriend was a fucking lazy whale. Her hair was also something she wished was never a problem for her. She has really curly hair, which she has to fight a full-fledged battle with everyday for it to look remotely decent, like she actually washes it. Why did she have to be like this, and why did he choose her?

By the time she’s at her peak of her thoughts, two hands wrap around her waist from behind. She looks up at her 6’2 boyfriend who was a foot taller than her. He was already fully dressed and ready, cologne and everything. God he smelled fucking delectable. “Have you picked what you want to wear yet bug?” He asked in a deep tone. Fuck, he was so hot. Why couldn’t she be on his level, or why couldn’t he find anyone better. “Still thinking, none of these look good on me.” After hearing that, he looks down at her wide-eyed, as if he was in shock. “What? Bug what are you on about?” She raises her eyebrow back at him, her eyes saying, “You heard me.”

He lets go of her and backs up, hands in the air, “This is shocking. I don’t think we are thinking about the same person! My girlfriend?” She rolls her eyes in return and says, “Okay, if you’re so sure, pick a good dress for me, smart guy.” He smirks in return, “Game on.” He goes towards the dresses, and looks through them, trying to find something he knows she will like and look amazing in. He finally stops at a long hot pink dress, with spaghetti straps, and a low cut. He bends down to grab some heels to go with it, picking some white pumps. He grabs the outfit and drops it in her hands.

“As I said, easy.” She lightly pushes him and walks over to the side to change. As she picks up the dress she gives him a look. She doesn’t change and just keeps looking at him. He doesn’t get the message, so she has to say it herself. “Um baby, can you leave while I change.” He is taken aback, but silently. She doesn’t catch his reaction but just continues waiting. He just walks over and gives her a big hug, his arms around her waist, “Bug, you’re beautiful. If you think anything less than that, I’ might as well be a scrap of garbage on the street.”

She slightly smiles at his attempt at a joke, he pulls away from the hug and starts to walk out. But she keeps holding onto his hand and says, “Stay, Its okay.” He goes in for a second hug, even tighter than the last and kisses her head. “I love you bug.” And then he quickly pulls away and sits on the bench in the corner of the closet as she begins changing.

She quickly slides off her t-shirt, but keeps on the shorts so she can wear them under the dress. The silky dress finds its way to slither down her body, and she pulls the straps up. The dress hugs her body in all the right places, making her look amazing. The low-cut made her boobs look fabulous, she turns over to rafe and he feels as though defiantly made the right decision with that dress. “Okay, you win” she scoffs. He practically squeals in excitement. She makes her way to their shared bathroom to do her hair.

She picks up the sprayer to wet her hair, he stands behind her, to watch. She begins to brush her hair with the brush. A struggle, but hopefully it would look at least half-decent tonight. She roughly brushes it to get out the tangles, when a hand takes the brush out of her hand. “Damn, you’ll be bald if you keep doing that. ” His deep voice vibrates against her ear. He lightly brushes her hair, somehow taking out the tangles? It was never that easy for her. He was good at this.

After a few more passes, her hair is completely untangled. She rolls her eyes at his victory smile in the mirror. She grabs her curl products and starts putting them in softly, her hair feeling amazing. When she finishes, she begins touching up her makeup, already having some from today. After finishing most of it, the last step is lipstick, best for last. She begins putting on her favorite Anastasia Sugar Plum lipstick, with cherry lip gloss on top.

She turns around to see Rafe still standing there, just watching her. He leans down for a kiss but she rejects it. “Uh-uh, not with my lips done” He rolls his eyes and kisses her cheek 3 quick times. Since she already had her heels and purse, he picked her up bridal style all the way to his car. She loved how he got rid of all of her problems with a look and his show-it-off shiteating grin.

She loved him.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

#lowkeyselfinserted #rafe outer banks #rafe cameron #rafe fluff #rafe cameron fluff #rafe x reader #outerbanks rafe #rafe imagine #rafe obx #rafe fanfiction #rafe x you #rafe fic

[fallingdown98]

FHJY Called Shot

Mostly making this post so if this is right i can say I called it. Obviously, thanks to the preview we know that the Bad Kids are gonna have to do the "Last Stand" exam. I'm aware that on a meta level, this was always going to happen because of how production works but I think this may also relate to some of the Teachers being in on the conspiracy w/ the RatGrinders + Ankarna. In on the conspiracy in this case, does not necessarily mean bad guy though because I have an inkling based on absolutely nothing that this conflict may involve more than just one conspiring group. Might even be willing to think the teachers may be the ones putting the RG up to the shit theyve been doing. Specifics under the read more because i have a lot of thoughts. Listed in most sus to least sus but worth noting

Porter - First to mention the Last Stand, Warhammer = Akarna’s Scales theory, Rage, his Giant lineage (Through Earth Genasi), Ancestral Paladin relates to prior point, Steering Fig away from Cass, “Barbarian” healed Ragh post prom before he was able to see Kalina (Also, didn’t use Lay on Hands which we now know he would have had access to), Paired with Jace Stardiamond (AKA another sus mf), unsurprised at the carnage on the first day of Freshman year

Jace - Current VP so has power even if he keeps claiming he doesn’t want it, Seen most w/ Porter (See above), Ragh saw him talking to Arianwen (And Kalina) post prom (Aka I think Spy’s tongue curse will lead to this), first to inspect the hellmouth magic FY and recognized both the divine and Nightmare King stuff, Yolanda specifically said she would go to Jace over Grix with the Lucy Info, Speculation: Divine Soul Sorcerer, Of Note: Would have had most contact with FY Villain Penelope Everpetal as she was also a sorc, Also also I DO NOT trust the fact that he put Riz on the faculty we still need to check those school Bylaws

Henry HopClap - Not on OG FY Faculty Roster, Grix’s hard drive, His connection with Ruben, Could have encouraged Gorgug w/ the intention/assumption he’d fail and thus would have to take The Last Stand, Frosty Faire Fest had some clearly evil artificing with the wires thing and would have the most knowledge in this regard

Zara Sool - Also not on OG FY Faculty Roster, Showed up at Mordred during Baron’s Game (I know they said in AP that it was a riff on Horror Movie Monsters but she was still the only one without a direct connection to the Manor), Lover of Celestial (Could be either pro or anti Ankarna), Also seen with Sus Porter, Agreed w/ Porter against Cass

Rogue Teacher - Sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one, Maybe the Rogue teacher has put KLCK up to some amount of her plot or assisted in some way leading to Teach finding Student rather than Vice-Versa. 

Bobby Dawn - This mf is last just cuz we already know he’s up to some shady shit and I can’t wait for the Bad Kids to murder his pompous ass, Probably the one to expel Kristin which gives him both satisfaction but also leads to Last Stand

TLDR: I think there’s a conspiracy within the Faculty and that it’s possible Porter, Jace, Henry, Zara, and/or the Rogue Teacher are all working together. If they are pressuring the RatGrinders, that would give added motivation to fuck over the Bad Kids for a good grade. Also think something catastrophic will happen at the Last Stand and that it was part of the plan since day 1 (Im aware on a meta scale this may just be me overthinking and we just needed to give a reason to use the cool battleset)

#d20 #fhjy theory #fantasy high #fhjy spoilers #rat grinders #porter cliffbreaker #jace stardiamond #henry hopclap #zara sool #Rogue teacher #bobby dawn #Ankarna

[yesloverboy]

hot for teacher (eddie munson x reader) pt. 1: failing history

SUMMARY: Eddie Munson is determined to snatch his diploma and run like hell out of Hawkins High. The only thing standing in the way is his failing history grade...and winning over the heart of his smoking hot tutor. 

word count: 5.5k 

[content warnings: swearing, smoking, drug use, hurt/comfort, fluff, mutual pining, idiots to lovers.]

NOTE: Hello everyone! I’m back from retirement and ready to dig back into writing. Eddie is special to me (and all of us) for obvious reasons, but he reminds me so much of my friends from when I was a kid that I’m determined to give him as many happy endings as possible. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think! I’m a little rusty, so any feedback is appreciated. 

tag list: @captinkirc​

“Fuck!”

 Eddie Munson’s screech could be heard from across the cafeteria, plastic lunch trays trembling in its wake. Dozens of eyes watched as he crumpled to his usual table where members of the Hellfire Club waited with mouths agape. In a ring-clad fist he gripped a single piece of paper with white knuckles. As the club members and onlookers waited for another explosion of anger, Dustin Henderson was the first to notice a bright red F peeking through the folds. 

 “Holy shit, Eddie,” Dustin gulped. “Is that your–”

 “History test?” Eddie snapped, pulling his head back up and slamming the sheet down on the table. “Astute observation, Henderson.” 

 Dustin gulped and sent Mike a nervous glance, immediately regretting that he said anything at all. 

 Vibrating with anger, Eddie recalled every bloody red F that had been pushed face down on his desk that year. He gnawed absentmindedly on a fingernail, watching the diploma he’d coveted for two senior years straight slipping from his view. This wasn’t any normal failing test grade, it was an omen–a promise that his end of semester history final was going to be his undoing once again. 

 “I can’t fucking do it this anymore man,” Eddie sprung to his feet, pacing animatedly by the windows as anyone within earshot watched. “This school, this town, these people–it’s going to be the death of me. No resurrections, no second chances, just death.” 

 “Look at me! You need to calm down.” Mike Wheeler chimed in, doing whatever damage control he could to prevent the prying eyes of Jason and his hive minded crew from coming their way. He already had his bike tires slashed twice this month, and he was not about to beg on his hands and knees for Nancy to make up another lie for him again. Besides, if Eddie was suffering their D&D campaign would surely suffer with him.

“Calm down???” Eddie howled, “How can I be calm when this is my future?” He gestured dramatically to the rest of the lunch room for everyone to see. Mike tensed, not wanting to know if Jason and his goons saw or not. 

Dustin groaned, “Eddie, please stop losing your shit or we’re all going to die with you.”

It took Mike physically getting up and grabbing the taller boy by the shoulders before Eddie would look at him and actually listen to what he had to say. 

“Munson, listen. There’s a girl we know–”

“You know a girl?” Eddie jeered, his failing grade still very much tainting his usual happy-go-lucky mood.

“Shut up! This girl could potentially save your ass, okay?” Mike huffed, “She’s one of Robin Buckley’s friends–you know, the girl from band that works at Family Video–and I heard she helped Robin pass her AP history exam last year.” 

 Dustin piped up, “Um, excuse me, but there’s one little problem you’ve failed to mention, Mike!”

 “What are you talking about?”

“That girl is my sister, asshole,” Dustin hissed, giving Mike a swift smack to the chest. “She’s never going to go for this, and even if she did I wouldn’t want you dorks around her anyway.”

 Mike raised his hands protectively over his chest, a deep set scowl twisted on his face. “You just don’t want the rest of the club to know that your sister is secretly super hot.”

 “Ew, don’t be gross!” Dustin audibly gagged, shoving against Mike’s shoulder. “She’s too smart for you guys anyways…”

 Eddie pondered this for a moment, turning on his heel away from Mike and tapping at his chin contemplatively. “So what you’re saying is all I have to do is convince your nerdy sister to help me out because she successfully tutored a girl named…Robert?”

 Mike rolled his eyes, “Close enough.” 

 “You do realize my sister charges money, right? Like actual money, none of that Monopoly shit you try to pass off to other people.”

 Unfazed by another one of Dustin’s attempted deterrents, Mike is already prepared with a solution. “I’ve been to your house, idiot. I know your sister likes that same bizarro headbanger stuff that Eddie does. He just has to….” Wheeler chooses his next words carefully, “...charm her.”

 “Charm her,” Eddie repeats, staring off into the distance as if he can see the vision of his long coveted diploma coming back into view. 

 “And, she's hot,” An impish grin spread across Eddie’s face as he ruffled invisible dust off his tattered denim vest. Maybe there was hope after all. “Looks like my army crawl to a D in Ms. O’Donnell’s is gonna be a sprint, boys.”

 Eddie Munson was going to make it out of Hawkins if it killed him. 

_______________________________________________________________________

 “Okay, picture this: you’re about to die and you can only pick one final horror flick as a last supper before your impending doom. Who are you picking, Re-Animator or Fright Night?” Robin swings her long legs over the video store counter, shoving two tapes in front of your face. 

 You wrinkle your nose and shoo her hands away, swatting as if a gnat were circling your head. “Jesus Christ, Robin, I asked you to help me pick a movie for this weekend, not give me an existential crisis.” 

 Steve chuckles from his seat behind the counter, feet propped up as he munched on a crinkled pack of Red Vines. His chocolate hair is swooped perfectly into place and you wonder how anyone could make that obnoxious polyester vest look cool. As a matter of fact, you wondered how anyone managed to look cool at all. If someone would have told you a few years ago that you would be having semi-regular conversations with King Steve of Hawkins High, you would have laughed in their face. 

 Thanks to Steve’s unconventional friendship with your baby brother and Robin’s desperate need to pass AP European history to stay in band, the pair now tolerated your presence from time to time. This typically took form in your weekly tradition of picking a horror flick or two for the weekend while Robin occasionally included you in her and Steve’s endless stream of banter.

 Granted, you were still basically a nobody in the grand scheme of the Hawkins social hierarchy, but it was nice to have something to do other than pouring over textbooks and flipping records in your room. You hoped one day you could have a friendship as rock solid as theirs, but it was wishful thinking at best.

 “Just pick already!” Robin insists, “Sexy vampires or gooey nasty, sci-fi madness?”

 You chew on your lip, contemplating which film would serve better as a reward for a long weekend of studying. While you had been dying to finally see Re-Animator, your stubborn desire to stay on top of the honor roll had turned your brain into mush over the course of the semester. You needed more fun in your life, not to keep thinking. 

 “Sexy vampires,” you decide, eliciting a broad grin from Robin and a distant groan from Steve. 

 “Take that, Harrington!” Robin cheers victoriously as she runs up behind Steve and musses his perfect hair out of place. He tries fighting her off, but she’s too busy parading the Fright Night tape around the store victoriously. A few patrons stare, but Robin pays them no mind. “You owe me ten bucks!” 

 “What the hell are you two dweebs on about now?” you scoff, seizing the tape out of Robin's hands. You slide it across the counter, waiting expectantly for Steve to scan it as he desperately tries to mold his hair back into place.

 Steve tried to open his mouth, but Robin immediately bulldozed him. “So when we got our shipment on Monday Harrington here bet me that I couldn’t get anyone to rent a–and I quote– ‘cheesy vampire movie’ by the end of the week, but I knew that you’d go for it over Re-Animator–”

 “Which I told her was cheating!” Steve interjects, sliding the tape back to you.

 You quirk an eyebrow, “And why, might I ask, would that be cheating?”

 Robin rolls her eyes and begins chewing on a stolen Red Vine, “Oh please, Henderson, we all know that you’re secretly into all that dark and broody shit, I’ve seen the band posters on your walls. You’ve got a classic case of closet weird girl syndrome, which I did not see coming.”

 Closet weird girl, your face went pale at the accusation, even if Robin didn’t necessarily mean it to be an insult. You were about to protest that the band and movie posters on your walls were actually quite cerebral compared to any of that Brat Pack, new wave bullshit Robin and Steve entertained when the bell above the door chimed. 

 “Speaking of dark and broody shit,” Steve muttered flatly, eyes focused behind you. 

 Following Steve’s stern gaze your eyes fell on a tall and willowy boy with wild, shaggy hair. Chains around his belt loops jingled as he passed through the door, his dirty white sneakers taking tentative steps across the threshold. He looked very out of place. 

 At first his back was to you, allowing you to scan the various pins and patches stuck to his denim vest. Smiling softly you realized they mirrored some of the pins you had on your tote bag. It wasn’t until he turned that you understood who exactly you were looking at. Hellfire Club was printed in bold, black letters above the face of some kind of toothy, red devil–an exact match to the shirts your sweet little brother and his dorky friends donned at school every Friday.

 Eddie Munson, you thought, no wonder why Harrington is all squirrely. 

 “What do you want, Munson?” Steve sighed, not exactly thrilled to see the town freak stumble into his video store. You knew Steve was always cordial enough to Eddie for the sake of Dustin and the kids, but you and Robin had spent many a Friday evening listening to everything that could go wrong if Eddie influenced the younger boys to step out of line. Wherever Eddie Munson went, trouble seemed to follow. 

 You didn’t live under a rock, rumors about Eddie and his little club were constantly swirling around the halls at school. Hushed voices would hiss that he was a serial killer in the making as various papers and magazines blamed fantasy games and rock and roll for corrupting today’s youth. However, being the older sister of Dustin Henderson gave you a much different impression of the boy standing in the doorway. Dustin had gushed about Eddie at any possible chance that he could; the car ride to school, watching television at home, or even at the dinner table– much to your mother’s dismay–all the while describing how cool and funny his new, older friend was. Even if the rumors made you a little apprehensive of Eddie’s intentions, you couldn’t help but be grateful that he had given your baby brother a place to fit in when you couldn’t. You were nobody, and sometimes that felt worse than being a freak. 

 “Sweet W.A.S.P. pin,” you remark to Eddie, taking both Robin and Steve by surprise.

 Eddie opened his mouth to speak when your brother and Mike Wheeler came crashing through the door, sending Eddie stumbling towards you. You caught Eddie’s shoulders, letting out a little yelp as you felt his weight tumble against your frame. Stiffening your body, you held him steady, saving the both of you from knocking over a carousel of discount tapes and concessions beside the counter. Instantly, you were hit with the scent of Irish Spring and cigarettes, mingling with a twinge of motor oil and leather. Looking up, your eyes locked with two deep pools of brown staring back at you, soft and warm. His face was turning pink, an embarrassed blush quickly peppering his face and neck as he started back, his lips parted like he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

 Despite being in the same grade that year, this was the first time that you had been close to the dungeon master himself. Judging by the vicious rumors and his notoriously erratic behavior, most kids from Hawkins would be shaking in their sneakers. In that moment, you couldn’t help but think that he was different than you expected, and the longer you locked eyes with him the more you could see a flustered little boy hiding beneath the surface. You didn’t want to look away. 

 Eddie pulled away suddenly, leaving your grip as if you’d burned him. You couldn’t explain why, but a flush of your own started spreading to your cheeks. 

 What the fuck is wrong with me?

 “Shit, sorry,” Eddie muttered, rubbing at his arm awkwardly before shooting the younger boys behind him a glare. 

 “Goddammit guys, is it possible for the both of you to come in here without nearly destroying the place?” Steve scolded, separating Mike and Dustin as if keeping them together would initiate mutually assured destruction. 

 Turning to Dustin you distract yourself by adjusting his hat, which now sat sideways on his fluffy nest of curls. You don’t doubt it had inevitably been knocked to the side from his sudden impact into Wheeler. “Seriously, Dust, what’s the rush for?”  

 “Eddie has something to ask you!” Mike blurted out, determined not to let Dustin’s protectiveness over his sister ruin their plan. Eddie had to graduate, otherwise their D&D club would be on the fritz for the remainder of the semester.

 “Eddie?” you and Robin locked eyes, the both of you suspecting that the boys were up to another elaborate stunt. 

 Dustin practically growled in frustration. You didn’t know it yet, but he had been planning on beating Mike and Eddie to the video store after school to try and persuade you not to tutor his socially ostracized dungeon master. “Y/N, you don’t have to listen to these buttheads okay, Eddie was just leaving–”

 “Uhhh, yeah actually! I do have something to ask you” Eddie admitted abruptly, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “Do you think we could maybe go somewhere and, um, talk?” He tried giving you a sheepish smile, his usual bravado that you’d observed in the school halls slipping away.

 Steve tried to shoot you a warning glance, but you were too enveloped in your own confusion to pay him any mind. What could Eddie Munson, the freak and metalhead of Hawkins High possibly want with you? 

 “This isn’t some kind of joke, is it?” Robin contended, eyes narrowing. “Because if it is, someone’s ass is getting kicked. Isn’t that right, Harrington?”

 Steve put a hand on his hip, “Yeah someone’s ass is getting–wait, what?”

 You chewed on your lip, not even considering that your kindhearted brother would be roped into a plot to trick you just for a quick laugh. Memories from your middle school years flooded back, reminding you of the relentless bullying that made you a loner in the first place. Even Robin and Steve took enough pity on you to try and shield you from that possibility. They wouldn’t, you decide, shaking the thought.

 “Me, a joker? A trickster, even?” Eddie replied, raising up both hands and feigning offense. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 You huffed, becoming impatient that your solitary movie night was most likely going to be interrupted by whatever antics your brother and his friends had actually gotten into. “Then what is it, Munson?” 

 Eddie sucked in a breath, “Easy there, sweetheart. Just hop in my van and all will be revealed soon.” 

 Sweetheart. People didn’t call you that, your semi-neurotic mother maybe, but certainly not boys in your senior class. Frustrated, you hoped it was just your overloaded brain needlessly spinning its wheels again making your cheeks heat up once more.

 “You do realize how that sounds, right? Like, we all heard that?” Steve raised an incredulous eyebrow at you, “You’re not seriously going to go.” 

 “Please?” Mike begs, nudging your brother with a snappy kick to the shin. “It’s important–right, Dustin?”

 “I guess,” He grumbles, staring down at his shoes as his toes dig into the carpet.

 “Fine, whatever,” you decide, pushing past Steve to collect your video and throw it into the tote slung across your shoulder. It may be a stupid idea to go anywhere with the town pariah, but you chose to believe if Dustin and Mike were rushing to his aid it must be important. 

 Looking Eddie directly in his eyes, you point a finger at the three boys “But Robin’s right, if this is some kind of bullshit joke I’ll kick all three of your asses–especially yours, Dustin.” 

 “No fair!”

 If your middle school years had taught you one thing, it was how to stand up for yourself. Hopefully, you wouldn’t have to.

_______________________________________________________________________

 Eddie pulled into the now abandoned parking lot of the old Starcourt Mall, its charred remains leveled completely flat. If it weren’t for the leftover strands of caution tape fraying in the you would think the structure had never been there in the first place. His van screeched to a halt, clunking violently as he put it in park. You held your tote bag tightly to your chest, the arms of your old flannel barely covering the chipped maroon polish on your fingertips. 

 Neither of you had said a word on the way, and you couldn’t recall a time when you hadn’t seen Eddie passing through the halls blabbering animatedly about fictional wars and the dangers of conformity. Instead, he popped in a Venom cassette and turned up the volume, the metallic guitar sounds garbling out any thoughts you may have had about the very bizarre circumstance you found yourself in. 

 Impatiently, you cranked down the radio until the thundering melody became a low rumble in the background. “Remind me again why we’re in the middle of the abandoned Starcourt parking lot?”

 “So, W.A.S.P., huh?” Eddie asks, completely ignoring your question. 

 “Excuse me?”

 He taps a finger on the tarnished W.A.S.P pin nestled beneath his lapel, around his knuckle you watch a steel cross ring with skulls nestled in the corners glimmer in the dipping afternoon light. 

 “Um, yeah,” you answer, running a hand through your hair. “You know..I Wanna Be Somebody, and all that. Definitely on my list of favorites.” 

 Eddie suddenly erupts into motion, thrashing his head wildly from side to side. “I wanna be somebody, be somebody too!” He howls, doing his best to imitate the singer's rasp as he moves in a flurry of black leather and untamed curls. You can’t help but laugh at his display, delighted to have at least one person act as excited about music as you felt on the inside. 

 You were far too reserved to have an outburst of passion like that, but that didn’t keep you from daydreaming about moshing in a crowd of concert-goers far, far away from a town so small it was choking you.  

 “Hey, hey!” you chuckle, “Cool it, Munson, this isn’t the Vogue Theatre.”

 Eddie stops singing, but all the excitement from reenacting a W.A.S.P performance was bubbling beneath the surface. “Wait, have you ever actually been to the Vogue in Bloomington? I’ve heard the Ramones played there once.”

 “No…I mean it’s not that I’ve never wanted to, but I–I mean we–we’ve never been outside of Hawkins. Our mom is kind of a worrier.” Embarrassment suddenly crept hotly up your shirt collar. Here was Eddie, looking like the closest thing Hawkins had seen to a rockstar while you were complaining about how your mommy won’t even let you outside the city limits. “I’ve, uh, collected some of their concert fliers though, for my room.” 

 Eddie’s brow furrowed a little as he observed the way you wilted at the mention of your family. “Well, Henderson, it seems that the same evil curse has befallen the both of us.” 

 Noticing the confusion on your face he clarified, “I haven’t left either.”

 “Then how did you get so…so…” In spite of your grade point average, you found yourself struggling to find the right words–a problem that hadn’t existed before Eddie Munson decided to invade the dawning of another weekend you planned to spend alone. Always the logician, it didn’t compute that Eddie could be from the same bland city limits as you and still look like he walked out of Creem magazine. 

 “Fucked up?” He quips. 

 “Oh god,” you balked, “That’s not what I–” 

 Eddie just laughs, completely unperturbed. “Listen, even if you did, the whole town certainly believes I’m here to open a portal to hell–which would be bitchin’, by the way. If only Satan would throw me a fucking bone.” 

 Not knowing what to say, you fumble with a Mötley Crüe pin on your bag and hope that the ground of Hawkins, Indiana would open its gaping maw once again and swallow you whole.  

 “Alas, fair maiden, do not fret,” Eddie remarked with a flair of his hand, “I didn’t bring you here to sacrifice you to Satan, or whatever those single-celled organisms at school are saying about me these days.” 

 Eddie chuckled to himself, fishing for a pack of cigarettes in his jacket pocket and carefully pulling one out with his teeth. He kicked a leg up on the dashboard, seeming more relaxed now that he was in his own space instead of in front of the prying eyes of Family Video. You scan the length of his leg absentmindedly, flushing when you realize his chain link belt was handcuffed around the front of his slender waist. 

 “Well I wasn’t worried but now I’m starting to think it may be a possibility,” you mumble, immediately trying to redirect the conversation before your nerves can take over again. “Listen, I don’t know what you could possibly want to discuss with me, but if my brother is in trouble or something like that I need to know, okay?” 

 Eddie let out a heavy sigh, “As I’m sure you’re aware, this is my third attempt at escaping the evil clutches of Principal Higgins, yet victory has always evaded me due to one grade and one grade only–Ms. O’Donnell’s history final.”

 Lighting the cigarette absentmindedly, Eddie took a deep drag, careful to blow the smoke out of the broken driver’s side window. Your skeptical heart softened at the small gesture of politeness. “Looks like today’s your lucky day Henderson. As it would turn out, I’m the damsel who’s in need of rescuing.”

 “Rescuing?” 

 You shifted uncomfortably in the torn leather seat of Eddie’s van, rustling various items of scattered trash in your wake. “And what does that have to do with me?”

 “A little birdie by the name of Mike Wheeler told me you’ve got a pretty steady tutoring gig, being top of our class and all.” Eddie grinned. “And I need you to help this bottom-tier, lowlife get the fuck up out of here. They won’t hold me down again, not this time–’86 is gonna be my year.”

 Heat traveled to your cheeks at the mention of your class rank. All this time you assumed this talk would be about your brother, yet the freak Eddie Munson brought you here because somehow you managed to out-nerd him and all of his friends. 

 “You do realize you didn’t have to kidnap me from the video store, right? I have fliers with my phone number, like, all over the hallways.”

 “Come on sweetheart, where’s the fun in that?” Eddie winks, “Besides, I had to see for myself.”

 There it was again, your heart thuds, that pet name. 

 “See what for yourself?”

 Flicking his cigarette out the window, Eddie turns to you, leaning in close with both hands on his ripped up knees. You suck in a breath, freezing as he closes the space between you. Cigarette smoke tendrils tickle your face as Eddie exhales, his breath warm against your cheek as his doe eyes search your face. Heart hammering in your chest, and you can’t tell if you want him to come closer or if you should push him away entirely. 

 “I had to see if you were as hot as Dustin’s little friends say,” he breathes, eyes never leaving yours. 

Hot? Realization suddenly hits you like a brick to the face. 

 “Oh fuck off,” you growl, shoving Eddie back into his seat. 

 Robin and Steve were right, this had been a joke, just one big prank to pull on the only girl in Hawkins that no one even takes so much as a second glance at. Angrily, you yank the car door open and hop onto the pavement, not caring that you’re essentially miles away from the nearest populated establishment. The lot was still vacant for as far as the eye could see, and you nervously hoped there wasn’t some kind of audience to your humiliation crouching in the tree line.

 Panicked, Eddie tumbles out of the van after you, practically tripping over his own feet. “Henderson, wait!” 

 Suddenly he felt very stupid for thinking he could flirt his way into getting a few tutoring sessions with you. Wheeler was right, Dustin’s sister was hot. In fact, he was surprised to find that he found her beautiful, a thought that made his brain fuzzy with static electricity. Eddie should have known any girl who would willingly agree to speak to him of all people–alone–based solely on the good faith of her brother’s friends, was too far out of his league. So above him, that she had even run away in disgust. No matter how hard Eddie tried not to, he repelled other people. Just because you were Dustin’s sister shouldn’t have made him think it would be any different this time. 

 You stick up a single middle finger and bound forward, not knowing or caring where you were going as long as you were far away from this mortifying experience.

 “Henderson, please,” Eddie panted, his long legs quickly enabling him to catch up with you. “It-it’s not what you think, okay? It’s not what it looks like!”

 Fed up, you stop to face him again, brow knitted into a deep scowl. “Then what is it then, Munson? Because to me it looks like my brother and his stupid friends decided to play a shitty prank on me just like Robin said they might.” 

 “Prank?” Eddie asked, a look of genuine confusion washing over his pale face, “Look, when that, uh, girl back at the video store asked if we were playing a joke I thought she meant like a Carrie type of prank or whatever.”

 “Pig’s blood, really? Wow you really are dumber than you look,” you spat. “Not even you knew my name until today. Do you honestly expect me to buy into your bullshit? I’m not my brother.”

 No you certainly are not, Eddie thought, trying not to physically wince at your insult.

 Luckily, Eddie was used to devising strategies and decided to play your harsh words to his advantage. “Exactly! That’s the problem, I am dumb and–look!” Animatedly, he pulls a wad of teal paper out of his leather jacket pocket and thrusts it in your direction. “I did have your flier, see?”

 You snatch it from his hands, unfurling the well-worn sheet. 

TUTORING: 

All subjects, $10 an hour. 

Please call (Y/N) Henderson at [phone] 

Serious Inquiries only. 

 Well, he at least wasn’t lying about that. “Then what was the point of all of this? You could have just called and spared both of us the grief.” 

 Eddie looked down at his raggedy sneakers, shifting back and forth like a child being scolded by their mother. “Well…” Eddie begins timidly, “I don’t exactly, um, have the money to afford a tutor at this time.” 

 Your mouth went dry, “Oh.” Heart sinking, you could feel the anger and embarrassment that had been pulsating through your veins slowing to a shrieking halt. 

 “Look,” Eddie starts, hands tugging at his wild hair. “It was a dumb idea, anyways. Please, at least let me take you home, alright? I know you’re mad and all, but weird shit happens around here and you’d be crazier than me to walk back into town by yourself.”

 Mouth clamped shut, you follow Eddie wordlessly to his van, not knowing what you could possibly do to salvage the situation. Next to Eddie’s defeated form you felt so incredibly small. If it weren’t for the occasional jingle of pins on Eddie’s vest, you could’ve convinced yourself he was just a ghost–a figment of your imagination. After a few moments of unbearable silence, Eddie climbs inside his van, the engine turning and sputtering violently into hesitant motion. You sit beside him, shifting your weight carefully. 

“Eddie I–,” you begin, “I’m sorry I overreacted. It’s just that I’m not used to people talking to me like that, and knowing you did it because you wanted something from me didn’t make it feel any better.” 

 Eddie’s deep eyes sink with worry as he navigates the now darkened road. Corn fields and trees rush by as the sun falls, the dark orange sky now fading into rich blues and purples. His knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel, a pang of guilt ringing in your chest knowing that you caused it. “You don’t have to be nice, I know my place here, and I’m just sorry I was so blinded by wanting to run away that I thought things could be different,” he smiles sadly. “Turns out you can’t cheat fate, huh?”

 Fate. 

 At the mention of the inevitable, you were reminded of all the nights you spent by yourself thinking about how you must be destined to be alone, worried that even if you made it out of Hawkins alive, you’d still be the same nobody anywhere else. You didn’t want to believe it but deep down you always felt that only your achievements made you valuable, not actually the person you were to others or the nonexistent role you played in their lives. Stealing a glance at Eddie, you recognized the same bitter emptiness you’d felt so many times before. An emptiness that you once believed was foreign to everyone around you. Maybe this was your opportunity to change something, to help someone else escape even if you weren’t sure you could do it for yourself.  

 “Fuck that.” 

 “Wait, what?” Eddie’s eyes darted nervously between you and the road as he pulled up to the side of your house, careful to stay idling on the street rather than risk your mom seeing his van in the driveway.

 “You heard me,” you huff, digging around in your bag for a spare flier, “Fuck that fate stuff, fuck this town, and fuck what people expect from us.”

 “Henderson, you’re scaring me.”

 Ignoring him, you stick a brand new flier in his direction. When he doesn’t immediately take it, you grab him by the ring-clad hand and shove it into his palm. You do your best to conceal the shiver that runs down your spine as your fingertips gently ghost against the warmth of his. 

 “You’re going to pass that history final if it’s the last thing I do,” you insist. 

 Eddie stares at you blankly, mouth slack in disbelief. “Didn’t you just hear what I said back there? I don’t have any money, I can’t–”

 “Eddie,” you assert, trying to channel the same firmness you reserved for Dustin when he wasn’t listening. “Don’t worry about that, I just need you to promise me something, okay?” 

 “Anything,” he breathes, awakening butterflies in your stomach that you didn’t even know you had.

 “Promise me that we’ll both get out of here,” you give him your best wavering smile, and extend your hand forward for him to shake. 

 Eddie grips it tightly, a stupid grin now plastered across his face. He nearly yanks your arm out of socket with his enthusiasm, but you don’t protest. It was nice to see him happy again, and for a moment you wished you could always be the source of that goofy smile. 

 “You have my word, fair maiden,” he nods furiously, “On my uncle’s grave, I will not disappoint you. I’ll follow you straight in to hell if that’s what it takes.”

 “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” you laugh, “Save it for your nerd session.”

 Once Eddie finally releases his grip you grab your tote, stepping out of the van and onto the lamp-lit asphalt, arm still feeling like jelly. Trudging up the steep driveway, you almost make it to the doorstep when Eddie’s voice calls out from his parking spot at the curb. 

 “Wheeler was wrong!” he shouts, torso half hanging out of where the driver’s side window should be. 

“About what?” you hiss, hoping to God your mother didn’t recognize Eddie’s voice. 

 Eddie grinned devilishly, “You’re way hotter.”

 Before you could spit out a rebuttal, Eddie revved the van’s corroded engine and sped down the block, tires letting out a shrill screech as they tore through your quiet slice of suburbia. Stupefied, you shook your head and stepped inside knowing that your mother would be waiting for you in the kitchen. Sauntering down the hall, you found her alone at the dining table with a cup of chamomile in one hand and her daily crossword puzzle in the other. 

 “Hey honey,” she beams, peeking over the top of her paper. “Looks like someone had a good day.” 

 “What do you mean?” you ask, hanging your bag on the back of an old wooden chair.

 “You’re smiling, silly.” 

  Eddie fucking Munson, you groan internally. 

 That boy was going to be the death of you. 

#don't worry ya'll this will be happy endings only #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson cult #stranger things #stranger things s4 #joe quinn #robin buckley #steve harrington #mike wheeler #dustin henderson #fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #joseph quinn

[windienine]

hello!

you said to ask about Chuubo’s so um, here I am!

I have pitched Chuubo’s to my primary playgroup and when the time opens up we’re going to at least start session zeroing a few arcs of Glass Dragon. Which leads me to my questions:

1: how long did the prep for your OneShot episode take? How does that compare to like, usual session zeroing?

2: the things my playgroup knows about Chuubo’s are a collection of my incoherent excited screeches about how cool/strange the world is, that it’s diceless, and that it’s roleplay heavy with a greater emphasis on knowing the ending then they’re used to. Two of my players are into it, one is hesitant, and my maybe player is politely resistant to premade characters with premade arcs. How would you suggest introducing the system to new players?

3: any general HGing tips?

This might be less “in the weeds” than you were hoping. I would love to discuss lore when I have a campaign properly going.

the oneshot podcast episodes were a project put together with a series of people who run, play, and design games for a living. putting together your first session with friends is going to have different prep time, prep needs for individual players, and different overall scaffolding. APs take a different manner of prep than RPG sessions played with friends. however: i planned the general premise of the campaign beforehand over the course of a week and made up new quests between sessions. i had a roughly hour-long session zero with the players before our first recorded episode. in a regular session with friends i'd probably take more time to get them acquainted with the world and read through their playbooks with them, probably with more hands-on examples of how to play, and i'd mostly stick to the quests in gmd rather than make up my own quests wholesale to start with.

for my part i try to introduce the setting, premise, and characters first, and only use a basic framework of mechanics for the first little while. let players focus on accumulating experience points (and literal experience) before throwing the whole kitchen sink at them. my general advice is give them their quests, and let them futz around taking XP actions and stumbling into quest goals and develop a dynamic with each other before throwing any real obstacles into the mix. let them play. if someone doesn't seem into it during session zero/session one, i don't know if you'll get them to pull through for a longform campaign.

talk out scenes beforehand. ask players what they want out of a given scene (characters they want involved, xp goals they want to hit, etc.) and provide scaffolding for it, and if they have no ideas, provide some options for them until they get the hang of coming up with scene ideas on their own. let players explore around and interact with the world. try to keep scenes 30 minutes long or shorter, if you can, to start with (scene bloat is real and preventable). it's okay to end a scene and then decide what kind of xp action it counted as after the fact. take lots of breaks. talk about what you liked about a scene after the fact, if that makes you feel good. keep things quick, light, and casual. this isn't an exam, you're not being graded. have fun.

#chuubo's marvelous wish granting engine #cmwge #asks #thanks!

[deusvervewrites]

Now that you said that the First Years are taking Calculus in Japanese First year of high school, it reminds me of the fact that not only are there standards between the different countries(and the US tends to be on the lower end unless one has money and goes to a more rigorous school and Japan is on the higher end), the qualities and stereotypes of the dumb and worst ranking students are going to be different as well. Assuming that there no corruption and UA is truly one of the best school in Japan, Denki, Mina and Kirishima are the idiots in 1-A but they’re the idiots in one of the best schools in the East. They would absolutely beat 90+% of IRL American high school students in a majority of subjects(assuming if they take the exact same tests). I took AP Calc in Senior year and didn’t truly get it until Freshman College, and I think some of the issues in a lot of people’s cases are that we don’t have good teachers that care, students are don’t care about school, and/or parents being helicopters. So the Japan vs US schooling systems are going to be at an disadvantage against the Americans, whose frame of reference is the American system and not do basic research on the Japanese system.

There’s also the situation that UA is a private, elite school and not a generic public school that is available to everyone. UA would have a lot higher standards what is normal for the average Japanese school. American stereotypes for a bad student that goes to class is one who doesn’t turn in homework, doesn’t get the subject, and gets lower than Ds. Denki, Mina and Kirishima don’t seem like that in canon and had they gone to a much easier school, they could easily get Bs and As. If they were truly that bad then UA probably would have to give them more help, restrict them on certain activities, or even threaten expulsion on account on not improving or doing well in grades. It is a reminder that all students in 1-A passed the written exam for Finals, the three only failed in the practical portion.

I blame fanon for the problems as those three are a lot smarter than believed, ignorant yes but not failing classes bad.

It's interesting (in the 'may you live in interesting times' way) that Japan tends to rank students competitively. Kaminari and Ashido are at the bottom of the class... but that's meaningless. Unless a significant number of students get the exact same score, someone has to be at the bottom. For all we know they have an 80% in every subject at their worst.

We also know that Ashido struggles with studying (shown in the preparation for the End of Term Finals) and while I don't have a source off the top of my head I'm sure if I spent a few minutes I could find something similar with Kaminari besides him being dumbstruck by that calculus problem I mentioned in the previous ask. So they do struggle academically, but that doesn't change the fact that, again, they are keeping up with one of the most demanding curriculum in Japan.

#asks #meta

[modelbus]

Hello! Do you think you'd be interested in doing part 2 of the Tommy x male reader and the destiny duck thing? i found it so funny and think it def deserves a part 2

I'd love to! I apologize for vanishing for a few weeks and for how short this is, school has been hectic with AP exams. Check out the first part :)

Pairing: CC!Tommyinnit x Male!Reader

Childhood Friends to Lovers - Soulmate AU Part 2

After reuniting with Tommy, life only seems to keep going up. The two of you click in a way you've never had happen before, conversations flowing better than beer at a frat party. And this time, you had his number. He wouldn't be vanishing on you again.

You learn that he's actually some crazy popular streamer, which only pissed you off a little. Seriously, you could've done one internet search and found him! But no, you had to spend forever wondering if you'd ever see him again.

Although tentative at first, you had become a little more comfortable walking in on his streams if you were in the area. It was rare, but it was amusing to see Twitter become chaos afterward. You certainly didn't give a shit he was a streamer though, simply enjoying Tommy for, well, Tommy. In all his stupidly funny and very chaotic glory.

Tommy had dragged you into a lot of bad ideas already. At the campground after the two of you met, you were both gone for so long that his parents called the cops! That was only the start, too. From spontaneously deciding it'd be fun to swim at night to convincing you to learn how to jet-ski with him, the two of you did everything together.

So, really, you shouldn't be so surprised when he asks you to do a stream with him, but you are. Streaming was certainly a big part of his life, and you'd put his streams on in the background to support him, but that was it. Yet here you are, sitting in a chair in his office, streaming with him.

His office was a cozy place, truly reflecting his personality. You liked it, a lot. The only downside was that you two couldn't cause too much chaos.

"How did I meet him?" Tommy reads off one of his monitors. It's open on the chat, messages rolling in to replace old ones.

"Shit." You laugh. "It all goes back to one fucking campground."

"Yeah, it kind of does. Huh, that's so weird!" Tommy grins, then leans back. "Answer them!"

"What?"

"Are you just going to leave poor chat waiting? Tell them how we met!"

Oh, that asshole.

"Fine." You sigh. "It was a dark and dreary day in December-"

"That's not what happened!" He yells.

You roll your eyes, moving your chair a little closer to his microphone and computer screens.

"We met when we were really young at a campsite, but then lost each other for a long time." You sum up. "We were too dumb as kids to think about having our parents meet each other, so I only had a picture of us to remember him by."

"But!" Tommy jumps in. "We both went to the campsite again and found each other!"

"I wouldn't say we found each other. More like... got chased into each other."

"I'm still convinced those geese-duck birds were sent by mastermind assassins! Like, what are the fucking odds?" Tommy pauses to read the chat for a moment. "Geese?" He reads. "Yeah! These two geese chased us until we literally ran into each other! I thought they were going to fucking kill us!"

"It hasn't happened again, or I'd think we were cursed." You joke.

The little story sends chat flying, and you look away so as to not get a headache. How Tommy did this so often you had no idea, but it was certainly admirable.

"Hang on, what the hell are destiny geese?" He asks. "Soulmate geese? Which is it? Here, you google it."

Tommy pushes his keyboard and mouse toward you, and you take them. Honestly, you aren't even sure which monitor and which tab you're typing in until the search is already complete and he's stolen the mouse back.

"Hey! I was using that!" You protest.

"You snooze you fucking lose. Oh, it's some type of legend! Wilbur would know what this is, his lame ass."

"Old, lame, and somehow still a fucking nerd."

If there is one thing you can hop on, it's bullying Wilbur. You had met him quickly, and according to him you were "perfect for Tommy." Although you and Tommy had spent the hour before that taunting him about Hamilton, so he was clearly biased.

"So what I'm reading is that soulmate geese just chase two soulmates into each other?" You ask, reading the article he had pulled up.

"So what, we're soulmates or some shit?" Tommy wrinkles his nose.

"Absolutely not, no way I'm soulmates with a bitch like you."

"Oi! Says you, dickhead!"

You feign hurt, shoving him to the side, only for him to shove you back.

"Fight me, right here, right now, pussyhead!" He yells, standing up.

Similarly standing up, you raise your fists in front of you instead of adopting the weird crouching position he had going on. You mime throwing a punch and he dramatically collapses to the ground.

"I've been hurt! I've been killed! Abuse! Abuse!"

"And that is why I'm better." You say to the stream.

#tommy innit #tommyinnit imagine #tommyinnit #tommyinnit x reader #tommy mcyt #dsmp #mcyt imagine #mcyt #tommyinnit x you #dsmp tommy

[a-really-good-lawyer]

Something I never see people talk about (which could be because I simply haven't come across it) is how rough forming a new hyperfixation can be, especially a core hyperfixation.

I've loved Star Trek for years. But for whatever reason, it wasn't until a couple years ago that something in my brain *clicked* and it became a new core hyperfixation.

In some ways it was better than past such hyperfixations because there is so much Star Trek out there to consume, between shows and films and then the fandom content because this fandom has been alive and well for over 50 years, gave birth to modern fandom.

But that didn't change the fact that, for the ensuing six months, it consumed my life - and not in the fun, tongue-in-cheek way we say 'this fandom consumes my life', like semi-hyperbole.

When I say it consumed my life, I mean it was near non-stop hyperfocus for months.

My apartment was constantly a mess, same as my sense of time. My sleep schedule was constantly erratic. I was often dehydrated, had frequent headaches, often found myself shaking from all the adrenaline surges. I dropped fifteen pounds almost without noticing (weight I shouldn't have dropped).

I was always drained, always disoriented, always distracted. It didn't feel good. Really, it felt distinctly bad, and I felt completely out of control to make it stop. If I made myself ignore the media and fic and fan art and all of that, it just meant I sank into myself, got lost in my head for hours on end.

After the first two months it began to gradually, slowly ease up, and when I hit around six months it stopped feeling like I was being dragged along and started to feel the way I want when it comes to hyperfixations - it was fun, mood-boosting. Engaging with it improved my mental health, instead of causing it, along with my physical health, to deteriorate.

That was probably the worst 'epsiode' I've had, but I've had them several times. The one when I developed the Daredevil hyperfixation thankfully lasted only two months, same as when it was FMA:B and BBC Merlin, and...three months, I think, for Star Wars? The one that got closest was Smallville, my first fandom hyperfixation, though I imagine some of that had to do with it coming out when I first had regular internet access. That one was maybe four or five months, and was dragged out by the fact that I was in high school so I was 'forced' away from it all by the anxiety of college applications and AP exams and all that fun stuff.

I love having these things. They've been good for me, for my emotional welfare - have helped me survive so much. I never regret that initial rough aspect, not that I've ever had the power to do things differently.

But it is rough, and one of the aspects of neurodivergence I've had the most trouble explaining to neurotypical people. They see it as simple obsession or addiction, something that I fell into and need to take steps to pull myself out of, rather than something that my brain just does at the drop of a hat and which won't stop until I go through that process. Trying not to, trying to mitigate it, just ends up dragging that process out. It can't be reduced or bypassed. It's just part of how my brain works.

And people trying to interfere with that, to 'fix' that by making me pay attention to other things, giving me tasks, whatever it may be - it does nothing to change it. If anything, it makes the whole thing much more destabalizing, in ways that can have major consequences for my state of mind, and I've had the experiences to prove it.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but I just...wanted to put it out there. I think there can be shame attached to this reality - shame I've felt, and which I've come to recognize originates from neurotypical social expectations and a lack of understanding.

If this is something you've dealt with and have been shamed for, I hope this post can give you some comfort. It isn't a failing, isn't deviant, isn't indulgent. It just is, and you aren't bad or broken or weak because of it.

#neurodivergent #adhd #asd #hyperfixations #riker.talks #fandom

[falconcoast]

finals week | various genshin x reader

ft. al-haitham, childe, zhongli

your boyfriend helps you during finals week. 

a/n: laugh out loud for my ap psych exam next week wooooooooo

warnings; none. 

al-haitham;

your boyfriend is very smart. you know this, the akademiya knows this, the scholars know this--everyone knows that he’s a bona fide genius in his field and beyond.

however, a consequence of his being so bright is that he’s a relentless tutor, which is why you’re sitting in your study, studying your ass off for your final exam before matriculation.

“define altruism,” he states, casually leaning in a chair across from you. several pens and papers are strewn about the room. your computer monitor blinks blankly, long abandoned. you drum your fingers on the table, and he raises an eyebrow. instantly, he reads your mind. “the vahumana perspective, to be specific.”

he makes a hand motion for you to be quicker about it. you straighten your back. “selfless care for others, especially when in danger. there are multiple theories as to why people are altruistic. some believe it’s solely the environment, others believe that it depends on pre-disposition, or that it is learned behavior.”

“good,” he places the flashcard down. “two more to go. give me an example of a social script.”

you pause, attempting to think before you speak. “social scripts are guides that people follow to approach social situations.”

he clicks his tongue. “not an example.”

“shit!”

“language,” he chides.

you sit and think, leg bouncing up and down. he raises an eyebrow, waiting for a response. suddenly, you have insight. “when you and i go on a date, we follow a social script. we wait to be seated, we call over our waiter, and we tend to leave a good tip at the end of our meal. we aren’t told to do those things, but because we’ve watched other people do so, we act the same way.”

“very well done. i’ll have to reward you on a date after this,” he smiles, before focusing his attention once again. “alright, final one for the night. people tend to fall in young adulthood. explain why this could be, based on the vahumana’s perspective on interpersonal attraction.”

“sentimental, are we? i didn’t know you were a sap,” you tease, but then you shake your head. biting your lip, you lean back in your chair as you think.

“first, many people attend secondary and post-secondary institutions. often, like at the akademiya, undergraduates leave their homes and stay on campus. that change puts the same people together all the time, or in close proximity. close proximity results in the mere-exposure effect, which is when people tend to like someone by just being near them.

“second, even if people don’t attend universities, people tend to truly get settled in their identity during young adulthood. there, we tend to hang out with people who are like us. for example, you and i met because we had the shared identity of scholars at the akademiya.

“third, according to some perspectives under the vahumana branch, some would say that the overarching issue that young adults face is the decision for intimacy or isolation. in this stage of life, people recognize the importance of intimate relationships, especially romantic ones. thus, they fall in love.”

“wonderfully put,” al-haitham sets down the card, and picks up your hand, kissing the back of it. “you did excellently, my dear.”

“i sure hope so. we went at it for three hours straight,” you roll your eyes playfully. “archons, you’re a ruthless tutor.”

“you’ll thank me later when you have high marks on your exam.”

childe;

“why did i study sports medicine?!” you exclaim as you flop your head down on the living room coffee table. your boyfriend peeks his head in, freshly showered after a workout.

“what’s up?” he asks, oblivious to the mess of papers on the living room floor.

“i hate finals. this will be the death of me.”

“yeah, i’m glad i never chose to go into any of those fields,” he remarks, to which you groan.

“i bet a business major like you would never have to figure out the difference between isotonic and isometric exercises,” you roll your eyes, before focusing on your laptop again. “plus, you play sports for the university, and you’re definitely gonna play professionally after this whole thing! gah, you have it so easy, childe.”

there’s silence as he watches you return to your work. engrossed in highlighting a little more, you haphazardly take notes for review. when he doesn’t leave after a moment or two, you twist yourself to look back at him. “did you need something or are you gonna just watch me study?”

“you need a break,” he declares. he strides over to you, pulling you off of the couch.

surprised, your brows furrow. “hey, i really need to--”

without a chance to finish your sentence, your boyfriend smacks you in the face with a pillow. the cushion falls flat off your face, revealing your gaping mouth and shocked expression. as if on instinct, you pick it up and volley it back towards him.

an exchange of pillows takes place in your living room. fuzz and feathers fly about the room as you toss them around. childe is all grins, sliding around in his socks and never once relenting in the pillow fight.

eventually, you both collapse on the ground, chests heaving. your notes and pens are knocked off the table, but you couldn’t care less. childe is beside you, equally exhausted. with a deep breath in, you look over at him.

“thank you, sweetheart. i needed that,” you say, kissing him on the cheek.

“anytime, my love,” he reassures, before smacking you with a pillow again.

zhongli;

it’s an ungodly hour, but your liyuean literature exam is more important than sleep.

you blink blearily at your computer screen, writing a few more notes on the records of the gallant. your back is slouched as you take a bright yellow highlighter and run it over the sloppily printed ink. after a moment, you take another look at it, only to find it unreadable. groaning, you run a hand over your face and sink into the back of the dining room table.

“evening, love,” your boyfriend greets you with a soft smile and hands behind his back. he stands tall, casting a shadow over your disarray of notes.

“you’re a sight for sore eyes,” you murmur, briefly acknowledging him before returning to your work. after this last test, you’ll be able to go on another nice date with your boyfriend. momentarily, it sends a surge of motivation through you as you thumb through the book.

“i know you’re busy, and you won’t come to bed even if i ask you nicely,” he says gently, but you’re only half listening. “but, right now, i must make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

raising your eyebrow, you look at him confusedly. “that’s really sweet, dear, but i’m doing alright, really.”

he looks at you with a deadpan expression before casting a glance at your several mugs of coffee scattered across the dining room table, wrinkled clothes, and disheveled hair. “as you say it is,” he quips sarcastically. “you must eat, my love. then, you can go back to studying.”

he moves his arms in front of himself, revealing a bowl of slow-cooked bamboo soup. your mouth waters instantly and your heart softens at the sweet gesture. suddenly, you snap out of it. “a-ah, i can’t. i have to stay focused…” you murmured, turning your head.

zhongli walks over with the bowl of soup, and the scent is heavenly. placing it in front of you, he pats your head and kisses your cheek. “you will not be able to handle your all-nighter without some food.”

“sweetheart…” you trail off.

“darling,” he responds curtly, not backing down.

reluctantly, you take the spoon into your mouth and eat. it re-energizes you quickly, and you quickly gulp it down. your boyfriend only chuckles, sitting across from you as you replenish yourself.

after demolishing the meal, you look up at him with tender eyes. “i owe you one. sorry for being stubborn.”

“no worries, love. your stubbornness is what will give you a perfect score on this test. although, if you’re willing to have my soup, maybe you’d be willing to go to bed…”

“not a chance.”

#alhaitham x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #childe x reader #tartaglia x reader #zhongli x reader #genshin impact imagines

[cryptid-pet]

DL character headcanons that popped up in my head during my free time (School Edition)

When waking up early due to be alarm, Shu lays in his bed and stares up at the ceiling like a zombie

Laito always stalls to get ready for school on purpose

Shin, Subaru, and Ayato randomly will ditch class UNPLANNED to meet up in the same spot to smoke joints

Kou took Italian for two years and then switched to French

Azusa unintentionally chews on the erase part of the pencil when bored

Kino is the class clown Ayato can’t stand and tries to be funnier

Carla takes only AP classes with Reiji

Azusa, Yuma, Subaru, and Shin are all in the same foreign language class and it’s absolute chaos with group work

Shu has once set the oven on fire in culinary and said he was “resting his eyes”

Reiji, Ruki, and Kino are all part of the chess club

Yui likes to wear outfits that have a theme for the month//season to school

Subaru colors in his nails with black sharpie in the back of the room rather than pay attention

Kou makes a rule with all his fans where they can’t cling onto him for the first week of school

Kanato once went into an AP Anatomy class and suffered the first two terms trying to understand where the cervical is located on the human body

Shu and Ruki go the the library during their free periods to be alone

During any fire drills, you can hear Laito, Kou, and Ayato screaming whenever the alarm buzzes out

Shin has gotten into fist fights with upper classmates in front of Carla

Yui and Azusa like to spend their lunch break in an empty music room together

Ruki once has caught Kou vaping in the locker room during an exam and got in trouble when he got home

Kanato begs the people who carry gum on them to give him and Teddy a piece or their houses would be burnt down

Gym class with Yuma and Ayato is hell

Shu likes to sit behind Yuma in classes they share just to braid his (Yuma’s) hair

Shin and Azusa have skipped school together just to have time alone

Kou and Subaru have had over 42 quickies in the school bathroom within the first seven months and only Azusa has caught them once

Laito got caught once playing sex songs through his AirPods by a teacher during a written assignment

Yui likes to bring a refresher from Starbucks to school ever Thursday

This is all I thought of AND this was throughout September!! Let me know if you want specific ones or just ones at random

#diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers headcanons #ayato sakamaki #kanato sakamaki #laito sakamaki #shu sakamaki #reiji sakamaki #subaru sakamaki #ruki mukami #kou mukami #yuma mukami #azusa mukami #carla tsukinami #shin tsukinami #kino sakamaki #diahell #dialovers #nixxio headcanons

[imreallyloveleee]

For the fall trope game: Bughead + sweater weather + first kiss

“Do you want tea?”

Betty swipes her highlighter through a line in her notes and then pauses, unsure if she’s heard him right. “Tea? Like hot tea?”

“Yeah. Nothing fancy, it’s just Lipton’s.” Jughead shrugs one shoulder. “My dad likes it.”

Betty bites back a smile. Since arriving at the trailer less than an hour ago, he’s offered her water, orange soda, Oreo cookies, a frozen pizza, and some hand cream — all of which she’d politely declined, save the water. Clearly, he doesn’t play host very often.

(Which is why she’d felt so excited — special, even — to be invited here in the first place. Even if it was their only remaining option for a study session after Pop’s had closed for the evening for a private event, and Alice Cooper had forbidden any visitors to their house while the guest bathroom was being remodeled.)

“Do you want tea?”

“Not really.”

“Then I’m good.”

“Betty.” 

She can hear the good humor in his frustration, though, and lets her own smile crack through this time as she returns her gaze to the notebook in her lap. “I’m fine.”

He huffs, but lets it go, leaning back against the sofa beside her as he pages aimlessly through their history textbook. “Isn’t it a little early in the year to be giving us such a huge exam? The leaves aren’t even changing yet.”  

“Welcome to AP Euro. Cheryl warned us it was tough.” With a sigh, Betty caps her highlighter and drops her notebook to the floor. “One hour of AP studying is like three hours of normal studying. I think we’ve earned a break by now, don’t you?”

His mouth curls up at the side, and Betty’s heart thumps in her chest as he turns towards her. 

She forces her face into a neutral expression. Practically the only thing she could think about all summer was when they’d finally stop dancing around one another, and Jughead would make a move. But then he hadn’t. So it’s still all she can think about now that autumn’s set in, as the days grow shorter, the air gets chillier, and the homecoming dance – which she’d vaguely hoped they’d attend together – approaches.

Sigh.

Jughead rests his arm along the back of the sofa, his long fingers dangerously close to brushing against her shoulder. “So what does a Betty Cooper study break entail?”

Betty taps her chin, pretending to think. “Clowns? Balloons, definitely. Maybe some karaoke.” 

He laughs, and then – then – his hand drops down to rest on her shoulder. She tries not to shiver as he gives it a single squeeze. 

“Will you settle for some – oh.” Jughead’s brows pull into a frown as he leans forward, peering at her arm. “Betty, you must be freezing. You’ve got goosebumps.”

Confused, she runs one hand across the skin of her forearm, and realizes he’s right – hairs raised, skin pebbled. It’s just not for the reason he thinks.

Before she can protest, he’s on his feet, muttering something under his breath as he disappears down the hall. Betty sinks back against the sofa cushions, face flaming. In approximately ten seconds Jughead is going to realize that it’s actually so warm outside she hadn’t even bothered to wear a jacket on the walk over, and there’s something much more embarrassing going on here. 

“I told my dad it was time to get the heating back on,” he grumbles, appearing flustered as he emerges from the bedroom. 

Collapsing onto the sofa beside her, he places something in her lap: his gray cable knit sweater. She remembers admiring the way it made his shoulders look broader last winter, months before she’d finally pieced together the understanding that the fluttery, nervous feeling she’d started getting around her childhood friend was a full-on crush. 

“I’m sorry,” he tells her, unable to meet her eyes. “This is why I don’t like having people over – it’s not you. It’s just not a nice place to be.” 

“Juggie.” 

Without really thinking about it, she touches his arm. He lifts his gaze to meet hers, and Betty realizes: if she wants to have a ‘moment’ with Jughead, maybe she’s got to make it happen herself. 

She leans in and presses her mouth to his.

She pulls back quickly – too quickly, it seems, because Jughead makes a sound of protest low in his throat and touches her waist with one hand and pulls her back in for another.

They kiss again, for longer this time.

When it ends, neither of them seems to know where to look, so Betty lets her gaze drop down to the sweater in her lap. Jughead’s eyes follow. 

“If that was all it took,” he says slowly, “I should have given you my sweater a lot sooner.”

“It’s okay.” Betty smiles, and he smiles back. “It wasn’t sweater weather yet.”

#bughead #betty cooper #jughead jones #bughead fic #omg i'm so rusty i hope this is cute lol #ty for the prompt!! <3 #winterlovesong1 #loveleee takes fic prompts #fic #riverdale

[amethyst-art]

Quote book

(These will be updated as more come, & these will be out of context soooo enjoy :)"

"Humans went from worshiping the moon to walking on it"

"The 80's was full of sapphics"

"Ok Mom let's go watch traumatized children"

"The group of kids that are called...they don't have a name...& the science project"

"Because yoouu my dear bitch boy, are TRIPPING BAAAALLLLSS"

"Did you just slap me with that arm?"

"Haha, yeah, I'm not doing ok"

"If in doubt, use your mouth"

"Hands are for LOSERS, I like to use my mouth"

"Even if I slightly touch it, it'll pop up again"

"If in doubt, tits out"

"Get slurped IDIOT"

"You're the master sucker"

"Just swallow it"

"It's hard to swallow"

"6 is even longer than 10!"

"I'm a proud bottom!.... Set"

"Don't put it in your mouth!"

"It smelt good so it must taste good right?"

"I sucked all the cream out of it"

"I just shoved the whole thing in my mouth & started choking"

"If I had to choose between having sex or raping you-"

"I'M NOT DOWN BAD FOR THE ROBOT-"

"ROBOT KISSER-"

"I really wanna put it back in, but I'm afraid it won't come back out"

"Just shove your hand in there & pull out a calf/lamb"

"Fuck me with a fork & then shove it down my throat over making me do the math exam"

"You're down bad for the demogorgan, this is not ok"

"Go fuck yourself with a whisk & then choke on it"

"You! You with a finger up your arse-"

"I have balls in my mouth"

"I slurp de bawlls"

"Bigger isn't always better"

"Be careful, the big ones squirt"

"The bigger the better"

"Mine is short & fat, mine is long & thin... mine is just fat"

"Oral sex is more gay?"

"I choke... In a bad way! In a bad way"

"I wanna suck all of them"

"Why is it so small"

"Don't worry, you'll like cum when you're older"

"Eat your cum kids!"

"It's pretty small so I should be able to handle it"

"It's not that big so I should be able to get on top of it"

"There's only 2 things that are worth doing in this life... Making money & murdering ugly people~"

"I'M SO WET!!!"

"Money! Money & cum!~"

"I already gave you a squeeze!"

"You're with me babygirl~"

"I'm tonguen at the tip!"

"In, out, in, out, it's the best way to get all the tasty cream out!"

"I wanna see that long, hard length~"

"I love to suck~"

"I can't suck it well!"

"It's ok, I'm a masochist"

"I've got to stop putting the whole thing in my mouth, or I'll choke"

"A GIRL? WHAT'S A GIRL?"

"Maybe an inch is bigger than we thought?"

"I have no anger, only sadness"

"A knife you American wanker"

"Nothing is too funky"

"MY UTERUS IS COSPLAYING SANS & GIVING ME A BAD TIME"

"CRISPY, JUICY, NICE & TENDER, I JUST PUT MY NEWBORN SON INTO A BLENDER"

"OH BOY, I LOVE COCK"

"Wanna see my poo?"

"You gotta be careful with your wood"

"He did choke the chicken more than the average boy-"

"I'm like deliveroo except I'm GAY-"

"I can't- FUCK-"

"You ever just get smacked in the face by some wood & you just lose all sense of direction?"

"I need to- FUCK-"

"If you could call self-abuse absolutely smanging that thang as hard as he did, then yeah Father, I'd say he abused himself pretty frequently, in public & often-"

"Oh! yeah, he's hard-"

"I think.. I'm ready to come on the page-"

"You taught me I could be horny with my art-"

"I am selling dick pics online Miss. Baffy"

"Just pull it out"

"You know that his jaw hurt after that"

"I'm gonna fill you-"

"I'm gonna fill you with my British juices"

"This is the first time I've felt this way with a man!"

"C'MON, PUT YOUR FINGERS IN HER- I MEAN PUT YOUR FINGERS IN THEM"

"I didn't want them boiled alive, I wanted them raw!"

"Don't put it in your mouth, I've already put it in mine!"

"If I can't be a Siamang ape, then what's the point in anything?"

"I'm a feeble boy, there's only so much meat I can handle"

"Sorry about sending you the hot dragon from Shrek. Are you a communist btw?"

"I'm gonna flash you-"

"Mr.[name] didn't want it because it was too small"

"Everyone needs holes!"

"It feels like grating foot cheese-"

"I wish I could read-"

"Mmm yummy feet"

"Hi Alexander, I'm Carl-"

"CUMCUMCUM-"

"I'm a lesbian *in the tune of Jurassic Park*"

"Suck my Richard-"

"WHERE'S CUM?-"

"There's only 3 ingredients; chocolate, nuts & the virus-"

"This is my hole, this hole is mine, this hole was made for me-"

"I'm bricked up motherfucker-"

"*Holding a concrete block* this'll be a tool for later-"

"I'm crafting your cock-"

"That's right [name] I turned your dick into gun-"

I'm going to go masturbate-"

"UH, UH, CUMZINGA?"

"Tell me Gerald, do you prefer the four iron, or the foreskin?"

"We need to feed this meaty boy to the gooby gooby goobers"

"They call me the brick because I'm so hard"

"What are you doing stepbro?~"

"Yeah, just stick something in there."

"Sorry mate, I kidnapped her."

"I DONT HATE GAYS YOU BULGARIAN ASS WIPE, I DO IN FACT LOVE AND ACCEPT MEMBERS OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY, YOU COCKSUCKING DICKWAD!!!!!!"

"You just put your fingers in it."

"I'm a lamp post :D."

"I'll meet your mother later!"

"Bye, I'm kidnapping her-"

"*While wagging ☝* don't hump little girls!"

"Have you sex?"

"No I have not sex, that's a little bit illegal :D"

"You have lost you penis"

"Don't fuck moms at school!"

"This server was made for me- *dies immediately*"

"Be gay, do drugs, hail Satan"

"Hail gay, be drugs, do Satan-"

"P1: It's so long, P2: that's what she said-"

"P1: What's something you have that I want?, P2: divorced parents-"

"I'm in a cat"

"Oh by the way, do you want lead poisoning?-"

"I could drink your mom"

"I'm thirsty for your mom"

"I could drink 80% of your mom"

"I'm going to CHOKE you in a way you WON'T like"

"Oh I'm just milking you-"

"I'm throwing balls"

"Milk them tiddies~"

"I don't look at a 10 year old boy & go "heyyyy baby boyyyyy~" *while lip-biting*"

"You really showed me every inch, didn't you?"

"Last week you beat my meat, this week we're putting these nuts in your mouth."

"Go on my tongue, goddamit!"

"I woke up to banging"

"I woke up to my step-dad banging"

"I would never come"

"P1: WELL, I CAN EAT YOUR BALLS, P2: She doesn't have any, P1: THAT'S BECAUSE I ATE THEM, P3: give them back :("

"Last week I forced you to eat my balls, this week we're beating the meat."

"Don't talk, just suck"

"Get me some tissues, some paper towels & some lube-"

"I was pretty good I got a lot of head....... Shots."

"God, I'm gay for a femboy."

"You get a video of someone being inside you like you've never had before"

"I've lost the moon."

"I've got 3 fists & 3 feet."

"I've eaten all the silicone."

"[NAME] STOP EATING SILICONE!"

"That's another place where I lost my virtual virginity."

"I'm scissoring you."

"You guys are going to moan like crazy."

"Hide your balls."

"Damn fluttershy, looking THICK, smash"

"Ok guys, let’s take off our clothes so we’re ready for the next round."

#amethysttalks #quote book

[187days]

Day One Hundred Sixty

I started each section of Global Studies by doing quick updates on the Israel-Hamas War, and taking questions/comments. Then I pivoted to another complex conflict: the war in Ukraine. I asked students what they already knew about it, and showed a video montage of news coverage from the first month of the war.

An interesting thing happened in my fourth section: a student asked if the news coverage came from a Ukrainian ally, I confirmed it was British news, and another student asked if they could see coverage from Russia or one of its allies. I said, "Not in my classroom," which surprised a few of them. I suppose they're used to "both sides"-ing everything, but I said our country was on Ukraine's side in the war, and I wasn't going to show Russian propaganda- but added that it's very available on Youtube if they really want to see it.

Anyways, I got some great questions about the war in all four sections, and had to give a quick(ish) explanation about global supply chains in response to one student's excellent question about how the war related to inflation. Then I had them learn a bit of history- Ukraine and Russia from the 1800s through the Cold War- by annotating an article that we'll discuss next class.

I only had three of my APGOV students in attendance, and I knew that was going to happen because the rest of them had to take the AP Calculus exam today, so I assigned two things (a bit of research on their state reps, some questions about the NH constitution), but set the due date at the end of class tomorrow. So the students who were there could get a head start, or they could work on other things, I left it up to them. But, after lunch, they suggested that we should turn class from APGOV to "AP Trail Walking," and go out into our school's forest since it's a really nice day. I was totally onboard with that, but as we were headed out, a student coming in from gym class warned us about ticks, so "AP Trail Walking" became "AP Basketball" in the courtyard instead.

Back to serious studies tomorrow.

Because it was such a nice day, practice was glorious. We started with a bit of capture the flag, and then the sprinters did timed 40s and some agility drills. They're all looking strong, and they're excited to be starting the post-season. We've got big goals for the conference championships next weekend!

#teaching #teachblr #teacher #edublr #education #high school #social studies #coaching #track #conversations about current events #ap exams #day one hundred sixty #post season

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

Sorry about your uni related stress!

I would love to see your take on "rebellious teenager who’s failing all their classes is assigned a studious tutor" for rebelcaptain.

I'm effectively burned out on high school AUs after "A Little Hope", as it turns out, but I tried my best!

.

“I am hardly failing all my classes, Baze, don’t be so dramatic.”

The school counsellor throws her a pointed look. “I am the least dramatic person in this building, Miss Erso. And I never said you were failing all your classes. But you are well on your way to failing Art History –“

“Can you blame me? It’s the most boring thing on earth.”

“- Draven informs me you’re on shaky ground in World History as well. Actually, he says to remind you that classes are every Tuesday at ten. He worries you’ve forgotten.“

Jyn sighs and rolls her eyes. “Look, fine. Tell him I’ll ‘apply’ myself. That’s the term, right?”

“I’m also to let you know that you could fail AP Spanish,” Baze Malbus goes on flatly, ignoring her olive branch.

Shit. Looks like she miscalculated on just how little the old crone cares about her job in her last year before retirement.

“Jyn, I know you’re not stupid,” Baze says with a sigh. Now he is using her first name. That’s a bad sign.

“I know you’ve had a very difficult time this past year. But most of your teachers are already cutting you slack –“ Jyn scoffs, but Baze goes on before she can argue, “ – and I can’t smooth things over for you from here to graduation, alright? And I shouldn’t have to. We both know you could pass these classes in your sleep if you wanted to.” He adjusts his stack of notes with a sigh. “Ms Spinelli will let you pass in return for an additional twenty-minute presentation in class, and Draven said you will scrape by if you manage a B in the final two tests. Regular attendance is also non-negotiable,” Baze adds drily, and Jyn rolls her eyes again. She didn’t even skip his class that often. The man had such a stick up his ass.

“But Ms Lopez insists on an oral exam at the end of term, no getting out of that one, kid. And if you don’t ace the last physics test, Krennic is going to fail you.”

“Oh, come on, he’s got it in for me! There’s no way to make it past a C in his class!”

“Yes, there is. By giving the correct answers on the test.”

“But –“

“No. I will put you in contact with a senior who is willing to tutor you, and then the ball is in your court.”

Jyn scoffs. “I am not getting tutored –“

“Jyn, either you agree to sit down with this kid twice a week, or I’m mailing all those reports to your father.”

She glowers at the counsellor. “That’s not fair, Baze.”

“It’s very fair. We had a deal. You follow my advice and I keep this kind of thing between us as long as I can. So now I’m telling you to get a tutor.”

He doesn’t so much as bristle under her glare, so after a moment, she resigns herself to her fate with a heartfelt sigh. “Okay, fine. Who is it?”

.

“You’re kidding.”

“Wish I was,” Jyn groans and prods at her potatoes with her fork.

“You’re getting tutored by the guy you threw up on at Han’s? Twice? And he agreed to that?”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s thrilled,” she says, spearing a mealy potato with decidedly too much vigour, and shoots her friend a withering look. “And also, the second time was his car. Not him.”

“Well, in that case…” Bodhi is still grinning. “How much is he getting for it?”

Jyn grimaces. “A twenty an hour. And my dignity.”

Her friend shrugs, the grin softening into something a little more serious. “Come on, it could be worse. He seems… nice –“

Jyn makes what was meant to be a derisive scoff but comes out like a hysterical little giggle. Nice. Sure. A lot of descriptors come to mind with Leia’s eternal academic rival and dark horse of the student union. Some she wouldn’t admit under torture (soft hair or beautiful eyes, to name a few), most are more along the theme of stick up his ass – nice definitely isn’t the first.

(He was nice, at that party. Nice enough, anyway, not to yell at her when she barfed in his car, or on his shoes. So basically saintlike. And he drove her home, even though nobody had asked him to. That was probably nice.)

But she is way too embarrassed about the whole thing to let herself remember anything about Leia’s birthday party, and anyway, he’s still insufferably studious and he used to play tennis with Leia and he’s doing triathlon and he’s an editor on the student newspaper and she’s pretty sure he did Model UN.

She’s pretty sure even Cassian Andor isn’t hot enough to make up for that.

And he’s going to be a nightmare as a tutor, if his sweatshop of a local news section is any indication.

.

To Jyn's immense shock, it turns out he isn’t. And it turns out that is worse.

Jyn was perfectly prepared to sit through some condescending lectures for a few weeks, stew in quiet resentment and roll her eyes at him when his back was turned. That would have made the embarrassment of that repressed memory of his hand on the back of her head when he helped her into the car pretty much bearable. And she would have caught up on her classes all by her lonesome afterwards, and have the satisfaction of knowing he hadn’t helped her at all.

She was not prepared for liking it.

He decided that they can kill two birds with one stone if they go through the World History curriculum in Spanish. It’s hard, but she always liked a challenge (a little too much, according to Bodhi and Baze), and Cassian is exactly as demanding as she thought he would be. Except… that kind of makes it fun. He’s ruthless when he wants to be, but in a way that tells her he thinks she’s holding out on him. It’s trust, weirdly – he just always assumes she’s up to the task, that he can push just a little further. And he seems to enjoy doing that, somewhere behind his quiet, reserved manner. He’s even – as much as she hates to admit it – funny, in the same underhand way.

It's… unfortunately attractive. She’d love to blame it on the language (he does have a nice voice), but she finds herself trying stupidly hard to impress him, just to catch that intrigued glint in his eyes again.

He even makes being good at physics look hot, a thought that makes Jyn want to sink through the floor whenever she catches herself thinking it. Which she has four times so far this afternoon. (Seriously, a guy being able to do complex math in his head shouldn’t be this hot. Right?)

This isn’t the type of embarrassing she’d expected from this whole tutoring thing.

.

.

bonus outtake:

“Oh, hey, by the way, I’m… I’m really sorry. About, you know. Vomiting on your shoes at Han’s that one time.”

“Oh, don’t –“

“No, really, I’m sorry! It was disgusting.”

“A bit. Yeah.”

“A bit?”

“Honestly, the car seat was worse,” he says with a shrug.

“Oh my God –“

“It’s fine, Jyn, it… Really. It was… my own fault.”

“Me getting drunk and puking in your car was your fault how, exactly?”

Another shrug. “Well… if I had worked up the courage to talk to you when you were sober, I guess I wouldn’t have got puked on, right?”

Pick an AU and get a one-shot (at some point in the future!)

#my words #again not my best work but i tried? this was tough since i'd *kinda* written that fic already so #honestly i'm posting this mainly as an excuse to present you with baze saying 'i'm the least dramatic person in this building' #because that made me laugh #ask meme responses #mosylu #thank you dear!